thanks for your answer! I can live without touch interface (I am mainly interested in having a fanless notebook, so the tablet mode is not crucial for me), but what kind of issues with the keyboard dock do I have to expect (I do not need hot-plug-ability)?
Using Windows as primary OS is not an option to me.
The keyboard dock isn't a traditional USB connector, Hence it may not be recognized at all. And since the pointing device is part of the keyboard, we may not get it to work completely.
I mean, the pointer movement will be fine but not the gestures. I use Linux on one of my XPS laptops, Though everything seems to be working, I do notice intermittent glitches.
I wouldn't advise you to install Linux on this PC as this was built for Windows 8. However you may give it a try and if it works fine, you can continue using it.
Some of the detachable laptop BIOS are 32 bit. I had this problem with Acer laptop. This makes it impossible to install Linux unless you get into boot sequence of Linux and customize boot code with this 32 bit BIOS to boot with 64 bit CPU.
@susancragin - I'm typing this on a new Dell 7350 detatchable Ultra 7, running Debian 13 and Gnome 48.7. It's a great device and much better than using either a tablet or something like a Surface Pro. It's lightning fast on Linux/Gnome rather than the absolute mess that Win11 is.
There are three things that don't work for me on Debian/Gnome:
1) The front and rear cameras don't work. They're not even recognised.
2) The volume keys on the side of the screen work fine when the keyboard is attached, but not when the keyboard is detached.
3) In terms of the keyboard, that works fine although the lightup icons for mute, etc on the mousepad don't work - I've not tried to make those work though as they seem like duplicates of keys that are within reach on the keyboard anyway.
Other than those, I'd 100% recommend the Dell 7350.
I just swapped my NVME for a 2TB one, so my original Win11 NVME is able to be re-installed if required, but I don't see that ever happening.
@Dell-Gokul G - You can be assured that the Dell 7350 Detachable keyboard works great with Linux. I assume from your comment about Win8, you're referring to a much older version of the Dell 7350, but the new one I bought in early 2026 is absolutely fine. There are some things that don't work, but the keyboard isn't one of those things.
bwildenhain
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
1
May 13th, 2015 09:00
Hello,
thanks for your answer! I can live without touch interface (I am mainly interested in having a fanless notebook, so the tablet mode is not crucial for me), but what kind of issues with the keyboard dock do I have to expect (I do not need hot-plug-ability)?
Using Windows as primary OS is not an option to me.
Kind regards,
B. Wildenhain
Dell-Gokul G
780 Posts
0
May 13th, 2015 09:00
Hi,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
We have not tested any Linux distribution on this machine from the factory.
Only supported OS we tried and tested on this convertible is Windows 8.1
You may face some issues with touch interface and also when using the keyboard dock when you run Linux.
It is advisable not to install Linux as primary OS.
Hope that answers your query.
Thank you
Dell-Gokul G
780 Posts
0
May 14th, 2015 04:00
Hi,
The keyboard dock isn't a traditional USB connector, Hence it may not be recognized at all. And since the pointing device is part of the keyboard, we may not get it to work completely.
I mean, the pointer movement will be fine but not the gestures. I use Linux on one of my XPS laptops, Though everything seems to be working, I do notice intermittent glitches.
I wouldn't advise you to install Linux on this PC as this was built for Windows 8. However you may give it a try and if it works fine, you can continue using it.
Thank you
Harshal117
1 Message
0
November 28th, 2019 03:00
Some of the detachable laptop BIOS are 32 bit. I had this problem with Acer laptop. This makes it impossible to install Linux unless you get into boot sequence of Linux and customize boot code with this 32 bit BIOS to boot with 64 bit CPU.
susancragin
1 Rookie
•
1 Message
0
May 15th, 2024 18:11
By now, you should have figured this out.
dsyra49b92
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
February 4th, 2026 16:35
@susancragin - I'm typing this on a new Dell 7350 detatchable Ultra 7, running Debian 13 and Gnome 48.7. It's a great device and much better than using either a tablet or something like a Surface Pro. It's lightning fast on Linux/Gnome rather than the absolute mess that Win11 is.
There are three things that don't work for me on Debian/Gnome:
1) The front and rear cameras don't work. They're not even recognised.
2) The volume keys on the side of the screen work fine when the keyboard is attached, but not when the keyboard is detached.
3) In terms of the keyboard, that works fine although the lightup icons for mute, etc on the mousepad don't work - I've not tried to make those work though as they seem like duplicates of keys that are within reach on the keyboard anyway.
Other than those, I'd 100% recommend the Dell 7350.
I just swapped my NVME for a 2TB one, so my original Win11 NVME is able to be re-installed if required, but I don't see that ever happening.
dsyra49b92
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
February 4th, 2026 16:38
@Dell-Gokul G - You can be assured that the Dell 7350 Detachable keyboard works great with Linux. I assume from your comment about Win8, you're referring to a much older version of the Dell 7350, but the new one I bought in early 2026 is absolutely fine. There are some things that don't work, but the keyboard isn't one of those things.