New Dell XPS L521X (Ivy Bridge)

Not to be a smart a$$, but seems odd that you think highly of a MBP (an assumption, and I'm not Apple bashing, because they have great products and service), but seem to be concerned about thermals on the Dell.
Read between my lines:

We have heard a lot of feedback about thermals over the past 2 XPS generations. In the past, it has come down to a question of form over function. If you look at how we've responded with the product offerings in the last 2 gens, you will note that we went guard rail to guard rail. Studio XPS was gorgeous, but got hot and throttled too much. Current gen XPS doesn't have the thermal issues to the same degree, but some (some=those with eyes) criticized us on styling. We are putting a lot of effort into future XPS products- not necessarily the one speculated about here if it were to exist someday- as far as trying to get to the middle of the road between the styling and cooling efficiency guard rails.

If the bet were XPS 13 vs insert any Mac here, I would not be so cocky. The bet would be current MBP (non-Retina or Retina) vs a certain rumored product that may or may not exist someday.

In general, based on what's out there today (HP Folio is an exception that comes to mind), Mac battery life is tops. Yes, MBP Retina will probably "out battery" the current XPS 15. It's gonna be a horse race for the battery life winner between MBP and the rumored next XPS 15, if it were ever to exist. The supposed 14, though, no contest, if that product were also to exist someday.

You may be surprised at how many Dell executives read these boards. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Dell hisownself wasn't lurking around here somewhere.

 

In the event that the XPS is released on Tuesday, do you guys think it'd be available on bestbuy.com the day of or the day after launch on dell??

 

Definitely the exact model of the display

I think Dell said that they lauch worldwide in the same day

One does not simply buy a 2000$ laptop to let it sleep...

 

You understand my skepticism with this claim, as hibernate/sleep state should draw minimal power, right? My 9 cell Latitude E6400 battery (~2 years old) will give me about 5.5 hours in a low backlight, Word scenario. Standby gives about three days, give or take a bit depending on RAM amount, temperature, enclosure, etc. Hibernate lasts a very long time; I've never run out of battery with it in hibernate. I've gone on multi-week trips and come back to nearly the same battery level.

I think you're comparing apples (no pun intended) and oranges here. The ULV processor should make no difference in either scenario and neither should be powering the CPU in a sleep state (either RAM or nothing). The likely scenario is that your Macs are set to sleep and then hibernate after a period of inactivity. Windows 7 can do the same thing, but you may not have it set up or the drivers may not work right.

 

Well, in that case I will post a small but concise list!

1. The fan, does it ramp up and down? Also does it get stuck on, like it does currently when plugged in?
2. How good is the sound, is it very tinny?
3. Please, please, please install Windows 8 Preview and let us know current driver compatibility and how fast it boots!
4. The supplier of the touchpad drivers, ie synaptics, cypress etc.
5. How easy it is to get to the insides for upgrading hdd, memory or cleaning dust from fan, a picture would be much appreciated!

 

And about battery life while surfing web.

 

You say you are not acting fan-boyish but all of your posts currently are just saying how apple is better. No one is really caring about how your MBP battery life is.

 

Sorry, I refuse to install windows 8 on this, as I can not stand it and drivers for dell products need to be signed by dell. The other things listed are very do-able.
Edit. If dell gives me the drivers you will get yor windows 8 wish.

 

Those darned stockholders! Always expecting maximized profits and stuff.

5.5 hours?!?! I need to submit a trouble ticket to IT for a new battery request, then. I'm lucky if I can get through a 1 hr meeting on my 3+ yr old 6400. Absolutely the best Latitude I've had to date, but the battery is no great shakes. Probably because it's so old. I get a new one in November, though. They pushed out our upgrade schedule to 36 months. I think this one was about 6 months old when I got it in Nov of '09.

 

Mainly standby as I don't hibernate my SSD's...

This is just getting stupid. I deal with Mac's and Window's everyday. If you want to believe with everyday tasks like email and browsing on a Windows computer will outlast a MacBook, go ahead. Do I agree? No. Am I a fanboy for knowing from experience? No...

Will I buy a XPS 15? Yes. Why? Because I use it for work and minor gaming.

I'm such an Apple fanboy. Yay...

 

Just talked to a Dell Rep online and they have confirmed that we can expect the 14 & 15 models by the end of this month at the latest!

 

Huh... I was just told they have no info!

 

OK. Fanboi accusations are misguided. I'll grant you that. You are no fanboi. I'm good with that. Don't really care, actually.

I think everyone should buy what floats their boat. (That's just a general statement and not applicable to you.)

Now, back to the debate, minus any mischaracterization of anyone as a fanboi:

I'd be willing to bet you will see better battery life in an upcoming Dell product than even the MBA. This is not an acknowledgement of any speculation about a 14" product that is currently rumored and unconfirmed, but just an informed assertion that the battery life title could be changing hands soon.

 

Me too, until a nice lady decided to bite the bullet and not give me full details but tell me that I can expect the XPS 14 & 15 to be available by the end of this month. Wouldn't disclose any more info though.

 

the only reason APPLE has excellent battery life is because they can fine tune the os to the hardware they both produce ..... windows does this to a degree but remember every mother board is different and supports different power saving features if the OEM manufacturer can find tune the windows power model to the hardware from ether changing the windows code or using an install able app then we might see better battery life.

as for thermals well its a matter of fan / heat sync design and space in the case .....
Toshiba usually have excellent cooling systems sorry to say even though i don't like Toshiba much i knw they have good cooling.

from the leaked images of the XPS dell seem to have found a cleaver way of keeping the system cool ie it looks like the system draws air from the front vents and passes it across the internals cooling them b4 making its way to the fan and out through the heat sync ... its a good idea since if its on my bed the fan is no choking up an it will still have good airflow and keep RAM + HDD temps down

on the note the Microsoft surface tablet running on the ULV i5 uses perimeter venting which to me sound good ive already started sketching designs using that principle of 360 degree vent one can never block the air entering and should allow for a cooler system

@ Dell-Bill_B how does done get in to be a laptop designer @ dell and what qualifications are needed PM me if u can

 

Lol Bill, your own mates are tired to wait! They're coming to the dark side!

 

I copied and pasted the conversation here. I'm not going to disclose her name so I'll just put "Dell Rep"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:43:17 PM sam Do you have any updates or information on the release of the new upcoming dell xps 14 & 15 models?
4:43:36 PM sam Supposedly they're being released on June 26th next tuesday, thats what another rep told me but i didnt know if it was correct
4:44:42 PM Dell Rep i am sorry for that
4:45:02 PM Dell Rep well you can expect the new system by end of this month
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

there ya go.

 

I don't really care for for the 14 due to GPU

I'm waiting for the XPS 15. The Nvidia 640m is a great GPU and I'm happy with the leaked designs, specs, GPU, and 1080p screen.

 

What do you mean?

 

I agree. The 15 will be phemonenal. I'm probably going to get the 14 just because I'm not going to be doing anything hard core on it. Plus it'll be $1-300 cheaper than the 15

 

LoL :laugh:

Maybe I'm Wrong, but I don't think XPS14 will be so cheaper, or maybe you are considering higher configuration for XPS15.

 

Hahaha. You seem to have spotted a pattern. If you add the quote I had about Dell executives reading this forum, it would probably tie everything together. I'm not tryin' a lose my job, yo. lol

 

the 14 is priced at $1,048.98. Surely the 15 will be a little more expensive.

 

How dare you try to keep your job while us nerds suffer through pages of questions about the XPS 17. I'm very unhappy with this service.

 

@Dell-Bill Did you ever find out if the rumored next xps 15, if it were ever to exist, would be available with the student discount?

 

Bill, I believe his question was, Will Dell's future possible releases be available with student discounts, if the product being planned actually was being planned, which it may not be?

 

LOL already 2 Dell Reps talked about release date so far, and the "dark side" was an obvious referral to Star wars...

 

OMG is this the same Dalingrin from CM? Touchpad CM9 user here bows down to you.

Asked the same question several several pages back and on his twitter. Never got an answer.
I really hope that it does qualify for the student discount otherwise I screwed myself over by asking for Dell giftcards as graduation presents

 

Buy an Ultrasharp monitor. Those things are sick, especially if you want good IPS gaming. ^.^

 

Nah not that much of a gamer. Really need a laptop for college thought lol

Besides I'm already in the process of building my tower with a 24" LED TV as a monitor for gaming purposes

 

Does this mean the touchpad will not be a Cypress?!?!? Woohoo!

Hopefully any new models use a Synaptics?

EDIT: Hmmm... the Inspiron 15R SE uses an Elantech.... Anyone know if those are any good?

I just chatted with a rep and they said it will be available Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday!! I also asked about the pricing and they said they don't know for sure but it will probably be just over $1000 for the XPS 15.

 

Well just for the record, LED TV's are considered really bad for gaming. You have bad response times and huge input lag (might be redundant). It really kind of ruins the experience, especially if you're into FPS games. If you're the least bit competitive, you would notice a difference.

You can feel free to keep using it (of course ) but in my opinion (been building and helping build computers for kids and kids that game for the past year or so, and been under tutelage of some pretty kewl engineers who kind of taught me about the computer market), TV gaming is a bad idea.

Not to exaggerate though - it's not like you'll have a drastically worse gaming experience. You'd just have a better one on a real monitor. (And for thatm ultrasharp's are king sub 250$) I got the new Asus e-IPS monitor just because it was much less expensive (160$) and it's nice, but the Dell definitely has some things that this one does not.

 

That is an incredibly competitive price

 

Nice find! Thanks for posting.

Great news about the touchpad. The fact that Dell has the Sputnik project is enough to make me want to buy only from Dell.

Yes, its me
Now, get back up...no need to bow down. You're embarrassing me.

But really, its nice to see a fellow CM9 user here.

 

As in, 1000$+? If so, that would be quite amazing.

 

Yeah not a big gamer. I have at most two games on my computer. I'll definitely look into IPS in the future.

But for now it's only going to be a cost-reducing bare minimum build. Going to upgrade in the future after college and put in some SSDs and a new GPU and whatever else will be available in the future. For now it's staying at home and my sister will probably be using it for whatever girly teen games she'll be playing.

But yeah. Really hoping the XPS 15 comes with the Student gift card.
~$1400-1500 for a configured XPS 15
-$200 gc back for students
- 5% dell advantage gc back ($75)

= ~$1100 for a new XPS 15. (I can pay this with all the current gift cards I have and still have a remaining balance for some software)

Pretty good deal imo. Really hope it happens.

Also going on a tangent here, does anyone know if I can covert a Mac MS office 2011 product key to a MS office for PC? I was set on buying a Mac this year until I found the XPS...

 

Are you from US or UK? I have been pushing for a UK student discount much like the 15% one apple can offer me, no luck yet. Sucks if I cant afford it

 

US. Apple doesn't offer any deep discount like that for me. I only get $100 off (Regular school pricing) and the $100 gc (Back to school sale) to the mac app store. Sucks

The Dell $200 gc is the best option right now. No limits on what I can use it on.

 

yeah i learned that when i hooked up my 42 in 3d tv to play games LOL. that was bad

 

Didn't you have to buy something to get the gift card? Or did somebody buy it for you? I saw the promo for a 200$ gift card, I just wish I could use it to discount the XPS immediately

 

Some of the L521X spare parts comes out:

- battery LED board assembly, including led board and lens.
- I/O daughter board w/ FFC cable
- Bare ODD, DVD+/-RW,8X,9.5,SATA,HLDS
- Drive,Hard, 1TB, S2, 5400
- Samsung PM830 512GB SSD
- 500GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Toshiba CC
- m-SATA SSD, 256G, SSDR,256,S3,FULL,MCARD,PM830
- 500GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", 512E, Western Digital MX375
- Samsung PM830 128GB FULL MINI SATA3 SSD
- 500BG S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", 512E, Seagate Desaru
- 750GB S2-P11-512E, 7.2K, 2.5", Seagate Desaru
- 500GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Samsung MP4
- 750GB S2-P11, 7.2K, 2.5", Western Digital MX375
- 750G Hitachi Jet C Pin11 7200 RPM SATA2 HDDs
- DIMM,2GB,1333MHZ,256X64,8K,204
- DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,512X64,8K,204
- MB ASSY-I7 3612 NON-TPM GS 2G.
- MB ASSY-I7 3612 TPM GV 1G
- MB ASSY-I5 3210M NON-TPM GS 2G
- Wireless WLAN 1901 Half Mini-Card, 802.11 a/b/g/n + BlueTooth 4.0 LE;WW

 

Nah you would have to buy a computer to get the gift card but it's all good since I'm in the market for some more gear. I could put the $200 toward a TV

 

1333MHz ram, that can´t be right
thought 1600MHz was the standard for ivy bridge

 

I really hope this is wrong.

I will be let down if the TPM is only on the 630M verision.

 

Some L421X parts:

Same like with Inspiron 15R, two types of daughter boards, mSATA or WWAN

- I/O daughter board assembly for WWAN config include cable from daughter board to MB, audio port, SD card holder, coin cell battery assembly, SATA cable and SIM socket for WAN.

- I/O daughter board assembly for WLAN config include cable from daughter board to MB, audio port, SD card holder, coin cell battery assembly and SATA cable and mSATA port..

- Samsung PM830 512GB SSD
- Samsung PM830 128GB FULL MINI SATA3 SSD

- 14.0 HD+ hinge up display for WLAN config (including hinge, camera assembly+cable, mic, LCD+LVDS cable, bezel,
backcover and antenna)..(LCD,14.0HD+,WLAN,AG,ASSY,AUO)

- touchpad assembly for WWAN config include touchpad cable, LED board & cable, keyboard support metal.
- touchpad assembly for WLAN config include touchpad cable, LED board & cable, keyboard support metal.
- Thermal Grill

- i7-3517 Discrete MB assembly without TPM feature (including CPU and GPU, DC in port, RJ45 port, HDMI port, mini DP port, 2 USB port).
- i7-3517 UMA MB assembly without TPM feature (including CPU, DC in port, RJ45 port, HDMI port, mini DP port, 2 USB port).
- i5-3317 Discrete MB assembly with TPM feature (including CPU and GPU, DC in port, RJ45 port, HDMI port, mini DP port, 2 USB port)..
- i5-2467 Discrete MB assembly with TPM feature (including CPU and GPU, DC in port, RJ45 port, HDMI port, mini DP port, 2 USB port).
- i5-2467 UMA MB assembly with TPM feature (including CPU, DC in port, RJ45 port, HDMI port, mini DP port, 2 USB port).

- Wireless WLAN 1901 Half Mini-Card, 802.11 a/b/g/n + BlueTooth 4.0 LE;WW..
- WWAN, Mobile Broadband, Mini Card, DW5560, Helmsley 4..
- Intel 6150, Kelsey Peak WiFi_WiMAX Half Mini-Card

- DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,512X64,8K,204..

Looks like CPU - GPU soldered but not memory

 

Where do you find this stuff?

 

What's TPM?
Maybe is for Trusted Platform Module?
There's many suppliers for 750GB HDD, I have hoped there was only WD...

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

Yes. TPM is what I was hoping for. I'm not sure why dell would put it on some models and not others.

 

This is genuine stuff, I have Dell part numbers to all parts listed, still digging the source.
Those parts are available in tech service
Many parts like HDD or memory are only listed as tech service spare parts not the items that will ship from factory