Dell XPS 13 2015 Broadwell Infinity Display Owners Thread

Thanks kristof, but I don't see anything about it Mobility Centre.

And thank you Xentar, but I'm not sure what to look for in the 'Advanced Start Up' settings...

 

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/20256-uefi-firmware-settings-boot-inside-windows-8-a.html

 

Xentar, thanks -- that got me in -- But it doesn't look as though we can swap the "Ctrl" and "Fn" keys, though I thought someone earlier in this thread had mentioned doing so.

Has anyone been able to do this? Thanks!

 

unfortunately I already shipped back the other computer, but I can tell you I have the same monitor model as you on the one I kept

 

Is that the warm screen? Mine was by no means warm out of the box. It's warmer now that I calibrated it though.

 

Did anyone notice brightness setting in bios is completely separate from the brightness setting for windows?

 

It boots real fast but F2 does the trick. Dont hold it down, as soon as it boots start hitting F2.

 

No I sent back the computer with The warmer screen. I felt the original screen was more vivid and brighter, but others may feel differently

 

Anyone know how frequently MS online gets their stock in these? I am trying to snag the i5, 256gb qhd model but can't seem to find it.

 

Check back frequently throughout the day. Seriously. I've seen items go in, out, back in, out and back in stock in a single day.

 

I just checked and it's in stock.

 

I just placed my order! Says shipping in 7-10 days but oh well. Hopefully it's a good as everyone says it is

 

You appear to be right. I've been checking every couple of hours for a few days now but today is the first time I saw them in stock for that model. The 128gb with 4gb ram has been available all that time though.

 

Mine said the same thing and it shipped the following night. I think they just didn't change it from when it was up for preorder(or they're just covering their butts)

 

Is anyone having issues where the track pad just randomly decides to not work. Like it will be working fine then boom no response until a restart

 

Right again. Just got the shipping notice. I chose next day so I expect I'll have it tomorrow.

 

I got mine yesterday, love it except for the "point and pray" oversized touchpad.

How do I adjust the keyboard backlight?

Also the "end" and "home" keys don't seem to work...

 

3840x2160 @ 60hz.

 

The F10 key adjusts the keyboard backlight. Its seems there are 3 settings....high, medium, and off.

 

Are you pressing Function too?

 

You don't have to if you have the fn lock on(or off depending how you look at it)

 

Is per monitor scaling still an issue in Windows 8.1? I haven't been able to fix it. I've got two external 1080p monitors hooked up too my XPS 13 via a USB 3.0 dock. Running the scaling at the medium level between smaller and larger the external monitors are really blurry. The only fix is either running the XPS 13 at 1080p or 1600 by 900 and 100% scaling or running at 3200 by 1800 and 100% scaling. The former everything on the laptop is blurry but the externals are great. The later the laptop is not usable and the externals are great. Using anything above 100% scaling makes the external monitors blurry as described here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...s-blurry/367c746f-1477-4199-b7ae-98f3d2b86cb8
I can't believe this hasn't been resolved yet.

 

Thanks,

No, my old XPS didn't require that but it works now, thanks.

Some advice on fixing the touchpad, going from 150% scale to %125 seems to have solved the problem completely, works great now.

And for those who havent ordered yet, if you get the business edition with 8.1 Pro, it includes TPM and BitLocker.

 

How do you lock it?

 

Nice suggestion. So, it might be possible that touchpad has issues with scaling of windows.

Can somebody else confirm the above fix?

====

Also, this reminds me.... on my old XPS 15 (3.2 k resolution) I had the same scrolling lag/slowness with acrobat reader and windows scaling set to 150%. When I changed the resolution to 1080p OR put windows scaling on 100% the scrolling issue disappeared...

Maybe it's possible firefox/chrome are not yet compatible with the resolution, and it's not so much the touchpad in-itself which is the issue, but rather the touchpad in so far its use in third-part software is incompatible with the high resolution ? Also this might explain why IE doesn't have the scrolling issue (since windows apps are highly compatible with the scaling).

 

Going from memory but I think it's Fn-esc. The key has a picture of a lock with fn in it. That will swap your hotkeys and F keys

 

You can also change the default in the BIOS

 

Ordered the i3 version for $716 after taxes from Dell. A $100 bucks for the i5 wasn't really worth because it's still comes with the 4GB of RAM, so you are kinda limited either way.. We'll see.

 

Every time I have purchased anything with an i3 I always regretted it and ended up returning. Not sure what anyone else's experiences are, but mine were never good.

 

I've using an i3 notebook with 4GB of RAM for the last 2 years. It's been perfectly fine for everything I've used it for, but I'm not a PC gamer and I don't use any processor intensive applications. An i3 is fine for web surfing, media, and office tasks.

 

Are there really no advanced touchpad settings, like sensitivity?

 

Ah, fair enough. I use a lot of intensive application maybe that's why I feel that way. Though I game on my desktop. Though to be honest, I normally have 20-30 browser windows open and usually that takes up about 4gb of ram so that would not work for me.

 

How is the touchpad?

 

I frequent a few tech forums and I always read comments from people saying that 4 or even 8 GB of RAM is barely enough to just run their browser, but I've never understood the need to have dozens of tabs open at once. If I have more than 5 or 6 tabs open I feel like I'm working at a cluttered desk... Which is ironic since my actual desk is always cluttered! I'm much tidier electronically than I am in the physical world.

But yeah, an i3 and 4GB of RAM is not for power users. The key is to know your needs. A lot of casual users get up-sold on machines with specs that are overkill for them.

 

Why the requirements for all the ram ??? I am looking to buy this laptop and think I am going to buy the 15 4gb version...

I am a guy whom has a gaming computer I5 780 TI SLI... play most games on ultra with 40-60+ fps and my gaming computer only has 8gb of ram. I never have felt a need to upgrade..

I also have a surface pro with 4gb of ram... and I game with it and do lots of things... once again never felt the issue of only having 4gb of ram.

What are you guys doing with your computers that I am not, to have a requirement for 8gb of ram for an ultrabook. Or 16gb + for a gaming computer?

Not critizing I am just trying to understand before I make my decision on which XPS model.

 

Same for me. And I also often have local virtual servers running when working, along with some DBA stuff, so 8GB is a minimum for me.

Even prefer 12 or 16 GB, that is why the XPS 13 sadly isn't a very good one for me. And I really would like one or something as small, but with more memory.

But for casual browsing and office work, sure 4GB might work very well.

 

This makes sense to me. I think I will add another 8gb to my main rig eventually. But the XPS 13 is really for light gaming and work "word processor, excel, watching movies, etc."

 

The main reason for me is because it is non-upgradable. When you buy it is your last chance EVER for getting the memory you need. You'd want the laptop to last a good few years, so you'd really want to max out the memory. That way you avoid a situation in 1 or two years where it might become unusable with 4GB. No one can say that can't happen so why not spend the extra few dollars to eliminate that risk. Saves writing off the entire laptop later.

 

i5 and 8gb of ram is enough for what I do, hell I could probably get by with the i3 and 4gb. No just waiting for a nice fat coupon code to roll out from Dell and I'm in.

 

In case anyone cares about stuff like this, I want to point out that Dell's specs are not entirely accurate. .33-.6" thickness should be more like .33-.73". It's .6 at the very edge but quickly ramps up to .73" as you move towards the middle of the laptop. It might be even more but my caliper fingers are not that long. And no, .73" is not including the rubber feet. Pretty deceiving if you ask me. I only noticed because it was side by side with another Ultrabook I have and it sat at the same height.

 

Has anyone heard anything more about whether Dell has responded to calls to fix the adaptive brightness issue? (or include an option to turn it off)

Is there any new info on this?

 

Returning this. The touchpad was mounted wrong and it's really creaky and off center. That just bugged me. Primarily I'm returning it because per display DPI scaling still DOES NOT work in Windows 8.1 or 10. When my 3200 by 1800 laptop is hooked up dia the official Dell 3.0 USB dock all my external monitors are blurry. This is a confirmed problem online and Microsoft still hasn't fixed it. This basically makes the laptop useless with external displays or projectors. It's alright as a stand alone laptop (albeit scaling issues in some programs) but it's completely not usable to me as a work laptop.

ALSO I've been running side by side tests comparing my Haswell XPS 12 to this XPS 13. Everything is slower on the XPS 13 running at 3200 by 1800. Opening tabs in Chrome, navigating around the web, opening outlook. Everything is sluggish (there was no throttling going on). I know this is all due to the high resolution monitor but I'm not upgrading to a slower computer that doesn't work with external monitors simply because it's slightly lighter and has a cool look display that doesn't work with most programs I use. Also the battery life is far worse than my Haswell XPS 12.

I wish Dell offered an i7 1080p touch version but alass they don't. Back to my XPS 12.

 

I would just do the MS Store online with a student discount, I am actually a student, but it did not ask for any verification, just selected my school from a drop down menu. Mine with the i5 256gb and QHD panel was $1169 before tax. I have not seen better anywhere yet.

 

I would but I'm looking at the 1080p model with the i5 and 8gb ram. I prefer the 128gb ssd as I plan to upgrade to a 512gb anyway. But If I get a good deal on the 256gb I'll take that. I almost jumped on it when Dell had the $100 off deal but I missed it by a day, even had it in my shopping cart and went to bed figuring I'd order it in the morning.

Edit: Looks like Dell has some new deals up. i5\8gb\128gb for $939. Not bad.

 

I would advice ordering from Dell. In my experience, I always needed to exchange/return and Dell quickly handled the process. There also might be some new revisions shipping. Dell always screws up the first batch, but they fixed it down the road. Just a note.

 

You've perfectly described the biggest problem (almost a deal breaker) with this otherwise amazing laptop! If I wasn't confident that this can probably be fixed via a driver update I'd probably return it. Only problem is will Microsoft address this issue in my lifetime, they aren't exactly known for speedy fixes. I'd love to see Synaptics drivers released for this touchpad.

This is the setup that I use and it does NOT fix the touchpad lag.

Terrible. Poorly implemented palm detection which is causing the touchpad to lag/delay/stick with short precise movements. Could be the cause of the scrolling lag as well.

 

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Time to brag. I paid $900 for mine, before the $25 shipping, and got it with a 256GB (also the i5 and 8gb RAM like you). There were a lot of discounts going on when it first came out, but most of them have ended. I didn't become a dell advantage member, either.

 

I managed to score the 128GB 8GB for $800. It was only $35 more than the MS deal with the 5% and 10% for a 4GB variant so I am keeping the dell when it arrives.

It doesn't hurt that someone was trying to sell a $500 gift card at work and no one was buying so I was able to snag it for $425. I also got a $100 gift card for $75

 

I can attest to the fact MS return service sucks. I was about to return mine today because the when I unplugged from power it shutoff. But after discovering it would take a few weeks to take care of I just decided to open it up myself and check the battery cable. It was not totally seated, once I did that it worked again.