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PCWorld Puts Latest 15 in. Macbook Pro Against XPS 15
- Thread starter peglegjack
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Yeah but for the Mac Pro user they will have to wait until after 2018, you can't tell me some Mac Pro users havent moved on or will until that time comes...they completely left that segment of people behind. We don't even know if Apple has designs in place or could it stretch to 2019. I think this has been an eye opener for Apple recently and hopefully puts things into perspective while getting back to its customer base.
It depends what you look for. It can also be said that XPS has fewer usb ports, fewer video-out ports, fewer TB3 ports, its TB3 port is two times slower and cannot be used for charging. All these are facts, too.
Also, as for the keyboard - only some people use that "you'll get used to it" line. For a lot of people it's great from day one. I loved it the moment I tried it, I did not need to get used to it. And I also really dislike the XPS keyboard, it's mushy and has small keys. This is my personal taste, but no, you can't claim that mushy little keyboard on the XPS is objectively better - and for a majority of MBP owners the MBP keyboard great and no "getting used to it" is required (check the poll in one other post here, 70% people love it).
Performance is very comparable in real life, even though the XPS came out later and uses a newer CPU. It is also slower in some other areas like SSD speed, wifi performance, I/O performance - and if you max out the MBP, CPU performance as well. All that with a worse battery life and bigger weight.
As for the article - it IS very biased because it presents subjective views as facts and is taking things out of context and not looking the whole picture.
Why? Based on the article, the Dell is objectively a better computer for everyone. I think we can agree that is not the case in reality - in truth, it's better for some, worse for others. For example, for me, the XPS is worse in every way that matters to me personally. MacBook Pro 2016 is a better computer for what I do professionally. I'm aware that's not the case for everyone and that is fine.
There is nothing wrong with liking the XPS more, and there are reasons to like it - but that article is still heavily biased. And in some parts - flat out wrong.
Let's just say it how it is - bashing Apple will get you pageviews.
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The keyboard on the Dell is NOT better.
I stopped reading the review after the claim the Dell trackpad was better. That's laugh out loud hilarious.
The author did not say the Dell trackpad was better. He said the Dell's input as a whole was better because of the touchscreen.
Boy I almost forgot how much PC World really hate Macs.
Man alive, that's a brutal article. They gave the keyboard to the XPS... small, plasticky, feels cheap... even if you hate the new MBP keyboard, surely one stands out as 'quality' over the other – and you absolutely can say that objectively if you personally loathe it. They gave the trackpad score to the XPS too.
I ain't even mad, just bewildered. Their writers really do seem petty.
The keyboard on the new MacBook Pro is only slightly better than typing on wood.
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And also the GPU issue on the MBP 15".
Seriously, these type of quality issues happens.
Not everyone agrees with your opinion.
Thats why I said "I stopped reading".
The "not everyone agrees with your opinion" nonsense can be the reply to every post on every message board on the internet.
When thunderbolt connectivity becomes more of a thing in the next couple of years, the macbook's external IO will count for more.
Plus the DELL runs Windows 10, so you couldn't pay me to use it as a personal machine for anything i care about.
and besides, they didn't say the trackpad was better. The DELL "won" because it also had a touchscreen.
Plus the DELL runs Windows 10, so you couldn't pay me to use it as a personal machine for anything i care about.
and besides, they didn't say the trackpad was better. The DELL "won" because it also had a touchscreen.
Seriously? Please actually look at the article before you post and then double down on your error. There is no "touchpad" section. It's the "trackpad and input" section.
It looks like it took Windows laptops like 20 years to finally catch up to MacBooks and even surpass them in certain aspects. It's a very matured and saturated market now. It basically comes down to cosmetics and software. Back in the Windows 95/98/ME and XP days Mac-OS and Linux was so much more stable, but now Windows, even though it phones home with it's telemetry crap is a very stable OS. It probably comes down to personal preference. I remember when Apple switched from the G4/G5 platform and went with Intel. All the reviews said their laptops where booting faster and scoring better in pretty much all the synthetic benchmarks at the time, and that was booting into Windows! It took a very long time, but the PC OEMs had finally caught up. It was inevitable eventually.
I would like to point out, that reviewer also stated HIS OWN OPINION about the trackpad and keyboard, which nobody has to agree with.Not everyone agrees with your opinion.
Never said they had to agree. The reviewers opinions are not fact, they are his opinions, and you don't have to agree with them. The only factual information in the review, for example, is the mention of additional ports on the Dell compared to those on the MacBook Pro. If the reviewer had stated his opinion of the trackpad and keyboard as fact, I'd feel the same way.
And there lies the problem with these comparisons!!!
The MacBook Pro is a benchmark standard of laptops. Like how most other mid-fine tier production watches are compared to the Rolex Submariner, most fine computers are compared to the MacBook Pro. How much that says in regards to luxury goods is often quite limited. The problem is that whether a Breitling, Omega, or Rolex is "best" really depends on what someone is looking for. In one way, a Timex is "superior" to a Rolex in the same way a Chromebook is superior to the MacBook Pro and XPS 15, and yet that doesn't mean it is superior for what an individual may be seeking.
I think it is much easier to say which is "best" when referring to one person and their individual needs than it is saying which is "best-best". I much prefer to encourage someone to take advantage of the store's return/exchange policy to make their own decision, and am willing to note that I personally prefer OS X while some of my colleagues prefer Linux or Windows. I do feel that using Windows 10 requires more OS-specific knowledge than using OS X, and I don't think Windows 10 is quite as resilient as OS X (for example, I think it is extremely important for a Windows 10 User to be familiar with creating a .wim file from an .iso and how to use that .wim with DISM.)
And typing on Dell is only slightly better than typing on pizza.
I never understood why people love key travel so much - for me it's about the response you get with minimal pressure. I want a good feedback with a light press. So I guess it comes down to how hard do you mash your fingers on your keyboard - do you need something mushy, long-traveling to absorb your finger-strikes, or do you want a good-feeling click when you tap a key? It's all about your typing style. But people who do use (what I would call) excessive force to type always act like everyone needs shock-absorbing springs for keys. They are not wrong - it's just that not everyone types the same. For me, I can't go back to keyboards with key travel bigger than at least the Magic Keyboard.
Also, yesterday I tried quite a few mechanical keyboards. They are cool - they combine the long travel with that clicky sound, but not for me. However, I noticed how loud they all are. Not a problem with me, but it did occur to me that no one ever complained how mechanical keyboards are loud, but I've read dozens of cries how the MBP keyboard is somehow "loud".
Finally, my personal opinion is that if you think Dell has a better keyboard - you just don't like change. Dell put the most standard, off the shelf keyboard design they could. Basically, they invested $0 into that keyboard, they just agreed that the XPS needs one, took the design they had and didn't think about it any more. And people are praising that as good - because - well, because they are used to it. On the other hand, Apple is doing a second and improved generation of a completely new design, paying attention to it, trying something new (and making what is, in my opinion, the most pleasurable typing experience on a laptop, ever) - and people are crying about it.
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Personally, I usually stop reading when I realize that the text is ridiculously biased and stupid. I'm sure that's what the poster meant too.
Still, I managed to somehow get to the end of that crap article.
Not all mechanical keyboards are loud. If you get cherry brown switches they have a detent, but not the click.
Still, plenty of loud ones, and no one complained. And they are louder than the MBP.
It's just silly, really. "Loud keyboards"? If anyone told me people would be complaining about this few years ago, I wouldn't believe it.
Yeah wasn't really trying to claim there weren't loud ones. Just that you have plenty of choice of switches on mechanical keyboards.
I don't mind the noise myself, but i do have some browns in the current desktop keyboard.
Nice article for those in favour of the XPS. You can find the same article in favour of the MBP.
Aside from the price, I prefer the MBP. The "getting used to" argument is BS. I like the new MBP better than the old one. Of course it takes getting used to, it's brand new. People hate change. As a previous owner of two XPS's, there's definitely better value for specs but the quality is nowhere near close to Apple's. Both tech companies have their issues, but Apple has always helped me much more quickly.
Aside from the price, I prefer the MBP. The "getting used to" argument is BS. I like the new MBP better than the old one. Of course it takes getting used to, it's brand new. People hate change. As a previous owner of two XPS's, there's definitely better value for specs but the quality is nowhere near close to Apple's. Both tech companies have their issues, but Apple has always helped me much more quickly.
So here I wonder....if Apple makes a change on the fall release of the MBP and it has the exact same keyboard minus any noise, the key travel and response are the same but there is literally no noise at all...will we start seeing threads, "I got the new 2017 MBP and the new keyboard is just too quiet I can't hear me typing and it's affecting how I type"
I learned how to type on IBM Selectric and Wheelwriter typewriters. They were super noisy, but very satisfying to type on. No one complained about the noise.
As with many things in life people will search out to find something to complain about. I have an XPS 13 that I've owned close to a year now, and as I mentioned earlier in the thread I did try out an XPS 15 for a few days (bought and returned). I prefer the MBP keyboard over XPS keyboards. If I had to choose a keyboard in a modern notebook that I like the best it would be a Lenovo Thinkpad keyboard. Due to some minor miracle Lenovo hasn't completely ruined the Thinkpad brand.
As with many things in life people will search out to find something to complain about. I have an XPS 13 that I've owned close to a year now, and as I mentioned earlier in the thread I did try out an XPS 15 for a few days (bought and returned). I prefer the MBP keyboard over XPS keyboards. If I had to choose a keyboard in a modern notebook that I like the best it would be a Lenovo Thinkpad keyboard. Due to some minor miracle Lenovo hasn't completely ruined the Thinkpad brand.