I can certainly recommend the XPS 15 as a dev laptop. Don't get the high end screen it eats battery like crazy. I run Ubuntu as my only OS and it works perfectly out of the box. Keyboard is excellent and the screen is big enough for daily use. USB-C hub works very smoothly.

Personally I find that the two things that make the most difference to me are the keyboard and the screen real estate. So if you can find a shop where you can try typing on a variety of laptops. Other specs you can equalise but the hardware is fixed when you're on the move. Where I work I have a separate keyboard and monitor as full size and full travel keyboards are nicer to work with than most laptop keyboards, including the XPS.

I like the XPS 15 screen size, although for some development on Windows the high resolution means you're squinting at tiny fonts if the program doesn't scale up. Performance wise, it does what I ask it to and only really has an issue with very heavy tasks, which is expected for a laptop of this spec.

I bought a refurbed Dell XPS 15 9550 a little over a year ago. I love it. I run Ubuntu on it and I've yet to have any problems.

Only negatives are that the webcams in an odd place, the speakers are awful, and it's a bit heavy.

The only XPS competitor I considered was various comparable Thinkpad models. They have a very different look and keyboard feel, so it's really down to personal preference or what specific deals you can find. Older but still reliable Thinkpads can be incredibly inexpensive, and are also very easy to modify.

I saw the Dell G5 (entry level gaming series from Dell) with a i7-9750H, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, RTX 2060 and 512 GB SSD for currently 1260 EUR (screen is Full HD IPS), that's quite a nice deal.

But in general in regards to laptop / computers, there's no one size fits all. It really depends on what your focus is.

I'm shelling out for a Mini Tower soon, including a new Ryzen. Not sure yet if going for the 8 core 3700X or go all in with the 16 core 3950X.

If you like portability, the Dell XPS or something like Razer Blade (Stealth) or MSI GS series might be nice. If you need power, maybe something more in the lines of an XMG Ultra with a desktop CPU fits better.

It's a great laptop, I have it for 3 years already and it works perfectly... until the battery died, two weeks ago. Now i'm searching for a replacement and dell's support is awful. They don't take care the responsibility of the computer parts. Instead, they forward you to a 3rd party partner who should provide you them. If I only had Apple care..

I just started using an XPS 13 as my work equipment and it's... Okay?

The trackpad is okay but nothing spectacular, feels worse than a MacBook, the keyboard is okay but slightly mushy.

Small bezels and generally alright design, but that's about it.

I wouldn't prefer it to any random well specced laptop. A price comparison site lists my configuration as costing 1700 euro which is a stupid amount of money if you ask me. My wife's old Zenbook feels about as premium and certainly held up great after 4-5 years.

I was going to go for the XPS 13. It’s a great laptop, but now that it appears Apple might be making a decent laptop once again, I’ll probably shoot for the MacBook Pro 16” instead.

I have an xps13 (9360) running linux; it's been extremely sturdy and relatively painless to upgrade/repair (except for the memory, which is soldered on). it's also very compact. I've had almost no driver issues (one was resolved by a BIOS update). The battery still lasts ~7 hours after 2.5 years. keyboard is good. would strongly recommend, especially if you're moving around a lot.

Personally I prefer a 15" Latitude or maybe Precision. It depends on your needs of course.

I have dell xps 9570 and i DON'T RECOMMEND it...it's noisy,fan is constantly on, weird noises, coil whining, random freezing...

Buy Lenovo x1

I prefer better keyboards, like on the Thinkpad

Best is cheapest. Because you can have one or more spares. And you don't cry when it dies or you forget it somewhere

LG Gram 17