I am not responsible for people's assumptions.True, but I could also say they are hardcore users to people who need just office computers.
Who are hardcore users to people who just need phones.
Who are hardcore users to people who just need calculators.
Who are hardcore users to people who just need a pen and paper.
Who are hardcore users to people who just like to gaze at the sky
It's all a matter of perspective. But I think we can agree that calling someone who sculpts amazing 3D assets for games in Zbrush (just one example) a "light user" is kind of wrong. When you say a light user - almost everyone will presume that person does browsing, email, Word and Netflix. Surely you see that?
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Talk me out of the 15" Dell XPS
- Thread starter Sully
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I would say generally my XPS-15 is 2 hours less or so than my 15" rMBP. Both are quadcore i7, except my XPS has a dGPU (which I usually disable though).
Either way, I'm pretty much taking a charger with me.
My 15" rMBP is the 2015 model, without the dGPU (which I prefer), especially after Apples history of dGPU failures.
I take my Dell XPS 15 inch (w/ Geforce 960M) with me every day as I stop (get dropped off) at the Macdonalds for coffee a few hours before work (sure beats being on the bus for a few hours) and I don't take my charger with me. Bear in mind, I only have the FHD 1080p screen and not the retina screen (my eyes are still thanking me for this lol).
Take today for example.
about 545am - booted it up after reading the paper - 100%
it is now 722am - during that time I played some recore & Sid Meier's Railroad & surfed the net (obviously). My battery is now at 62% and still got over 3 hours of battery life if I don't play any more games. Can't anyways since It's time to head to work.
When I did the same thing w/ my old MBP (play games, etc), my battery would be at around 40%-50% left and never did power saving mode (if there was one on the MBP, I never could find it).
What's cool is that I can put my power in battery saving mode and I get about 2 hours of more power. In other words, no need to take my power cord. No gaming though, which is fine.
However, if I was going away somewhere overnight or longer, I would definitely take my power cord. But I would do the same thing if I had a MBP.
What Apple, Dell, Lenovo says on how much battery life you would get per charge is base on normal, non-power intensive use and on regular brightness, not screen brightness at the max. But I am pleasantly surprised at the battery life of my XPS 15 inch and the power this 960M video card has (Titanfall 2 looks good btw on this thing).
I'm going back to college in 2017 (delayed for a few months) and need windows for some of my courses. During that time, I rediscovered PC gaming and found that my eyes feel better looking at a 1080p screen than a retina glossy screen.
Finally, no one else can talk you out of buying a computer. You need to decide what computer is best for you. Don't buy a windows PC just because you can't afford the MBP, save up your money and buy a new MBP when you can. Besides, asking in macrumors MBP forum is probably not the ideal place. But for my reading pleasure, please do continue posting.
Anyways, off to work.
Take today for example.
about 545am - booted it up after reading the paper - 100%
it is now 722am - during that time I played some recore & Sid Meier's Railroad & surfed the net (obviously). My battery is now at 62% and still got over 3 hours of battery life if I don't play any more games. Can't anyways since It's time to head to work.
When I did the same thing w/ my old MBP (play games, etc), my battery would be at around 40%-50% left and never did power saving mode (if there was one on the MBP, I never could find it).
What's cool is that I can put my power in battery saving mode and I get about 2 hours of more power. In other words, no need to take my power cord. No gaming though, which is fine.
However, if I was going away somewhere overnight or longer, I would definitely take my power cord. But I would do the same thing if I had a MBP.
What Apple, Dell, Lenovo says on how much battery life you would get per charge is base on normal, non-power intensive use and on regular brightness, not screen brightness at the max. But I am pleasantly surprised at the battery life of my XPS 15 inch and the power this 960M video card has (Titanfall 2 looks good btw on this thing).
I'm going back to college in 2017 (delayed for a few months) and need windows for some of my courses. During that time, I rediscovered PC gaming and found that my eyes feel better looking at a 1080p screen than a retina glossy screen.
Finally, no one else can talk you out of buying a computer. You need to decide what computer is best for you. Don't buy a windows PC just because you can't afford the MBP, save up your money and buy a new MBP when you can. Besides, asking in macrumors MBP forum is probably not the ideal place. But for my reading pleasure, please do continue posting.
Anyways, off to work.
I asked on a Mac forum for two reasons:
1. I've found many of the people who post here are really, really, informed on the hardware. I've learned a ton and I'm always learning more from reading their comments.
2. The question's worded so die hard Apple users will give me reasons that I may not have thought of. So, my sense is that it's the best place to ask the question.
I'm grateful that I'm in a position to buy this through my business, so the price is really only a consideration because I hate getting ripped off - I want value for my money. Apple, in the past, has delivered this.
I'm typing this on 2007 MacBook Pro that I've upgraded with an SSD and memory. It runs El Capitaine like a champ but it's reached it limits as far as my trading software goes and certain other activities. So, I need to replace it.
My original question was geared toward the huge price difference based on the specifications of the Dell XPS and the 15 " MBP. The XPS, on paper, seems like a better value. But, as I plan to keep the new machine for another 5 plus years, the MBP holds some tangible value if the build quality is better. And, I like the Apple OS.
Any idea when a refresh of the 15" XPS is? After this debacle I am moving away from the EcoSystem & going to try the XPS.
I may give Windows a try again. All my main software is cross platform so can bounce between OSX and Windows easily. The Dells look decent which is something I wouldn't have thought I'd be saying! Will see what Apple does over the next two years and if the refreshed 15" MBP looks a better value proposition I may go for that to replace my current 15" 2012 MBP.
What's wrong with running both?
What's wrong with running both?
When the new quad cores come out. And you know Dell will have them in the updated XPS, long before Apple puts them in the MBP. I think it's 1st qtr 2017, but we know Intel and their LOVE of delayed launches.
Given the 960 in the current XPS, I'm guessing/hoping for 1060 with the update.
There are rumors that Dell will update by Christmas but if they do that, they will only be updating the GPU (1050 or 1060). The KL quad cores won't come out until January.
The easiest thing is to talk you out of it... for 3 months. The refresh due in January will likely have the 1050ti, which has an insane 60%-80% more grunt than the 960, a 120% increase in certain tests.
Fancy playing many 2016 games... on Ultra settings... on an ultrabook? It'll be possible next year.
It really depends on which version of Windows you are talking about.
Windows 10 seems to screw up way too often even on Microsoft's own Surface products.
Windows 8.1 and especially 7 are rock solid.
Regarding reliability:
Windows 7 > OS X = Windows 8.1 >>>> Windows 10
Windows 10 has been rock solid for me, I've used it on a SP3 (now sold and long gone), a Surface Book (pretty close to one of the best laptops I've ever owned), and windows 10 on my iMac.
I will say my UX on the surface book has been much better then on my iMac running windows. Partly, because the scaling is inferior and the pixel density is so much higher in the iMac then the SB.
I can also point to many threads about OS X having stability issues, driver issues and problems with people using it.
I've seen Windows 10 do some screwy things here at the office. For one, it drops wireless conductivity seemingly out of nowhere with a note that we don't have the proper driver installed on a new computer with the most recent Windows 10 software. When I check this, the system says the driver are fine. The solution is to reboot. Also, the keyboard became non responsive for no apparent reason. The solution? Reboot. I never have had issues like this with my Macs. So, that's why I'm reluctant to switch.
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Except its not.
As someone who tried selling a MacBook Pro that was afflicted with Staingate, back when Apple refused to acknowledge it had a problem - the notion that Macs automatically always sell for more doesn't meet experience. You may also want to ask the people who suffered through the dGPU failures, who again, Apple refused to admit was a problem for quite awhile.
That's two major QC issues within the last 4 years that Apple had to be threatened with class action lawsuits before they acknowledge it.
I think the 13" was better than the 15", - the 13" felt more tight, whereas the 15" felt a little more hollow. They're both precision trackpads, which are better than the synaptic, and allow things like swipe to change desktops, like MacOS does. Windows is also releasing a big update soon that will allow more customization over gestures, so if you go windows, stay with the precision pads.
While I LOVE the carbon fiber coating, it can get kind of grimy after awhile and requires wiping off, but then it's good as new.
In terms of trackpad quality, I think it's Apple up front, with the surface book closely behind, then the Dell Xps just behind that.
Eh Honestly, it doesn't matter. Do what you want. You want a Dell get a Dell. I hate these threads. "Make me want an iPad".... how about no.
I have Precision 5510. I've had tons of issues with it... but the 4K screen quality is top notch.
We have had one Precision M5510 for about a year that we haven't had any issues with, and I just ordered another XPS 15 today for another user. These are decent machines for Windows. The touch pads aren't bad but they aren't up to Mac standards. Hard to beat the price though for what you get. I ordered one with the i7-6700HQ, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVM-E SSD, GTX960M for just over $1500. Nope, it's not a MacBook Pro, but it's a nice device for the price!
Thanks. I've never been able to get a Synaptic touchpad adjusted to my liking, but I've never tried one of the Precision ones.