When DELL announced Project Sputnik (http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz) I was intrigued. I tested an early XPS 13 Developer Edition but found it overpriced and underpowered. I was impatiently awaiting the release of the 2015 version when DELL unexpectedly announced the immediate availability of the Precision m3800 DE. A colleague visiting family in the USA agreed to hand-carry the device back to China thus avoiding the 18% import tax imposed on tech imports.

Ubuntu 14.04 is installed in OEM configuration. The OS appears to be standard Ubuntu supplemented by Nvidia GPU drivers. However, I prefer a dedicated /home and Ubuntustudio. I attempted to repartition with my 14.04.1 USB, but it would not boot. With 14.04.2, boot and installation ran as smooth as warm butter.

Quand DELL annonça le projet Sputnik (http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz), je fus intrigué. J'avais testé un des premiers XPS 13 Developer Edition mais avais trouvé son prix trop élevé et sa configuration trop faible. J'attendais impatiemment la sortie de la version 2015 quand DELL annonça sans que personne ne s'y attende la disponibilité immédiate du Precision m3800 DE. Un collègue parti visiter sa famille aux États-Unis accepta de me rapporter un modèle en Chine me faisant économiser la taxe d'importation sur les matériels technologiques de 18 %.

Ubuntu 14.04 est installé en version OEM (Fabricant d'équipement d'origine). Le système d'exploitation semble être une Ubuntu standard à laquelle on a ajouté les pilotes graphiques Nvidia. Cependant, je préfère avoir une partition /home séparée et la version Ubuntustudio. J'ai tenté de re-partitionner le système avec une version live USB de Ubuntu 14.04.1, mais il n'arrivait pas à démarrer.

Compared to my venerable 2009 DELL Inspiron 1545, this machine is a racehorse. I generally test system performance with high-resolution video and a .blender file. Full-performance settings on the Nvidia GPU did cause the fan to operate loudly and continuously, but Big Buck Bunny at 2k and 60 FPS played like a dream. I rendered a 1920 x 1080 scene in Blender in minutes, and the Half-Life: Lost Coast game on high-settings played at 48 FPS!

The grub and lightdm login screens boot to an unusable 3840 x 2160 resolution. I have corrected the grub screen and expect to fix the login screen. I've adopted the 1920 x 1080 resolution for daily use. DELL thoughtfully provides a utility to restore the laptop to its factory-fresh OEM configuration and an additional utility for conducting system diagnostics. Sadly, after installing Ubuntu Studio, grub failed to register these two partitions, although they remain on the device – I fully expect to recover them via grub or the command line in the next few days.

Physical design: very nice. The touchpad is a bit oversensitive, but that can be adjusted. I have yet to find a need for the touchscreen. The display is bright and beautiful. Back-lit keys work out of the box. Sound is great. The build quality is on par with Apple MacBook, and this thing is so LIGHT compared to my Inspiron! I've not yet tested bluetooth.

Thus far, color me impressed. This machine easily meets or beats MacBook specifications in many metrics. I now have an OEM supported Ubuntu laptop that delivers a direct retort to smug MacBook toting peers. In many respects, this is the portable multimedia workstation I had been waiting for.

Random coolness: the prominently displayed Ubuntu sticker!

Pro: • lightweight • powerful Nvidia Quadro K1100m graphics • beautiful, high-resolution display • touchscreen on-demand • impressive performance

Con: • unimpressive battery life • noisy fan • few apps currently exploit touch-screen capability • standard re-installation of grub doesn't capture the custom DELL utility partitions.