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April 21st, 2019 14:00
Alternatives to the XPS 15
Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a Windows compatible alternative to the Dell XPS 15 9570 (32 gb of ram, 1 tb ssd, 4k UHD Display with Touch Screen) with similar specs.
It's a great machine, other than one fatal flaw which makes it borderline unusable: the overactive, incessantly noisy fans, which come on with low to moderate CPU usage. I literally can't do anything on the laptop without the fans kicking in, which almost negates the power of the computer, because when I actually have to use a CPU intensive program, which is what I purchased the laptop for, the fans are so loud and intrusive that the machine sounds like it's about to explode. In addition, the fans come on and stay on when plugged into the AC Adapter. The problem has been well documented online, which has led me to believe that this is just how the XPS 15 is designed. Therefore, continuing to swap it out for a new XPS 15 hoping the next one won't have overactive fans seems to be ill-advised. This post from another user on the Dell Community Forum sums it up pretty well:
"The fan curve on the XPS 9570 needs fixing, many of the solutions outlined in this forum are too generic. Putting it on quiet doesn't work, disabling turbo boost doesn't work. I would love for a Dell representative to confirm once and for all, that opening up chrome with a few tabs will indeed kick in the fans and that the Dell fan design is incapable of handling low level tasks like this, without fan noise. The issue is so frustrating and annoying, it's reported all over the internet, you need to be under a rock not to hear about it. Yet it seems Dell engineers are happy with the fan curve as if they are astonished that something like this happens or just play it down that it's a thin laptop so expect it. Dell engineers I urge you to go to a library with a Dell XPS 9570 laptop, plug it into the AC wall charger, just use it in a very quiet environment and be surprised at how often the fans kick in when you are doing absolutely nothing extraordinary I ask on behalf of the world experiencing these fan issues, please fix the fan curve make them kick in at higher cpu temps. Just make the customers happy for once"
(I can't post the link to this quote because the forum won't allow it).
The excuse has been given that the chassis is thin, but this still doesn't justify the fans coming on during simple internet browsing via 1 tab. And it's not just web browsing that causes the fans to come on. Evidently, the device can't even take navigating through windows on the computer (this is without an internet connection) without the fans starting up. Among other things, watching anything inevitably causes the fans to turn on. If I'm watching something on the computer without headphones, I have to turn the volume up so I can hear the content over the fans - at this point, the sub-par speakers become abundantly evident, but that's for another thread. I can deal with crappy speakers, but I can't deal with fans that activate for seemingly no reason and that sound like wind turbines. Some people have reported the issue of their fans cycling on and off repeatedly, but when the fans of my XPS 15 come on, they stay on - until I shut the computer down or put it to sleep. Using the device in a quiet environment draws the stares of multitudes of people, as the noise emanating from the laptop bothers not just myself, but everyone within the vicinity.
The fact that my Macbook Pro can handle 10s of programs and 100s of tabs without the fans coming on leads me to believe that it's possible to have a quiet computer with a thin chassis. Why don't I just get another Macbook Pro? Because I'm looking for a Windows compatible machine without having to run bootcamp. I've found the specs of the machine to be tough to find anywhere else.
I'm looking for something with 32 gb of ram, 1 TB of hard drive space, and a touch screen with a 4K UHD display. (The Touch Screen and UHD display are not deal-breakers). Naturally, I also want something that doesn't have egregiously overactive fans like the XPS 15 9570/9560. In addition, I don't want to buy the parts and assemble the computer myself nor do I want to modify an existing computer. The closest thing I have found to these specs is a Macbook Pro. However, does anyone know of any Windows compatible alternatives? There has to be something out there that's at least close to the quality of the Macbook Pro that can run Windows. I literally don't care how much it costs at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
jphughan
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April 21st, 2019 17:00
The only direct competitor to the XPS 15 is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme, which has been reviewed very favorably and in my opinion has a better port selection than the current XPS 15. However, you should expect fairly loud fans for a machine like this when it’s under load. These systems are basically the same thickness as ultrabooks, except whereas ultrabooks come with low-power Intel U Series CPUs and no discrete GPU, these systems have high performance H Series Intel CPUs and a discrete GPU. Those components mean that the system will generate quite a bit more heat than a typical ultrabook, while still having to be cooled by a cooling system that can fit in an ultrabook-sized chassis. That means more airflow is required.
jphughan
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14K Posts
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April 21st, 2019 17:00
Ok, one last thing to note. Lenovo’s ThinkPad systems swap the positioning of the Fn and Left Ctrl keys relative to every other PC on the market, including Lenovo’s own IdeaPad line. Since I use keyboard shortcuts heavily, this drove me nuts and killed my productivity when I worked at a place that used ThinkPads — until I found that Lenovo offers a BIOS option to swap the functions of those two keys. So they obviously know they’re doing it “wrong” and that it can be a barrier to people switching to their systems from other brands, but I guess they haven’t changed the actual layout for fear of upsetting the Lenovo faithful who heap praise on their keyboards. Anyway, just be aware that that BIOS option exists if you need it. You’ll still end up with the key acting as Left Ctrl being smaller than the key acting as Fn, and it will be confusing to anyone else who uses the system since the labels will no longer match the key function, but it will still be a lot better than constantly making mistakes due to muscle memory or retraining your muscle memory so that it becomes wrong for any other laptop you might use later.
jphughan
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14K Posts
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April 21st, 2019 17:00
In addition to the above, think carefully about whether you really want that UHD touchscreen display, since it does come with several downsides other than cost:
- Increased thickness and weight
- A noticeable battery life hit, probably about 2 hours on average for these systems.
- A glossy finish that can create distracting reflections that don't exist with matte/anti-glare displays.
- Although it's getting better, there are still many Windows applications out there that don't handle display DPI scaling very well, which means some applications could look worse or be downright unusable on a 15" 4K display, whereas a 15" 1080p display would require little to no scaling to be usable.
- How often do people use touchscreens on traditional laptop systems anyway? It's not ergonomic and becomes tiring very quickly to do so for any meaningful period of time. On a 2-in-1 system when you're using it in tablet mode sure, but I ordered my XPS 15 9530 with the high-res touchscreen display years ago (for futureproofing, I told myself) and my work laptop also has a touchscreen display, and I never use the touch function on either of them.