Dell XPS 13 9380 Owners Thread

I bought my Dell XPS 13 (9380) in March as a business laptop. Frost White, i7-8565U, 16GB Ram, 1TB Samsung SSD, 4K Touch Screen. So far I've been impressed with it.
I had an initial issue where the RAM usage was 50% and above upon login, with no viable reason why. After further investigation I traced the route cause to the Killer Wireless Control Center software. As soon as I removed this program RAM usage was around 18% upon login, much more appropriate. The only other odd thing is the occasional screen flash where it blacks out for a brief moment as well as the fan noise when the CPU automatically overclocks.

For a fresh start I created a bootable thumb drive based on the base Dell image, then did a clean Windows 10 installation and downloaded any missing drivers from the Dell website.
Happy to say it's running like a dream. The performance is very good, the screen is very sharp with bright vivid colours. Thankfully the webcam is now in a sensible position and it handles my workload well.

Time will tell how it holds up over the coming year.

 

I've now had my 9380 for a few days - no problems no far!

My specs:
i7-8565U Processor
16 GB RAM
256 SSD (PM981 NVMe Samsung 256GB)
FHD 1920x1080 (Panel: AU Optronics [Unknown Model: AUO5B2D])
Frost White

I purchased via the small business side of dell.com. Running Win10 Pro from factory and uninstalled the Dell utilities and McAfee.

I'm very happy with the FHD choice as the display is clear and for the longer battery life.

 

Is yours the full hd touch or matte?

 

Any opinions on various Thunderbolt docks etc? I've read alot of reviews that the Dell TB16 has many problems...

 

FHD Matte - Not a fan of touchscreens for a laptop. I looked at the 2-in-1 in the store which is the best way to determine if you want a touchscreen

 

Mine was just delivered!
i7-8656U
16GB RAM
Full HD (It's shows these device id: DISPLAY\AUO5B2D\4&7ED8028&0&UID265988)

First observations:

• I'm loving the finish around the keyboard.
• Screen is more matte than my previous (Sony Vaio VPCZ13), and it's about a third of the volume.
• No bleeding at the edges of the screen though, which is better too .
• I'll need to get used to the smaller arrow keys (the Sony had them a bit larger and they extended beyond the rest of the keyboard, which made them a pleasure to use).
• The touchpad is very pleasant as well. First time I have a clickpad. I already caught myself trying to click on my old laptop I'm currently backing up.
• I also know again why I am going to throw Linux on this machine. The nice changing login screens aren't going to woo me over. Neither is the fingerprint reader. For sure since no browser supports using that to fill in passwords any more.
• Windows wasn't activated when it arrived. Strange, but trying it again worked fine.
• Wifi didn't immediately reconnect after coming out of sleep.
• Fan is dead silent. Brilliant. Haven't actually done anything yet though, so that's not representative at all.

I'm not sure if I should install BIOS updates or not. Currently at 1.1.1. I can Always install them later through the UEFI.
I'll know more after installing Arch.

 

Does the new XPS 13 (Whiskey Lake) heats more and consumes more energy than the previous generation?

 

I really like the new designed XPS. I am waiting for the 13" version of the new 15 2 in 1. I want a 13 inch 2 in 1, with maglev keyboard, new internals, 4k screen, at least 1 tb of storage and 16-32gb of ram, pen support and thunderbolt so I can plug in an external GPU and play some games (mainly GTA of any version and Forsa). That would be my ideal device. I am just waiting now for this device to be developed and I will be first in line. Until then, my old cheapy dell is serving me fine (besides gaming).

 

I also owned a sony vaio z13. My best laptop ever.
Yes, the keyboard on this is a bit of a problem because the backspace, curly braces and \ key are really tiny. I do a bit of programming every now and then and have to type in some weird characters so this is a problem for me.
Do you like the display on yours even though you said it was more matte than your vaio z? I own the 4k version but thinking of getting a 1080p one when ice lake comes out.

 

After a week of heavy use of the laptop in multiple locations and lighting conditions (including outdoors - sunny and cloudy), the matte screen has been perfect. Just minor adjustments of the brightness and everything was readable text in browser, Outlook and Powerpoint were all good.

I did have to adjust the Windows setting for night light mode - a few dark rooms it shifting color modes. Easily fixed with Night Light toggled off.

 

So, what's the good word on the 9380 now that it's been out for a while? I'm a bit interested in the base model i5/8gb ram/256 ssd/FHD non touch, but I wonder mainly about two things:

-Battery time on non touch FHD?
-Coil whine and/or high pitched fan noise?
-Overall QC? I tried one 9370 at the store and one key was bad. Maybe abuse since it was a demo, but still...

I really want to see the Lenovo Yoga S940, but the new XPS 13 seem very nice tbh.

 

Defenantly the key issue was because of the demo at the store. You will have no such issue. Unless of course you pound on your keyboard mercilessly. Those demos take a walloping.

 

Hi, I also got a 9380 with ubuntu preinstalled. I tried some different linux distros. For my requirements, Ubuntu Studio performs best with audio applications like bitwig and ardour. Unfortunately, it does not communicate very well with some hardware specific features, it seems. Sleep eats a lot of battery and the computer stays warm. Do you experience the same with preinstalled ubuntu? Does preinstalled ubuntu sometimes upgrade the bios?

 

I took the plunge and ordered one as it was 12% off right now.

 

And back it went! Horrible coil whine and dead pixels. :-(

 

I got my 9380 on April (i7, 16gb, 512gb ssd, 4k touch).
My experience after a month of daily usage:

1. Great display with good color and brightness
2. Great keyboard and a very responsive touchpad
3. Thermal is great, no overly high temp on battery but you will get slightly warm with AC plugged in. The fan rarely kicks in unless you run cpu intense tasks.
4. No coil whines or dead pixels from the laptop
5. You get a random blackout from the screen for a few seconds but it occurs very very less, but its there.
6. Less powerful speaker, bass is not enough. (I would say an ipxsmax has even better speaker than the 9380)
7. Battery is ok, 7-8 hours on average (word, excel, chrome), if you stream videos (1080p), it discharges 15-20% every hour. I usually do everything on Battery Saver mode + 30% brightness only.
8. The power button has no tactile feedback on my unit which is very hard to press sometimes.
9. The SSD installed in my unit is not the Samsung PM981 which majority of the 512gb models are, mine is a Toshiba KXG60ZNV. (Do let me know am I the exceptional that receive this drive in my unit or most of you have the same as mine, I am from Malaysia).

 

I got the frost white which I’m really loving it. I’d like to get another USB-C white power adapter/cable but can’t seem to find any for sale by Dell, eBay or Amazon. Any ideas on where to get an OEM white power cable?

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0796M6949/ref=twister_B079HK4FH8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Got this (in black) for both my and the wifes laptops. Really good stuff.

 

It has a very high latency DPC. I bought it for productivity, I'm disappointed.

I saw that DELL corrected the problem on the 15 inch. But not for the 13th at the moment

 

apparently dell does not offer a model with FHD AND 16gb ram. it's either 4k display or 8gb ram.
does anyone know if, after purchasing the FHD + 8gb ram model, the ram can be upgraded to 16gb ?
thanks a lot!

 

The RAM is soldered on in this model. Which market are you on? Sometimes, what Dell offers changes by region.

For example, this one on the US work site,

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...xps-13/spd/xps-13-9380-laptop/cax13w10p1c603s

can option 16GB and FHD.

 

Singapore.
some dell sales agent said that the model was upgradable. did he lie?
frankly i dont trust these sales agents to know much about the stuff they're selling. that's why i thought about asking here.

 

The RAM is not user upgradable. One can only "upgrade" at the factory. This is because the RAM is soldered to the main board. This means the only local retail options are what Dell SG offers.

While this is an older model, the board layout is largely the same (current generation XPS13 additionally solders the wifi package onto the main board).

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Dell+XPS+13+Teardown/36157#s81012

Since the DDR3L RAM chips are BGA packages with 96 balls each, it isn't feasible to hand solder them (nor is any such "upgrade" operation guaranteed to work, since the RAM timings are likely baked into the signed BIOS).

Dell US does change their available SKUs over time, so if Dell SG is similar, you may be able to just wait it out.

 

that really clarifies thanks a lot.

 

Hi everyone, I'm interested on this notebook but I'm a little worried about the screen form factor. Are the 16:9 bothersome to use with productivity software (ms office, lightroom etc)? I've always used 16:10 or 3:2 monitor but the choice is really small: MS surface models or macbook pro.... Any advice?

Thanks!

 

I got used to it rather quickly, (we still have 16:10 monitors at work), but everyone adapts in their own way. Most people at work just didn't notice. Some made the taskbar hideaway, some rotated their monitor vertically!

I think the upcoming XPS13 2in1 is 16:10, too. Might be end of August before that comes out, though. Also a lot of soldered in parts (RAM, WiFi, SSD).

 

Thanks! Another question: is the SSD encrypted with tpm by default (like MS surface devices)?

 

Hi everyone, for those waiting for any new info on a new model, well seems like that roadmap was right and a comet lake-U version is coming or at least testing.

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13771941

the new cpu is the i7-10510U, cometlake-u, it will be a short lived device since the icelake version is slated for February 2020, so CES 2020 intro most likely.

But from the initial benchmarks of the new icelake development platform, it will not bring significant improvements on the cpu side of things, but graphics are significantly improved, so if you want graphics i'd wait for the icelake device, and improved battery life as well hopefully. Or instead grab the 2in1 icelake xps once that is released. Assuming limited availability will not be an issue.

 

Bought the XPS 13 9380 model after my good ole Dell Venue 10 gave up the ghost. I got a great deal, or so I thought, through the Dell Outlet with a returned unit (I7 processer, 8GB Ram and 256GB SSD). What is driving me nuts though is the fan turning on when I have only the browser open with 2 tabs. The RAM is at almost 60% usage and CPU at 4%. Then if I look resource monitor the Maximum frequency is jumping all over the place from 60% to over 200%. For what it is worth the keyboard, screen and the build of the laptop (ok well aside from the extremely stiff hinges) is pretty fantastic. However something seems wrong when the machine is under so much strain from running a browser(chrome).

Is this high memory usage normal along with the fan coming on frequently? If it can be fixed through software (ie. a fresh install) then I'll spend the time getting it resolved otherwise I'd prefer to return it and go for something that is fanless and less power. Purpose of this purchase was to have this laptop as my sole PC and to last me the next 4 years.

Any feedback about whether or not I'm seeing normal behaviour for this model would be appreciated. I would prefer to keep it.

 

Hi guys ,dont really want to open new thread... 9370 owner here and thinking to buy TB3 EGPU, BUT, the one i am currently looking on ebay ( Akitio Node ) has no extra usb, so just simple box with TB3 cable. but i am using dock WD15 with its own PSU, so wondering what will happen if ill have both eGPU and Dock with their own psu connected at the same time in my laptop ?