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MacBook Pro 15 vs. Dell XPS 15

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Lucario

Member
That's copy. Not cut. Cut is ctrl+x

Copy + move. It's the same effect. Calling it something different doesn't mean OSX can't cut and paste files.

OP: I... can't really recommend either of those. The dell is massively overpriced for the casing and lack of a reasonably-sided SSD. The mac is heavy and lacks a GPU, and it seems like that matters to you -- the Iris Pro does not have close to the real-world gaming performance of even marginal discrete graphics, no matter what any skewed benchmarks tell you. Pretty comparable to the 750 for stuff like video editing though.

Macbook edges out the Dell because it won't lose 50% of its value in the first three months of ownership.
 

railGUN

Banned
Copy + move. It's the same effect. Calling it something different doesn't mean OSX can't cut and paste files.

Edit: I misread, seriously, I'm done in this thread. Too much self ownage. Doesn't help I'm literally copying thousands of files right now.
 

nullref

Member
You can't cut files in OSX? This has to be a joke right?

There's no concept of "cutting" files in OS X. Instead, you always copy (cmd+c), but when you go to paste (cmd+v), you can choose to move the file instead of copying it (cmd+option+v).

It's conceptually a little different, but the end result is the same.

Cut moves without creating a copy.

OS X copy -> move also moves without creating a copy. It's functionally the same operation as cut -> paste, just with different terminology and keyboard shortcuts.
 

NotBacon

Member
It's not about the material or the response. The great thing about the trackpad is the way it's integrated in the OS. I've never used a mouse on my Macbook simply because I never felt I needed to. I actually miss a lot of OSX stuff that benefits from the trackpad (like expose) when I'm using my desktop PC. Then again, you can get used to anything of course. But having a pretty good substitute for a mouse, especially on a laptop, is a major plus imo.

Oh so gestures, expose, workspaces, etc.?

Yeah I have those too...
 

Lucario

Member
You left out a couple specs: just noticed the XPS 15 only has a 6-cell 61WHr battery, compared to the macbook's 9 cell 91WHr. The two laptops weigh almost exactly the same (4.44 for the dell vs 4.46 for the macbook).

Also the dell looks way nicer but that's just my opinion.

  • 4th gen Intel® Core™ i7-4500U (1.80GHz / 3.00GHz)
  • Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
  • Features: 13.3" Full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080)
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB (256GB x1) PCIe SSD
  • Intel® HD Graphics 4400
  • VGA adapter, HDMI® out, USB 3.0, NFC, TPM
or

Sony VAIO Fit 15A (Pre-order) $1,799.99

  • 4th gen Intel® Core™ i7-4500U (1.80GHz / 3.00GHz)
  • Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
  • Features: 15.5" over Full HD IPS touch display (2880 x 1620)
  • 16GB RAM
  • 1TB (5400rpm) + 16GB NAND flash HHD
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 735M with Optimus™ graphics (2GB)
  • digitizer stylus, HDMI® out, USB 3.0, NFC


These are not viable options for video editing at a premium price point, the 735M and HD 4400 are far too slow.
 

vivftp

Member
I was just pricing a 13" VAIO Flip for myself on Sonys website and checked out the 15" version to see how it would compare to what the OP was looking at. I don't know where the OP lives, but the price below is Canadian:


4th gen Intel® Core™ i7-4500U Processor (1.80GHz / 3.00GHz with Turbo Boost) (Added $200.00)
Windows 8 64-bit
15.5" over Full HD Triluminos for Mobile IPS display (2880 x 1620) (Added $150.00)
Touch Screen
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M with Optimus (2GB) hybrid graphics (Added $100.00)
256GB (256GB x1) solid state drive (Added $480.00)
12GB (4GB + 8GB) DDR3L-1600MHz (Added $150.00)

$1979.99


I'm loving the concept of the VAIO Flip, but the 15" version is too heavy for what I want. This is what I'm personally looking to get:



4th gen Intel® Core™ i7-4500U Processor (1.80GHz / 3.00GHz with Turbo Boost) (Added $200.00)
Windows 8 64-bit
13.3" Full HD Triluminos for Mobile IPS display (1920 x 1080)
Touch Screen
Intel® HD Graphics 4400
512GB (512GB x1) solid state drive (Added $500.00)
8GB (8GB fixed onboard x1) DDR3L-1600MHz (Added $100.00)

$1949.99


The 13" version should hopefully still be light and comfortable enough to be used in tablet mode without much discomfort. Such a shame the 13" version is more expensive than the 14 and 15" ones, but I suppose that's the price of making it smaller and lighter. Just waiting for some reviews to finally hit as I'm very curious about battery life.
 

Mr. Helios

Neo Member
Copy + move. It's the same effect. Calling it something different doesn't mean OSX can't cut and paste files.

OP: I... can't really recommend either of those. The dell is massively overpriced for the casing and lack of a reasonably-sided SSD. The mac is heavy and lacks a GPU, and it seems like that matters to you -- the Iris Pro does not have close to the real-world gaming performance of even marginal discrete graphics, no matter what any skewed benchmarks tell you. Pretty comparable to the 750 for stuff like video editing though.

Macbook edges out the Dell because it won't lose 50% of its value in the first three months of ownership.

Wait, so how "bad" is the Iris? You think it would suffice for basic 3D work? No need to ever do gaming on it.
 

btrboyev

Member
Cant someone just buy the Apple external trackpad if they want the Apple tracpad on Windows? I hear windows 8 has drivers that support it and all of it's gestures
 

btrboyev

Member
I also want to just chime in and say I think MacBook keyboards are complete garbage and have been since 2008 when they switched to the unibody design which is seriously old and outdated imo.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I also want to just chime in and say I think MacBook keyboards are complete garbage and have been since 2008 when they switched to the unibody design which is seriously old and outdated imo.

YES

It boogles my mind. They have the absolute best trackpad out there bar none, yet the keyboard is rubbish. What gives?
 

Laekon

Member
I can't believe Apple got away with dropping the gfx card for a $100 savings. It's crazy you have to spend $500 more to get a barley noticeable performance gain in games. Air's are a decent value(lower res but better screen szie and performance) but the Pro's are a rip off.
 

gokieks

Member
As someone who uses both Windows and Mac OS on a daily basis (desktop workstation and personal laptop runs OS X, gaming/HTPC and work laptop runs W7), statements like "OS X is 10x better than Windows" are just absurd. There actually was a time when OS X was my clear choice for an OS for productivity use (thanks mostly due to Expose), but Windows 7 has done a lot to improve (Aero Snap is absolutely fantastic), and also remains solidly ahead in some ways as well (in terms of file management, Windows Explorer vs the giant piece of shit that is Finder is not even close). In terms of software availability and quality, it really varies depending on need, but at this point I would probably actually give the nod to Windows.

Now, as for the rMBP vs XPS 15 in the listed configurations, I'd probably go for the Mac, mostly due to better battery life and the SSD-only storage rather than HDD+SSD cache. I also tend to not care for Dell's consumer laptops very much (this actually applies to most companies) - if I were wanting a Windows/Linux machine, I'd probably wait for refreshes on ThinkPads before deciding.
 

Spinluck

Member
That whole, OSX is 10x better than Windows is bullshit. Don't buy into that. Both operating systems have their baggage (I personally prefer Windows). However, Macbooks as a whole are the best laptops out there, without a doubt.

My time with one was short, but I they are the full package. That's not to say you can't find quality Windows Laptops, you just gotta know which brands are good. I've never bought a Dell so I wouldn't be able to tell ya.

In this case, if you have the cash, buy the MBP. It will last you longer, and you will be resell at a premium price.
 

bionic77

Member
That whole, OSX is 10x better than Windows is bullshit. Don't buy into that. Both operating systems have their baggage (I personally prefer Windows). However, Macbooks as a whole are the best laptops out there, without a doubt.

My time with one was short, but I they are the full package. That's not to say you can't find quality Windows Laptops, you just gotta know which brands are good. I've never bought a Dell so I wouldn't be able to tell ya.

In this case, if you have the cash, buy the MBP. It will last you longer, and you will be resell at a premium price.
I find OS X better for laptops but I like Windows 7 better for the desktop. It's obviously all subjective.
 

DarkFlow

Banned
What are you talking about? You're downplaying the importance of the thunderbolt technology because you have no particular use for it. Some of us do have use for that amount of bandwidth and appreciate the expandability it affords us in the future.

You also seem to forget that the Dell has USB 3.0 that's as fast or faster then thunderbolt.
 

DarkFlow

Banned
No it isn't, in fact it's not even close

really?
http://nofilmschool.com/2013/05/macworld-benchmark-battle-usb-3-vs-thunderbolt/

H5mxVNJ.jpg


Seems to be doing pretty well to me.
 

DarkFlow

Banned
That's not really a fair test when you look at what the hardware they are testing on...a 7200rpm hdd which will limit the read/write speed. The same test on an SSD drive with a thunderbolt connector would crush that speed.

As you might expect, Thunderbolt fared better than USB 3 working from the SSD, without the read/write ceiling of the spinning drive. That said, TB didn’t fare that much better than USB 3, in some cases by a margin of about 12 MB/s. The other stipulation that may further weight these results is whether or not you own/work on any solid state or RAID drives. When first reading Macworld’s writeup, I was waiting for the part where USB 3 got creamed by Thunderbolt (which kind of never came), only to realize I’m stuck at 7200 RPM 99% of the time anyway — and not often fortunate enough to be working in RAID 0.
SfRnjKS.png


Keep moving them goal posts.

This is interesting and good to know. Also isn't there a revision of usb 3 that's in the approval phase that doubles its bandwidth? I though I remember reading about it a few weeks back.
Well it was in Jan, but you're right.
http://www.usb.org/press/USB-IF_Press_Releases/SuperSpeed_10Gbps_USBIF_Final.pdf

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group today announced development of a SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) enhancement that will add a much higher data rate, delivering up to twice the data through-put performance of existing SuperSpeed USB over enhanced, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables. This supplement to the USB 3.0 specification is anticipated to be completed by the middle of this year.

Key characteristics of the higher-rate SuperSpeed USB solution include: •
New 10 Gbps USB data rate • Compatibility with existing cables and connectors • Improved data encoding for more efficient data transfer leading to higher through- put and improved I/O power efficiency • Compatible with existing USB 3.0 software stacks and device class protocols • Compatible with both existing 5 Gbps and new 10 Gbps USB 3.0 hubs and devices, as well as USB 2.0 products
 
I read it and I'm still bitching. Only way to get a discrete GPU with the new MBP is to go with the 2k+ option. That is pathetic.

It should be an option for a customized 2k build, yes. I don't consider it that big a deal when you look at the fact that the buy in for an SSD in the Dell starts at $2299. Different strokes, different folks.

Iris is a good integrated solution but pushing the high resolution kills a lot of it's performance.

Fixed with Mavericks.
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Why not copy, then paste, and then delete original? I thnk the reason there is no cut, is because - what happens if you cut a file, then have a crash, etc. or forget to paste.

It's amazing that users of a Unix based OS don't understand files.

OP: I... can't really recommend either of those. The dell is massively overpriced for the casing and lack of a reasonably-sided SSD. The mac is heavy and lacks a GPU, and it seems like that matters to you -- the Iris Pro does not have close to the real-world gaming performance of even marginal discrete graphics, no matter what any skewed benchmarks tell you. Pretty comparable to the 750 for stuff like video editing though.

I concur. The MBP is way overpriced and GPU acceleration may matter a lot depending on the video editor.

The Dell is overpriced and should be all SSD. Anything mobile should be SSD. Desktop should be SSD in general too except for high capacity servers then 15k SAS makes sense.

If I were looking for mobile, I'd do a tablet+laptop hybrid. But I don't think those have quad core mobile CPUs and discrete graphics so maybe that's also not viable for the OP.
 

sca2511

Member
You left out a couple specs: just noticed the XPS 15 only has a 6-cell 61WHr battery, compared to the macbook's 9 cell 91WHr. The two laptops weigh almost exactly the same (4.44 for the dell vs 4.46 for the macbook).

Also the dell looks way nicer but that's just my opinion.




These are not viable options for video editing at a premium price point, the 735M and HD 4400 are far too slow.

The 4400 yeah, but the 735M seems to beat the 4600 in some of the benches that I've seen on notebookcheck
 

Wikzo

Member
Sorry for bumping this thread, but I would really like to buy the new Dell XPS 15 laptop. The only problem is that the customization options suck in Europe compared to the US and Canada.

Basically, we can either buy the low-end model or one with 4K touch screen display. There is nothing in between. This is annoying, since A) I don't care about the 4K resolution (which, BTW, is a glossy screen and not a matte screen like on models with Full HD resolution), B) I don't care about a touch screen on a normal laptop, and C) These two options are both more expensive in terms of money and battery life. Right now, it is impossible to buy the FHD i7 model with 512 GB SSD and the bigger battery.

I spoke with a community manager on Twitter who said they would forward my feedback to Dell Europe. However, I also decided to start a petition to show that there is a demand for more customization options here in Europe.

The petition still needs about 20 more people. I would be happy if you'd consider signing it (takes 20 seconds). Thanks a lot! :)

Dell XPS: give us more customization options in Europe!
 

Tom_Cody

Member
I just got a Dell XPS 13 recently and it is by far the best computer I've ever owned and definitely the first PC I've bought that rivals Apple's build quality. The high resolution infinity screen is a marvel.

It's disappointing to see so many people making dismissive judgments about the Dell. The current XPS line is a totally different animal from what you're used to.

Edit: lol, I had no idea this thread was from 2 years ago.
 

MercuryLS

Banned
Bingo, half the reason I buy Macs are because of the resale value. In 3-4 years or so, that Mac will still be worth a $1000.

I bought my retina MacBook 13 off kijiji in 2013 for $1350 brand new, sold it a few months ago for $1050 after using it for a good two years. With a Windows machine you'd get next to nothing.

It's with investing in a Mac. Beyond the resale value, the trackpad is absolutely best in class by a massive margin and OSX is far more reliable than Windows IMO.
 

Deku Tree

Member
I would never buy a laptop with an HDD (even a hybrid with a small SSD) in 2015. (Or even in 2010.).

If your not going to play W10 games on it, then buy the Mac. OSX is the best IMO.
 
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