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MacBook Pro 15 vs. Dell XPS 15

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S

skynidas

Banned
I'm thinking of buying any of these two laptops with the following specs:

MacBook Pro 15:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor 6M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz (0.3 GHz bump option)
8GB DDR3 RAM (16GB option)
Integrated Graphics (2GB GDDR5 option)
15 inch Retina Display
256GB SSD (512GB SSD option)

Price: $1999 ($2599 if i get the other spec)

Dell XPS 15:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor (6M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz)
16GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 750M 2GB GDDR5
15 inch display (3200 x 1800 resolution)
1TB HDD + 32 GB SSD

Price: $1849

What do you guys think? I would use it for day to day work and some video editing.
 
N

Ninja Kn1ght

Member
The new MacBook Pro is a gorgeous device. Expensive, sure, but the build quality reflects the price. Do you use an iPhone or an iPad? If so, it might make even more sense to get the Mac.
 
E

Elchele

Member
If you don't plan to use it as videogame machine, then go for the Macbook. Mac OS X alone makes it the better option.

I moved to Mac OS X in 2008, and just recently had to install Windows 7 to do some programming for a class and I got reminded why Mac OSX is million times better than Windows.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
What programs will you be using for video editing? Macs are pretty solid and their thunderbolt expandability may be better for video editing than the dell machine.

skynidas said:
Read the specs, you can add the 2GB video card for 600 bucks
Click to expand...
I know, but by default it only comes with integrated graphics?
 
K

kharma45

Member
Go for the Dell. More RAM as standard and depending on what video editing software you're using you could use the GPU to help out too.
 
M

mackattk

Member
Would probably go with the Dell. The Apple probably has a little better build quality, but an extra ~800 (after taxes) is a hard pill to swallow to get comparable specs that the Dell has.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
How are the colours on the XPS vs the Mac? That may be an important factor if the OP wanted to do colour correction duties as part of his video editing. Also: thunderbolt ports (something that is actually useful in video editing - especially if you're using a laptop to do it).
 
G

goodcow

Member
The Dell's resale value will be shit in the future. The MacBook Pro's resale value will make up for the price gap, not to mention OS X, higher build quality, trackpad, etc.
 
A

AlexMogil

Member
Napoleonthechimp said:
How are the colours on the XPS vs the Mac? That may be an important factor if the OP wanted to do colour correction duties as part of his video editing. Also: thunderbolt ports (something that is actually useful in video editing - especially if you're using a laptop to do it).
Click to expand...

What does thunderbolt do for me in video editing? Right now I have a 12tb disk array hooked up to my Mac mini via Thunderbolt, and I can't see any other use for it aside from storage.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
skynidas said:
Yeah, i have experience with both OSes, the laptop that I'm currently using is the MacBook Pro of 3 years ago.
Click to expand...

I'd try to go to Best Buy or something similar and try out the Dell. Notebooks tend to be very personal and see if the feel is right too.

I've been looking for a Windows Notebook for a while, but haven't quite found one that matches the build quality on MBPs in terms of overall package.

goodcow said:
The Dell's resale value will be shit in the future. The MacBook Pro's resale value will make up for the price gap, not to mention OS X, higher build quality, trackpad, etc.
Click to expand...

Yep.
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
If it were me I'd get the MacBook Pro, but I would opt for the high-res anti-glare display that Apple offers instead of the retina display.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
AlexMogil said:
What does thunderbolt do for me in video editing? Right now I have a 12tb disk array hooked up to my Mac mini via Thunderbolt, and I can't see any other use for it aside from storage.
Click to expand...

It is useful if you wanted to pull 4k footage from a storage array while outputting to a high resolution monitor via an intermediate device (Matrox/AJA/Blackmagic). If you don't know how thunderbolt can benefit you then it probably isn't for you.

But I have no idea what kind of video editing you do.

EDIT: Changed it as I thought you were the OP.
 
L

LCfiner

Member
you'll get more raw power in the Dell. But you're almost surely gonna get better battery life with the MBP. And a better trackpad, better build quality. the usual Apple touches.

plus, you may find you prefer Mac OS to Windows.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
Having both HP Elites and a Retina Mac Book Pro at work, even bootcamped, we (my video department) only ever grab the Mac Book Pro. Its great in the field, great at everything. Though you CAN NOT go with the integrated GPU if you get it and want to use it for video edited. You really need the nvidia gpu (750m) on the news one for the mercury playback engine. Makes life a hell of a lot easier when doing things in AE and PR.

Baically don't even think about it if your not going to get the 750m in it, its not worth it. Either get the real thing or get a regular mac pro and not a retina one.

Also if you are going to bootcamp it you need the 512, you'll run out of space instantly if your splitting 256 into 2 partitions for it.
 
L

lefantome

Member
skynidas said:
I'm thinking of buying any of these two laptops with the following specs:

MacBook Pro 15:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor 6M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz (0.3 GHz bump option)
8GB DDR3 RAM (16GB option)
Integrated Graphics (2GB GDDR5 option)
15 inch Retina Display
256GB SSD (512GB SSD option)

Price: $1999 ($2599 if i get the other spec)

Dell XPS 15:

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor (6M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz)
16GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 750M 2GB GDDR5
15 inch display (3200 x 1800 resolution)
1TB HDD + 32 GB SSD

Price: $1849

What do you guys think? I would use it for day to day work and some video editing.
Click to expand...

Dell without any doubts
 
K

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
I'm going to see if I can convince my boss to get me the "best" mbp. I gotta work on a Unix based machine for work, but I would also like something that I could potentially dual boot Windows on an have a relatively powerful gaming machine.
 
$

$h@d0w

Junior Member
Something to note, now only the high end Retina MacBook Pro comes with a 750M - in the past all models had this.
 
S

Shambles

Member
Dell if you're gaming. If you're not you can either get that MBP or spend a lot less money and buy a zenbook or whatever is awesome currently in the 1100-1200$ range.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
I wouldn't use the SSD to store anything for video editing purposes. You'll need a lot of space and it will have to put up with a lot of rendering abuse (reading/writing huge files many times over during the duration of a project).
 
F

Fatalah

Member
It's up to you to decide which OS environment you prefer. Windows machines always provide more specs for your buck.
 
H

Hieberrr

Member
Spec wise, price wise, and bang for the buck wise, the XPS 15 is the better option.

However, I've had a couple of Dell laptops in the past and they were all kind of shoddy in some respects. Weigh your options carefully.
 
Boaty McBoatface

Boaty McBoatface

Member
My gut is saying the Mac but the Dell's 32gb ssd is great as a scratch/page file disk which'll really speed up your editing.

Do you use Adobe apps? Performance in Windows is considered better, especially with proper CUDA support.

Edit: If you can afford it, go for the retina with the dGPU. You'll be happier because of the more solid hardware, great screen (colour accuracy) nice trackpad and Thunderbolt, which is awesome for video work. Plus you can drive 3 monitors at once, which even if you're not going to use is nice knowing you have it :)
 
E

ElFly

Member
The rmbp. Build quality will be superior. You can replace the harddrive later if you feel constrained by it.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
dhatt1 said:
My gut is saying the Mac but the Dell's 32gb ssd is great as a scratch/page file disk which'll really speed up your editing.

Do you use Adobe apps? Performance in Windows is considered better, especially with proper CUDA support.

Edit: If you can afford it, go for the retina with the dGPU. You'll be happier because of the more solid hardware, great screen (colour accuracy) nice trackpad and Thunderbolt, which is awesome for video work. Plus you can drive 3 monitors at once, which even if you're not going to use is nice knowing you have it :)
Click to expand...

Mac's with nvidia gpu's have full cuda support, you just have to download the cuda driver: http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-5.5.25-driver.html
 
A

AlexMogil

Member
Napoleonthechimp said:
It is useful if you wanted to pull 4k footage from a storage array while outputting to a high resolution monitor via an intermediate device (Matrox/AJA/Blackmagic). If you don't know how thunderbolt can benefit you then it probably isn't for you.

But I have no idea what kind of video editing you do.

EDIT: Changed it as I thought you were the OP.
Click to expand...

Oh so Thunderbolt is like a club? Like the Masons?
 
F

Formosa

Member
The dell will come out to a lot cheaper with promotional prices and especially Black Fridays/Cyber Monday coming up. They tend to go on sale very often if you look on those slick deals websites. At the end you will save a lot more money (At least $500-$1000) for the same spec as the MPB. On top of that, If you work for a company that gets corp discount from dell, you can even call dell to give u a better deal than what the promotional/sale price is offered on the web. Dell will beat that price.

I do like the rMBP more tho. But like I said above the price difference between the two is A LOT.
 
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
I would go with the Mac. If you need more space just get a cheap external drive.

The integrated graphics are Iris Pro which are very good for non-gaming applications.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
dhatt1 said:
It does but with my experience using the early 2013 non retina pro the performance in CS6 was a bit spotty. It should be different now since Creative Cloud officially supports more cards.
Click to expand...

ah yes, it does. Before that you could force PR and AE to recognised your GPU by just adding it to a simple text file list in the program. Worked great and gave you full cuda support for unsupported nvidia cards.

diffusionx said:
I would go with the Mac. If you need more space just get a cheap external drive.

The integrated graphics are Iris Pro which are very good for non-gaming applications.
Click to expand...

for editing they aren't.
 
T

thiscoldblack

Unconfirmed Member
I would go with the Macbook Pro. But that's my preference.

If you're willing to spend a little more for the top model (15-inch: 2.3GHz), then definitely go for it. You will not be disappointed. Otherwise, get the Dell XPS 15, which seems like a great machine.

One thing to remember, though: Macs have great re-sell value. Even years down the road. I sold both a MacBook 2007 and a Mac Mini 2010 two years after owning them and luckily, even made profit on them on eBay (got more than I initially paid for brand new).
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
AlexMogil said:
Oh so Thunderbolt is like a club? Like the Masons?
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? You're downplaying the importance of the thunderbolt technology because you have no particular use for it. Some of us do have use for that amount of bandwidth and appreciate the expandability it affords us in the future.
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
Both looks well spec'd. If money is really tight, then go for the XPS but if not go for the MBP.

The better build quality, trackpad + KB and OS X is worth the premium, plus it will hold value for a long time should you want to sell it for something else in a few years. You can also install Windows on that machine as well.
 
M

mcfrank

Member
The Mac. Better build, way way way way better resale value in a few years, better OS, better support, and you can use Final Cut Pro/Motion. Final Cut X is such a nice high speed video editor for short projects (I probably would still use FCP 7 if I was cutting a feature length project). If you have not tried it yet because of the initial backlash, you really should.
 
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