So I have another thread where I was asking about the Dell XPS 15 screen config. It seemed ideal for my needs: A lot of HD video editing with Cyberlink Powerdirector 14, my Plex server (so a lot more media files,) Office type work, web browsing, writing, casual gaming (my heavy duty/Witcher 3/MLB The Show/etc. gaming these days is on my PS4, though it would be nice to be able to game on the laptop, but no expectations of AAA titles.) And I’m convinced, in spite of a LONG thread on Notebookreview forums of all kinds of problems with the XPS 15, that it would give me the battery life and power and light weight I’m looking for in a 15" notebook.
However - Dell simply won’t sell me the config I want. Ideally, a 512GB SSD + 1 or 2TB HDD, i7 6th gen processor, 1080 screen, 16 GB RAM. Simple. They sell configs with all of those options. They just won’t sell them together in one machine.
Example, anything with a 512GB SSD only can be sold with the higher WHr battery. Which takes up the bay for the 2.5 in HDD. Configs with a small SSD + HDD only can be sold with an i5. Anything with a 1T SSD (overkill for my needs but if I can’t add an HDD seems like the only option, 512GB is not enough) is only sold with the 4K screen (which I don’t want, I prefer battery life for my needs to the 4K and I’m not a fan of the current scaling methods for the 4K - but the battery life is my main issue.) Even if you get a machine with the 2.5 bay open, they don’t include cables and hardware to connect a SATA 2.5 inch HDD and you are required to try to get to someone at Dell and order parts they don’t normally sell - an isolator, an interposer, etc. - and even when you get someone willing to sell them to you it appears they are expensive and rarely in stock.
So if Dell won’t sell me a laptop with my simple needs, what are the alternatives? I want 15", 1920x1080 screen, long battery life, would really prefer the lightweight and size of the XPS 15, 512GB SSD + HDD (doesn’t have to include the HDD, I can buy a SATA III 2T HDD for less than a hundred bucks, just want it to be a simple add), 16 GB, i7 Skylake processor, prefer something like the Geforce GTX 960M. Is there such a machine out there? It has been surprisingly challenging to find an XPS 15 like machine out there.
Sager laptops are powerful, but keep in mind, in addition to being heavy, they have a terrible battery life. You’re lucky to get two hours out of them.
You sure you can’t use a desktop PC for video editing? :)
If you want to check out Sager, xoticpc.com is a good place to start. The amount of customization you can make to your order is astounding. Easy to go way over budget if you’re not careful.
You could manage a 1080P IPS, 6700HQ, 970M (may as well pay a bit more and get fully 1080P-capable, 960-caliber performance), 16GB RAM, 500GB m2 Samsung SSD, and 2TB HDD for about $1,570. This model’s 25mm thick, claims it’s 5.5lbs with battery, and contains a 60WH battery (which isn’t fabulous, but I didn’t see anything to increase it in the customizer, soooo).
Jeff you might want to try bouncing between Dell’s different sites. Sometimes you can get different configs at Dell Small Business than you can at Dell Home, etc.
Yeah, just did some chatting with some people I know with the Sager’s set up like I want, and the battery life is not much better than this old Alienware M17x. :(
What about the Ideapad 300 for a little over $800? It doesn’t have the SSD you want, but it’s easy to replace Lenovo drives yourself and I believe it won’t even void the warranty.
I would check with the xotic pc guys, they are probably the best organized site as far as seeing all of the actual configurable options. You can sort things very specifically and see everything that fits your needs. If you need a more niche customization they can be worth it, but at the same time they are higher priced in general so always comparison shop.
So frustrating. Light - maybe 5 pounds or less. Thin = really nice but not required, just spoiled looking at the XPS 15. Battery life = maybe 6-9 hours? More = better.
When I just picked a Dell XPS 15 with a 1 TB SSD (since I can’t add an HDD) and the 4K display (since they won’t sell a 1 TB SSD with the 1080 screen) and i7 Skylake processor, no extra warranty beyond their crappy limited 1 year warranty, no Office, etc. it comes up at $2750. Once I add Home and Student office. it will be about $2900. Holy crap.
Tried calling, all I get are sales drones who just try to convince me why one of the preconfigured systems are perfect for me, and sales drones who have no idea what they are talking about ("Of course you can add an internal HDD to this setup? Why would the battery make any difference, it has an interface that will accept as many additional internal drives as you can afford to add!)
I’ve thought of the external USB 3 drive for my data drive. Question: how slow are these? I spend a lot of time in my HDD on my current system, as that is where most of the media files I work with are stored (i.e. HD video files for my editing, my Plex media files, photos, etc.) On the USB HDDs I have now, and my guess is they aren’t USB 3 but not sure (I do have USB 3 ports on my M17x) moving a large file back and forth from the external HDD is pretty slow.
I really hate to make your choice more convoluted, but if the XPS15 is like the XPS13, all the 4k touchscreens are glossy. It’s annoying to watch Netflix on - the overhead lights glare off the screen. Doesn’t matter as much web browsing.
USB3 is pretty fast… I have one of those USB3 to Sata caddies and I just plopped a cheap standard 3.5" Western Digital on it. It’s probably 5400 RPM. It transfers at around 80 MB/sec.
Not as fast as SSD to SSD transfers but it’s good.
external:
2 TB drive, holds media and plex junk. The only delay i ever notice is when I access this drive and have to wait for it to wake up.
2 TB WD passport, automatic backup drive
USB3 is extremely fast. It feels just like an internal disk, except of course you have to carry around an extra box. Lots of content creators use USB3 external SSDs for editing 4k video.
Also if you want to get fancy you can get that dell thunderbolt3 dock, which includes a bunch of USB ports, displayport, ethernet, etc through a single cable that will also power the laptop.
Hmmm. OK, I think I’ll pop for maybe the Seagate 2T USB 3.0 external drive (Amazon.com) and test it out on my M17x. If it feels good enough that eliminates one issue. Thanks.
Well, that WAS the Wirecutter’s recommendation! ;)
But for best portable HD. Since this is something I’ll need to carry with the laptop almost always, portable/small seemed to be way to go. But you are correct, it is 5400 rpm.
EDIT: Doing some research, the drive you linked is currently also 5400 rpm. Previous versions apparently were 7200, but for some reason they dropped them down to 5400.
Try merkamericaco.com . They sell dell refurbed XPS 9350s and 9550s. I got my 9350 from them for like $300 less than a new unit and you couldn’t tell it wasn’t a brand new unit.
Wow, they have some great prices on the XPS 15. They have one, refurbished, with “The Works” - 32 Gig of RAM (overkill of course) 1 TB NVMe SSD, 4K touch screen, etc. for $2399. That same config on Dell’s site would be around $3200. Thanks for the heads up.
