Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review & Owner's Thread

Yes check out my post http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...abook-review-owners-thread-6.html#post8363745 about just that.

 

Thanks, missed that going through the 35 pages. Thanks!

 

Excellent, thanks. I'll check this out as soon as I'm off the iPhone and on the computer.

 

This newer doc:

http://www.samsung.com/us/business/oem-solutions/pdfs/PM830_DCE_Product Overview.pdf

 

One correction that not many know about regarding this line in your article:

"If you'd rather not have to hit the Fn key for these settings keys on the top row, you can change it in BIOS."

If you navigate to the C-progfiles-dell-quickset you will find quickset.exe - this launches a gui for all the hard button FN key options (wifi, backlight, etc) - but one option there switches the FN key

I think quickset icon is supposed to launch this. Also, going to the start button and type mobility center into the search box it will launch.

 

Did anybody try putting Ubuntu (Live CD) or another recent Linux on the XPS 13? I'm really curious wether the fan and the touchpad issues persist in Linux.

 

New Cypress drivers soon please...the 15z driver did not help mine at all. It is still nearly unusable. Can someone who is not experiencing touchpad issues please post your cypress settings? Thanks in advance.

 

Fan is going to be controlled by BIOS, Trackpad driver within OS - so you would only see the Trackpad functionality affected by installing a different OS. You would probably get just base functionality - no gestures.

 

Not directly Ubuntu, but Linux Mint which is my preferred Ubunutu based distro and it worked pretty well. The fan came on a little more at first and may be just slightly more active, but not bad. Have not had a chance to thoroughly test it out.

 

Has anyone managed to come up with a solution to drive dual monitors?

I've been using the HDMI and VGA outs on my XPS1330 to drive two 21" monitors (with the laptop display closed) for years and was expecting to continue with the XPS 13, but I didn't realize there was only 1 video out (the mini Display port).

Help!

 

There are a couple of options that you have.

1. There are a few mini-display to dual DVI converters out there that also require a USB port for additional power. They will run you $100-$150. Most seem to have issues though when going multiple.

2. You could find a decent USB 3.0 video card (~$80-$100) and run one monitor off of that and the other off a mini dp to whatever converter (~$10).

3. Get a USB 3.0 Docking station, which is actually a pretty good idea since it would give you Gb ethernet, extra usb ports, multi monitor support, etc. Here is one as an example. Amazon.com: Toshiba PA3927U-1PRP Dynadock U3.0 Universal USB Connect Docking Station: Computers & Accessories They will run you anywhere from $120 for a decent one to $200.

The key on the last two is the USB 3.0 since it has the bandwidth to pull it off well. Don't get a USB 2.0 as you may have problems.

Hope that helps.

 

Anyone know if that Toshiba dock will work ok with the XPS 13? The Targus dock that is USB 3.0 has crap reviews.

 

lol, dude we're not rocking data center quality ssds

 

This guy has a video using it with the Vaio

Toshiba Dynadock-U Review - YouTube

 

Great Info and pics Scott. Thank you and keep 'em coming!
After you remove the bottom screws, are there any pesky clips or does the bottom lift off fairly easily?
Tom

 

He is using it through USB 2.0 it looks like. The newer USB 3.0 version should be even better since the bandwidth is so much higher.

I honestly could not tell you from experience. I have a friend that I know purchased one for his Lenovo and said it was working very good so far, but that was day one. I sent him an email to see what his experience is now after 3 weeks of use. Waiting on reply.

 

Ok first of all i love this forum, you guyz are great !
Second my Alienware M11X is dying (yeah the hinges ...and out of waranty from DELL...Grr).
So i m considering to buy one XPS 13. Ok for those who already enjoy it :
How is the keyboard ? Is it easy to use ?
Also does it worth it to buy the I7 ? ...

 

I bought the i7 - but i got a coupon code from someone at Dell - if you know anyone that works there ask them. I have not run any benchmarks, but if someone wants me to I can. I love it, but i wanted light. The chicklet keyboard is nice - but i am still working on getting sensitivity on the touchpad for stray palm presses dialed in. I really like that i still have arrow keys and function keys - i think they struck the right balance.

 

Coming from an M11X myself, which I loved and had the same issues you mention.

1. I LOVE the keyboard on this thing. It is really nice for a system of this size. Having tried most of the other Ultrabooks, this to me had the best keyboard. Unlike the M11X it has a slight cup to the keys which to me make it easier to type on. If you like the back-lit keys on the M11x you will like these as well. Very even lighting, just can't change the color.

2. I personally got the i5 and have run some pretty heavy video editing, graphic design, and even compiling on it with no issue. However not knowing what you are using it for it is hard to say one way or the other. The i5 is no slouch, however the i7 does rock and really does not use much more power.

 

PM830 256gb mSATA is in my rig - that is the spec sheet. Look at the teardowns.

 

Even if it is 30TBW, even in extreme use, for a laptop, you are looking at 3-4 years. On average you read at a rate of 50 to 1 compared to writes on a non-server system which is why they are designed for read first. If you do a ton of writes which is not as likely as you think you are still on a pretty long time before issues related to wear. Hibernation is not as bad as people think on writes. It generally only writes the changes from memory since the last hibernation. Since almost 30% of what is in memory is common system files and most likely you are on average using have of your memory, you end up writing about 1.2Gb - 1.5Gb. Especially since the memory being shared to video does not get written.

If you want to be cautious, there is nothing wrong with that. However much of the issues are way overblown. Done enough lab work to last a lifetime on these things.

 

Which coupon is it? Is it better than EPP pricing?

Good to know since I'd like to do some family video editing.

 

Update:
Cypress driver should post very soon. Original target was an April block release, but we have heard the feedback and moved some resources around. Invariably when I post a date for something, it moves and it's not a good experience for people when expectations are not met. We have a target date, but it's so close I'm not going to risk disappointing anyone if we miss. I'll be edgy and say end of next week to the middle of the following week time frame might happen. If we find bugs, that date range will slide. I can tell you for sure zoom and rotate will be disabled by default in the new driver, so be sure to re-enable those features if you use them after you update.

BIOS and fan noise- We're looking very carefully at this one. A03 is in test now. We have no ETA yet, but feedback is being very closely monitored by a lot of people.

 

I'd love to hear how his experience is with the DynaDock. From the looks of it on their site, it looks like it could be a really good option, and J&R has the newest U3.0 for only $129 shipped.

I'm thinking I'd still use the laptop's miniDisplayPort for one monitor, then use the dock for the other so we are only driving one display over the USB3 port, leaving enough room for everything else.

Now, someone tell me how we can get it to 8MB and I'll really be happy...

 

So I noticed that when typing (or anything actually), the xps13 would randomly deselect what I was doing. The window focus would disappear and I'd have to reclick the window I was working on. This would happen almost constantly. If anyone else has this problem, apparently it's an issue with the ambient light detection, so you can just turn that off. More details are on this thread for the same problem on the 15z: Dell xps 15z cursor disappears - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community
Alternatively you can just turn off Quickset entirely, but I kind of like seeing on the screen when I do an fn function.

Here are instructions how to turn off ambient light detection:
Go to "C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet"
Open up "BacklitKB.exe"
Deselect "Enable Ambient Light Sensor Control for Keyboard backlighting"
Hit OK

 

I thought the M11x hinge repair program covered you regardless of warranty. I'm pretty sure it does. If you're on Twitter, I'd reach out to @DellCares. If not, they (the social media support team) are on Facebook.com/Dell from the "support" link on the left side of the page. Let me know if you have any trouble getting service for a hinge repair.

 

@Dell-Bill_B

Is the Quickset icon in the taskbar supposed to launch the windows mobility app? It doesn't do anything, so why have it in the taskbar if not for this. Also, I have not noticed the ambient light sensor do anything. Going from bright light to dark room does not change keyboard backlight or screen brightness.

 

Curious about the Quickset icon as well. Does nothing but sit there.

 

My display brightness changes via the ambient light sensor (I actually disabled this feature in advanced power management settings because I'm not a fan), but the keyboard backlight never changes, though I wish it did.

 

It doesn't work at all in any of my tests. I hope i don't have to return it. I really like this machine.

 

My ambient light detector definitely worked: moving from a bright room to a dark room changed my keyboard backlighting. But as I said in an earlier post, it seems to also deselect any window I was focused on randomly so I deactivated mine.

 

I just saw a commercial on TV for this laptop. Looked pretty good.

 

Re: Bluetooth

Does anyone know why I can't get " Allow a device to connect" to show up active? I have discovery enabled, bluetooth services on automatic startup, and my devmonsrv.exe is where it should be.

I mention devmonsrv.exe because I'm also getting "Intel Bluetooth Service View has stopped working" when trying to connect my already-paired bluetooth headphones, and from reading the web I heard the problem was due to anti-virus programs deleting the devmonsrc.eve. But not in my case.

By the way, if anyone else had similar off-the-wall problems like I did previously, a good bet is Windows Update messing things up. I did a restore back to factory settings, and did not do any Windows Update. Everything's fine, except the bluetooth now.

 

My friend just got back with me. He said that it is working out very well for him. He is a graphic and web designer so having two screens is crucial for him and actually has set it up two use the screen on his laptop as the primary and two 23" monitors running off the dock at 1920x1080. He has had no issues with the video. He has tried playing 1080p movies with no issue and some light gaming.

He said it has allowed him to treat his Ultrabook like a main system. Since he works from home this has been used heavily.

I am now planning on ordering one myself. I had tried the Targus USB 3.0 with my ZEN, that I returned and it blew. So I would never recommend it. It had all kind of issue with video and through-put.

 

Guys, where are you buying your XPS 13's from? According to the UK Dell site, it's not released yet.

 

Hi
Was supposed to be released in EU in march, but still not available all around here, maybe too much demand from the USA ?

 

I just got it on 8th March at the annual IT fair here in Singapore. It was the first day of the IT fair, and the XPS 13 only arrived halfway through the day, so I assume it was rushed over here for the fair.

To add an update in case someone else had my problems, the Bluetooth problem was due to me turning off Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 under Window Features. Whoops. Didn't touch a single Windows update, and keyboard and touchpad are working fine. Can't wait for the Cypress update to make the touchpad even better!

One thing I found out, with quite a nasty shock, is that the keyboard doesn't have the fn+numpad. Any idea how to deal with this? I heard of Autohotkey and will look into it.

 

Good news !
XPS 13 will be available on march 13 in France, might be the same in UK since their new promotions are set up to come on march 13 in UK too.

 

Can anyone tell me where the keyboard ambient light sensor is? I keep moving from dark to light rooms and see no difference in the keyboard backlighting.

 

It is at the top next to the camera - but there seems some debate as to whether or not it affects keyboard or screen. Or none....

 

Do you need the official dell webcam drivers for this to work? I reinstalled the OS and did not install the webcam drivers

 

Can anyone tell me that if I do a system restore, will I get my 8gb hibernate partition back?

 

There are no drivers I know of. I fired up Skype and video worked. I did a clean install.

 

Got xps 13 ultrabook on Thursday. Had terrible fan noise from the getgo and downloaded aos 2 bios. This helped some. Fan does not come on as much and pitch of fan is reduced somewhat from previous. But fan still is annoying and stays on more than off.

Have problems with cypress trackpad as well. Have done some adjustments, but two-finger scroll stops working correctly once you get down to about the middle of any web page.

Otherwise, I like this laptop a lot, and hope that dell can fix fan noise and trackpad.

 

Some company needs to get their butts in gear and design a sleeve or case specifically for this machine.

I have tried three different ones from various sources and none are a good fit, too small or too big.

Has anyone found a nice fitting sleeve yet?

 

Not sure if that will change your partitions. I think you should be able to go into computer management, look at the discs and choose to shrink your main drive by 8gb, then recreate your rapid start partition. No guarantees as I haven't done it myself.

 

For anyone looking to restore the 8gb hibernate partition - see this page:

Intel Rapid Start Technology - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

Go to the post by -Dell-terry-b and further down by Ken PC for step by step.

Basicallly you go into Disk admin and shrink your current partition by 8gb, then use diskpart to create and format this 8gb partition a special type.

I did this after a full clean install - i wiped all partitions, installed windows, installed all apps, then went back and setup this partition when i noticed that hibernated didn't work.

 

Regarding the trackpad - i find it works well EXCEPT for the palm rejection - my hand is always causing the cursor to jump positions and it is because of the palm rejection not working. I wonder why they don't have what others do - disable while typing.

 

That's a driver issue and can totally be rectified, if there is impetus to get it done by the Cypress folks. Here's hoping ... I have had issues with this as well and changing the settings in the driver had provided limited success.

I still find the whole package to be quite usable and very cool for ultra portable computing.

 

Thank you! +Rep!