Desktop Masteracer needs Laptop

[Fiatsu]

 I'm in GD (3D side) and need a computer for work*, I intend to use it in a very specific ways.
1: Image Processing in Photoshop via Bridge/ Some basic photoshop stuff for textures etc
2: Web browsing gathering references
3: Streaming/ playing local videos for most of the day
4: Lots of Email/ Skype stuff

Simple stuff, My problem starts here.
I have two desktops, a 3 screen, quad core, sli setup i built for gaming mainly and currently use for general and some work stuff, Another 6 core, high ram, dual monitor setup for 3D work only (Mainly rendering with only important software installed).
Doing general stuff on the gaming pc is fine until i need to leave the office yet continue watching a video or responding quickly to an email/ call/ notification for something. I bought a small tablet to try and it's helpful for youtube videos and the like but not useful for downloaded content and ofc the OS isn't helpful for real tools/ website navigation (But i got some portability).
 Having been heavily on the desktop side of thigns for some time i've ignored the redhead midget of the family -laptops ever since i looked at one years ago and saw how crappy the performance was compared.
Now i need a portable hub to keep all the important/ central things on and go between desktops as needed while having the media/ information with me as i move around.

I looked at the Laptop market and it seemed initially that for my line of work the big 17inch IPS panel ones with the best 980m GPU and i7 would be idea, However when i saw the battery life expectations i was shocked.
How the **** is 4-6 hours useful for anything? Having never owned a laptop before (used others temporarily) I have no practical information on what's needed for what like i would with desktops.
i'm looking for a practical laptop that meets my needs. I don't need the biggest screen or the highest resolutions, Don't need fancy features or looks.
 I planned to buy a laptop with a HDD and Swap it for a big SSD that i'd install Win7 onto, Same for ram if anything but if the laptop has 8gb it should be good enough*.
Battery life is important and here the compromise of GPU/ CPU i have no reference for, I don't know what GeForce 900m series chip is needed to run photoshop well nor do i know the practical performance gaps in intel CPUs.

I was about to buy one of the 980m Laptops so price isn't much of an issue, I just need a solid laptop that will last the day and get shit done. It doesn't have to look pretty, Hopefully you guys already know of the Gems out there that's overlooked.
Any help is appreciated, Ty.
 

[Pauleh]

Go for the latest Dell XPS 15 with all the fancy options. It has a powerfull GPU and CPU options (PLENTY enough for any photoshop or whatnot and just fine for gaming). They are thin, and light. Have a great keyboard and touchpad. They have AMAZING battery life (9 hours on mine with regular browsing and writing, but I only have an iGPU). Without a doubt, I think that they are the best laptops on the market right now. The only downfall is that you can't upgrade much on them,

[kirashi]

6 minutes ago, Pauleh said:

Go for the latest Dell XPS 15 with all the fancy options. It has a powerfull GPU and CPU options (PLENTY enough for any photoshop or whatnot and just fine for gaming). They are thin, and light. Have a great keyboard and touchpad. They have AMAZING battery life (9 hours on mine with regular browsing and writing, but I only have an iGPU). Without a doubt, I think that they are the best laptops on the market right now. The only downfall is that you can't upgrade much on them,

 

 

 

 

 

This. I am in much of a similar boat as @Fiatsu in regards to my requirements, and my current 15" Macbook Air isn't cutting it for much more than web browsing these days. Its' age is showing.

 

Sorry to take away from OP's thread here, but @Pauleh I'm curious to know how long you've had your XPS 15 and how it's been in real world situations for you? 

(I mean, I'm not really taking away from OP's thread if this advice helps him make a decision, so...)

What do you love about the XPS 15?

What would you change about it?

[Pauleh]

17 minutes ago, kirashi said:

This. I am in much of a similar boat as @Fiatsu in regards to my requirements, and my current 15" Macbook Air isn't cutting it for much more than web browsing these days. Its' age is showing.

 

Sorry to take away from OP's thread here, but @Pauleh I'm curious to know how long you've had your XPS 15 and how it's been in real world situations for you? 

(I mean, I'm not really taking away from OP's thread if this advice helps him make a decision, so...)

What do you love about the XPS 15?

What would you change about it?

I have an older XPS 13 (a slightly smaller version). It's about 3 years old now, but I got my sister sister the new 15 and I quite liked that as well when I had to borrowed it for a week. Its perfect. I love how thin the bezels are, the screen is amazing, the keyboard is VERY nice (and I am quite particular about my keyboards), the touchpad is flawless. I love how both the 15 and the 13 are great sizes to fit in any backpack or notebook bag. It's amazing. I would change nothing about this masterpiece of a computer. If you don't really care about how big the screen is and would rather have more portability, then go for the 13, but the 15 would be better if you are interested in photoshop or gaming.

[Fiatsu]

19 minutes ago, Pauleh said:

I have an older XPS 13 (a slightly smaller version). It's about 3 years old now, but I got my sister sister the new 15 and I quite liked that as well when I had to borrowed it for a week. Its perfect. I love how thin the bezels are, the screen is amazing, the keyboard is VERY nice (and I am quite particular about my keyboards), the touchpad is flawless. I love how both the 15 and the 13 are great sizes to fit in any backpack or notebook bag. It's amazing. I would change nothing about this masterpiece of a computer. If you don't really care about how big the screen is and would rather have more portability, then go for the 13, but the 15 would be better if you are interested in photoshop or gaming.

Did you get the i7 with Touchscreen for her? Do you also have experience with touchscreen battery life compared to non.

[Pauleh]

54 minutes ago, kirashi said:

a

Edited August 31, 2016 by Pauleh
sorry for some reason it wouldn't get rid of this on my screen and I can't delete it

[Pauleh]

5 minutes ago, Fiatsu said:

Did you get the i7 with Touchscreen for her? Do you also have experience with touchscreen battery life compared to non.

Yes, I got the i7 (no dedicated GPU), the touch screen and the 4k screen for her, I don't have a comparison for battery life between the touch and the non-touch, but it's quite a lot. It lasted almost a whole day of general productivity and play including playing youtube videos, browsing the internet, writing a paper or two, lightly using photoshop, and playing a 2d game.

[Fiatsu]

14 hours ago, Pauleh said:

Yes, I got the i7 (no dedicated GPU), the touch screen and the 4k screen for her, I don't have a comparison for battery life between the touch and the non-touch, but it's quite a lot. It lasted almost a whole day of general productivity and play including playing youtube videos, browsing the internet, writing a paper or two, lightly using photoshop, and playing a 2d game.

 

 From the reviews/ info on it, it looks like a decent package. If only Dell didn't have soo much messed up sh*t on their site, I'm actually interested in giving them my money and they're making it difficult wow.
Is there any direct competition for the xps 15, The screen is a major + and a nice package overall. I'll be getting the 1080p one with the bigger battery/ i7.

[Pendragon]

36 minutes ago, Fiatsu said:

Is there any direct competition for the xps 15, The screen is a major + and a nice package overall. I'll be getting the 1080p one with the bigger battery/ i7.

Good choice. Don't get the 4k one. Drains battery life to hell. Unfortunately, from what you listed you would be doing you'll be getting around 7 hours of battery life. I had 1 and my workload was reasonable intensive on the go. 7 hours is about the time for your kind of work flow too. 

 

 

[Fiatsu]

2 hours ago, Pendragon said:

Good choice. Don't get the 4k one. Drains battery life to hell. Unfortunately, from what you listed you would be doing you'll be getting around 7 hours of battery life. I had 1 and my workload was reasonable intensive on the go. 7 hours is about the time for your kind of work flow too. 

Worth a try, Is it common to shutdown laptops when not in use, This one will have an SSD so boot time shouldn't be an issue.
Anything that can extend the battery life to last a practical day to be charged at night would be ideal. 

 

[Fiatsu]

2 hours ago, Pendragon said:

Good choice. Don't get the 4k one. Drains battery life to hell. Unfortunately, from what you listed you would be doing you'll be getting around 7 hours of battery life. I had 1 and my workload was reasonable intensive on the go. 7 hours is about the time for your kind of work flow too. 

Worth a try, Is it common to shutdown laptops when not in use, This one will have an SSD so boot time shouldn't be an issue.
Anything that can extend the battery life to last a practical day to be charged at night would be ideal. 

 

[Pendragon]

1 hour ago, Fiatsu said:

Is it common to shutdown laptops when not in use

Reason why I loved my XPS for work was you could grab Del's 18000miliamp battery pack and charge your laptop off it.  http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=451-bbmv

[LordLeewee]

ive got the 1080p xps 15 and battery lasts forever. 12 hours between charges when its just being used for browsing and stuff, it managed a 6 hour train journey a few weeks ago where i was working on a project using word and photoshop. paired mine with an mx master mouse and its great for productivity on the go. while its not as fast doing it, it will still handle anything my 6700k/1080 desktop can do.