40 series to 30 series was pretty tangible IMO (4090 gets something like 30-50% more perf in most tasks than 3090 Ti with the same TDP), in part thanks to the much higher L2 cache plus newer process node.

50 series was very poor though, probably because it’s the same process node.

I’m glad to hear yours have been holding up! Maybe my friends and I were just particularly unlucky.

The service manuals are available direct from Dell. For all the laptop’s faults in my experience, I do appreciate that the SSDs are socketed, as are the RAM sticks on the 15. I do also appreciate that Dell sells replacement batteries (and they aren’t glued in either!) as that’s usually the first part to need a swap.

I haven’t used the XPS 13 personally but my experience and all my friends’ experience with the XPS lineup is that despite their build quality, they’re quite prone to failure. On my 15, the keyboard failed multiple times, as well as one of the fans and eventually one thunderbolt port, all within a span of 4 years.

They’re beautiful machines that really should be quality, but in practice for some reason they haven’t lasted for me. On the plus side though, Dell does at least offer service manuals, and lots of parts can be replaced by a user (on the 15 you can easily replace fans, RAM, SSDs, and with some work you can replace the top deck, display, and SD reader).

Good point! For my use case (on a different brand, Sony) I’m fine with the lowered resolution since I just use it for video conferencing, in which case the raw resolution is limited anyway. But for users who need higher resolution, using an HDMI capture card might be better for a one time fee rather than a subscription.

He’s apparently said he was born in 1988. In another thread others mentioned that would make him 21 when he started his PhD, which checks out.

You can do this on Linux using gphoto2, ffmpeg, and v4l2loopback. You probably won’t get full resolution but the quality will still be good enough for video conferencing. See here for a guide.

Not that unusual IMO, lots of people start their PhD directly after completing their Bachelor’s. If they weren’t born born in the first half of the year then they’ll have completed their BS by 21 and start the PhD either at 21 or 22.