New XPS 15z

Can the folks who have received the laptop already comment on the screen quality of 15z? I understand that the screen is not B+RGLED but some people have mentioned that 15z 1080p screen is quite comparable to that of XPS 15's. I do a lot of photo editing (HDR, etc.) and I want to make sure that the screen is close enough to that of B+RGLED before I decide with XPS 15 or 15z.

Thanks!

 

Get the 15z with B+RGLED.

For the same $ as the 15z you will get a fully loaded quad core xps 15 plus have the screen you NEED.

 

I agree with the previous poster. If you are really worried about it get the xps 15 with the B+RGLED. The 1080p screen on the 15z is one of the better ones but still a bit off the xps 15. I still wonder why they didn't go ahead and make it an option or use the same screen. I might look into if there is anyway to buy the xps 15's screen and install it on my 15z.

I just got in the fully spec'd out XPS 15z. I love the build of the machine. Have had a Sony Vaio Z i7 1080p, Macbook Air latest gen (gf's laptop) and various other ones through work or my never ending laptop juggle.

The keyboard takes a little getting used to. They seem a little soft when you are typing but not something i would consider bad. The touchpad is nicer than most i've used but not the quality of the MBA yet. I am also having an issue i think with me not clicking the left mouse button correctly? Probably user error though. Heat - I watched some flash movies for about an hour + and didn't have any problems with it. I hope to get a ssd soon when I finally decide on which on to get but the laptop runs nice and snappy even with all the dell bloatware. I decided to give stage a change just to see how it works.

 

ippikiokami, do you have experience with the XPS 15 also, or just with the 15z? I started a thread comparing the two, as I try to decide which one to buy: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...0-xps-15-xps-15z-pros-cons-trying-decide.html

I'm particularly interested in your assessment of fan noise, since XPS 15 owners complain that those fans cycle on/off frequently and loudly, rather than running constantly at a lower (and quieter) RPM.

 

I think you meant to say "Get the XPS 15." The 15z does NOT come with the higher quality B+RGLED which only comes in the XPS 15. There is about a 50% gamut difference whereas most of the other specs of the screen are the same. Furthermore, Dell neglected to include the awesome JBL speakers w/ subwoofer and 2.0mp webcam in the 15z unlike the XPS 15. That is three huge downgrades for a slightly higher price given all else equal. Subjectively the XPS 15z does probably look sleeker but spec-wise, the XPS 15 kicks the 15z's .

 

No need to cross your fingers, Dell laptops are shipped to (and within) Canada using Purolator.

 

I agree, and thanks for the correction I did mean XPS 15.

I purchased the XPS 15z after owning older XPS 15's and 16's, Studio XPS's and Latitude laptops.

The reason why I chose the XPS 15z over the 15:

- Processing power is more than adequate for my needs. Unless someone does video processing or other intensive CPU work on a regular basis, saving a few minutes on processing isn't important enough to warrant the quad core i7 option.

- Weight and size. The Z is significantly thinner and lighter. I travel with the laptop but must have a 1080p screen, so this was my best option.

 

For most users, we are talking a few minutes PER MONTH. It's definitely not worth getting the quad core i7. Heck, I am still perfectly happy with Pentium M!

 

Hi,

I just ordered the XPS 15z i7 config. I won't be running Windows on it though, so I could have some issues with the graphics cards ( specifically NVidia Optimus ). Could somebody who already has the 15z in his possession check in the BIOS whether it is possible to turn off the discrete NVIDIA card or the integrated Intel 3000 card? What kind of options does this laptop have? Optimus/integrated only/discrete only?

Thanks!

 

Is anyone able to post a picture of the bottom of the laptop with the bottom panel off?

I want to see how hard it would be to re-paste the CPU and GPU.

 

How is two finger scrolling?
What is the measurement of the trackpad?
Can some one post videos?

 

The two finger scrolling is okay.

The surface is rougher than other trackpads I've used so the extra friction has me adjusting the speed so that it moves better.

 

Am I the only one worried about the battery replacement issue. Being technologically challenged (atleast when it comes to opening things up etc) I'm concerned about the charges to get it done. Spoke to a dell rep today and found out the cost of the battery itself is $189 not counting labor.

 

Actually i've had 2 experiences. First when running flash video for about an hour + without plugging it in .. I had barely any fan noise. But the other night when using it in bed it was pretty high. I'll update you more once I get to use it more.

 

Did you put it on the mattress? Ventilation is going to be bad and the laptop heats up more. Even using the laptop on your lap isn't as good as placing it on a flat surface.

 

I heard a rumor that it's generally pretty hard to customize components under the hood of the 15z. Is this true? Would it be relatively difficult to, say, replace the HDD or RAM or swap the slot-loading optical drive for an extra HDD caddy?

 

I replaced the stock hard drive with a SSD. It took me all of about 15 minutes from start to finish. You have to remove 8 little screws then pry the bottom base off of the laptop. Then all the system components are available. I had easy access to to HD, the DVD drive, battery and Ram....
Hope this helps....

 

Ya, I realized that after I posted this and talked to someone at Purolator to confirm. Getting them in a few hours!

 

This computer looks like the love child of the XPS 15 502x and the Vostro

Quite beautiful.

 

Keep in mind that the battery life you're seeing has more to do with the Sandy Bridge than the I5.

The I7 Sandy Bridges are getting phenomenal battery life as well.

This revision is definitely a homerun across the board by Intel.

 

I agree with you but I can only compare my experiences with what I actually owned..... The HP Envy I had had the previous generation i7 so that is what my basis for comparison is based on. The i5 Sandy Bridge in the XPS 15z is awesome!

 

Super easy if you follow the service manual: Documentation

 

Wait so it seems as if the battery for the 15z is not user-replaceable friendly for the average consumer like an Apple iPhone? $189 + labor fee seems like a scam to me... That along with degraded screen compared with the B+RGLED of the XPS 15, lack of JBL + subwoofer speakers, and degraded 1.3mp webcam all for a higher price compared to the XPS 15 does not make any rational sense even if it does look subjectively "sleeker"...

 

See my post above....it's super easy to replace the battery.

 

Got my two 15z's yesterday with 1080p screens. The build quality and overall experience so far is very very good. I don't know why people are complaining about the screen...I guess what I came from (desktop Samsung LCD 1680x1050) and this don't compare. The difference is night-and-day.

I have to say I like the keyboard so far too. My friends that have Macbook Pro's say the small travel depth is comparable and you get used to it. It has been very comfortable so far and quite effortless to type.

Trackpad is very large and quite comfortable compared to others i've used. I in general don't like trackpads, but this one is well done. The buttons give a nice 'click' but are not too loud.

Fan noise is definitely acceptable. Another complaint I've heard that I don't get. But then again coming from a gaming desktop...

I can't get over how thin it is! And it's aluminum! PC users rejoice!

If it wasn't for the initial Dell Customer Service experience, I would give it close to 5 out of 5. You can certainly nit-pick about a few little things or things that are subjective taste matters, but I think overall Dell will score big with this one.

 

It's simple, really.

As for the webcam, most likely the 2.0 MP camera module is thicker, and wouldn't fit in the thin screen casing on the 15z. Same thing for the JBL speakers... good sound requires size. Not sure as to why the XPS 15's screen isn't offered, though.

 

They had to leave the original XPS 15 something going for it, as this takes care of 99% of the people buying the original's needs, in a sleeker, slimmer package.

 

hey all,

is the 15z capable of dual external display output? it only has an HMDI and DP output, so I'm not so sure.

 

Anybody have any info on a 14-inch version of the 15z?

 

yes, you can have HDMI, DP and the 15z screen all display

 

What is the sound quality like on the xps15z? This review says it isn't too good and also says the screen isn't that good for photo editing etc.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-15z-Notebook.54790.0.html

Is that true?something about brightness ratio. Is the technical screen quality better than MacBook pro for photo editing etc? I thought 1080p automatically made it better than most for photo work.

 

This isn't an ideal clip but to me. even in those less than ideal circumstances, that screen looks AMAZING!

YouTube - ‪Dell XPS 15z Quick Review‬‏

 

I see you chose to use the OCZ ssd. Did this work out well for you? Did it come with cloning kit? How did you clone the hard drive?

 

Hello,

I did not want to clone the original hard drive. The SSD i put in is only 128GB and the stock hard drive is 500Gb so that won't clone..... the sizes are mismatched. Also I wanted to do a clean install to get rid of all the bloatware that comes with a new laptop. Before switching hard drive and doing a clean install, there were 82 running processes in Task manager. After a clean OS install and installing all the drivers and software needed there are 62 running processes. So this saves performance and battery life by doing it this way. You can go to Dell's website and and verify your service tag and download all the drivers and software that comes on your laptop. Then put them on a USB hard drive or flash drive to install the drivers after a fresh OS install. I will save the stock hard drive for backup reasons or in case I want to sell the laptop and buy a newer model. Selling a laptop with the stock hard drive is much easier to do because it will have the original restore partition and new buyers usually want to do a clean install. Hope this helps....

 

Using Acronis True Image you could have effectively cloned the original drive to the new SSD. Technically it would not be "clone", but would be an image restore, but the result would be the same: everything on the original HD would then be on the SSD, and the size difference would be accounted for. But, as you say, you wanted to do a clean install so that was your primary reason for doing so.

 

I have tried using Acronis with desktop systems doing basically the same thing with this laptop system and it gave me errors about disk size and space on the target drive when going from a large drive to a smaller one. But maybe I missed something in the config during the cloing process.....

 

Yep, you missed something.

I can't recall whether the "clone" command allows resizing of target partition/volume, but IMO that's the wrong function to use for this anyway. I would do an Image (I think current Acronis True Image versions may call this a backup) from the original drive and an image Restore to the new drive.

Doing an image allows you to explore the image if needed, and allows you to save the image and reuse it many times (unlike clone which I think is sort of a single shot process). An image can be restored to a new drive of different size than the original, either larger or smaller, but still make use of the entire new drive.

 

I noticed on Dell's website that they are now offering a 256GB SSD option. Has anyone ordered this, and if so, do you know exactly what manufacturer and model number they are using?
Also, is the HDD interface SATA III (6.0 Gbit/s) or the older SATA II (3.0 Gbit/s)?

 

Whoah... $560 for the 256 SSD upgrade.

I think I'll just go the jamezr route and put my own in. 128GB seems high enough (considering my main oldie is only 40GB).

 

Thanks Toronto... i will try that sometime. One of my requirements was to not have to install the Acronis suite or package as it is quite large (300MB?)
So I usually do a clean install of the OS to get rid of the extra stuff that most PC vendors install on a new system. This process brought the number of running processes down from about 80 to 62 processes running in the background. A clone or backup would still bring those prcesses with it. Uninstalling all the unwanted software doesnt seem to do the exact thing....

 

I bought my 128 GB OCZ Vertex II from Newegg when it was on sale for $190 after a rebate.....
Hopefully SSD drives will continue to go down in price and become more affordable!

 

Once you've created a recovery disk, you need not install the software on a new computer. You can just boot from the recovery disk, which will let you image and restore connected drives. In fact I used it on my laptop for years without installing it, just booting from the optical disk when I wanted to backup a new image.

 

Acronis 2011 drive clone, perfectly cloned the stock 500GB drive to a 256GB SSD.

All I did was swap the drive after clone. This worked with my 15z and my m4600.

 

Ok...when booting into the recovery disk...where is the image to resore from? Does it fit on the one DVD? Will a 500Gb image fit on the DVD you are restoring from? Then if you are creating a new image where does that image get stored to? I ahev used Ghost a lot in th past but usually just do a clean install to get rid of the bloatware. I went from 82 running processes on my new 15z to 62 after a clean install. Eveything works and all drivers were installed.

 

1. I use a recovery CD, which I burned. I boot from that, and I image the internal drive (my boot drive) to an external USB hard drive that I use for backups.

2. When restoring the image, either to the original drive or to a new drive, I boot from the recovery CD, and restore from the image on the external USB hard drive to the new drive.

One of the reasons that imaging is, IMO, better than cloning is that I can store multiple images on the external drive. With cloning, you have just one image and it is used only to create a new drive. A regular backup image lets you keep many of them, for greater backup security (different dates), and can explore those images, can restore just a few files from within the image or the entire image or use it to write the entire boot drive to a new drive.

Clone is more a single-purpose single-use function.

3. It is possible to write a drive image with the bootable recovery disk imaging/restoring software to a single DVD, and then be able to boot from that DVD. I don't use the software that way, as I like to keep many dated backup images on the external drive, but you could certainly go the bootable DVD route as some users do.

 

Very nice process Toronto! thanks fro the details!
How big are the images after you create them? Just curious.....

 

Acronis True Image does a lot more things that what I mentioned. It's good software, and it has saved me from a few near-disasters.

Images will vary with the size of the used space on your drive. Compression is used (which can be varied) so that a normal image will be less than the size of the original drive use. My recent backup image is less than 50% of the size of my drive use, although I excluded my music files from it (as I do a different type of backup for them) and the music files would likely not be further compressable.

 

Let's get a matte screen on this sucker, then I'm in.

 

That's what i'm hoping is possible. Anyone know if the dimensions are the same as the original xps 15? They've been switching their screens for a bit.

 

The xps15z has overheating problems when playing games and shuts itself down in the middle of a game. Arrrrgh
Xps15z overheating problem in games YouTube video.