Get a thinkpad (I've been liking my T14)
this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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I've been using XPS 13 as my "daily driver" for about 4-ish years now (I think the 9300 model came out in late 2019? Maybe 2020. I can't remeber tbh). It's been running Debian and I've never really had any problems with it. I didn't order the Developer Model as I wasn't going to run Ubuntu and I don't really need Linux preinstalled (and as added bonus, it comes with Windows OEM license, which you can use in your QEMU).
It has a shit battery time, but so does every Linux laptop. I don't want biometrics on my devices, so I've never used the facescanning or figerprint sensors, no idea if they work, I'd assume they do.
I've connected it to a USB-C hub with dual 1080p screens, webcam, microphone, external USB etc in the office. Works perfectly. I travel quite a lot, it's light and easy carry, I bought a small USB-C travel charger. Trackpad palm detection in Linux is bad, so I normally carry a small travel mouse with me and disable the trackpad if I need to do some writing.
It's got a SD-micro card slot, which is very useful, I can store my disk encryption keys on it and take it with me when I need to leave the laptop in hotel rooms etc.
Never had a problem connecting it to any presentation display at customers. I miss ThinkPad keyboard layout, but it is what it is. Not a dealbreaker.
Overall, it's served me well over these years - and there's not much signs of wear and tear on it. Solid build quality.
I got great battery life improvements with TLP.
I also found that AMD laptops do a lot better on idle power draw. Getting 12 hours of video playback out of my Asus Zenbook 14 compared to 10 hours on windows.
That should work, though you may want to look into Framework instead.
I ended up getting a System 76 laptop. The Lemur Pro to be exact.
For Linux compatibility, something like this https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/ would be better than Dell XPS 13.
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From what I heard, the Dell XPS 13 is one option to run a Linux distro, but it isn't the only option. Should it not work for you, another alternative you could consider is the Acer Swift 3. That's the laptop I currently own, and I run Arch Linux on it. I have not yet encountered any issues with it. Prior to running Arch, I have tried Linux Mint and Pop OS on it. I wouldn't recommend Linux Mint on a laptop, not because it's a bad distro (Linux Mint is quite good as a beginner distro), but because the Cinnamon DE isn't great for laptops. The GNOME and Cosmic DE are more suited for laptop workflows.
Ultra thin laptops look cool, but suck in almost every other way. If you need thin then get a MacBook Air.
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