New XPS 15z

^ I think you posted a mobile link. It doesn't work. Here is the working link:
YouTube - ‪Dell XPS 15z User Review (2 weeks of use, pros and cons)‬‏

 

ahh, yes, you're right, thank you for letting me know. I fixed the link

But anyway, it is very disappointing for me to learn about these heating issues. Oh well, I do have a cooling stand that I can use with it while playing games so I guess it isn't the end of the world. It is a very interesting review though.

 

I have never had a heating issue with my 15z in my sig. I have used it for hours at a time on my lap wearing shorts and it does not even get hot at all!

 

It does? I have ripped DVDs...encoded AVI files at the same time and it never even got hot... a little warm but that should be expected...
So one guy posts a problem and the WHOLE line has issues? C'mon now be reasonable...use some common sense...the sky is not falling.....

 

ok, yeah, maybe you're right. Perhaps I over-reacted a little bit. I'm just a little edgy since I'm waiting for my xps15z to arrive. But in the mean time I've been every little bit of information on the web I could find about the machine. Every forum and youtube video, lol.

One thing though...do you think it is because of your SSD that your machine is a lot cooler than the guy who had heat issues?

 

You are right about the SSD though it does reduce heat. But I did use it for about 5 days before I replaced the stock drive with the SSD and still did not have any heat issues. If you look back all of the people on this forum that have had their 15z for a while they all say they have not had any heat issues at all. You won't be disappointed with your 15z when you get it! You watch you will be posting back here how great it is.......

 

Yeah, I hope so. My dell order status says it is due to arrive on 2nd July but I'm hoping that it arrives sooner

 

I gotta admit, this is a great computer but I too have had some heat woes. I played a bit of Battlefield Bad Company 2 on medium settings and it never shut down but it did get uncomfortably hot. If you do game with it, make sure it is well well well ventilated on the bottom.

This was from about 15 mins of play.

 

All ultra thin and powerful laptops are going to have heating issues. Only thick and heavy laptops with lots of heat sinks and cooling fans can avoid these issues, but would you buy such laptops?

 

Any idea how hot this gets watching flash videos and reg avi movie files? I don't plan on gaming much if at all but all this talk of heating issues has me a bit worried. Also, I've heard on a couple of youtube vids about the silver plastic lining around the laptop tearing off, any idea about this? Sorry for all the questions guys, I'm a poor student and if I buy it, this lappy's gonna have to get me through for a long while which is why I wanna be sure about its long term build quality.

 

where do you find the webcam drivers for this laptop?

 

A lot of people are curious on how well the 15z can handle games, so I posted a benchmark of street fighter 4 running on core i5 and geforce 525m 1gb. Pretty good, I will post more benchmark for others game soon too. YouTube - ‪Dell Xps 15z SF4 Benchmark‬‏

 

I'm glad that you posted this. No one else seems to be posting benchmarks or anything. Many thanks to you for taking the effort to do this

 

Are there many of you having a problem with that chrome trim chipping? Someone mentioned that the trim was coming off after just 2 weeks of use...

 

The laptop does fine watching flash, Netflix, .avi, etc. and has no issue with heat. The fan runs but you can hardly hear it. As for the plastic liner, it's not really "coming off" as much as I think it doesn't attach in certain places and is pretty unnoticeable to me. For the rest of the build, it's nice to have a laptop that doesn't bend when I grab it by the corner to move it. I had a Samsung Q430 and QX410 that were fairly flimsy with regard to the chassis, this build is much better. It may not be a unibody but feels solid. The aluminum shell on the screen is exactly that, not structural but a facade for the screen but still feels more than stable. I'm vary content with this computer and works great hauling around campus. Happy to answer any more questions you may have on it.

 

Are you happy with the sound quality from the internal speakers? What is your opinion of the speakers?

I know it doesn't have a subwoofer at the bottom of the laptop. Just curious to hear what you think of the speakers in general though.

 

This is exactly what happened to me!!! It was actually just the first time I slid it into my laptop bag , it got "caught" and actually cracked the chrome strip and pulled it away....

I didn't even put it in fast. I called them up and supposedly they are getting a tech to fix it but i'm not sure how he'll fix it unless he replaces with whole bottom casing

 

See... that's one of the things I was worried about... that chrome trim.

Luckily I don't take mine anywhere very much as it's a desktop replacement for me... but it does concern me just from use.

 

Ordered my xps 15z on may 27, still no shipping number. Friend who ordered his (same config and everything) on June 2nd already got a tracking number and is getting it tomorrow.. What the is wrong with dell???

 

Thanks for the reply! I'm happy to hear it doesn't heat up too much with video. But, it's kinda unsettling to hear about the chrome lining coming off, does it show a seam between the base plates of the laptop in the places its torn off? Also, did you take it up with dell? I'm interested to find out how they plan on dealing with this.

 

Do keep us posted on how dell deals with this. I for one am really curious to find out how they plan on fixing this.

 

Thanks for posting the video! Could you please post a detailed review video including heat, keyboard flex and keys, and speaker volume? I'm really interested because I plan on getting the same configuration as you. Btw, did you get the 1080p screen?

 

It does get above a little warm when playing games but nothing to take your hand off the keys for. No noticeable flexing and the speaker is great. The things you ask for seems like I should make a video because I can't see explaining doing much justice, so I'll post a update tomorrow. And yes, I have the 1080p screen.

 

Thanks so much for filling me in. I hope you'll forgive me asking a couple more dumb questions, does it get hot while movie watching/youtubing for extended periods, and what sort of battery life have you gotten? I'm curious to know how the i5 performs with those. Also, have you had any issues with the chrome lining around the base of the laptop peeling or breaking away? Many thanks again for taking info and for posting the video, I look forward to seeing it.

 

Ask as much questions you want, I like to help people. For watching movies, youtube, or anything casual, the laptop does not get hot. Only when rendering videos or playing games is when the fan and heat start to kick in. The heat will only affect the left side as the right side does not get warm or hot under any circumstances. I have my brightness set to a little less than half and it is indicating that I will get 5 hours of battery life. But I'm pretty sure it is longer than that. And I don't have any peeling of the chrome lining.

 

Just ordered the i5, 6GB, 1080p model for $949CDN. Can't wait!
I'll be benchmarking BFBC2, CODBLOPS, Portal 2, Dragon Age 2, etc. next week and will report back.

 

Do you mind if I ask how you managed to get that price? Was it a coupon code or something? I can't seem to work out any price near that. Thanks in advance.

 

This link gets you the same model for $999 (the extra $50 off was my EPP discount). This link is buried on the site and is much better than their signature "sale" price (by $100).

XPS 15z Laptop Details | Dell Canada

 

If people are wondering about the GPU performance, this page is a great one to bookmark. Just check the box next to the 525M and whatever else you want to compare it to

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

The GPU in the 15z seems to score smack in the middle of the Radeon 6490 and the 6750, the two cards you can get in the 15 inch MBP. Not bad, considering its price. I wouldn't bother with the 2GB option with a midrange chip like this, it won't be bottlenecked by the memory any time soon.

 

Anyone get the i7 model with the 256GB drive option? I'm curious what brand and model Dell is using.

 

According to their blog, it's Samsung PM800. As I understand, it's a bit dated ("The Samsung PB22-J/PM800 is a relatively old SSD, which is still frequently found inside current notebooks because of its good price-performance ratio.", article from October 2010).

 

Hmmm. Sounds like I had better do the SSD upgrade myself, then. I can't believe dell would charge so much money for an out-dated drive!

 

Well, they're overcharging for RAM and HDD, why not SSD?

 

Just to echo and add to the trim issue.

My trim broke before I ever powered on the computer for the first time. I was looking at how it was put together and it just snapped above the ethernet port.

Since I also had an issue with the trackpad (the left button was insensitive), Dell replace the entire thing for free.

The replacement buttons are all working, trim hasn't broken, yet. Even on the replacement, I can feel areas where the trim *feels* loose.

Other problems - The aluminum is cheap in that it scratches easily (ugly scratches from scraping against a metal belt buckle, wrist watch, etc...) and feels vulnerable to denting. As a former Macbook Pro owner, I can see that the XPS 15z aluminum is crap in comparison.

I am still keeping it because its half the price as a Mac, better screen, better with Windows, stays cool; but I don't expect this to last long. The build quality is pathetic.

 

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Wow... waiting for Dell Tech to finally call and schedule the fix. Still not sure how the would fix it without just installing a totally new laptop base.

 

Sorry to say, but I think you could be waiting for awhile. As mentioned, I had multiple problems - one being the trim and the other the trackpad. I called about the trim last Wednesday and the button last Friday.

The tech called to schedule a repair for the button within an hour of my call to Dell and the tech to fix the trim had not gotten the part as of 2 days after my call. I have a gut feeling that trim replacement parts are on short supply. I cancelled the trim replacement since there was a complication with my situation which required I replace the entire unit - so not sure if the trim would be replaced by now had I exchanged the entire unit instead.

 

I have a feeling that this trim is going to be an issue...hope not but so far seems like more than one people are affected by this. Guess I have to keep looking if this becomes a serious issue and I need to focus on another business laptop.

 

I have the PM810 in mine, so I guess Dell is using newer ones now. It's decent, takes about 15 seconds from the time I hit the power button to boot.

 

Any of you guys have the problem of audio not going in through the HDMI?

For some reason for system sounds it goes through the TV but flash video it still just plays on the laptop

 

My thoughts exactly. Plus, I just re-read the notebookcheck review and the noise level (48 db at load if my memory serves me) seems pretty high. Wonder if any of the people who've had the trim come off could post a pic of that edge of the laptop. I'm curious to see how it looks without the trim.

 

Would you say that the trim is likely to come off if you only use the laptop on your desk and not take it anywhere? e.g will the trim brak off from just general use?

 

Its basically a plastic thing secured to the laptop by its many thin plastic clips. If any one of the plastic clips breaks then the section could come loose. Once its loose, its flimsy plastic and it will crack.

If its just on your desk then it should be fine; only a problem if you carry it around.

 

Well, well, well. That changes EVERYTHING! Order placed.

 

Mass Effect 2 on native resolution. Heat and fan were getting pretty intense. The heat was so hot it was getting to the point that I had to lift my palm up a little to use the wasd keys. The fan also started kicking in real hard after playing for 30 minutes. Besides that, the game runs smooth on almost max settings.[/QUOTE]

 

You would be better off buying the SSD separately. You can get the PM810 itself (sold as the Samsung 470 series 256GB) for $400 US online. The upcharge is $560 or so, which is rather high. Then get a $10 enclosure for the hard drive that came with it for use as a usb drive for backups, whatever.

 

Just curious... Does anyone know the average time a 15z is 'in production'? Mine just changed to 'in production' after 2 weeks...

 

Yea, maybe I'll get a Vertex 3 or something else with a 6.0Gb/s interface anyway.

 

I just laugh whenever I see all these posts from people trying to run games on the 15z, and then complaining about it getting hot. It's obviously not intended to be a gaming rig (thin form factor with limited cooling capability, not ultra high-end GPU). I mean, if you want a gaming rig, you should be shopping for an Alienware laptop instead.

 

Hey stealthy. I just bought a pm810. whay firmware are you running?

 

I couldn't agree more! It's not made for high end gaming........