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00:00Hey, how's it going guys? This is Dave2D, and this is a video on the best alternatives to the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro.
00:13Now, it's hard to find a truly comparable device to that 15-inch MacBook Pro,
00:17because it's got some pretty unique features, like the touch bar and macOS,
00:21but if you're comfortable using macOS or Windows, and you're just looking for a premium laptop
00:26that has good build quality, has good performance with a quad-core CPU, and has good portability, this video is for you.
00:33Now, this is not an exhaustive list, but these are ones that I personally really like.
00:37These are all quad-core laptops, so no Surface products or Ultrabooks, because those are all two-core CPUs.
00:43Okay, first up, we have the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro itself.
00:47Super thin, pretty powerful, but very expensive, and it's only equipped with Thunderbolt 3 ports.
00:53Next up, we have last year's 15-inch MacBook Pro.
00:55It's bigger, but it's still a very capable machine.
00:58It has more ports, and it's at a cheaper price point right now.
01:01We have the Asus UX501.
01:04This is the most premium laptop that Asus makes outside of their gaming lineup.
01:08Not the thinnest laptop, but it has a really big battery.
01:11The MSI GS63, it's one of the most powerful laptops in here, since it has a GTX 1060.
01:16It's a gaming laptop, but because it's pretty thin and light, it makes the cut.
01:21Next up, we have the Dell XPS 15.
01:23It's still one of the best laptops ever from Dell.
01:26The carbon fiber finish and the infinity display really make this a strong contender here.
01:30We also have the Aero 14 from Gigabyte.
01:33It comes in black, green, and orange, and it's also equipped with a GTX 1060, but this has a smaller 14-inch screen.
01:40Lastly, we have the 2016 Razer Blade, also with a GTX 1060.
01:44One of the thinnest laptops with this powerful graphics chip.
01:47It also has a 14-inch screen, and it has chroma lighting.
01:50Like I've done in other videos like this, I'm going to go through some categories and then tell you my top picks for each particular category.
01:55In terms of build quality, the MacBooks are the kings here.
01:58They're really well built.
01:59The Razer Blade and the XPS 15, I would say, are tied for second place.
02:03The XPS 15, it feels a little more durable.
02:06The Razer Blade looks cleaner to me.
02:08You can actually get skins for all three of these laptops from dbrand, and they can look awesome.
02:12I'll link them below.
02:13The 4K display on the XPS 15 is really nice.
02:16It's not the brightest of the group, but it's still plenty bright.
02:19It's the most color accurate, and it has super thin bezels.
02:22The 2016 MacBook Pro has lower resolution, but it's very bright, which is great if you use your laptop outdoors a lot.
02:28It has a very wide color gamut, but it isn't as color accurate.
02:32The UX501 also has a great 4K display.
02:35None of them have bad screens, though.
02:37It's just a matter of preference for resolution and screen size.
02:40MacBooks tend to have terrible user upgradability.
02:43In fact, the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro can't be upgraded at all.
02:48The RAM and the SSD are both on board.
02:50Now, all of the Windows laptops have upgradable RAM and storage.
02:53Except for the Razer Blade, you can only upgrade the storage for the Razer Blade.
02:56The most upgradable is the MSI GS63.
02:59It has two RAM slots and two drive bays.
03:02The XPS 15 can also do this, but it's a little bit more complex.
03:05You gotta order some parts in to do that.
03:07These all have good keyboards. None of them are bad.
03:10Personally, I like the keyboard on the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro the most.
03:14I know a lot of people would disagree, but I personally can type the fastest and most accurately with it.
03:18No joke.
03:19The GS63, the XPS 15, and the Razer Blade with Chroma Lighting are also good.
03:24But you know what? You can't go wrong with any of these keyboards.
03:26They're all enjoyable to use.
03:28The MacBooks are still the trackpad leaders.
03:30The Taptic Engine, the Surface Texture, the Precision, they're still the best.
03:34It's kind of sad. We're rolling into 2017 here, and Windows laptops still haven't perfected the trackpad.
03:39But of this bunch, the one that I like the most is the XPS 15.
03:43Now, any of them that can use native Windows Precision drivers are going to be better,
03:47but the MacBook trackpads are still the best.
03:49The laptop with the best selection of ports is definitely the MacBook.
03:52No, I'm kidding.
03:53I'd say the winner is the MSI GS63.
03:56It has a ton of ports, but the SD reader is slower.
03:59I think it's USB 2, but basically all the Windows laptops tend to have a pretty good selection of ports.
04:04The Razer Blade is missing an SD reader.
04:06The Aero 14 doesn't have Thunderbolt 3 support.
04:08But aside from that, they're all well-equipped with ports.
04:11The only one here with rock-solid external GPU support is the Razer Blade.
04:15So if you connect that to the Razer Core, it works perfectly.
04:18The XPS 15 isn't bad either, but the rest of them are still kind of flaky right now with external GPUs.
04:24Aside from MacBooks, they're all rocking the Skylake 6700HQ processor.
04:29Very similar CPU performance across the board.
04:32The laptops with the GTX 1060s are the best performers.
04:35Between them, they're too close to really say which one's the winner.
04:39Maybe the GS63, but they're all really powerful.
04:42Now, thermally, the laptops with the weaker cards are going to produce less heat and have quieter fans.
04:47The MacBook and the XPS 15 are the most quiet when they're under load.
04:51The Razer Blade and the Aero 14 are the loudest when they're gaming.
04:56The 2016 MacBook speakers can't be beat.
04:58No one's making better speakers right now.
05:00To be honest, all of the Windows laptop speakers sound similar in overall quality.
05:05I mean, they sound different from each other, but it's hard to really label a winner.
05:08So, if the 2016 MacBook has first place, the 2015 MacBook has second place,
05:14and maybe the Razer Blade for third place, none of them are bad, though.
05:18In general, battery life isn't going to be amazing on laptops like these.
05:22Skylake processors are reasonably energy efficient,
05:24but when you take a quad-core CPU and you put it into a thin and light chassis,
05:28you can only expect so much.
05:30The 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro has the best battery life.
05:34It's an older processor, but it has a big battery, and macOS is pretty energy efficient.
05:38Of the Windows laptops, the UX501 is the longest-lasting here.
05:42The XPS 15, when it's configured with a big battery, is also pretty good.
05:46Okay, in terms of value, none of these laptops are going to be particularly cheap.
05:50They're all premium in some way or another.
05:52I think the best value overall would be the MSI GS63.
05:56You're getting really good performance for the price.
05:58Now, whether or not you need or even want that kind of performance is something else,
06:02but it delivers really good bang for the buck.
06:04The UX501 is also pretty well-priced with its 4K screen,
06:08and a used or refurbished 2015 MacBook Pro can also be a pretty good value.
06:13Now, you can't go wrong choosing any of these laptops,
06:15and there's other really good options out there that aren't in this video,
06:18something like the Alienware 13.
06:20It's a little bit thicker and heavier than the rest of them here.
06:22It is a great quad-core laptop.
06:24In terms of, like, the best overall one, it really depends on what you're doing.
06:28As a video editor, my personal top pick is the XPS 15,
06:31mostly because of the screen.
06:32I really like the color accuracy, and I really like the fact that it has really thin bezels.
06:36That just seals it for me.
06:38If you need more information about any of these laptops,
06:40they're going to be linked below, individual reviews,
06:42as well as some benchmarks for some of the video cards.
06:45Actually, one of the video cards, the GTX 1060.
06:47But yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
06:49Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
06:51It's been nice. I'll see you guys next time.