Laptop for Education and overall Work

[Shoodaa]

Hey guys,

 

i got a PC for gaming at home, but i need something mobile. I got a Macbook Pro 13" (Late 2016, without Touchbar) and i think about switching over to a Dell XPS 13. I study computer science and really like the Macbook, but the Keyboard fucks me up every time I use it. The feel is okay, but it's way too loud. I also think windows could be better for everything i have to do in my during my studies.

 

Does anyone have recommendations or mabye experiences with the Dell XPS 13? Would you recommend the XPS 9370 over the 9360?

[AlTech]

At this point, there's no reason to go for the 9360 unless it's a lot cheaper than the 9370.

 

Also, I wouldn't recommend Dell XPS laptops in general. 

[genexis_x]

XPS 13 9360 has its own pros and cons.

[Shoodaa]

29 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

At this point, there's no reason to go for the 9360 unless it's a lot cheaper than the 9370.

 

Also, I wouldn't recommend Dell XPS laptops in general. 

What would you recommend? A friend of mine recommended the Lenovo Thinkpad T480s Education/Campus Edition (i7 8550U, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, MX150).

 

And why wouldn't you recommend the Dell XPS laptops? 

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

What would you recommend? A friend of mine recommended the Lenovo Thinkpad T480s Education/Campus Edition (i7 8550U, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, MX150).

I'm guessing you live in germany since I haven't been able to find any reference of this programme outside of german websites.

 

Honestly, it should be a good laptop. It's effectively a 14" X280 despite being part of the T series. I've heard that the T480s' MX 150 has only 2 lanes given to it and I've also heard that it has the MaxQ DDR4 MX150.

[Shoodaa]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

I'm guessing you live in germany since I haven't been able to find any reference of this programme outside of german websites.

 

Honestly, it should be a good laptop. It's effectively a 14" X280 despite being part of the T series. I've heard that the T480s' MX 150 has only 2 lanes given to it and I've also heard that it has the MaxQ DDR4 MX150.

That‘s right, i am from Germany  

 

I am not planing on using an eGPU for my Laptop, because i will use my PC at home for gaming. So the 2 Lanes for the MaxQ MX150 and 2 Lanes for Thunderbold 3 should be fine. 4 Lanes would be better, but i dont really need them. 

 

What‘s wrong with the Dell XPS 13 in your oppinion? 

[AlTech]

51 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

That‘s right, i am from Germany  

 

I am not planing on using an eGPU for my Laptop, because i will use my PC at home for gaming. So the 2 Lanes for the MaxQ MX150 and 2 Lanes for Thunderbold 3 should be fine. 4 Lanes would be better, but i dont really need them. 

Actually, the T480s has 4 lanes for the TB3 port and only 2 lanes are assigned to the dGPU.

Quote

What‘s wrong with the Dell XPS 13 in your oppinion? 

I've heard of many cases of coil whine issues regarding XPS 13 and XPS 15. 

 

Also, with the XPS 13 the RAM is soldered on (whereas the T480s has 1 RAM slot and 4GB/8GB soldered on) and the value for money isn't nearly as good. The T480s Campus Edition is substantially better value for money imho.

 

The MX 150 is good for GPU accelerated tasks but not necessarily for gaming.

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

T480s

Also Thinkpad quality

[Shoodaa]

37 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Actually, the T480s has 4 lanes for the TB3 port and only 2 lanes are assigned to the dGPU.

I've heard of many cases of coil whine issues regarding XPS 13 and XPS 15. 

 

Also, with the XPS 13 the RAM is soldered on (whereas the T480s has 1 RAM slot and 4GB/8GB soldered on) and the value for money isn't nearly as good. The T480s Campus Edition is substantially better value for money imho.

 

The MX 150 is good for GPU accelerated tasks but not necessarily for gaming.

Are you sure, that there are 4 Lanes for the TB3 Connection? I've read that there are 4 Lanes shared with the dGPU. So there are 2 Lanes for the TB3 and 2 Lanes for the dGPU. 

 

I would consider getting the 16 GB version of the XPS, to get enough performance for the next years. 

[Shoodaa]

Could it be worth getting a old Macbook for the better keyboard? 

[AlTech]

17 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

Could it be worth getting a old Macbook for the better keyboard? 

Better keyboard? I take it you're not familiar with Thinkpads .

 

Thinkpads have the best laptop keyboard . Plus many old macs are getting the boot with macOS 10.14

[Shoodaa]

16 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Better keyboard? I take it you're not familiar with Thinkpads .

 

Thinkpads have the best laptop keyboard . Plus many old macs are getting the boot with macOS 10.14

Nope, i have never used one of them . But I expect them to be very good, aren't they?

 

Ok, so it won't be worth downgrading to an older one. 

 

And how is Windows (on Laptops) in terms of reliability? I never had any problems with MacOS/the Macbook, but i also never experienced any issues on my desktop PC.

[AlTech]

5 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

Nope, i have never used one of them . But I expect them to be very good, aren't they?

Yeah, Thinkpads are known for having really good keyboards.

5 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

And how is Windows (on Laptops) in terms of reliability? I never had any problems with MacOS/the Macbook, but i also never experienced any issues on my desktop PC.

Sometimes there can be a few issues just like with Windows on a desktop.

 

You might have to play around a bit with power plans to get the optimal battery life. But Windows on laptops is reliable.

[Shoodaa]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Yeah, Thinkpads are known for having really good keyboards.

Sometimes there can be a few issues just like with Windows on a desktop.

 

You might have to play around a bit with power plans to get the optimal battery life. But Windows on laptops is reliable.

Hmm okay, thank you very much  I'm still not sure whether i should switch over to a Windows Laptop (with a better keyboard) or just keep my Macbook  

[AlTech]

38 minutes ago, Shoodaa said:

Hmm okay, thank you very much  I'm still not sure whether i should switch over to a Windows Laptop (with a better keyboard) or just keep my Macbook  

Personally I'm seeing the appeal of Apple less and less to the point where the only reason I think somebody should use a Mac is if they love macOS. If you don't love macOS then Windows or Linux would be a better choice.

[Shoodaa]

15 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Personally I'm seeing the appeal of Apple less and less to the point where the only reason I think somebody should use a Mac is if they love macOS. If you don't love macOS then Windows or Linux would be a better choice.

Okay, thank you very much for your help  

 

Does anyone else got some other suggestions than the XPS 13 and Lenovo Thinkpad T480s?