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New laptop recommendations - I like the Dell XPS 13

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    New laptop recommendations - I like the Dell XPS 13

    Hi,

    I'm looking for a new web development laptop, something small / light but that can run Visual Studio & IIS / WAMP / VM's for different environments easily.

    I am looking at the Dell XPS-13 or maybe the 15, with a QHD screen with 16GB ram. I wondered if anyone else had looked at these and found anything better for a similar price? I don't really want a MacBook. I've considered a Surface Pro, due to size and portability but not sure how good the keyboards would be using them all day? The Eve-V looks like a good competitor to the Surface Pro, but probably won't be out till the new year, and there are no prices yet. I don't think the Surface Book is on par unless you spend £1000 more, but I might be wrong.

    The HP Spectre has been touted as similar but I'm not bothered about the whole 2-1 set up, and a traditional laptop is fine.

    Anyone bought anything good recently?

    #2
    I always have mine custom built from PC Specialist - nowhere else hits the requirements that I usually have (eg where else can you find a laptop with 64Gb RAM?)
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      #3
      Originally posted by doconline View Post
      Anyone bought anything good recently?
      I bought a 13" MacBook pro last week (£1299 from Currys) and Jigsaw have last October's 15" model 16gb/512gb SSD for £1799 at the moment

      I did play with the XPS last week but it felt cheap compared to the MacBook pro. Never understood the point of a Surface for a developer as the screen space isn't good enough for me so I can't give advice on that area beyond get the biggest screen you can....
      merely at clientco for the entertainment

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        #4
        Cheers for the replies. I think Currys / PC world have the XPS in store, so I'll go in and proper look at them.

        The custom built ones from PC Specialist, what is the battery life like on them?

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          #5
          Dell quality has gone downhill in the past couple of years, not only Laptops and PCs but servers as well. Used to love the XPS until I had to return 3 in a row due to overheating 5-6 years ago.

          Surface laptop is an alternative, with a similar price for 8GB, unfortunately the 16GB jumps to 512 SSD driving the price quite a bit higher than the XPS13, not sure if they sell 16Gb with 256GB SSD at all

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            #6
            I got a Dell XPS-13 (non-touchscreen version) back in April as John Lewis were doing quite a good deal on them then (and provided an extra year's warranty), and have been very happy with it as it's small (despite having a 13in screen it's similar size to some 11in laptops) and light and has good battery life.

            Having said that I'm not a developer and therefore not using it for any "heavy-duty" processing work so YMMV...

            Hope that helps

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              #7
              So what games are you planning to play on it then?

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                #8
                Originally posted by doconline View Post
                The custom built ones from PC Specialist, what is the battery life like on them?
                I get a few hours out of mine, but I'm mainly on charge so I don't check the battery life very often. I bought a spare battery just in case for when this one deteriorates but it's still in the drawer at the moment.
                Best Forum Advisor 2014
                Work in the public sector? You can read my FAQ here
                Click here to get 15% off your first year's IPSE membership

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                  #9
                  If you're an IPSE member, buying from PC World, log into IPSE Advantages and get 7% discount on your purchase

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by stek View Post
                    So what games are you planning to play on it then?
                    I'm not really, the only ones I play on a PC are things I get from GOG and maybe things like Tropico / Banished.

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