Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

Have not seen that one and I have hooked it up several times.

 

The Samsung Series 9 and Series 5 are two very different animals.

 

@SoundsGood

Yeah I believe you on that.

 

Oh My God! This is how the touch pad should have worked from the start. I think I am completely satisfied now.

 

I confirm that the 15z touchpad driver works on Windows 8 64bit.

Direct Link: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

Otherwise google Dell Drivers. First link (the support page). Choose from list. Laptops. XPS. XPS 15z (L511z). Input. Dell Driver (Optional) 2.3.6.26.

Lots of settings + 2 finger vert and hori scrolling work. Pinch to zoom also works. Wasn't able to get 3 or 4 finger gestures to do anything.

Fan is not going nuts either based on the touchpad (been on a constant very low but high pitched hum since booting, and nothing changed after downloading and installing).

 

That is kind of interesting. Can you watch the Touchpad executables in Task Manager to see if they are constantly using anything over 2%?

 

I'm curious about this as well, though I may return mine as A02 did not help the fan go full bore less frequently.

 

Wow the build quality looks rock solid, I still wonder why they haven't made the XPS 15z this way thanks for the review +1 rep

 

Nope, Dell paid shipping.

 

I have noticed the CyCpIo hitting randomly 2% but not over. However what I have noticed is both the CyCpIo and the CyHidWIn processes never go below 1% even when idle, ever. I have never seen that from a touchpad.

 

XPS has some big things coming up. Stay tuned.

I haven't delved into the issue much yet, but the first theory I'd have to prove/disprove is whether that constant activity is the result of polling for the extra finger for multi-gesture input. Could be wildly wrong. Just starting to wonder about this. I will ask the touch pad architecture engineers when I get a chance.

 

I'll send you a PM with my Dell email address. Would you mind emailing me your service tag, please? The quality engineer is working this fan issue and is looking at service stock of heat sink and fan part numbers. She's wondering which part number you got. We can see it from the dispatch notes by looking at the service tag. Thanks in advance.

Also, if anyone gets a heat sink replaced, could you post back the part number and results? This isn't a call to call up and get heat sinks replaced. Before (and even IF) we do something like that, we need some time to work through supply logistics, but this is waaaaay cart before the horse at this stage. BIOS A03 should improve some of the situations you guys are describing.

 

@Bill

Is the an eta on A03? While A02 improved the fan a bit, it is still not there yet.

 

I just bought the Dell XPS 13, and the touchpad is terrible. I've updated it to 2.3.6.26 (taken from the XPS 15z downloads page) and there is no improvement.

1. Two finger scrolling works for two swipes and then it doesn't.
2. Tap to click almost never works on the first tap.
3. I can't click with the buttons if I have a finger in contact with the touchpad.
4. Sometimes, even regular one finger navigation gets wonky.

 

Oh c'mon now. You've gotta give us a little bit more than that!

 

Have you checked the touchpad settings?

Mine works really good after the driver update and changing the settings to fit me.

You can change things like tapping speed and such to customize the way the tap to click works for you..

 

After some messing around (back on the original driver), it's working. Not like magic or butter smooth, but acceptable.

Although before it got to this stage, it gave me quite a wild spin. This was what I was prepared to post:

At this point I reinstalled the original driver.

I adjusted the scrolling speed (with vertical scrolling width enabled) a few more times and finally got one that didn't making my page jump all over the place. It seems weird that 2-finger scrolling works without these "scrolling widths" enabled, yet something related to scrolling, like the speed, requires the enabling of these "scrolling widths".


Edit: While typing this post I noticed that the " character is delayed in appearance, and any key pressed after that (like spacebar) is not registered. Can someone else test this please? Try tapping a key repeatedly at a fast pace. Then try taping the " key at the same pace. For me, the " key appears at almost half the actual tapping speed. Sometimes, it doesn't appear at all until another key is pressed.

 

@noced

Yeah not seeing a delay at all on mine.

 

What scrolling speed do you guys use for the touchpad? And what does the tiny scroll bar icon at the cursor mean? I'm still having some trouble with the touchpad scrolling. It's extremely jerky and stops after a few swipes then it starts up again and scrolls a whole lot. I'm complaining so much I might as well return the damned thing.

 

Dain bramaged question:

I know that there's a fan in the XPS 13, but none of the utilities I've tried (Speccy, Speedfan, Open Hardware Monitor) can find a fan, let alone report the speed of it.

Is that because the BIOS doesn't support reporting that information, lack of a sensor, or?....

I was hoping to quantify the rev-up/down/sideways stages of the fan more than just using audible cues.

 

You might need to go into the BIOS and turn on SMART reporting?

 

Checked the BIOS. The only thing even remotely resembling that is "Smart Connect" which I believe is something else entirely... and it is enabled by default anyway.

 

Make one of these a convertible tablet with touch and Wacom digitizer, W8, add a HDMI port, thunderbolt port and an Ivy Bridge CPU with HD 4000 graphics and I would give it a test drive.

 

There's a tickbox in speedfan that allows it to talk to Dell computers. It says something like "Dell Computers". When I enabled it, Speedfan started seeing my fan. As somebody else pointed out, though, when I had speedfan installed, the fan was running even more than usual (A01 bios) so I'm not sure it will be a good utility for controlling or monitoring speeds. In any case I couldn't figure it out.

 

And a pony... a pink one. Don't forget the pony.

Don't forget to ask for it to be under 2 pounds and have 17-hour battery life...

Nah, on second thought, forget the 2 pounds, because THAT would be unrealistic.

 

LOL. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing when I read his unrealistic wish list. And, if Dell did produce it, people would complain about the price.

 

@Bill, do you know if a higher resolution screen option will be added for the XPS 13?

 

No ETA as of this time. I can usually estimate when a post will happen based on block release schedules and priority (sev level), but not with this one. It's hard to tell for sure because they are doing an all hands on deck thing with lots up updates to execs step by step. This means it will be quicker than I could estimate.

They will have Ivy Bridge. How's that for a little bit?

I'm waiting on a reply to my request for an ETA on the new Cypress driver. Will post back as soon as I hear. I have a feeling it won't be too long.

That invisible quotation mark thing is something I've had on my work laptop before, and it drives me absolutely nuts. It must have been some setting I changed by accident, because it doesn't do it now, and I have no idea why. I didn't try to fix it. It just stopped one day.

I can't comment on specifics, but we are always evaluating screen resolution options. If we do roll out a higher res screen, it often happens at the Mid-Life Kicker (MLK) release. Not saying it will be on the MLK. Just saying stay tuned and see what happens.

 

0%; 0.4%; 0.7%; are the only values that I've seen. I did ctrl alt esc for the task manager. Watched the "Cypress..." and browsed around IE using the scroll gestures.

 

Thanks Bill. I understand that you cannot provide more specific information or guarantees. I'm trying to understand the dell release cycle. What exactly does MLK mean, and when does it typically happen after the initial release? In this case, would it likely be during an Ivy Bridge refresh?

 

Current and prospective XPS 13 owners, please respond to the poll I have just created regarding the ideal fan behavior in the XPS 13:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/650295-xps-13-fan-behavior-poll.html

No guarantees that it will influence anything, but I was asked to post it.

Thanks.

 

Woah dude! Don't go all fanboy on me. Consumer expectations are what make the world go round ... ... and keeps notebook designers on their toes.

I've been waiting for two years for Dell to even take a stab at a decent 13" notebook again. This is not a bad first attempt but, in light of the progress that is being made by other manufacturers in higher quality, denser resolution displays, better chicklet keyboards, innovative touchscreen devices and a greater number of devices being equipped with N-Trig or Wacom digitizers, none of these options is beyond the reach of todays designers. I think we will see something close to my wish list being produced within the year. Intel's ultrabook strategy is largely dependent upon the introduction of the Ivy Bridge CPU/HD 4000 IGPU. W8 is clearly biased toward touchscreen displays and Intel's ultrabook design criteria includes convertible tablet designs. http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/07/intel-ivy-bridge-touchscreen-ultrabook-hands-on/

I would not be surprised to see Dell with a new ultrabook convertible W8 tablet by Q4-2012/Q1-2013. Hopefully, they abandon the N-Trig digitizer used in the XT series in favor of the clearly superior Wacom digitizer. I like the footprint of the XPS 13 and would like to see something similar in size as the basis for Dell's XT3 replacement.

Sony already comes fairly close to my "unrealistic" list with its new Vaio U and UX series but I am not crazy about the slider design and would prefer a more traditional reversing hinge. http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3104&news=sony+vaio+u+slider+tablet I guess "unrealistic" is all in the eyes of the beholder. Dell designers are a bit behind the curve but I'm rooting for them. I would not sell them short.

 

Slightly off-topic, but is it just me that doesn't EVER want a touch screen laptop? I don't want greasy finger prints all over my screen thank you very much! I've always changed laptops every three years but if it all goes touch on me, I may still be hanging on to my circa 2011 notebook with Windows 7 in about 20 years time. Perhaps I'm just getting old???

 

Bronsky, which Ultrabook is your fav so far? Current models only (or to be released very shortly)

 

Hey everyone, I got my XPS 13 the day it came out and I wanted to share some of my experiences:

First off, I love this thing. I got the I7 and 256GB hard drive and have no regrets. Fan issue only appears some times for me, so I can wait as they work through it. I did do a complete wipe and install - you do need the 8gb partition if you want instant start - it is really a BIOS aware hibernate. Some are worried about the endurance of the SSD, but even if it hibernates all the time I will still get 3 years out of the SSD - it is rated at 625TBW.

The only thing i hated was the TMo hotspot they charge $100 for - i called 5 minutes after ordering and they could not cancel, but they sent me a shipping label and are issuing a refund - I went back through the entire order process and never found a way to opt out - but there site was flaky the day it went on sale, maybe on honest error; somehow i doubt it.

 

@alphadog00

Thanks for post about the hotspot. I had seen that on Dell's forum as well that you could get a refund for it. I am actually planning on using it for business so I will keep mine.

I am pretty sure that T-mobile was paying Dell to promote these, which is why you can't opt out up front. They figure most people will never call for a refund and just consider it part of the package. Not a bad marketing strategy to get people hooked.

Personally I have a rooted Android so I already have a hotspot, but this will be used for another program I have going on for training.

 

The hotspot is billed as a separate item, so easy to complain about.

on another note - does the quickset icon work in the taskbar for anyone? It does not for me. If i go to the quickset folder on the C drive i can launch the app.

 

I'm highly interested in a touchscreen laptop. I will probably hold out on buying this XPS or similar ultrabook to wait for the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga ultrabook due this fall. 1600x900 IPS screen has a double hinge to fold backwards fully 360 degrees to become a W8 tablet. Too cool!

But yes, I do hope the touchscreen laptops come equipped with retractable microfiber cloth

Sent from my Droid Incredible 2 using Tapatalk

 

Regarding durability of the SSD - the 256GB Samsung is rated at 625TBW (terabytes written) - so if the drive is completely overwritten 4 times per day it will last 625 days or close to 2 years.

No one will write that much to a consumer SSD (this is not a Database server) but most SSDs have a wear leveling process that will move blocks around. The only downside to this drive is that there is no utility to show how much data is actually written per day.

 

Thanks. I'm going to try to do a clean wipe of the OS and see if starting over helps the touchpad and keyboard " problem.

Speaking of that, can someone teach me how I can do that please? xD I'm kind of embarrassed about being so dumb. I searched for "recovery" in the start menu and clicked on the one that says "reinstall windows", but then it says "requires windows installation disc". Even if I had an external CD-rom drive, I don't have a copy of Windows 7. I'm guessing the installation is stored in a partition on the XPS? I've tried F2 and F12 on start up but they don't go into the recovery settings.

I think Dell was rushing to get the XPS 13 to my country. I got it on the first day of an IT fair held here, and the XPS 13 is so "newly released" that stock only arrived halfway through the day. Could explain why the quality isn't quite there.

 

Hit F8 when booting to enter the repair my computer options and select the Dell restore option. It's not a clean install as you'd get from a generic Windows 7 disc though, it will restore it to the factory shipped state. Alternatively you can call Dell and ask for the Recovery DVD or a USB recovery stick. Drivers and software are on a separate disc.

 

Thanks! I think I'll return this machine after all, actually. The touchpad is faulty, the keyboard has a problem key, and now the wifi is wonky too.

 

Yeah it seemed you were having quite a few off the wall issues with yours.

 

My full review is now up, and it's really long! Dell XPS 13- Ultrabook Reviews by MobileTechReview

- Lisa

 

Does anyone know whether the T-Mobile 4G card is internal to the machine, or is it an external USB 4G modem?

 

I am right there with you CC, I have no interest whatsoever in a touch screen laptop. Every tiime I hear some moron in the media say that tablets are the future of computing I want to scream ...

 

Neither it is an external hotspot that you can share with up to 5 devices.

 

Very interesting! Thanks.

 

Where'd you find the 625 TBW? This spec sheet says 30 TBW http://m.samsung.com/us/business/oem-solutions/pdfs/SSD-CompChart-SM825-PM830.pdf

 

Does anyone know if the mini-displayport does audio as well as video? I know MacBooks do if you get the HDMI adapter, does the XPS do the same?