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Comment by aoloe | Hacker News Reader

What are you misssing in a Dell XPS 13?

I have both air and xps 13 and to me they are not even comparable. Yes, thin bezel looks cool at the first glance but that's about it. Instead of metal under your hand you have this weird something, keyboard works much worse, they did not even make reasonable handle to open the laptop like there is in macbook air. Also the power supply is chunky and you cannot fold it nicely.

Don't get me wrong, it's a really good laptop and I've chosen it over so many others on the market. I would probably still choose it for my linux laptop (lenovo x1 is neat but I'm done with lenovo with all the stuff they've done lately). It just looks poorly to me in a direct comparison.

$$$ mostly. XPS13 is as pricey as Macbook Air

I can second that. I am using XPS 15 and dual booted Ubuntu along side Windows 10. On Windows, some apps icons and texts are pixelated because of the 4k display (it reminds me of the time when the very first Retina Macbook Pro came out). Aside from that, pretty solid and fast laptop, given the size and the spec (can go up to 32 GB RAM + i7 CPU).

I have a Samsung Series 9 15" from 2011 - well built, stylish, decent specs and still serving me well!

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&q=samsung+serie...

Not sure, but maybe I say that because I'm a happy Sputnik (xps 13 w/Ubuntu) owner.

Though to be honest there is a small issue with coil whine in very quiet settings. I hear Dell has addressed this in newer models.

A laptop that's pleasing to the eyes.

Is this: http://spadkobiercy.nazwa.pl/XPS13/7.jpg seriously not pleasing?

The plastic/fake metal transition is really ugly

It's real metal, and carbon fibre (rather than plastic).

Carbon fiber is a reinforced plastic.

And yeah this laptop looks nice anyway.

Doesn't matter, still looks cheap. It's too much of a seam if you see what I'm saying

Not particularly. There are still lots of "bits" to it - colours, materials, vents, contours, etc. So few companies actually get rid of them, but it looks so much better when they do.

There's no venting or contours, and just two materials: meta and carbon fibre. Personally, I find the carbon fibre much more pleasant to rest my wrists on than metal and it looks quite nice in person. The thing that looks like venting on the left edge is actually a battery indicator. I'd get rid of it, personally, but that's my only real complaint about its looks.

I dont like the shape of it :) That triangular body (or trapezoid in this case?) is not pleasing to my eyes. It could also be that its just something to get used to, but still.

I don't want to spoil your fun but the Macbook Air's shape is even more pointed: http://as-images.apple.com/is/image/AppleInc/aos/published/i...

Do you assume anyone who doesn't like the look of any Windows device must be an apple fan?

Not at all, but the submission's title is literally "Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival" and this discussion started with the question what's wrong about the Dell XPS13 that makes it worse than the Macbook Air, so I think it's fair that to point out that the design characteristic in question is found in both devices.

In any case, what does being a fan have to do with appreciating good design? I'm no fan of Apple either, but I appreciate their product design nonetheless. I'm not sure why your reaction was that sharp.

There are a few things here I could nitpick about. I'm never really a fan of the textured look of the material surrounding the keyboard - I don't know why so many people who design laptops opt for this. Would much prefer just a solid matte black, no texture. Also I don't understand why the bottom of the laptop and lid are one color and the inside is another - why? I think a single color across the entire laptop would look way better.

Sure, it's a lot sleeker than most laptops (not made by Apple), but its design leaves me asking a ton of "why did they choose that?" kind of questions.

It looks very nice to me.

The question is how it looks after six months of use.

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