The New XPS Review Thread

Hi,
I'm curious about upcoming and existing (external) reviews of the new Dell Systems. If anyone finds some on the internet or can review one first hand please post them here.

 

Here are two I found while scooping the net. Both of them pertain to the Dell XPS 14.

Dell XPS 14 (Core i5 460M Processor 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM) Review - Notebooks - CNET Asia
Dell XPS 14 Notebook Review: Optimus Infused - HotHardware

 

I've heard that an Anandtech review will be out by today. I can't wait for that to come out....

 

Here's the initial preview from Anandtech:

Dell XPS Laptops: Back to the Future - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

Display quality ? emission ?
is this a prof. review. :-((

 

It's not a review it's just a hands on I think. The review should follow today or tomorrow

 

Heading says "Dell XPS 14 Notebook Review: Optimus Infused"
And they could run benchmarks but not a singel word on heating during all of those tests or how good the display is.
Hope for a reviewed review coming soon...

 

Actually, the title does say "HotHardware" ......

 

ah you were referring to the hot hardware review.
yeah a reviewed review would be great. I don't know why it's taking so long for a good honest and credible review to come out....

 

Maybe cos dell has kept this release so well under wraps in comparison to previous releases.. and very simply no-one yet has a unit to review!? It's good to see they are confident !

 

But everyone knew that new units would come out in October
But noone has a review unit yet. But I want the review

 

Yeh - I want the review too but hey, I'm getting one no matter what, so it's not such a big deal for me

I din know they were going to come out in October though.. unless I missed something way back in the tech news world.. I only learnt of this new model recently (via engadget).. for how long did you know about this new model?

 

Yeah me too. I can't wait till it shipps
Not this long either. 3 weeks ago I wanted to order a Studio XPS 16 but my sells agent gave me the advice that I should better wait because new models are on the way, with USB 3.0 a better screen and other improvements.

 

I knew in early September, but what's the point? They only revealed specs on release anyway.

 

Here is a german first-look on the XPS 15 and XPS 17
Dell XPS 15 und 17: Runderneuerte Notebook-Familie - News - CHIP Online

They think that the Notebooks have a great build quality and one of the best sound performances they've heard on recent notebooks.

 

Another minor review, with some photos:

Dell XPS resurrected with NVIDIA graphics, HD webcams and JBL audio -- Engadget

 

Their review unit arrived 8 days ago. Why does it take them so long to come up with a real review? They could send it to me and I'll do the review

 

I do not know if this is true or not, but I always had the suspicion that the companies could specify an earliest review date. For e.g I remember when the envy 14 came out, even though many reviewers had the units before hand, a lot of them released their official review on the same day. Maybe its just me being paranoid. Maybe the manufacturers want to make sure that if there are any bad reviews that it wont affect the initial product launch hype.

 

Isn't that called embargo? I know it exists for digital cameras... The company supplies the reviewer with a pre-production model and the reviewer makes a simple preview. The news of the new camera model is then released to the public for the first time as soon as the embargo is lifted, along with the preview. Saves a lot of time this way. However, normally reviews are not out until later because for performance analysis, they need to use an actual production camera, not a prototype.

 

Ahh okay, yeah that makes sense. I guess I was being overly paranoid

 

So far there are no reviews on the XPS 15, no youtube videos, or even proper specs listings... -.-';

 

Finally a proper review of the Dell XPS 15 from Laptop Magazine!

Dell XPS 15 Review - A Review of the Dell XPS 15

 

But where is the anandtech Review?

 

Nice find! I like the pics, on this model the plastic surrounding the screen is not as glossy as pics ive seen where it's full on glossy block, hope mine is like this!!

 

YES!!!

That just makes me want it even more. I need this computer...

 

Yeah it's a nice Review unfortunately they packed the 720p screen And Not the Full hd One. I can't wait for the first real Look at the new panel.

 

A good find. A decent review. Thanks.

The good thing about the review is that they have compared it with HP Envy 14, the one I wanted to buy, but have put the plan on hold. Now, a few more good reviews are needed to be convinced and to place an order for XPS 15.

 

From the review, Optimus doesn't seem to increase battery performance at all.... Also, it seems that there's a bit of heating. Is this normal for laptop in this class?

 

those temps dont seem bad at all! My sxps 1640 got way hotter.
95f/38c is nothing! I wonder how bad the heat will be with the i7

 

It's higher than the "category average", but it's also higher in most everything else (WOW gaming) because it's not compared fairly.

That's 38C on the surface, but expected since there's i5 (35W) and GT 420M.

 

Wow. That thing measured 6825 in 3DMark with the 420. With the 435, hopefully, it can break 8000.

 

The heat is disappointing, this is not a very sleek and thin or light design for a notebook, I was expecting a cooler notebook in trade off.

 

They said nothing about how cool it runs. For all you know, it's the coolest notebook on earth. This just serves to hammer in my point that cooling is less important than design. This new notebook has a lot of the components very close to the palm rest.

Still, there's a lot of things you don't know. You don't know how much load it took to get it that hot. It could have been Furmark+Prime. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they DID push Furmark+Prime just to see how hot it would get-- that's what I would do. It's too bad they didn't give any idle temperatures just to put it into perspective.

In general though, this is the same problem most notebooks with metal palmrests have. Nobody wants to work over a giant heatsink... Lastly, some have it much worse-- take that guy over in the ENVY 15 forums who has to wait for his laptop to cool off before he can pick it up. We need a more in-depth review.

 

Well, while they did mention that it reached 95 degrees on the touchpad after streaming a video for 15 minutes. Need more details on the quality of video of course, but I doubt it would stress the CPU or GPU too much.

 

Ah, sorry. My mistake-- I made that post after giving the review a quick skim before heading out to the salon for some hair care.

About the video stress thing-- you'd be surprised at how inefficient GPUs are at doing what they do. A 15 minute 1080p YouTube video will shoot my 5730's temperature up by 10 degrees C, up to 54C (129 degrees Fahrenheit). It's so bad that I've taken to disabling hardware acceleration. There's a slight loss in frame rate, but it's largely unnoticeable and I benefit from keeping my energy-glutton video hardware in an idle state. Of course, my 5730 is NOT near my palmrest like it is in the new XPS.

As for the touch pad, Dell has a habit of placing the southbridge directly beneath it. Southbridge temperatures vary widely from motherboard to motherboard (in my experience), so your mileage may vary there. My old SXPS 16's touch pad was a frying pan, while my current is just lukewarm.

 

so 425 is a 5650 and a 435 should be a 5730.

 

95F is hot. That's the maximum temperature the palmrest on the SXPS 16 reaches under full load. This is just a video.

 

Well my Asus' CPU runs at 92 Celsius at full load, and it usually gets incredibly hot on the palm rest. Atleast 60 C I think. So anything lower would be just amazing. If 95F is the temperature according to that review, I'm REALLY looking forward to getting my laptop.

 

I'm likely going to be getting an XPS 15 as a replacement. This is going to be a downgrade. I was getting kind of excited, because I liked lounging with the SXPS 16, and the XPS 15 looked to be better all around... but if it gets uncomfortable...

Well, let's hope the battery doesn't wiggle around.

 

I have doubts in Dell's ability to design good laptops. based on my experience with the Studio XPS, their top model for the last 3 years, they tend to overlook some basic design details that compromise the whole laptop experience. I admit they are always ahead of other laptop manufacturers in terms of eye-catching hardware upgrades such as the USB 3.0 and the 1080p RGB LED. But they do not do a good job in power management, heat sinking and even basic morphological design. For example, the brittle screen glass in Studio XPS closes down to touch and even squeeze keyboard keys, which made permanent dents in my display since the 1st week. Also, the life for the heavy 9-cell battery is only around 3 hrs of just normal internet surfing. The CPU fan is ALWAYS on and noisy. Graphic activities as simple as screen saver can make the fan works with full speed with noticeable heat generation. After all, the laptop is bulkier and heavier than other comparable products.

In my opinion, hence Dell depends primarily on online shopping where customers do not have a chance for hands-on, they attract customers with high specs models that may lack some fundamental aspects.

So, I am not over-ambitious with their new XPS. It will diffidently have some downsides that time will tell us soon.

 

That's a 420, not a 425. 425 is potentially on par with 4730. Hopefully 435 will offer some performance benefit.

 

in laptopmag.com there is a review of the xps 15....

Image Gallery: LAPTOP Magazine - Product reviews, tech news, buying guides, and more

 

I think we got that covered in a previous post but thank you anyway
But I hope the (promised) Anandtech review is soon to be released.

 

aaargh..my bad =(

 

absolutely no problem

 

That review model put up some really good numbers for an i5 with 420m. I'm planning on purchasing this model at the end of November or beginning of December and was initially leaning towards the 1.73ghz i7 quad with 425m, but with results like that I think I would be better off saving the cash and just getting the 2.66ghz i5 with 420m.
Not only saves money but also gives me nVidia Optimus to save on battery life while unplugged.

 

Read somewhere that Optimus didn't seem to make any difference (or minimal difference) but can't find the link

 

In the Laptopmag.com review, I think it was assumed that since the processor was an I5 and that battery life wasn't great, that Optimus didn't make much difference. We haven't seen any reviews where Optimus was tested specifically and in different scenarios.

Personally, I think that the Laptopmag review is lacking in many respects. Looks to me like it was rushed to get it to print quickly.

Can't wait to see a respectable review, from, o I don't know......maybe Notebook review.com or Anandtech.

Come on, what's the hold-up??

 

I found this. I'm not sure if this is entirely new but I haven't found this link in this thred neither. And I think it's worth mentioning.

Dell XPS 17 (1710X) - reviews - Notebooks - Gaming - PC World

 

the palm rest heat is worrying they state whilst gaming its to hot to rest your hand on the palm rest! My sxps 1640 was like that and in the end I sold it as it was so uncomfortable.

Hmm just praying the xps 15 I ordered isnt that bad