Dell XPS 15 Alternatives?

[Dominik_Szreder]

I am currently looking at a laptop that would be good for university. I wanted a laptop for a while and I had my eye on the Dell XPS since Linus made a video on a couple of years back for all it's benefits.

I watched a few reviews, specifically on the 15 inch version and people often mentioned that the speakers were awful, obviously it's a deal breaker but for it's price you would expect something better.

So I came to you my dear friends if you would be able to list some alternatives with mainly the features listed below, below £1,500 (or $2,000 US). I was also thinking of replacing let's say a HDD inside with an SSD too to reduce costs or making my options more flexible.

 

In case you're wondering I am going on to study Product Design

 

(edit) -Windows (not a fan of Apple's OS X and the keyboard labels)

-14-15 inch screen

-4 or more cores (i5, prefrably i7, or an AMD processor that's just as good)

-slim/thin

-good GPU

-battery life 10+ hours

-1080p (could be a bit lower or higher, I just don't want anything ridiculous like 4k as that will use more battery and power and I just don't need that)

-8GB ram

 

preferably:

-space for 2 drives, doesn't matter what kind of connector

-speakers better than the ones of a Dell XPS

 

Thanks from top

[79wjd]

Most laptop speakers aren't any better than those on the XPS 15, they tend to be pretty awful across the board. I've also never heard anyone complain about the XPS 15 speakers. 

[Dominik_Szreder]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

Most laptop speakers aren't any better than those on the XPS 15, they tend to be pretty awful across the board. 

I know, but the MacBook has some decent speakers

[79wjd]

Just now, Dominik_Szreder said:

I know, but the MacBook has some decent speakers

So does the XPS 15, I've never heard anyone complain about them (relative to other laptops anyway). And yes, the 2016 MBP speakers are better, but it doesn't meet the rest of your requirements, and the XPS 15 is really just as good as basically anything else available. 

[Guest]

Seems like your options are:

XPS 15 (Because it is a good laptop)

Gigabyte Aero 15 (1060 gpu, still light weight)

A Razer Blade (But only if you enjoy using your laptop as a heater)

A Macbook (Are expensive, but good productivity books)

Alienware 13 (Smaller screen and heavy, but great build and screen)

 

Least that is what I could come up with off the top of my head.

[Dominik_Szreder]

14 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

So does the XPS 15, I've never heard anyone complain about them (relative to other laptops anyway). And yes, the 2016 MBP speakers are better, but it doesn't meet the rest of your requirements, and the XPS 15 is really just as good as basically anything else available. 

alright okay, thanks for that information, seems I was mislead

[Enderman]

The only other laptop I would consider instead of the XPS is a macbook pro.

The razer blades have some serious quality control and customer support issues.

 

I would still put windows on the MBP instead of using IOS

[Dominik_Szreder]

11 minutes ago, Syn Messer said:

Seems like your options are:

XPS 15 (Because it is a good laptop)

Gigabyte Aero 15 (1060 gpu, still light weight)

A Razer Blade (But only if you enjoy using your laptop as a heater)

A Macbook (Are expensive, but good productivity books)

Alienware 13 (Smaller screen and heavy, but great build and screen)

 

Least that is what I could come up with off the top of my head.

Thanks! I'll give them a look. I also should've mentioned I'm looking for Win10, not a fan of Macs but thanks a ton anyway

[Dominik_Szreder]

2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

The only other laptop I would consider instead of the XPS is a macbook pro.

The razer blades have some serious quality control and customer support issues.

 

I would still put windows on the MBP instead of using IOS

I would too but they're hella expensive, and I would void my warranty for sure!

[Enderman]

Just now, Dominik_Szreder said:

I would too but they're hella expensive, and I would void my warranty for sure!

Why would your warranty be voided?

[KrMaH]

You could check out both the yoga 720 and the vivobook pro n580vd. Similar specs to the XPS 15 but cheaper. Not as good battery life though.

[Dominik_Szreder]

Just now, Enderman said:

Why would your warranty be voided?

for installing windows on a Mac

[Dominik_Szreder]

1 minute ago, KrMaH said:

You could check out both the yoga 720 and the vivobook pro n580vd. Similar specs to the XPS 15 but cheaper. Not as good battery life though.

The Asus would be a great option but the battery life is a bit low.... would be perfect if it wasn't for that

Also I don't like transformer laptops, but thanks for help!

[Dominik_Szreder]

21 minutes ago, Syn Messer said:

Seems like your options are:

XPS 15 (Because it is a good laptop)

Gigabyte Aero 15 (1060 gpu, still light weight)

A Razer Blade (But only if you enjoy using your laptop as a heater)

A Macbook (Are expensive, but good productivity books)

Alienware 13 (Smaller screen and heavy, but great build and screen)

 

Least that is what I could come up with off the top of my head.

Shit the Gigabyte is beautiful but a little pricey. Definitely ticks all the boxes expect the price tag. Damn maybe I could find one used somewhere

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Dominik_Szreder said:

Shit the Gigabyte is beautiful but a little pricey. Definitely ticks all the boxes expect the price tag. Damn maybe I could find one used somewhere

Yeah for this type of laptop you are going to be looking in the $1-2k options. The XPS being the cheaper option depending on what model you are looking at.

 

Newegg does have an Aero 15 open box for $1699.99 and that is likely the cheapest you are going to find for the moment.

Right now you can get the Alienware 13 with a 1060 and OLED for only $1518.99.

 

Other than that you are going to end up either sacrificing something or paying extra

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Dominik_Szreder said:

Shit the Gigabyte is beautiful but a little pricey. Definitely ticks all the boxes expect the price tag. Damn maybe I could find one used somewhere

As someone else mentioned there is the Lenovo Yoga 720. A 2-in-1 laptop with a great screen and you can get a 1050 with i7 quad core for $1199.99. But I have heard that the battery isn't all that great considering the type of laptop. But it is a great productivity choice that would match the rest of what you are looking for.

[Dominik_Szreder]

not a fan of 2 in 1's  

but yeah it does mostly fit

[Enderman]

43 minutes ago, Dominik_Szreder said:

for installing windows on a Mac

How does that void warranty...

They literally include a tool called bootcamp for people to do it...

[Dominik_Szreder]

23 minutes ago, Enderman said:

How does that void warranty...

They literally include a tool called bootcamp for people to do it...

i thought that's a separate thing... well... still i'm not a fan of them

[Dominik_Szreder]

anyone have any idea how long the battery lasts in the 56wh version of the Dell XPS 15? the 97wh says 19.5 on the spec sheet so I guess the smaller one would be about half?

[79wjd]

25 minutes ago, Dominik_Szreder said:

anyone have any idea how long the battery lasts in the 56wh version of the Dell XPS 15? the 97wh says 19.5 on the spec sheet so I guess the smaller one would be about half?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-2017-9560-7300HQ-Full-HD-Notebook-Review.195668.0.html

 

 

[ErrystioT]

Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE?

[genexis_x]

4 hours ago, ErrystioT said:

Asus ZenBook Pro UX550VE?

Can't handle GPU heat well enough

[Jrasero]

On 9/6/2017 at 9:11 AM, Dominik_Szreder said:

I am currently looking at a laptop that would be good for university. I wanted a laptop for a while and I had my eye on the Dell XPS since Linus made a video on a couple of years back for all it's benefits.

I watched a few reviews, specifically on the 15 inch version and people often mentioned that the speakers were awful, obviously it's a deal breaker but for it's price you would expect something better.

So I came to you my dear friends if you would be able to list some alternatives with mainly the features listed below, below £1,500 (or $2,000 US). I was also thinking of replacing let's say a HDD inside with an SSD too to reduce costs or making my options more flexible.

 

In case you're wondering I am going on to study Product Design

 

(edit) -Windows (not a fan of Apple's OS X and the keyboard labels)

-14-15 inch screen

-4 or more cores (i5, prefrably i7, or an AMD processor that's just as good)

-slim/thin

-good GPU

-battery life 10+ hours

-1080p (could be a bit lower or higher, I just don't want anything ridiculous like 4k as that will use more battery and power and I just don't need that)

-8GB ram

 

preferably:

-space for 2 drives, doesn't matter what kind of connector

-speakers better than the ones of a Dell XPS

 

Thanks from top

I had a 2017 MBP and have a Dell XPS 9560.  Hands down the Macbooks have some of the best overall sound quality, really it isn't even close.  The 9560's speakers are loud, maybe even more so than a Macbook BUT they are down firing, distort at higher volume easily, tinny sounding, and lack bass of any sort.  Really other PC laptops are no different compared to the 9560, some better than others but nothing close to a Macbook.

 

If you don't want a Mac I would suggest getting a BT speaker like a Bose Soundlink for times you want clear well balanced music that isn't going to sketch people out and this combo will probably still be cheaper than getting a MBP 

[Jrasero]

On 9/6/2017 at 10:58 AM, Dominik_Szreder said:

anyone have any idea how long the battery lasts in the 56wh version of the Dell XPS 15? the 97wh says 19.5 on the spec sheet so I guess the smaller one would be about half?

Well I have the 9560 FHD model w/ the i7 and 16GB w/ 97 watt battery and I get 8 maybe 9 hours of battery surfing the web and streaming Netflix/YouTube constantly.  I would highly doubt the 56wh comes close to this.  Maybe 4-5 hours at best w/ the FHD w/ normal use