The Best Windows Laptop. Period.

[poochyena]

Loved the Technology Connections shout out

[bimmerman]

Great vid. Our IT refresh cadence is a 3 year cycle and I'm due for an upgrade from the Precision variant of the XPS 15 to the same variant of the XPS17. Pretty stoked for the Quadro RTX in such a light travel-able laptop.

[Kisai]

4 hours ago, 5x5 said:

This is just sad. The current XPS models sufferr from SEVERE thermal and power issues, to the point where Dell is replacing first batch models due to battery discharge under load. Not to mention the DPC latency and BIOS issues that haven't been solved since 2016 when they first got reported. Countless updates later, they still plague them. Calling it the best is incredibly poor judgement considering these crippling flaws. Add to that the fact that Dell have horrid support and QA and you have a recipe for many people to waste their money on a glorified Facebook machine.

That's not the problem you think it is.

 

The 17" Precision 7000 models come with two USB-C connectors and the standard barrel connector that 14" that Precision 7000's normally come with. The Precision 5000 models (which this XPS model is basically identical except for the GPU series) normally come with 1 USB-C on the 15" and 2 on the 17" model. 

 

So this battery discharge is only happening because they opted to not include a 240w adapter, because they do not make one in the mini-barrel that these laptops use. Instead what they really want you to buy is the WD19DC (USB-C dock) which provides this power, as it provides that power to the Precision 7000's as well. 

 

https://www.dellemc.com/resources/en-us/asset/data-sheets/products/electronics-accessories/dell_docking_compatibility_guide.pdf

Quote

# Precision 7000 series mobile workstations require more power than 130W, so when docked with the Dell Dock WD19 (130W/180W) or Dell Thunderbolt Dock WD19TB, the workstations need to be plugged in externally for optimal operation. For the best experience with Precision 7530/7540/7550 or 7730/7740 /7750, choose the Dell Performance Dock WD19DC. The WD19DC dock comes with a dual USB-C connector that provides up to 210W of power delivery, so you no longer need an additional power adapter.

 

[j.son19]

4 hours ago, DeathSock69 said:

Anyone know where I can get that amazing wallpaper that was on the Macbook's screen?

That's from a old post on the ltt Reddit.

[hishnash]

The most concerning aspect of the XPS this year is the battery only having 300 cycles. Almost all other vendors rate their batteries to have at least 1000 cycles.

You might wonder why do battery cycles matter? the answer to that is that is if your battery starts to swell after you have gone over that limit good luck getting anyone to fix it. 300 cycles for a work laptop basically means 1 year so you could be still within dells extended warranty and find your device un-usable and they will just shug you off saying you use the battery to much and should have replaced it (out of your pocket) after 300 cycles.

the other concerning factor is that it draws more than 100W under full load.  That to me makes it a laptop with a lot of comprises as you will be unable to it when traveling due to many power sockets in trains/plaines/busses being capped at 100W (they cut out if you draw more than 100W). To be clear that is not an issue with a big fat gaming laptop but if your making a laptop to compete with the 16" MBP then being within the 100W limit is important.

[Strategic]

It's lately occuring to me that linus appears to be a very happy person last 2-3 weeks. I'm very happy and refreshing to see it and to experience it in the LTT video's, but man something great must have happened to Linus. If not I'm even more happy that Linus is happy without needing something great to happen in his life. 

[Kisai]

1 hour ago, hishnash said:

The most concerning aspect of the XPS this year is the battery only having 300 cycles. Almost all other vendors rate their batteries to have at least 1000 cycles.

You might wonder why do battery cycles matter? the answer to that is that is if your battery starts to swell after you have gone over that limit good luck getting anyone to fix it. 300 cycles for a work laptop basically means 1 year so you could be still within dells extended warranty and find your device un-usable and they will just shug you off saying you use the battery to much and should have replaced it (out of your pocket) after 300 cycles.

the other concerning factor is that it draws more than 100W under full load.  That to me makes it a laptop with a lot of comprises as you will be unable to it when traveling due to many power sockets in trains/plaines/busses being capped at 100W (they cut out if you draw more than 100W). To be clear that is not an issue with a big fat gaming laptop but if your making a laptop to compete with the 16" MBP then being within the 100W limit is important.

15" laptops are not laptops you would be using in a plane. Not unless you switched the dGPU off.

 

11/12/13/14" laptops seldom have dGPU's and are U/Y intel parts. 15" and 17" Dell laptops are H parts.

 

Car inverters and Airplanes top out at 90-100w, and older ones will top out at 45w. Like the entire point of some of these low-power laptops is the portability, not the performance. So the XPS 15/17" and the Precision 5000's based on the same platform are basically a mid-tier desktop replacement rather than a low-tier desktop/portable. They're almost as capable as the Precision 7000 (the thicker one that allows 128GB ram and 4 SSD's) , but again, power limit.

 

If I were to get a non-gaming work laptop the XPS or the Precision 5000 part would probably be one of the first machines on the list if a Macbook Pro was not viable, but bear in mind that NO laptop can replace a high end desktop. None. Most of what you find in "desktop replacement" and high end gaming laptops are basically the same desktop parts built on a laptop chassis, so the battery life gets worse the larger the laptop gets, which isn't what happens with the iPad.

 

Anyway, to date I've only replaced ONE Precision 5520 battery, out of all the ones deployed, the two laptops where the touchpad popped out and the battery had expanded were fixed by dell under warranty.

[hishnash]

9 minutes ago, Kisai said:

15" laptops are not laptops you would be using in a plane. Not unless you switched the dGPU off.

The MBP 16" manages to do this (it is a H part), and if you pay for (it costs a lot) the latest higher end gpu option its gpu will in fact out perform the gpu on the 17" Xps and still not draw more power.

It is possible to do this just harder to do it, (and yes that also means it costs more)... if you need a powerfull computer and you need to travel for work then you are unlikly to have a workstation at each end of your chip and a thin and light to use on the way, you will have a laptop that can be used on either end (were you can connect it with a TB dock sometimes). 

At least from my work in the past i have made extensive use of a 15" workstation class laptop while traveling, infact my employer expected that i was doing work while traveling since they were paying me for my time and did not want me to just be watching films on their time.

 

[Luscious]

I've been waiting for this review on LTT as I have been eyeing the XPS 17 for many months now.

 

The battery issues do concern me, both the power loss and the ability to get the pack replaced if necessary. I own the XPS 13 9343 and when I needed to replace the battery in that (after it began to swell) I had to hunt online for a retailer that carried the specific part because Dell, in their infinite wisdom, REFUSED TO SELL IT ON THEIR ONLINE PARTS STORE, instead forcing users to SEND IN their laptop and wait 3-6 weeks for some monkey with a screwdriver to do the 5 minute job. Why manufacturers are this PARANOID about people opening up the damn thing and doing a battery swap themselves is just head scratching. This isn't brain surgery or rocket science, it's just a damn battery swap. GET OVER IT DELL!!!

 

3 hours ago, Kisai said:

That's not the problem you think it is.

 

The 17" Precision 7000 models come with two USB-C connectors and the standard barrel connector that 14" that Precision 7000's normally come with. The Precision 5000 models (which this XPS model is basically identical except for the GPU series) normally come with 1 USB-C on the 15" and 2 on the 17" model. 

 

So this battery discharge is only happening because they opted to not include a 240w adapter, because they do not make one in the mini-barrel that these laptops use. Instead what they really want you to buy is the WD19DC (USB-C dock) which provides this power, as it provides that power to the Precision 7000's as well. 

 

https://www.dellemc.com/resources/en-us/asset/data-sheets/products/electronics-accessories/dell_docking_compatibility_guide.pdf

 

I will look into the WD19DC, but if what you're saying is right then the XPS 17 needs TWO USB-C connections for power. In the video Linus didn't mention WHICH of the TB ports on the 17 is used for power, or if you can use two at the same time to go past the 130W limit, or if the system board/BIOS locks the power input to just 130W total on the unit.

 

Another alternative would be to use a pair of USB-C-to-mini-barrel plug adapters, but again you would need to make sure the XPS 17 can handle charging from two 130W bricks. This is entirely separate from the thing some laptops do when they switch to AC in and no charging mode when you run at full performance.

[zeusthemoose]

@AlexTheGreatish why did you use a lemon as scale for the trackpads and why was it only on the XPS and not both? Is this a new standard of measuring trackpad sizes, because I’m all for it.

[kirashi]

On 8/1/2020 at 10:46 AM, 5x5 said:

The Asus Zephyrus G14. aside from the screen, it's better in every possible way. Magnesium alloy chassis, 9-10 hours of battery life, better cooling, MUCH better performance and excellent input devices. The G15 is also great.

I thought that too until I discovered that the G14 is missing an SD card slot. For a professional / gaming / photography laptop, that's a whole lotta nope.jpg for my needs. Back to the search for the perfect 15-17" laptop when I eventually need to replace my XPS 15 9560 machine.

[5x5]

4 hours ago, kirashi said:

I thought that too until I discovered that the G14 is missing an SD card slot. For a professional / gaming / photography laptop, that's a whole lotta nope.jpg for my needs. Back to the search for the perfect 15-17" laptop when I eventually need to replace my XPS 15 9560 machine.

ThinkPad X1 Extreme

[Voyeurism]

This is something that's been bugging me enough that I registered an account here (hi guys!) in the hope that someone from the LTT community can shed some light on it.

 

Can anyone explain why I've seen almost nobody talking about the new HP Envy 15-ep0010na when discussing competitors to the MacBook Pro 16"? It seems to tick essentially all of the same boxes as the Dell XPS 15 - colour accurate display, 'premium' build quality, aimed at creative professionals - except that compared with the XPS config that comes in around the same price point you get 32GB of RAM instead of only 16GB, and you get a 2TB NVMe SSD instead of only a 1TB... oh, and you also get an RTX 2060 Max-Q instead of a GTX 1650Ti, meaning that the HP actually meets NVIDIA's criteria to be a 'Creator Series' laptop whereas the Dell doesn't.

 

It's not just LTT that has been quiet about this laptop - I've been scouring YouTube for a review from one of the bigger laptop review channels, but there doesn't seem to be anything out there other than a couple of videos from some Asian language channels.

 

Another 'MacBook 16 competitor' that similarly doesn't seem to have got much attention is the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 15 - it also seems to tick a lot of the same boxes around quality of display, build quality, etc. - but again it meets the NVIDIA Creator Series minimum specs where the Dell doesn't while also being significantly cheaper than the Dell (although it does 'only' have a 9th gen Core i7 vs the XPS 15's 10th gen Core i9). This one appears to only be available in the US and Canada at the moment, with no indication of when we'll get a UK release, but this shouldn't explain why US reviewers haven't touched the thing.

 

Can anyone explain to me why the Dell XPS seems to have received so much love and attention from reviewers while other, similarly or better spec'd, laptops seem to have just been ignored? I'm in the market for a replacement for my 2013 Retina Macbook Pro, and while I really would like to go with a Windows machine this time around I'm finding it hard to get information that would let me draw meaningful comparisons.