I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a Dell XPS 15 to replace my 2016 MBP.
Why not another Mac?
I have nothing against Apple notebooks. In fact, my work issued MBP16 is absolutely fantastic. What drove me back to Windows were a few things:
- The keyboard and screen hinge issues I’ve had with my MBP bother me so much that I do not want to spend my money on another Apple device.
- WSL2 solves a lot of the use cases that drove me to switch to macOS in the first place.
- Apple is abandoning Intel/x86 which in the long run might be a great move though I don’t want to be caught in the middle of it.
- There are some fantastic Windows notebooks on the market nowadays (XPS, X1, Envy, Spectre, Surface, ZenBook, etc.).
What else did you consider?
- Lenovo X1 Extreme Gen 3
- HP Envy 15
- XPS 17
The XPS 17 is just too big so I eliminated it pretty quick. I considered it over the XPS 15 because it’s available with a better GPU (RTX 2060) and better cooling (vapor chamber). Considering those two factors, the HP Envy comes into focus… On paper it has it all.
The HP is a fine machine but with it’s 16:9 display, less color accurate (and hyper glossy) display, and lesser keyboard, I had to eliminate it. As you can see, a theme around keyboards is emerging, thus the Lenovo must be considered.
The Lenovo was the hardest one to walk away from. It’s rugged, it looks like a business machine, and it’s got as much horsepower as the XPS. Additionally, the keyboard is amazing. It’s probably my favorite laptop keyboard. Finally, it has the best array of IO of the bunch. What’s its Achilles heel then? The display. It’s only alright.
The Dell XPS ultimately was the goldilocks machine that worked best for me and with discounts, it was also the cheapest (not by much though).
Once I’ve used the it for 2-3 weeks, I’ll probably write up a more in depth review.