> real people have tested my exact hardware with the OS and drivers I intend to use

> When I buy a dell or Lenovo

It's still nothing guaranteed with Linux distros, it's just that "mostly works" (for various definitions of "works") state is maintained: recently there was a quite big kernel bug delivered as a trivial update, which affected LTS version of Ubuntu, including Dells and many other brands, as soon as there was a second monitor attached to the machine. The recent Dell docks more didn't than did work for a while, it took many firmware updates to make them "mostly" working. But it still doesn't behave how it should. Etc.

Yes, I don't use desktop linux. When I spoke about dell/lenovo I only have experience with Windows. If I ever did buy a deskop linux machine I'd buy one of the preinstalled ones to ensure I wouldn't have to fight the tiny issues with multi-screen DPI, various sleep states etc. Those things are hard enough for manufacturers to get right in windows and Mac OS it seems.

> When I spoke about dell/lenovo I only have experience with Windows.

As far as I see, even with Dell, the modern hardware is too commonly untested and poorly developed or integrated with the OS, even with Windows: in my company I don't know anybody who uses built-in trackpads, as it's a common knowledge that they "don't work" but everybody carries the mouse around. I've tried to use the trackpad only to see it broken between different Windows versions (so very like Linux). The same story with the docks -- they seem to worked badly even on Windows.

The Dell puts their brand on the final product, but they just integrate whatever they can get at the moment. And even if you integrate Intel devices, they can remain in the software support limbo (happened to me with the Intel WiFi cards which remained unsupported and not working on Windows 10, even if Microsoft forced the upgrade as "everything works").

It's a sad state of the hardware - software integration. And knowing the Apple's problem with the keyboards, it seems that the only portable devices currently fully working "as they should" are the phones and tablets.

That's amazing. We used Dell Lattitides for years at my work with docks, with no problems. Now we have a bunch of Dell XPS 15 machines, with the new USB-C docks, and very few problems. No trackpad problems on Windows 10 at all. The only problems we have are related to software vendors who haven't updated their crap to scale properly on a high resolution monitor. A couple of times, a bad driver update, easily fixed by rolling it back.

> with the new USB-C docks, and very few problems.

I can also claim that I have "very few" problem with the thes docks, as long as I don't use them. After the initial (repeated) problem I've just learned not to hot plug anything in their USB ports, but only directly in the notebook (somehow hot plugging in the dock always results in the confusion of some level of OS -- no idea why). Then, they do work as the power supply and the monitor drivr... until you have to turn the computer off an on again. Then they still behave quite randomly. Sometimes they don't show the picture. Sometimes they block somewhere. Some strange "resets" happen even as the OS is fully booted and waits for my input. Note I keep the firmware updates to the latest version.

So yes, the users learned to say "it works" if they find any workaround that lets them do something without interruption, and then, "oh I never turn my computer off anyway" or "oh I never use the trackpad anyway, I use the mouse" etc. E.g. one of my colleagues typically keeps his setup turned on and plugged in without plugging in anything for at least a month, so he simply sees the problems less often. But when I do observe what happens when he plugs something or turns the computer on, the same story.

Yep, even with Dell you need to pick one of the good ones. That's perhaps one in 5 machines, even in the good ranges like the precisions/xps (mostly the same for a lot of models).

This wasn't the case with macbooks until recently, but now it is

I think it depends on how long you keep the laptop. If you get a new one every year then it's pretty insane to deal with new driver and software issues each time.

But if you keep the laptop for many years it might be the opposite. If you can work out the software issues given some time investment, and then have a computer you like using, it could be worth it. If the option that "just works" has a keyboard you hate, and you will be stuck with it for years, that seems a lot worse than one weekend wasted on driver issues or whatever.