Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Dell XPS 13 (2015) - Spec Decision

Jul 27, 2015 11:53AM PDT

Hello,

Im looking for some advice about which laptop to buy. Im looking at getting a Dell XPS 13 2015 but cant decide between two models. They both have the exact same specs, except one has 8 GB ram while the other has 4 GB ram. The 8 GB one is going to be $2-300 more than the 4GB one. I know its seems crazy to pay that much more for only 4 more GB of ram, but Im concerned about the long term speed and usability of the laptop and the fact that the ram cant be upgraded. I only use my laptop to browse the web, use Microsoft office, and steam the occasional movie, and all of my computers are 4GB now and I haven’t had any issues with speed.

So I guess my question is, will I notice a difference in speed between the 8GB and 4GB ram in 5 or 6 year from now and is it worth shelling out a bit more money now for long term usability?

Thanks for the help guys!

If your curious, here are the 2 models:

4GB: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Dell-XPS-13-9343-2727SLV-Core-i5-128GB-Signature-Edition-Laptop/productID.312527400

8GB: http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd?oc=nxps134_bt_b5130e&model_id=xps-13-9343-laptop

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Why not upgrade that yourself?
Jul 27, 2015 12:08PM PDT

Hit Crucial.com and see how much. And no, at the office we don't entertain 4GB machines for more than email and web surfing. 8GB is the better spot to be but not a big deal on most PCs as we can add it later.

- Collapse -
Not up-gradable
Jul 27, 2015 3:13PM PDT

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately on this laptop, the ram is soldered onto the motherboard, so it cant be upgraded. Its one of the few criticisms of the machine, other wise I would have gone with the 4GB without giving it a second thought

- Collapse -
That changes my answer to NO SALE.
Jul 27, 2015 9:50PM PDT

You would regret this for years.