Mac vs PC 2011: can Dell's new XPS 15z slay the MacBook Pro?
June 26th 2011 08:36
Dell doesn’t say as much, but its new aluminium-clad XPS 15z all-rounder is a stealthy attempt to snuff Apple’s MacBook Pro. We compare the specs to see who comes off best.
Until this week, Apple was the only company that offered a deluxe all-rounder notebook with a base covered entirely in aluminium. But all of a sudden the new Dell XPS 15z (U510502AU) is on the scene, sheathed in its schmick anodized aluminium case, and we couldn’t resist matching it up against the MacBook Pro 15in (MC721X/A).
Style and mobility
It has to be said, both the Dell and the Apple are remarkably good-looking notebooks. Yes, the Dell doesn’t have a unibody like the Apple, but nonetheless its build quality is very high. Case-wise, the aluminium exteriors are a particularly bright jewel in both products’ crowns.
Neither notebook is what you’d call a true ultraportable, but both can still be carried around without any significant difficulty. The Apple is slightly heavier than the Dell by a mere 20 grams (full specs listed below), but it’s also thinner by about half a millimetre. The weight difference in particular is impressive considering the Dell’s larger screen and consequently larger depth and width. To our surprise the battery life of the 15z is quoted at 8 hours and 22 minutes; over an hour longer than the Pro’s quoted 7 hours. Both machines are performers, but the Dell clearly has an edge.
Processor and graphics card
For specs, the Mac is slightly ahead of the 15z in the processor stakes: it has a Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7-2630QM (quad cores, 2GHz that turbo boosts up to 2.9GHz), while the Dell has a Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7-2620M (dual cores, 2.7GHz that turbo boosts up 3.4GHz). Both are fast, but the 2630QM is somewhat faster. From here on however, the remainder of the specs are solidly in the 15z’s favour. It has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M that’s significantly more powerful than the MBP’s AMD Radeon HD 6490M. An intensive game like StarCraft 2 will easily run at high settings on the Dell, while medium settings are the best the MacBook Pro will manage.
Memory and screen
When it comes to memory, the MacBook Pro has a fairly standard 4GB of RAM, but the 15z offers a colossal 8GB. The Mac’s 15.4in (1,440 x 900 resolution) display is superb, but the Dell offers a 15.6in display and manages to cram in a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080.
Storage
The MacBook Pro sports a 500GB (5,400RPM) hard disk drive, but the 15z trumps it with a larger, faster 750GB hard disk drive at 7,200RPM. The higher RPM allows for speedier data access, which with the extra storage space is a significant tick for Dell. Both notebooks feature slot-load DVD burners.
Ports
The MacBook Pro offers high data transfer rates with its Thunderbolt and FireWire 800 ports, plus offers two USB 2.0 ports and an SDXC card slot. But for sheer variety, the 15z wins the connectivity comparison hands down. It has an HDMI port, Mini DisplayPort, RJ45 port, a pair of USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0/eSATA port, Gigabit Ethernet and a 9-in-1 media card reader. It also has Bluetooth 3.0, compared to the MBP's Bluetooth 2.1.
Verdict
If there is any real doubt left in your mind by this point (there isn't in ours), the Dell’s $400-cheaper asking price seals the deal very clearly in favour of the 15z: it’s more affordable, has almost universally better specs, looks just as good (Apple no longer has the unequivocal lead on presentation that it once did) and offers great build quality. Right now, if you're in the market for an all-rounder that combines exterior style with interior strength, the Dell XPS 15z is the machine to get.
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