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Comment by mort96 | Hacker News Reader

I've had a couple XPS laptops over the years, one XPS 13 and one XPS 15. Both have had issues with their trackpads getting wonky. They would just increasingly ignore inputs and react incorrectly to my finger. The XPS 15 (the 2-in-1 model) would also sometimes just not go to sleep and cook itself in my bag, and its keyboard has keys which just break over time under normal use, and that's not covered under warranty. You can't just replace the keyboard, you have to pay out of pocket to replace the whole top case of the laptop.

Your experience might differ, but I'm not getting a Dell again.

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> The XPS 15 (the 2-in-1 model) would also sometimes just not go to sleep and cook itself in my bag

happened to my XPS 15, Thats because they remives normal sleep mode and replaced it with always on standby. had to switch ti hybernation

The keyboard/trackpad giving up is the battery swelling. And it happens to nearly all of them I think. At least if they run hot.

I had one plugged in 24/7 for 3 years and it’s usually a few months until the battery swells until the keyboard stops working. I had the battery replaced three times.

If only they allowed running without battery I’d get one again. Or if they started testing their machines properly. Great support, sloppy thermal design and testing by Dell.

That’s due to swelling batteries, which is apparently common in the xps line

It's also an issue on HPs similar x360 line. And it is a consequence of optimizing for the arbitrary metric "slimness" at the expense of cooling, while stuffing in high-TDP CPUs. Who on earth has a bag or backpack where 15 mm vs 21 mm thickness means the laptop won't fit?

Get something with a bit of thickness to it, like the Latitude 5530 (which Dell will also sell with Ubuntu) and stick to the low-TDP CPU versions.

If your dev work is CPU-intensive you should be doing it on a workstation or server anyways. A machine where your cooling solution can dissipate 3-400W without batting an eyelid is going to beat the crap out of a "high-end" 45W TDP laptop.

When you're on the road, just use SSH with tmux or RDP or whatever you prefer. At your desk, set up a monitor and a workstation for the serious work and keep the laptop on the side for meetings, emails etc. A USB switch for the mouse and keyboard works well and is like $30.

My 2019 16" mbp will randomly try to cook itself in my bag too. Apple never has any answers for any of the bullcrap power management that happens.

The 2019 MacBook Pros are basically hot plates with a computer attached.

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