Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

Not that you were asking for feedback, but I actually really like this keyboard font and think it is an improvement. I don't consider it a downside/issue at all.

 

Eeek. It really bugs me. No kidding. I guess I just prefer the typical "plain" font used on most keyboards (Helvetica or whatever they tend to use). The Dell keyboard font has an alien sort of feel to me.

 

Haaaa! This is pretty funny -- I just came across another review of this Dell. It also bashes the screen quality, but that's not what's funny. Check out what it says about the keyboard font:

http://www.businessinsider.com/dell-xps-13-ultrabook-review-2012-3

 

I also like the keyboard font - it catches the eye and sets the XPS apart from other laptops.

 

Can anyone confirm if their XPS 13 keyboard is like the one shown in many reviews? My number key rows has many symbols missing, like the Euro symbol, the Indian Rupee symbol etc.

 

I notice it too - like the fan is always on ultra low - if you pick up the laptop with the screen open and hold the bottom near your ear it is very obvious - but it seems louder at the end opposite the fan - so maybe it is the electronics.

 

I find the symbol keys odd - but not a deal breaker. Took me a bit to get used to, definitely unique.

 

Downloaded A03 a couple of hours ago, haven't heard the fan since..

I still have this low high-pitched electrical noise, which bothers me in quiet rooms. But if that's from the SSD I guess everybody have the same thing, but only some are able to hear it.

It's cool to have a unique font, and I personally think it looks good.

 

I confess I really like the new keyboard font.

My XPS 13 has been so quiet with A03 that I compulsively check CoreTemp to make sure it's not running too hot .

 

downloaded A03, previously the fan would stay on during the whole time in use, which was very annoying, now is very quiet turns on and off when is suppose to, although very quiet it sounds a bit weird

 

I'm hearing this too, and its quite annoying, though not anywhere near as bad as the previously loud fan.

 

+1 for the keyboard font. Not that I ever look at the keyboard, but the font does look interesting compared to the other plain fonts.

 

Well I shipped both my xps13's back to dell yesterday. I really wanted to love this ultrabook and if it wasn't for the screen dimming issues I might have kept it. Spent so much time trying to fix it with dell support and on my own that I just couldn't spend anymore time on it.

On the flip side I got the ipad3 yesterday and as you can imagine the display is just amazing. Hoping the mid-refreshed xps13 will have a higher resolution display. A ips panel would be nice, but that is probably asking too much at the price point the xps is at.

Have to say the support from Bill and others on this forum is absolutely excellent.

 

I agree. It is a A03 is a definite improvement but there is still a hum/whine.

 

My latest discovery: the keyboard can get really HOT. I was converting some avi's into mp4's while typing something in Word, and it heated up so much that when I rested my fingers on the keyboard to think, my fingers received an experience not quite but almost similar to touching a hot kettle, with involuntary recoil action. On the other hand, if I make sure my fingers don't fall through the "key cracks" and touch the rubbery surface, I don't feel the heat at all. Not really a complaint, but I was kind of :o the first time I almost-but-not-quite scalded my fingers.

 

How's the heat on the bottom on the laptop after long periods of use? (like all day long)

Thanks.

 

I went back to the original Cypress drivers and now my touch pad does not work at all except for clicking. I have checked and rechecked all of the settings. Any advice?

 

Have you completely uninstalled the driver, then rebooted and installed a new driver... after uninstall my touchpad worked fine with just windows drivers.

 

do you consider the subpar battery life a con?

 

How do you mean? I find the battery life excellent. But it depends on what you are doing and how the system is configured.

 

Do you consider the battery life subpar?

 

How many hours of battery life are you guys getting (on average) with wifi on, bluetooth on, and the screen fairly bright?

 

Can you please tell me how to completely uninstall the driver? And, when you say "rebooted and installed a new driver" do you mean the Cypress drivers?
Please forgive my lack of experience with this stuff. Thanks!

 

all the reviews showed that xps 13's battery life is at least 30 min shorter than average?

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/06/dell-xps-13-review/

I kind of agree with HP on this. if you have to reduce the capacity of the battery to make the machine smaller... might as well don't do it.

 

maybe i am greedy, but don't you think the battery life should be better?

xps 13 has the worst battery life among 13" ultrabooks

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/06/dell-xps-13-review/

 

Any review that compares the HP Folio is silly - it weighs almost as much as a regular notebook.

Some reviews show the Dell as better then some - but don't always have real specs.

But ask yourself this - if a unit comes in at the top in performance - should it also top battery time? Should weight and screen size be a factor? OS? Wifi radios? Processor speed (not just i5 vs. i7)? How about BIOS settings - they differ per manufacturer - so how do you compare?

There are some machines with really poor battery life - the Dell XPS 13 is not one of them. Some reviews put it right at 5 hours - OK that works for me. It is not 3 hours like other 13" machines. If you want 5.5, 6, or 7 hours then by a different machine - but there will be trade offs.

 

Different battery test here.... workloads are important

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review - HotHardware

and another:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400986,00.asp

Not last in many tests

 

Can someone please help me out? I don't know what's wrong with my Dell XPS 13, I updated to bios to A03 last night and now sleep doesn't work. I closed the lid and when i go wake it up it freezes, I've had over 5 BSOD the last couple of hours playing around with the laptops' sleep feature, i tried disabling iRST in the BIOS that didn't do anything, same problem, i tried hibernating, that also didn't work, still getting BSODs and everything it happens when i reboot the system the BIOS doesn't recognize the SSD drive, I have to do it twice for it to be recognized, now all i can do safely is turn on/off the laptop

 

I would reinstall bios A03 and see if that helps?

 

How does it take before it comes to the outlet? That is when I will get it.

Edit - not getting it. No HDMI??? Will wait for another release.

 

Okay, so I have had this computer for 24 hours now, most of which I have tried to replicate normal use cases.

My feedback.

1. Screen. I am personally fine with the resolution. The horizontal viewing angle is okay, the vertical is simply pathetic. This alone wants me to return the notebook
2. Fan noise. I installed A03 and only hear slow rhythmic humming. This is not annoying very much, but does make you stop and take notice once every few hours.
3. Trackpad. With XPS 15z drivers, there is still not any good usability that I can achieve with the trackpad. Two way scrolling is erratic at best, and is half of the times interpreted as pinch to zoom in/out.
4. Keyboard. One of my favorite aspects of this notebook. Love the two-level backlighting (dim/bright/off). I don't have a problem with double letters typed as I have with some of the keystrokes failing to register. I guess I will guess used to it though.
5. Form factor. I went to the Microsoft store and tried a lot of ASUS and Samsung Ultrabooks. Most of those had jagged looking edges and not as classy a finish as this Dell. But the display seemed better in all.

I am still contemplating returning the notebook. If the new trackpad drivers make it worthy to use, I might end up keeping it, but if the trackpad issues, combined with the bad screen viewing angles remain, I would not be willing to use this as my main computer - which is the purpose I bought it for.

 

But the second review has only one other ultrabook - ux21

I still wish xps 13 can last longer. maybe too much to ask for.

 

... calm down.

folio is .3 pound heavier...

I am not saying xps 13 is a bad choice. Just wish it's better, in terms of battery life.

 

Just got this machine, and very happy with it far except for the scrolling on trackpad. I have a 3 year old Dell 24z which scrolls far better. I know there is an update coming, but in the meantime is there anything I'm missing.

I went on Dell's support page and found my repair tag. It shows a bunch of recommended updated. The technique is a little confusing, but is that one of the first things people do.

 

EDIT: Never mind... like an idiot I didn't check the power profiles... those can seriously cripple performance.

 

How did you get it replaced with a different machine? Can you pay the differential amount to get the higher spec'ed one?

 

I had no input into what they were sending me. They said they wanted to recapture my unit and sent out a replacement. Maybe that's their way of saying "sorry for the inconvenience." Dunno.

 

If it was intentional, that's nice of Dell. But different hard disk capacities should not have any impact on the system performance, unless they are rated differently in terms of access speeds.

 

I revised my original post. The problem was actually different power profiles, which I missed.

 

Does this help in anyway?

two-finger-scroll - Two finger gestures for Synaptics TouchPads on Windows - Google Project Hosting

It works great on my XPS 15; I'm not quite sure how yours are configured (are they synaptics?)

 

I agree with you 100%

 

I didn't feel the bottom at the time when the keyboard was hot and I haven't had a high-CPU-usage moment since then.

Today I have been using the XPS 13 for about 20 hours now for web surfing, word processing, and a couple of installations (no high CPU usage, and two naps during lunch and dinner), and right now the bottom makes a really, really good hand warmer. I can put my hands on the bottom forever and not have to remove them. It's quite comfortable for a couple of hours on my knees too.

One day when I'm converting videos again I'll try the bottom.

I would try a factory restore, actually. I had a lot of problems with the XPS 13 at the beginning, and now I love it after two factory restores. I'm on the A03 bios too.

 

Thanks. When I felt the bottom of the unit I looked at it was pretty darn hot on the bottom, specifically in the middle towards the back. I'm not in a climate where I need a hand warmer, so the heat thing is important to me.

I really wish these things were "good to go" when they actually come out of the factory. I hate that so many tweaks have to be made when a laptop is purchased -- just to get it to work the way it's supposed to work.

 

I've had my XPS-13 Ultrabook (Intel Core i7 version) for about 2 days, and here are my impressions:
First I installed the A03 BIOS.
I've only even heard the fan come on 3 times, and that was when I was installing Visual Studio 2010, SQL Server 2008R2 Developer's Edition, and Adobe PhotoShop CS2.
It runs surprisingly cool, and the fan hasn't been an issue at all for me.
Two-finger scrolling is a little bit choppy, but I know they are working on a driver update, so no problem.
The display is gorgeous. They probably could have made it 1400x900 instead of 1366x768, but that would be the ONLY thing that I would even slightly fault this laptop for. And if you're listening Dell, please do NOT push the resolution all the way to 1600x900, as that would make the fonts and icons too tiny and unusable for this size screen.
WiFi connectivity is solid with my NetGear N600 Dual Band Wireles router running 5GHz connections.
The keyboard feels natural, and typing is very quick. I'm not thrilled with the tiny arrow keys, but that seems to be the price to pay on all the UltraBooks.
Hooking up to external monitors via the mini-DisplayPort works flawlessly.
The screen hinge range of motion is just fine. Looks like about 135 degrees. Unlike other reviewers that I have read, I personally don't ever place the computer on my kitchen counter and stand in front of the laptop and expect to be able to use it! How about this for a mid-cycle rollout: Modify the hinge so that the screen can fold all the way onto the back of the laptop, and also add touch-screen sensors so we can turn the whole laptop into a huge Windows 8 tablet!
I did manage to sell my old 6 pound Studio XPS-15 on eBay for $1175, so I really only had to spend about $125 to upgrade to this wonderful, light, powerful, and stylish laptop! My arm feels such a relief already!

 

I agree 100%.

 

It's Not possible to do 1440x900 on a 16:9 aspect screen, it's either 1366x768 or 1600x900.

1440x900 is only available on 16:10 aspect, which are only used by Apple these days.

On another note, I use Visual Studio & SQL and thinking of one of these. How well does it run them? I know the IDE will be a bit cramped because of the screen res but what's performance like?

 

Right. What we're requesting is that they go with a 16:10 screen with 1440x900 resolution.

 

Put me down in the camp of people who do not like 16:10 screens

 

Also, I forgot to mention. I see that several other people are mentioning that the A03 BIOS is leaving their fan making rythmic noise. I am not hearing anything like this at all. Mine is completely quiet, except when the CPU is under heavy load and it starts to kick them on.

 

Sure, I'd be happy to put you down for that.