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Comment by sisk | Hacker News Reader

Tangential but I figure the folks who will know the answer will wander into this thread.

I need to buy a decent but lightweight 15" for a family member who is undergoing cancer treatments and has gotten too weak for his current behemoth 17". Light work (browsing, some streaming) but definitely a windows machine. Any recommendations? I've been keeping an eye on this exact machine (previous model now)—anything better?

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Even though I flagged the HN post as it's pretty much spam (a direct link to Dell's product page and not a review or analysis of the device), I have to say that in my experience Dell's XPS line is pretty much the gold standard for Windows alternatives to the MacBook and MacBook Air. The only other lightweight notebook that comes close is the Asus ZenBook, which directly competes with the MBA and is a pretty amazing machine for the price.

Whenever you look at a XPS you should always peek at the equivalent Precision machine (e.g. Precision 5510), there might be deals available. Also, although perhaps not applicable to your situation, the Precisions are usually more configurable than the XPS.

I did this exact thing two weeks ago. I think the Precision adds the Premier Color display too.

Check out the Thinkpad T400 series (e.g. T460s) and X1 series (e.g. X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga). They're lightweight and durable with big screens at pretty reasonable prices.

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