I am getting an Ultrabook which I will be using for College work, some basic gaming (VERY VERY BASIC) when I’m on the go and to use when i go abroad (Which is becoming quite regular at the moment). I essentially need this thing to be small and light weight but be a powerhouse when I need, the laptop needs to be relatively sturdy and strong since I will be using this in the field when i am abroad with the Physics Department (Iceland isnt nice to laptops). Bare in mind I live in the UK so some products are not easily available to me unfortunately.
My current choices that I stuck deciding between are -
My budget limit is £1250 MAXIMUM (I have already upped the budget massively from when I first started so NO more increases)
I also need an answer pretty quickly as to what you guys think because the only reason the XPS 13 is still within my budget is because of a deal which ends soon!
I want anyone who has used either of these devices to say there experiences with these devices, what they liked/disliked and what is missing from them.
I agree, the XPS 15 is the way to go if you want a real graphics card. I think the XPS 13 would be fine if you can live without the GPU.
The Razer is just ridiculous. They've skimped on absolutely everything and appear to be banking on the "cool factor". The specs are just awful in comparison, and seriously, 200 fucking dollars to upgrade the 128GB SSD to 256GB? Blow me.
Yeh the Razer is out of the question now because of those reasons exactly, i am just deciding now between the 13 and the 15, such a hard decision to make hahaha
I think it all really boils down to what you want it for. If you will only be taking notes and doing google searches for homework I would get the 13. If you want more of the "computer" experience I would go with the 15. My personal pick would be the 15. Have you seen any thermal scans of either while working at or near capacity? That's the first general thing I check when it comes to powerful compact hardware.
XPS 15 hands down. You'll be thankful in a couple years when its still got the horsepower to be useful when the dual core I7 in the XPS 13 is just to slow.
At work I ordered a few Dell XPS 13 machines and it is a pretty nice machine but I am missing a touchscreen. Since I am not a gamer I still like better my HP Spectre x360 that can be flipped into tablet and used for sketching with a Dell Active Stylus. I also like if for reading. HP is very light and has more universal application compared to XPS 13 and it might be better suited for your college work.
I second the HP especially if you can get the broadwell version. They were on fire sale on the HP site last time I checked. It was $800 USD for the I5 5200U with 8GB ram and a 256GB ssd. If you don't need all the horsepower of the XPS 15, then this is definitely the route I'd take. Hell I bought 2 of those Spectre's, and both of them are still chugging along quite nicely.