Dell XPS laptop alternative?

dejongj

dejongj

Suspended / Banned
Messages
12,856
Name
Sir will do
Edit My Images
No
Is there realistically any alternative to the Dell XPS laptops in the PC world?

To me they seem to have everything going for them; nice size, thin, light weight, decent specs (quad core i7 skylake, large SSD, good amount of memory) and decent battery life.

I've been holding off getting a MacBook replacement as basically the technology is just way out of date for what they offer at the moment. But also as I am now day in day out using my own device and for office work, the way Office 2016 integrates with Visio, Project, Skype etc saves a lot of time and I don't want to run virtual machines as the constant copy/past just doesn't work that well.

Yes I have been using my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (i5, 8GB, 256SSD) with an external 4K screen. But I do find it struggles to keep up with me at times. The graphics card is a little too weedy to drive the external screen when using day in and day out. The fans are sky high at times.

So I am thinking to get rid of my Surface Pro 3 (with docking station), give my MacBook Air (i7/8GB/512SSD) to my daughter, and get myself a really good Windows 10 laptop.

I'm thinking either a 13 or 15 inch Dell XPS with i7 quad core processor (15" only?), at least 16GB Memory, at least 512GB SSD. And some kind of docking solution as well.

Does anyone have any experience with those? Or can anyone recommend an alternative high end laptop?
 
always been a fan of the precision range, currently running a slightly older 3800. 4th gen i7 quad, 16gb ram, 500gb ssd, quadro gpu. carbon fibre/alu niceness.

the current models with 6th gen i7/i5 look pretty well specced too.
 
juggler said:
I like Asus stuff; they do some great non-glossy screens which cover 99% of sRGB (non-IPS) or even wider if you go for an IPS panel.
Click to expand...
Looks interesting; the ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW. Got to look into what kind of service they provide, I like how Dell does next business day on-site and Apple does as well. I wonder whether it charges through the USB-C as well, it would be nice to just connect a single cable.

Dell Precision 5510 seems to be the front runner. Got to check out what Lenovo got to offer as well.
 
EightBitTony said:
I bought an HP Envy with a 4k screen for a third of the price of the Dell XPS model. It doesn't have the same build quality, but it's an excellent little laptop.
Click to expand...
Cheers, which one is that? Can't seem to find any with a UHD screen and quad core i7. At a third of the price of an XPS that would be a bargain.
 
dejongj said:
Cheers, which one is that? Can't seem to find any with a UHD screen and quad core i7. At a third of the price of an XPS that would be a bargain.
Click to expand...

It's not quad core, I wasn't intending to use it as my main machine, just something to process images while I'm away from my computer but has a decent screen. Also, apologies, it's not 4k, it's QHD (3200 x 1800).

HP ENVY 13-d061sa

Probably not up to the job you want, but it was the cheapest laptop I could find with a decent screen.
 
If you are happy with the sp3 apart from performance why not go sp4? Can go 16gb i7 512....
 
B1ts said:
If you are happy with the sp3 apart from performance why not go sp4? Can go 16gb i7 512....
Click to expand...
Good point :) I've been comparing paper specs between the XPS15 and SP4 I7. Considering the difference no quad core, IRIS graphics vs discrete NVidia, it only looses out in 3D gaming. Damn such an obvious choice actually.

Unfortunately still see many 4K screen display port issues with the SP4.
 
The funny thing is, I was digging a little and found an old graphics driver which enabled my custom resolution on the Surface Pro 3 (basically for refresh rates), then moved forward to the latest graphics driver not from Microsoft (which is supposed to be the signature build) but from Intel, and the settings stuck. It now feels like twice the speed with no delay or slow down in applications and I've got a fair few open now and 4K at 50Hz again on the external screen. Hmm maybe I should leave the upgrade a little.

FWIW my short list was (all with the 4K screen option):
Dell XPS 15 or Precision 5000
Lenovo X1 Carbon (concerned about graphics to drive external 4K monitor)
Microsoft SP4

But I think I'll leave it for now.
 
If I had to by a windows laptop I'd look as the ASUS.

If I wanted the best laptop then I'd buy a Macbook Pro (which I did) as they are by far the best....
 
Jase said:
If I had to by a windows laptop I'd look as the ASUS.

If I wanted the best laptop then I'd buy a Macbook Pro (which I did) as they are by far the best....
Click to expand...
Which one then? I mean the Asus that I listed above doesn't seem to be all that compared to Dells overing. And Apple is still on Haswell, the technology is ancient and annoyingly not updated for a while. At the moment I would say is the worst time to but a MacBook Pro.
 
Last edited:
I'm Microsoft and our PFEs who need serious grunt for virtual labs but are sick of carrying monstrous sized laptops just did a deal with Dell for the XPS 5000s. They are EXCELLENT machines. They have a great bezelless display, huge power and loads of storage options.
Personally for my usage I'll stick with my Surface Book (which is imho the best Windows device on the planet right now for general use - I absolutely love the screen aspect ratio, form factor and pen support, particularly in Anniversary Edition).

The Mac range is looking a bit dated at present.
 
dejongj said:
Looks interesting; the ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW. Got to look into what kind of service they provide, I like how Dell does next business day on-site and Apple does as well. I wonder whether it charges through the USB-C as well, it would be nice to just connect a single cable.

Dell Precision 5510 seems to be the front runner. Got to check out what Lenovo got to offer as well.
Click to expand...
To the best of my knowledge, Asus don't do any on-site support options. It was something MS flagged to employees last hardware refresh: you can have one, but if it breaks, you'll need to beg/borrow/steal a loaner whilst it gets fixed.

Dell on-site is pretty good, they are one of the few who actually do component-level repair rather than outright replacement.

You can, for the Surface line, pay a bit more for advanced warranty replacement where a new one is shipped to you to use if yours fails, whilst you post the old one back.
Surfaces are, however, "sealed" devices that do not get repaired, they get replaced under warranty...
 
I must admit, now I've found an old (non Microsoft) driver for my Surface Pro 3 (i5/8GB/256SSD) I don't seem to have the display crashes and slow down anymore that I was experiencing when using the Office Pro suite plus Visio/Project to the max. Funny how I thought I was at the limits with my Surface Pro 3 but a driver has changed that. I still like mine with the Dell 2415Q 4K screen and soundbar.

I'll look at the next generation XPS/Precision 5000, or next generation MacBook Pro (definitely not at the moment), or Surface Pro.

PS. I'm running Windows 10 Pro 1511 10586.494 at the moment. To me Windows 10 really transformed using Windows, I really like it together with Office 2016, Skype (for Business) and Adobe CC.
 
dejongj said:
I must admit, now I've found an old (non Microsoft) driver for my Surface Pro 3 (i5/8GB/256SSD) I don't seem to have the display crashes and slow down anymore that I was experiencing when using the Office Pro suite plus Visio/Project to the max. Funny how I thought I was at the limits with my Surface Pro 3 but a driver has changed that. I still like mine with the Dell 2415Q 4K screen and soundbar.

I'll look at the next generation XPS/Precision 5000, or next generation MacBook Pro (definitely not at the moment), or Surface Pro.

PS. I'm running Windows 10 Pro 1511 10586.494 at the moment. To me Windows 10 really transformed using Windows, I really like it together with Office 2016, Skype (for Business) and Adobe CC.
Click to expand...

I'm running 14393.0 on all my machines and have been for some time. It's now available on Windows Insider Fast (and possibly Slow, too) right now for you. I'd recommend it, it's very likely going to be the release candidate for Anniversary Edition. I'll shut up at this point as I probably shouldn't say any more.
The inking improvements are really nice.

For your SP3 you *shouldn't* have to run an older version of the graphics driver however there have been some historic sub-optimal intel graphics drivers served up via WU in the past for Surfaces, so I can imagine why you might be in this scenario.

What I'd recommend myself is downloading the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit from here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us...iagnostic-toolkit?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
There are a couple of tests I'd recommend - the Windows Update (which is quite likely to find an IntelHD driver that "normal" Windows Update doesn't, and the Power test which can improve sleep behaviour on Surfaces.
Take all the recommended updates in particular including the June firmware updates.
 
I was on the Insider Fast, but for some reason it downloaded, it installed, but then recovered back to the old version. I tried it three times, but as I need my machine for work I took it as a signal that it isn't my time to update just yet. I'll wait for the official release :)

Thanks for the link - downloading now.
 
Last edited:
Interesting little test tool. It found an update the normal windows update didn't find. It left my graphics driver alone which was good :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top