Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

I'm still desperately seeking a DC adapter for use on the road in the car. Has anyone found one?

Bill: I can't find one on Dell's site - can it be possible there isn't one for cars and planes? Is there one for a different model that would work with our XPS 13's? Help!

 

This thing sounds too good to believe. I hope not.

 

Glad you brought this up. I sent your post over to the analytics lead for global software and peripherals. She's on it. It may take a while, and they may decide to let the aftermarket handle it, but if we are going to release one specifically for this system, her team will make it happen.

Thanks for posting this.

 

I have the exactly same issue to lock up XPS 13 from the hibernate mode of iRST when TPM is enabled in BIOS. I just used Dell factory image (Win7 Ultimate) then everything's alright for the wake-up from iRST. Once turning TPM ON and activated from BIOS, the issue can be reproduced. I did not even configure BitLocker at all. I think it is a common issue even another new mother board is changed (it was tested by Dell onsite engineer for my notebook, they have no idea at all and just resend a new notebook for me again).

Please kindly clarify if it is a limitation between TPM and iRST in Dell XPS 13. I can't find any related issues for other ultrabook with TPM enabled for iRST from the discussion group except Dell.

 

It is quite impressive how Dell's customer service is responding on this thread, I would like to than everyone who contributed. It's hard to navigate this thread to find specific problems, so I would like to apologize in advance if any of the issues below have been answered before.

When I first bought the device, the trackpad gestures were working just fine on Chrome browser (specifically the three finger back and forward gestures). However, they three finger gestures have stopped working since about a week. What's strange is that they work on other browsers. I'm sure I have the latest update for the trackpad, so what seems to be causing this problem?

The other issue is with regards to the on screen graphics when adjusting the volume or brightness. Unless I'm on the desktop, I can't see the graphics when I change the brightness or volume which makes them kind of useless.

The most annoying problem so far is a sudden mouse freeze when I copy something from a PDF file or press Ctrl to copy from a document or a browser. This doesn't happen all the time, but it is very frequent. The mouse usually freezes for about three to five seconds.

 

If you have the very latest trackpad drivers they break gestures. The 33 ones didn't work well for me. YMMV but I find the beta drivers that are posted somewhere in here to work best for me.

 

I would certainly appreciate a link to those beta drivers. If someone can provide that link I would be very grateful. I'm sure others would as well. Thanks in advance.

 

Same thing's happening with me. About a week ago or two ago Chrome lost its ability to interpret 3-finger gestures (forward/back/toggle tabs). The problem seems limited to Chrome, so I'm assuming it's a software bug in a recent automatic update of Chrome, rather than a problem with the Cypress drivers (I have the .33 version). If anyone has troubleshooting ideas I'd love to hear.

 

Its a few pages back

 

I've had similar problems with drivers not installing properly. The first .exe extracts all the files. Then it's suppose to autorun the other .exe (inside the folder that is extracted). Did you check for any .exe files in the folder that is created?

 

Thanks.
What about the brightness and volume notification when you make adjustments, do you experience the same problem?

 

We have escalated this feedback to the BIOS and software engineering teams. This is a first for us in that we are selling this system as a Consumer unit, but Commercial clients are snapping them up in droves. This specific report of TPM enablement breaking iRST was originally posted by a Commercial customer with several units on the Dell forums. Usually, the Commercial Client engineering organization works issues reported by their clients, but with this system, the P&L (profit & loss) resides under Consumer. For this instance, we're working the issue and worrying about funding engineering later. We are learning our way through "the consumerization of I/T" as we go. The time to fix- if we officially intake the feedback as an issue- will be the usual turn around time. We'll keep you updated as we move along.

It's probably a bit of an over-share to report this here, but I thought you folks might like a tiny bit of the inside view of Dell.

 

I downloaded the latest driver from DisplayLink and now it works although there is noticeable cursor lag when using Firefox, progress at least.

 

Thanks for the alternative. Since I travel almost every week, I normally carry both AC and DC adapters with me. One of the nice things about my old Lat D630 was that it had one brick w/ different cables - one for DC, one for AC. The lack of DC adapter is really only a problem on older planes, like AA's and DL's MD-80's. Most of the newer 737's now have standard 2 prong plug-ins.
I'll keep waiting and checking with APC, Belkin, iGo etc. for a new one.

 

My XPS M1330 had a combo AC/DC adapter that was perfect. Small, lightweight, and it would work wherever I was on the road. I've got an inverter in the car, but it is bulky another piece of equipment...

 

I am looking for a DC power charging for the laptop and been unable to find one. I've tried to purchase a couple different ones but one of the big problems is that dell has a computer called a studio xps 13 which makes it hard to search on. Does anyone know of a dc power charger that works for the XPS 13 and/or does anyone know what the barrel size is of the charger?

 

Does anybody have experience with connecing a phone headset to the PC and using it as mic?
I have connected my Nokia headset (wired) to my PC, but I can't get the microphone to work (neither the internal when the headset is connected).


Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

Interesting read for anyone trying to deploy XPS 13 into the enterprise.
Zak's Tech Blog: MDT 2010 - Automated Dell XPS 13 Deployment(for the most part)

 

Some nice info in that link Bill, might be able to use the info about wireless network profiles. I've deployed the several machines we've received using OSD by adding drivers for USB3 and a Linksys usb ethernet adapter into the WinPE boot media.

Made a driver package for the XPS though I've had problems getting the Cypress touchpad software to install on deployment. Will have to try with the new updated driver.

 

Just installed the Windows 8 preview and latest official trackpad drivers from the Dell's site are working great.
All gestures work.

 

I did but couldn't find any .exe files in the folder that gets created.

 

Very cool! I hear tell PXE boot is going to be supported in the next BIOS, due shortly. We also may be working on certifying (code for selling) a Dell dongle that works with PXE. I am trying to get the Dell Tech Center crew (our community for enterprise professionals) involved in creating content and discussions on their site specifically about XPS 13 deployment. They made a video a while back, but it did not go into any specifics. More of a "you can do this if you want" type of thing. I sent them the link to Zak's site, and their interest has been piqued.

 

That would be very cool if pxe boot support could be added. Would make deploying these a little bit easier, though one problem I've come across which the tech center guys might want to look into is with OSD deployments the mac address of the ethernet adapter stays associated with the last machine it was used to deploy with. Right now I just do a manual computer association with the mac address before starting an image, but it part of the deployment scenario that would be nice to cover if they do more in depth look into enterprise usage with the XPS 13.

I saw the original video they put together, and was hoping for more from them before we got some of these devices in, but I've been able to work through it and get some of these deployed. Definatly would like to hear an official word on the iRST and TPM, it would be a shame if they won't be able to play together, since I did work out how to get the proper partitions for iRST and bitlocker to be created and configured through the OSD task sequence.

FYI I'm the originator of this thread

 

How are the new touchpad drivers? I have the .33 version and with palm rejection disabled + touchfreeze install for the same functionality, the touchpad is decent. Multi finger gestures work.

 

Finally no new XPS13 with Ivy Bridge is coming ?

 

Patience, young padawan...

 

Not until it's mid-life refresh in November. I think you can expect to see a 900p option then, too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

REALLY ????
Pretty much too bad got some top notched presentation to do soon....:cry:

 

OK Dell introduced today New 13z and 14z @ computex.

Here s the link if you want to check out those (available June 19 th in US / CAN starting from 600$):
Gallery: Dell Inspiron 13z and 14z hands-on pictures | The Verge

 

The newest touch pad drivers don't work for me. I tried the beta drivers and they work for basic scrolling but not multi finger gestures. I just rolled back to .33 at your suggestion ans installed touchfreeze but the 3 finger swipe still does not work.
I really, really wish that Dell would get these touch pad drivers working. It's the last piece of an otherwise elegant and wonderful laptop. I love everything about my XPS13 except the touch pad.
Please, Dell...please?

 

That's strange, for me two finger swipe, three finger back/forth, four finger minimize/switching b/w windows works. I haven't done anything for two-finger right-click as some people have tried, nor do I use pinch to zoom features as my multi-finger gestures were mostly misinterpreted with this turned on.

 

New touchpad drivers work for me, but I have had problems after removing a usb mouse and trackpad is dead - so unchecked the "disable when usb mouse is present" and it works fine. Could be related to the Dynadock, but it shouldn't be.

 

We escalated this issue to engineering. They came back last night with issue acknowledgement, root cause, and a BIOS fix is on the way in the July block. Thanks for bringing this up.

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

Haha, so any chance on an Ivy Bridge refresh of this coming any time soon?

Dell's website has a "buy a $400 gift card, get a free promotional $75 gift card free" thing going on right now until the 20th. That's basically ~18% off. Was considering buying it ahead of time and holding onto the gift cards for a little, if there's something good on the horizon.

 

@Bill - I am running the cypres 2.3.6.34 drivers and about 20% of the time when i undock from the dynadock, the trackpad is locked up. I have to plug in a USB mouse and save my work and reboot.

I don't have the trackpad disabled when a usb mouse is detected for this reason. There is no way to get into the mouse control panel either.

For such a solid machine, Cypress should be ashamed of their poor stability for the main interface. I never remember having issues like all these with other brands of trackpads.

 

I have an i5 based XPS 13 4GB/256GB which I have been very pleased with - have encountered a new problem I am hoping someone can guide me towards a solution.

When I am running a program the program window will start "deselecting" uncommanded - as if I had the cursor on the unoccupied portion of the desktop and clicked (but of course I didn't) - it usually stays there until I select the program window but then will usually 'deselect" again. The program window doesn't go away & the computer doesn't lock up.

It wouldn't be a problem except it sometimes deselects while I'm typing a word document or entering numbers into a spreadsheet - which means all of a sudden I'm typing nothing until i move the cursor back to the line (or cell), click to select and start typing again - then usually in about 20 seconds it does it again. It's almost as if something in the system is (uncommanded) deselected the program I'm using - sometimes while I'm actually entering data. So far I've seen it happen with Firefox and Office (word & excel) - I usually use a mouse (with touchpad auto-disabled on mouse plug in) but it happens with both the mouse and the native touchpad. I'm virus and malware free per AVG and Malwarebytes and the Dell hardware scan shows no problems. Any ideas? I am hoping someone recognizes the problem & has a fix without me needing to go through Dell tech support. thanks

 

Followup - I updated the BIOS, drivers & chipsets & I think I've solved the problem. But I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this (just out of curiosity)

 

I recently ordered (and have not yet received) an XPS 13 and of course am now having all these second thoughts with some of the recent Ivy Bridge rumblings I've seen online since ordering.

From what I understand, the Ivy Bridge CPUs should be more efficient and have better battery life, but also run hotter.

Does anyone have a "real world" idea of what the difference will be, especially for battery life? Are we talking an extra 30 minutes on average or are we talking hours?

I'm going to be using the XPS 13 mainly for web based activities at work and home, so I don't really think any slight performance upgrade we might see between these two will affect me much. Much of the work based activities would benefit from extra battery life if it is significant. That said, if we're talking about only an extra 30 minutes I'm more inclined to keep the one I have coming instead of going through a return process and having to wait for the Ivy Bridge versions to be released (which haven't even been officially announced by Dell yet).

 

@ Dell_Bill_B

Any chance you can fill us in on the new XPS 14, model XPS14-9092sLV? It has been a couple of weeks now. To refresh your memory here is a link to it.

XPS 14 - Model XPS14-9092sLV

The 14" screen on this model will fit my needs better than a 13" screen.

 

If memory serves, I think the touch pad driver fixed this.

Still working on it. Got some positive movement. Main concern now is whether we can get an announcement/teaser page up before launch. Last I heard was, "we'll know next week if we can pull it off."

 

Bill - I updated that driver - still doing it - any other ideas? (I will double check the driver when I get to hotel tonight)

Thanks

 

My trackpad is still doing it too. After connecting a mouse the trackpad freezes up. It doesn't matter whether I check to disable it during mouse operation. I have the latest driver from the download page. This is getting very annoying...you think it could have been fixed by now. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

 

Try disabling the automatic light sensor. I think you can find it by poking around in the Windows Mobility Center. I get there by just typing "location" into the start/search box and hitting enter.

 

Thanks for trying. I doubt your marketing folks want to do anything before 6/15 since all of the news cycles next week will belong to Apple.

I am counting on you guys delivering a perfect 14" Ultrabook. No pressure.

 

We'll be closer to a perfect 14" PC. UB no comment.

 

My light sensor is disabled and the tochpad is still frozen.

 

Your issue is different from his. Not sure what's going on with frozen touch pad.

 

Hi, first post... I just got this computer two days ago. I was wanting to do a proper clean install, and hoping to find a guide here but I havent found one yet. Has anyone done this yet? (I installed windows and downloaded all the dell drivers from the website, and things seem to be working fine, but I cant get the quickset OSD to work all the time)

 

Bill and others, some remaining questions and issues for me, if anyone could answer/help with these

1. Any way to disable the bluetooth apart from disabling the device from Device Manager? Does the Device Manager disable help conserve power? Even if I do that, Windows + X: Mobility Center window shows Bluetooth enabled.
2. Fn + F3: Battery meter's Enable Dell Extended Battery option is broken, enabling it disables the advanced Settings, and disabling that enables them (should be the other way around). The functionality seems to be broken anyways (doesn't seem to do anything with any combination of settings enabled/disabled).
3. Battery falls to 92% immediately after unplugging. I have run down the battery as suggested by someone, but the recalibration never happened.

By the way, I am on A03 Bios if that matters. What are the benefits of A04?