Dell XPS 15 vs Dell XPS 15 or What 2 years brings

For anyone who has an XPS 1501x/1502x and are interested in upgrading to the latest, this post might help. I have both the 1502x and 9350 in hand (for the time being). Here is a short comparison between the two, with pictures.

The 9350 improves on the 1502x in many areas but is actually worse in other areas. I have the top of the line 9350 and a i7/Blu-ray 1502x.

9350 advantages

• Better screen. Though I should say the 1502x screen isn't that much worse in terms of resolution 1080p is still very good for a 15". The 9350 has much better off angle views though.
• Much lighter. One of the main reasons I got the 9350 is because the 1502x was feeling heavier and heavier as my other devices got lighter. The 1502x was feeling like a relic of big heavy devices.
• Touichscreen. I don't use it all that much but there are some things faster with the touchscreen on Windows 8.
• Better Battery life. 1502x never had good battery life, even using the 9 cell.
• Faster processor/GPU. Expected.
• Quieter. 1502x fan always went on.
• Faster boot with SSD.

9350 disadvantages

• Worse sound. 1502x has much better sound. The difference is striking but once you get used to the 9350 you can live with it.
• Worse trackpad material. The 9350 trackpad already has non-removable smudges. The 1502x trackpad looks brand new after 2 years. Totally unacceptable downgrade from Dell for a $1500+ machine.
• No edge scrolling for 9350. Why Dell removed this is a mystery. It is easier to use than 2 finger scrolling.
• No Blu-ray or ethernet port. I had to buy an external blu-ray drive and usb to ethernet adapter. Blu-ray understandable, ethernet--could've been dropdown port. Copying Apple too much Dell?
• No dedicated page up/page down/home/end button. They had so much space and couldn't add this? Copying Apple again?
• Non-removable battery. My 1502x often is docked and I remove the battery when doing so to prevent trickle charging. Can't do that with 9350.

About the same

• Webcam. Both not that great. The 1502x is brighter but the 9350 has slightly better detail. Disappointing that it hasn't improved though. Webcam is more important now than 2011.
• Keyboard keytravel. Really just personal preferences. They're different but you have to test it out yourself.
• Trackpad buttons. I prefer dedicated buttons, but got used to integrated buttons. For 2 handed use, dedicated is easier to use though.
• Day to day usage speed. Broadwell is faster than Sandy Bridge but in real world usage, not much noticeable difference other than boot time and some app loading. This is more SSD than CPU it seems. For games, obviously 9350 much better.

Dell takes a step forward then a step back. It's kind of frustrating.

Future XPS 15
I do hope that the future XPS 15 embaces 4K. 4K screen, hdmi 2.0, solid Maxwell GPU. PCIE based SSD. And if they can do it without adding weight or compromising laptop usage, I hope they allow full rotational hinge like the Lenovo Yoga.

Any questions? Feel free to ask.

 

Hi! I am migrating from l501x to 9530. As there was no big difference between l901x and l902x I can follow your review, nicely done!

I haven't received my new system yet but can say some things about some points.

-Sound: This is one key point that is very sad to me also. There are some friends of mine who are still very impressed of the sound quality - sometimes the speakers of my l501x are louder than their home sound systems
But as the 9530 is much more thinner a worse sound was to expect. But I think / hope it is still better than cheap 2W speakers.

-Trackpad buttons: I also like dedicated buttons more so I will be very exited if this will be a major problem for me or not. I used to work without dedicated mouse as I am a mobile user.
-edge scrolling: I think my l501x doesnt support edge scrolling. I scrolled using two fingers already so this will be no problem to me and it works like a charm. Cant believe that this will be worse with 9530 - did you try to install the newest touchpad drivers?

-Ethernet-port: I rarely connect my notebook to my cabled network. I think WLAN connection will be enough for most users. But I already bought an adapter for my network router if there is a network accident I think thats OK. That could be the same think like serial ports on notebooks...a few years ago this was standard on every notebook, nowadays home users dont need that port anymore. And as the 9530 supports ac WLAN it will be much faster than with the l501x.


Thank you for your pictures! Nice to see the physical differences

 

I hope you enjoy the 9530. Overall it is a better laptop largely because it is much lighter and portable. I still have the older XPS and it's hard to go back to it because it's so bulky and the SSD of the 9530 makes boot up much quicker.

Oh and the 1501x does have edge scrolling. You might have to go through Synaptic's tool to enable it. I've gotten used to 2 finger scrolling, but I think edge scrolling is more reliable.

One other con for the new model is the coil whine others have complained about. It's audible but not so bad on mine. It sounds like a hard drive seeking but there is no hard drive on my unit.

And lastly, I'm getting a system exchange because there is a discoloration spot on lower right of the monitor. I attached a picture in case anyone else has that problem. It's most visible on a white screen. It does make me wonder why Dell cuts costs on QC only to have to add costs for system exchanges and warranty services.