New XPS 15z

But the "just-out-of-college" grads seem to be capable engineers...current Dell notebooks do not overheat and can be used to their full power without problems. They also design the chassis with heatflow in mind.

Just look at the new MacBook Pros, they overheat, the new Sony S series has the same idiotic vent arrangement as the old XPS used to have, with the screen blocking the vent...it seems Sony hired all the design people from Dell

Essentially notebooks are not a piece of art, the have be designed to function and not the other way around.

 

It's got nothing to do with right-handed/left-handed. The touchpad is centre to the keyboard, specifically between the F and J keys, so that you won't touch the darn thing as you type. It's simple ergonomics. But I see that not many people are aware of this...

Notice how virtually all business laptops have touchpad centre to the keyboard as opposed to otherwise? It's designed that way to ensure the best efficiency for typing.

 

1) This is just a downscaling of the current XPS 15.

2) The current XPS line is very efficient at cooling. Which is partly why it is as big as it is.

3) 6-7 hour battery life is poor? Do you not remember pre-Sandy Bridge/Optimus?

 

The Latitude E6410 do not...the touchpad is somewhat to the left...and if I remember right the d610 had also this arrangement.

Most Dell consumer models also have the same arrangement...my 1520 had it, the L502 has it so its interesting to see that it is now on the rights side.

 

I was actually waiting for the XPS 15z. Thanks, but I'll pass.

 

That's what I'm saying. It doesn't matter whether the touchpad is to the left or the right, it should always be to the middle of keyboard, wherever it's positioned, instead of the laptop itself. And yes Dell's consumer brands also follow the same design scheme, that is, until now...

 

Really? This really didn't hinder anything. My studio xps has low temps under 69c when playing starcraft 2 and my m1330 well thats a different story lol. Temps are low for cpu but the gpu is on its way out although it hasn't happened in the 4 years i've owned it

 

Take a look at the comments. People are complaining about off-center (to the laptop) touchpads because they look "ugly." Lots of people think like this so they sacrifice usability just to appease them.

Overall I'm very disappointed in this laptop. The keyboard is downright hideous. The screen bezel is also pretty ugly. And no removable battery? Dell is REALLY copying Apple now. What is so hard about having a removable battery?

 

YouTube - ‪Dell XPS 15z - Test‬‏

Ok, I don't understand what they are saying but I remember some people were saying that even the XPS 17 was not able to run three screens (two monitors plus the laptop screen) but this video kind of impressed me a bit. Check it out.

 

The reason the 15z doesn't have a Blu-ray drive (Apple's lappies don't have a Blu-ray drives available, either) is because they were too thick.

Apple's laptops also do not have user-replaceable batteries. Thus, it may be that user-replaceable batteries are difficult to engineer in such a thin form-factor. I mean, it sounds plausible: to secure such a dense part to a thin laptop, it might be best to somehow permanently attach it. And, it may well be "entrenched" with the components to preserve space.

I doubt Dell turned down user-replaceable batteries because "it was the chic thing to do."

That keyboard....however...maybe the 16z will impress more. If they keyboard is like this, though: for shame, Dell. Who was in this focus group that let that keyboard design out? You made island/chiclet keyboards look bad.

~Ibrahim~

 

I'm glad I got a 2nd gen XPS 15, I thought I'd return it and get this one, but mine is way more powerful for less $$$.

 

Hi,

I was all set to order an xps 15 when I came across this the 15z. other than the lack of a blu ray drive, what do you mean when you say yours is way more powerful?

 

It's endgadget bro. They take a dump on EVERY non-Apple pc/phone. I find their battery life to be VERY suspect too on endgadget. Sandy Bridge laptops with the 52X caliber cards have almost ALL run for 5+ hours. PCMag seems to agree.

 

It runs like a furnace as well.

 

The dell logo on the lid, odd keys and overdone speaker girlls killed the whole design. Not like it's a good design anyways, disappointed.

 

Lol, wth. Would an Apple logo be better? Or maybe something not computer related like a Toyota logo.

 

Yeah.

"The XPS 15z provides a glimpse into a series of visually stunning and powerful systems coming soon to our consumer and small-to-medium-business product portfolio," said Dell's Consumer and Small/Medium Business group president Steve Felice, in a statement. (Yahoo! news)

Yeah, right. Most of us are visually stunned! And, more like the XPS 15z are coming?!

 

A pineapple would be preferred by me ;p

But seriously, I think putting something like XPS would be much better than the generic circled dell logo.

 

LOLOLOLOL
XPS serise has better cooling efficiency tha Sony S series? I know why dell has such FAIL thermal design in entire computer line.

God, do u ever even bother use it?

Sony SB/SC series is totally well engineered inside and outside.
It has high efficency thermal desgin.

Simple test, I play a same game by XPS 14 and Sony SC.
Both fans ran up super loud when the game start stressing. CPU temp go up .

After I close the game, XPS 14 remain LOUD at least 2-3 mins.
My Sony SC's fan back up to completely silent in less than 20s.

You don't believe me? buy both of them and try them out

Not even mention about xps 15, the fail thermal desgin.

You know how the cooling exaclty work? you mention the lcd panel block the vent, serisouly, this isn't a big deal.

Sony SB/SC has short pipe to transfer heat, plus, Sony is using copper for the heatsink , which is well known copper has higher efficiency than aluminum(XPS 14's heatsink, I'm not 100% sure, but looks like it)lastly, Sony put the CPU and GPU on the top right corner.

The fact that Sony SB/SC has loud fan because the fan is too small and too thin, low CFM. what you can expect more?

Let's take a look at dell XPS serise, they are so bulky and could be fit with a 2X thick fan inside of body.
However, they are not that good efficiency of cooling due to they are both sharing long heat pipes design. Plus, the CPU and GPU are in the center of the case.
it's even getting harder to pass out heat by pipes. Heat is lovely passing out by your keyboard and the case............

 

i just ordered mine, I hope it's not that bad....
for $1100

I will get everything i want. not a bad deal

1080p screen, core i5, backlit keyboard, decent performance, decent battery life, plus 2 years Dell in home servce!!!!

 

I like it. Its not as nice as an AIR but it costs a whole lot less plus I hate all the fingerprint magnet laptops out on the market right now.

No coupon codes work for this as of now. So no sense in jumping the gun at full retail price. $1150 with tax for the 1080p is a bit steep.

 

In general I am not into consumer-grade laptops but can imagine buying a 15z with 1080p in a couple years when used prices have dropped below ~$500. I still think it's a bit too heavy, but among 15.6" PC laptops, this is already one of the lightest. (The lightest is the 4.1-lb Panasonic CF-B10 but that's really expensive and is available only in Japan.)

 

XPS 15z Laptop Details | Dell

The system nice... GT 525M its great!


http://www.notebookcheck.net/Preview-Dell-XPS-15z-Notebook-in-test.54267.0.html

 

You're sidestepping for the most part, the only thing you're getting as a real upgrade is the screen and battery life, but looking at NotebookCheck's XPS 15z Preview, it's going to run hotter and louder than the XPS 14. Difference between the i5 Sandy Bridge and the i7 Arrandale is better by 5-10%, XPS 15z's GPU might have a 5% performance advantage at best.

 

I rather have a hot computer sitting on my desk then a noisy computer. Regardless of how pretty the 15Z might look for a PC, it is fundamentally different from the Macbook Pro.

The aluminium seen on the Mac is the laptop itself and serves as an integral function of cooling the powerful components inside. The aluminium is inseparable from the computer itself. A silver colour scheme might make the 15z look alike but don't be fooled. What you're looking at is essentially an Inspiron 15R with it's belly clad in aluminium. All metal seen serve no practical purpose and is merely cosmetic. Drop a Macbook pro and a 15z from 1 meter and I can assure you that the metal on the Dell will bend or fling off while the Mac will stay intact because laptop is made from a single block of aluminium.

 

Really? cuz all the 2010 MBP we have at work get both hot and noisy. I can typically hear my fans when I'm just doing email and web.

 

I just ordered one and it will be here Friday...so I will give you guys a first hand review when I get me hands on it!!!

 

Does anyone know if the 1080p screen offered in the XPS 15z is comparable to that of the 1080p B+RGLED L502x? Dell has WLED under the tech specs and I recall how there was a consensus that the 720p WLED screen of the L501/2x was horrendous. Also would cooling be a potential issue with the 15z due to its thinner frame? I recall that the L502x pretty much has tackled the heat due to its great vent placement.

 

I already figured out what screen is inside: B156HW3 v0 - Google Search (according to notebookcheck's plug & play ID)

Good? yea, according to notebookcheck. Compareable to the XPS 15 display? probably not.

 

Your link didn't show any results. Could you please link me to the screen directly?

 

I think he means "B156HW03 v0" because that fits more along the lines of AUO's typical FHD part numbers (B156HW01 v#, B156HW02 v#, ...)

but a Google search for that part number still only yields 3 results.

 

It's supposd to give no results Google doesn't have any information yet.

Yea, minor bug in my excel sheets...

According to AUO:


About the same as the studio 15 1080p display, unsure about contrast however.

 

thanks for the info.not a bad screen

 

Too bad this thing isn't lighter.

 

Why can't I get the core i7 and 1080p without the extra RAM, HD space, warranty, and other prebundled stuff? I have to pay $500 more?

 

I don't see why everyone's hating on the design, it's pretty sexy, it's not a macbook pro, but it's also far cheaper than an MBP. Only issue with the XPS 15z is the keyboard is kinda funky looking, but pictures != actual. E6420 looks like in the photos but looks amazing in person.

 

Cause chicklet is an eyesore and you can't do productive work on it.

Plus Dell learned from Adamo and Adamo XPS that consumers didn't equate luxury/high quality to Dell.

 

Macbooks just seem to run more efficiently then PCs when it comes to battery life. It must have something to do with how the OS is programmed, or they just cram a bigger battery in there than most realize OR they just undervolt the crap out of their machines. This seems to be the one thing Apple has over the PC competition.

 

laptop looks pretty sexy and wayyy cheaper than a macbook pro

 

In addition to the slightly weaker caliber display compared to the L502x, why did Dell decide to do away with the JBL speakers? To me, I definitely don't see me switching to the 15z anytime because the JBL speakers on the L502x are the best I have ever heard. Also I actually like the form factor of the L502x, it feels solid and doesn't try to be a mbp wanna-be.

 

Do you think they will have a revision with a quad core upgrade? If this had an upgrade to a quad core cpu I'd be all over it. I'd gladly do without the optical drive if it gave them the room to improve cooling for a quad core or increase the battery capacity.

 

I suppose that chiclet is an opinion, some people don't mind it, others do, I've never used one so I don't know what they feel like to type on.

Doubtful, Aluminum is a giant heatsink, try using a MBP productively with a quad core for extended periods of time on your lap.

 

I actually like the look of this from the pictures apart from the colour I don't think it looks so much like the Macbook.

I would consider this if the GPU was more powerful thats the only thing i'm not happy with.

 

It's true and it's gotten so bad and blatant too. I stopped reading Engadget as much as possible, those guys are so full of sh*t.

 

Actually, if you look at other review sites, they are getting 6-7hrs on the Dell 15z. So something is definitely rigged about Engadget's tests.

 

Let's hope we see some take apart guides soon, I'd like to get rid of the optical and throw another had drive in there!

 

Thats the main reason I didnt get it. I thought with the slot loading and not tray loading drive, it wouldnt be possible to do so.

 

my only concern with this laptop is the build quality. I don't like pushing on the laptop and hearing clicks or seeing a lot of flex. It is bad enough the base of my L701X is fading on the left side of the mouse pad, I am not happy. Here's to hoping they did a better job this time.

 

My main concern is the fact that they don't offer the B+RGLED like they did in the XPS 15 and that they did away with the highly praised JBL speakers. 2 Significant downgrades is not a good start.

 

If you have to choose between a XPS 15 and a XPS15Z, which one would you go for and why ?