With all respect, how on earth did you end up with these two side-by-side?
The Dell XPS is a classic Armani suit with Nike runners, and the ASUS Zephyrus is that South African athlete with the sci-fi legs (also the guy who murdered his girlfriend, but that's beside the point).
Seriously, though:
The Dell XPS is one of the most popular laptops on sale, not just for Dell but also looking at the computer industry as a whole. And for good reasons, too. Build quality is very much above average and you can find lots of long-term owner reviews. In addition, Dell have a history of making great display panels, which only makes XPS laptops even more desirable.
Adding a 1050 GPU increases overheating, obviously, and also drains the battery. But if your daily routines include productivity and gaming in equal measure, it's still a great-looking machine with a near-perfect track record. OK, the styling is rather conservative - almost German - but the market has spoken: That's what we like.
The ASUS Zephyrus is still a fairly new model and I haven't been able to find any long-term owner reviews. Traditional reviews focus on the laptops gaming prowess, which is impressive but not unique, and the design, which is spectacular - to say the least. There are some issues, though, and most of the reviews point out that the Zephyrus:
- Has a very "interesting" keyboard layout - not really, it's friggin' useless! Even for gaming you need to hook up a desktop keyboard.
- Really only makes sense a desktop computer, not a 'desktop replacement' but an actual desktop.
- Has battery life which is close to absolute zero.
Of course, these observations reflect the very ambitious Max-Q mission ASUS had in mind, and overall the laptop garners heaps of praise and respect. The lid-actuated exhaust mechanism is reminiscent of old IBM keyboards, some of which could be raised and folded out. So lots of design points for that feature alone.
But you have to wonder what this area will look like after a year of heavy gaming with a 1080 card (dust and crud), and how you're supposed to clean it. Between the vulnerable exhaust mechanism and the useless keyboard, I struggle to find a rational reason to buy the Zephyrus.
But on a non-rational level: If I had the cash I'd buy the damn thing right now and just put it on display in my living-room; forget about gaming - just look at it!
Cheers,
GreyCatz.
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