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Apple (MBP15 late 2013, iMac 27 late 2009) user at home, Dell XPS 15 9550 (2015) user at work here. While I totally agree with you about the new MBP, please ju

by m_st 8y ago

Apple (MBP15 late 2013, iMac 27 late 2009) user at home, Dell XPS 15 9550 (2015) user at work here. While I totally agree with you about the new MBP, please just know that the XPS 15 isn't without it's problems too! It must just be that Windows users are more used to lower quality hardware/software that such things are accepted... I really like my XPS 15 as it is fast and as compact as a MBP, but: - Microsoft Surface Bluetooth mouse and keyboard don't work anymore after an idle period of maybe 10 minutes. Have to disable/enable Bluetooth to get it working again. I reverted to RF dongle keyboard and use the Surface Mouse with the included USB cable. - I had a huge number of BSOD early on. It's still not perfect, but almost fine now. - The web cam is at the worst possible position. It films your fingers and breast, rather than head! - The microphone is even worse, no one will hear you talking. - Headphone with microphone works fine. But after unplugging I don't have any sound anymore. Sleep/wake fixes it... - I obviously do miss some of the Mac apps like OmniFocus, Pixelmator, xScope and others while working in Windows.

sharpshadow 8y ago
There is a XPS Developer Edition with Linux instead of Microsoft. I'm personally stuck with Win 7. Will never update to Win 10 and OSX does not seem to be a good choice nowadays. That means Linux will make the run the next years, hopefully.
- sh4z 8y ago
  Personally I like to just get the Windows version and load Linux with GRUB as a second boot option. The few times I need to do something on Windows (photo editing, some games) I just reboot.
  - rbanffy 8y ago
    I end up doing almost the same except that I ditch the Windows install. The hardware selection is much better and, unless you intentionally sabotage yourself, they work every bit as well as laptops that come with factory-supported Linux installs.
  - superflyguy 8y ago
    I did this once but this won't save you from forced updates keeping your laptop alive (and hot, and at risk of corruption if it happens when you have to fly/drive somewhere and you weren't expecting an update), plus once Windows took issue with the state of the disk I was sharing between it and Linux (NTFS format) and did a chkdsk which deleted most of the files from it. That was the last time I ran any Microsoft code outside of a VM (Or my employer's kit).
  - myared 8y ago
    As an XPS 15 9560 owner who used to dual boot, I would highly recommend disabling Windows update as certain updates will ruin your Linux partition. https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2364091 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2364091
- deminature 8y ago
  OSX is still a fine choice. I've been using OSX since 2003 and only noticed substantial improvements over time like Spotlight, Airdrop, Facetime, Quicklook, not regressions. I'm really sick of constant doomsaying about OSX and Apple in general.
rbanffy 8y ago
> - The web cam is at the worst possible position. It films your fingers and breast, rather than head! As someone who's going bald, this is a feature rather than a bug. Of course, I'd like 4 cameras on the corners and software that allows me to shift a virtual camera to the center of whatever video conference tool I'm using. BTW, that would be a brilliant new feature for Apple laptops of the future. That and chroma/motion key built in the camera video processing pipelines or, perhaps, the full set of iPhone image processing options.
- masklinn 8y ago
  > As someone who's going bald, this is a feature rather than a bug. I don't think filming my neck-rolls and the inside of my nostrils is much of a feature.
  - rbanffy 8y ago
    My nostrils are hairier than the top of my head.
whywhywhywhy 8y ago
> Microsoft Surface Bluetooth mouse and keyboard don't work anymore after an idle period of maybe 10 minutes Go into device manager and disable their power saving settings. I had disconnection issues once or twice a week with my MS Designer Mouse and this fixed it.
- m_st 8y ago
  Or dear! I tried about everything possible but didn't think it could be related to such a generic setting! Found this article that shows where it is: https://www.howtogeek.com/189856/ask-htg-how-can-i-keep-my-bluetooth-mouse-connected https://www.howtogeek.com/189856/ask-htg-how-can-i-keep-my-b... I searched the web, updated Dell drivers, found some Reddit thread where they explained cryptic settings in the device manager... All of that didn't help. I gave up when I found yet another blog post where a guy even replaces the internal bluetooth kit of his XPS 15! In the hope that this fixes it once and for all: Thank you so much!
  - eumenides1 8y ago
    Make sure you return and tell us if it that fixed your issue. https://xkcd.com/979/ https://xkcd.com/979/
    - m_st 8y ago
      Looks good so far. The Microsoft Surface Precision mouse still works in Bluetooth mode. Now I can definitely recommend this mouse. Tomorrow I'll test the Microsoft Surface mouse, AKA Microsoft Modern mouse.
m_st 8y ago
Update: - So the bluetooth issue may be fixed with some stupidly hidden Windows setting in the device manager. - I forgot to mention that 3 of our XPS 9550 had their trackpad (and battery) replaced after the batteries inflated and pushed the trackpad out of the case. Luckily this happened a few weeks before the end of the 2 year warranty.
otterpro 8y ago
Whenever I get a BSOD, I miss working on my older Macbook Pro. I just got BSOD this morning as I was reading this, on a brand-new high-end HP ZBook laptop nonetheless. It's the third time that BSOD had happened since I got it few weeks ago, and it turns out that the culprit was the HP's included bloated software called HP Velocity, which is supposed to improve network performance on laptop.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

by m_st 8y ago

sharpshadow 8y ago

There is a XPS Developer Edition with Linux instead of Microsoft. I'm personally stuck with Win 7. Will never update to Win 10 and OSX does not seem to be a good choice nowadays. That means Linux will make the run the next years, hopefully.

sh4z 8y ago
Personally I like to just get the Windows version and load Linux with GRUB as a second boot option. The few times I need to do something on Windows (photo editing, some games) I just reboot.
- rbanffy 8y ago
  I end up doing almost the same except that I ditch the Windows install. The hardware selection is much better and, unless you intentionally sabotage yourself, they work every bit as well as laptops that come with factory-supported Linux installs.
- superflyguy 8y ago
  I did this once but this won't save you from forced updates keeping your laptop alive (and hot, and at risk of corruption if it happens when you have to fly/drive somewhere and you weren't expecting an update), plus once Windows took issue with the state of the disk I was sharing between it and Linux (NTFS format) and did a chkdsk which deleted most of the files from it. That was the last time I ran any Microsoft code outside of a VM (Or my employer's kit).
- myared 8y ago
  As an XPS 15 9560 owner who used to dual boot, I would highly recommend disabling Windows update as certain updates will ruin your Linux partition. https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2364091 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2364091
deminature 8y ago
OSX is still a fine choice. I've been using OSX since 2003 and only noticed substantial improvements over time like Spotlight, Airdrop, Facetime, Quicklook, not regressions. I'm really sick of constant doomsaying about OSX and Apple in general.

rbanffy 8y ago

> - The web cam is at the worst possible position. It films your fingers and breast, rather than head! As someone who's going bald, this is a feature rather than a bug. Of course, I'd like 4 cameras on the corners and software that allows me to shift a virtual camera to the center of whatever video conference tool I'm using. BTW, that would be a brilliant new feature for Apple laptops of the future. That and chroma/motion key built in the camera video processing pipelines or, perhaps, the full set of iPhone image processing options.

masklinn 8y ago
> As someone who's going bald, this is a feature rather than a bug. I don't think filming my neck-rolls and the inside of my nostrils is much of a feature.
- rbanffy 8y ago
  My nostrils are hairier than the top of my head.

whywhywhywhy 8y ago

> Microsoft Surface Bluetooth mouse and keyboard don't work anymore after an idle period of maybe 10 minutes Go into device manager and disable their power saving settings. I had disconnection issues once or twice a week with my MS Designer Mouse and this fixed it.

m_st 8y ago
Or dear! I tried about everything possible but didn't think it could be related to such a generic setting! Found this article that shows where it is: https://www.howtogeek.com/189856/ask-htg-how-can-i-keep-my-bluetooth-mouse-connected https://www.howtogeek.com/189856/ask-htg-how-can-i-keep-my-b... I searched the web, updated Dell drivers, found some Reddit thread where they explained cryptic settings in the device manager... All of that didn't help. I gave up when I found yet another blog post where a guy even replaces the internal bluetooth kit of his XPS 15! In the hope that this fixes it once and for all: Thank you so much!
- eumenides1 8y ago
  Make sure you return and tell us if it that fixed your issue. https://xkcd.com/979/ https://xkcd.com/979/
  - m_st 8y ago
    Looks good so far. The Microsoft Surface Precision mouse still works in Bluetooth mode. Now I can definitely recommend this mouse. Tomorrow I'll test the Microsoft Surface mouse, AKA Microsoft Modern mouse.

m_st 8y ago

Update: - So the bluetooth issue may be fixed with some stupidly hidden Windows setting in the device manager. - I forgot to mention that 3 of our XPS 9550 had their trackpad (and battery) replaced after the batteries inflated and pushed the trackpad out of the case. Luckily this happened a few weeks before the end of the 2 year warranty.

otterpro 8y ago

Whenever I get a BSOD, I miss working on my older Macbook Pro. I just got BSOD this morning as I was reading this, on a brand-new high-end HP ZBook laptop nonetheless. It's the third time that BSOD had happened since I got it few weeks ago, and it turns out that the culprit was the HP's included bloated software called HP Velocity, which is supposed to improve network performance on laptop.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]