When comparing Gluglug laptops vs Dell Laptops, the Slant community recommends Dell Laptops for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux laptop vendors?” Dell Laptops is ranked 2nd while Gluglug laptops is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Dell Laptops is:
The XPS family laptops have great build quality. Aluminum chassis and everything.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro No "Management Engine" backdoor
Gluglug avoids post-2008 Intel chipsets due to the proprietary "Management Engine" which allows remote access to the computer (including the screen, RAM, and storage), and has been exploited to develop low-level rootkits.
Pro Runs Libreboot
The bootloader is totally free from proprietary blobs, giving you total control over what runs on your system.
Pro FSF Respects Your Freedom certified
Gluglugs laptops have been FSF Respects Your Freedom certified since Dec. 2013.
Pro Great quality
The XPS family laptops have great build quality. Aluminum chassis and everything.
Pro Battery life
Using one of the XPS family laptops, it has great battery life. Browsing + Working: 68 hours; Only writing (Office/Gedit): 1012 hours; Gaming: 3~4 hours.
Pro Great Linux support
Other than running well Linux, it has Firmware updates and functions such as Keyboard lighting very well integrated with the OS.
Cons
Con Old
The devices are pretty old IBM laptops, while they do work are definitely not going to be the best performers.
Con If preinstalled with Windows, the disk is fully encrypted.
If preinstalled with Windows, it is harder to install Linux since the disk is fully encrypted.
This means you need to decrypt the disk in Windows, resize the Windows partition, install Linux, and encrypt Windows partition again...
Con Hard to find preinstalled with Linux
If you live outside US or the UK you might find it difficult to find a Dell with Linux preinstalled.
Con Expensive
Although the price is fair, is still is high. For an XPS Dell 13 9360 with some good specs, it will easily rise to prices around 1800€.
But if you have that money to spend, it is totally worth it!