MacBook Pro or Dell XPS
Hi everyone, I'm on the way to buy a new laptop for my university studies, so I'll use the new machine both for simple things like Excel, PP, Word etc. and for more complicated things like MatLab, trading and programming.
So the question is: should I buy a MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS? I've already read about complications that MacOS could have with Excel but I also read that installing Windows via BootCamp or buy Excel skin could be a possibility to avoid these problems.
So, let me know which is your opinion and why.
Thank you so much, have a nice day :)
P.S.: I've been using Windows since my birth and I would like to change OS, but i don't know if it's a good choice.
Well it is completely preference but in the workforce you'll be 100% using PC.
You'll also be paying about a $1000 apple tax if you got a MacBook vs. an equally or better speced PC.
I had the same issue, but back when I was considering my decision the XPS had manufacturing issues (that have since been resolved) so I opted with a Microsoft Factory Edition Surface Laptop (very happy with the decision).
Ok, thank you. So you think that Dell could be a better decision for the work that I'm gonna do?
I agree that OP should get the XPS, especially for work programs, but respectfully disagree with the $1000 “tax.” Goes without saying Apple makes $$$ off the legions of sheeple, but I can’t speak highly enough of my MacBook Air. $1000 new and smoothly runs everything a PC does (Excel for Mac being the major exception). Also, if user already has an iPhone, the convenience of the unified OS experience is something to consider.
Pro tip: if you make friends with an Apple store worker you can use their 10-15% discount. Most workers have an allotment of devices they can use with their discounts. Most use up their iPhone allotments quickly with friends/family, but never hit their laptop number (usually 2-3 per year).
PS great decision with the Surface.
Yeah the lower end macbooks definitely give you better value for your money. In his case a Mac Book air would probably not be powerful enough. I refer to the tax because if you got a full spec Mac Book and then looked for a PC alternative with similar specs (Barring the OS experience and arguably industry leading screen quality) the price difference between the two is like 800 - 1000 USD.
Surface is great, people complain about the "you can't open it up" but I can't remember a single time something went wrong with my laptop and I thought to myself "well fuck I'll open it up and take a look".
XPS. Finance is all PC, not Macs. I own an XPS and like it a lot.
Ok thank you. One more thing: is XPS reliable like Mac? I have friends owners of Mac who told me that Mac is so durable and my fear is that a PC like XPS is will be not durable like Mac is.
Never owned a Mac so can't compare, sorry. My old PC which I've had for 3+ years works fine still, just a bit slow and I wanted to take advantage of the corporate discount before I left.
Huawei Matebook X Pro.
Think of it as the Macbook and XPS combined into a better laptop.
I camt like this comment enough.
Nah not worth it. I wouldn't risk the fucking headache of having to ship it off to China for even the smallest problem. If you're in the states why risk it, especially when it will be his laptop for school. Imagine 2 weeks to ship it there, 3 weeks to examine / fix it, another 2 weeks to ship it back. You going to be alright without a laptop for almost 2 months in college? If anything goes wrong with your Mac Book / XPS / Surface Laptop just take it down the street and get it checked out at the local retail store.
Lenovo Thinkpad - whatever permutation you prefer
So you guys recommend me a PC instead of a Mac Book? I'm open to other proposals, so advise other PC models please.
A quick "Top 10 PC laptops 2018" will yield the consensus best options.
The rankings will mainly be based off of 3 parameters: Price, Portability, Power. Generally Increasing Power / Portability will increase price. So you'll have to find a happy medium of something powerful enough to do what you want and yet still in your budget. I think the XPS and Surface Laptop are both solid options. Some of the Lenovo models get a little bit bulkier.
In terms of running Microsoft office suite just about any laptop can do that. I began doing some research for a class where I had imported minute by minute data for some market parameters and that turned into a few hundred thousand rows in excel pretty quickly. Running the file in conjunction with a few others could have slowed my work considerably if I had picked a lower end spec laptop, so if you'll be doing things like that keep that in mind.
If you want to game then the XPS will be a solid option since it comes with its own (adapted) version of mid-tier GPUs.
Again, with MatLab / Trading / Programming I'm not sure how intense you get, but if you were going to attach a few peripheral screens (I trade casually and hate doing it on one screen) then again, higher end specs would be beneficial.
If you're day to day activities will require a speced out machine with a solid graphics card, plenty of storage, etc then that can become very bulky very quickly (which will also result in a battery that won't last a full day). In this case I would consider maybe getting a desktop for your apartment / dorm and a cheaper surface tablet 2 in 1 for note taking / ppt in class.
All the high end laptops nowadays are perfect for what you want, so it really boils down to personal preference - what OS do you want? Portability?
The top picks usually are the XPS, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre X360, and Thinkpad X1
I've been using Windows since my birth so I'd like to change OS and switch to Mac but at same time I'm "scared" because Excel couldn't run on a Mac as on a PC. Yes, portability is a prerogative. By the way thanks for other advices.
I just got an XPS 2-in-1 for work, and it's pretty great so far. Like everyone else said, almost no one uses Macs for finance, so this alone should steer you away from them if that's what you're interested in. Regarding the Microsoft Surface computers, that's what my XPS replaced. I had a Surface Pro that ended up having this issue: https://flickergate.com/. Needless to say, my trust in Microsoft computers fell precipitously after that.
Ok, perfect. Thank you all, really. You have been really kind and exhaustive.
My biggest peeve with the MacBookPro is they got rid of the escape key. I use a program called vim and it drives me nuts not to have it there.
If you can live without the escape key MBP it is, if not go for the XPS.
My two issues with the new MBP's are the touch bar and the higher cost. I had a 2014 15", the high-end model with the graphics card, and I think it was the best computer I ever owned. Now however, I can't find something that has similar bang for the buck. I've settled recently on getting a 15" XPS with 32GB ram since it comes with the 1050 and can be used for small-scale deep learning projects, and I understand it has great Linux support since Dell makes drivers for their developer edition models.
Just seen you're a "S&T Pro". Wich laptop do you advice for trading, Python programming and MatLab applied to finance? Is the XPS a good choice or is it better the Mac since you own both?
I have both - the 2018 MacBook Pro and a 2017 Dell XPS (Dell for play, Mac for work). Before I got the Mac I loved the dell and thought nothing would surpass it. After using the Mac I realized I quite enjoy the UI and the human centric feel. In my eyes, the mac is a computer where the xps is a machine. If you're doing IB you'll prob only use a PC, but otherwise I really have gotten used to the mac and love it. I'm better at excel on a mac than I ever was on a PC (but that's just from use).
Macs are really expensive and apple care blows if it isn't corporate.
I had MS Office 2011 for Mac and it was horrible. Macs are great computers for everything but MS Office. MS Office on Windows is also sporting the latest features because they delay the rollout for OS. And, when MS designs Office, the goal is for it to work best with a Windows computer, unsurprisingly. There's a lot of inconsistencies that you'd run into using Office on OS versus on Windows. Hands down, the Windows version of Office is worlds better.
Dell XPS for work and macbook pro for porn hub at home
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