Dell XPS 12 Brief Review

Owner of Dell XPS 12 for 2 weeks now. Here are some comments.

I'm loving the laptop so far. In tablet mode, it's like an iPad, but with full PC features. I use it on the couch and in bed in both tablet and laptop mode. Switching between the two is very easy. It's a bit heavy to hold in one hand, but so is an iPad (imo even the iPad mini is too heavy for one hand). I've used an iPad 4 before, and I don't think there's that big of a difference between that and this laptop in tablet form in terms of portability. What I love the most is being able to view full webpages and flash. Sure flash may be bad technology and HTML5 might replace it, but I'll worry about that when it gets there. I can take my "tablet" anywhere and watch Hulu and all the flash videos, which I think is amazing (and something I wish my phone and iTouch could do).

I have experienced no problems with this laptop at all. Luckily, I have no coil whine or wireless or touch screen/display issues at all. The only slightly annoying thing is the touchpad (it is unresponsive 5% of the time) , which is due to the drivers that came with the laptop. However they are pleasant enough that I am satisfied enough to not remove them (at least for now).

WIndows 8 took a few hours for me to get adjusted to. I had to remove some of the tracpad gestures and install a start menu icon on the taskbar, but that's really all I did to get used to windows 8 (I'm coming from a windows 7 laptop). I mainly use the desktop mode, unless I'm sitting on a couch or something.

The screen looks amazing, much better than my previous laptop. I have 0 dead pixels (I did this on doihaveadeadpixel.com). If my eyes can't detect any dead pixels, I am happy (what's the point of complaining about dead pixels if you can't see them).

The speakers are a surprise. The sound quality is better than I expected, and I'm loving it so far. The keyboard and trackpad are nice. The backlit part makes the keyboard really easy to use in the dark, and I recently found out it's spill resistant.

Construction is top notch. The screen flipping feels very solid. I love the volume buttons on the side. I don't have to go into the volume controls to adjust volume now.

I use the laptop for some light gaming (league of legends, maybe some source engine games), and it performs fine (the first time I ran LoL I got frame rate lag, but after that it was okay).

Battery could be longer, but it's fine for me (who doesn't want longer batteries). The charger is pretty small, so I can bring it around with me everywhere (I use a very low profile laptop sleeve/bag).

Noise volume is not an issue at all. Most of the time I don't notice it. The laptop doesn't get too hot either (only the bottom changes temperature). .

My only issue with this laptop is that it does not have HDMI (but it has mini display port, which has at least the same quality as HDMI I think), an ethernet port, and a non-detachable battery (I plan on buying a new battery in a few years to replace the old one if it starts wearing out). Windows app store can also use more apps.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. Since I take good care of my electronics, I'm going to expect to be using this for 4 years.

If you guys have any questions please let me know. I may be adding more comments in the future. The XPS 12 owner's lounge thread is also a great place to read more about this laptop.

 

Did you replace the SSD? If so, how do you take it apart?

 

Did you have a run-in with a spill? I also own an XPS12, and my girlfriend (accidentally) kicked a full cup of creamed and sugared coffee directly into my keyboard--it could not have been more of a direct hit. I instantly dumped it out onto our white carpet and I've left it to dry for a week now. On a positive note, thanks to the battery level indicator, I've been able to confirm that the laptop is responsive without yet actually booting it back up.

I don't have accidental damage protection, and the best plan I've seen to fix it ( How to Save a Laptop from Liquid Damage: 14 Steps - wikiHow) suggests essentially washing my computer from the inside out. I thought I should clean it out before booting it up because I can see coffee stains through the rear fan slits, and the darned thing smells like a coffee shop.

I'm curious what your spill involved, and if you know anymore about it spill-resistant properties. Unfortunately, I've also stripped a screw, so it seems the project becomes much more of a pain if I need to open it at all. Ideally, I can just turn it on and let it smell delicious, but I'm worried about mold developing over time, or other stickiness-related-issues.

Any ideas??

 

The XPS 12 may be unique, I spilled heavy water (ie, water with lots of minerals, ions, etc) on my Latitude E6520. I unplugged everything, had it sit for a bit, then tried, and it wouldn't turn on. So here's what I did:

1. Unplug and remove battery. ASAP, especially the battery. You don't want any chance of short circuting.

2. Opened it up. I had a stripped screw too, but keep trying, you may need to use a bigger screw, rubber band, etc...

OPTIONAL: If you've got something other than water, like your coffee, you will ideally want to wash it out. 100% distilled water can be run all over your computer without short circuiting anything, BUT, it can pick up with it minerals, ions, etc, that were in the coffee, and move them around, possibly towards an electrical circuit. I would personally still wash the laptop in 100% distilled water if I spilled coffee on it.

3. Covered it in RICE!! Arborio works well because it's starchy and absorbs lots of liquid, but any white will work too, it's cheaper. Make sure you REALLY let the rice work. Give it a lot of time, 2-3 days at least, and make sure it's positioned in a way that it's covered in rice, but also making a natural funnel away from important electronic parts (if you can). Bed of rice, laptop, more rice.

4. Check that all rice is removed, and that it is 110% dry. If it's not, more time on the rice, but then it's just putting it back together, and hoping for the best.

Worst case, tell Dell it wasn't water damage, and hope you get away with it Best of luck!