# Dell XPS

45 Hacker News commenters recommended Dell XPS and 69 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 6 years (17 owners).

**Verdict:** Recommended for good screens, long lifespans and Linux support. Common caveats are short battery life and hardware defects.

## Why people recommend it

- Lasts many years in use (6 comments): "They always had nice screens, good performance, and held up to the stresses and strains of travel and heavy usage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50231587)) "are all very nice, and have lasted for just as long as Macbooks do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46575583)) "I'm typing this on an 8 year old Dell XPS laptop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46763969))
- Easy support, repairs and parts (4 comments): "Laptop was shit, but after a few repairs, motherboard replacement then complete unit replaced, it is working really well!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46159762)) "Extremely impressive logistics. I guess they reuse the same network as for emergency server parts/repairs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45942535)) "It's not surprising that it would have better than average support." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034446))
- Good screens (3 comments): "They always had nice screens, good performance, and held up to the stresses and strains of travel and heavy usage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50231587)) "I had the 17" XPS, which was lovely. A nice 16:10 screen, which was the main thing I was looking for." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46577964)) "I'd take the bigger trackpad and better screen of the XPS/precision any day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46559432))
- Works well with Linux (3 comments): "Dell have pre-installed & fully supported Ubuntu on a bunch of their Precision, XPS, and, more recently, Pro laptops for over a decade now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49420419)) "A clean install of Ubuntu and the touchscreen and all pen features worked perfectly and never had a hiccup since." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46378767)) "My Dell XPS had pretty good battery life on linux." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46010308))

## What people warn about

- Short battery life (3 comments): "fine aside from the annoyingly brief battery life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904137)) "still works great (except the battery)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47551224)) "the battery life in use was poor and they tended to need the battery replacing quite quickly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889500))
- Hardware defects and failures (4 comments): "Power states are completely broken. Laptop will randomly turn on when it's in my bag and rev up to ten thousand degrees." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46118119)) "I've also experienced numerous thermal issues with Dell XPS'es (keyboard de-gluing and popping up, for instance)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50236372)) "I've had Dell XPSs and Lenovo Thinkpads exclusively prior to Framework, and they all died by component failure" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49349441))
- Trackpad palm-touch problems (3 comments): "It was a maddening guessing game, where occasionally - but not always - the edge of my lower thumb would touch the track pad" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46578459)) "I'd be typing along and then I guess some portion of my thumb towards the palm would brush it and WOOSH" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46577786)) "My work laptop (18 month old dell XPS) can’t hold a candle to my 6 year old MacBook’s trackpad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002906))
- Older models lose driver support (2 comments): "their driver team isn't supporting my 8 year old XPS anymore as sleeping is... problematic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46764033)) "Dell XPS used to be like this, but unfortunately Dell discontinued them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46179937))

## 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+laptop&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-laptops/sf/xps)

## Cite as

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