Pricing madness and WiFi issues on the New XPS 13 (UK)

Just to clear some things up:

1. The Broadcom module is supported by Linux, via a proprietary driver. In most Linux distros (including the ubiquitous Ubuntu) this driver is not loaded during installation, so you need some other way to connect to your wifi AP. Most people find USB tethering their phone to be the simplest solution. Once installed, the driver is either automatically loaded or installing an additional package could be required (in Fedora, for example).

2. You can buy an Intel 7265 module on Amazon for 30 quid.

(ps: your machine is not identical to the DE version - it has 4GB memory and 128GB SSD, while the DE is a 8GB/256GB config...)

Haha, actually I just brought it when there was a deal on and got the 8GB/256GB model for just £800.

I spoke to somebody from Sputnik on IRC about it and he confirmed that the developer editions ship with Broadcom WiFI. He told me that the only models that ship with the 7265 are those with remote management features sold to large companies and are not available to the public.

I am quite dissapointed that Dell did not decide to ship the DE with the Intel adaptor. It would have been far better to ship with a card which does not require proprietary drivers. Apparently their hands were tied and they had to use the same hardware as the Windows models.

I am going to get the 7625 from Amazon, but IMHO this is fuss I should not have had to deal with. Dell should not have shipped a laptop with a Broadcom WiFi adaptor and marketed it as "works with linux". Arguably it does not work with Linux because there is no mainline driver for the WiFi.

To play the devil's advocate, they never said it  "works with Linux" - they just happen to have a configuration with a special version of Ubuntu preinstalled and with support.

s/Ubuntu\|Linux/Windows/g

This is a silly argument to make. I am experiencing poor WiFi reliability and it is entirely down to Dell choosing to ship a Linux laptop with a WiFi module from one of  the most notoriously Linux
unfriendly manufactures.

To play the devil's advocate, they never said it  "works with Linux" - they just happen to have a configuration with a special version of Ubuntu preinstalled and with support.

Also I have to add that the Sputnik developer team went out of their way to make sure that the known bugs and issues are fixed not just in their release but also in the mainline kernel. I think it would have taken much longer had the Sputnik project not existed.

Yes, I am also a bit disappointed by not having the 7265 by default, but you really can't complain given the price (especially with the deal you got... if you still feel that this was a rip-off, go buy a Thinkpad X1, which is much better quality and has excellent Linux support OOB, though it costs around £1500 with a similar config... your choice).

Hello,

First of all the idea of buying an intel 7625 was quite refreshing. I was about to return the laptop. May I ask you if you had the chance in the meantime to install the 7625 in it?