2014 Razer Blade or 2015 XPS 15 (9550)

[Chri5]

Dell XPS 15 (2015 (9550)) $1600 after taxes
1080p (100% sRGB IGZO?)

Quad Core i5 (Skylake)
GTX 960m
8GB DDR4 Ram
1tb SSHD (Upgrading to 250GB or 512GB SSD for $120-220ish)
56Whr Battery (Estimate battery life is around 5-6 hours)

1 Year warranty

 

2014 Razer Blade $1900 after taxes

3200x1800 (14" IGZO Touch Screen)
Quad Core i7 (4712HQ)
GTX 870m
8GB DDR3 Ram
256GB SSD
70Whr Battery (Reviews say 5-6 hours depend on use)

1 Year warranty

 

My use case is primarily going to be note taking at school which means I need a decent battery life and low weight but I'll also be using this to play games on the go or to play games during my long breaks at school. I'll also be using this to play movies and stuff at friend's houses on their tv. My school work is also somewhat demanding as it is data analysis and spatial data analysis.

Games I'd be playing are fallout 4, smite, dungeon defenders 2, CS:GO, GTA V, etc.

Both laptops seem really nice, but the razor blade seems to have the nicer keyboard but the dell will be easier to repair or upgrade in the future due to the SSD and RAM being standards. The Razer has a regular M.2 SSD as well but the ram is soldered in. The customer service from razor seems to be ok and dell has their customer service in india which is annoying to say the least.

 

I already have a desktop btw. Please help, I'm having the worst time deciding and I need a laptop for school in January :'(

 

[ThinkWithPortals]

-snip-

If you can afford the extra, I'd go for the Blade. Better GPU and a touchscreen, and so good looking...

[Theguywhobea]

RIP dark theme users

[Chri5]

If you can afford the extra, I'd go for the Blade. Better GPU and a touchscreen, and so good looking...

 

It's only $100-200 ish more but I'm concerned with the parts failing eventually and razer doesn't have easy to obtain motherboards or replacement parts like dell does. With dell you can order a specific part and DIY the repair.

[Chri5]

RIP dark theme users

 

 

Dell XPS 15 (2015 (9550)) $1600 after taxes

1080p (100% sRGB IGZO?)

Quad Core i5 (Skylake)

GTX 960m

8GB DDR4 Ram

1tb SSHD (Upgrading to 250GB or 512GB SSD for $120-220ish)

56Whr Battery (Estimate battery life is around 5-6 hours)

1 Year warranty

 

2014 Razer Blade $1900 after taxes

3200x1800 (14" IGZO Touch Screen)

Quad Core i7 (4712HQ)

GTX 870m

8GB DDR3 Ram

256GB SSD

70Whr Battery (Reviews say 5-6 hours depend on use)

1 Year warranty

 

My use case is primarily going to be note taking at school which means I need a decent battery life and low weight but I'll also be using this to play games on the go or to play games during my long breaks at school. I'll also be using this to play movies and stuff at friend's houses on their tv. My school work is also somewhat demanding as it is data analysis and spatial data analysis.

Games I'd be playing are fallout 4, smite, dungeon defenders 2, CS:GO, GTA V, etc.

Both laptops seem really nice, but the razor blade seems to have the nicer keyboard but the dell will be easier to repair or upgrade in the future due to the SSD and RAM being standards. The Razer has a regular M.2 SSD as well but the ram is soldered in. The customer service from razor seems to be ok and dell has their customer service in india which is annoying to say the least.

 

I already have a desktop btw. Please help, I'm having the worst time deciding and I need a laptop for school in January :'(

 

 

For you <3 and the other dark theme users

[Enderman]

It's only $100-200 ish more but I'm concerned with the parts failing eventually and razer doesn't have easy to obtain motherboards or replacement parts like dell does. With dell you can order a specific part and DIY the repair.

not for laptops....no...

 

unless one fan and a ram stick is what you mean by "replacement parts"

[Chri5]

not for laptops....no...

 

unless one fan and a ram stick is what you mean by "replacement parts"

 

On the notebook review forum I've seen people order specific  SATA cables for the XPS 15 from dell so I assumed they'd be able to order other parts too like a screen and whatnot. 

[JerkyMcDilerino]

RIP dark theme users

It......................just a blank post. 

[Chri5]

 

It......................just a blank post. 

 

 

I fixed the op...

 

Nvm idk how but see http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/485523-2014-razer-blade-or-2015-xps-15-9550/#entry6509705

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

What about something like the Alienware 13 - has great battery life 

[Tooom3k]

Can't say much about Razer by myself, but I know some XPS users, my dad has one for few years and hadn't got any problems whatsoever. They both have 4-core processors, which is very important if you looking at a high performance. 2 cores running in energy save mode is just dissaster in terms of performance. I think at this price point there aren't wrong choices and you should go with something you like more, cause they are both a great piece of hardware.

[Chri5]

What about something like the Alienware 13 - has great battery life 

 

It's perfect minus the fact a 14 year old designed it (jokes). I work in an office and if I bring in an alienware, I become the gamer - not a business professional. The razer blade is pushing it too but I'd probably get a dbrand skin to cover up the logo. 

 

Can't say much about Razer by myself, but I know some XPS users, my dad has one for few years and hadn't got any problems whatsoever. They both have 4-core processors, which is very important if you looking at a high performance. 2 cores running in energy save mode is just dissaster in terms of performance. I think at this price point there aren't wrong choices and you should go with something you like more, cause they are both a great piece of hardware.

Thanks for the tips. I 100% agree on the ULV processors nowadays. They suck. I've heard various good and bad things about the previous XPS 15 and I think in the long term, getting the XPS 15 will yield a longer lasting system that I can upgrade later if I need more storage and whatnot. 

[ShadowCaptain]

It's perfect minus the fact a 14 year old designed it (jokes). I work in an office and if I bring in an alienware, I become the gamer - not a business professional. The razer blade is pushing it too but I'd probably get a dbrand skin to cover up the logo. 

 

Thanks for the tips. I 100% agree on the ULV processors nowadays. They suck. I've heard various good and bad things about the previous XPS 15 and I think in the long term, getting the XPS 15 will yield a longer lasting system that I can upgrade later if I need more storage and whatnot. 

 

with the lights turned off it looks perfectly normal, the blade looks like a macbook, nobody would think it looks "gamery" just turn off the backlighting

 

but  the XPS are nice

[Chri5]

with the lights turned off it looks perfectly normal, the blade looks like a macbook, nobody would think it looks "gamery" just turn off the backlighting

 

but  the XPS are nice

 

You're right. It's not bad looking. Battery life might be an issue still though. Some reviews say 5 hours but thats with the QHD display

[ShadowCaptain]

You're right. It's not bad looking. Battery life might be an issue still though. Some reviews say 5 hours but thats with the QHD display

 

15" retina pro?

[nielsenfiore]

I think Razer Blade is good for you as Razer laptops is mainly made for gaming.

[Chri5]

For those of you who care - I ended up getting the XPS 15 to try first as there is a 30 day return policy and they pay for return shipping. Razer does not have that/.

 

Anyways I'm loving the XPS 15 - its dead silent while browsing the net or watching videos.

[junky]

For those of you who care - I ended up getting the XPS 15 to try first as there is a 30 day return policy and they pay for return shipping. Razer does not have that/.

 

Anyways I'm loving the XPS 15 - its dead silent while browsing the net or watching videos.

 

Though there few problems like the screen colors. Also, it is not that quiet when power mode on 'high performance' - link to XPS 9550 review

[Aren Racyil]

Go for XPS. I have the blade 2015 and it's amazing, But XPS should be quite as powerful enough to run those games at medium to low. If you can invest more, I highly recommend getting the blade 2015.