|
What would you guys recommend as alternatives to the XPS 13? I've had family members go through 3 of them due to the poor build quality. Budget wise I'm willing to go up to $1500. I do a lot of document editing, and in addition to my concerns about the Dell build quality, the XPS keyboard is pretty terrible. I helped one family member ditch the XPS entirely and put Windows on a MBP, but the scaling on the high-dpi screens is terrible. I don't need a terribly high end-GPU as I doubt I'll be doing any gaming beyond Hearthstone or Civ on a laptop and I already have a desktop for extremely demanding games.
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 14:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 18:16 |
|
|
TyrantWD posted:What would you guys recommend as alternatives to the XPS 13? I've had family members go through 3 of them due to the poor build quality. 13" Air?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 14:39
|
|
|
TyrantWD posted:What would you guys recommend as alternatives to the XPS 13? I've had family members go through 3 of them due to the poor build quality. If you want the highest end keyboard with a good screen go with a t450s/460s
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 14:42
|
|
|
What about an X1 Carbon?
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 14:52
|
|
|
TyrantWD posted:What would you guys recommend as alternatives to the XPS 13? I've had family members go through 3 of them due to the poor build quality. The Surface Book has a fantastic keyboard and you could do some sick pdf edits with the surface pen
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 14:56
|
|
|
BottleKnight posted:The Surface Book has a fantastic keyboard and you could do some sick pdf edits with the surface pen TenaciousTomato posted:If you want the highest end keyboard with a good screen go with a t450s/460s The keyboard on the Thinkpad looks great, but the screen quality seems to be subpar compared to other products at that price range.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 15:21
|
|
|
TyrantWD posted:The Surface Book looks like a winner, but at 1599 + the dock I would need, I'm a little skeptical about it being worth the cost. I returned a GPU Surface Book before I got the XPS 15 due to the litany of software issues regarding W10 and Skylake, but according to the Windows Weekly podcast they fixed most of them in February. It seems like a good time to get on the train if it's a product you can see yourself using all the features of.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 15:27
|
|
|
TyrantWD posted:The keyboard on the Thinkpad looks great, but the screen quality seems to be subpar compared to other products at that price range. I dunno, I like my matte 1080p IPS on my t450s. If you want 4K, it may be offered, but I'm not too sure.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 15:33
|
|
|
TenaciousTomato posted:I dunno, I like my matte 1080p IPS on my t450s. If you want 4K, it may be offered, but I'm not too sure. T450S good, T450 bad. Really bad.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 15:38
|
|
|
TyrantWD posted:What would you guys recommend as alternatives to the XPS 13? I've had family members go through 3 of them due to the poor build quality. What were the failures? Genuinely curious.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 16:13
|
|
|
Indeed. It may not be Thinkpad tough but whatever would kill an XPS 13 would likely do the same to an MBP...
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2016 16:17
|
|
|
Does anybody make a high end 11" laptop? Used to have an M11x which died a horrible death, and then moved to an HP Stream 11. 11" seems the perfect portable size to me, but the dual core celerons which populate the space are too drat slow. Price really isn't the concern. I suppose I could get an 11" Air but, you know, Mac.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 10:33
|
|
|
Triikan posted:Does anybody make a high end 11" laptop? Used to have an M11x which died a horrible death, and then moved to an HP Stream 11. 11" seems the perfect portable size to me, but the dual core celerons which populate the space are too drat slow. Why are you so against a Mac? The 11" Air, or the 12" rMB would be fine. The XPS13 has a way smaller footprint than other 13" laptops, though I think it is still probably a bit bigger than most 11.6" laptops. Lenovo makes the X131 with Windows, and they might have an i3 options. IuniusBrutus fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Apr 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 12:16
|
|
|
The XPS 13 is exactly the same size as my 11" MBA. A slight bit thicker and heavier, but the same footprint.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 15:38
|
|
|
Yeah, the 11" MBA has really ugly bezels that make it a 12", and the XPS 13 has really slim, awesome bezels that make it a 12". The MBA also has a garbage resolution. If you don't want to go Mac, probably just go for the XPS 13.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 15:53
|
|
|
IuniusBrutus posted:Why are you so against a Mac? The 11" Air, or the 12" rMB would be fine. The XPS13 has a way smaller footprint than other 13" laptops, though I think it is still probably a bit bigger than most 11.6" laptops. Lenovo makes the X131 with Windows, and they might have an i3 options. Maybe I'll give the XPS a more thorough look. Thanks. The mac thing was more of joke. Though I'd probably end up installing windows on it, I was considering it as an option.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 16:57
|
|
|
Putting Windows on any Macbook kills the battery life.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 17:07
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:Putting Windows on any Macbook kills the battery life. What was the total difference?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 18:07
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:What was the total difference? Seriously like half One of the best things about the standard 2013 MacBook Air 13" is that it has record-breaking battery life of 14 hrs 25 min (with the screen brightness at 100 cd/m², headphones plugged in and the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and keyboard backlighting turned off). Under Windows 8 the results are more mixed [..] in the same conditions it lasts only 7 hrs 40 min
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 18:12
|
|
|
I'm curious how Win 10 does on a 2015 or 2016 model
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 19:29
|
|
|
I'm considering getting a laptop soon. The need for one is not great but I'd like to be able to get away from my desktop once in awhile. The most I'd want to do with it is maybe some software development, typically in Visual Studio, and maybe play with some Linux VMs or something. I was looking at older ThinkPads because they seem like a good value for their awesome build quality and they are more upgradeable than average from what I can tell. Would a T430 work for what I want or are they hopelessly obsolete by now? I don't have a set price point I guess, I was thinking more about what was the best bang for the buck at this point.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 20:59
|
|
|
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131 Any thoughts on this? I already have a desktop with a 980ti so I don't need to go overkill. But could something like this place cozy indie games and older games from before 2010-2011?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 21:22
|
|
|
HondaCivet posted:I'm considering getting a laptop soon. The need for one is not great but I'd like to be able to get away from my desktop once in awhile. The most I'd want to do with it is maybe some software development, typically in Visual Studio, and maybe play with some Linux VMs or something. I was looking at older ThinkPads because they seem like a good value for their awesome build quality and they are more upgradeable than average from what I can tell. Would a T430 work for what I want or are they hopelessly obsolete by now? I don't have a set price point I guess, I was thinking more about what was the best bang for the buck at this point. I have a T430 for work and other than the display being poo poo I like it better in every way than my colleagues T440s. The 440 has the stupid clicky trackpad which suuuucks. Also I prefer the T430 keyboard. Mine is an i5 something with the bigger battery pack and it's quite decent for usability.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 21:33
|
|
|
priznat posted:I have a T430 for work and other than the display being poo poo I like it better in every way than my colleagues T440s. The 440 has the stupid clicky trackpad which suuuucks. Also I prefer the T430 keyboard. Nice! Yeah I'd be looking for one with the nicer screen options, I think the default is a 1366 x 768 dealio, blech.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 21:54
|
|
|
If you can find a T430 with the 1600x900 screen that's a good choice. Great keyboard, indestructible build quality. Another option, equally powerful but smaller screen, would be the 1080p x240 and swap in the mouse pad from the x250. The *40 series is great but you will want to swap in the *50 series trackpad that isn't awful. *30 series is going to be cheaper, better trackpad, same power, but less battery life. The only thing that changes as you get newer is better battery life, and SSDs preinstalled get easier to find.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 22:32
|
|
|
My slightly over a year old XPS 13 had a very unfortunate run-in with a bunch of water which very likely thoroughly hosed it and I need a replacement right away. Is my best bet just getting another XPS 13, or has anything comparable been released in the past year? For the most part I just want solid build quality with a decent screen and battery life.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 23:09
|
|
|
SRF posted:My slightly over a year old XPS 13 had a very unfortunate run-in with a bunch of water which very likely thoroughly hosed it and I need a replacement right away. Is my best bet just getting another XPS 13, or has anything comparable been released in the past year? For the most part I just want solid build quality with a decent screen and battery life. Not really. The Surface Book maybe? Probably just get the XPS Skylake refresh that came out late last year.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2016 23:20
|
|
|
Not much has changed in the market HP just announced some new laptop, but won't be ready for months XPS 13 is pretty hard to beat, unless you're willing to look at Apple. The laptop market hasn't changed a lot in the last two years either. Touchscreens are a little more common, but just barely.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 10:19
|
|
|
I was also considering a Thinkpad (either T4x0s or X2x0), but couldn't find one for a decent price, either new or refurbished. Is the Microsoft store currently the best place to get an XPS 13, or are there better deals around?
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 16:42
|
|
|
SRF posted:I was also considering a Thinkpad (either T4x0s or X2x0), but couldn't find one for a decent price, either new or refurbished. The microsoft store sells the barebones $800 XPS13 far cheaper than anywhere else, but you might be able to get the better specced models for cheaper somewhere else if you have a coupon or there is a sale. The MS store apparently has better warranty/returns however.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 16:58
|
|
|
HondaCivet posted:I'm considering getting a laptop soon. The need for one is not great but I'd like to be able to get away from my desktop once in awhile. The most I'd want to do with it is maybe some software development, typically in Visual Studio, and maybe play with some Linux VMs or something. I was looking at older ThinkPads because they seem like a good value for their awesome build quality and they are more upgradeable than average from what I can tell. Would a T430 work for what I want or are they hopelessly obsolete by now? I don't have a set price point I guess, I was thinking more about what was the best bang for the buck at this point. If it's just for work, then even a Lenovo x201 Thinkpad with an i5 and 8G RAM is going to be just fine.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 17:19
|
|
|
Fat_Cow posted:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315131 It's acer (and not even an allegedly-premium acer) so it's bad. Unless it's a desktop replacement that gets moved twice a month so it being a plasticky piece of crap doesn't matter, but since you already have a desktop that's probably not the case.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 20:08
|
|
I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
|
SRF posted:I was also considering a Thinkpad (either T4x0s or X2x0), but couldn't find one for a decent price, either new or refurbished. The outlet store has stock that rotates daily. Also, check out refurb models on eBay, those typically are high quality if you buy from one of the refurb sellers with a 99.5%+ feedback rating.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:If you can find a T430 with the 1600x900 screen that's a good choice. Great keyboard, indestructible build quality. Another option, equally powerful but smaller screen, would be the 1080p x240 and swap in the mouse pad from the x250. Is the T420 still worthwhile then as well? I don't know why but it seems like it's easier to find nice refurbished ones than it is for the T430.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 07:03
|
|
|
Yes, the T430 is Ivy Bridge which was a big bump up in battery life (went from 3.5 to about 6 hours on a (new) standard battery) and over 12 on some of the mega-huge batteries you can get for the T series. The other big advantage of the T430 was that it had the HD4000 intel graphics, which are powerful enough to play most indie games. The T420 has the "old style" or "classic" thinkpad keyboard which is just as good, but slightly different and not as "new" looking. It also has the HD3000 graphics which are barely capable of running most indie games on the lowest settings at 20-30fps. The big difference between the T400 and T410 was that the T400 was a Core2 Duo (essentially first gen 64 bit CPU), and the T410 is a modern i5 intel processor with features like VT-X and VT-D which allow you to run stuff like VMWare Fusion/ESXi, Hyper-V and other virtualization stuff, plus a lot more modern instruction sets. A lot of newer software isn't designed to run on anything lower than a first gen i5, so the T410 (which has a first gen i5) is where I draw the line in the sand. There ought to be eleventy-billion T430's on ebay
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 07:28
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Yes, the T430 is Ivy Bridge which was a big bump up in battery life (went from 3.5 to about 6 hours on a (new) standard battery) and over 12 on some of the mega-huge batteries you can get for the T series. The other big advantage of the T430 was that it had the HD4000 intel graphics, which are powerful enough to play most indie games. Thanks, that's just the kind of stuff I can't really glean from spec sheets. Sounds like the T430 is probably my best bet then on the off chance I want to game a little on it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 08:40
|
|
|
So I went and bought an XPS15 from the Dell outlet since they were doing a $400 off sale and the more I read the more I'm worried. I see a lot of problems being posted and I don't have easy access to anything where I'm at now. Is it all just pointless or should I be prepared to have wasted $1000 for a nice looking paperweight?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 10:34
|
|
|
HondaCivet posted:Thanks, that's just the kind of stuff I can't really glean from spec sheets. Sounds like the T430 is probably my best bet then on the off chance I want to game a little on it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 14:04
|
|
|
AkrisD posted:So I went and bought an XPS15 from the Dell outlet since they were doing a $400 off sale and the more I read the more I'm worried. I see a lot of problems being posted and I don't have easy access to anything where I'm at now. Is it all just pointless or should I be prepared to have wasted $1000 for a nice looking paperweight? I have an XPS 15 as well. I did the same thing you did...read forum horror stories. Made me super nervous, even to this day. I'm just waiting on it to up and die. My new approach? Just use the thing. If something fucks up, I'll use the warranty. I recommend a clean install: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-xps-9550-clean-install-guide-custom-iso-download.789769/ (note if you are in the US, you will find this image is UK English - you will need to change the language throughout the OS to US English - it's in many different places, but easy to find) In short, stop reading forums. Get the XPS, update everything (especially the BIOS). If it shits the bed, you know what to do. If it works, you are good. Use it, enjoy it, all of that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 15:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 18:16 |
|
|
Hey all, I need a cheap word processor that can play music and stream video. I'm thinking about the HP Stream 11 because it's in the op and 200.00. Are there any better suggestions? I literally need something to type up reports and listen to music on YouTube while I do it. P.S. It also has to have a windows os
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 19:25
|
|
