Dell XPS 13 2015 Broadwell Infinity Display Owners Thread

well, I think mine is going back. Dell tech replaced the display this evening and the new one is better in that there's no longer a dark spot near the center and a couple dark columns to the right of the screen. But on the new one the bottom left corner is noticeably darker than the rest of the screen. Almost purple-ish. I'm really disappointed, but I'm tired of worrying about it and $1400 is too much money to not be completely satisfied. This was WAY over what I wanted to spend anyway, but it is an awesome little machine apart from the display in my opinion. It's quiet when I look at the web, I didn't really have problems with the trackpad once I got used to it and there's nothing else out there that looks as nice.

I'm going to return it and wait and see what the new MacBook Air looks like. I honestly can't find another Windows machine that looks decent enough. I tried the Asus Q501's but they had other screen issues that I thought was unacceptable as well. Lenovo is priced out of my league and HP doesn't sell anything I'm interested in. Same for Samsung and Toshiba and Acer.

Dell support has been super though as far as I'm concerned.

 

So I ended up wondering what the difference would be between the Matte HD vs Glossy QHD would be, so I ended up ordering both. They came in yesterday, and I was hoping to test them against each other but I've honestly been mostly focusing on the matte one, as I think I prefer this display style.

I've honestly pretty impressed. I am also coming from a SP3, which I really enjoyed as a device.. but I'm glad to have a more standard "laptop" to work with. Specifically, when using it as a laptop I find I enjoy the experience more. Part of me wishes for a bigger screen.. I'm almost wondering if I should give the X1 carbon a try. Too bad to get an IPS screen with a similar spec I'm looking at around $500 more.. Overall I'd say I'm pretty happy with the dell, I will likely stick with it and sell my SP3.

 

DevDude99: could you please check how is the fan noise between the two? For example when browsing the web - according to what I have read the fan in QHD+ should kick in a bit more often than in the FHD one (FHD should stay passive more often). You will probably recognize it best in a quiet room. Also could you compare the quality of the touchpads and how big is the difference in displaying white colour between the two screens? Some people say on the FHD the white looks muddy thanks to the thick antiglare coating.
Also is there big difference in maximum brightness between the two? QHD+ should have 400 nits and on the FHD MikeTLB measured only 190 nits. Is the difference really so big?
Your answers are highly appreciated

 

Dell's customer support is always unpredictable. I called for the first time to request a replacement laptop, and I was transferred twice and then put on a 20 min hold before I hung up. Then I called the same number again, and this time a different rep immediately answered and promptly ordered me a new laptop. No phone call transfers, nothing. I was so confused.

It's been my experience that if you get the right guy, Dell is superb. They get replacement parts sent out extremely quickly. On the other hand, if you get some not-so-stellar guy, the process immediately becomes much more painful and time-consuming. It can quickly get out of hand.

I really think Dell needs to up their quality control department or something of the sort. I can already see computer complaints pouring in: "This doesn't work, that doesn't work, the screen doesn't work." Personally, my headphone jack is broken and the bezel is coming detached from the screen, but no screen issues in-and-of themselves are presenting themselves. I really hope my replacement won't have any problems, that's for sure.

 

It's hard to measure with the adaptive display stuff, but when I was calibrating my FHD it measured 232 at max brightness.

 

I've had this 2015 XPS (i5, 1080p, 8GB RAM, 120GB) for over 2 weeks now and the adaptive display (AD) is not something I'll be able to overlook. It adjusts too often.

The brightness adjusts when:
*The advertisements on the side of a web page change
*Going to and from Metro/Desktop
*Viewing dark contrast material and switching to bright or vice-versa (ex: black page to white page)

This AD issue only comes up when I'm set to either of the two lowest brightness settings. If I'm on the third highest brightness setting or higher, I don't see AD issues.

I've tried all the Intel and Windows settings pertaining to AD but got nowhere.

I gave Dell tech support remote access to my XPS and after he tried all the methods I was aware of, he concluded that AD is a permanent feature of the laptop. I know he's unsure because he only said that after running out of ideas.

A week ago, I contacted Sharp via email about this IGZO display and asked them if they had AD hardwired into the XPS monitor but they never got back to me.

I installed the latest video driver from Dell (dated 1/29/15), and saw no change.

Someone mentioned using this laptop for Light room. I bought this to do photo editing on and it's difficult. The brightness will adjust while your editing photos. But since the boarder of the program is black, your image has to be near white to see it adjust. Basically there has to be enough white to satisfy the system that controls the AD. Results will surely vary. Adjusting black/white images can be difficult.

I haven't tested the AD effect on gaming but think I can make an educated guess on the results.

The only thing I can think of to resolve this AD issue is installing a clean copy of Windows 7 but I don't know if I want to bother at this point. You should also know Dell will void any software aspects of your warranty coverage if you decide to install any OS not original to your order. I confirmed this with a Dell tech and a supervisor. If they void someones hardware claim for the same reason, I wouldn't be surprised. Anything to get out of paying is the motto for companies these days.

Apparently, Dell starts clocking your 30 day return period from the moment you place the order so I have maybe 2 days to return it. I'm probably going to return it and buy the Lenovo x250. Unsure yet.

 

I am in the same boat. I thought I could cope with the dynamic contrasting/brightness issue, but it's something I shouldn't have to deal with. That and the touchpad input delay issue and finally the not-as-advertised battery life all have soured my experience with this model. Processed my return to Dell today, shipping it out and washing my hands of this whole thing.

 

Yep, I'm also returning the laptop. It's just unbelievable that the QA process was not able to point out the adaptative contrast issue. Or maybe they were thinking that their customers were too dumb to notice?

Anyway, it's the first and the last Dell machine I buy.

 

madmook, Zohar:

What are you getting in it's place?

 

Is this only an issue if you have windows 7 installed?

 

It can only be for the best that you guys return your laptops, This will probaly make dell work harder on a fix soon.
I know it probably feels not so good paying so much for a machine that is not perfect, but it was just released.
I see no reason why future software updates won't improve all the quirks you guys are talking about (touchpad, brightness, etc..).
I didn't get mine yet (i5 8gb ram 1080p 128gb ssd) but I hope it is good as most people say and not as bad as few people say.

 

Thanks for your update, just so I understand it correctly, you find the AD to be an issue on the two lowest brightness settings and then fine afterwards? Ie if there are say 8 brightness settings it is only the last dimmest two that have the AD issues? I wonder if this is the same for everyone's AD? I rarely go beneath half brightness so it sounds as if I might be ok?

 

I already bought a Macbook pro retina 13. It's my first mac, but I'm very satisfied so far, and having the ability to dual-boot OSX and Windows is awesome.

Nope, the issue is present whith whatever OS you use. Reports on this very topic have stated that Linux and Win7 are impacted, thus making it a hardware/firmware issue. I just can't wait for Dell to state on this, as there is always the possibility that it can't be fixed (like if it's a specificity of the Sharp panel).

The AD issue is present at every brightness level, but is more noticeable at low brightness. Trust me, I did a lot of testing with this crap, and working in Lightroom is just impossible.

 

I have mine on full brightness all the time and I cannot tolerate the AD.

 

By reading everyone's comments I beginning to think that for 1500$ I might buy something else...for those returning you laptop, what other options were you considering ?

 

Thanks Zohar & GeorgeCat for the information. My laptop is still to ship (1080p) so very interested to read all about it. My main purpose for this laptop is word processing with the occasional film on the train/plane, ie I won't be switching around many programmes and no metro use. I want quietness and something in the 11-12 inch size (but love the idea of the 13" screen with the 11" footprint). From what you've said so far it seems that hopefully this AD problem wont affect me too much with my minimal programme changing. I suppose it is hard to know until I get the machine and see for my self! Any LR work etc is done on my desktop monitor. Thanks for all your feedback so far.

 

Gonna wait to see what Apple's cooked up with the new Air, supposed to be announced soon. Haven't used a Mac since the Apple IIe. My Vaio Z12 gets a stay of execution until then.

 

Has someone tried posting his AUTO-DIM (auto-contrast) problem on the Intel forum?

see for example:

https://communities.intel.com/thread/43821

Intel guys seem to respond to people there. Perhaps they know of a good way to solve the issue. Many thanks for the person who wants to ask the question there (I don't have XPS 13 yet, so I cannot formulate issue accurately)

 

Problem is "Dell Intelligent Display" does not seem to be present for the XPS13.

 

The Z line was the Bently of laptops. I had a Vaio Pro 11 not to long ago and loved it. That's the best looking laptop I've ever seen, IMO. All that carbon fiber goodness and only 1.9 lbs. I sold it the day Sony sold their Vaio division. What a shame. If the Vaio brand comes back to the states, I'll buy it again.

Other than the Lenovo x250, there is one laptop that, I think, beats the XPS 13:
HP EliteBook Folio 1020 Special Edition

2.2lbs. . .I might wait for it.

 

Is the brightness something that lowers from white to black backgrounds or black to white? Aka..if I was reading a website that was black, and then moved to another website that was all white, how would the brightness mechanism react? (Ex. Brightness will go up)

 

That bezel though..

 

Some people said that installing Dell Quick Set enables the "Dell Inteligent Display." Perhaps somebody can install it (maybe even the Quickset of the previous XPS 13, or XPS 15). Don't know if it matters.

cf. http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/p/19507983/20501173#20501173

 

According to your situation, the brightness will go up.

Another example : if you're browsing a white page, and then you encounter a dark picture in de middle of your webpage when scrolling, the brightness will go down.

 

The tech who replaced my display last night apparently screwed up somehow because the power button doesn't work on mine anymore and I think the wifi antennas are screwed up because the signal was a lot lower while it was on (tech accidentally powered it on a least a couple of times while he was working on it, so it was already on when he sealed it back up. I pushed the power button last night to put to sleep so this morning it woke up, but then i shut it down at some point and now it won't power back up.)

So, for those keeping score: got it last Thursday with a busted left speaker out of the box. That was replaced Friday. Uneven screen backlighting from the beginning and I requested a replacement display, which was put on last night, better, but not completely better. And now won't power on at all.

It's going back. I just have to figure out how to power it up to wipe the drive before it goes. I may open it up myself after I get off the phone processing the return and see if I can get it running.

 

Please, before posting suggestions, read the topic. It has been said several times that the issue is present on every OS you run. So it's not just a "uncheck this" or "install that" solution. If a solution can be found, it will come in the form of a firmware update or a BIOS revision.

 

I just got my XPS13 and I have to say I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be. The I'm having issues with the display but I don't think they are related to the contrast issue. The issues I'm having is with blurry text in certain areas of windows. For instance Device Manager looks horrible,It's dull and the text is not sharp, the icon for Logmein is pixelated and blurry, most right click context windows are dull. This doesn't appear to be a window 8 issue so what is it?

 

Welcome to high-DPI scaling. This is a Windows issue.

 

Try 200% scaling.

 

Definitely windows. Happens on my SP3. They say W10 will fix the scaling issues so keep your fingers crossed for that.

 

What screen do you have FHD or QHD?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I

I have the FHD screen.

I tried 200% and it's worse.

 

I tweeted Dell about the adaptive display issues and got this reply back: "This issue has be brought to our notice and we are looking to finding a solution. We'll keep you updated about the fix."

It's not much at the moment but it seems Dell are at least aware something needs changing?

 

I hope they don't do a recall.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

If it's FHD, then you can only use 125%. 200% scale on 3200*1800 will be perfect for most programs.

It is really disappointing that not all the programs fully support scaling (including some system included programs, like "device manager").

 

My further update:

No issues!!!!!!

With some solid operations with web browsing, good brightness, etc, I get like 6.5-7hrs of REAL good usage. On balance mode.

So far I am pretty satisfied, and overall, extremely glad I bought this and kept this.

That is all.

 

Does anyone have problem with the headset jack? I get no sound from it!

 

Yes, mine doesn't work either, and I've ensured that it is not a driver issue (even my earbuds don't work). I called Dell and because it is within the 30 day return period they are sending me a new one. I suggest you do the same. You don't have to return yours until you've received the new one. I guarantee it'll probably be about a 30 minute phone call though, even without any waiting period. Takes the guy a long time to fill out the paper work. Also, they told me the earliest they can get it shipped is the 24th. Don't expect any different.

Number is 1-800-964-8321 for XPS customer support.

 

LOL your comment made me laugh. You need to adjust your scaling to medium (125%). Just trust me on this one.

 

Mine works fine.

 

There's a couple issues with sound. When waking from sleep, the sound stops working and requires a reboot

Also the headphone jack doesn't work unless you have the crappy waves audio software installed

 

Does anybody have problems with the fan? When using Chrome, the fan goes on quite heavy, and don't stop. In internet Explorer it turns on sometimes, especially when I have multiple tabs open. I am on balanced mode. May Dells "Command Power Manager" be the problem, or do I have to return it?

 

Chrome is very resource intensive. That's normal especially when plugged in and charging.

 

Yes, I'm also having issues with the fan. There's definitely a software issue that needs to be Addressed. At some points (I haven't been able to determine what exactly causes this event) the fan won't stop running unless I restart the computer. Each tine this has occurred, the cpu temps were At 42 degrees and I closed everything out so the cpu load was under 5%. Doesn't matter how long I let it sit, the fan won't stop. Once I restart, everything goes back to normal

 

Perhaps a strange question but do the US models have the Euro € symbol on the keyboard??

 

The reviews I have seen claim the longer battery life with the 1080P display.

 

It's better at 125% but the text is tiny. Can the text be made larger independently?

 

Do you have FHD or QHD?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

No, they don't - US keyboards are physically different to European keyboards as they don't have a key between the Z button and the left shift. This means if you change to an EU layout, some keys get quite difficult to find such as backslash.

John

 

125% is the optimal setting for a 1080p display if you want crisp images. I've tried out a ton of different options, but most of them make things look blurry. As for individually adjusting text and what not, yes, you can do that. In your internet browser, (not sure what yours is, but mine is chrome) go to settings and set it to a permanent 125% zoom for all pages. Looks perfect for me.

As for the computer itself, go back to where you adjusted the screen resolution (right-click the desktop and click screen resolution) then click on "make text and other items larger or smaller" at the bottom. There, you will find "change only the text size" section under the "change the size of all items" section. Here, you can individually adjust the size of a variety of different items on your computer screen, like icons, menus, etc. Now, you can personalize a lot of different stuff without it becoming unbearably blurry.

The only problem that seriously annoys me is the fact that there is no way to adjust the size of the Chrome tabs themselves without adjusting the screen resolution. Like, the actual button up top. They do some kind of automatic zoom at 126% to a perfect size, but everything else on the computer gets unbearably blurry. I get the feeling it'll be like this for other browsers, too. I've learned to deal with it, though.

If you have any more questions let me know.