Convince me to join the ranks and get a new XPS 15

I'm looking for basically a Windows MacBook Pro. Battery life is not a concern. I want something slim, light, and POWERFUL {I will get the top CPU)

I currently have a Sager with an i7 and GTX 980m. I going to stop gaming, so it's just too much machine.

I've read about a lot of bugs with this machine, but it sounds like most are fixed?

I need to run 3 monitors and I'm intrigued by using a dock (this will spend 95% of its life at my desk, and in an office setting).

I'd rather have the smaller battery and room for a 2.5" drive, can you do that with the top CPU, I does the battery companion also serve as an extra power supply?

No 10-key is another downside for me, but I can roll with a Bluetooth. I don't care about touch or UHD on a 15" screen.

Thanks!

 

If you game heavily, you're actually going to be better off with a Razer Blade 14. It's essentially a black "Windows MacBook Pro" down to its very appearance and aluminum construction.

Benefit over the XPS 15 is the construction / appearance, and the GTX 970m GPU. It's about 2x as powerful as the GTX 960m in the XPS 15, and is equivalent to a desktop GTX 960. So it will run 1080p games without any problem today, and for quite some time to come.

The drawback is that it does not have a 2.5" SATA drive bay. However, if you are willing to buy an aftermarket 1TB M.2 SSD (about $300), then this probably won't be an issue for you.


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Edit:. BTW, the only reason I'm mentioning the Razer Blade, and not talking up the benefits of the XPS 15 (which is also an awesome laptop), is because you mentioned you wanted a "Windows MacBook pro.". And the Razer Blade fits that description much better than the XPS 15.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm actually getting out of gaming (look at my current rig =]. I can run SW Battlefront at highest settings ~90FPS), so I could care less about the GPU performance at this point. I simply need to be able to connect 3 monitors at 1080p, and I may have to use a 3rd party solution for the third, which I'm OK with.

I'm simply looking to get a slimmer, lighter machine that is still top of the line.

I am open to someone convincing me not to get the XPS 15, but it's looking like the way to go at this point.

 

I thought these were informative 9550 reviews (phrases like "high end without high end performance" indicate some level of objectivity):

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-2016-9550-InfinityEdge-Notebook-Review.156354.0.html
http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10234-dell-xps-15-9550-review/

I just received my 9550 this week so still setting it up. I'm really impressed. And the RAM and SSDs are easily upgrade-able.

When the 9550 was released, there were a lot of bugs but it looks like most of the issues have been / can be ironed out for those willing to roll up their sleeves (thanks in part to tips on this forum):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ist-of-hardware-and-software-problems.784691/

If you like a bit of risk and style, consider the 9550. If you are comfortable doing some tweaking and have a few days to optimize the system, and understand quite a few people returned/exchanged their 9550s due to issues, I think this is a pretty good choice. For me that choice was made easier by the huge Dell Outlet discount.

Reportedly the M$ store has better service than Dell does, so that may be another way to mitigate risk. . .

This thread helps me focus on the key issues, and really streamlines the (ongoing) tweaking process:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ean-install-guide-custom-iso-download.789769/

FYI - I am moving from an old MacBook Pro, which I quite like. It is not very good with Windows applications obviously and the OSX M$ Office is terrible if you want to share files with macros or just a bit of formatting. You can run Windows via BootCamp, however, Apple drops support pretty quickly and does not make it very easy to properly install. Understand BootCamp is a marketing tool. You can use a VM, but they are resource intensive and you will need to pay for upgrades every few years (there were 2 good paid VMs and some mediocre freeware VMs available when I was using Fusion). On the OSX side, Apple allowed me to run the latest OSX but they stopped updating drivers after ~2 years which is frustrating, particularly given the NVidia GPU had some real issues (Apple replaced my motherboard 3x). I have a Time Capsule which should automate backups but it is primitive and I find to be a root canal every time I use it. The Time Capsule router function (and other Airports I purchased) have been fantastic.

If you do consider a MacBook, look on the forums for your particular model; MacBooks have their fair share of issues as well.

When I purchased my MacBook, the price was equal to that of a good Windows laptop (and the hardware was at the cutting edge); OSX was much more secure than M$ Vista. So that was a relatively easy choice. That is not the case with Apple laptops today, but they are still pretty nice, have a lot of style, and are relatively easy to use out of the box.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm an old NBR junkie, so I'm not scurred.

Perhaps I should wait for another outlet batch. I'm a Windows guy, OSX is a no can do in the accounting world.

 

Slim, light machine... you have lots of options here.

XPS 15 is a pretty good choice for that. If you're looking for even more portability, XPS 13 is king there. You do get a weaker CPU, and lose the 2.5" SATA bay. But if you happen to be a road warrior that prioritizes portability and battery life above all else, this is a great choice.

You are very well covered when it comes to external displays. New laptops these days come with Thunderbolt 3, which supports external docking stations with 2-3 display outputs and other docking station "goodies" (such as Ethernet, audio, and a gazillion USB ports).



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Awesome advice, and I didn't realize the Thunderbolt port was so powerful. It sounds like I wouldn't need a spendy Dell dock per se, might be able to hook most things up that way...pretty exciting, and when I get to the office I'd only had to plug in power the Thunderbolt and one other misc port.

I'm pretty married to the 15" screen, never a road warrior need the storage more than mobile power.

Thanks guys!

 

For what it's worth, I need no more convincing
http://forum.notebookreview.com/index.php?posts/10260602

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