Buying a laptop in 2018

Sonu Kumar Meena
Sep 2, 2018 · 7 min read

This post is about my journey to narrow down to Dell xps 9570 FUD, 16GB RAM, 512 GB PCIe SSD, and i7 8th Generation 8570 intel processor.

Why i decided to write this post?

Simply because i did a lot of research before buying this beautiful piece of engineering and luxury. I had a lot of doubts before buying it, especially between choosing Macbook Pro vs Windows Laptops.

About me first

Currently i wear a hat of Site Reliability Engineer @Microsoft. My day to day job revolve around automation, infrastructure provisioning, doing proof of concepts on myriads of OS using Vagrant + Virtualbox, managing and resolving issues with Distributed application running across a fleet of Windows Servers.

I do work on Windows platform most of the time but prior to joining Microsoft i was working on Linux servers for around 5 years. My workstation of choice back then was MacBook pro due to its hybrid kernel, i could run linux utilities which Windows OS lacks.

Disclaimer: I do work at Microsoft Currently. By no means my views are influenced by sense of loyalty towards my current employer.

Gist is i’m a guy who had worked on linux, OSX and Windows operation systems for a substantial amount of time to do comparison between OS as an end user.

I started by gathering my requirements : Technical + Non-Technical ones.

About my use cases

  • Primary use was to be able to setup open-source tools like k8s, docker, git etc and that too in multiple(3 at least) destroy-able VM environments backed by VirtualBox( Hypervisor is too slow)
  • Second use case is to support Window Apps too. New Microsoft is heavily investing in open-source. By no chance i want to stay aloft from this good change that they are bringing. I”m pretty sure more and more windows friendly tools will be coming and by buying Window Laptop, i’m ready for them.
    Windows Subsystem for linux is one of them: Run any debian shell on windows. My favorite ones are Ubuntu and Kali Linux Shells.
  • Third is gaming. I know as a developer you don’t get to play games much, but still i want to get feel of it whenever i want. So, with a good decent configuration graphic card eg. Nvidia GeForce1050, i want to be able to play some games.

So, you see gaming is my last option. Open-source tools are my primary options. And somewhere middle is something that help me use laptop with my current job and to witness future revealings by Microsoft.

My expectations from my PERSONAL laptop

(in no particular order)

  • PORTABILITY: I don’t want to carry around bulky gaming laptops out there.
  • Premier Feel: I weigh look n feel more than other factors. If it’s not appealing to the eye, it won’t be loved by me.
  • Lasting Battery: At least 7–10 hrs of code with music is a must for me.

Lets start with third options first, as this is what makes Windows OS laptop appealing.

Since i want to portability and Lasting battery i must limit my gaming expectations.

  • Nvidia GeForce 1050 : 2Gb, 75W TDP( The peak power draw of the graphic card in actual real world applications)
  • Nvidia GeForce 1050 Ti: 4Gb, TDP: 75 W
  • Nvidia GeForce 1060: 6Gb, TDP 120 W

Nvidia GeForce 1070: 8Gb, TDP 150 W

Source: https://www.geforce.com/hardware/compare-buy-gpus

Conclusion: More higher i go, more battery power it’ll consume and more the price will be.

So, i settle down on Nvidia GeForce 1050 TI which gives me decent gaming experience and i’m pretty sure under 75W, i can get a decent battery life as well. This will balance the laptop portability with my gaming needs.

Second use case is to be in touch with Windows. You might be wondering after experiencing Macbook pro, why would someone choose Windows?

Lets start with things i like about Macbook

(in decreasing order)

  • Touchpad : I loved it. Macbook pro touch-pad literally does boost productivity. Context switiching( changing through multiple virtual desktops) is a breeze. Code on one desktop environment and in other browse or manage songs. Managing multiple application on same desktop is very convenient.
  • Portability: It’s like a bitch on crack. Wh doesn’t want it? or you want a desktop crammed in a laptop body?
  • Battery and Display: Retina display : Pleasant to the eyes and a pretty decent battery life: no more asking for chargers from neighbors.

So, continuing gathering requirement for my new laptop:

With Window 10 comes “Precision Touchpad”. With this i can do all the gestures that i liked on macbook pro.

  • Four fingers left n right swipe: Switching through virtual desktop
  • Four fingers up n down swipe : Minimize All apps
  • Three fingers up n down swipe: show all opened applications
  • Three Fingers left n right swipe: Toggle between application on current desktop

So, Precision Touch-pad was my must have requirement in a laptop. Unfortunately, most gaming laptops don’t provide you this.

Since this will be my personal laptop, so, i want its display to be close to Macbook, if not better.

In recent Macbook pro everything is now soldered. You cannot upgrade ram or hard disk. Second, they don’t provide accidental warranty out of the box.
I can afford to buy Macbook, but i can’t afford to loose it or repair it. I don’t want to end up having heart attack if ever Macbook broke or got stolen.

Since i’ll be spending a good amount of hard earned money, i want my system to last 4–5 years. So, with this i want upgrade option always available with me.

So, concluding my non-tech requirements : Portability, Upgradability, and lasting battery and a good to have Accidental protection warranty.

Considering i’m planning to use this laptop for long, here is the minimum configuration i needed in my new laptop

  • Precision Touchpad, nice enough Display
  • i7 8th generation 8750 processor: Because for development you need minimum 2.0Ghz base frequency for a decent performance.
  • 512 Gb PCIe SSD (no SATA SSD): All movies and photos have moved to cloud. But huge games files are still need to be on hard disk. So, 256 Gb is definitely not enough for me. Destiny 2 is around 50Gb out of the box only.
  • 16Gb RAM: Since my use case invovle working on multiple VMs(virtualbox) to test infrastructure automation, i need minimum this much ram. But side by side i want option to upgrade to 32Gb. Macbook doesn’t have this flexibility.
  • Nvidia Geforce 4Gb, 75W, 1050 Ti: Based on TDP(power usage) and games available that can run on this, i settle down on this 4Gb graphic card. Else, i need to hang around with laptop charger all the time.
  • Other niceties: 4 lane(40gbps) thunderbolt support for multiple 4k displays.

Final Showdown

I settle down on following three laptop under 2000$. More costly laptop like Razer 15 are shiny. They have a record of deprecating battery life.

  • Msi gs65 stealth ~$2099 : Battery: 82whr, Slim, decent battery , 144hz display, i7 , 512GB, 1 year warranty. Good for those who has Gaming as primary use case.
    But NO easy UPGRADABILITY option available. Bit pricey as well.
  • Gigabyte Aero 15W ~$1999: Battery 94.24whr, 144hz full HD display, fully and very easily upgradable. Totally meant for Gaming as primary use case. It also come with 2 year Global Warranty.
    But no PRECISION TOUCHPAD, and keyboard layout is so ugly with numpad( my personal opinion). With no looks comes Zero feel. I had a hard time deciding between this and later one.
  • Dell XPS 9570 ~ $1699: Battery 97whr, IPS FHD display, Precision Touchpad and ultra slim, 4 lanes Thunderbolt 3 PCIe support. 1 year onsite warranty + accidental protection out of the box.

97whr battery, awesome stunning display, 1year onsite accidental warranty and that all in 1699$$$. I’m SOLD.

Accidental warranty is important for me. Having broke Macbook pro retina display for which i had to pay above 1000$ to replace, i know the value of accidental warranty. I”m also planning to extend warranty by 2 years on a very trivial amount. So, this way i’m sure that this laptop will last minimum 3 years without any issues and further investment from my pocket.

To be frank i had my doubts on looks first. But when i opened the laptop and looked at the display, i knew it has surpassed Macbook famous Retina display right away. With 400 nits, this display was beyond my expectations And yes, i’m talking about only Fully HD only. There is 4k model also available but i don’t want to compromise with battery life for few extra colors on cat, dogs n flowers.

Finally, the cool carbon fiber palm rest and a very slick keyboard. I like typing on it. Being a developer myself, i spend most of the time typing only. And this keyboard is pleasant to the fingers. It’s very smooth and keys are at right level, unlike new butterfly Macbook keyboard design who are prone to dust.

Cons:

Speakers, Speakers, Speakers. Try not to use MaxxAudioPro . It’ll overwhelmed your speakers and you hear crack/vibration sound, even from headsets. This is a minor issues, not a deal breaker for me. With accidental warranty you can use them at full with no worries.
I won’t lie. This disappoint me a little.

But cheers , who cares about speakers. I already have JBL Bluetooth speakers and Bosch bluetooth headset. Practically, i don’t need laptop speakers to be 100% perfect. They’re louder than Macbook pro ones, that’s sufficient.

Final Verdict: I”m happy with my purchase. For next 4–5 years i don’t need to worry about my laptop going deprecated by specs or by wearing-tearing of any hardware(protected by Dell Onsite Accidental Warranty for 1 + 2 years extended warranty)

Sonu Kumar Meena

Written by

aspiring full stack developer and architect interested in scalability, performance and distributed systems.

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