You’ve had the Halloween weekend to think about the new MacBook Pro. What are your thoughts? Its beautiful display and fancy new Touch Bar drew some wows, but the lack of ports and processing power combined with the absurd price have caused nightmares among those in the Apple community. Our favorite criticism is the DongleBook Pro, as the new MacBook requires adapters (dongles) to connect to almost anything. The MBP has a headphone jack but no Lightning port, so if you bought an iPhone 7, and you wish to plug the Lightning headphones that came with it into your MacBook, you’ll need an adapter. Another nickname is the MehBook “Pro”, mocking the unimpressive specs when compared to other professional-level computers: non-upgradeable 16GB of RAM, mediocre graphics card, uncomfortable keyboard. Although nobody asked them to undertake it, Apple set itself on a quest to create the thinnest, lightest professional laptop, and they did so by ignoring the needs of professionals. The only good thing is…there are options.

Dell released their contender, the newest XPS 13, this week. Normally, this wouldn’t be big news, but thousands of disgruntled Apple fans will take notice. In addition to being an alternative to the MacBook Pro, the XPS has several options, giving you the ability to select a laptop that matches your needs and budget. The 13” screen has practically no border, giving the XPS a footprint closer to that of 11” models, and you can choose between a full-HD matte-finish 1920×1080 screen or a quad-HD glossy touch-screen 3200×1800 banger. Ports include two USB 3.0 A-type (the standard kind you’re used to), a ThunderBolt 3 USB-C port, 3.5mm headphone, and a SD card slot. The XPS can be charged through the ThunderBolt port (like the MacBook) but also has a dedicated charging port. The basic version has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state hard drive, but the performance model bumps that to 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. The Intel hardware under the hood is rock solid, as well; the top-of-the-line graphics chip and processor can handle anything you can throw it at with fast performance and great framerate. The battery lasts 14 hours, blowing the MacBook Pro out of the water, and the Killer wifi card gives incredible wireless stability, even through walls and ceilings.

Let’s talk options. You can get a basic, barebones XPS 13 for $799, but that only has an i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, Windows 10 Home, and 128GB. Snore. All the higher models have Windows 10 Pro, and you can choose between 8 and 16GB, touchscreen or no, 256 or 512GB hard drive, and silver or rose-gold exterior. The most premium model, which also includes an i7 processor, runs for $1899 but look for holiday deals that’ll make it cheaper than the 13” MacBook Pro ($1799). The Windows 10 Creators Update is being released just in time for the XPS and will overhaul what you can do with this impressive machine.

As always, iFixYouri is able to handle any repairs you might need for whatever laptop you buy this holiday season. If you’re feeling “priced out” by the new MacBook Pros, but don’t feel like giving up your Apple Fanboy status, iFixYouri can extend the life of your current MacBook with repairs and maintenance. Just stop in at one of our 15 retail locations or website for computer repair. And look for our new Tech Reboot service coming soon; we will be selling refurbished devices, repaired and brought to like-new condition by the same expert technicians who handle our repairs.