You must log in or register to comment.
I remember the XPS Was “Ubuntu Certified”
Prepared to be heartbroken ~
If it matters to you, Michael Dell is pro-genocide:
AMD now has “Max” chips and Dell now has “Pro” and “Max” laptops.
Everyone copying Apple.
AMD has the worst naming schemes in the industry, I miss the simple old i3, i5, i7… for each generation.
Well AMD just blatantly copied Nvidia’s naming scheme for their new GPUs so maybe they’ll copy Intel for their CPUs. I mean, they kind of already did, since the Ryzen 9 is basically i9, and the Ryzen 7 is basically i7 etc. It’s mostly AMDs mobile CPUs that have horrendous names, but Intel really isn’t much better in that department.
I can’t say Intel CPU naming is better though. The i3, i5, i7, i9 is misleading and the full names are even more confusing than AMD’s.
For a little bit there with 12th and 13th gen laptops it seemed like it could have made sense.
U was the low power “normal” chip
P was the higher power chip
H was the highest power chips
Then i3-9 for the stack.
But then 100 and 200 series ditched that and the P series kinda merged with the H series and you have no idea what you’re getting.
Same as it ever was
Weird, isn’t that the only Dell brand people view as worth having?
Pretty happy with the G series, but only because the XPS series for replaced by it in terms of bang for buck. And honestly, the G series we got are pretty good.
I believe the precision series kind of took over. They are high-end models but not really built for gaming. At this point, the XPS wasn’t built for gaming either, so I guess having 2 high-end lines just didn’t make sense?
Edit: I should have read the article first! I guess all the names are going away. I don’t care for the new names either, but both were pretty bad. The only difference is we got used to what it is now despite how little sense it made.
the top tier names are fine I guess, but all the sub tier names are too much.
As an IT guy, recent (past five years) XPS laptops we gave to execs were pretty bad. Smaller, yes, but I found the Latitudes were better in terms of build quality. It is a small sample size though as most execs preferred MacBooks.
Used to be a field repair tech for several oems. The XPS usually suffered hinge issues. They decided it was a good idea to use press fitted standoffs in plastic to anchor the screen hinges…and the plastic is not very thick.
Latitude is superior to the XPS line for business.
And man did they have a bad run of XPS’s there for a while with their batteries swelling up.
They should replace the XPS name with the Longitude?
Ha!
Latitude 7490 had a string of bad batteries too. Our XPS units kept having things disconnect internally (even after a motherboard swap with warranty). The latitude 7420 onwards have been super solid!
I worked in IT and those latitudes were no exception in my experience. Earlier models were good but we had to replace so many e7000 series batteries bulging out the bottom.
Imo this kind of shows the basic problem with the xps line. As I understand it it was basically the premium consumer line, not something meant for business use. Meaning it had the nice specs on paper, but not the durability you’d need in a setting with extensive use and where downtime means serious money. But as you demonstrate this distinction was too blurry.
Some companies prefer Dell as an American held company; for security reasons. Dell’s Precision line supports high-end needs such as 3d modeling, theoretical testing for real world applications, statistical analysis of large datasets, etc.
That is where Dell fits. And yes, they have consumer models. I don’t care for the latter.
I have a precision and an XPS,
Chassis is the same, keyboard, touch screen, pad are the same. Processor, disk, Wi-Fi and memory options are the same. Warranty and on premises technician same.
Prices are not the same, and sometimes precision has more GPU options. And I think a 17 inch screen, but these are a different line under the same brand name.
But one has official Linux support and the other doesn’t. But since all hardware is the same, surprise, it just works.
We’ve been flirting with Lenovo legion. In my business we need strong video cards. Shipping white boxes and monitors to people is a real issue with work from home.
We were solely running XPS for years.
The legion aren’t bad, The worst of it is the power brick is a barrel connector. No running off of USB power delivery.
One of the units had a failed fan. I tore it apart and found the part number, I was actually pretty pissed off because you couldn’t buy just the fan you had to buy the whole heat distribution block with both fans and the heat pipes and everything. But then I found the part was only about 50 bucks. Dell wouldn’t even sell me parts without me being certified. So I bought the Lenovo heat block and it showed up with pre-compounded processor, GPU, and VRM pads. It was super impressive and for 50 bucks honestly it was a steal.
I own a Lenovo legion and the main issue is that it sucks on battery, it’s heavy, and the power brick is huge and expensive (I think close to 300€). Other than that it’s a beast. But if you have legions for business, you’ll struggle in meetings were people don’t want to bother with power cables and supplies.
Good point!
We’re mostly wfh, If we still had sufficient physical meetings, It wouldn’t break the bank to stuff a few bricks in every room.
The battery life is also significantly better if you’re doing normal meeting stuff.
Land of marketing and advertising, gotta ruin everything. RIP XPS, good little machines.
In the future, it means we can also expect product names like Dell Pro Max Plus.
oh I can’t wait for 2030 to get my new Dell Pro Max Plus Most Biz VIP Tip Top Rizz
The base model or the AI Max Pro Plus model?
I still remember when XPS was the premiere gaming brand Dell released to compete with the likes of Alienware, only for them to buy Alienware and relegate XPS to a higher budget multimedia catalog.
The names outstayed their welcome, but I cannot applaud them copying Apple’s homework.
I was going to joke Dell killed XPS a long, long time ago already.
So many corporations have used the words “Pro” and “Max” that they have now become meaningless.
HBO → MAX 🤦🏻♂️
There are actually people getting paid for this shit
Are they just sitting in a group in multiple meetings to brainstorm new names for stuff?
And I thought just managers are parasites…
Ironically the people getting paid for this shit did come up with better names and they were all overturned by senior management who read a business book over the weekend. SSDD.
Dear random strangers,
I have bought Thinkpad T for many years following your advice. Then I moved to Dell Latitude 3 years ago as this was your recommendation. So far, very happy with them!
Where should I go for my next laptop? Is it time for framework?
(I’m looking for 14" business laptops, excellent screen, good audio, light and solid, performance is a nice-to-have, Linux-only)
MSI seems rock solid.
The worst build laptop that I’ve ever held in my hands was from MSI. Cooling problems that made the fans work almost permanently (even after repasting by the shop), underperforming for the specs, a chassis with too much flex and a broken screen hinge after slightly more than 2 years (just out of warranty). When I looked up the screen hinge problem, it turned out to be an old recurring problem that MSI never bothered to fix when releasing new models, like they couldn’t be arsed to give a fuck.
This laptop was bought in about 2017 or 2018 after which I put MSI on the do not buy list. It’s possible that they’ve improved their quality since then, but I doubt it, given that I can find the same complaints in forum posts from 2024:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/are-hinge-issues-still-a-thing.343279/page-5My views were based on post-pandemic after Asus started becoming unreliable for my original recommendation of Asus ROG G14 where Lenovo to Razer are pretty much hated as well by users. If this is the case, then I can only think of MacBooks with VMWare or Virtual Box if not Asahi Linux.
I was under the impression they were more gaming oriented than “business”, am I mistaken then?
XPS used to be the premiere gaming brand Dell released to compete with the likes of Alienware, only for them to buy Alienware and relegate XPS to high end enterprise category. Gaming only means a Nvidia GPU or proper performance but don’t fall for AI PC to Ultrabook kind of categorisations with Windows side of things - Whether you’re into LLM, Content Generation, Data Processing, Blender, Editing, Gaming or even Mining… all will be achieved as long as the CPU-GPU is capable. Razer is one example that copies MacBook Pro aesthetics while having RGBs to cater to both professionals and gamers with one product line but aren’t necessarily with good or respectable after sales service.
I would’ve suggested Asus ROG as well like the G14 for price-to-performance ratio but they’ve been recently falling from grace as well mostly realised by users after the purchase is complete. Not many options are there really globally.
I would never again recommend MSI… I bought a 3000€ MSI Creator 3 years ago for work :
- the hinges are breaking apart
- some metal part on the size broke
- the keyboard letter are scraping off
- the microphone on Linux is unusable because of the fans
Reaplcing the keyboard requires a full body replacement, which costs like 300€ 🙃
I’ve also had some very bad experiences with a entry price gaming msi for someone in my family.
It seems like every other PC Laptop has a problem whether it’s a Lenovo or Asus for example, my feedback on MSI has been good so far mostly based post-pandemic but things indeed can change if that’s your case. Do you have any preference of your own?
You’re right, all manufacturers have their issues. I have a hard time finding one where you feel like it’s a safe bet. Which is why I’m leaning toward framework, but the company is young and has far less experience, so it’s also a risk…
System76? They primarily sell Linux computers and also develop Pop!_OS and COSMIC DE.
Yea they seem nice, but they don’t I don’t think they sell laptops with AZERTY keyboards
I mean, if you really want one, you could change the keyboard manually.
Don’t get a framework. It’s a gimmicky waste of money.
Why exactly do you need a new laptop, anyways? Have your hardware requirements really increased that much in 3 years to warrant looking for a new device?
Why do you say that about the framework?
Because it’s overpriced. You can get better hardware for lower prices.
The framework laptop only exists to take money from people who don’t know any better and want to feel 1337.
For good graphics performance in a smallish package, I like Lenovo Legion.
If graphics aren’t a concern, then I have no more specific recommendation, too much choice. I like flip style laptops, but I don’t know if those have proper Linux support. I’d also look for a screen larger than 14", but with thin bezels.
I will not do any gaming on my laptop, I really only need a quality screen to read documents and display the occasional Netflix video
I have owned a Framework 13 AMD for about half a year and I have to say that it’s a bit overpriced for what it is. It’s probably a better idea to just get a similarily priced Windows laptop (like Asus Zenbook or Lenovo X1 Carbon / T-series) and install Linux on it.
Yes get a framework.
Thanks!
But which of these new models will have AI?!
Something I think is a lot more interesting than them changing names of product lines is that almost all Dells ship with an OEM version of windows which reaches EoL faster, like 5 years sooner, and is more expensive to get a replacement disk image.
I had a tower about 10 years ago that I converted into a dinky little Linux Server, it worked really well all things considered.
Now kill Dell entirely.
Well that sucks. I haven’t bought an XPS since the Dell XPS 15z like over a decade ago, but still, the idea that I could buy an XPS Developer Edition laptop and have it be Linux compatible without having to think about it was nice. Now I’m limited to ThinkPads and System76 plus whatever other compatible Clevos there are or maybe a Framework, which I guess is fine since I do own multiple ThinkPads.
Still, really weird decision.
They’re not actually getting rid of the XPS line, they’re just changing the naming convention.
Any of the new Dell models with ‘Premium’ in the name are going to be the same as the Dell XPS line.
Asus ROG series to MSI seems interesting this CES, personally don’t see much problem with compatibility through Pop!_OS
My late-aughts XPS is a gem - milled aluminum, edge-to-edge glass, and the best laptop keyboard ever since Ye Olde Thinkpads. The glory days of chasing Apple with a Windows box and almost getting there. *pours 40*
That said, their QE went to shit, they pulled that bullshit RTO to soft-layoff everyone, laid off everyone else directly, and spent a ton to hire non-US replacements who aren’t up to speed so they can leverage the exciting benefits of AI (lol).
I’ll never understand why they didn’t put huge effort into backing linux when micro$oft started making hardware. Well - I know why they didn’t. Because they make poor managerial decisions. C’est ça.
