Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

After many weeks of reading on this board I ordered the XPS 13 on Monday it shipped today so I should receive it early next week. I checked on the Dell website today the price has gone up approx. $400.00 for what I ordered and the delay is 45 days so it looks like I ordered it in time.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread with the problems they have had and the resolutions to the problems.

 

I am strongly considering to buy this laptop but I don't know how the screen will perform in daylight. I'm mainly going to use it in the train to the office. And mabe somtimes outside on my balcony to finish some work

 

What do you mean. My Brother just bought one this morning, and I just checked the price, and it's exactly the same as when I bought mine 4 weeks ago. The ship date says the 18th which is a few days longer than i think mine took.

 

This is the 3rd time a Dell technicion has come to my home and not fixed my XPS. Each time I've had to take a day off work costing me $300 at least. My bosses are not too thrilled either. This time he didn't have the right screwdriver to open the back of my XPS. Does anyone think Dell owes me any kind of credit for these mistakes. It's just a simple replacement of my wireless adaptor card. Last time, they sent a card that had no useable driver, so I have been without the use of a computer in my home for 10 days. I never thought I'd get to know internet cafes so well

 

While it is a shiny screen, it is a very bright screen as well and that offsets some glare. Matte would have been best for outdoors, but I use mine all the time outdoors and have yet to not be able to use it.

 

I am in Canada the base price for the i7, 256gb ssd went from 1499.00 to 1748.99, the warranty is more expensive and they aren't offering microsoft office home and student for 79.00 anymore so it is about 400.00 more and the website says "due to popular demand the estimated shipping time for your xps 13 is 45 days".

 

Happens when the tech probably doesn't work directly for DELL, if they did they would have all the right tools and know about XPS laptops. The tech I was dealing with never even heard of the XPS13 hehe.

Losing 3 days of work is totally unfair imo, I don't understand how he can't return with the correct tool that very same day? I am thinking DELL owes you something for your wasted time, 3 days missed from work is crazy with no resolution.

 

It must really depend on who the Dell support is outsourced to in each region. When I had a Dell tech out to my house last month to work on my XPS 13, they accommodated my request for a specific time slot without complaint or issue.

 

Based on the line of work you are in, it should be an easy 10 minute fix for you...and you probably have access to the needed T5 Torx screwdriver or your boss does. If not, run to Radio Shack, Harbor Freight, Home Depot, Lowes, or similar and pick one up for a few $$.

With all due respect to the tech, not having the proper [common] tool or the incentive/drive to take the 45 minutes to go get one would raise a red flag for me and I would not allow him/her within 10 feet of my system.

I would request Dell overnight me a replacement wireless card and I would then do the repair myself, which again only takes a few minutes. You have access to the service manual and plenty of us here who can help. Knowledge and fellow owner backup is POWER!

Take a look at the first page of this thread and you will see how I took the system cover off and where the wireless card is located. I will put it below just as a recap!

Scott

Example of tool: NEW - Husky 8-In-1 Torx Screwdriver Set 74502 - T10 T15 T8 T7 T6 T5 T4 (648738745024) | eBay

 

Dell Canada must have had a change of heart the prices are back down.

 

So I am quite annoyed with @DellCares.

I ordered a second power adapter as I needed on for work so I don't have to bring my adapter to work and home every day.

The unit I got with the computer was a Lite-On, and it's perfect. The second unit is a Flextronics, and it sounds like it's got a frigging Bee in it... Buzzes like a son of a ! It's highly annoying and I'm not too confident that it's going to last long and I don't really want to plug it into my new laptop. I contacted support on twitter @DellCares. They swear up and down that the adapter I got with the computer is a Flextronics, and the second unit is also a Flextronics. They want to exchange the defective unit with another Flextronics.

Bill, didn't you say somewhere earlier in the thread that the Flextronics units were known to have a incorrect part that causes the buzzing and the replacement units will be Lite-On?
Bill; Is there any way you can help me get another Lite-On unit?

-MC

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure I could do it, but the original Dell technician is coming tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure he'll have it up an running perfectly. I was just hoping to get some sugar from Dell for all the days I had to take off, because I plan on buying this same laptop when Ivy Bridge comes out and selling this one on Ebay or giving it to my Daughter. It would really help me justify buying one just for Ivy Bridge. The fact is that Ivy Bridge will be a huge help in exactly what I need this laptop for. I do lots of very long airplane flights across the globe, and I do lots of HD video editing and RAW photo manipulation.

 

Thank you madchild, you were right about SSD... ))

Just a very good info, Intel confirmed today 75 new ultrabooks are on their way with CHEAPER Price....

NEW CHIPSET from INTEL and INTEL 4000 bringing 25% faster performances compare to INTEL 3000....

http://www.pcworld.com/article/253566/75_ultrabook_designs_on_the_way_prices_to_reach_699.html

Hopefully new machines might come from DELL with Ivy bridge too...

 

Here I'm Brazil Dell only have flextronic psu. The good in that they checked with Dell USA and confirmed the issue but I I'll have to wait liteon units to arrive down here.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

Hi Folks

I have been tracking this thread, and have moved from 'no way not buying, been there done that with the XPS 1330, XPS 1340' through 'hmmm than man Bill seems to be helpful' to 'ok, i need one now'.

So, the only question I have is whether people are seeing any performance issues using this for development? I currently use a XPS 14 with an i7 and a normal HD which is absolutely fine (its great actually, aside from constant fan drone and general largeness and 23 minute battery life). I saw some earlier posts, but a no positive follow ups I could see. It would primarily be Visual Studio, along with the normal Outlook/Visio accompaniments.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

I've been researching every laptop released in the last year and nothing has ticked all my boxes yet, the XPS 13 included. Although, it is very very close.

My usage is the same as yours - Visual Studio for C# and SQL Management Studio. Having used an HP 4330s 1366x768 screen at work, I can categorically state the vertical resolution is just not high enough for these tools (unless you plan to use an external screen?). The code window in the IDE is just too narrow, it feels very claustrophobic and lots of mouse scrolling is required.

Additionally, with the memory being soldered onto the system board and therefore not upgradeable beyond 4GB it's somewhat limiting if you want to use virtual machines for development testing - may not be an issue for you, but it would be for me.

Finally, this thing only comes with a one year warranty. With all the components (SSD excluded) soldered onto the motherboard I can see it being potentially very expensive to repair should something go wrong outside the warranty. For example, what if the RAM goes wrong after 18 months? My guess is that you'd either need to replace the whole system board or throw the laptop away and buy another one.

As sexy as this machine undeniably is, it is for the above reasons I have personally ruled it out. Instead, I am waiting on the Latitude refresh which is due this summer. Not only does the Latitude have equal (or better) build quality (albeit less sexy-looking), all the parts are user-servicable, readily obtainable for years afterwards, the warranty is three years not one, you can spec a 1600x900 screen which is ideal for development tools, it can be upgraded beyond 4GB and because it's not 'cool' and designed for the masses, you will be able to get better spec for a cheaper price.

As much as I've drooled over the XPS 13, my head must rule my heart. Functionality, practicality and build quality will always trump sexiness (even if that sexiness has comparable build quality as is the case here). Hope that helps.

 

Thanks CowboyCoder for such a comprehensive note.

I should have mentioned that I do use an external monitor when working at my desk, and fortunately can normally run VM's on other machines than my own.

Your point about repairs is a very good one, I think an extended warranty would be a must.

 

Per Bill (some pages back) if you contact Dell via Twitter or Facebook (in Bills sig) they will get you a replacement. It worked for me.

 

Not arguing, but throwing my 2 cents in....

The Latitudes will be heavier as they target a corporate audience - so serviceability over many years is part of the design... no cutting edge hardware either. More removable panels and user serviceable parts increases size and weight.

Since the real target design of an Ultrabook is low weight with good performance, it is up to a consumer to determine if that is their primary objective. As soon as you add in screen size and other criteria, then you start to get away from the "less then 3lb" form factor.

As for warranty - you can buy the XPS 13 through the SMB or Enterprise channels and get a 3 year warranty. Dell has even called and offered to extend my warranty 2 more years for about $200 - but since i used Amex, I have an extra year anyway. I guess i am not to worried about a RAM failure in 2 years.... as my sig shows I have been running my Dell tower for 8 years with no issues....

For coding and running VMs, the Toshiba docking station that was referenced earlier seems like a great solution - support for multiple monitors and more, all via a single USB3 interface. But i bought my laptop to be portable, if I do need to lots of work in one place, I would dock it, and the Toshiba solution seems like a good solution - and better then the proprietary dock i would have to buy for the lattitude.

 

I do agree, moreover IMHO the new designof XPS 13 is more robust and lasting than awful "plastic" which is the primary concern.
I m sure DELL will extend their offer with bigger netbooks and maybe cheaper ones... with the new Ivy bridge would be a nice bonus !
However i love the way you could basically plug and plus / update mostly of any component of Lattitude, which is a must (in my point of view).

 

Looks like the date gremlin is still alive and well and working on the Drivers and Downloads page. I looked this morning and there are a couple of drivers with a release date of 4/12/12 but when I looked at the fixes it states it's the original version shipped with the machine.

Any idea when we can trust the date again?

 

Partially agree with what you've said, but I think the point I was trying to make is that for Software Development as the primary use, a consumer laptop ie: the XPS 13 might not be an appropriate choice for the reasons I have given.

I've not had any memory issues with any of my Latitudes over the past ten years either - but if I did, £15 at Crucial.com and I'd get a new 4GB chip.

Now if Dell made the Latitude 'look' like the XPS 13, but fitted a matte 1600x900 panel, made the chassis a little thicker to allow full voltage processors, and user-upgradeable RAM then that would be my ideal machine.

Size & weight of the XPS13 would not be a reason for me buying it. The sexy look and premium materials would, but not at the expense of things that are important to me.

I guess Ultrabooks in general are not for me.

 

That last part is the key. Ultrabooks are not for everyone. I do a lot of development on mine, but primarily when I am doing development on it I am at my desk where this thing is hooked up to dual 23" monitors so no big deal.

The rest of my time I am presenting or at business meetings and that is where Ultrabooks and this stand apart. I need something light and portable. This fits that perfectly.

The fact that these have an i5/i7 for a processor helps a lot. You don't lose a lot in power going to these.

I am not a big fan of non-upgradeable memory and would like to have seen at least 8GB if it was to be soldered. However I have not run into memory constraints on coding or even my graphic and video editing. The SSD does offset this quite a bit since paging is not even close to being as slow as if it was to a traditional hard drive.

All that being said I have a big Sager/Clevo system which has all the power I could need right now and when I bought this it was going to primarily be my business meeting and road laptop. What is funny is I brought out the Sager the other day to do a little gaming and realized it was the first time in a month that I had powered it on. I had to literally dust the thing off!!

This has really become a solution that fits MY needs really well, but most certainly not for everyone. Great thing about choice!!

 

Brazil should have the LiteOns in stock by April 30. Sorry for the delay. As of now, all they have is the Flextronics, and if they attempt to order the LiteOn, it gets subbed for the Flex.

This one looks like it may have to live on as a platform limitation for now. What happened was for some reason they accidentally took down all the drivers by mistake (ticked wrong checkbox or something). So they had to promote all the drivers again. When you promote a driver (this is all tool-specific limitation), it gets a date stamp of that day and there is no option available to change it. We have to work with our platform vendor to find a way to make the date an edit-able field. Once we get the code dropped in the tool, we'll be able to change the dates. Until then, we have to live with it. Sorry I don't have a better answer.

I alerted the team. Can you PM me your Twitter handle, service tag, or email address you gave them so I can ask the team lead to chase down the story, please? They may be looking at the packing slip that says Flex on it, but we have been auto-subbing LiteOn's for a week or two now.

 

Is anybody else having problems with the mouse cursor freezing for 5-10 seconds every so often or audio distortion at higher sound levels?

 

My mouse pointer does that. I am still not satisfied with trackpad performance and waiting for a fix-it-all update!

 

Yup.

Anyone else not able to get the Caps Lock indicator to illuminate?

 

I contacted support through the Facebook page and they sent a new one right away. The problem is that they replaced my squealing Liteon with another squealing Liteon.

Which one is supposed to be silent and how can I get one?

 

Just got the XPS today. Are there any mandatory updates that I need to downlad? If so, where do I download them? Also any tips on trackpad settings?

 

No big mandatory updates, but Trackpad, BIOS, and WiFi have been updated. I am not sure what is shipping on the Dell now, so you may have to look at driver versions and compare to what is on the download page. Definitely A03 BIOS if you don't have that.

For trackpad settings, i posted what work for me...

Multi-finger gestures on the XPS 13 Ultrabook trackpad #xps13 - Direct2Dell - Direct2Dell - Dell Community

 

Liteon is the quite one. Flextronics is the noisy out of spec one... are you sure you got 2 liteon units?

 

@Bill

Do you know if Dell is calling customers offering warranty extension at a steeply discounted price? I received a call saying they would provide me a 1 year additional parts & labor warranty at $57 which was 75% off the normal price. I would have to share my credit card info over the phone.

Since I was not sure of it being Dell, I asked them to call me back tomorrow, but this seemed like a really good deal.

 

Thanks for the reply alphadog00, I just confirmed, both units are Liteon. The squeal is not very loud, I have to put the brick to my ear to hear it but it is there.

So I guess I have two good units now?

 

I received the same call as well

 

I got the same call as well but I stopped the rep from talking before I heard the offer. It could be legit, but I certainly understand your hesitance at giving out credit card info to an unsolicited caller ...

 

So anyone think it's a good deal. I looked up the number I received the call from, seems to belong to Dell. However on calling back, they didn't know anything about any such offer.

 

I get the same call from an 800 number that calls back to Dell. Unfortunately when I answer the phone when it rings there's never anybody there. Lucky me I guess...

 

The flextronic unit you can hear across the room....

The noise is apparent when there is no load (no charging). The liteon will make a little buzz (only audible when next to my ear) when i plug it in, but then it stops. The Flextronics will buzz very loudly when it is not charging - if it has a load it is quiet.

Be happy you don't have the flextronics unit.

 

That describes the nature of the sound I am hearing from the Liteon units. Thanks a ton for the clarification alphadog00. Looks like I have two usable units then. I feel a little bad about complaining to Dell for one of the good units to get it replaced ...

 

Squealing LiteOn??? First I've heard of that. The Flextronics part is the one we and other customers have identified as the problematic part.

Edit:
I'm relieved after going back and reading all the subsequent posts. You had me in a tizzy there for a bit.

 

Does the XPS have any sort of charge indicator? I know the button on the right side lights up the battery status indicators, but is the front light supposed to look any different when the laptop is plugged in vs. not plugged in?

 

I know we do after point of sale cold calls for warranty upgrades. I had no idea the pricing was discounted, though. Sounds like the smart move is to just buy basic warranty at point of sale and wait for the call to upgrade at a discount. I guess as long as they can verify your personal information when they call, they are legit. BIG DISCLAIMER: I have no idea if the actual call you got was legit, and you would have to validate it is a legit call.

 

Yes, there is a light on the front that "breathes" as its charging, and shuts off when done.

 

Bill,

Sorry to scare you! The noise is so quiet that you literally have to put the power supply to your ear to hear it.

 

Ha! No worries. I'm just glad I went back and read the follow up posts before I went and set off email alarms from here to China. LOL

 

Quick note on Flextronics adapters: version A01 should start appearing at the factory and in replacement stock on 4/16. So if you receive a Flex adapter after 4/16, just check the sticker and verify it's A01. A00 is the noisy one.

 

One issue I have is that when the computer is on a flat surface and I press down on the bottom right corner of the keyboard deck, it flexes a little. Like the computer is on an uneven surface. Is this normal?

 

Huh? Which light? The only big white light I see on the front breathes (alternates softly between on and off) when in light sleep (or whatever the term is). In deep sleep, it's off, when laptops on, it remains on, whether charging, discharging or just plugged in.

 

Well I received mine today the wireless keeps dropping which is really annoying.

The adapter is a liteon and is quiet, the fan seems to come on alot with only doing light browsing without any other windows open so I will make sure that the bios is current and check the drivers for the wireless.

The notebook is really nice, I like the keyboard, it is nice and light, the lcd is sharp.

 

If my laptop is off and I plug in the charger, that light pulses until my unit is charged.