Unicorn Hunting... What laptop?

[Randall8686]

Hi All

Looking to replace my laptop. Thinking of going for a Dell XPS15 however looking to be talked out of it with a better option

Main functions:
Light video editing on the move
Light gaming docked
Everyday office work
3D Cad work (Fusion 360)

I am looking at the XPS 15 with 4070. its about £2500. Having something Slim and portable i can use on a plane is a must. I have considered a macbook but inability to replace RAM and SSD puts me massively off. So slim and light with a premium feel is a must. The dell obviously has limitations of 50w on the 4070 but I dont think that will cause me a major issue. the 3.5k display will really help me out on fusion360 work and 1080p just wont suffice. Dont need anything more than USBC and must charge via USB C also as well as dock to my ultrawide at home.

Not too fussed on sound quality as wont use the onboard speakers or webcam. keyboard feel is important also.

So the question is does anything beat the XPS 15 in this area? Im really not up to speed on laptop brands. My current laptop is a Dell and 4 years old. Its been faultless and no complaints. But definately open to better machines.

 

[Scrutinize]

The 50w TGP on the Dell makes the 4070 perform worse than 4060 laptops with higher wTGP and close to a 4050. The Xps is a nice portable chassis but there are loads of slim, light, decent battery gaming/productivity laptops this year.

I totally get your productivity requirements here though & the 3.5k screen is unique to this xps model isn't it hence why the 4070 to support productivity and creative production rather than gaming.

One review of many below.

If gaming has some anchoring here, you may as well buy one of the sub £1600 top spec 4050/60 options or if you want compact gaming an Asus Rog Zephyrus at £2.5k gets a 4080.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 NVIDIA RTX 4080, 16GB, 14.0" QHD+ 165Hz, AMD Ryzen R9-7940HS Gaming Laptop

Order ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 NVIDIA RTX 4080, 16GB, 14.0" QHD+ 165Hz, AMD Ryzen R9-7940HS Gaming Laptop now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Or 4070 version with higher ram, CPU etc

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 NVIDIA RTX 4070 32GB 14.0 OLED WQXGA+ 120Hz AMD R9-8945HS Gaming Laptop

Order ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 NVIDIA RTX 4070 32GB 14.0 OLED WQXGA+ 120Hz AMD R9-8945HS Gaming Laptop now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

The Asus zenbook with 4060 and i9-13900h at 1.6kg would be my pick of the Ultra Portable productivity/gaming machines.

ASUS ZenBook Pro 14 NVIDIA RTX 4060, 16GB, 14.5" OLED 120Hz, Intel i9-13900H Laptop

Order ASUS ZenBook Pro 14 NVIDIA RTX 4060, 16GB, 14.5" OLED 120Hz, Intel i9-13900H Laptop now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

These are just examples, loads of options and brands but the Zephyrus and ZenBook pro are genuinely decently portable with strong specs and screens like the Xps15. Don't discount the Galaxy Book4 pro/ultra either.

For me portability and productivity are purpose so:

I personally moved away from gaming laptops to a Nvidia Geforce Now subscription plus Microsoft Xbox subscription and use cloud gaming on my MS Surface Pro, Galaxy Book4 Pro, iPad or Phone. When on battery, I get hours of gaming in silence.

 

[radderfire]

Brand wise I would be considering Dell, Asus and Microsoft Surface.

 

[Minstadave]

Asus G14 is the way (although Asus warranty support is absolute garbage).

 

[Scrutinize]

Brand wise I would be considering Dell, Asus and Microsoft Surface.

Surface laptop or pro dont really hit the creative productivity element here and until the next gen still use the low power 12th gen 1255u i7.

My surface pro is brilliant, screen is sublime etc but it's not a counterpart for the performance of the xps15 in question, not even close.

What it does do is run silently, take up minimal space on the desk or on a train and in battery saver mode will last all day, although the performance tail off is harsh.

I went for a Galaxy Book4 Pro 14 with the new Core Ultra 7 155h recently. These new Intel Core Ultra 7 & 9 (need the 9 for 32gb memory from some vendors and models atm) are in real world use significantly better than 13th gen for portability and productivity. Their ability to run in silent/low fan mode and give all day long battery life even when working hard is worth it. Most of the ultra portables have soldered memory these days so you have to pick configuration as is.

There is definitely benefit to the low power RTX4050/60/70 equipped laptops for rendering and media production but you only need the 4050 to get the 'studio' benefits.

Dell Xps series are really expensive for their offer at the moment. They have aimed at the stylised ultra portable/productivity market inc Apple MBP but don't price/pitch comparably to other alternatives. They seem to have replaced and encroached on their middle-upper 7/9 series Lattitudes market but less mechanical corporate in styling.

The Asus Zenbook or Zephyrus, unless you want/need the Dell next day on site warranty are better all round. This year's Samsung Galaxy Book4s are also a nice option.

There is a 14" ZenBook Pro Ultra 9 185H (32gb) about at £1400 which is a no brainier if you don't need RTX.

Otherwise, the more I think about it, the ZenBook Pro 14 with RTX4060 at £2k I linked to is the best option here as its a decent TGP wattage variant.

You can still get the ASUS Zenbook 14X 14.5" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i9-13900H, 16GB, 1 TB SSD, RTX3050 for £1429 too at the moment if you wanted to save money.

 

[sg0]

Check out the Lenovo legion 14". It can be built with 32gb with a 4060 and a amd 7840hs for around £1500. I think its actually cheaper. Memory is soldered though but nvme is upgradable according a reviewer on youtube.

 

[Kohaashi]

Another vote for Lenovo Legion laptops.

 

[Django x2]

I'd take a HP Spectre x360 14 over most of the above. Ultra 7 (you don't need a 9 for 32Gb, not sure where that came from and very few laptops run a Ultra 9 anyway, in compact sizes). £1800 will get you a x360 14 with Ultra 7, 32Gb, and 2TB SSD. That's tough to beat.

 

[sg0]

I'd take a HP Spectre x360 14 over most of the above. Ultra 7 (you don't need a 9 for 32Gb, not sure where that came from and very few laptops run a Ultra 9 anyway, in compact sizes). £1800 will get you a x360 14 with Ultra 7, 32Gb, and 2TB SSD. That's tough to beat.

The screen on this looks the best and probably the most portable but the specs I saw had this with ddr4 4266, a smaller 66wh and no decent gaming gpu. £1800 is steep for this.

 

[Minstadave]

I'd take a HP Spectre x360 14 over most of the above. Ultra 7 (you don't need a 9 for 32Gb, not sure where that came from and very few laptops run a Ultra 9 anyway, in compact sizes). £1800 will get you a x360 14 with Ultra 7, 32Gb, and 2TB SSD. That's tough to beat.

As above, I don't think this has a DGPU option at all does it? The OP seems to be looking for something more capable graphically.

 

[Scrutinize]

I'd take a HP Spectre x360 14 over most of the above. Ultra 7 (you don't need a 9 for 32Gb, not sure where that came from and very few laptops run a Ultra 9 anyway, in compact sizes). £1800 will get you a x360 14 with Ultra 7, 32Gb, and 2TB SSD. That's tough to beat.

My comment on the memory config was vendor pre config device model specific which I should have qualified eg Asus weren't offering 32GB on Ultra 7 only on Ultra 9 for some of the models.

More models are becoming available as the days go on.

HP Spectre Ultra 7 models are slowly moving from pre order with the RTX 4050 series to in stock.

Pretty expensive though at £2.2k (x360 16-aa0000na) with the 32GB RAM and a RTX4050 but like the xps it's aimed at nvidia studio creative productivity.