Dell presented last week its new set of super-thin XPS 13 developer laptops equipped with Ubuntu Linux 14.04 and Intel Skylake chips. All models come with high-end Core i7 processors and quad QHD+ touch screens, starting at $1,550. Global availability is still to be announced.

I7 models can be acquired with 8GB or 16GB of RAM, and solid state drives that go from 256GB to 1TB for the most expensive version. All models include an Intel 8260 dual band wireless. Dell also plans to add an i5 option later, which will come with 8GB RAM and 256GB of local storage, said Barton George, Senior Principal Engineer, at the CTO at Dell.

Dell presented last week its new set of super-thin XPS 13 developer laptops equipped with Ubuntu Linux 14.04 and Intel Skylake chips. Photo credit: Tech Drive-In
Dell presented last week its new set of super-thin XPS 13 developer laptops equipped with Ubuntu Linux 14.04 and Intel Skylake chips. Photo credit: Tech Drive-In

All XPS 13 Developer laptops feature a 13-inch touchscreen display (3200 by 1800 screen resolution). According to Barton George, they will only be available in the United States at first, but Canadian and European models are on the way.

The XPS 13 developer editions are part of the Project Sputnik, an internal project at Dell that started with the idea of creating a developer laptop. According to Barton, the project first received a $40K investment and has already gained more than 10 million dollars in revenue, just by focusing on developers.

“As the project has evolved we have continued to solicit and incorporate feedback. Thanks to your support the XPS 13 developer edition has gone from one, to multiple configs.” He wrote in a blog post.

Dell Precision workstation notebooks

Dell also presented new models of its Linux-based workstation notebook. The Precision 5510 mobile workstation has Ubuntu 15.04 preloaded, a 15-inch 4K InfinityEdge display and weighs just 3.93 lbs. When talking about design, it has a beautiful chassis that is less than 0.44” thick. Moreover, it has NVIDIA Quadro M1000M graphics and can be boosted with up to 32GB of RAM.

Until now, the only model that is confirmed to be available within a week is the Dell Precision 7510 mobile workstation, which is described by Mr. Barton George as the “world’s most powerful 15-inch mobile workstation”. It comes with 3TB of storage and 65GB of RAM and a 4k Ultra HD (3840×2160) screen. This models will be available worldwide.

Source: Barton George