For decades I have exclusively been a desktop computer user. I've had laptops, but they were purely utilitarian and always super cheap. For at least five years now my primary laptop has been an MSI netbook. While it's served me well, it's clearly far too small to do much - I've even had applications that refused to install because the resolution was too low.

Instead of a good laptop I've always chosen to put my money into my desktop. I like having the space to spread out (I have a 30" monitor), I like the keyboard and mouse, I like the expansion options and all the other usual reasons for having a desktop computer.

But things change and there are reasons that I want to move to something else. Now that one of our rooms is a nursery I'd like to have the option to make my office a convertible guest room at the very least or hand it over entirely. If we ever have a second child I'll need to lose it anyway.

There are a few concerns I have though. The laptop I'm currently considering is the new Dell XPS 13. The portability is good for my work (going around to people's homes and fixing their computers and/or networks). I'll easily be able to move it to anywhere in my home, too. I'm not terribly concerned about the drastic decrease in screen size. If I ever need more screen I'll set my 30" monitor up somewhere in my basement and use it there.

What I'm most concerned about is performance. My current computer is OLD by computer standards, and wasn't top of the line when I put it together, but the XPS might be a step down. Here's my current specs:

CPU: Core i7 920 (one of the first Core processors, from 2008)
RAM: 24GB DDR3 533MHz
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 260
Windows 7, SSD for OS drive

I don't know if benchmark tests are the be-all end-all metric, but according to this and this, I'm going to see quite a drop there alone.

In real world use, how do you think these two systems would compare? I'm not a huge gamer. Most of what I'm doing is heavily browser-based, with some image editing. I'll need something capable of playing HD video smoothly, too.

How would these two systems compare? Is it apples and oranges?

I have the previous (2nd gen) Dell XPS 13, with 8GB DDR3 and a Core-i7 (dual-core, with 2 threads/core).

Wonderful machine. Second fastest in the house, though most of our machines are older ones. Plays any def video just fine, and that's under Linux with older drivers, rather than the latest/best that may be on offer for other operating systems.

A buddy of mine liked it, and bought this year's version, with full touch screen. It works wonderfully under Ubunbu, touch and all.

One downside of the one I have, is they mis-designed(*) the left side (as viewed from the user's point of view) USB3 port --> it really can only operate reliably at USB2 speeds, not USB3 speeds.

The newer model that my buddy has behaves better.

(*) The left side USB3 port is connected via a long internal ribbon cable with parallel conductors rather than twisted pairs, thus the issues with super-speed USB3.

Do you need a physical Ethernet port on the machine?

Definitely the newer laptops/CPUS are going lower power (consumption and processing) My 3.5 year old XPS 15z with a Sandy Bridge i7-2640M still keeps up with most of the current smaller laptops (I've been looking for a 16GB Ultrabook size machine)

As mentioned you are missing built in Ethernet on that XPS13. I do like the look of them though. Fixable with a USB dongle but could be annoying.

I don't think you'll notice the performance hit all that much unless you are doing a lot of CPU intensive work like video encoding or similar.

Why do you have 24GB of RAM in your desktop? That's quite a lot. I do have 16GB in my XPS 15z but that's because I run a couple of VMs typically (e.g. a cross compile environment) and I generally like keeping a lot of things open. 8GB tended to run out a bit after giving ~4GB or more to VMs.

If you google "<CPU A> vs <CPU B>" you'll get hits comparing them together which I often find helpful e.g.
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/88/Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-5200U_vs_Intel_Core_i7_i7-920.html
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-920-vs-Intel-Core-i5-5200U

I note single core performance is a bit better in the latter link. Many things still only run single core remember and I suspect your Passmark links are factoring in cores so your 8 (thread) core vs 4 (thread) core is the difference putting them on a par for a single core.

Video will be no problem and basic editing the same. Maybe in the odd situation your old desktop would be faster but personally I doubt you'll really notice based on what you've said.

Thanks for the input, everyone! That helps tremendously.

Shonky, those links are especially helpful. They're convincing me that the XPS would essentially be a truly lateral move, and that's actually OK with me. I like my desktop, it's just more than I need and it limits my mobility.

As for ethernet, yes I absolutely do need it, but it's a bullet I'm going to have to bite. Anker appears to have an inexpensive gigabit USB adapter. I'm not happy about not having it built in, but I won't have much of a choice when it comes to ultrabooks (plus I REALLY like that screen on the XPS).


Yeah, that was a dumb upgrade. I was into time-lapse photography for a minute there, and the amount of memory it was taking up was tremendous. I had 6GB at the time and I kind of went overboard I tend to do that. The case for my desktop is also an absurdly oversized Lian-Li case with 6 5.25" bays, 3 external 3.5" bays, and 6 internal 3.5" bays. I could put 15 hard drives in this thing - I think 5 was my max at one point. Now I have three drives and I'm not using anything in the bays. Basically I'm not using the desktop for anything that makes it a desktop.

Again, thanks for the input, folks. As soon as I scratch the cash together I'll probably pick one of these XPS systems up. Definitely one of the i5 versions (I don't think there's an i7 model available). Speaking of which, anyone want to buy a huge desktop computer with too much RAM for $899?

My personal solution is to have powerful desktop machines home and work, with an aging laptop that I pretty much only use when traveling. For your needs, it makes sense to have a more fully-featured laptop with some sort of "docking station" setup at home with your huge monitor, etc., and the newest laptops have great specs, so you're not making the sorts of compromises you'd make in the past.

That said, if you can wait bit, we're about to undergo something of a sea change as USB-C takes off. I'd love to carry around a universal charger in my bag that works with every device I might carry. With Apple and Google shipping devices now, the rest of the industry can't be too far behind. Perhaps by Christmas? We'll see.

Yeah, that's true. I would love to see USB C in the the computer I plan to use for several years.

On the bright side, that decision to delay a big purchase may be made for me. A baby ain't cheap!

I agree, very helpful links - I had no idea something like that existed.

Of course, it let me see just how behind my current desktop really is, which was painful to see verified.

At least it is using less power than a modern CPU, so I have that going for me, which is nice.

Congrats!

When you do end up buying, message me first, I should have an extra discount code under all the cruft on my desk ;-)

Thanks! And thanks!

(totally forgot to make a whole "here's the baby" thread)

When switching from a laptop to a desktop, a docking station of some kind is going to make your life happier. Docking stations will contain the gigabit ethernet adapter so you don't need to buy it separately. If you're lucky, your laptop manufacturer makes an actual dock, and if not, you can get a USB3 dock like the one I got. I'm pretty happy with it.

I agree with Tony, a docking station will make a laptop into a desktop for hte times you are at your desk. This is the Dell one that works with the XPS 13, different from the previous offerings, and just connects via USB3 - I don't think it charges the laptop though...

If it used an E series dock.... but it doesn't.

That Toshiba unit uses a DisplayLink chipset internally. On Windows it probably works fairly well, but it may be sensitive to which Windows version is being used.

On the Mac side DisplayLink has had no end of trouble producing a fully functional and stable driver. Two years since the driver was last stable with dual displays, for example. I use a DisplayLink docking station with my MadBook Air and I am limited to a single external display despite the dual video ports on the unit.

Just a heads up to verify the Windows driver compatibility rather than assuming it will all just work.

Looks like the linked Dell product also uses DisplayLink chipset.

Pretty much any USB dock with a display will be DisplayLink. I'm not aware of any other brand.

I was looking at a HP one since it was one of few that could do resolutions greater than 2048x1152 or so. None can do proper UHD (at 60Hz) yet. For now I just have a big 10 port USB3 hub and have my old DisplayLink unit running off that, along with my scanner, keyboard, mouse, drive dock, 3 or 4 USB to serial adapters, a DVD writer. Single plug into laptop and it all connects fine (plus power and gigabyte Ethernet which I have directly on the machine so just 3 connections). It does take a few seconds to register everything.

There is most definitely an i7 XPS13 13 if you want. It shows on the Australian Dell site. Quite a price premium though you do get things like Intel wireless too.

http://www.dell.com/au/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd

Although the best two are i7.

Make sure you are looking at the 9343 XPS13. There is an older 9333 version it seems. It might come with the Ethernet adapter.

On the plus side, the XPS 13 I have here (Intel Graphics) is the only machine in the house that actually works with DisplayLink adapters under Linux.

Hoo boy! Yeah, I think that's too rich for my blood. If Phoenix has a 90% off code I'll go for it, but otherwise...


Yeah, I'd definitely go with a dock, but I'd need the adapter for use in the field.

I've only had one poor experience with a USB3 dock. I set up an Anker dock for a client of mine and it works terribly and sometimes not at all. Even when it's working properly, he can't use the monitor, keyboard and mouse attached to it until he logs into Windows on it, so it's not very convenient. And even then, much of the time the keyboard and mouse simply won't work.

Most of the USB3 docks do indeed need to load up the Windows device driver before they start working, so you can't use the dock at the BIOS screen for example.

Mine works fine *at* the login screen, though (I don't have to log in before it starts working), and it works 100 percent of the time, it's never given me the kind of troubles that your client experienced with that other brand.

My only complaint is that it's not a true "dock" because I still have to plug in a power cable separately. So that's two things I have to plug in when I dock it instead of one.

Don't take the Australian prices as representative. We get fairly shafted on pricing. Also they are AUD so take 20% for a straight USD conversion.

Machine #5 is the US i7 (you need to scroll right to get to machine 5 of 5). Quite a different group of configurations in the US. Intel Wifi on all, 128GB SSD on most etc. So top of the line is $1599 for you
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd

There doesn't seem to be the a huge gain with the i7 CPU to be honest there.

As for the docks not working in the BIOS, yeah my "hub dock" is the same. It seems many USB3 ports don't work in the BIOS and likely many hubs don't either. If I have a USB keyboard plugged straight in it still works (even though the keyboard itself has a hub inside it behind which the actual keyboard lives). Should absolutely work by login time though.

Even the USB3 ones? I thought only the USB2 Displaylink stuff worked under Linux. Of course perhaps they've fixed it all since I last looked...

Peter

Ah, right. USB2, not USB3. Thanks.

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily expect the dock to work in the BIOS, but this one doesn't work at the login screen, which I find odd. I'd think that the drivers would be loading in the background once Windows boots, and that there would at least be keyboard and mouse support!

Have you considered a Mac, or are you tied to a PC for some reason?

Exactly. Yeah, there's something weird about that. The dock, even without any drivers loaded, should function for the keyboard and mouse at least, since at that point it's just a USB hub. The parts that might not necessarily work at first, and which would require the drivers to load, would be the external monitor display outputs, the external speaker/audio outputs, and the Ethernet port.

If it were me, I'd test to see whether a USB keyboard and mouse even worked at all on that laptop at the login screen, if they are plugged directly into the laptop's USB ports. If so, then yes, it's the dock's fault, but I find the problem a weird one. I don't have that problem with my dock, and I don't see why any dock should fail to work in that particular way.

Windows what? 7, 8, 8.1?

Windows 7, if I recall correctly. It's been a couple months now.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's an issue with the dock. Anker appears to have disavowed all knowledge that the dock exists, if the difficulty in finding it on their website is any indication!


The main reason is that's it's too expensive for me. I would be looking at the new MacBook (not the Air), and it's more than I'd like to spend. I'd be looking at the $899 version of the XPS, which won't have that hi res display but that's OK with me.

I have nothing against the MacBook and I think it's a really nice computer. It's just not for me.

Windows 7 lacks native USB 3 support. Wouldn't be surprised to find that lack of support means problems for USB 3 docks at the login screen. On a pure USB 3 system, you have to embed drivers on the install disc/usb stick to have a working keyboard and mouse during setup.

http://codeabitwiser.com/2014/03/how-to-install-windows-7-with-only-usb-3-0-ports/

Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 are the first versions to have native USB 3 support.

The USB3 ports on my Windows 7 machine work fine with a USB3 hub plugged in and a keyboard from there (at the login screen). Mouse and keyboard work fine, and even in one or two places at boot.

It does cause problems trying to boot most USB devices (like that link)