9 ms·

I use to have the same thought process as you: instantly sold on devices with native hdmi, usb a & usb c. By that metric xps beats macbook. Recently I tried to

by Goosee 5y ago

I use to have the same thought process as you: instantly sold on devices with native hdmi, usb a & usb c. By that metric xps beats macbook. Recently I tried to convert to a windows laptop from my 16 inch mbp. Upon switching I was constantly annoyed by the fan noise & using my pinkie to press the 'control' key opposed to macbook thumb on 'command' key. The point is, I realized native port selection was not a metric to consider when purchasing a laptop. I am fine bringing an adapter to the meeting room. I guess it comes down to what you value. I am just trying to play 'devil's advocate' with my anecdotal experience compared to your experience.

SilverRed 5y ago
I found the fan noise to be horrific on the 13in i5 macbook I was using. The thing was overheating constantly and since I use linux and windows at home, having the cmd key different only while working was a huge annoyance for me. On my dell xps 15 I almost never hear the fans at all and there is usually only a quick burst of fan noise when running a webpack compile or something compared to non stop 80% fans on the mbp. There are far more things that made the dell xps a better choice and ports was just one of them but still a very important one. USB-C adapters are pretty cheap but USB-C hubs are $100+ and have been a constant source of frustration when they keep failing unless you buy the most expensive ones.
- arcticbull 5y ago
  The M1's are dead silent, cold to the touch under all circumstances and dramatically faster. That was Intel, as it turns out, so if that was a big decision driver, I'd take another look!
- mssundaram 5y ago
  Use Karabiner Elements on macOS to switch the command key to what you want. And actually, I'm pretty sure it's possible in the built-in macOS settings, but I've always used that app for complex programmatic mappings.
- brailsafe 5y ago
  Aren't all good hubs quite costly though? I just use a shitty little USB-C adapter + usb cable, and my monitor acts as the hub. I agree about the fan noise.
- mszcz 5y ago
  I recently upgraded/switched my dev machine from a desktop (Intel NUC Hades Canyon) to a Lenovo Legion 5-15 ARH "gaming" laptop with 32GB, 2xM.2 and Ryzen 4800H (more mobile, more pandemic friendly). It's a big laptop by XPS13 standards sure, but one that's appropriately cooled. I hadn't been aware, up to that point, how much the fans bothered me. This thing is quick but at the same time real quiet. After some time I turned the NUC on for some reason, the funs launched into overdrive and I suddenly got annoyed.
fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
Yeah, also USB-C is pretty obviously the future: having a single connector for all my external devices makes it hard to go back to packing multiple connectors. And, instead of dongle adapters, I just buy cables with the appropriate connector pair: e.g. HDMI/USB-C for my TV
ActorNightly 5y ago
The thing with "windows" laptops is that you can install and run Linux seamlessly out of the box, even distros that Mimic the look of OSX, and remap the keys to your hearts content.
- quesera 5y ago
  > even distros that Mimic the look of OSX, and remap the keys to your hearts content Sadly, they mimic the macOS UI very poorly, and it remains not-possible in Linux to universally remap keyboard shortcuts to match macOS built-in sanity.
  - DanAtC 5y ago
    https://github.com/rbreaves/kinto https://github.com/rbreaves/kinto is pretty good on the keyboard front
  - airstrike 5y ago
    > to match macOS built-in sanity. Yeah, I really wish I could map Alt+Down to open files in Nautilus so that I can then use the Enter key to rename them like any sane person
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - rbreaves 5y ago
    You should really take a look at https://ubuntubudgie.org https://ubuntubudgie.org.. it does not mimic the UI poorly at all.. the welcome app easily gets you to a dark mojave looking theme and then you can change the layout to cupertino for the global menu. Also open up budgie-settings to set the overall system theme to dark and that is literally all you have to do.. Also use waterfox instead of firefox if you want the browser to give you a proper global menu, or use chrome.
- boogies 5y ago
  The XPS line in particular has had Developer Editions with pre-installed Ubuntu, and IIUC significant effort by Dell to provide good Linux drivers, for years.
deergomoo 5y ago
> Recently I tried to convert to a windows laptop from my 16 inch mbp. Upon switching I was constantly annoyed by the fan noise Jesus, how loud was the Windows laptop? I just sold my 16" MBP for an M1 Air almost entirely because the fan noise on the 16" was unbearable.

by Goosee 5y ago

SilverRed 5y ago

I found the fan noise to be horrific on the 13in i5 macbook I was using. The thing was overheating constantly and since I use linux and windows at home, having the cmd key different only while working was a huge annoyance for me. On my dell xps 15 I almost never hear the fans at all and there is usually only a quick burst of fan noise when running a webpack compile or something compared to non stop 80% fans on the mbp. There are far more things that made the dell xps a better choice and ports was just one of them but still a very important one. USB-C adapters are pretty cheap but USB-C hubs are $100+ and have been a constant source of frustration when they keep failing unless you buy the most expensive ones.

arcticbull 5y ago
The M1's are dead silent, cold to the touch under all circumstances and dramatically faster. That was Intel, as it turns out, so if that was a big decision driver, I'd take another look!
mssundaram 5y ago
Use Karabiner Elements on macOS to switch the command key to what you want. And actually, I'm pretty sure it's possible in the built-in macOS settings, but I've always used that app for complex programmatic mappings.
brailsafe 5y ago
Aren't all good hubs quite costly though? I just use a shitty little USB-C adapter + usb cable, and my monitor acts as the hub. I agree about the fan noise.
mszcz 5y ago
I recently upgraded/switched my dev machine from a desktop (Intel NUC Hades Canyon) to a Lenovo Legion 5-15 ARH "gaming" laptop with 32GB, 2xM.2 and Ryzen 4800H (more mobile, more pandemic friendly). It's a big laptop by XPS13 standards sure, but one that's appropriately cooled. I hadn't been aware, up to that point, how much the fans bothered me. This thing is quick but at the same time real quiet. After some time I turned the NUC on for some reason, the funs launched into overdrive and I suddenly got annoyed.

fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago

Yeah, also USB-C is pretty obviously the future: having a single connector for all my external devices makes it hard to go back to packing multiple connectors. And, instead of dongle adapters, I just buy cables with the appropriate connector pair: e.g. HDMI/USB-C for my TV

ActorNightly 5y ago

The thing with "windows" laptops is that you can install and run Linux seamlessly out of the box, even distros that Mimic the look of OSX, and remap the keys to your hearts content.

quesera 5y ago
> even distros that Mimic the look of OSX, and remap the keys to your hearts content Sadly, they mimic the macOS UI very poorly, and it remains not-possible in Linux to universally remap keyboard shortcuts to match macOS built-in sanity.
- DanAtC 5y ago
  https://github.com/rbreaves/kinto https://github.com/rbreaves/kinto is pretty good on the keyboard front
- airstrike 5y ago
  > to match macOS built-in sanity. Yeah, I really wish I could map Alt+Down to open files in Nautilus so that I can then use the Enter key to rename them like any sane person
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- rbreaves 5y ago
  You should really take a look at https://ubuntubudgie.org https://ubuntubudgie.org.. it does not mimic the UI poorly at all.. the welcome app easily gets you to a dark mojave looking theme and then you can change the layout to cupertino for the global menu. Also open up budgie-settings to set the overall system theme to dark and that is literally all you have to do.. Also use waterfox instead of firefox if you want the browser to give you a proper global menu, or use chrome.
boogies 5y ago
The XPS line in particular has had Developer Editions with pre-installed Ubuntu, and IIUC significant effort by Dell to provide good Linux drivers, for years.

deergomoo 5y ago

> Recently I tried to convert to a windows laptop from my 16 inch mbp. Upon switching I was constantly annoyed by the fan noise Jesus, how loud was the Windows laptop? I just sold my 16" MBP for an M1 Air almost entirely because the fan noise on the 16" was unbearable.