I tried using a Microsoft Surface Book for about 1 month before returning it. Those things have a 4k comparable resolution, 3000x2000. I found that in a house with pet hair, the touch screen was more of a nuisance than a benefit. And the scaling issues with Windows are real. Every fifth application or so would generate an unreadably tiny window. In a lot of ways, that breaks compatibility with older software. The screenwriting software I use sometimes was absurd, media player controls were unusable. The worst was the chat window created by LogMeIn by Microsoft’s support people, which I swear was the size of a postage stamp.
Right now I’m on hold with the XPS 15 (recent Skylake version.) There just seem to be so many consistent reports of several problems with it (even though I know the people who post at Notebookreview.com are typically the ones with problems vs. the people who don’t.) There seems to be a handful of common issues. Lots of talk of best way to return, etc.
My hope is Dell works out these kinks and get it to a stable state. At that point I’ll probably jump in. Until then I’ll just keep nursing this one along and hope the GPU doesn’t go out permanently.
I picked up this laptopa few months ago and had a fit here on Qt3 because, as it turns out, the laptop used Skylake and there weren’t Windows 10 Skylake display drivers (that worked) at that time. It’s basically the Inspiron version of the XPS 15. Because i used it only for gaming and CAD, i just sort of kept it by default. Eventually several updates later things seem to be fine. It’s not got the greatest keyboard nor trackpad. It’s likely the XPS 15 has/had the same Skylake driver issues.
I also just picked up a Macbook 12" (2015) version at about a 42% effective discount off a new one, to be used as my ‘real’ travel laptop, for writing, ect. But i think Jeff if i recall the software you like to use doesn’t work with Macs. I wouldn’t get one of those AT ALL as a sole computer, but as a second computer it looks to be pretty great.
I’m torn because I like touchscreens on the convertibles, but I hate glossy displays. Matte has so much less eye strain.
Yeah, I’d be fine with a Macbook except that it is indeed my sole computer, so I have to do work stuff on it as well as video editing (and I was very surprised at the paucity of choices for video editors for the Mac - I assumed Apple would have more of those than the PC, but not so.)
4K on a 15" Dell is pretty awesome. Even non techie family members/friends find the screen amazing, and it’s the lower end inspiron rather than the XPS 15 panel.
I don’t know if this is a concern anymore, but one factor is that Dell does not sell the 4K in “non-touch” so that solves your concern about which version to choose. Of note for anyone who might follow this in the near future: if you order a XPS be very careful about which model you choose. The XPS 15 has two battery configurations the 3 cell and the 6 cell. None of the XPS laptops have removable batteries, so what you buy is what you are stuck with apart from warranty repairs. Unfortunately, there is no option to select batteries, you can only see the difference once you have selected a configuration. Currently, you must select a model with at least a $1,699 starting price to get the beefier battery. That is the very top of the line “non-touch” model. All other models with the larger battery are touch only.
Interestingly enough, the XPS 13 doesn’t have this situation, all models have the same battery.
Dell is very confusing if you buy from their three portals: 1) Home, 2) Work (office), 3) Outlet. There are multiple ways to skin a cat and you can come up with vastly different configurations and vastly different prices even though you end up searching for the same devices. Some selections have very little custom options, some selections have more options. If you do your homework you may get exactly what you want. Then again you may not. It seems that most companies nowadays have opted to limit configurations for multiple reasons rather than the nightmare of unlimited configurations. It is very nice to be able to have your computer very highly customized, but that comes at a cost: technician/sales mistakes, increased time before shipping, higher chance of reduced quality, etc. However, being a large, multifaceted company like Dell, quality suffers no matter how they slice it.
I ordered an XPS13 from Dell UK, to ship in 3-5 days. It eventually shipped in 12 days despite my having cancelled the order on day 6. They seemed weirdly inept.
It is a shame that you need the high res, power demanding screen to get touch. Maybe that will change.
Hi, I am currently an owner of one xps15, I have a 32gb ssd and 1tb hdd with 54 hr battery and 1080p screen one.
I can tell you that this laptop is pretty good but when it came it had some troubles, which a flashing cleaned up. The 1080p screen is glossy compared to the glass one on the 4k.
I would suggest that you take the ssd version if possible as that will help you a lot, cuz when this laptop starts up it takes a solid 5 mins to run perfectly, that is why I usually hibernate it. It is good for gaming the only problem being heating, so if you like to game a lot get a cooling pad.
You can get about 3-3 and half hours of battery life on my version so the ssd version with a 84watthr battery would give about 6 hrs but if you put it on powersave mode for the flights you will get about 8-9 hrs on the 84watthr battery.
This is an amazing laptop, when you watch videos on the almost bezel-less screen it looks amazing. The keyboard and touch pad are pretty good, just next to the MBPs. It’s build well and looks just fantastic. I love this laptop and if you buy this; I hope you do too.
Are you a bot?