Solved! MBP vs Dell XPS 2011

[Lethalbeaver]

1. What is your budget? No more than $3000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15-15.7

3. What screen resolution do you want? higher than 1600x900

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? desktop replacemnt/portable as possible.

5. How much battery life do you need? 5+hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? I do some light gaming nothing too graphic intensive

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
This will be my primary computer, so it has to be able to do just about anything i can throw at it for the next 3-4 years.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
120gb min

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
apple
dell
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 3-4 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? dvd rom


13. What country do you live in? USA

So i have narrowed my selection of laptops down to 2.
1. A MBP(the higher end one) with 8gb ram, an OCZ vertx 3 ssd, and the high res screen. i would be using bootcamp to dual boot win7 and OSX. cost @2500.00

2. 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus and TV Tuner t
MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
HD DISPLAY 15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam & Facial Recognition
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD
WIRELESS CARDS Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0
BATTERY OPTIONS 90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Batter
SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2 edit
costs @ 2099

What would you guys suggest if i need a desktop replacement, with decent battery life and is aesthetically pleasing. Any suggestions, comments or ideas are welcome, thank you!

 

[Maziar]

Between the 2 choices, I vote for the MBP because:
1)It will give you 7hrs of battery life(you'll probably get 2-3hrs max with the second one)
2)Better build quality/keyboard

The only advantage of XPS 15 is having a better screen and sound.

 

[lostandwandering]

Between the 2 choices, I vote for the MBP because:
1)It will give you 7hrs of battery life(you'll probably get 2-3hrs max with the second one)

Anandtech got 7.2 hours while web surfing with the 90 whr battery on the Dell.

http/www.anandtech.com/show/4274/dell-xps-15-l502x-now-with-sandy-bridge/5

2)Better build quality/keyboard

Would like to mention that it may not be as good, but it certainly isn't all that poor given the magnesium alloy:

The short summary is that the build quality is still good, but it’s not at the level of something like a Dell Latitude. Dell uses a magnesium alloy frame in the XPS, but the top and bottom are still plastic.

http/www.anandtech.com/show/4274/dell-xps-15-l502x-now-with-sandy-bridge/1

 

[Maziar]

Thanks for the links Logan,I was mistaken about the battery life. Forgot that SB CPUs give notably better battery than the older Core i CPUs(a friend has the first gen
XPS 15 which gives him 3-4hrs of battery life)

And the keyboard/build quality of XPS 15 isn't bad,but MBP is better due to unibody aluminum construction

 

[lostandwandering]

And the keyboard/build quality of XPS 15 isn't bad,but MBP is better due to unibody aluminum construction

Yep. But the ultimate question is: Is it $500 better?

 

[Maziar]

That depends on the OP.If he wants Mac OS then yes, because of the trackpad(which works wonderfully onder OS X);otherwise, XPS 15 is great and cheaper too.

 

[Lethalbeaver]

well i have spent a lot of time looking at the dell xps and the more i look at it the more unattractive i find it to be, its got a huge bezel, and that weird part on the back that juts out. Do you guys have any other suggestions that would be close to these two that i may have missed? i have an inspirion 14 at the moment, which is great and all but its time to upgrade. But it is aesthetically pleasing, it doesn't lots of frills and stuff. Its just the speaker grille, power button and mouse pad. nothing else. thank your for all your help so far guys. does anyone know which SSD dell uses in their xps? i know their use many sources, but ssd speeds seem to vary and i haven't had any luck getting any ideas what they are using.

 

[drake123]

Check out the Asus Lamborghini VX7 laptop at xoticpc.com


It has godly specs.

 

[Lethalbeaver]

Check out the Asus Lamborghini VX7 laptop at xoticpc.com


It has godly specs.

Dude, you were not kidding..seriously insane/awesome haha!!

 

[Maziar]

well i have spent a lot of time looking at the dell xps and the more i look at it the more unattractive i find it to be, its got a huge bezel, and that weird part on the back that juts out. Do you guys have any other suggestions that would be close to these two that i may have missed? i have an inspirion 14 at the moment, which is great and all but its time to upgrade. But it is aesthetically pleasing, it doesn't lots of frills and stuff. Its just the speaker grille, power button and mouse pad. nothing else. thank your for all your help so far guys. does anyone know which SSD dell uses in their xps? i know their use many sources, but ssd speeds seem to vary and i haven't had any luck getting any ideas what they are using.

You better ask Dell to be 100% sure about the SSD they use but it seems they use Samsung SSDs
http/en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/f/3510/t/19355233.aspx

 

[Lethalbeaver]

You better ask Dell to be 100% sure about the SSD they use but it seems they use Samsung SSDs
http/en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/f/3510/t/19355233.aspx

Thank you, that was quite helpful