Dell is the brand I tend to recommend to friends and family when they need a dependable laptop. Fortunately, the company often has some great laptop deals, and that’s the case today with $500 off the Dell XPS 14. Usually $1,500, it’s down to $1,000, so you’re saving a considerable chunk of change here. It’s the latest model with the style that we describe as a “momentous design,” so you’ll be delighted with how it looks. Here’s everything else you need to know about it.
We reviewed a similar model of the Dell XPS 14 earlier this year and we were fairly impressed, giving it 3.5 stars out of 5. Crucially, the particular model we looked at felt expensive for what it offered — something you won’t have to worry about here. The only pivotal issues that align here are that the touch buttons lack haptic feedback, there are limited ports, and the RAM isn’t upgradeable. Buy a USB mouse and don’t plan on upgrading and you’re all good.
We described the Dell XPS 14 range as “the most beautiful laptops ever made,” and that hasn’t changed in recent months. “It’s sleek and minimalist in a way that makes even the MacBook Pro look cluttered,” so if you want one of the best laptops in terms of looks, this is it.
This particular model has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of SSD storage. More storage would have been nice, but it’s no great loss at this price as it’ll suffice for most working-on-the-move needs. Unlike the model we reviewed, this Dell XPS 14 has a 14.5-inch full HD+ screen — rather than OLED — with 1920 x 1200 resolution and 500 nits of brightness. By going for the full HD model, you gain far superior battery life, coming in at 21 hours when streaming something through the Netflix app. There’s Dolby Vision as standard along with a 120Hz variable refresh rate, so it still looks great even without self-lit pixels.
Ultimately, the Dell XPS 14 is all about style, yet it also has sufficient power at this price. Normally $1,500, the Dell XPS 14 is down to $1,000 for a limited time at Dell. That’s a great price for a highly popular laptop that looks good and has strong specs. It’s that reliable laptop you buy today then enjoy for a long time to come.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.