Do you run Linux on it? Apparently the XPS15 can't be ordered with Linux [1], so you're paying the $100 MS tax and as of a year ago, installing Linux was not without issues [2].

[1] https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-...

[2] https://medium.com/@kemra102/linux-on-the-dell-xps-15-919e6d...

Personally I want a 15-inch laptop with Linux preinstalled or perfectly supported, a great trackpad, a bright screen so I can work outdoors, and USB A so I can plug in my mech keyboards without dongles because I lose them all the time.

I would assume a mechanical keyboard is not being used portably? Couldn't the dongle just stay with the keyboard?

I do not use Linux on my XPS15. It's just a personal preference but I prefer Windows on my personal machines. I use many virtual machines on the laptop, and those have no issues, but that is a bit different than running it as a OS ;).

But I do love the laptop a lot! That is quite annoying that there are some Linux problems and that you pay a bit extra for MS. I stick with using Linux at work when I am purely doing development work, and at home when doing casual stuff, like a little coding, gaming, and web browsing I prefer Windows.

My previous employer got me a new macbook pro and every couple weeks I either lost a dongle or it broke. The cheap ones are really fragile, and the better ones still not great. If I had only one machine, or all machines took the dongle, I probably wouldn't lose so many at least.

I do use a mech portably...I like to carry one in my laptop bag and set up at a picnic table at a nearby park. I'll use the built-in keyboard for light work but with heavy typing I need the mech for ergonomics.

If you add a backlit KB I'll buy it. Room for a second HD would be a bonus but not a requirement.

And with the USB C docking station you can have two (three??) external monitors as well as regular USB, sound and Ethernet.

The only thing I'm really missing is an ethernet port on the laptop itself, but that's hard in this form factor.

Using an XPS 13 2-1 from 2017 and have 3 external monitors via the Dell TB16 Thunderbolt dock.

Yeah I have had some cases where I wish I had an ethernet port, but not enough cases yet to make me buy a USB-Ethernet adapter.

Don't. I got both, and while the xps 13 is good gear, the 15 has been nothing but pain. The name is the only thing they got in common, and dell stayed silent on numerous issues about it.

This was my experience with a previous gen version that I was given at work too; half the hardware was different, it was hit or miss whether Linux would work with the wifi hardware you got (if they make a developer edition of the 15" though I assume that one would always come with a working chipset), it was falling apart much quicker than people with the 13" versions were, the keyboard was terrible (although the keyboard on the 13" was terrible too, but it didn't stick as much as the 15" did, though that could just be bad luck), etc.

I already have the XPS15 and have nothing but good things to say about it. I have had zero issues with it and love it.

What issues do you have? I do not notice a difference from the xps13 quality.

Random blue screens.

Poor USB-C support (sometimes ethernet died, sometimes screens changed resolutions...). The problem kept changing from BIOS update to BIOS update.

Then the USB-C harware failed: I could use it only if my laptop stayed perfectly still.

Only a few hours of battery life.

Drunk touchpad.

Speakers died after 3 month.

The 2 first points were fixed after years of hit and miss BIOS updates. It felt like beta testing the product.

Tons of complains from many users on Dell forum, with zero help from Dell.

Given the price of the machine, it's a damn shame.

That is rather unfortunate. I have had zero of these problems you describe with my XPS15 laptop and I have had it around 5-6 months now. I hope it will stay that way.