PC World - USA (2020-02)

FEBRUARY 2020 PCWorld 47

the stinkeye because it sounds like you’re
firing off an angry email to your cable
company, you just might have a problem.
The HP’s keyboard, meanwhile, offers the
experience everyone is used to and has come
to expect. Let’s just say we prefer the
luxurious 1.4mm travel of the HP over the
0.7mm of the Dell.
The other aspect is the trackpad.
Although the HP features a good experience,
we prefer the glass-smooth Dell trackpad. The
Dell’s is also centered closer to the Y key,
instead of centered on the U key like the HP.
That puts less of your palm on the trackpad
during use.
In the end, the keyboard matters more
than the trackpad, so we’re giving this one to
the HP.

Winner: HP Spectre

x360 13t

PEN SUPPORT

Laptop vendors seem to

switch laptop pen

technology constantly,

and that doesn’t change

here. The current XPS 13

2-in-1 features Wacom

Active ES 2.0 technology,

while the current Spectre

x360 13t features

Microsoft’s N-trig. We

compared Dell’s Premium

Active Pen PN579X

(which is an extra-cost option) vs. HP’s

included base-level Pen.

Which is better? We asked Macworld

associate editor and pen aficionado Leif

Johnson (go.pcworld.com/lfjn) to rate them.

He gave the Dell’s Wacom AES pen and

digitizer the edge in use, even though it

occasionally misregistered during a fine-

dotting technique test. The HP didn’t miss

any dots, but its latency and “pen feel” put it

just a step behind the Dell. And if you had to

pry Johnson’s precious iPad Pencil 2 out of his

hands, he said he would reach for Dell’s

Wacom system.

Over? Not necessarily. Note that the Dell

Premium Active Pen is optional and $100,

while the HP Pen is included. Even if the Dell

pen supports both MPP and AES pen

We prefer the “full” travel of the HP Spectre x360 13t’s keyboard (right)
to the loud, low-travel, MagLev 2 “I’M TYPING AN ANGRY LETTER TO MY
SENATOR!” keyboard of the Dell (left).