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    Struggling to decide between XPS13 16gb/touch or 8gb/non-touch

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by gr4z, Nov 25, 2015.

  1. gr4z

    gr4z Notebook Guru

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    Hi all
    I am really struggling to decide which laptop to replace my current rMBP 13". I do IT infrastructure work and regularly run 1 or 2 Windows 7/10 VMs during the day. Do you guys think that 8gb is enough? I am not a user of Windows touch only because I have never used it. Is it really worth the extra to get the 16gb RAM?

    Thanks for your help.
     
    gr4z, Nov 25, 2015
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  2. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    If you run VMs, don't get the XPS 13.

    First, I'd day to stay away from the higher resolution screen at all costs. It's so fine that it has DPI difficulties, murders battery life, and is significantly more expensive.

    Second, you need at least 16GB of RAM if you're running VMs. You could get by with 8GB for typical office productivity use, but not VMs.

    Third, the low power CPUs are pretty weak. Slow, dual-core CPUs. They are so slow that you notice it during regular office productivity use, such as starting up Chrome. It's tolerable for office productivity use, but not for VMs.

    Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
     
    kent1146, Nov 25, 2015
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  3. gr4z

    gr4z Notebook Guru

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    OK thanks for your input. i7/16gb/512gb Surface Pro 4 then maybe?
     
    gr4z, Nov 25, 2015
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  4. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    Surface Pro 4 will also have an anemic processor. It's the same 15W TDP power envelope. At best, you're looking at a dual-core CPU with hyperthreading, which isn't much better than just a straight dual-core CPU.

    You're not going to find a highly portable laptop that also has the power to comfortably run VMs. VMs want lots of cores from full-speed high-power CPUs; and lots of RAM. Highly portable computers specifically use low-power CPUs to save space and weight; because they can use smaller cooling designs, and use lower-capacity batteries for the system.


    At this point, I think you need to decide what you prioritize higher:
    1) Portable laptop; or
    2) Enough computing performance to comfortably run VMs

    If you value portability as your top priority, then you can certainly go with a Dell XPS 13 or Surface Pro 4. VMs will run on those machines. But just expect those VMs to run slowly, because of weak low-power CPUs.

    If you value VM performance as a top priority, then I'd go with a laptop that has a more powerful CPU. The latest Dell XPS 15 (model 9550) can go up to a Core i7-6700HQ; which is a 45W TDP processor with 4 cores and 8 threads. That's plenty of power for VMs, in a laptop that is decently portable.
     
    kent1146, Nov 25, 2015
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  5. MSGaldenzi

    MSGaldenzi Notebook Deity

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    XPS 15 skylake with the quadcore will work best for you. It has a smallish footprint and still has the processing/ram horsepower that you will actually use. The U series is great, but with VMs running it will show its weaknesses.
     
    MSGaldenzi, Nov 25, 2015
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  6. gr4z

    gr4z Notebook Guru

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    OK great thanks for your input guys. I will check out the XPS15. Doesn't look too much larger than my existing rMBP 13".
     
    gr4z, Nov 26, 2015
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