XPS 12 Owners Lounge

I love my XPS 12, but battery life is only mediocre. I get 4-5 hours with light use - browsing, word processing etc. When I play Civ 5 I get around around 3 hours. I do keep the screen at a fairly high brightness level.

However, battery life wouldn't change my purchase decision. This is an excellent machine.

 

The new Haswell chips should improve battery life, and I expect Dell's "flagship" convertible laptop will receive a chip refresh as soon as possible (although probably still not right away). So, if battery life is important to you and you can wait three months, you'll likely be happier with a newer model.

Or perhaps, since Dell already seems to have mostly forgotten about the XPS 12, they'll take forever and the chip refresh won't hit until late fall. Definitely a gamble, but perhaps worth it if you're in no rush.

It's probably unreasonable for me to hope that a newer model will ditch the Cypress trackpad and gimpy wifi chip...

 

"Improve pointer precision" is under Windows' pointer settings.

Dell is always slow to update all but their budget line.

As for the wifi chip, I expect Intel is moving them at a much better price than their competitors. It would explain why, despite all the issues it has on every laptop that ships with it, it's still being sold. Intel can get away with some pretty slimy stuff. Dell is killing themselves by shipping crap like it though.

It's a shame since I think that aesthetically, XPS has been at its best with the current lineup. The whole aluminum, glass, and rubber is unique, pleasant to look at and use. Dell has an aesthetic that's their own with these designs, and can cultivate it into something they'll be known for if they iterate on it. But they keep shooting themselves in the foot with junky components.

Well, I've gone through four different XPS models and I've been generally pleased, so I won't stop buying them now. I can't say I would recommend them to my friends and family when I know they use flawed parts though.

Even on the internet, it'll be a tough sell. What am I supposed to say? "XPS are great laptops if you don't use wireless N mode"

lol?

I'm looking forward to the next redesign of the XPS 12 though. I expect the ventilation to move totally into the hinge, so no vents on the bottom, and a thinner display assembly. If it has those two things, it's an instant buy for me, even if I have to replace the wireless card myself again.

EDIT: Looks like I spoke too soon: Dell is shipping Killer-N on the XPS 14, and their own Atheros-based solution on the XPS 15 now. I expect they'll make it into the 12 and 13 eventually. This is good news-- I'll contact customer support next week and see if they'll change mine to either of the two options, both of which are superior.

 

Agreed. The current XPS 12 is hands-down my favorite convertible design, but in hindsight there are some things that obviously could have been done better. The junk wifi card and third-tier trackpad were presumably purely for budget concerns, but there's no reason not to improve the bezel/screen design (already pretty good) and perhaps make it a little slimmer.

I'm skeptical whether there will be a design refresh this year, though, Part of me thinks that Dell will want to push their convertible design and may make the effort to improve it to "catch the wave" as Haswell re-pushes the convertible form-factor. The same thought makes me hopeful that Haswell chips will find their way into the XPS 12 sooner rather than later -- this is a "hot" design angle right now, and Dell's already been forgotten about, probably because it's so hard to actually GET an XPS 12.

On the other hand, this laptop design is only six months old. Will they redesign it in less than a year, or even before Christmas? I suspect the best we can really hope for is the chip refresh, and maybe a different wifi card.

I think about this a lot because I loved the machine but I got two defective units in a row and gave up. If a KNEW I'd get a problem-free machine, I'd buy it again tomorrow, at full price, happily. I'm just really hoping that we see a refreshed model of some sort this summer. That'd make me willing to try again.

 

I'm loving Civ 5 on the XPS 12... A few questions for you though...

What settings are you running Civ 5 at?
Are you using the God's and Kings expansion?
What battery profile are you using?
Which processor do you have? i5 or i7?

I haven't tested how long I'm getting battery wise but I doubt it is 3 hours... but I'm running it at full brightness with the maximum power battery profile. It plays wonderfully with the touchscreen and it is great fun!

Does anyone else have any full PC game recommendations that play nicely with the integrated graphics card and touchscreen like Civilizations 5 does? I already have an iPad for casual games... so I'm not really looking for another Angry Birds if you know what I mean...

 

Hi guys, I have the 1080p XPS 13 with similar specs to the XPS 12 (which I previously had and returned).

My question is, what idle temperatures are you guys getting on the CPU? I use Core Temp (a free temperature reading application) and I average around 50-60 degrees Celsius which seems a little hot.

I just wanna see if this is normal among you XPS 12'ers.

 

I'm updating the 128G to the Muskin 240G msata and lso replacing the wifi card, which was doing the random disconnect despite all the power management tips. Anyone that has done a clean install can you give me experience or tips and tricks on a clean clean install? Can I skip some of the Intel stuff such as Intel Smartconnect, Rapidstorage & etc..? Did you run into any problem and how do fix it? Thanks much.

side note: love the XPS 12 so far but wifi thing is driving me up the wall. Also for a $1200 and up device can they include a magnetic power connector or at the minimal a right angle power connect?

 

Hey there! Over at the Lenovo forum there is a thread that proposes a possible easy fix for the coil whine problem that should work on any Intel-powered system. Here's the thread: CPU Noise - Lenovo Community

What you have to do is basically add a registry entry as described in the "workaround" section of this Microsoft knowledgebase article: Stop error message on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer that has the Hyper-V role installed and that uses one or more Intel CPUs that are code-named Nehalem: "0x00000101 - CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT" (an article on an otherwise unrelated matter, so don't follow any of the steps listed there!) So it is absolutely reversible and should be risk-free. What it does is disable the use of some of the power-saving states of the CPU. So in theory, there could be a minor decrease in battery life, although users who applied it already haven't noted any difference.

Would you be willing to try this on your XPS 12 and report back if this maybe fixes the coil whine? It seems to have done so on a number of Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 machines (see first link). I would very much appreciate it, as I'm considering to buy either a Yoga 13 or an XPS 12. I had ordered an XPS 13 a few weeks ago but returned it only due to the coil whine I couldn't stand (not knowing of the possible fix back then...).

So again, I'd very much appreciate if you tried (and anyone else who experiences coil whine, of course)!

Greetings
Simon

 

My computer is the I5 8GB 256 model. I usually have it set to the power saver mode. I also have the screen set at 4 ticks below max.

I have the complete version of Civ5 including G&K and all the DLC's (and looking forward to "Brave New World"). I run the game at 1920x1080, usually using a standard sized map. My 3 hour estimate may be a little optimistic, but I'm confident it is greater than 2.5 hours based on numerous evenings playing on a full charge and then getting the 10% warning in the vicinity of 3 hours played.

The games touch interface is excellent and really makes me glad this computer converts into a tablet. I am unaware of any other "non casual" game quite as suited to a touch interface as Civ 5 but my ears are open.

If anyone from Firaxis is reading this: please update XCOM to use the windows 8 touch interface like you did with Civ 5.

 

Is there any good reason to wait for Dell to release graphics/ wifi/ etc drivers instead of getting them directly from Intel?

Intel® Driver Update Utility
Support for the 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4000/2500
Support for the Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235

 

Yeah, I'd love to hear about any other full PC games with touch integration... If I find any I'll be sure to post an update.

 

Dell's 6235 driver is showing the actual date of way back in 2012, even the latest.

Just downloaded the current from Intel. Installed fine and now shows Feb 2013.

I was about to call Dell today and request a new card because it STILL drops consistently. I never have a solid connection. This is my last attempt before I give up and call it in. Will report back.
(Yes tried the tweaks mentioned earlier in this thread -- no difference)

 

Intel to release new HD4000 drivers that offer 10% performance boost, even for Surface Pro users | WinBeta

There is a download link for a new HD 4000 driver download, installs fine on my XPS 12 and apparently has a 10% upgrade on performance based on previous versions.

 

Received my laptop today. What a beautiful machine. The only problem is the touchpad.....and yeah I used the fixes mentioned in the forum earlier.

 

I've just tried and... it works very well !

 

That's great news! And thank you for trying!

Has the coil whine/noise disappeared completely or has it only become quieter or changed in character? I'm asking because users in the Lenovo forum reported different results varying from complete success to just a slight improvement.

 

For me the result is very impressive : now I can hear a very light noise only if I put my hear right against the fans' hole. I'm very happy with this fix. I would say it removes 90% of the noise. I have the i5-3337U.

 

a further review for this machine which I find quite close to my feelings Dell XPS 12 Two-Day Thoughts

 

Hi, I've been a luker for a while on this form trying to decide on a ultrabook with touch.

Monday I just pulled the trigger and purchased a XPS 12!

However, I just purchased with the XPS 12 a 3 year extension on the enhanced warranty. Now I am finding out from one of the reps that if I reinstall the OS (it comes with windows 8, and I need either pro or server 2012 - i'm a developer), the warranty is voided...

Is that true?

 

Menaknow, take no notice of them.

Just buy a 16GB USB stick and use the Dell Recovery utility to backup the recovery files, so you can always put it back to the original factory settings.

They probably won't provide software support with Server 2012 but hardware will be fine, When I sent mine back to Dell for a replacement It had Windows 8 Pro on it (it came with the non pro on it) and I had no problems getting a replacement (well, none from the software side of it).

I'm very, very happy with my replacement, Ok it took 4 months to arrive, but hardware wise I couldn't be happier, £900 for the top of the line model (latest i7 256GB SSD (Samsung thankfully) 8GB Ram) I couldn't ask for more, it's seriously fast from a powered off state to up and running in 3 seconds, it will come in handy for testing my Windows 8 apps on a touchscreen. (Hence why I put Pro on it also)

 

Thanks! That is good to know. I am worried more about the hardware myself that is why I got the extended warranty.

I figured that there should be some restore process. The only way I'd be foodbar is if the SSD died...

 

Not a major issue but its something that's bugged me a little bit since getting the laptop a few months ago. Even when I have the volume turned down to a minimum (1) and the audio turned down in whatever program I'm using it's still quite loud, but only when using earphones/headphones. I've played around with the settings in the software that comes with the laptop to no avail. Does anybody have a workaround for this?

 

First workaround is using a set of headphones that have their own volume control. Second workaround is putting it to mute ...

 

Today I try to remove the registry fix, and I can confirm the whine/noise is by far much louder without it.

 

OK, so this is definitely working, at least on the i5-3337U. Did you try to remove it because you experienced any problems with it or was it just out of curiosity? Any noticable change in battery life so far?

 

It was just out of curiosity (this morning the very light remainging whine/noise seemed to be a very bit louder, it's subjective...). I have applied the registry fix again, I will let you know if I experience any problem. About the battery life, sorry I haven't done any test to compare, and I haven't pay attention to the battery life before applying the fix...

 

DELL Outlet's got the XPS 12 for 25% off now with the coupon code under Home & Home Office. Click on that then Dell Outlet Home Sale (Get your coupons now). Got a loaded i7/8/128 for $989 shipped! Woohoo!

 

I've got my XPS 12 arriving on Tuesday - question: anyone have a neoprene case that fits this nicely? Not a lot of 12.5" cases around - I'm worried a 13.3" might be too big.

 

Hey everyone,

I have started to notice some screen burn in... I didn't think that this was possible anymore...? I first noticed it when I had been using Excel and then switched over to the Windows 8 metro tile screen. It is obvious to me all the time now irrespective of program.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Edit: The effect disappears reasonably quickly but it is a bit of a worry...

Edit 2: Looks like the issue is called 'Image Retention Persistence' and I'm not the only one experiencing it with a DELL XPS 12...

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19498766.aspx
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/p/19492712/20330656.aspx

Edit 3: Could someone please check their monitor device driver for me? In device manager my monitor driver is showing as a Generic PNP Monitor... Is this normal or should I have a different driver installed? Cheers.

 

Monitors very rarely need specific drivers installed

 

ookba, I am currently shopping for an XPS 12. When I read your post, I tried to navigate to the Dell Outlet sale. I am getting errors when I attempt to " get my coupons" or "shop now". Do you have any info on whether this sale has ended? I tried to use phone to get the 25% outlet discount and was told that it was only available online.

Ive been a Mac user for several years and look forward to using an XPS 12 to do things not Mac.

 

Does anyone know good software that lets you draw on the screen on an image. I tried One Note but it will not let me draw with the touch screen. What I want to do is take notes in class and fill in diagrams by using the touch screen.

 

Switched to Safari from Firefox and got the 25%k discount code. I wanted an 8GB, but none were available so I got an I-5 4GB.

 

I see a couple of I5's with 8GB right now.

I ordered an I5 with 8GB and 256 GB SSD when they had the same deal a couple weeks back. They one they sent me was really bad, screen was warped, so they sent me another one. The next one only had 4GB instead of 8GB so they sent another replacement. The next replacement they sent me an I7-3517 but with windows 8 instead of the windows 8 PRO. The tech I spoke to in regards to the windows said he will send me another replacement and since this one had an I7 processor they will send me another I7 with 8GB and 256 SSD with Windows 8 Pro. They also took credited me 150.

 

@xhero - try skitch

 

Just to let you guys now if you don't already, if you are tired of waiting on Dell to release new drivers, the intel ones can be scanned for updates automatically at this link Intel® Driver Update Utility . It works great without doing any work lol. Also slim drivers does a good job finding updates without having to wait on dell. Has anyone found a newer cypress driver for the trackpad? Maybe from someone other than dell?

 

Try another browser. I used Chrome and it worked for me. Just checked and the sales are still active as of today,

 

They had I7 and 8GB with 256 SSDs, but that stretched my budget...I certainly hope that I don't have the QC issues you have described with a base unit. I use an MBP I7 w 8GB for heavy lifting. this XPS will be a portable and also an alternative to using a VM for windows apps.

 

Hello everyone! First time poster and someone interested in purchasing a Dell XPS 12. Out of all the convertible ultrabooks I've seen and tried, the XPS 12 is definitely the one that impresses me the most with the level of features and aesthetics that I want in an mobile computer. I'm power PC user and mostly function off my home-built desktop PC at home, but I've been looking to get something to fulfill my mobile computer desires and always wanted a tablet -- seems like a great device for both!

However, I'm a bit concerned about the current issues I'm reading on this thread and other reviews elsewhere. This would be a pretty expensive purchase (mostly considering the high end version for hopefully improved longevity), so I really want to make sure whatever I get will last well for several years. Do you think these issues may be resolved within the coming months (there was an earlier mention of Dell updating some hardware a bit) or likely to be much longer before the next version comes out?

The touchpad seems like less of an issue to me as I can replace it with a wireless mouse (likely was going to anyway), but with only 2 USB slots even one in constant use takes up valuable real estate. The issues with the wireless reception is a little more pressing since it requires an adapter for an Ethernet cord. So at this juncture, would it be better to wait for an update to the XPS 12 or go ahead and order one now?

Finally, the only real resource intensive task I perform (aside from having lots of stuff running) is gaming. How does the computer handle less graphically-intensive games? I saw that Civ5 worked fairly well on it based on earlier posts.

Thanks for any help!

 

Bumping this.

mblaze I haven't had any of the problems in this thread really other than the tiny annoyance quoted above and some issues with the trackpad which I think are down to drivers and as you've said yourself shouldn't be a massive issue for you. Games that aren't very GPU-intensive run quite well on the XPS 12 though I haven't experimented much since I use my desktop PC for gaming usually. The two usb slots can be annoying but for a portable device it shouldn't be too often you'd need more and I've not once had a problem with the wireless reception and I've used it in several different areas. Hope that was of some help, if you have any other questions just give me a shout

 

Don't expect the issues to be resolved. If you go back to the beginning of this thread, you will find people four or five months ago talking about their hopes that the issues will be resolved in the coming months. They have not been resolved. Despite several driver updates, the touchpad is still terrible. The wi-fi still doesn't work well (and always won't, because that's a hardware problem, it seems). If these issues haven't been addressed by now, they're not going to get fixed. There is simply not a history of the problems with this machine being fixed. Dell probably doesn't care, because they can't make the laptop fast enough for demand regardless.

I would spend $2000, right now, happily, for this exact laptop with a different wi-fi chip and a quality Synaptics touchpad. But, for me, the touchpad was a dealbreaker, and I sent mine back. If the wi-fi is a dealbreaker for you, then don't buy the machine.

What works, though, is amazing. It broke my heart to send mine back. I love the overall look of the machine, the screen is gorgeous, and the convertible aspect was very appealing.

Note that if you read back a ways, you can find people discussing switching out the wi-fi card. If you're willing to go to that length, and if the bleh touchpad isn't an issue for you, then this laptop can be what you're looking for.

I'm desperately hoping that a Haswell version will fix the issues, and I'll buy it in a minute if it does. But, I'm not holding my breath.

 

No issues with mine ... did fix the wifi thing by changing the power adapter settings ( well documented here ).

Remember people post here lots of time to complain ... the happy people not so much ... and some of the people that have an issue ( often already documented how to fix it here ) often complain multiple times over and over.

Yes it takes a little bit of computer expertise to solve some of the things ( and in some cases yes there are some machines that should be returned ) but for me ... it is a wonderful machine!

 

Thanks for the replies! I appreciate the feedback. I think I definitely will give in and get myself an XPS 12.

 

I don't have any issues with it. The wifi is weak, but the connection doesn't drop so I don't care. I haven't noticed any difference in internet speed. As for the trackpad, I still think it's fundamentally flawed, but it works fine besides the flawed design (texture, tightness, etc). I don't get phantom clicks or anything like that, since I have it set to disable when I type.

No coil whine. My XPS 12 is quiet, the fan only ramps up after several hours, and then only for like 30 seconds. The touch screen always works, never stops responding. I've had it for nearly three weeks now and use it daily without issue.

I will be hitting them up for the shoddy wifi eventually, once I know a definite fix is available. But there are no issues with my laptop to get worked up over-- I'm just a stickler for perfection.

 

Thanks for pointing that out! I wasn't sure until now if there actually is variation to the point that some machines do it and others don't, or if coil whine is present on all XPS 12/13 machines but only heard or percieved as a problem by some users.

Btw. mine will arrive in a few days. I will report back on the issues mentioned here!

 

Get a Bluetooth mouse mate, no need for a mouse that has its own reciever

 

Hi guys.

I bought one of these little beauties off Dell's UK outlet and it arrived today. It's gorgeous! Anyway, do I have to turn on a setting for the touchscreen to operate as I can't get the touchscreen to work at all, whether in laptop or convertible mode. Maybe I'm just being dumb but I really hope I don't have a problem with it. Could someone be kind enough to let me know if I have to do something with the settings or if I do indeed have a problem. Thanks.

***UPDATE*** Phoned Dell tech support and going to have the screen replaced. Tech mentioned it's likely that the cable isn't connected properly or screen is damaged. Pretty much confirmed as I don't have the tablet option in control panel to change touch screen settings. Will let you all know if screen replacement fixes it. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason it ended up on the outlet.

 

Any reason to keep the XPS 12 disk as GPT? Don't see much speed difference when I converted back to MBR and removed unwanted partitions. Popped in my 480GB Mushkin and it's amazing!

 

+1 I have the Microsoft Bluetooth mouse, works great. Or get a stylus

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

I've got mine for a little over a week now. So far very happy with it. I've got the i5 model with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM. It seems to me, that Dells approach to the convertible/hybrid is the only one that I would be comfortable with. It's slightly heavy for a tablet, but to me it feels like what a 12.5" iPad would weigh. Too much to walk around with between the fingers of one hand, but no problem with two hands, or properly resting on top of one hand. And I love using the keyboard as a build-in stand when the screen is flipped.

The trackpad could have been better. (I've been "spoiled" by a MacBook trackpad.) But that is as much a Windows issue as it is a hardware issue. I do have occasional phantom clicks, but that has not been a problem (yet). It's not related to typing, it seems to me to happen when I make minimal mouse movements using the trackpad. (I did turn off "Tap to click".) Also sometimes the trackpad becomes unresponsive, but it starts working again after pressing any keyboard key.

Once I lost the WiFi. Not just the connection to my accesspoint, but the whole WiFi module seemed to have stopped. But it was easily fixed, by turning on the "Airplane mode" and turning it off again. After that I was immediately connected to the internet again. Note that I regularly get connection error messages when using the Windows Store, but they are fixed with a click on the retry link.

No coil whine issues. The fan comes on pretty quickly, for example while playing Angry Birds, but is pretty quiet.

My biggest "problem" is actually that it sometimes takes 12 seconds to boot, giving no indication whatsoever that it is booting. Sometimes my finger slips while triggering the power switch, and then I have to wait 12 seconds to see if it did turn on, or if I have to try again. Even the blinking "sleep" light (on the power switch) keeps blinking while booting.

All in all I am more happy with it than I have been in years with a new laptop.