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Dell will no longer make XPS computers

arstechnica.com

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Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#21

Post by normie3000 »

unethical_ban wrote: post #11
InvisibleUp wrote: post #4

I feel like the headline is burying the lede here: every Dell sub-brand is going away expecting for the new “Pro” and “Pro Max”. Reminds me a lot of how Apple in the late 90s got rid of their Performa/Centris/Quadra/etc. for more obvious, matter-of-fact names.

It's a transparent ripoff of Apple's branding. Should I get the "Dell Pro Max ", the "Dell Pro Max Plus", "Dell Pro Plus", or the "Dell Premium"? I understand cleaning up the model lineup, but jeez.

> Should I get the "Dell Pro Max ", the "Dell Pro Max Plus", "Dell Pro Plus", or the "Dell Premium"?

I thought you were joking, but these do seem to be options in the new, simpler branding!

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#22

Post by vel0city »

legitster wrote: post #17
vel0city wrote: post #14

I always felt like a lot of these computer sub brand names were rather confusing. Inspiron? Presario? Precision? XPS? ProBook? EliteBook? zBook? Envy? What are the real cross comparisons here? Personally, I'm OK with these computer manufacturers cleaning up their product line.

It also doesn't change the fact that within each product line there is going to be a billion different configuration options anyway.

Yeah, that's my next hope that they generally reduce the total SKU counts. It can be challenging to find exact replacement parts when there's a dozen different varieties for say a "Latitude 5450" or whatever.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#24

Post by legitster »

soared wrote: post #10
legitster wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

XPS was never their professional product line. Latitudes were their workplace fleet devices that mostly went head to head with ThinkPads. This is probably good evidence that they needed to simplify their branding. Having their halo consumer product compete for market mindshare against their professional products is counterproductive. Especially when everyone wants to cross shop against MacBooks. In contrast, ThinkPad…

Im generally a fan of the Latitudes I’ve had for the past few years. They don’t do anything special or great but generally just work. The body gets scratched pretty easily and the power button behavior is annoying, but other than that I’ve had no issues. Even got a lucky BSOD 2 years ago that nuked windows and somehow got me admin access!

My work went from Thinkpads to Latitudes. The Latitudes are pretty sturdy, and I'm told are pretty competitive on price/performance. But nothing beat the ThinkPad on durability/repairability/tactile feel/etc.

When I quit the job, I immediately bought an identical ThinkPad. It's nearly 8 years old but I still use it regularly use it as a pub trivia host as it can take a beating and have beers poured on it and still run like a trooper.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#26

Post by archero »

I once heard a repair tech say that XPS stands for “eXpensive Piece of Sh*t” and now that always comes to mind, although it never totally made sense to me as I didn’t think they were particularly expensive. I have an XPS and I did replace the battery at one point, but other than that I think it performed fairly well for my simple needs. I think I paid $499 for it around 2018.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#27

Post by razakel »

legitster wrote: post #5
Oxodao wrote: post #2

I'm not sure if it's just me or a common feeling, but XPS laptops from the last few years (at least 2020 onward) felt really poor quality for "professional" computers. Especially regarding their main competitors (mbp & thinkpads). All the XPS we had at work had issues and particularly bad battery life even before the one year mark.. For those who didn't have their battery swollen. I wouldn't have thought that such a…

XPS was never their professional product line. Latitudes were their workplace fleet devices that mostly went head to head with ThinkPads. This is probably good evidence that they needed to simplify their branding. Having their halo consumer product compete for market mindshare against their professional products is counterproductive. Especially when everyone wants to cross shop against MacBooks. In contrast, ThinkPad…

Inspiron is their consumer line, Latitude their business line, Precision their pro line, Alienware their gaming line, so what exactly was XPS meant to be? Their fashion line?

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#28

Post by xnx »

legitster wrote: post #13

I really appreciate when brands just name things like they are. Nothing is less fun than cross-shopping products and there are a bunch of arbitrary brand differences. "Precisions are their portable workstations . Latitudes are their ultrabooks. Duh! XPS is their premium consumer laptop!". Marketing departments tend to get addicted to the smell of their own farts. But I don't think consumers care about particular sub-…

Apple has its share of naming problems but not attempting to artificially split their laptop product line between consumer and "enterprise" is something they should get credit for.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#30

Post by AmVess »

Oxodao wrote: post #2

I'm not sure if it's just me or a common feeling, but XPS laptops from the last few years (at least 2020 onward) felt really poor quality for "professional" computers. Especially regarding their main competitors (mbp & thinkpads). All the XPS we had at work had issues and particularly bad battery life even before the one year mark.. For those who didn't have their battery swollen. I wouldn't have thought that such a…

I had a 2021 model. It was pretty poor in all aspects. Slow, laggy on the desktop just clicking around. Loud when doing anything resembling work. Very poor audio. Bad keyboard. 4 hour battery.

I switched to a new M1 MacBook Air and it was like going from a Cessna 150 to an F-15. Everything on the M1 MBA was decades ahead of the XPS.

Everyone and their brother now sells a much better product than XPS, and often for nearly half the cash. I picked up an Asus Vivo last year. Very nice product, half the cost of the XPS they had on offer, but with the same specs and screen.

It feels like it was engineered as a unit, much like the MBA. The XPS in comparison is a parts bin special.

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