5 ms·

XPS 15

rayiner 6y ago
I'm seriously considering the new XPS 15. It hits much of the same great balance as the 16" MBP, and like the Macbook Pro, it has a 16:10 display. I'm gun shy, because of potential coil whine: https://xps-15.fandom.com/wiki/Coil_Whine https://xps-15.fandom.com/wiki/Coil_Whine > As Coil Whining is a big problem on this model we will try to find out witch parts are causing this noises. First we need to disassemble this notebook and identify the noisy parts. https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8ptfu8/would_you_accept_this_level_of_coil_whine_dell/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8ptfu8/would_you_acce... > I immediately noticed I felt slightly 'uncomfortable' when it was on, and within about 30 seconds realised that it was emitting coil whine at a volume/pitch high enough to physically bother me. It's like an ever-present noise that I can only imagine must be how low levels of tinnitus feels to people who have to deal with that type of thing. I am pretty disappointed to say the least. I might just assume that this is random internet griping, but I had this exact same problem on my last Dell laptop (admittedly, it was almost 20 years ago) and it drove me insane when working late at night. It's one of those little "quality of life" things I'm willing to pay extra for. (Not to say that Apple doesn't have quality-of-life issues, like randomly removing ports. But for the most part I find I can solve those issues just by throwing money at the problem. I can't do that with coil whine, or a non-centered keyboard, or a laptop that only offers either an FHD or a 4K display and no power-efficient compromise.
- ascom 6y ago
  The new XPS 15 allegedly has a battery rated for only 300 cycles: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-new-Dell-XPS-15-s-battery-is-rated-for-300-cycles-and-apparently-that-s-ok.466422.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-new-Dell-XPS-15-s-battery-... For comparison, MacBooks' batteries are rated for 1000 cycles.
- the_angry_angel 6y ago
  I switched to a XPS-15 9570 from a MBP of roughly equiv spec, but previous gen, after the last round of laptop shuffles at work - I went from MacOS to Windows at the same time in order to feel the pain of our environment under Windows. I'm not saying that it's a bad laptop. But there are just so many little annoying things about it after coming from the MBP and MacOS; * Trackpad is subjectively worse, but I can't tell you why beyond its just smaller - but I am objectively much less accurate with it and trigger tap-clicks when I don't mean to. The trackpad positioning is also slightly uncomfortable to use. * Fan noise - the fan curve has it ramping up earlier than a MBP * Windows was hosed out of the box (fine, fixable, but it wasn't a good start) * The "soft" covering results in so many fingerprints * Webcam on the bottom bezel is an awful angle Pros; * Great screen, touch is a nice add-on but found I rarely use it now * Keyboard isn't terrible * Power adapter isn't a brick Would I do it again. Honestly, not sure. My daily driver isn't the laptop and I just deal. If I had to use the laptop daily, I'd probably reconsider.
- hundt 6y ago
  I tried the XPS 15 7590 late last year before I switched back to Mac when the 16" MBP came out. It felt like absolute garbage in comparison. Trackpad was so bad I had to use the touchscreen to scroll. Internet stopped working intermittently. Display felt like far inferior quality (and, like you said, your choices are too few pixels or too many). It was honestly a confusing experience to me, like reviewers or other people who treat these machines as comparable were living on a different planet or something. Of course I don't expect everyone to like Macs and there's nothing wrong with preferring the Dell but I don't understand why the quality differences are not more widely acknowledged.
- pw 6y ago
  Are you agnostic about using Windows or MacOS?
ebg13 6y ago
> XPS 15 OH YES? https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+crashing https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+crashing https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+coil+whine https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+coil+whin... https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+battery+swelling https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+battery+s... https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+overheating https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+overheati...
- duxup 6y ago
  I have trouble measuring how many complaints are real at scale type issues anymore. I think you could find any popular hardware, particularly with any emphasis on performance where there aren't some issues logged.
  - ebg13 6y ago
    Yes, this is reality. But for some reason some people decide that they're absolutely certain about the huge scale of issues with Apple products while being absolutely certain about the lack of scale for issues everywhere else. It couldn't _possibly_ be their bubble.
    - duxup 6y ago
      Yeah it certainly applies to Apple too.
      - ebg13 6y ago
        The reality of failures applies everywhere.
        duxup 6y ago
        I think the "reality" is hard to actually know.
- JohnTHaller 6y ago
vardump 6y ago
Personal experience: XPS 15 overheats and becomes extremely slow. Maybe it's a user error... Touchpad hardware is good, but the software and adjustability... it's nowhere comparable to a Macbook.
- 72deluxe 6y ago
  What does task manager say is causing the CPU to be used so much that it overheats and thermally limits itself? Have you used Sysinternal's Process Monitor or Process Explorer or any of the tracing tools already built into Windows to see why it's slow? If you've got some service running behind the scenes and keeping the machine busy, of course it'll be "slow".
  - vardump 6y ago
    > Have you used Sysinternal's Process Monitor or Process Explorer or any of the tracing tools already built into Windows to see why it's slow? Yeah, poked it a bit, took some ETW traces. Couldn't find any good reason for it to behave like that with a low CPU load.
    - 72deluxe 6y ago
      This sounds like a challenge!

XPS 15

I'm seriously considering the new XPS 15. It hits much of the same great balance as the 16" MBP, and like the Macbook Pro, it has a 16:10 display. I'm gun shy, because of potential coil whine: https://xps-15.fandom.com/wiki/Coil_Whine https://xps-15.fandom.com/wiki/Coil_Whine > As Coil Whining is a big problem on this model we will try to find out witch parts are causing this noises. First we need to disassemble this notebook and identify the noisy parts. https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8ptfu8/would_you_accept_this_level_of_coil_whine_dell/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8ptfu8/would_you_acce... > I immediately noticed I felt slightly 'uncomfortable' when it was on, and within about 30 seconds realised that it was emitting coil whine at a volume/pitch high enough to physically bother me. It's like an ever-present noise that I can only imagine must be how low levels of tinnitus feels to people who have to deal with that type of thing. I am pretty disappointed to say the least. I might just assume that this is random internet griping, but I had this exact same problem on my last Dell laptop (admittedly, it was almost 20 years ago) and it drove me insane when working late at night. It's one of those little "quality of life" things I'm willing to pay extra for. (Not to say that Apple doesn't have quality-of-life issues, like randomly removing ports. But for the most part I find I can solve those issues just by throwing money at the problem. I can't do that with coil whine, or a non-centered keyboard, or a laptop that only offers either an FHD or a 4K display and no power-efficient compromise.

ascom 6y ago
The new XPS 15 allegedly has a battery rated for only 300 cycles: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-new-Dell-XPS-15-s-battery-is-rated-for-300-cycles-and-apparently-that-s-ok.466422.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-new-Dell-XPS-15-s-battery-... For comparison, MacBooks' batteries are rated for 1000 cycles.
the_angry_angel 6y ago
I switched to a XPS-15 9570 from a MBP of roughly equiv spec, but previous gen, after the last round of laptop shuffles at work - I went from MacOS to Windows at the same time in order to feel the pain of our environment under Windows. I'm not saying that it's a bad laptop. But there are just so many little annoying things about it after coming from the MBP and MacOS; * Trackpad is subjectively worse, but I can't tell you why beyond its just smaller - but I am objectively much less accurate with it and trigger tap-clicks when I don't mean to. The trackpad positioning is also slightly uncomfortable to use. * Fan noise - the fan curve has it ramping up earlier than a MBP * Windows was hosed out of the box (fine, fixable, but it wasn't a good start) * The "soft" covering results in so many fingerprints * Webcam on the bottom bezel is an awful angle Pros; * Great screen, touch is a nice add-on but found I rarely use it now * Keyboard isn't terrible * Power adapter isn't a brick Would I do it again. Honestly, not sure. My daily driver isn't the laptop and I just deal. If I had to use the laptop daily, I'd probably reconsider.
hundt 6y ago
I tried the XPS 15 7590 late last year before I switched back to Mac when the 16" MBP came out. It felt like absolute garbage in comparison. Trackpad was so bad I had to use the touchscreen to scroll. Internet stopped working intermittently. Display felt like far inferior quality (and, like you said, your choices are too few pixels or too many). It was honestly a confusing experience to me, like reviewers or other people who treat these machines as comparable were living on a different planet or something. Of course I don't expect everyone to like Macs and there's nothing wrong with preferring the Dell but I don't understand why the quality differences are not more widely acknowledged.
pw 6y ago
Are you agnostic about using Windows or MacOS?

ebg13 6y ago

> XPS 15 OH YES? https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+crashing https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+crashing https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+coil+whine https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+coil+whin... https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+battery+swelling https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+battery+s... https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+overheating https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=dell+xps+15+overheati...

duxup 6y ago
I have trouble measuring how many complaints are real at scale type issues anymore. I think you could find any popular hardware, particularly with any emphasis on performance where there aren't some issues logged.
- ebg13 6y ago
  Yes, this is reality. But for some reason some people decide that they're absolutely certain about the huge scale of issues with Apple products while being absolutely certain about the lack of scale for issues everywhere else. It couldn't _possibly_ be their bubble.
  - duxup 6y ago
    Yeah it certainly applies to Apple too.
    - ebg13 6y ago
      The reality of failures applies everywhere.
      - duxup 6y ago
        I think the "reality" is hard to actually know.
JohnTHaller 6y ago

vardump 6y ago

Personal experience: XPS 15 overheats and becomes extremely slow. Maybe it's a user error... Touchpad hardware is good, but the software and adjustability... it's nowhere comparable to a Macbook.

72deluxe 6y ago
What does task manager say is causing the CPU to be used so much that it overheats and thermally limits itself? Have you used Sysinternal's Process Monitor or Process Explorer or any of the tracing tools already built into Windows to see why it's slow? If you've got some service running behind the scenes and keeping the machine busy, of course it'll be "slow".
- vardump 6y ago
  > Have you used Sysinternal's Process Monitor or Process Explorer or any of the tracing tools already built into Windows to see why it's slow? Yeah, poked it a bit, took some ETW traces. Couldn't find any good reason for it to behave like that with a low CPU load.
  - 72deluxe 6y ago
    This sounds like a challenge!