Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

I think some people didn't noticed this issue yet , is because if you use your xps 13 in a noisy ( like air conditioner and other people working) you will never notice the sound. But if you are in a silent room , you will easily notice a high pitched high tone sound like a mechanical hard drive seeking noise but with a higher frequency / sound.

Most of the time it's not bother me but when I'm at home, in my bed, it's really annoying.

 

I have a pulsating noise occasionally which i thought was the fan but iam now getting worried as it sounds like a sort of mechanical whine for about a minute or so and then disappears. It seems to be completely random.

 

The disk Dell sent me didn't work either. it's a corrupt image of windows that is the problem. I used another win7 disk I had burnt and had no problem. The issue is not drivers or ACPI as some googling will lead you to believe.

Yes. When I spoke to Support I told them I wanted one manufactured by Lite-on and they sent me it. It works fine.

Right I've got my second machine now aswell and... you've guessed it! Noisey!!!

To sum up I've currently got:

1 - New machine

2 - Old machine with replacement:
- Mobo
- Fan
- Keyboard
- We also tried a new screen but didnt fit it as it didnt fix the issue.

So the new machine works like the old machine did with Mobo 1 in it, the noise only happens when it is on or you push the battery indicator button.

The old machine with Mobo 2 in it now makes the noise all of the time even when powered down, it only stops when you remove the battery, it doesn't start until you power something up however. Since I'm not keeping the old machine I decided to take it all appart bit by bit and check for the noise. In each case I removed the battery connection and removed each part 1 by 1, reconnected the battery and pressed the battery indicator button to start the noise. Note the noise is much feinter with the unit not running but it is still there.

I removed every component down to the having just the mobo (with heatsink still attached) and the battery on the table, the noise persists. So I had a very careful listen to the mobo and I can say that there is no single problem component, the whole board is singing!!! There are a few different noises, it does seem that there is a mechanical element as when you touch the board an element of the sound disappears but that is just changing the resonant freq of the board. It really is all over the board that is making noise. I tried pressing with an insulator nearly every component an couldn't stop the noise. There are a number of duplicate components on the board so I suppose there could be a bad reel of parts in the placing machine, or it could be a poor connection between the board and the components.

This noise for me is either:
- On every machine and some people are not noticing it, the noise is not considered a problem by Dell and is not faulty components, just poor engineering
- On some machines but not all: Parts quality issue or Manufacturing issue


Bill - are you able to see if an Engineer can try the same test I have done on some Mobos? Just the battery and mobo are required. They might need the daughter board if the mobo doesn't replicate the problem without being turned on like one of mine does. Also do you know if there is a RevA02 mobo?
EDIT: Also would there be any possibility that someone could look into the manufacturing date/loacation/batch of the mobo's that people are complaining about? And see if there is any common grounds that could explain the problem?

I'm a bit stuck now, I want this computer but the noise sounds like something that is going to come back and bite me, probably on month 13 as the warranty has expired.... I think if this can't be resolved I'll need a free extended warrenty or to get rid of it and maybe I'll buy it again when the next gen of boards come round with the processor upgrade... I just can't live with what feels like a £1300 time bomb...

 

A very speedy service from dell received new power adapter today and it is a new lite-on model.This has solved the buzzing from the power adapter.

 

Looking for advice. Close to placing an order.
i5 or i7?
How much of a performance improvement is i7? I presume the i7 has a WORSE battery life than the i5?
I will not be doing heavy graphics, mainly academic with some video though.
Thoughts? Thanx,

 

I7 is only 10% faster than I5, what matter is SSD, i suggest you save your money on I7 bying one I5, and invest on bigger 256 GO SSD...Or save money for nice holidays with your Gf

 

This is going out on a limb but any word on when we can upgrade the 128gb ssd to the 256gb model?

 

December should provide some good perspective on the entire Win8 landscape. Your timeline is indeed working.

We have saved that rep from himself. All regions should be subbing the LiteOn for the Flex.

Regarding the high pitched noise some are hearing, we have investigated with a number of system captures and have found the noise in all cases to be within spec. If you think yours is out of spec, you might try reaching out to the social media team via the links in my sig. Let them know you are willing to offer up your system for a capture. If they get capture approval from the failure analysis engineers, they'll swap the system for a new one. You would keep what you have until the new one arrives, then return ship per their instructions.

 

I can open a case here in Brazil or just US? There any specific internal code to help the support agent to understand what I'm talking about? Because I'm afraid that they will send a technician that will strip down my xps apart with no clue.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

This is my official out of office for vacation post. If I missed any replies, I apologize and will try to catch up when I return on May 21. If there are any service related issues that need immediate attention, please use the links in my signature or PM DellChrisM or Dell-Jesse_L.

 

Is anyone else experiencing an "automatic click" issue where hovering the pointer is like clicking? It seems to be intermittent but is frequent. I have tried all of the suggestions found through google searches: unchecked the setting in ease of access center under "make mouse easier to use", disabled "tap to click" in track pad settings. It happens with mouse or track pad but might be worse with track pad. I had two different IT gurus look at it and they each thought they solved it but didn't. I'm using Win 7 Ultimate and have latest Cypress track pad driver (2.3.6.33). It happens in multiple programs. Any suggestions?

 

Yeah I've had the phantom click quite a bit. Also I've had where I press the left button and it does a right click... weird

 

Hi everyone,

I've been reading this post since I decided to buy the dell ultrabook. So I want to thank everyone for all the comments you did.

I got the ultrabook 3 days ago and I have a problem with my keyboard light. First it turned on an off randomly since the beginning but since yesterday it's dead. :/
I noticed that when I pressed down on the chassis right to the trackpad the ligth turned on. Probably a connectic problem.

When I try to contact dell on the webside, my model number isn't recognized yet, I live in Belgium.

Any support please?

Thanks.

 

Are you sure you didn't switch of the light. There's a shortcut to toggle the keyboard light between high/low/off - fn + some function key, check toggling this.

 

I have had my XPS 13 since the first few days of the release. I am extremely pleased for the most part and this forum has been extremely helpful. This morning, when I turned on my laptop, I had a beep and a black screen with the following message:
Warning: The battery cannot be identified. The system will be unable to charge this battery. Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
I unplugged and restarted. I let the battery drain to about 30% and plugged back in. It now says that it's plugged in and charging in the indicator. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate and A03 Bios, have not upgraded to the newest bios yet. I always shutdown between work and home so that's twice each day.
Any suggestions?

 

²

Yeah, unfortunately it's not that easy! I think it's a hardware problem...

 

Whoah I seriously love the design and form factor of this Ultrabook.

Does anyone know when Dell will upgrade to Ivy Bridge?
That's the only thing keeping me from buying it right now.

The GPU performance increase is worth the wait for me.

 

I've recieved my xps13 on 1st May 2012, take it out from the box and power it up...... 1st bad thing happen to me was the screen brightness blinking rapidly, adjust the brightness to maximum and it's ok... so i started to play with the brightness button again by adjusting it from bright to dimm and dimm to bright then noticed the buzzing sound from the Mobo act differently and the screen still blinking like a stroboscope at a low to mid brightness level. The brighter i go the hotter i'll get on the far up right at the delete button area... At first thought it was a new hardware that have to run for a while maybe a day to make it run properly... After a week of using it, the problem still exist. I open the back cover to see what is wrong and what cause the heat building up when i brightened up the screen display. I noticed that the Inductor Labeled 100 of PL9 (a black round cylinder with a 2 pole) beside the LCD Plug was way too hot to touch and the Transister labeled A9CA 1N of Q51 below the ssd (SMD Transistor 3 pin) was burning and cracked... I assumed that the buzzing sound was comming from the Invertor and Inductor for the screen display current control... Now I just use the level 3-4 of the brightness level to keep the heat low and waiting for the support crw to come... Did anyone have the same situation as mine...

 

Am I the only one that misses Dell-Bill B?

I think my Ultrabook is turning itself on and overheating in the leather sleeve. Yes I went into the bios and turned that feature off.

 

I already informed it to the support team and they ask me to send a picture of the burning and chipped parts... Sadly that I have to stop using it until they come and fix the problem.. It was a great machine though.. Now I have use back my Vostro 3300 Laptop for my daily work... very very sad....

 

is this when the laptop is completely shut down or in standby / sleep mode? I think the same thing happens when I have it in sleep, even though I swear i've turned off everything that could turn it on.

 

Completely shutdown. I don't use sleep or hibernation.

 

Guys sorry to ask again.

Do you think we will see an Ivy Bridge XPS 13 next month, or should I just buy this one now?

 

Dell Bill mentioned that any refresh of this model would be in a few months time,have a look back a few pages. Enjoy the machine now you wont regret it.

 

I thought Dell Bill said in a previous post this wouldn't see a refresh until Mid Life, like October.

 

Man that's a long time.
I think I'll buy it today and sell it later and buy the refreshed one.
Can get an i5 128SSD at 800 bucks.
Is that a great price right?

 

I bought it at this price, through EPP. Are you buying through EPP?

 

Nope I'm not buying it that way.
EPP says 970 without sh and tax.

I saw a refurb at 800.

 

Nevertheless, 800 is a great price for this machine!

 

Interesting that you have found a damaged component. I suspect that it's part of the "buzzing" issues that a few of us are reporting. I could find no single dodgy component on the mobo i inspected although I did not have it running at the time as I only needed to check the battery level for it to make the buzzing noise.

What I don't get is that they all seem to be making the noise from what I can work out. Well I've had 3 motherboards (2 in one machine and a repalcement machine) and they all buzzed, the newest the least of all. From Bill's comments they are aware that there is some kind of issue with the motherboards emitting noise but have declared the units they have investigated as "within spec". I have a bad feeling that there are going to be a large number of these units failing prematurely in the future due to some issue that Dell are not admitting to right now.... I'm not sure what to do about mine.... half the reason I wanted it was the fact that it should be silent due to the SSD and ULV processor....???

Edit: it might be worth you disconnecting the screen and seeing if you can locate the buzzing any better of if this changed the noise.

 

Just bought it.
Can't wait to get it next week.

By the way which mini display port adapter can I use with this laptop.
I saw this one on ebay Rocketfish Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (RF-AP305). 4 bucks.
Would that be compatible, they mostly say macbook but I don't see why it wouldn't work on ours.

 

I'm sure it would. I use this one from Monoprice and it works great.

For only $5.70 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Mini DisplayPort | Thunderbolt® to HDMI® Adapter w/ Audio Support | Mini DisplayPort to HDMI / DVI / VGA Adapters

 

Thanks just ordered one too.

Has anyone tried windows 8 cp on it. Do all drivers work correctly on it?

I plan to install it if I hear that it works good on it.

 

Works great with Windows 8 CTP.

 

Same here man! I have not figured it out yet either. I was playing with the power settings recently and disabled the auto-wake feature but it is still behaving oddly.

And yes, I miss Dell-Bill B too!

 

Great now I have to hunt a case to carry it.

Any recommendation of a slim case.

 

I guess Dell is selling nice black leather case made specifically for the XPS 13 for around 50 USD.

I bought a Knomo Envelope at the advice of another user here, it was pricey at 80 USD but it is all class ...

 

Was looking at this one.



30 buck on Ebay.

What do you think?

 

Looks ok, for twenty more you can get one made of real leather.

 

With 20 more I can get mini display port to HDMI and USB SD card reader, maybe a cheap usb hub too.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

Well, that's a good point. Your main objective with the case is to keep your new toy safe from bumps and bruises!

 

Are the touchpad drivers working for you? Whenever I enable two finger scroll, and use it, the machine does the freeze and random key inputs.

 

Hmm perhaps a decent alternative to the XPS 13. Doesn't look like edge to edge gorilla glass and there's no mention of carbon fiber (two main selling points for me with the XPS 13). But it does have Ivy Bridge and more ports. Pricing looks similar. Main complaint I can see so far is the keyboard configuration.

HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook
HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes -- Engadget

"there's the 13.3-inch Envy Spectre XT, whose all-metal body looks nothing like the glass-class clad Envy 14 Spectre we reviewed earlier this year. As with its big brother, the major selling point here is design -- in this case, a 3.07-pound machine with a 14.5mm-thick profile. As for specs, you can expect an Ivy Bridge CPU, paired with a 128GB SSD and a battery rated for eight hours of runtime. Like the other Ultrabooks in HP's stable, it makes room for a USB 3.0 port, HDMI and an Ethernet jack, and similar to other Envys it comes with full copies of Adobe Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements, along with a two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security. We're told the warranty on this Envy is one year, not two, but users owners do get a dedicated customer support line, for what that's worth."

HP ENVY Spectre XT
Starts at $999.99; available on June 8

Operating system: Windows 7 Premium (64-bit)
Display: 13.3-inches (1366 x 768 resolution)
CPU: Available with third-generation Intel Core processors
Memory: 4GB 1600MHz DDR3
Storage: 128GB (up to 256GB) SSD
Input devices: Backlit Keyboard and HP Imagepad
Connectivity: 802.11a/g/n, 2x2 WLAN, Bluetooth, Intel Wireless Display
Ports include: Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 (1), HDMI
Dimensions: 327 x 221 x 14.5 mm
vs XPS 13 UB: 314.96 x 205.74 x 18.03 (someone might want to double check my #s)
Weight: 3.07 lbs.
vs XPS 13 UB: 2.99lbs
Battery life: up to eight hours
Included software: two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security, full versions of Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements 10
Beats Audio with quad speakers
HP CoolSense technology
HP TrueVision HD Webcam
One-year subscription to Absolute Data Protect
Concierge phone line dedicated exclusively to HP ENVY Spectre owners

 

I agree, what the Heck is doing mister Dell ?
It takes too long and it disapoint me to see HP coming with cheaper models with all options (3 USB, Ethernet, higher definition screen...).

Not to mention that everyone HATES Mcaffee crap, please go to any other antivirus, BUT this one!

HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes -- Engadget

 

After all the problems I have been having with the XPS 13, I returned it a while ago. I also returned the T-Mobile Hotspot. Was anyone else charged separately for both of these? I'm asking because I am being refused a refund on the T-Mobile Hotspot because I am being told that I was refunded for XPS 13 already, which should have included the cost but did not.

 

I was charged and billed separately as was everybody else.

 

1. All the models in that link are the same screen resolution as the XPS 13, so where do you see higher definition screen?

2. If you hate McAfee, just uninstall it! It takes all of 30 seconds. I seriously do not get all the complaining I see about the antivirus choices on various laptops. It makes zero sense when there are perfectly-capable free alternatives out there.

 

I've put a Delta Chi Skinit on every item I own but I just can't bring myself to cover up the aluminum top on this Ultrabook...

 

Is there any information on the ivy bridge refresh yet? Perhaps a higher res screen?

 

*** I doubt their 15" model will be 1300x700... but as it s written in the PR, HD...

*** Instead of paying for bad AV like MacAfee, i would prefer to have a cheaper PC or better the option to buy the one i LOVE...

*** HP still is offering more portability option (USB, ethernet etc...), seriously if DELL pretend it's XPS, I don't see any "XPS" capabilities here but rather LESS...

*** Don't get me wrong, I DO LOVE DELL, but I expect more from them, and better communication, better service and better products (Thanks for stupid saleperson at their morrocan office, i paid for receiving the wrong M11X...+ was defective changed once, replaced by another defective ALIENWARE unit.... this too stinks).
IMHO, ALIENWARE used to be the best of the best computer you used to find, now it's christmasled crapping plastic boxes made in china...not the REAL thing anymore.

*** In the US it sounds like you have excellent service with great people at DELL, but in the EU, do you understand what means R-U-B-B-I-S-H ?
Please DELL decide once and for all to use LOCAL and COMPETENT people not " cheap exotic wanageek" from India or north Africa who are messy.
Id Est ... i order one model and i receive another one and ...nobody cares @ DELL !.

No hate, i love DELL, but i m getting tired of DELL....Seriously.

ps : Sorry if anyone @ Dell find this post aggressive, just facts guz nothing personal...
sending a message, hoping that the right person in charge would take the decision to think different!.