Who Really Makes the Best Cheap Laptop? - MacBook Neo vs XPS 13

[00:00] When Apple launched their MacBook Neo

[00:01] earlier this year, this was very

[00:03] disruptive because this was a good

[00:05] performing laptop with great build

[00:07] quality and an incredible price point.

[00:09] This was like 600 bucks, 500 bucks for

[00:11] students. And when it launched, the

[00:13] entire like Windows laptop space felt

[00:16] uncomfortable because this was it was

[00:19] very difficult to compete against like

[00:21] all the manufacturers were like, "Okay,

[00:24] now this thing exists. What do we do?"

[00:26] Now, the one and only company so far

[00:29] that has come out with what I think is a

[00:31] real competitor is this product right

[00:32] here. So, this is from Dell. This was

[00:34] announced a couple weeks ago at uh

[00:36] Computex. This is their new XPS 13. I

[00:39] saw it. I reached out to Dell. I'm like,

[00:40] "Okay, give me your cheapest one, like

[00:43] the entry level one that is also priced

[00:45] at a very similar price point." So, this

[00:47] thing is 700 or like $6.99 for a regular

[00:49] and then for students, uh, $5.99. Now, I

[00:54] specifically asked for the 8 GB entry-le

[00:56] model, the one that's that price point,

[00:58] because I wanted to see what the

[00:59] experience was if you compare it

[01:01] directly to the MacBook Neo. Now, on

[01:03] paper, the XPS 13 is objectively better

[01:06] than the MacBook Neo in many ways. The

[01:08] screen on the XPS is a little bit

[01:10] bigger. It also has a higher refresh

[01:11] rate, goes up to 120 Hz, and it's also a

[01:14] touch capable screen. It's running a new

[01:16] chip and the base model of the XPS also

[01:18] only has 8 gigs of RAM like the MacBook

[01:20] Neo, but you can configure it with more

[01:22] if you want. The XPS also has

[01:24] upgradeable storage and the keyboard on

[01:26] the XPS has back lighting. Uh, it's got

[01:28] higher bandwidth ports that can handle

[01:30] multiple external displays. It has

[01:32] faster Wi-Fi and it's also listed as

[01:34] having more speakers than the Neo, but

[01:36] we'll come back to that. Now, the first

[01:37] thing I noticed when I picked this thing

[01:38] out of the box is that this is very well

[01:40] built. I mean, it is an XPS product and

[01:42] the legacy of the brand is like you

[01:44] would kind of expect it to be

[01:45] well-built, but it is one hand openable

[01:47] for one, but it's like because of the

[01:50] price point, I just imagine in my head

[01:52] that somehow they'd cut corners somehow

[01:53] to just make this fit that price point.

[01:56] It feels exactly like an XPS product

[01:59] should and would. Now, if you compare it

[02:01] to the Neo side by side, uh, or just

[02:03] like in hand, they're both wellb built,

[02:05] but the Neo does seem a little bit more

[02:07] durable. like the frame of it seems that

[02:09] if I dropped it and I also dropped an

[02:11] XPS, the Neo would take less damage

[02:14] somehow than the XPS. It's just a little

[02:16] bit, I don't know, beefier in that

[02:17] sense. That being said, the XPS product

[02:20] here is the best 6 or $700 Windows

[02:23] laptop on the market. Usually at this

[02:24] price point, you are dealing with

[02:25] plastic or like stamped metal, but this

[02:27] is machined. The screens, let's start

[02:30] here. The screen on the XPS is

[02:31] definitely better than the one on the

[02:32] MacBook. Similar brightness, but the

[02:34] colors are measurably better on the XPS.

[02:36] It's got slightly bigger panel with

[02:38] thinner bezels. The higher refresh rate

[02:40] is nice, but these aren't gaming

[02:42] laptops, right? You do need to play like

[02:43] undemanding 2D titles to get 120 frames

[02:46] per second in games. But for regular

[02:48] Windows use, like just your UI and just

[02:50] being in Windows, all the animation is a

[02:51] little bit smoother when you have that

[02:52] nice refresh rate. It's something I

[02:54] value, but it's definitely not important

[02:56] to everyone. Uh, now in terms of

[02:58] speakers, MacBooks in general have

[03:00] excellent speakers. The ones on the Neo

[03:02] were a little bit disappointing. These

[03:03] just don't sound as good as I would

[03:04] expect. The XPS 13 with its more

[03:08] speakers because it has four instead of

[03:10] two as advertised. I was expecting these

[03:12] to somehow be better. They are so not.

[03:14] These actually sound significantly worse

[03:17] than the ones on [music] the Neo.

[03:22] [music]

[03:26] I don't know if it's like early drivers

[03:27] or something else, but these are just

[03:29] not great speakers. Same thing applies

[03:31] to the webcam and the mic. So, I've

[03:33] obviously gotten a haircut before

[03:35] shooting this demo, but this is the

[03:36] camera and microphone from the XPS 13.

[03:38] And then this is a camera microphone on

[03:40] the MacBook Neo. It is significantly

[03:43] better. The keyboard, however, on the

[03:44] XPS is excellent. This is way better

[03:48] than the one on the Neo simply because

[03:50] of the fact that it has backlighting.

[03:51] So, the actual typing experience is

[03:53] solid. The keys feel responsive and I

[03:54] type fast on it. But the backlighting on

[03:56] this is just so important. Like, these

[03:59] are products geared towards students,

[04:00] right? and you know even a dim lecture

[04:02] hall like there's just often scenarios

[04:04] where having backlighting is just

[04:06] critical and the fact that it doesn't

[04:08] exist on the Neo like we know why it's

[04:09] not there right they want the product

[04:10] segregation and Apple wants to sell you

[04:12] that whole MacBook Air for like you know

[04:14] 500 bucks more but I'm just so glad that

[04:17] XPS 13 has it and many people might look

[04:19] at the spec and be like ah whatever

[04:21] that's fine I don't need it but there

[04:23] will be times like for sure on an

[04:25] airplane somewhere where you just can't

[04:27] see your keyboard very well and you want

[04:29] to change like the volume or the

[04:30] brightness or something where you just

[04:31] don't know where the key is and you're

[04:32] like, I can't see it. You got to do the

[04:34] whole like tilt your screen down to

[04:36] light up your keyboard and then find the

[04:37] key and then press it. It's super

[04:39] annoying. Uh the trackpad on the XPS 13

[04:41] is also really good. This is a

[04:42] mechanical trackpad just like the Neo

[04:44] and this feels really nice. I don't

[04:46] think there's anything I would complain

[04:47] about in terms of like size or anything.

[04:48] It is uh kind of keyboard focused in

[04:51] terms of sizing and it's just a small

[04:53] trackpad. But I like it. I think this

[04:55] feels and tracks really nicely. Looking

[04:57] at performance, this is running Intel's

[04:58] new Core 5320 chip. This has pretty good

[05:02] CPU and GPU benchmarks, and it is aimed

[05:04] at the entry level market. When I'm

[05:06] using the XPS for normal or light

[05:08] computing tasks, like browsing the web,

[05:10] or catch up on news, typing an email,

[05:12] typing a document, this feels super

[05:14] responsive. There's no issue with it

[05:16] whatsoever. It just feels like a very

[05:17] smooth experience. Even you have a lot

[05:18] of tabs open. And I would say that the

[05:20] experience between the XPS 13 and the

[05:22] Neo is largely the same when it comes to

[05:24] just like normal light computing tasks.

[05:27] However, if you have a more RAM

[05:29] intensive application open in the

[05:31] background, like let's say I do this a

[05:33] lot. I'll have Adobe Premiere open and

[05:34] I'll be all tabbed in a browser doing

[05:36] stuff. Both of them can hiccup for sure.

[05:38] Here and there it happens. I feel like

[05:40] the XPS 13 does it a little more

[05:42] frequently than the Neo. It's not often

[05:45] at all, but experience-wise,

[05:48] it has a little bit of a hiccup. More

[05:50] noticeable on this. Now, if you run the

[05:52] very unrealistic scenario where let's

[05:55] say I have like four videos playing

[05:58] while also running a video editing

[05:59] program while also playing like a game

[06:01] in the background while having a bunch

[06:03] of Chrome tabs open and I run both of

[06:06] these systems, I find that the MacBook

[06:09] is just way better at handling that

[06:12] workflow. Now, is that a realistic

[06:14] workflow? Not at all. Like, no one works

[06:16] like that. I don't think that it's meant

[06:18] to simulate a realistic workflow. But I

[06:20] think what it does indicate is that the

[06:22] RAM swapping in Mac OS is just better.

[06:27] It's fluid and makes it a usable

[06:29] experience if even if you throw stupid

[06:31] unrealistic workflows at it. But the XPS

[06:34] 13 with Windows 11 can make that RAM

[06:36] limitation feel a little bit more

[06:37] potent. Now, neither of these devices

[06:39] are great for video editing. They're

[06:41] both entry-level systems, right? But if

[06:43] I had to pick between the two, like the

[06:44] better one, I'd say the MacBook Neo, the

[06:47] GPU capabilities are just a little bit

[06:49] better. At least in Premiere, it's just

[06:51] a little smoother on the edits. There is

[06:53] another thing though. So on the XPS

[06:56] device, there is no audio jack. So if

[06:57] you have an external drive for your like

[07:00] your media connected up to this and

[07:02] let's say you have, you know, a power

[07:04] cable connected to the other one,

[07:06] there's no audio jack. So you would have

[07:08] to use a Bluetooth connected audio. But

[07:10] now you have latency like lag, right? So

[07:13] if you need like millisecond precise

[07:15] audio, you would have to have a USBC

[07:18] audio thing and then now you're down to

[07:20] one port. Uh it's not something that's

[07:23] important to most people, but if you do

[07:25] need precise audio for timing,

[07:28] no audio jack. Okay, the battery life on

[07:31] straight video playback is better on the

[07:33] XPS 13 by a little bit, but they're

[07:35] pretty similar when it comes to just

[07:36] light workloads. The XPS 13 does have a

[07:39] pair of fans on the inside. It doesn't

[07:40] come on very often, but when it does, it

[07:42] is audible. Like, if you're installing a

[07:44] big piece of software or if you're

[07:46] playing a game, something, it will kick

[07:47] in. And it's quiet, but it is

[07:49] noticeable. The Neo is fanless. So, the

[07:52] overall experience for the XPS 13 is

[07:54] quite good. And for the $7 or $600 that

[07:57] the entry- level product gets you, it's

[07:59] surprisingly good. There is a bit of a

[08:01] caveat, though. So, for one, this is a

[08:04] timelimited price. I don't know exactly

[08:06] for how long it'll last. I think, you

[08:08] know, they're trying to get students

[08:09] into this thing, so I guess into the

[08:11] fall. But this pricing will eventually

[08:14] change. And as to how much it changes,

[08:16] too, I don't know. I don't even know if

[08:17] Dell at this point has that exact

[08:19] number. But this is a variable price

[08:22] depending on like the RAM situation and

[08:23] the storage pricing situation. So, as it

[08:26] stands, this is a phenomenal price.

[08:29] Like, if you look at the market right

[08:30] now, Dell is the only company that's

[08:31] offering something like this in the

[08:33] Windows space at this price point.

[08:34] Literally, no one else is doing it to my

[08:36] understanding. And I think they can't

[08:39] maintain this price for all that long,

[08:41] right? Because who knows how this stuff

[08:42] is going to play out in terms of the

[08:44] pricing of stuff. So right now, if you

[08:46] get this or if you get it before the

[08:47] price changes, I think you're getting a

[08:49] great value. I understand that as this

[08:52] thing as you throw more RAM into this

[08:54] system, obviously the price jacks up and

[08:56] you could argue that, you know, at 16

[08:58] gigs or 32 gigs, this is an awesome

[09:00] system, but at that point the price is

[09:02] like so high up there that you're now

[09:04] comparing it to other systems and like

[09:05] MacBook Air, MacBook Pro pricing that

[09:07] it's it's a separate conversation. I'm

[09:09] only looking at this thing from the

[09:10] perspective of the cheapest versions,

[09:12] like the base entry level. And so for

[09:13] that extra $100 that the XPS 13 costs,

[09:16] you get a lot. You really do. uh the

[09:19] overall user experience I think is just

[09:21] marketkedly better. However, it's only

[09:24] at that price. I think the moment the

[09:26] price fluctuates or you start throwing

[09:28] configurations and stuff, everything

[09:29] goes out the window and I no longer have

[09:31] a comment on it. It's just the entry

[09:33] level price. I'm like, this is it's

[09:35] good. Uh okay, there you have it. the

[09:38] XPS 13.