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Macbook Vs Dell XPS 13 2015
- Thread starter freitz
- Start date
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the screen on the XPS with its thin bezel looks awesome.
I'm a Mac guy, so was never going to buy the XPS anyway - as i prefer OS X.
But it looked really nice. The keyboard was a major put off though. It felt plastically, as it would bend under your fingers as you typed. To me it felt cheap and nasty to type on, something I didn't think I'd be able to get used to.
Nothing is as good as the MacBook Trackpads.
Mind you some people hate the new keyboard on the rMB. Personally I love it. I think that Im a heavy typer, so it works really well for me.
That screen though...................stunning.
I'm a Mac guy, so was never going to buy the XPS anyway - as i prefer OS X.
But it looked really nice. The keyboard was a major put off though. It felt plastically, as it would bend under your fingers as you typed. To me it felt cheap and nasty to type on, something I didn't think I'd be able to get used to.
Nothing is as good as the MacBook Trackpads.
Mind you some people hate the new keyboard on the rMB. Personally I love it. I think that Im a heavy typer, so it works really well for me.
That screen though...................stunning.
both screens are amazing. I love the retina screen on my rMB. The thinner bezel on the XPS though does make the screen look better in its chassis. The actual screen quality though, i cannot comment, as i didn't have them side by side to compare them properly.
Agreed.
In terms of spec's - XPS wins, the only down fall is the slower performance of the SSD which someone could switch out anyway
In terms of design - Macbook is thinner and lighter - I like the look of the macbook personally I would say
is the winner here but both look greatAs the owner of a Dell XPS I'd have to say the build quality and experience is excellent. The standout differences I would say is that the keyboard quality (I had to get mine replaced 4 times due to broken keys or broken backlight) and the touchpad (not as feature filled or as accurate) are not as refined as those on the macs. That said I'm not at all getting frustrated with it. Best windows laptop by far and battery life... hard to say but I reckon I'm getting over 10 hours maybe more with it. Course it will depend on your usage!
I was considering the Dell XPS 13 for a long while before deciding on the rMB last week. From what I could from longer term comments (by doing a google search mostly on reddit and dell's forums, e.g. "site:reddit.com" and setting "last month" for the search range) there were a few concerns I eventually had:
- Report of the SSDs subject to the same TLC read issues (slowing down for data not written in a couple months) that Samsung 840 EVO SSD had. This sounded limited to just some units (sounded like different SSD suppliers, but not 100%, I only found one or two references to this).
- Long-term touchpad issues, losing precision overtime, some firmware fixes to improve but didn't sound 100% fixed. This sounded like the biggest complaint right now. Maybe it just needs a good cleaning once in a while.
- Varying reports of screen brightness (some sources claimed 400 nits, others only measured 250 nits). Hopefully the large variation is due to the adaptive brightness control and not manufacturing QC issues.
- Keyboard debounce (rrrreaaappppttttinnngg keys a lot) briefly popped up and was subsequently fixed by a firmware release.
- Battery only rated to 300 cycles of recharge, not 1000 that Apple standardizes across their line.
- No TPM in the consumer models, only those sold to business? Making hard drive encryption a bit less convenient. This sounded like an export-restriction issue, not all that specific to Dells.
- Power cord "turning gray" and disintegrating after a couple months.
I'd take a lot of the above with a grain of salt though, since it was just limited user comment and not very well substantiated. It may be worthwhile looking into some of those with more depth. On the plus side, bezel looks great, very lightweight for the screen size, processor, and battery life (especially FHD model). If I were to buy a PC ultraportable it'd be the one, despite the concerns.
- Report of the SSDs subject to the same TLC read issues (slowing down for data not written in a couple months) that Samsung 840 EVO SSD had. This sounded limited to just some units (sounded like different SSD suppliers, but not 100%, I only found one or two references to this).
- Long-term touchpad issues, losing precision overtime, some firmware fixes to improve but didn't sound 100% fixed. This sounded like the biggest complaint right now. Maybe it just needs a good cleaning once in a while.
- Varying reports of screen brightness (some sources claimed 400 nits, others only measured 250 nits). Hopefully the large variation is due to the adaptive brightness control and not manufacturing QC issues.
- Keyboard debounce (rrrreaaappppttttinnngg keys a lot) briefly popped up and was subsequently fixed by a firmware release.
- Battery only rated to 300 cycles of recharge, not 1000 that Apple standardizes across their line.
- No TPM in the consumer models, only those sold to business? Making hard drive encryption a bit less convenient. This sounded like an export-restriction issue, not all that specific to Dells.
- Power cord "turning gray" and disintegrating after a couple months.
I'd take a lot of the above with a grain of salt though, since it was just limited user comment and not very well substantiated. It may be worthwhile looking into some of those with more depth. On the plus side, bezel looks great, very lightweight for the screen size, processor, and battery life (especially FHD model). If I were to buy a PC ultraportable it'd be the one, despite the concerns.
Not that I've noticed at all.
My last three laptops were MacBook pros / air. I really like the mac, and there's a good chance I'd go back at some point but I think the quality gap Apple had over the competition has closed considerably.
