Images of items I have purchased (except trainers [no feet pics])

dowie said:
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Dell XPS 13 and a 13" MacBook Pro

I'd read that the XPS 13 was apparently a MacBook beater... it isn't (IMHO) and is being returned to Dell having been replaced with an actual MacBook.

I thought I was saving money but really it just wasn't for me, I'm happy enough with windows on a desktop, I do prefer OSX though and there were numerous reasons why I realised the Dell was the wrong decision for me. It is a nice machine but it was also a bit of a compromise.
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I'm interested in why you didn't go with the XPS?
I've got an older Macbook Pro and this was on my list as a possible due to pricing.
I also use an XPS at work and found it OK.
If it's my own money though, worth considering all opinions!
 
Tephnos said:
Why did you ragequit ultrawide?
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Gaming was ok but watching youtube resulted in crap picture quality and 5-6" either side of the video as it wouldn't go full screen, unless you're watching something filmed in 21:9.

Couldn't fault the picture quality, up there with the best I've seen but for what I use it for, a 27" 4k is better.

I also record with my gopro at 4k so I'll get the benefit from that too. :)
 
ajf said:
I'm interested in why you didn't go with the XPS?
I've got an older Macbook Pro and this was on my list as a possible due to pricing.
I also use an XPS at work and found it OK.
If it's my own money though, worth considering all opinions!
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various reasons, some objective and some completely subjective and some of which I could have perhaps avoided with a bit more due diligence

I think the XPS is a nice laptop and was fairly happy when I played around with one in purple shirt world, I've always had dell business laptops at work in the past and they've generally been rock solid. I don't really like windows 10 much and so figured I could dual boot with linux and use that for most things.

I'm not a person who tinkers much with computers any more and last time I ran a dual boot set up was with a desktop I'd built myself a few years ago. This time though was more of a faff - both being unfamiliar with Windows 10 and the added faff with secure boot etc.. Probably quite trivial if you're used to doing this but lots of wasted time for me... was quite frustrated. Got linux installed and gimp (the photo program) is absolutely FUBAR'd on a HiDPI screen. It was just very apparent that this wasn't going to be fun and that for the amount of money being spent I really ought to just hand over a few hundred more to avoid extra future hassle too. Mac on the other hand has had retina displays for a while and all programs work perfectly on them.

I'd still need to use windows for things like itunes for my phone simply doesn't work on linux, the touchpad though better than average is still crap in comparison to a mac(as are the pads on pretty much all windows laptops) - I like to work on the train and not have to take a bluetooth mouse around with me too.

The screen is technically a higher resolution on the dell but is a bit squashed and actually the colours on the mac are better, which is perhaps more important when it comes to my photography hobby. (I can also transfer photoshop and lightroom across from my old mac). I had pretty much max specs on both (albeit 512GB SSD on the Mac) The CPUs are similar despite the mac being a previous gen, same amount of RAM (16GB) but it is faster on the mac, the SSD on the mac is better, the Iris graphics are better on the mac.

The overall construction of the mac seems to be better - the case is nicer, the touchpad is awesome. It weighs a bit more about a dell but I'm not carrying this thing around in a handbag and I don't really care about the difference of a couple of hundred grams or whatever in my backpack. General day to day work tends to be less resource hungry in OSX, leading to better battery life and better all round performance with comparable specs. I can carry on using textmate for coding, I've also got a unix terminal. I also don't have to have more faff installing matlab in linux (not sure how much of a faff this would be but I didn't bother as I'd already decided I'd made a mistake). I use an iphone, itunes works as it should on a mac, my phone syncs nicely with the laptop, my calendar is shared as are bookmarks, notes etc.. The touchbar is cool, though a bit gimmicky at the moment... handy to skip through video clips, open bookmarks quickly etc..


Basically it was lots of things, not any one particular thing. The mac is a nicer all round laptop, frankly no one else comes close as far as laptops are concerned. I think the Dell XPS would be fine if it was mostly plugged into a docking station on a desk (with a mouse!) and occasionally needed for travel, using excel etc.. I was aware of some of the downsides and decided to take a punt as I could compromise a bit for the saving of a few hundred pounds but then when further faffing and issues occurred it just wasn't worth my time. Given that either of these is a fairly serious purchase I decided that if I wasn't really happy and having doubts about the whole thing then I should just pay up and get the better product.
 
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Re XPS VS Macbook, presumably the screens were both calibrated before comparison? If either have a glossy covering that won't help either as that will introduce a false sense of contrast. Ultimately laptop displays are a compremise for photo editing.
 
We had a designer round last night from Hammonds and pulled the trigger on a new built in wardrobe for my little daughters bedroom (we slightly changed the design so all 3 door are the same size, by removing the skirtingboard in the alcove it gives enough room):



Should be installed within 4 weeks...now just need to get the paint brushes out!
 


Keyboard is a Corsair CH-9101014-UK K70 Rapidfire Cherry MX Speed RGB (silver switches)

Not cheap but I would absolutely recommend it over the cherry red - still has the nice mechanical click but not too loud at all, plus lower actuation makes it less tiring to type, so a good all-rounder. In hindsight I would probably look at getting the non-RGB version (red LED's) as I've basically got the keyboard set to red with WASD and arrow keys as white.

LED lamp was supposed to be short-term solution to adjustable light when night gaming but has been commandeered by my missus for night feeding the littlun.
 
Thought I'd try out some noise cancelling headphones for an upcoming flight I have

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see if they help at all with my rather large fear of flying :eek:Sound quality is average but then I am comparing them to my shure 846s and Sennheiser wireless home cinema heaphones. But, the noise cancelling is quite amazing, almost eerie!
 
I have the previous version for flying mostly and find them invaluable. Even just having them on noise cancelling with nothing playing is useful.
 
Skidder said:
I have the previous version for flying mostly and find them invaluable. Even just having them on noise cancelling with nothing playing is useful.
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Same here, but I have the in-ear noise cancelling ones as I find them comfier when sleeping on flights.

Would never fly without them.
 
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