I see bad reviews of Dell XPS but I had one of the early ones and loved it. Never had an issue and a lot of my developer friends have one, no issues either. If I went back to Windows on a laptop it would be an XPS.
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Sold my M1 8/8/512 Macbook Air...So...Windows laptop: where is this land paved with cheap gold?
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I see bad reviews of Dell XPS but I had one of the early ones and loved it. Never had an issue and a lot of my developer friends have one, no issues either. If I went back to Windows on a laptop it would be an XPS.
No, Apple cuts corners
With Dell you can upgrade/replace the ram and storage - at least on the 15" XPS. Dell has many different models, but their XPS brand which is the one that goes head to head with Apple has upgradeable components.
the Dhell I owned (9370_13") only had a upgradable ssd drive and that was it.No, Apple cuts corners
which was good because
The original ssd drive broke after umm. who knows?
even a tech shop deemed that drive "underivable" as they ran a scan on their stuff.
That's why I mentioned the 15" Still its nice to have upgradeable storage, so you can choose which SSD you want.
I mean you can’t complain about generalisations then go on to state that I have a bias towards macs without any evidence of such.
I no longer own a mac, and have windows based laptops both personal and for work.
I still hold that if you want similar performance to a MacBook with the same build quality, the same display quality, etc. You are going to be paying similar prices.
Dell XPS is cheaper. But you also get slower computer, with lousy screen (compared to MBP).
If you want similar screen + hardware, you got to pay up.
But than again, Apple doesn't sell anything similar to cheaper Dell XPS. It all comes down to individual wants and needs. And it's stupid to argue which is better. Everyone has preferences and needs, so choose your own. Ones choice is bad for someone else, but good for the man/woman who made the choice.
My own choice isn't good for 95% of the general population. And I'm aware of that.
But for me it's the best choice. And that's all that matters.
If you want similar screen + hardware, you got to pay up.
But than again, Apple doesn't sell anything similar to cheaper Dell XPS. It all comes down to individual wants and needs. And it's stupid to argue which is better. Everyone has preferences and needs, so choose your own. Ones choice is bad for someone else, but good for the man/woman who made the choice.
My own choice isn't good for 95% of the general population. And I'm aware of that.
But for me it's the best choice. And that's all that matters.
Because I get headaches and eyestrain from Apple displays, I started looking at various Windows options. Here are some of the big problems I encountered:
- At Apple prices, you will get worse quality and specs. There are options for better quality and specs, but you will pay.
- There are almost no local stores that carry high end models. This means you have to order/try/return. Not all sellers are return-friendly, and price difference between return-friendly and non return-friendly can be pretty steep. There are often way too many options (e.g. with displays), so knowing which to order without trying is a problem. And how many units do you open/try/return?
- Shipping times for custom builds can be huge, like on the order of multiple weeks.
- Bloatware is a big problem and removing it is non-trivial.
- Since there are so many variations, it is almost impossible to find reviews of all the variants.
- There isn't a site like macrumors where you can discuss and find resolution to problems from a gazillion others that have the exact same machine.
In short, the Windows world is scattered, chaotic, and lonely. The manufacturers don't do the hard work of trying to simplify things for the consumer like Apple does. (Although Apple seems to be almost headed in that direction as well and I hope they reverse course and go back to simplicity and fewer choices. Right now, for example, the local Apple store doesn't have many of the different finishes/colors on display. But I digress.)
- At Apple prices, you will get worse quality and specs. There are options for better quality and specs, but you will pay.
- There are almost no local stores that carry high end models. This means you have to order/try/return. Not all sellers are return-friendly, and price difference between return-friendly and non return-friendly can be pretty steep. There are often way too many options (e.g. with displays), so knowing which to order without trying is a problem. And how many units do you open/try/return?
- Shipping times for custom builds can be huge, like on the order of multiple weeks.
- Bloatware is a big problem and removing it is non-trivial.
- Since there are so many variations, it is almost impossible to find reviews of all the variants.
- There isn't a site like macrumors where you can discuss and find resolution to problems from a gazillion others that have the exact same machine.
In short, the Windows world is scattered, chaotic, and lonely. The manufacturers don't do the hard work of trying to simplify things for the consumer like Apple does. (Although Apple seems to be almost headed in that direction as well and I hope they reverse course and go back to simplicity and fewer choices. Right now, for example, the local Apple store doesn't have many of the different finishes/colors on display. But I digress.)
At Apple similar prices, take a look at the Lenovo 9i 14”.
I just got mine the other day and it has been great:
$1,290
Aluminum unibody
16GB RAM
1TB Samsung SSD
12th gen Intel 1260p CPU
- 12 physical cores, 16 threads
IPS Anti Glare display panel
Fingerprint Reader
In “Intelligent Cooling” mode it’s cool, fast and quiet.
I just got mine the other day and it has been great:
$1,290
Aluminum unibody
16GB RAM
1TB Samsung SSD
12th gen Intel 1260p CPU
- 12 physical cores, 16 threads
IPS Anti Glare display panel
Fingerprint Reader
In “Intelligent Cooling” mode it’s cool, fast and quiet.
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Not really. Up until their 16/18" models, Razer offers great quality and Mac like prices (their latest entries exceed that of Mac prices). Asus, Acer, MCI, Lenovo, Dell, and I think even Samsung now offers windows machines. These all are highly rated, well crafted machines that offer just as good quality, beautiful designs and typically prices that are cheaper then what Apple charges.
Agreed, the world has changed, you cannot just walk down to your local book store and peruse a section looking for something to tickle your fancy. The world has evolved and not for the better. There's always best buy, but if I were to use them, its strictly to see what's available.
If you have a Microcenter near you, that is the outlier, you have many machines out on display, helpful staff and decent pricing.
Yes, even apple sucumbs to this, its not a PC thing, but the world we now live in
I gotta say bloatware is not a big problem anymore. Except for the older established makers, HP, Dell its not a big problem. Cleaning it up is the very nature trivial. People have always recommend whether PC or Mac, to reformat and reinstall the OS. Doing that takes maybe 10 to 20 minutes and its generally just a matter of clicking through a series of prompts.
Yes and no, I think if you're looking at a class of machines such as ROG Zephyrus G15, you'll get reviews and you can customize it a bit or find slight configuration differences. Nothing really different then customizing apple with more CPU/GPU cores, or more ram, or more storage. You don't see reviews for every permutation for macs do you?
For the uninitiated I suppose it could but I also think people read way too into a complexity that just isn't there. There are sites like pcworld and pc centric social platforms that can be helpful. True its not as much like MR, but overall its not a lonley wilderness where you cannot get help. Reddit is a huge resource where you'll get advice and help that exceeds the size, depth and breadth of MR
At least on the PC side if you need a non-standard config fast you can still get models that have upgradable RAM/SSD and add what you need. Plus it can save you a lot of money too. That's what I did with my laptop, bought the in-stock config and bumped the RAM to 32GB and added a 1TB SSD rather than wait 6 weeks for a factory in China to do what I can do in an hour.
Not to mention paying hundreds less (relative to Apple’s upgrade prices).
edit - This 1TB NVMe was $115 when I bought it. Yes, it’s PCIe 3. But it’s still over 3000MB/s read/write. It makes me want to throw up when I look at that and then consider that same upgrade would be +$400 from Apple.
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There's always a catch with them. For example several models I looked at had reviews complaining about problems with heat or fan noise. For some models, only certain displays get good reviews. It gets tiring trying to figure out which model to get.
To a large extent you can still do this with Apple. Walking into an Apple store is a relatively predictable experience, compared to walking into a Best Buy with no idea what they will have on the floor on any given day.
I have to disagree. I was researching the HP Dragonfly G3 and the first review on Notebookcheck complains about bloatware. And there were other posts I found (maybe elsewhere) that said removing certain bloatware can mess with BIOS settings and start impacting things like heat and fan noise.
There are many YouTube channels (e.g Max Tech) that run comparisons of 8GB vs 16GB or M1 vs M1 Pro, etc. It's almost impossible to find something like that for Windows laptops. The number of reviews of a particular Windows model on YouTube can usually be counted on one hand if you're lucky to even find one.
The signal to noise ratio on reddit is very low, and again it's going to be hard to find someone with exactly your configuration. While that is trivial with Macs.
Macs are by no means perfect, but if you're willing to put up with Apple, then the shopping and ownership experience cannot be matched.
Admittedly, I'm coming at this as an ultrabook user. Anything over 3 lb is not of interest, so the machines I've been focused on are all 12-13" and 2-3 lb. In the case of Apple, that means only the Air. If there a laptop on the Windows side without a fan, I didn't find it.
Brands (systems) I looked at:
Dell (7300 and 9300 Latitude), HP (Dragonfly G3), Lenovo (X1 Nano), Microsoft (Surface Laptop Go 2 and Surface Laptop 5), Vaio (SX 12). From what I read, Samsung loads their systems with unnecessary apps to work with their phones.
Probably the biggest draws for me on the Windows side was I could find lighter options (several options for 13" in 2-2.5 lb), matte displays, and the 3:2 form factor that some systems now offer.
just scanning these comments and my personal experience since 2019:
I admit that trying to find a Dell/Windows solutions online was a nosebleed for me.
once my bluetooth went out, search over 30 minutes and was on hold with dell chat
I figured the problem out myself and shook my head.
apple always has a solution or guide as the 1 search from their website,
not tom's_computer or CWD or a bogus site selling products.'even the Microsoft site was no help many times.
I admit that trying to find a Dell/Windows solutions online was a nosebleed for me.
once my bluetooth went out, search over 30 minutes and was on hold with dell chat
I figured the problem out myself and shook my head.
apple always has a solution or guide as the 1 search from their website,
not tom's_computer or CWD or a bogus site selling products.'even the Microsoft site was no help many times.
A used Lenovo Thinkpad T450S.
I'm serious. It's a light, easy to carry machine with a 1080p screen, dual batteries (so you can swap out the main one when it goes flat) and enough performance to do the sort of basic things a only-if-i-go-somewhere laptop needs to do. They're dirt cheap and built far better than any dirt cheap new machine. The keyboard alone will make you appreciate getting rid of the MacBook.
Otherwise, one of the Surface tablets. There you at least have the unique form factor to differentiate it from the MacBook.
I'm worried that if you go and buy a new, traditional form factor Windows laptop, you'll just end up with a worse version of what you had in the MacBook Air for about the same price.
I'm serious. It's a light, easy to carry machine with a 1080p screen, dual batteries (so you can swap out the main one when it goes flat) and enough performance to do the sort of basic things a only-if-i-go-somewhere laptop needs to do. They're dirt cheap and built far better than any dirt cheap new machine. The keyboard alone will make you appreciate getting rid of the MacBook.
Otherwise, one of the Surface tablets. There you at least have the unique form factor to differentiate it from the MacBook.
I'm worried that if you go and buy a new, traditional form factor Windows laptop, you'll just end up with a worse version of what you had in the MacBook Air for about the same price.