Talk me out of the 15" Dell XPS

[Sully]

I've waited for over a year then replace my failing and old MacBook Pro. And, unlike many people here, I like the new 15 ". Still, when I spec'ed a new XPS, it was $1200 cheaper than the MacBook Pro I would buy. The only difference seems to be that the Dell comes with only 2 gigs of video ram while the MBP I would buy will have 4 gigs.

So, is the Apple OS the only reason to stick with Apple? Or, am I missing something?

 

[AdonisSMU]

Lets not talk you out of getting a DELL.

 

[Howard2k]

Sounds like you should get the Dell if price is the key driver.

 

[jeepik]

I have one.. do not get the 4k screen....as nice as it is the scaling on windows is just awful, nothing scales properly...the 4k screen is a waste

 

[Trusteft]

Windows 10, MS spying.
That's enough for me to not get any new computer with Windows 10. If you can get it with another OS, then go for it. Unless you prefer macOS that is, in which case, bite the bullet and get a mbp.

 

[Ghost31]

Windows 10, MS spying.
That's enough for me to not get any new computer with Windows 10. If you can get it with another OS, then go for it. Unless you prefer macOS that is, in which case, bite the bullet and get a mbp.

Read the book "nowhere to hide" by Glenn greenwald about Edward Snowden. Apple is involved with the government in spying too. No matter how much they deny it

 

[macjunk(ie)]

Yup...MacOS the only reason.
To make matters worse for you, try the Dell pricing again on Black Friday. The difference might be even more substantial.

If you *NEED* the MacOS, go Apple.
If you *WANT* MacOS, go Dell. Control your lust, send a message to Apple by not ending your dollar their way.

Personally, I have a 2015 15" MBP that I bought by giving away my 2500$ Dell Precision to my brother. Regret that now but it also means that I have at least 5 years before I need to buy a laptop again. I will see how Apple is then. The software I use is available on both platforms.

 

[Yaemon]

A friend of mine went for it, he was super excited because now Apple sucks etc etc

Every few days:
"Can't be online. Having issues with BSOD"
"Need to install/uninstall drivers/stuff/who knows what"
Then:
"Sending back my laptop for maintenance, it'll take 2-3 weeks to get it back"

Also, Windows...

 

[Ghost31]

A friend of mine went for it, he was super excited because now Apple sucks etc etc

Every few days:
"Can't be online. Having issues with BSOD"
"Need to install/uninstall drivers/stuff/who knows what"
Then:
"Sending back my laptop for maintenance, it'll take 2-3 weeks to get it back"

Also, Windows...

He's had his dell for a few days and having problems? What's "every few days" mean then?

 

[tubeexperience]

So, is the Apple OS the only reason to stick with Apple? Or, am I missing something?

Obviously.

If the Dell XPS 15 can run macOS (legally), most of us would have bought Dell XPS 15 instead of MacBook Pro 15".

 

[frankgrimes]

My recommendation buy it and instantly install Linux and/or Windows 7.

Also keep in mind scaling doesn't work too well for now so the FHD version might be enough it also has better battery life than the qhd version and the display is not glossy huge plus

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I had a look at an XPS after I ordered my Mac out of curiosity. Took me about 3 seconds to know I made the right choice. The XPS had this weird grippy surface, the trackpad felt horrible, also that lovely keyboard flex when you press down on it. If it's a workstation thing you might live with it but personally, I like things to last and I know I'd regret the Windows alternative after 6 months minimum, and look to replace it after a year.

 

[Trusteft]

Read the book "nowhere to hide" by Glenn greenwald about Edward Snowden. Apple is involved with the government in spying too. No matter how much they deny it

You sure love your spying. Every time I mention it, you are there. Funny.
Go ahead and use your Windows 10. That's your decision.

 

[Ghost31]

You sure love your spying. Every time I mention it, you are there. Funny.
Go ahead and use your Windows 10. That's your decision.

This post makes no sense. But I think that might have been your goal

 

[Ryan1524]

Friend just got a XPS15. He is now sending it back for repair due to weird idle fan noise issue.

He also had some issues with the display and scaling. Windows10 doesn't appear capable of handling it too well. Not sure if this is strictly on the XPS15 only, or also true on other 4K displays. But a bug fix is probably coming.

If I wasn't so comfortable in macOS, the XPS15 would be the laptop I'd get.

 

[tylerwatt12]

Charger is less durable than Apple's. It gets stress marks where the DC end connects to the power brick.
Speakers suck, are tinny
Trackpad isn't as good if you use 2 fingers at the same time to navigate
Battery life is only 4 hours on the 4K Display

To get real nit picky, MS updates still suck and are a pest, and the hinge mechanism isn't weighted so it shuts like a clamshell phone. You can't open it with 1 finger without the bottom lifting on you.

 

[Macalway]

It depends on what you can afford. Simple as that. If you can afford the Apple but are cheap (like me), then just buy the Apple you cheapskate

If it will hurt your finances, buy the Dell. It's a great machine, just a hair less fancy, and fancy is not so great.

I won't buy anything that gives me discomfort like that. You know what i mean.

 

[Altis]

It's hard to argue the specs per dollar. I just priced them out tonight... CAD $2,000 for the 15" 1080p with i7 6700HQ, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB SSD, GTX960M, and all that ports you need including TB3.

Just the base 13" MBP costs CAD $1900... $100 Canadian less ($75 USD), and it has the 15W dual-core i5 2.0, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, integrated graphics, TB3/USB-C only (will need some adapters), but the beautiful Retina display.

So to get the 15" 512 GB goes up a huge amount of money. It's hard to justify unless you really need MacOS, but they do tend to hold their value quite well at least.

I don't know. If it were me, I'd have a really hard time getting a new 15" MBP. I think I'd rather get the XPS with the 1080p IPS panel (not the 4K) as it gets very good battery life and Windows scaling is flakey.

I'd definitely consider getting a used 2015 15" though. Try to find one for around the same price with some AppleCare left and it's good to go. It'd be between that and a new XPS 15.

Good luck!

 

[wchristian6]

I've waited for over a year then replace my failing and old MacBook Pro. And, unlike many people here, I like the new 15 ". Still, when I spec'ed a new XPS, it was $1200 cheaper than the MacBook Pro I would buy. The only difference seems to be that the Dell comes with only 2 gigs of video ram while the MBP I would buy will have 4 gigs.

So, is the Apple OS the only reason to stick with Apple? Or, am I missing something?

you're going to be missing the touch bar dude it's critical

 

[torana355]

Ive been researching the same purchase but unfortunately it seems the XPS 15 has some serious reliability issues. The XPS 13 is a bit better but still has issues. Its so frustrating, it seems the ONLY choice for a reliable Laptop with great build quality is from Apple. Even with them taking away all the ports and jacking up the price it might be my only choice.... On a positive the rMBP with keep its value and will just work for the next 5-10 years without a hitch.

 

[gooseta]

Ive been researching the same purchase but unfortunately it seems the XPS 15 has some serious reliability issues. The XPS 13 is a bit better but still has issues. Its so frustrating, it seems the ONLY choice for a reliable Laptop with great build quality is from Apple. Even with them taking away all the ports and jacking up the price it might be my only choice.... On a positive the rMBP with keep its value and will just work for the next 5-10 years without a hitch.

Surface book? Microsoft seems to be the only pc vendor with half decent customer service.

 

[0388631]

Read the book "nowhere to hide" by Glenn greenwald about Edward Snowden. Apple is involved with the government in spying too. No matter how much they deny it

I said the same the other day. If it wasn't for someone's snooping, no one wouldn't have known that OSX sends data to Cupertino, Google, Bing and others. Apple states they are committed to user privacy. So on a fresh install of OSX Sierra that's up to date, and the computer running Little Snitch, why do outbound connection alerts popup in droves every so often connected to non-public Apple URLs. Apple validates installs using other methods, possibly one check after initial account creation, too. The only time Apple will want to pull the computer info is if the user went to find their warranty status under "About this Mac" dialogue window. And I say this with all location services chosen to be off, no login supplied to the Applications store, and nothing that would require an internet connection. Not even a browser running, and all notifications disabled through Terminal. Essentially a cordoned off machine.

With OSX being closed source, one should not have faith that Apple do as they say.

 

[R.P.G]

I've waited for over a year then replace my failing and old MacBook Pro. And, unlike many people here, I like the new 15 ". Still, when I spec'ed a new XPS, it was $1200 cheaper than the MacBook Pro I would buy. The only difference seems to be that the Dell comes with only 2 gigs of video ram while the MBP I would buy will have 4 gigs.

So, is the Apple OS the only reason to stick with Apple? Or, am I missing something?

Specs are good on paper. even though it has 960m, i see lot of throttling. I had Dell 7559 (almost similar spec) and my friend have XPS 15. we both are not happy. My 7559 is with Dell service center now. lot of issues with it. XPS trackpad is horrible.

i suggest you to try Dell XPS in stores. I felt not a great build quality. Just try it, it may help you in deciding.

 

[biolan]

I actually pre-ordered the new MacBook for 3150 [15 inch 2.7, 512gb, 460], but found an xps 15 1tb ssd, 32 gb ram, 4k screen for 2050 out the door refurb with 5 years warranty (4 years bought and one more with amex). long story short, I bought the xps then returned it right away. my reason was that even though I would be able to fix it even if it had problems, the fact that it would definitely need adjusting and tweaks for the life of the computer bothered me. I mean, the resell value would be lower than the mbp for sure, but the reliability factor wad too big for me. the other pros of Os, track pad, better support, are just icing on the cake. just think optimization and reliability over better specs and problems.

 

[0388631]

The Inspiron series is a mid-grade range. That aside, Dells aren't very good if you're going for a performance laptop. Though I've heard the XPS 13's quality is much better than the 15". I would look at the HP Z line of laptops. I'm not sure what materials they use apart from an internal metal frame, but they're quite dependable. They also offer Xeons in some models.

But to reiterate, I've never heard much good about the XPS 15. I've heard a lot of good about the XPS 13. And when that launched last year, the reviews were much better than its 15" counterpart.