On the verge of buying an XPS14, but...

I have some last minute questions for you owners:

1. Is it easy to take the battery out when transporting it? (I ask because I'm clearly learning towards the 9cell battery, but it seems very bulky for travel purposes/fit in a laptop bookbag)

2. Is there a way to buy the 6cell battery separate? I'm not seeing the new XPS line on Dell's laptop accessory page.

3. Is it easy to get to the RAM? I plan on buying the standard 4GB DDR3 and upgrading it myself in the future (Dell just charges WAY too much).

4. For those who have switched the screen out for a 16x9, assuming you had a partner that was also familiar with building DESKTOPS (as am I), how difficult would this process be 1-10 (10 being impossible hard) rating.

5. Some reviewers have complained that the XPS14 is very "plasticy." Agree or disagree?

6. Are you happy with the keyboard (non-chicklet, not rubbery)?

7. Is anyone using any Bluetooth accessories with it? How does it respond?

Thanks, I know that's a ton of questions... but you guys have the answers!

 

lol- 50 views and no replies?

: /

I realize these are niche questions, but I'm asking them because I found no information about it on these boards, or in any online (or youtube) reviews.

 

Well, I've had my XPS 14 a few days and I dismantled it first thing, so here are my observations.

I don't have the 9 cell, i didn't care for how it protruded and lifted up the laptop, but the battery lifts out instead of sliding out, so it easy to remove. You basically have a slider switch that unlocks and locks it into place.

I'm sure there will be a way to buy a 6 cell seperate once the upgradeable parts become available on Dell. Apparently there's a run on these laptops and they haven't released any upgradeable parts.

The Ram compartment is very easily accessed. It's in the center of the bottom of the laptop and both ram are stacked on top of each other.

I switched out my screen in about an hour. I was flying solo and I would give it at least a 5 simply because it is a little tedious. I have done switchouts before on different Dell laptops and this one was easy. I would say you could probably just remove the bezel around the screen and access the screws that way, I followed the directions from the manual on Dell's Site which has you removing alot of different things. The bezel around the screen is easy to lift out with your fingers, but you have to pull a little hard to unsnap it from the frame. I didn't like that part because i was unnerved with breaking something. I had a difficult time getting it off from above the hinges, but I think the secret is to pull down a little while you pull out to unsnap there. You can do it and I will say that it's the best thing you'll ever do with this laptop. I am very happy with mine now and I'm constantly amazed at the clarity and crispness of it, so go for it.

The only thing that is plasticy in my opinion are the doors that are on the bottom of the laptop. The ram enclosure and the wifi card enclosure. The bezel is very sturdy and there is no give to it. The keys are very solid on the keyboard, they are pretty quiet, at least in my opinion and i'm a key banger... I honestly wouldn't put too much concern in the fear of a flimsy laptop, it is far from that.

Keyboard is not rubbery, the keys are flat and very solid. There is absolutely no give at all on this keyboard. The backlit function, if you get that option, and you should! Is very bright, very evenly spread and the letters on the keys are a bit larger than standard, which i find very helpful to my aging eyes.

I am currently sitting in Borders and I have a bluetooth headset on listening to Itunes. I basically opened up the bluetooth window and turned on my headset the usual way you do when pairing and my laptop immediately found it, no pairing number needed, least not for my headset.

You didn't ask about the sound. Let me just say when I played my first song on this laptop I was absolutely floored by how great they sounded! In my opinion they are very comparible to a regular speaker system, they're just that good.

So anyway, you shouldn't be afraid to order this laptop. If you have any further concerns or questions, please message me

 

Thanks Bill! That was extremely helpful!

Couple more-

What made you go for the Advanced N-6200?

also

Practically every hater on the internet proclaims the new XPS line to be god awful ugly... how are its looks in person?

 

I think if you could get past the "ugly" comments and look at this laptop for what it is, a high performance laptop, then you'll be ok. When I pulled it out of the box and opened it up, I thought it was good looking. I was like you when I originally ordered it. I read that it was just an ugly design and I was prepared to hate it and send it back to Dell... I like it now, and i'm fine with it being an 8 in a room full of 10's... You know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as corny as that sounds, it really is true. Sure we all want a laptop that is going to turn heads, this one might not turn as many, but it will turn some. As far as some of it's looks, it has what appears to be a dark slate grey nickel metal looking material for a palmrest and keyboard bezel. It wraps around the keyboard and just looks really nice. There is a control panel center beneath the screen on the bezel that is just very modern. When you turn on the laptop the buttons light up one by one like a piano rift. The screen sits up further up into the laptop base, which leaves a nice overhang behind it, its unique, not sure what the purpose of that was when it was being designed. On that over hang you will find the harddrive lights and on the other side you will find the word xps back lit in white. The power supply plug in is on the back right hand side of the laptop, which i am currently trying to get use to. My other laptop had it on the side.

I went with the Advanced N-6200 because my wireless N router is at one end of my house and my office is at the other end. I thought it might give me a better wireless speed. That and I like to upgrade when I can.

What specs are you looking to get on your xps?

 

I'm looking at-

i5
4gig RAM (upgrade in future)
1 gig video card (no TV Tuner)
500gig 7200
Win 7 Home Premium
backlit/bluetooth
standard 1 yr warranty

Thanks again Bill!

EDIT: I'm also looking at upgrading that screen, but am nervous about unsnapping the bezel from the frame.

 

Bill,

Looks like I have the exact thing coming that you have. I also ordered a LG screen to put in it and saw your note about the bezel trouble you had near the hinge. I also am a little leary about prying on the bezel, but I'll take it slow. I've replaced LCDs, upgraded processors, replace thremal compund on laptops before so above and beyond taking off the bezel, I'm good to go.

I read something in a review that the i7 does not support Optimus? I don't even know what Optimus really does as it was not part of the decision for buying this laptop. I am not that concerned about battery life for the most part and will buy a 9 cell if I travel and feel I need it. What does Optimus do?

 

Optimus Technology by Nvidia. Basically the NVIDIA GeForce GT video chip has a built in technology that allows for it to switch back and forth from integrated graphics and the GPU. Basically when you are just doing normal things on your laptop it uses the onboard graphics which helps your battery last longer, and when you play 3d games or hd movies or anything that is graphics intensive, the GPU kicks in. It's something that is automatic and you don't even realize it's actually switching back and forth. The i7 doesn't support Optimus...

 

You can get that configuration for ~$700+tax on the XPS 14 which is a great price if you follow the directions here.
DELL XPS 15 $605+taxes XPS 14 $640 at DELL EPP! - SlickDeals.net Forums

$50 cheaper if you get limited warranty.

 

Just bought it! Essentially the same rig I posted before. Big ups to Bill and everyone in the official owner thread'

Now... will seek out some Bluetooth toys and about that screen...

I have a feeling I'll be starting a new thread about that, soon.

 

EDIT: I'm also looking at upgrading that screen, but am nervous about unsnapping the bezel from the frame.[/QUOTE]

Dude, I just sat here and literally popped the bezel off with great ease. I started at the top on either side of the cam and from the inside put my fingers up under the lip and pulled up. Once I did that i was able to unsnap. Then I worked my way around and unsnapped both sides and then i unsnapped the bottom middle. So all that was left snapped was above the two hinges. I then took the whole bezel, one hand on either side and gently pushed down and i unhooked both tabs with no problem from above the hinges. I took photos and will upload soon, and you will see how easy this is. I can't believe that I physically removed my keyboard, my palmrest, harddrive, dvd drive and ram just to remove and replace the screen... Doh! all I had to do was just remove the freakin' bezel around the screen...

 

I just ordered mine too. @toyx4x, don't worry about Optimus, it really won't save that much battery and plus it's a new technology and still has a lot of bugs, I see a lot of people complaining that it doesn't switch to GPU when it needs to, and sometimes it switches to it while the computer is idle.

I ordered the same thing as Bill but without the bluetooth (I rarely use it and I have a nano-bluetooth USB for when I need it). Does the Centrino N give you a better speed when using a/g or is it just with N?

@solace, the XPS 14 is a new line so Dell has listed the separate batteries yet but they will. If you really need, there are plenty of third party sellers. The cheapest I found was $120 for a six cell which is about normal.

 

I popped the bezel back off from around my screen to see if it would be easier to just take off the bezel and then remove the screen. It looks like that's the way to do it. Here's photos of what you are looking at once the bezel comes off. It's really simple. Just remove screws (fingers pointing at them in photo) i did top then bottom. This basically releases the screen from the inside of the lid and the screen will lean forward now. The metal frame around the outside of the screen has two small black screws holding it on. Put a towel or cloth of some sort across your keyboard. When you remove the screws you should now very gently be able to lay the screen face down on the towel or cloth that is covering the keyboard. You now only have to disconnect the two connectors on the back of the original screen. Remove original screen and place new screen face down on towel and keyboard and reconnect the cables. Once that is done just set it back in the lid bracket and put the screws back in and finish up. I'm assuming thats all there is to it, I followed the manual a little too closely and removed alot of other things that now appear to have been unnecessary....

there might be a tiny black screw at the top middle of the screen frame beside the cam that needs to be unscrewed, not sure, but just check to be sure.

 

Does the Centrino N give you a better speed when using a/g or is it just with N?

From what I understand a Centrino N will only give you a/g speed when used with an a/g router. You need to get an N router to get the Centrino N speed.

 

Awesome writeup Bill, can you link me to the screen/site you bought from?

 

14.0-inch LG LP140WD1-TLA1 Laptop LCD Screen - US$87.00 Shipping from USA.

 

Not much but you can use coupon HOOTOO to get 5% off (-$4.35).

 

I just received my screen from Hootoo. FYI it's the glossy one in case anyone was wondering. But mine has at least one stuck pixel. It's toward the lower-left area of the screen, and it appears to be stuck on red. It looks great otherwise, and worked great upon power-up (resolution even was set automatically to 1600x900).

Has anyone else had a pixel problems with these LG displays? Has anyone tried to return or exchange one of these? I'm wondering if they'll just tell me that one bad pixel is fine and I should deal with it?