# Dell XPS 13

32 Hacker News commenters recommended Dell XPS 13 and 24 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 6.5 years (11 owners).

**Verdict:** Owners praise its small build, display and Linux support, and say it lasts for years. Critics say later models lost quality and value, with throttling and soldered parts.

## Why people recommend it

- Lasts for years, still working (6 comments): "I've been running XPS13 dev edition since 2014 and have been pretty happy with them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716757)) "running Fedora on Dell XPS 13 for a couple years with zero problems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46299848)) "My XPS 13 is still doing well after the last nearly 6 years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578161))
- Works well with Linux (5 comments): "It's (even for today's standards) lightweight and Linux compatibility has been perfect from day one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585288)) "running Fedora on Dell XPS 13 for a couple years with zero problems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46299848)) "Get one with Linux pre installed and it just works as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799245))
- Small and light (3 comments): "It's (even for today's standards) lightweight and Linux compatibility has been perfect from day one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585288)) "I've found the Dell XPS 13's to be an excellent choice for stowing in my service bag" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48354643)) "it's great because it's so small and light" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46381707))
- Good display and keyboard (3 comments): "It's a solid laptop. Good display, good port selection, good keyboard, even trackpad is not bad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47357891)) "whose keyboard was miles better and it still works today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106308)) "fairly nice CNC machined body (1 kg) and nice screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48329179))

## What people warn about

- Quality fell in later generations (5 comments): "Then they ruined it with the following generations of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47333405)) "The XPS 13 dev was the peak of dell" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50231037)) "Now the XPS line has fallen as well, as apparently even the SSD now gets soldered to the motherboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47552537))
- Weak performance and throttling (3 comments): "Looks neat for sure. However you are sacrificing some core performance on the CPU" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48331854)) "My Dell XPS 13 is probably not that powerful in terms of performance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441241)) "All of the Windows ones have horrible throttling problems, my $3k dell xps 13z was just terrible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49758427))
- Hinge, touchpad and build problems (3 comments): "the screen hinge sensor broke. Can’t open the laptop more than like, 20 degrees or so before screen shuts off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45868971)) "it was a terrible experience. Very hot, build quality was poor, touchpad was small, speakers were terrible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46119631)) "Both had significant touchpad issues: not sure if that's a driver thing or a hardware thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46377684))
- Headphone jack removed (2 comments): "Not all things are designed that way; sometimes the jack is right on the main board" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227507)) "Kind of a bonehead move by Dell to leave out the headphone jack though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49217138))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dell+XPS+13+laptop&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-13-laptop/spd/xps-13-9340-laptop)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Dell XPS 13", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dell-xps-13/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).