• Pros - Sleek, solid design at a reasonable weight - Strong performance with long battery life - Quiet and cool operation - Physical keys have returned to the Function row - Huge, haptic touchpad - Quad speakers produce great sound Cons - Matches MacBook Pro in price but not performance - Seams along the edges and below the keyboard are magnets for debris - Limited port selection with no adapter included - No fingerprint reader We’ve got a bit of a New Coke situation here with Dell. • For those unfamiliar, in 1985, Coca-Cola replaced its original formula with a new recipe in an attempt to reverse declining sales and a slide in market share. • Last year, Dell rebranded its laptops, presumably for the same reason. • Dell’s new laptops were greeted as warmly as New Coke and didn’t last much longer than the revamped elixir. • Coca-Cola brought back its classic formula after just a few months, and Dell has restored its longtime XPS brand only a year after introducing its new Dell (just Dell), Dell Plus and Dell Premium lineups. • Replacing the classic XPS line, Dell’s Premium laptops were the New Coke-iest of the new bunch.

Article Summaries:

  • Pros - Sleek, solid design at a reasonable weight - Strong performance with long battery life - Quiet and cool operation - Physical keys have returned to the Function row - Huge, haptic touchpad - Quad speakers produce great sound Cons - Matches MacBook Pro in price but not performance - Seams along the edges and below the keyboard are magnets for debris - Limited port selection with no adapter included - No fingerprint reader We’ve got a bit of a New Coke situation here with Dell. For those unfamiliar, in 1985, Coca-Cola replaced its original formula with a new recipe in an attempt to reverse

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