XPS or other laptops?

[wizani]

I am looking to buy a new laptop with graphic design (Photoshop, Illustration, AE,Cinema 4D) and video editing being my primary purposes for it (a few games here and there on medium settings as well) and have been eyeing the XPS for a while. My budget is enough to buy the XPS with following specs:
15.6-inch FHD with Intel Core i5-7300HQ, 8GB RAM, 256 SSD, 4 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

or should I go for other laptops such as:
1. HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD display, i7-7700HQ 2.8GHz, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM, 4 GB NVIDIA GTX 1050 
2. Dell Inspiron 7567, 15.6" FHD display, Intel Core i5 7300HQ, NVIDIA GTX1050Ti, 256GB SSD 8GB RAM
3. Dell Inspiron 5570 15.6'' FHD display, i7 8th Gen, 8/16GB RAM, 2TB HDD, 4GB Graphics AMD 530 Series 

I was eyeing XPS for it's superior screen and longer battery life but all those laptops have different configurations that are appealing (and that for a slightly lower price point). 
Any suggestions as to which one would be the best purchase?

[DrMacintosh]

That Inspiron with the 530 isn't going to be playing much of anything. Lol

[wizani]

11 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

That Inspiron with the 530 isn't going to be playing much of anything. Lol

Yeah it has the least powerful graphics card  but it does have a 8th gen processor (be it a U-processor) and more RAM (16 GB compared to 8GB) option so I wondering if it was worth considering it as my primary purpose will always be graphic design?

[genexis_x]

Where are you from? Budget? Any preference on weight and battery life?

[wizani]

2 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Where are you from? Budget? Any preference on weight and battery life?

I am from the teeny tiny country of Nepal, and I can push my budget to about 1100 USD which includes the massive import taxes here (bear in mind the same xps 15 9560 model would cost considerably less outside Nepal). I'd like the laptop to be portable (so max 2-2.5 kg weight I guess). And I'd like the battery life to be 5-6 hrs+. So the XPS was the option I was looking at for a long time even though it has 7th gen i5 processor.

[genexis_x]

50 minutes ago, wizani said:

Nepal

Any links of local online stores? Or you wanted to buy from other country like US?

[wizani]

5 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Any links of local online stores? Or you wanted to buy from other country like US?

Nah, I am currently looking to buy here in Nepal as buying online from another location from Nepal is nigh impossible (you have to be physically there or have someone there). Some of the few online stores: One Two Three Four

[markr54632]

Out of the models you listed that pavilion is very meh. runs a tad hot, keyboard backlight is 1 color either white or green depending on the series. Screen was very tolerable. Build quality very average. Relatively clunky. Ssd upgrade is relatively easy.

 

The 5570 I personally didn't like. The screen was horrible. Everything else about it was okay.

 

If you can get acer the nitro 5 would be an option that is usually around that same budget. If you go with the nitro make sure you get the ssd you want from the factory. The 2.5 bay is super easy to get to. The m.2 not nearly as easy.

[wizani]

2 hours ago, markr54632 said:

If you can get acer the nitro 5 would be an option that is usually around that same budget.

Is Acer Predator Helios 300 with i7-7700HQ with 6B GTX 1060 a better option than Nitro 5 i5-8300H with 4 GB GTX 1050ti? The 8th gen i5 on Nitro 5 seems the better CPU but Helios has the better the GPU, damn. And gotta sacrifice portability for these machines and some screen quality in terms of color representation  and battery life compared to XPS. What a pickle.

[markr54632]

I honestly haven't touched the helios. Specs are slightly better, I've heard it runs on the hot side.

 

To be fair the nitro 5 is supposed to run hot too, but that has not been my experience.

[genexis_x]

On 10/1/2018 at 7:11 PM, wizani said:

1100 USD

Can convert to your currency?

[Guest]

If you are a professional yes.

But in my case che color profile was not calibrated out the box, I had to use an icc profile. 

 

I just say that without calibration, a xiaomi mi notebook pro screen was looking better than mine (XPS 9550) without color calibration lol

[wizani]

21 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Can convert to your currency?

about Rs.130,000

 

11 hours ago, Lukyp said:

If you are a professional yes.

But in my case che color profile was not calibrated out the box, I had to use an icc profile. 

yeah I've read cases of XPS screen being a little too oversaturated unfortunately and some tweaking has to be done. I still think the screen is great but, alas, not without it's problems.

[genexis_x]

I was going to suggest laptops with 7700HQ CPU but they don't have good quality display (those within your budget). I would suggest you to go Ultrabooks/regular laptops, however they usually don't have good GPU performance. So what's your decision?

[wizani]

22 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

I was going to suggest laptops with 7700HQ CPU but they don't have good quality display (those within your budget). I would suggest you to go Ultrabooks/regular laptops, however they usually don't have good GPU performance. So what's your decision?

I did find a XPS 9560 i7-7700HQ with GTX 1050 for my price range as the unit had a little damaged 'DELL' logo (the last 'L' was chipped) during shipment and the store was willing to cut the prices for that. Apart from that one little thing, everything was okay with the unit. I'm thinking about going for it. Should I do it?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, wizani said:

Should I do it?

This model has too many issues for its price

[Tarun10]

1 hour ago, wizani said:

I did find a XPS 9560 i7-7700HQ with GTX 1050 for my price range as the unit had a little damaged 'DELL' logo (the last 'L' was chipped) during shipment and the store was willing to cut the prices for that. Apart from that one little thing, everything was okay with the unit. I'm thinking about going for it. Should I do it?

I understand your situation. I live in India and prices are pretty high. I think you should just get any laptop that offers the best specs for your budget. We don't have much options. The Acer Nitro is better than the Predator Helios, the new CPU should last longer but both would require some tweaking maybe repaste to improve performance.

[genexis_x]

18 minutes ago, Tarun10 said:

The Acer Nitro is better than the Predator Helios

Both are equally good and bad at similar aspects

[Tarun10]

Just now, GeneXiS_X said:

Both are equally good and bad at similar aspects

Price wise the Nitro 5 is cheaper in India and neighbouring countries. 

[genexis_x]

9 minutes ago, Tarun10 said:

Price wise the Nitro 5 is cheaper in India and all countries. 

Fixed that for you

[wizani]

22 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

I live in India and prices are pretty high. 

Yeah I feel you man. The Nitro 5 offers a little more for  its price point than Helios, but yeah both have just meh batteries and the screen as well. Recently stores here are pushing for the Dell G-series. Everywhere I look I only see them and all three varients have the same specs (i7-8750H, GTX 1050 ti, 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD+ 1 TB HDD) and you are paying more for G7 for it's built quality and heat management I guess. And only having such small or no official outlets, the customisation for laptops are non-existent.

[Tarun10]

17 hours ago, wizani said:

Yeah I feel you man. The Nitro 5 offers a little more for  its price point than Helios, but yeah both have just meh batteries and the screen as well. Recently stores here are pushing for the Dell G-series. Everywhere I look I only see them and all three varients have the same specs (i7-8750H, GTX 1050 ti, 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD+ 1 TB HDD) and you are paying more for G7 for it's built quality and heat management I guess. And only having such small or no official outlets, the customisation for laptops are non-existent.

Here you might pay even on Amazon at least 20-30% over usual price for laptops and other general tech. Cheapo stuff like cables are very poor quality imported from China and sold for very cheap. the PC market is also import taxed who knows what the new tax implications on Chinese imports into US will cost us. And not to mention average wage is pretty low. Most middle class kids can't afford even a console let alone a gaming PC. We make do with integrated graphics and 2 series cards.Newegg is the only decently priced seller of PC parts in India. Used market totally sucks. As for official outlets limited just major appliance resellers like Best Buy but with hiked prices and people who don't know the difference between an iMac and an iMac Pro even in an Apple Store. The 2015 Macbook Air base model is selling for close to 1000$ dollars "on offer". Official sticker price is close to 1200$.

I guess I have cringed enough though....