Still looking for a laptop (web, office, photo editing)

[boxleitnerb]

I'm still searching...
needed for light tasks only, photo editing in Lightroom only about 10-20% of overall usage.

Contenders:
- Macbook Air 2015
Con: expensive, fan, glare
Pro: iOS/ease of use, lit keyboard, magsafe

- Dell XPS 13
Con: adaptive brightness cannot be turned off, bad panel in European models
Pro: everythingprice

- Asus UX305CA
Con: Build quality, chassis is raised when display is deployed
Pro: matte display, price

Advice Plesse?

 

[Commodus]

I'm still searching...
needed for light tasks only, photo editing in Lightroom only about 10-20% of overall usage.

Contenders:
- Macbook Air 2015
Con: expensive, fan, glare
Pro: iOS/ease of use, lit keyboard, magsafe

- Dell XPS 13
Con: adaptive brightness cannot be turned off, bad panel in European models
Pro: everythingprice

- Asus UX305CA
Con: Build quality, chassis is raised when display is deployed
Pro: matte display, price

Advice Plesse?

If choosing between those three, MacBook Air... but for additional reasons you haven't mentioned.

The big things: the keyboard and trackpad. Laptops live or die based on those, and the Air has some of the best. It's honestly surprising how much crappy input people settle for on most Windows laptops. The XPS 13's input is generally good, but it's still behind what the Air offers. The multi-touch gestures in particular are big deals... nothing like switching apps using only your trackpad.

Also, there are performance figures that aren't really being measured here. The Air will have faster storage (not all SSDs are created equal), and Apple is realistic about battery life claims -- 12 hours generally means 12 hours, unless you're doing something particularly demanding.

If the Mac just doesn't end up suiting you, I'd lean toward the XPS 13. An eye-catching display and nice balance overall.

 

[razel]

The majority of laptop screens are terrible! There is a larger percentage of better screens from tablets than laptops. If you are serious about photo editing, from those three the Air would be it. However, for true photo editing especially proofing you'll need to be indoors with controlled lighting. Most accurate, affordable screen so far, last that I checked, was the biggest surprise... even when Anandtech reviewed it... the entry level iMac.