New Dell XPS L521X (Ivy Bridge)

i will, hahaha

 

I think your excluded, based on what you know haha

 

lol... That was an opened door for Bill... but you too, know more than we do
hahaha

 

yo downlinx I think this is already been asked already but could u include these things in ur review:

-Max battery life- wifi off, lowest brightness, simple word processing, basically nothing extra just comp and word.
-Video streaming battery life- regular streaming like on netflix/ youtube, How long will it last
-Thermal testing if u have the supposedly 640m+ i7 version. Could u run furmark prime 98 for a few hours and report the results?

 

I'm eagerly waiting to see what this forum turns into after the 26th. Hoping that is the launch date after all! (Fingers Crossed)

 

How's that laptop look on thermals? Just curious, and not trying to make a point. 650M with GDDR5 is plenty good for an extreme gaming machine, no? Seems to work well in our 14" Alienware and seems to work well as an entry level offering for the 17".

My questions exactly, but as someone in the office pointed out, weight is not one of the deciding factors.

Concluding a 17" ~$1100 system will cannibalize sales from a 14" pricier gaming system is a bit of a reach, IMO. It's much less of a stretch to guess a 15" with the same GPU and close to the same price will take some sales from the 14" Alienware.

This is just the logic used, and I don't necessarily agree with our thoughts here, but the bottom line is the 640M with GDDR5 in a 15" platform, if such a product may or may not be about to launch, will perform pretty well in games.

 

Downlinx, can you also do some battery drain tests? That's an important factor for me, especially since the envy only gets 4.5 hours.

EDIT: sorry didn't see the post on the previous page

 

I wish alienware didn't cancel the 11x.. or they at least released a compromise 12 or 13 inch. with the 14x att over 6 lbs, why not get a 15 incher

 

downlinx,

Check your PM, bro.

 

Want to see his review before he releases it, since many of us will read it?

 

Independently of the fact that 640m (GDDR5) is a good card and I hope Dell has makes it's choice to thermal reasons and not for marketing problems.

I'm here from the start of thread and no one here consider Alienware M14x alternative to XPS15, maybe is possible that Alienware M14X buyers have different thought, however they still choice a Dell Product with XPS15.
While there is an open door for the potential purchasers of the XPS15 towards other producers.
Perhaps the solution is that the next Alienware is a 13” to free XPS lines :laugh:

 

For me, weight is a deciding factor, not a primary factor but when you carry in your back 3Kg laptop + 1-2 kg bag, it become really a burden to carry it everyday....
I was considering buying one XPS13 but, it's really kind of too light with the features i need (not enough RAM no ethernet port etc..), so the best choice for me would be XPS14.

However I love XPS13, i will maybe buy one with Win8 for my "things on the go" with my dedicated slackware, and use the big XPS for the heavy jobs...
I really appreciate how Dell made the right choices on almost every level of details of their new XPS range of products, above all, I wish all the people were like Bill B., really it makes all the difference !

Dell is becoming really a GREAT company, not just because of the products but thanks for the people!
Keep up with the good work

 

Actually I considered the 14x. Its just too big and bulky. Its actually cheaper than what we are expecting the top end XPS15 to be.

 

More likely he is running for close to the edge with regards NDA. I know it takes two to tango, but I think it would be wise if you guys backed off asking him questions he cannot answer. Let's keep the information to what we can find on google, rather than get someone in to trouble for speaking about stuff that should not be spoken. It is not long now, just hope the UK launch is not too far after my pay day on on 25th!

Here is my guess again for UK launch and prices which I am gonna guess is a week after US so about 3rd July, anyone want to tell me I am wrong?

Base config = £999
Fully loaded = £1199

??

 

FYI, the XPS 13 and, from the pictures leaked, the XPS 15 have a Cypress touchpad. As of now, there are no proper Cypress touchpad drivers in Linux. It will still work, but only as a basic pointing device, no scrolling, multitouch, etc. Since I will be running Linux full time, this is a major issue for me and I wanted to pass the info on.

There is a chance the XPS 15 will have a different touchpad controller and they just kept the same look as the XPS 13. We'll have to wait until the XPS 15 is released to know for sure.

 

Bill: Any hints you can throw about the cooling? Single or dual fans? How about "m14x-like" cooling or "m17x-like" cooling

 

Replied bud, i hope you enjoy

naw, questions are good, it helps write reviews, haha

 

Actually I just read that cypress released a driver that works for Linux. Here's the link Sputnik update: Touchpad driver now available!!! « Barton's Blog.

If this works, I'm as good as sold on the xps 14... only the price can stop me .

 

I need a powerfull, but polished type of laptop for engineering classes. Imagine pulling out a bulky and fat mini-Las Vegas Neon lighting machine with a fat alien logo in front of your teacher and class mates. “Doesn't look very professional at all”.
This is why I don’t get a “Gaming” class laptop, like Alienware or others similar. I have always admired the style that the XPS line up brings since it competes with MBP, in combining elegance and performance, but at a much more reasonable price. Style is what really separates MBP from the rest of the competition. Most of the MBP market share comes from college students who need a good portable laptop and don’t want to carry around a heavy bulky looking laptop.
Honestly I don't consider the m14x a very good gaming laptop as it only has a 650m. Alienware 14” should start with a GTX 660M and leave the GT 650M for the Xps. Since a 650m can't run BF3, Skyrim along with many other games on High. So why is Alienware employing a 650m on a Gaming dedicated laptop? I think any “Gaming” branded laptop should have an NVidia (Gtx-660m-670m-680m / 7970m) not a “GT” type GPU.
If the new L521X 15”, does not come with a GT 650m option or better, I will have to reconsider my alternatives and procure with one of these @ “1080p, I7 3610qm, 650m+” (performance + simplicity):
HP Dv6t - $950
HP Envy (7750m) - $1200
Lenovo Y580 (660m) - $1100
Msi CE60 - $1100
Sager NP9150 (670+) - $1200

 

I'm a little worried for Bill PM to downlinx

 

I'm not. If Dell was mad at downlinx, don't you think he would have been given some kind of legal notice by now? Downlinx seems to be toeing the line appropriately, and I have a feeling Bill was curious to see the review. Who knows, maybe even to show his superiors and say, see.. beta test program good, NBR good, look at the buzz.

 

Alphak3nyone:

The gt 650m gddr5 virtually is slightly underclocked 660m barely any difference.

The 670m is a junk card like the 675m.

680m on the other hand is over 2x as powerful as a 670m and I reckon the 680m should take similar if not less electricity as fermi 670m which was not so good.

If nvidia weren't tight skates they wouldn't put 100w power consumption cards just about outerforming 45w cards in the 600m series.

A 670m and 675m is 2 and a half year old technology and revised cards. Technically speaking my laptop card is only 1 and a half years older then the 670m or 675m and I got mine 3 years ago and it came out 3 and a half years ago.

Theres a reason why 3.5w atoms rinse the 115w pentium 4 3.8ghz on most tasks.

 

There a non Apple laptop in there...
This is a terrible vision, oh yeah... Think different!

 

I'm looking at the Vizio CN15-A2 for that exact reason. I'm an engineering student as well and my Sony VAIO is too old and large to lug around

VIZIO 15.6” Notebook | CN15-A2 | VIZIO

 

I used to make fun of so many mac users, but after using one for a year at school, nothing will ever top the battery life of a mac...

You can leave it on standby forever...

 

That's kind of disappointing... lots of expensive facebook machines right there. It looks exactly like my University

 

mac I can see I think 3 that are not a mac.

 

Where's Waldo?

For my part, I've seen one that I'm 100% sur is not apple!

 

Yeah I know what you mean... It's unbelievable how much people are ready to spend, based on a trend, to buy something they don't need at all!

 

One look like an Alienware (first line at right) :laugh:

 

IMO that pretty much sums up Apple

 

I think the concern is more for M14x buyers looking at an XPS with the same GPU and deciding to go that route instead of Alienware. Keep in mind that the guy who owns the P&L for the M14x is pretty concerned about his customers jumping to the XPS, and both product line managers roll up to the same VP. XPS PLM vs M14x PLM. VP is the referee. FIGHT!!1 Guess who won, if this conversation ever took place concerning a product that may or may not be soon to be released.

I don't mind the looks, and I think the M14x with a Core i7 and 650, for the money, performs quite nicely. It benchmarks better than that $2800 Razr, which is an interesting product but pretty pricey and a bit gimmicky.

Your date guess for UK is wrong, in a good way, if this product were to exist, and I'm not saying it does.

On the other part, trust me, I have his back. He's a good man.

If you pretend ntorf didn't post the update about the Sputnik drivers from Barton's blog (<-really cool dude, btw), as if it were never posted, you can read between the lines and deduce something:

If the system speculated about here were to actually exist someday, you shouldn't have any problem finding Linux touchpad drivers for it.

I would so love to place a wager on that with you. I'd win.

 

How about answering my cooling question

 

Sure... there are a few uses for it at school.... You can cook your lunch on it It has so many uses!

 

Um ok...

Cool post bro

 

I really doubt the XPS 13 will outlast a MacBook Air 13".

I can leave my gf's MacBook Air off the charger for days. It's just Mac OS in general. I'm sure if you had Mac OS running on the XPS 13 100%, it'll last forever too.

If I change the MacBook Air OS to Windows as the primary and leave it off the charger, it'll be dead by morning if not sooner since I would be asleep to check when it actually died...

Edit: Bad example about MacBook Air running windows, but my previous laptops - m14x, XPS 14z, and XPS 15z, they were no near the battery life of our MacBook Air or MacBook Pro in standby. In straight usage, they did last long, but the MacBook's always lasted longer.

 

Hmmm....Corporate politics and self interest potentially getting in the way of what's in the best interest of the the consumer and/or company? Too bad this happens in most large corporations.

 

From leaked info look like new XPS14 has 12 hours of autonomy, while XPS15 has 8 hours and new MBPwRD has 7 hours.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still buying a XPS 15 for myself. I'm just saying in general, Apple's laptops have great battery life. I just don't see anything ever topping them. It's just the OS that makes them so great.

Edit: I saw you added the MacBook Pro Retina - Better screen/thin size != XPS 15
I would bet for web browsing usage and word processing, the MacBook Pro Retina will still outlast the XPS 15 though...

 

New MBPwRD has a 7 hours of battery life (declared value), maybe new display consumes a lot...
Dell Uses a 3612QM in XPS 15 that has a 35W TDP, while Apple use Quad core with 45W TDP and 650m that is overclock of 640m.
XPS14 uses ULV processors e maybe greater battery than XPS15 and this explains 12 hours of battery life.

 

I'm confused. Do you mean a Macbook in sleep will outlast a Windows 7 machine idling? Because, to me at least, that's obvious. Now if you're comparing the actual meaning of a sleep state (ie, save to ram) then I don't see how they could be that much different. This should hold true as well with hibernate (ie, save to drive) as the battery is no longer in use to hold the state.

I'm not saying OSX is not more optimized for their hardware to promote increased battery life. That's always been a +1 for Mac laptops. But I don't quite understand what you're comparing.

 

BE CAREFUL! I bought two XPS 13 ultrabooks at best buy this week and both of them had faulty networking cards. Would only pick up the network in my house when dozens were around and ran at 2mbps on an internet speed test. Just be aware that there have been a few reported 'bad batches'.

 

The R Apple macbook pro runs hot to touch when moderately stressed.

 

Mac's are great computers but this is a forum for Dell so let's not start a Mac fanboy fight please haha. I've had my fair share of those -.-

 

If you read my posts, they're not "fanboyish" to begin with.

Unless other members

 

To sshollan (sorry everyone, can't send a PM)

Hey! If you don't want your new envy 15, would you do me a favour and sell it to me instead? I'm in the UK and HP won't be selling this laptops here anytime soon. I have a friend living in the US who'll be visiting me in two weeks and who agreed to deliver a laptop for me. But with the delays it is too risky to order one directly.

If you're interested, email me. Email: v.lapin (at) leeds.ac.uk

 

Yeah thats why dissatisfied me with my MBP was how incredibly hot the aluminum came. Towards the bottom of the screen on the aluminum base I actually hurt my hand/fingers multiple times by holding them on it to test the thermality and heat

 

Standby and hibernate - a Windows laptop will die before an Apple laptop.

I once left for 3 days before and came back and opened the MacBook Air and it turned on and still had plenty of life. My XPS 14Z, so dead I had to plug it up...

Edit: Not a fair comparison since ultra low processor, but our previous MacBook Pro would last about the same in standby.

 

Thanks Bill! So it seems it will be a global launch so same time as US, great news! I noticed you declined to comment on pricing, has that nail hit too close the the head lol.

Is there any way for us to get some rep direct to your seniors @ Dell? You have done a stellar job building the hype and answering questions without giving too much away!

Also guys, notice the bet about battery life? Could we be hoping for up to 8hrs use under battery saving conditions ( Macbook has 7hrs iirc )?!

 

Interesting...

To be honest, in the majority of plausible cases in which I can imagine someone would choose the XPS 15 over the M14x, should the XPS 15 be equipped with a 650M, it doesn't seem plausible to me that such a person would then go for the M14x on account of the XPS 15 having the 640M instead. More likely, I would expect that person to look for a competitors' product that is of similar form factor and higher graphics performance. Your colleague may feel differently about Alienware products, but I suspect that their looks and physical dimensions largely exclude them from consideration as an alternative to the XPS line, for customers who are oriented towards a product like the XPS. Or, in other words, dropping the GPU down to the 640M hurts the XPS considerably more than it helps the M14x.

It looks like a really nice laptop, though, and if the clocking is high enough it should close the gap reasonably well with at least some 650M offerings. So, I think the 15 will be OK.

The 14 w/ 630M, on the other hand...(but of course, you already know how I feel about that one!)

Thanks as always Bill. It's great to have you around the forums!