My latest Windows machine

[dandeco]

Well, with the Intel to Apple Silicon transition complete, and thus Boot Camp not being able to run on those new Macs, along with the ARM version of Windows still not so great, I figured that since I like to be cross-platform, I may as well get a REAL Windows computer for my Windows needs. So a month ago I bought one at my workplace...

A Dell Precision M6800 "desktop replacement" laptop from 2013. It has an Intel Core i7-4910MQ 2.9 GHz quad-core processor, and a dual graphics card setup with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 chip and a dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8950 graphics processor with 2 GB of VRAM. I maxed out the RAM to 32 GB, and I also installed a 256 GB mSATA SSD in the appropriate bay and a 1 TB 2.5" SSD in the first 2.5" SATA bay. I can't really RAID the two together, but it's nice to have that built-in extra storage that functions like a built-in external hard drive. I initially installed Windows 10 on the 256 GB system drive, and then upgraded it to Windows 11 using that third-party utility I also used in my 2015 Retina 15" MacBook Pro's Boot Camp partition...

Windows 11 runs very nicely on this Dell laptop, not surprisingly. For I/O, it has five USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA/USB 2.0 port, HDMI and DisplayPort and VGA out, an SD card slot, a 54mm ExpressCard slot, and a slot-loading optical disc drive (DVD burner).

One Windows-only task I use this baby for is running Microsoft 3D Movie Maker, specifically the fan-made v3DMM version with expansion packs and such. I've made a bunch of fun 3D Movie Maker shorts over the years.

There's also Wrapper Offline, which I use to make certain GoAnimate-style videos with, including deconstructing those inane "Grounded" videos, and parodies of the 2006-09 Mac vs. PC commercials.
And though not pictured, I can also run Speakonia on this for when me and my brother make our raunchy Rugrats episode dubs.

It's a pretty sweet Dell laptop, but I can't see myself lugging this anywhere, as even if I'm cross-platform, I still generally use Macs 75 % of the time, maybe even 85 %.

 

[dumastudetto]

I think most modern Windows laptops look no better than the one you are using here. Good job.

 

[LeeW]

If it works for you then that's all you need

 

[winxmac]

That is still a powerful Windows machine even though not officially supported by Windows 11...

You can downgrade it to Windows 7 or Windows 8.x if you have access to the drivers but running Windows 10 on it would still be fine...

Since you use Mac most of the time, you should still be okay with that machine even though that is running/already 10 years old...

 

[dandeco]

Since you use Mac most of the time, you should still be okay with that machine even though that is running/already 10 years old...

Yep. Someday I also want to actually build a PC tower for my Windows needs, as I've read about it and sounds like something I could do in my spare time.