New Dell XPS L521X (Ivy Bridge)

I don't see a mention of a 512gb ssd in that article. See the 500gb HDD + 32msata and a 256 ssd.

 

Hey Bill!

If you have a chance I'd like your opinion on the XPS 15 and 14 (if they exist of course).

I'm off to university next year (business program), and am wondering which laptop I should be keeping my eye out for (by that I mean discounts ).

I mostly use my desktop to:
Photoshop
Word Processing (MS Word/Excel/PPT)
Watch Movies
IM (MSN etc. Webcam chat too)
Surf the internet
Occasionally game (nothing graphics heavy like Skyrim or D3)

I'd like a laptop with good battery life, but also has enough power to do what I listed above (and more just in case I would need it) and light enough for me to carry on my back everyday for 4 years.

So, if the laptops speculated here were to exist, which would you recommend to me?

 

So is this thin enough to qualify as an ultrabook?

 

I believe only the XPS 14 will be. It doesn't have an optical drive so it is thinner than the XPS 15.

EDIT: Hmmm... Wikipedia defines that an ultrabook with a display 14" or bigger must be at the most 21mm thick. That's about 0.8" and I think the reported thickness of the XPS 15 was about 0.95" and the 14 was only a little thinner.

 

I have to admit that Asus got the tablet form factor right. I'm like you in that sometimes I also want a keyboard. I find myself always using my Transformer Prime because of the keyboard dock. I don't use the touchpad often but the keyboard and extra battery are great.

 

Right now, this is what Dell considers its ultrabooks:

Ultrabooks – Inspiron and XPS | Dell

If you consider the XPS 14 will be similar in dimensions to the 14z, then the answer to your question is yes.

 

No. They're expected to be 0.95in. Same thickness as a MacBook pro.

The leaked photos show optical drives on the 14&15...

 

There is no optical drive on the 14 in all of the pictures we have.

 

Pheeww! Since tuesday I couldn't access the forum, avast blocked the page a cause of a false/positive malware , so it wasn't until today I tought how to solve it jeje.

So, to recap some things I read in the last 50 pages, processor and gpu are going to be soldered? Can the RAM be changed? And june 26th is the most possible date for the launch of the l521x?

Sorry for ask this again but I don't remember and I forgot the page where the pics were posted, the XPS15 is gonna have ethernet port, right?

 

Forgot to post this before I left the office. We're doing a Google+ hangout with the product planning lead for XPS laptops Wednesday around 11 AM CST. It will be promoted on the Dell G+ page. If anybody's interested in asking the guy that plans XPS products anything, he'll be the guest of honor. We'll do a simulcast on YouTube, because of the G+ seat limit on hangouts.

 

Awesome!! Will the YouTube link be on the G+ page as well? Also, will the hangout be saved on YouTube if I miss it live? 11 AM CST should be 9 AM PST right?

Edit: Office?!?! Why go to work when all your work is online?

 

Hi Bill, if the supposed xps 14/15 actually existed are are supposedly gonna be released next week, would they be supposedly made globally available at the same time? Just curious to know Dell's future plans regarding supposed product launches

 

Somebody take notes of everything that's said during the hangout :O I have to work!

 

Very interesting. That's the exact same time as the Google I/O keynote.

I think I'll watch both simultaneously. Thank you, World Wide Interwebs!

For what it's worth, I found this picture, also from the Hungary batch, of what the XPS 14 box will look like. The 13 is to the left and the 15 is to the right.

 

This is somewhat off topic but goes back to the lack of customizations. This was partially explained by Bill B, but I wonder if this has do to with the lack of options as well. In 2008 dell started shutting down it's US assembly factories as well as a few in other countries. Before the parts would be on low supply and brought in from the manufacturers to be assembled and shipped out while having time to get each individual part customized. Now, with those plants shut down, everything is either assembled and made in china or malaysia and more mass produced to keep the shipping rate lower and or about the same. To keep everything mass produced there is no time for running around and grabbing different parts for twenty different orders of the same model computer. Where as if the products were assembled in the US or other countries where they are closer to the person who ordered the laptop, there was time to customize and grab the different parts. Not only that, the market has changed a bit. More and more people who don't know much about what they have in their computer or have much computer knowledge at all are buying computers to keep up with the times. And if they were to be offered all the customizing options, they may end up being confused and going to a manufacturer with a much simpler system. The downside to that is for people like us who do know what they want in a system. That's just my theory and feel free to agree, disagree and say your thoughts cause there are probably parts I missed or am wrong about.

 

It s growing grass in my head too ;-)

 

I will say that I had the xps 13 for a short while and that is one damn nice sexy box that they come in. Super thick durable cardboard, almost feels like wood more than anything. With sleek Matte finish with hinges to open it and foam padding on the inside of the lid. Beautiful beautiful boxes.

 

Yeah, and did you guys notice the angle of view of that XPS 15? Do we really need an IPS?

 

It has a different image on its screen than the other too though? The 14 is supposed to be 400 nits? But sure who knows if theyre at full brightness or anything there.

 

Hopefully that doesn't mean Weds is the launch day since I'll be busy all of Weds. It clearly means Launch is Weds at the latest though, since he couldn't talk about unreleased products.

 

Hmmm... first the speculations were this friday (22), then it became tuesday (26) now its wednesday (27).... i guess i better just zero in my mind to friday (29).

 

In case you didn't notice, Bill said they are having a Google+ hangout with the product planning lead for the XPS line. So I'd say keep eyes peeled for either a tuesday launch, like the inspirons were, or wednesday due to the hangout.

 

Exactly. Bill says dell policy is not to discuss unreleased products. Why would they have a google plus meeting about last year's XPS line on Wednesday? Wednesday is the last possible day for release, but I'm still hoping for Tuesday.

 

Hello,
I need a new laptop to replace my old M1530. I was looking at the XPS15z when I discovered the discussions about a new XPS15. I thought about the XPS15z as a thin and light version of the XPS15 with some compromises. Now that the new XPS15 becomes thinner and lighter, is there any point in buying the XPS15z? What will be the differences in the target of these two laptops?
Thanks.

 

My understanding is the two XPS lines are being merged and all future XPS will be thinner and lighter.

I would not get a 15z. I'd wait a few more days for the new 15.

 

dell xps 14 preview (romanian)
http://www.mygarage.ro/powered-pc-garage/122827-pre-view-laptop-14-inch-dell-xps-l421x.html
gameplay
Gameplay DELL XPS L421X - YouTube

 

That Romanian site says it will launch "in one day" ? Or is that just a mistranslation?

It also says the keyboard is a little weird, but the speakers are the loudest he has ever heard in any laptop

 

Well only 620M, which is essentially a 540M.. But HOLY CRAP 11hrs battery life, that is incredible! Also the display is 400nits, which means it should be pretty damn bright, hopefully viewing angles are good too!

 

There is gt620m in XPS 14 reviewed...

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You guys are lucky because my mother tongue is Romanian

A model that will be launched in the next few days

 

According to official Dell site viewing angles are lower than XPS 15.

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Here is a few pics of the important stuff from that review. Also big concern about accessiblity for upgrading?

Does this mean the bottom panel is not removable, meaning no possible HDD/Memory upgrade. Surely Dell could not be making such a grave mistake?

 

Oh man. What to choose? XPS 14 or 15
They're both so nice

I really hope Dell doesn't make that mistake and turn it into an MBP w/ rd. I was thinking about upgrading the RAM by myself and putting in a big ssd when prices drop some more.

Perhaps you can help us clarify if the back will be user removable.

 

all i need is a 64GB or @128GB MSATA ssd for windows and some programs ill keep the rotational 72k RPM drive for media XPS is shaping up to be quite a nice system from that Romanian review now if we can get a review of the XPS 15

and yes its gonna be MBP style you have to remove the whole bottom cover to get access to all the internals that does not sound bad to me

Spoiler

is it just me or is the CPU a little got here wonder if the cooling system is good

if that screen shot was taken right after running the test thats seems quite good which means the system should be mostly cool

 

I'll try and read it all later

 

at least i know the 15"will have good sound maybe even some bass present

ill miss the sub woofer from the current XPS model though
even though i saw the XPS as having a 2.1 JBL speakers system in the first set of leaked images .....

 

well, this doesn´t look so good for the cooling system.
94 Degrees

http://www.mygarage.ro/attachments/powered-pc-garage/197867d1340189225-pre-view-laptop-14-inch-dell-xps-l421x-furmark.jpg

 

and this
cpu undercloked to 797.43 Mhz on stress test and 88 degrees

http://www.mygarage.ro/attachments/powered-pc-garage/197876d1340189266-pre-view-laptop-14-inch-dell-xps-l421x-prime95.jpg

 

Translation:

First of all we should talk about the machine's chassis because it's a weird combination of metal. plastic and rubber so well combined that it almost seems like a unibody. In fact, only the screen cover, part of the chassis and the notebook rim are made of metal, a very well polished and durable one, which is unusual for an aluminum shell. as the manufacturer declared.


This kind of chassis which Dell has resorted to, is a double edged sword. First of all, it raises the weight significantly and second of all (and here I get to the good part), such a construction is very solid and resistant to scratches, fingerprints and accidental blows.

The display's colors and brightness distribution make it seem at least of IPS category and is held firmly in a "sandwich"between the Gorilla glass and the aluminum cover, ensuring a longer lifespan of the screen.
The default settings of the monitor are very aggressive, with sharpness and colors way above any windows laptop/notebook/ultrabok I have so far seen.

The machine's chassis - the part holding the keyboard, doesn't seem entirely made of the same materials, its composite and substructure having been made out of a very fine textured plastic and rubber, mixed in such a way that it makes using it very comfortable. What adds to that comfort is the illuminated keyboard which is only second imo to the one of the Lenovo Thinkpad series. Here he complains a little about the keys (don't know exactly what he's complaining about) but after a day or two, he got used to it.

Audio - Is exceptional in his view and better than any other laptop he's heard so far. (tired of translating word for word ). There's no need for external loudspeakers.

 

Can people stop post HUGE full size pictures?

Those benchmarks are NOT an indication of load temperatures. It is not only a waste of time, but dangerous to run those apps on a notebook such as this. nVidia themselves have to throttle in this app to stop it burning up the GPU.

For once I would like to see someone do a load temperature test in game using something like Fraps, and also one while encoding a video. This would give a much better indication of load temps, not stupid benchmarks that are only designed for overclocking purposes and even then their validity is questionable.....

 

94° is enough good, it's like actual xps, but this is only 620M (xps14), so we must wait a review for higher configuration.

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Sounds good! Cannot wait. The back is removable right? or does it not mention anything about it? I am almost 99.9% sure that we'll be able to upgrade RAM and memory ourselves

 

If Dell acts like Ispiron R SE way you never need to upgrade Ram.
In fact all Ispiron come out with 8GB @ 1600MHz

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Ok, done, still have to learn how to do the hide thing

 

Thanks, I am only on a 1366X768 screen so even screen maximised meant I had to scroll left and right to read the subsequent posts. You can upload the images as attactments like I did on a previous page, it will auto resize it then.

 

This is an extreme test to see how much the notebook can handle
I for once would like a notebook that i knew during games that there was still 10 degrees reserved and not hovering 90 degrees..
what in a summer day?
same things with cars, would you like a car with a radiator just the necessary size for your region temperature, or maybe a bit more for extra security?

Thanks, that's gonna be useful.

 

Unless I missed it, he never said anything about it

 

LOL yeah it happened to me too. I'm on an even weirder resolution 1680 x 1050

Must have a been a google translate fail.

 

Here is a bottom of XPS 14
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

I think that with those screws there will be a ability to change ram and drive. I see there a few other mistakes in this review. They wrote that there is no usb 3.0 because of lack of blue usb ports. That would be a big fail. I feel that both ports are usb 3.0 and when this standard is supported by intel there is no need to use blue plastic.

I am sure that I will buy XPS 15 only with exchangeable hdd and Ram.

 

I stand corrected!!! It's in the very final thoughts I didn't bother with.

Original:

Acestea fiind zise, consider ca justa decizia Dell de a interzice prin constructie accesul la interiorul device-ului pentru ca foarte probabil , pe intreaga durata de viata a laptopului nu veti avea nevoie de un upgrade la cat de bine este dotat din start.

That being said, I think Dell's decision to forbid through the machine's design, access to its interior is justified because it's very probable that over the machine's entire lifespan, you won't be needing an upgrade because it's so well equipped to begin with.

Sorry I missed it.

But this is the 14 XPS, right? It's not necessarily the case with the 15"?!? Or maybe it is.......