Dell XPS 17" 9700 with Windows 10 Pro

 

So, I've had the Dell XPS 17" 9700 Windows 10 Pro laptop for a couple of weeks now.  The only upgrade I've done to this machine is add a second 2TB NVMe solid state drive.  I ordered the laptop with 64GB of memory which may be overkill for now but I wanted to be future proofed.

The computer runs on an Intel i7-10750H processor.  At the time of ordering, Dell did not have the i9 variant of processors available.  Also, I could have gotten the i7-10875H variant but it cost about $500 more with that processor and the upgraded video card.  I'm thinking I'll be getting a new laptop in 4-5 years.  At that point I'll max out the CPU, RAM and video card options.  Another reason why I love the Dell XPS 17" 9700 is the 17" 4k screen.  It is a touch screen but you can disable that in the BIOS which I have done.  I don't see a point of having a touch screen on a laptop.  Sure, an iPad or an iPhone type device but not on a laptop or a desktop.

My two favourite pieces of software for photo and video editing are Affinity Photo and Davinci Resolve.  Affinity Photo is really fast on this Intel based system.  Photo editing is a breeze on this system.  

Davinci Resolve runs smoothly on this system as well.  No lag or hick ups at all.  I've only edited one 75 minute video on here and it took a few hours to export the video.  It was a 4k/60 video shot on an Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  

Today after work I will be going to do some video work for myself.  I want to edit 4k/30fps videos shot on my Canon Vixia HF G50.  I want to see how quickly the computer edits 4k/30fps videos that are only about a minute long.  It's supposed to be nice and warm today with a lot of sunshine today.  We shall see.  I will update you at a later date as to how the computer performs. 

Apple and Microsoft need updates

Both Microsoft and Apple need to release their Digital Raw updates to support new cameras that have come out onto the market in the last month or so.  Apple is hopefully releasing their new iPadOS, their iPad Pro centric OS in the next two weeks.  I have the new Sony RX100 Mark VII camera and I can't use any of the pictures yet because they're not supported in any of the software such as Apple Photos on the iPad Pro or ON1 Photo RAW 19.5 running on Windows.  I've had the camera for 2.5 weeks now and it's basically unusable for me on the iPad Pro.  I can grab the videos from the RX100 VII and import them into Wondershare's Filmora 9.  I really just want to actually start using the camera at 100% of its capabilities  Hopefully all the necessary updates will be released in the next couple of weeks.

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro is a computer replacement

I abosulutely love it.  It is truly an amazing device.  I have not needed to get onto a laptop since I purchased the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  My only regret is not getting the 1TB hard drive with the 1GB of RAM version of the iPad Pro.  Over the past weeks I’ve purchased 4 dongles for my iPad Pro.  I’ve purchased the USB-C to USB-A dongle.  I actually bought two.  I bought the USB-C to headphone adapter so I can listen to music and I bought the USB-C to SD card adapter.  I also bought the Apple Pencil 2 along with the Apple Keyboard Folio which by the way is awesome.  It’s not back lit like other keyboards and it doesn’t have the function keys which I really don’t miss.  I thought Face-ID was a gimmick but once it’s setup it works flawlessly for all my apps and websites that I visit that have passwords.  I don’t even need to type in my passwords after the first time.  I like how Apple thought that out.

I have purchased apps for photo and footage editing.  Affinity Photo and LumaFusion are both amazing apps.  The rest of the apps were either free or or costing less than $6.00.  I can attach my Yeti mic to do podcasts.  Found a free podcast app today thanks to the Apple website.  Yes I am going to do podcasts.  I hate being in front of a camera so podcasts will do.  They will be short and will deal mainly with photography.   

I honestly don’t need a mouse.  I have eight fingers and two thumbs that I can use to write and touch the amazing screen on the iPad Pro.  For finer detail work in my photography of when editing my footage, I can use the Apple Pencil 2.  I don’t think I even need an external hard drive as I pay Apple $12.99 a month for 2TB of storage.  If need be I can always purchase a wireless 4TB hard drive from Western Digital

For my photography, I use a Sony RX100 Mark VI which I can attach through the supplied Sony USB cable and and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.  I can use the Apple USB-C to SD card for my footage shot with the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder.  There is absolutely nothing else that I need.  No laptop, no desktop.  The iPad Pro comes with me everywhere along with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I tell ya it’s a great combination for a single shooter type photographer.  The less I have to carry, the better.

I am one happy guy with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I purchased the PaperLike screen protector which is in the mail and should be here soon.  Once that is applied to the iPad Pro, I will be secure in knowing that the iPad Pro is secured in practically every way.  I am so happy with this device.  

The perfect computer that really isn’t

The perfect computer that really isn’t a physical style like computer but is a computing device.  Of course I am talking about the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I’ve been using the 2018 Apple iPad for a week now as my daily driver to check and reply to emails, media consumption and photo and footage editing device.  I have not even touched my Windows 10 based PC or my early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro.

What I love about the iPad is the portability and accessabitilty.  It is always on and always with me.  I can be setup in less than 15 seconds.  Just pull it out of my carrying case and plop it onto a table.  I have all the apps that I could possibly want.  And the apps are totally inexpensive.  I think I pad $20 Canadian for Luma Fusion to edit footage.  I bought Affinity Photo for $29 for the iPad Pro.  Those are the most expensive apps that I’ve purshased for the iPad and they are all that I really need.  I bought some blogging software for $7.  I’ll have to buy an FTP app to upload footage to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  The Apple Pencil 2 is now my mouse.  It’s exactly like a mouse except in a different form factor.   I can take my iPad Pro along with my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me anywhere and I can just blend in without carrying a huge DSLR and laptop with me.  Just my iPad and my pocket camera.

The downsides of the iPad is the dongle life and no support for external hard drives connected via USB-C.  Hopefully iOS 13 will at least fix the external hard drive problem.  You can already connect a 4K monitor to the iPad Pro   I really don’t want to connect to a WI-FI external hard drive.  While working with the iPad, I’ve found workarounds and solutions to the iOS 12 file system.  I haven’t tested my SD card holding my Sony RX100 Mark VI shots yet.  I plan to do that this weekend.  I’ve read somewhere Sony and the iPad file systems are incompatible but that’s just a rumour so far.  I want to test it out for myself.

Now time to go do some photography.

Windows 10 or any Microsoft operating system

Versus Linux, Mac OS, Unix, the Windows 10 operating system is a dysfunctional disaster.  It's a disappointment.  On my early 2013 MacBook Pro, the fans hardly ever ramp up.  Only when editing 4k footage, would the fans ramp up and run hot.  With Windows 10 running on my Asus laptop, just running Firefox the fans ramp up.  I can't wait to edit footage or photos on the laptop.  Windows basically is crap on a hard drive.  

I work with Windows 10 all day with my full time job.  It spies on you sending everything back to Microsoft.  It's the Google Android of the laptop/desktop computer market.  I've never had a problem with editing photos or 1080p footage on my MacBook Pro.  I cannot wait to get my Apple iPad Pro.  I think though with the bendgate problems with the iPads, I'll wait for the next itineration of the Apple iPad.  I can't justify a $2000+ product coming out bent out of shape from the factory.  No company is perfect but come on Apple.  The iPad comes out bent and it's a part of the manufacturing process.

I actually don't know if I even want the Apple iPad.  I have two decent laptops that can edit photos and footage pretty well.  Actually the MacBook Pro with Final Cut Pro X is pretty amazing.  I think this weekend I'll wipe the machine and do a clean install of Mojave on it.  Install all my regular programs and just use it to edit photos and footage.  Thankfully I got rid of the iMac.  That was an eyesore if I ever saw one.

I honestly don't know what 2019 will bring.  I know by April I do not want to be in Ottawa and Ontario.  I want to be in Calgary and be living close to the mountains.  I want to take two weeks and head down south thru Montana, Utah, Colorado to Arizona, up thru California and see the coast.  I would love to do photography and shoot some footage out there.  That is my goal for next year.

I actually have a day...

...to myself.  Girlfriend is gone out with friends so I have the day to myself where I can do what I want and where I want.  I just finished breakfast and I think it's time to go buy a new vehicle.  I've been wanting a Jeep Rubicon for about the past year.  I've been driving a 2015 Hyundai Elantra and I can't stand the car anymore.  I just need a bigger vehicle.  Since I'll be moving out west in early next year, you need a bigger vehicle out west.

I also bought a new laptop.  It's a Windows 10 based laptop.  I'll be using it a backup to my new 2018 iPad Pro whenever I buy that.  I still don't trust that an iPad can be total desktop replacement.  Apple laptops now are way too expensive for what they are.  You cannot even replace or upgrade any parts so bye bye Apple laptops.  I'll be selling my early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro and my late 2015 Apple iMac at some point this year.  Well, whenever I get my new Windows 10 laptop.  I plan on upgrading the hard drives and adding more RAM to the new laptop.

Time to go get a new vehicle.

The importance of computers and post processing.

I have two Apple computers.  A late 2015 iMac with a 5k 27" retina monitor with a 2GB video card, 1TB fusion drive and 32GB of memory.  I also have an early 2013 Macbook Pro with a 2.7Ghz processor, a 500GB SSD hard drive, 1TB video card and 16GB of RAM.

I absolutely love both of these computers.  Why?  Because they just work.  They're responsive and I don't have to fix them every couple of days.  They just work.  I edit 1080p 60fps video on both using FCP X and edit 20.2 megapixel photos created with multiple Canon EOS 6D bodies and various lenses.

I use Mac computers because the administration and upkeep is pretty non existent compared to any Windows bases PC's.  I work for a federal government department that use Windows 7 and Windows 8 PC's.  Let me tell you, they are a headache compared to Macs.  Driver updates, software updates, hardware replacements etc.  For home, you go Mac or nothing else.  Yeah, Macs are more expensive, but you get what you pay for.  In my time, I've built my own Frankenstein PC's and used different MS operating systems from Windows 98 to Windows 10.  When I need things to work, I use an OS X based computer.