Give me any reference to back this up. How do you know the new XPS15/M3800 has powdered aluminum. Big statement there. You even invoked hotwheels. Give me anything to factcheck that.
I owned a Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook which was released in 2012. I dropped it from my desk, the same drop that caused a very minor dent on my MacBook Retina, the entire aluminum frame cracked with a crumbled cookie like appearance. Dell used cheap sintered aluminum as early as a few months ago. It is very unlikely that they would completely change their standard material and use 2024 Aluminum as that is a very expensive material that is almost never used outside of structural components on helicopters, rockets, airplanes etc.
Also, the Carbon Fiber on the XPS15/M3800 is not cut out of sheets. It is 3D formed with reinforcements all over it. Carbon fiber protects from heat in notebooks just like it does in motorcycle mufflers. It is not some kind of gimmick or sticker. It is a very strong material that keeps heat away from users.
Yeah I took a closer look at the images and you're right it's moulded not a flat sheet. I'm surprised dell spent the money to do that, but it's probably only 1 layer of carbon just for appearance. It is incredibly uncommon to see solid carbon fiber moulding. Even BMW only has 1 layer of the material on the outside of it's M3.
While you are at it, how about telling me why Apple has not issued a recall of HDD connectors in MacBook Pros. They are failing all over the place. Yet Apple won't recall or fix it.
While I'm telling you about that why don't you tell me why both Dell XPS 14 laptops I purchased for my tech team BOTH had defective power supplies. Also tell me why one of the screens failed after a few months and why the battery in the other balooned to twice it's size due to hydrogen build up.
I've purchased more laptops for myself and my co-workers than anybody I know and Apple has had the least amount of problems out of any manufacturer period. Like I said I use laptops very intensely and I've destroyed laptops from every manufacturer through regular use except Apple.
Really? You are saying that MBPs come fully calibrated from Foxconn? You are saying Windows systems can't be calibrated?
No. Any windows systems can be correctly calibrated but you need a tool that is no cheaper than $1,000 to do the job. I've owned all the major inexpensive screen calibration tools, XRITE, datacolor, pantone colormunki, etc. None of them gave a good result.
The panel on XPS 15/M3800 is very good out of the box. It calibrates with an average Delta of 1. One. And it has more pixels that the rMBP.
Post the results. My XPS 14 was horrible calibration wise.
Where are you getting these battery life numbers? From reviews of the OLD XPS 15? You do realize that the new XPS 15/M3800 is not out yet. The only reviews are from people like me that got access to early release machines.
The Fujitsu UH90 uses the same screen and has been out for a few months. Just take the battery watt hour rating multiply by the difference. It's an easy calculation, but is somewhat estimated.
You say that battery life is a complete and utter lie. Guess what, even with the 6 cell battery, I get over 5 hours of real world battery life. I can't wait to see what the 9 cell batteries do.
And I get 10 hours with the MacBook Retina, there is a huge difference.
Meanwhile other people are paying $150 for high quality RAM.
Are you really going to complain about $50 on a $3000 laptop? I wouldn't use 16GB of ram priced at $150. I like My $200 ram thank you.
You are lying to people. The MBP does not come calibrated from the factory.
Actually yes it does. Each unit comes with a calibration profile tailored to the screen manufacturer and screen batch (but not individual screens). You can find your profile in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays/Color I would encourage anyone to disable this profile and let me know how the screen looks without it.
You do not need $5000 in calibration tools to improve Windows or Mac screens. You need a sub $500 Spyder 4 Elite system.
I've owned a Spyder 4 Elite, and tried it on my MacBook Pro. The results were way out of line with my previous professional calibration. You aren't going to get a professional calibration without buying an industrial grade color spectrometer for over $1000.
The IGZO panel in the XPS 15/M3800 is probably closer to calibrated that the eRMB panel. Will actually test them in the next few days. Get your excuses ready.
I look forward to that testing, but I highly doubt that, Dell has lagged behind in this category for decades.
Got lost there. I have compared rMBP notebooks sitting on a solid surface with the XPS 15/M3800. Guess which one is thicker - feet and all. Neither, they are the same 1.8 CM.
They are supposed to be slightly thicker than that. Are you using a caliper or just eyeballing it?
No mention of price.
The Dell can do 1.5tb of storage.
Yes and that 1.5tb is not SSD storage. You can get a 1TB 5400 RPM drive with the dell, you can get a 1TB SSD with the Mac, big difference.
Really? Buy a new COMPUTER when you run out of storage? Just upgrade the drive.
Again it's cheaper to buy a USED computer to upgrade. I'm a serial flipper and it will always be cheaper to flip a Mac than buy a new drive.
Apple computers are not more expensive than other computers. Apple makes the least expensive computers in the world in each class.
Example. I purchased the most one of the fastest Dell XPS laptops that money could buy 2.5 years ago and sold it after 13 months. I bought it for $2300. I sold it for $700
That's a loss of $1600.
A year ago I purchased a mid level MacBook Pro 15" with a $200 corporate discount. I paid $2600 WITH tax. I sold it for $2373 11 months later.
That's a loss of $227. The Dell cost me nearly 10 times more than MacBook cost me.
2 years ago I purchased a new MacBook Air for $1670 with the corporate discount, I sold it 5 months later for $1590, that's $80 for 5 months usage.
I also purchased a used MacBook Air 3 years ago for $810. 2 years go I sold it for $850, that's a profit of $40.
Yeah, not seeing the cheapest notebook anywhere there. Unless I want to buy it and sell it, and hope that someone buys it for what I am asking.
Show me the cheapest computer made by Apple for a first time buyer in ANY category. Seriously. Show me ANY Apple that is cheapest to buy. I will show you 5 models that are cheaper in ANY category and outperform the Apple.
You're acting like the possibility of selling something is some sort of magic fairy tale that has only happened in theory. Market prices are very very well set.
You'd have to be incredibly paranoid to take issue with this concept.
Increase in speed in software built for Quadro graphics?
Do you seriously dispute the fact that PCIe SSD's are faster? We're talking 750 MB/s vs 400 MB/s
What in the world?
I agree. You cite zero sources. You just rant and rave and defend Apple. How about some verified and cited statements?
How about you stop being an incredibly biased person who's job it is to make the XPS 15 look good in your review. I buy computers for tech teams. I've purchased more laptops than you will ever see in 10 lifetimes. Every manufacture except Apple and Lenovo make complete junk, I know this because I regularly buy computers from 5 separate manufacturers, and have bought from everyone.
I have an open mind to the idea that one day other manufactures will make high quality computers but I've been burned more times by everyone else than you can count. Dell is one of the worst offenders in the industry, they are king's of cost cutting. However your stance is clearly biased. If you want to write a good review then I suggest you stop trying to make your product look good.
You are just rattling off your own *************. You don't back anything up with a source. You have never seen an XPS 15. You have never heard an XPS 15 fan. You have never seen the QHD+ screen on the XPS 15. You don't even know what you are talking about.
Guess what. I know what I am talking about. The screen on the XPS 15 is perfect for Pros. The colors have an average Delta of less than 1 - go goole that. The fans are quiet. Dell won't make you send your system into a depot for a repair.
Apple uses a unique technology called variable vein fans that they corned the market on. That means they make the quietest fans in the world, OS X is also better optimized for quietness, by a huge margin compared to windows. In fact quietness was a design goal of OS X set by Steve Jobs.
We can argue about the design. Maybe highly formed and molded carbon fiber is tacky. Maybe insulating heat from your lap is interior to Apple making sure you don't have kids with the aluminum bottom.
Dell didn't use carbon fiber for insulation, this was a byproduct of making a stiff chassis. Carbon fiber is an incredibly terrible material to make a laptop out of for just this reason. It's an insulator, in a hot environment. While aluminum acts as a heat sink. I can do some really intense overclocking with my MacBook Retina thanks to the good heat dissipation.
Simply put, you love Apple and I respect that. I am not going to say you are naive or misled my slick marketing to think an Apple MPB is the highest quality laptop on the market. It is not. You made the mistake of thinking an Apple made at Foxconn is better than a Dell made at Foxconn. It all comes down to the engineers that make them and the materials they build them with. I use rMBPs. I buy them for my staff. I also am using a Dell M3800 that shares a lot with the XPS 15. It is a quality system.
You should be worried. The world you know is changing. Hopefully next year, Apple will upgrade their panels from 2880x1800 to 3200x1800.
With all due respect...
Apple makes the highest quality laptop on the market period. You cannot compete with their material selection, their technical patents, and their ability to push the envelope.
I will admit that I'm a little skeptical of Dell because they have made horrible computers in the past and tried to market them as top of the line while giving me some of the largest IT headaches possible. Dell/Aienware, HP and Asus are known for cost cutting and are horrible. I would much rather have a Sony, Samsung, Acer or Lenovo laptop, or Microsoft surface.
In the end though you can't get the Dell XPS 15 Touch with a 1TB SSD, you can't get it with a 4960HQ processor, which is 15%-20% faster than Dell's 4702HQ, you can't get it with a PCIe SSD, you can't get it with mag safe which is an infinitely better charger, you can't get it in 2024 aluminum which is much more durable, you can't get variable vein fans, you can't get 10 hours of real world battery life, and you certainly can't get OS X, or Apple like depreciation or build quality.
In the end I just see this Dell XPS 15 Touch as being a computer that is $2,200 for a 512MB SSD and the 4702HQ processor. The MacBook Pro Retina Mid range model is $2400 with my corporate discount. It has the 4850HQ processor, which is much faster, a faster SSD, it's quieter, it has better battery life, it's more durable, has a better track record for reliability, I can warranty it in any local store with excellent customer service, and it will cost me $400-$900 less in depreciation.