Ravenor : with the same options (ssd 512 and 16 G ram) they have almost the same price in my country (2000 €)... So the price here does not seems to be a great difference in my knowing off course...
My only issue is : will I be able to fully use my hardware with a Linux distro instead of win.. At the moment my status on this risk is : pending... As soon as I get an announcement from dell either telling : they provide preinstalled Linux OR they accept to help the community to develop the appropriate drivers (without necessarily contributing or taking charge of bug) then I buy it... Otherwise I have to wait for this machine, or another, as soon as it fits my needs and is Linux friendly.
I see, I guess if you want to go out and buy everything up-front it wont make much of a difference, but if you like to upgrade your components over time...
Ubuntu will get it close to perfect, over time. I am a long time stalwart of Ubuntu, however the closest they have ever come is close to perfect. OSX is perfect, and with HomeBrew (brew.sh) providing the missing package mangement features, I have parity with Linux.
I am writing this on an XPS17 L702x running Ubuntu 13.10, and everything works with steady improvements on every release. I did not like the matte screen and upgraded to the real-life one not offered at the time a year later at screencountry.com. I got rid o the dual 640Gb drives and installed a Samsung 840 Evo 512Gb SSD.
No regrets. However, for the last 5 years i have worked on MacBook Pros at work. If I am going to spend to similar money to the $2699 for top standard config MBP 15 with Retina, there will be no contest. Faster processeors, and much faster SSD, better battery and still unbeatable longevity and resale value.
I have supported Dell with Precisions and XPS's for going on 12 years now, but unless I see a 30% discount coupon from Dell, I can see my next system being a Dell.
I would definitely buy the M3800, I was thinking in getting the XPS 13 DE for my b-day (November), but if the M3800 is available by then, I would get it without a doubt.
I have always had problems with drivers with Linux, but seeing Dell providing computers with Ubuntu pre-loaded brings linux and Dell to a whole new level.
Steam is really pushing games for Linux which is nice, dropbox has the client for linux, TrueCrypt, Skype, LibreOffice, VLC, Gimp, blender, Google Chrome Browser, etc
Did you ever thought about a Precision m6800. It is not as sleek as the m3800, but more powerfull, better quality, has an awesome keyboard and official Ubuntu 12.04 support.
Thanks for the info. I am almost ready to order my M3800 - but I cannot decide which graphics card should I go with. I want to use two external screens connected to the E-Plus dock.
I understand you have the nVidia option. What drivers do you use? Are you still having any issues with your screens?
The M3800 doesn't work with the E-Plus dock and also is only available with one graphics option (Quadro with Intel integrated graphics). Nonetheless, it has an HDMI and a mini-DP port, so you can drive two monitors without a dock.
Not pointless at all. I'm glad to see interest in our systems. FWIW, I drive two 1900x1200 monitors with just Intel graphics on the M3800. I keep the Nvidia card off when unplugged too to significantly save on battery life. I don't game, though.
You can probably order the M4800 with Ubuntu preinstalled if you order over the phone. It annoys me to no end that you can't order that system online with Ubuntu on it even though the product description page clearly lists it as an officially supported OS.
I'm posting from 14.04 on my M3800. The new HDPI support is a gui scale factor in settings->screen display, and it seems to be quite effective.
However, I quite like the display at it's native resolution, so I have returned the scale factor to 1.
No other complaints with 14.04 either. it's all working very nicely for me. Bumblebee/nvidia card was easy to get working as 14.04 repos contain the 331.38 proprietary driver, without the need to use xorg-edgers.
An M3800 with Ubuntu pre-installed would pretty much be an instant purchase for me. I've been wanting to buy a Linux pre-installed laptop for a while. I was looking at System 76, but they don't seem to have a very good reputation for the build quality of their machines. The XPS 13 Developer Edition looks great, but I'd rather have a 15" screen and slightly better specs. At this point, I'm willing to pay a little extra to get something solid that will last and that doesn't force me to tinker with drivers to get it working.
Just bought a M3800 with QHD+, 512G SSD and 90W battery. Installed Ubuntu 14.04 as second OS (made BIOS booting the old way, divided/shrank the Win8 partition, and created a new 220G Ext4 for / and a 20G for swap). Do see some issues: font size/icons are still not always looking good, power consumption is higher than Win8 (gets warmer), touch-pad is very/over sensitive, moving the cursor while typing.I didnt succeed getting Grub to include Win8, so dual-booting via F12 during BIOS.
I would really like if Dell would create a PPA I could subscribe to and once for all install an "extra" package that took care of the special settings. The PC itself seems to be very nice and the QHD+ screen is simply the future!
Would like to hear what others have experienced with their M3800 running Ubuntu.
cgava
4 Posts
0
March 1st, 2014 02:00
Ravenor : with the same options (ssd 512 and 16 G ram) they have almost the same price in my country (2000 €)... So the price here does not seems to be a great difference in my knowing off course...
My only issue is : will I be able to fully use my hardware with a Linux distro instead of win.. At the moment my status on this risk is : pending... As soon as I get an announcement from dell either telling : they provide preinstalled Linux OR they accept to help the community to develop the appropriate drivers (without necessarily contributing or taking charge of bug) then I buy it... Otherwise I have to wait for this machine, or another, as soon as it fits my needs and is Linux friendly.
Best regards
ravenor
2 Posts
0
March 1st, 2014 11:00
I see, I guess if you want to go out and buy everything up-front it wont make much of a difference, but if you like to upgrade your components over time...
Ubuntu will get it close to perfect, over time. I am a long time stalwart of Ubuntu, however the closest they have ever come is close to perfect. OSX is perfect, and with HomeBrew (brew.sh) providing the missing package mangement features, I have parity with Linux.
I am writing this on an XPS17 L702x running Ubuntu 13.10, and everything works with steady improvements on every release. I did not like the matte screen and upgraded to the real-life one not offered at the time a year later at screencountry.com. I got rid o the dual 640Gb drives and installed a Samsung 840 Evo 512Gb SSD.
No regrets. However, for the last 5 years i have worked on MacBook Pros at work. If I am going to spend to similar money to the $2699 for top standard config MBP 15 with Retina, there will be no contest. Faster processeors, and much faster SSD, better battery and still unbeatable longevity and resale value.
I have supported Dell with Precisions and XPS's for going on 12 years now, but unless I see a 30% discount coupon from Dell, I can see my next system being a Dell.
Nikronus
4 Posts
0
March 4th, 2014 08:00
I recently received my XPS 13 Developer's Edition. I would turn right around and also purchase the Precision M3800. Thanks!
Elladan
2 Posts
0
March 7th, 2014 09:00
We use some XPS 13 DE laptops right now at work, but ultrabooks are a bit under powered for software development.
The M3800 seems like it would be a better fit for us.
pamanes7
2 Posts
0
March 10th, 2014 13:00
I would definitely buy the M3800, I was thinking in getting the XPS 13 DE for my b-day (November), but if the M3800 is available by then, I would get it without a doubt.
I have always had problems with drivers with Linux, but seeing Dell providing computers with Ubuntu pre-loaded brings linux and Dell to a whole new level.
Steam is really pushing games for Linux which is nice, dropbox has the client for linux, TrueCrypt, Skype, LibreOffice, VLC, Gimp, blender, Google Chrome Browser, etc
cheers,
Marco 187364
2 Posts
0
March 19th, 2014 02:00
Did you ever thought about a Precision m6800. It is not as sleek as the m3800, but more powerfull, better quality, has an awesome keyboard and official Ubuntu 12.04 support.
michalmiddleton
2 Posts
0
April 10th, 2014 17:00
matb33,
Thanks for the info. I am almost ready to order my M3800 - but I cannot decide which graphics card should I go with. I want to use two external screens connected to the E-Plus dock.
I understand you have the nVidia option. What drivers do you use? Are you still having any issues with your screens?
DELL-Jared D
2 Intern
•
350 Posts
0
April 10th, 2014 18:00
The M3800 doesn't work with the E-Plus dock and also is only available with one graphics option (Quadro with Intel integrated graphics). Nonetheless, it has an HDMI and a mini-DP port, so you can drive two monitors without a dock.
michalmiddleton
2 Posts
0
April 10th, 2014 18:00
Thanks Jared, it's been a long day... I completely switched from M4800 to M3800 for who knows what reason.
I am thinking about the M4800, which has the options I named. But it also make my post here pointless :)
Thanks anyway :)
DELL-Jared D
2 Intern
•
350 Posts
0
April 10th, 2014 19:00
Not pointless at all. I'm glad to see interest in our systems. FWIW, I drive two 1900x1200 monitors with just Intel graphics on the M3800. I keep the Nvidia card off when unplugged too to significantly save on battery life. I don't game, though.
You can probably order the M4800 with Ubuntu preinstalled if you order over the phone. It annoys me to no end that you can't order that system online with Ubuntu on it even though the product description page clearly lists it as an officially supported OS.
Finalfantasykid
37 Posts
0
April 19th, 2014 13:00
Has anyone tried 14.04 on this? Now that it supports HiDPI much better I'm interested in how everything works with it.
dave.ball
6 Posts
0
April 19th, 2014 15:00
I'm posting from 14.04 on my M3800. The new HDPI support is a gui scale factor in settings->screen display, and it seems to be quite effective.
However, I quite like the display at it's native resolution, so I have returned the scale factor to 1.
No other complaints with 14.04 either. it's all working very nicely for me. Bumblebee/nvidia card was easy to get working as 14.04 repos contain the 331.38 proprietary driver, without the need to use xorg-edgers.
Dave
k.krzyzaniak
1 Message
0
May 9th, 2014 03:00
I've just bought new XPS 15 and I am very interested in full linux support on it because I will use exclusively Debian
tsherif
1 Message
0
May 14th, 2014 12:00
An M3800 with Ubuntu pre-installed would pretty much be an instant purchase for me. I've been wanting to buy a Linux pre-installed laptop for a while. I was looking at System 76, but they don't seem to have a very good reputation for the build quality of their machines. The XPS 13 Developer Edition looks great, but I'd rather have a 15" screen and slightly better specs. At this point, I'm willing to pay a little extra to get something solid that will last and that doesn't force me to tinker with drivers to get it working.
Michael Sideniu
7 Posts
0
May 16th, 2014 05:00
Hi,
Just bought a M3800 with QHD+, 512G SSD and 90W battery. Installed Ubuntu 14.04 as second OS (made BIOS booting the old way, divided/shrank the Win8 partition, and created a new 220G Ext4 for / and a 20G for swap). Do see some issues: font size/icons are still not always looking good, power consumption is higher than Win8 (gets warmer), touch-pad is very/over sensitive, moving the cursor while typing.I didnt succeed getting Grub to include Win8, so dual-booting via F12 during BIOS.
I would really like if Dell would create a PPA I could subscribe to and once for all install an "extra" package that took care of the special settings. The PC itself seems to be very nice and the QHD+ screen is simply the future!
Would like to hear what others have experienced with their M3800 running Ubuntu.
Cheers, Michael