XPS 12 Owners Lounge

I'd personally advise you to get it checked out. My XPS 12 has a solid touchpad, and definitely doesn't do that. Sucks that it's like that out of the box, but at least you've got a warranty!

Here's my responses as well:

1. I'm using the drivers out of the box, so not sure if there was an update or anything. I have yet to really have a huge issue with the touchpad, so I didn't really feel like going through the trouble to get another set from Dell's website.

2. As netrowdy stated, there's only really the orientation sensor in the device (which is likely an accelerometer). Personally, I'd probably steer clear of games like that with the weight of this device, but there's a slim chance it would work properly.

3. Also as netrowdy stated, take a look at the owner's manual. It is a pretty locked down system, but there are accessible screws on the bottom of the device.

4. The locking mechanism for the screen works great. It takes a decent amount of force (not too much, though) to open and close it. This helps in case of accidental bumps or if you're using the screen while also using the keyboard.

5. Battery life has been decent for me. I used it for a few hours last night using Smartglass and general browsing without a hitch. Most reviews state around 5 to 5:30 hours.

6. I came from the Studio 17, so the screen size was a drastic difference. I personally love the 12" form factor, but the resolution might not work for everyone since text can be very small in many applications. I really like it, however, because the pixel density is very high.

So mostly the same as netrowdy, but just my two cents as well!

 

Have any of you tried to use the scale feature in Windows? In my actual PC 11,6" some times I increase it until 120% and it does not do a bad work at all.
Sent from my 7 Mozart using Board Express

 

Good tip, Lioso. On my XPS 12 the default was 125% and I increased it to 150% which is much easier on my failing eyesight. As soon as I can find the time I'll post my initial thoughts on the XPS 12.

I just realized that the default on my system was probably 125% because on the Start screen (formerly known as "Metro") I used an option to make everything on the screen larger (Settings > Change PC Settings > Ease of Access > Make everything on your screen bigger).

 

If it's any help to you, I put together this little comparison between those two models a few weeks ago, since I have also been considering both models:



Also, a new review today: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013647/dell-xps-12-convertible-touch-laptop-meets-tablet.html

 

for anyone interested:
Here the sectioning of my 256 GB SSD with free space / total space
It is pretty much out of the box after configuring it, since I haven´t installed much yet.

Volume 0 (238,35 GB)
1) 500/500 MB EFI system partition (100% free)
2) 40/40 MB OEM (100% free)
3) 500/500 MB Recovery (100% free)
4) 190/223 GB OS (85% free)
5) 6/6 GB Recovery (100% free)
6) 8/8 GB Primary partition (100% free)

Some questions:
- Cannot really understand why 1)2)3) and maybe also 5) seems completely "free"
Would have expected at least a little bit of recovery data
- Two Recovery sections?

I really would like to make a dedicated "Own Files" partition to separate the OS and application files. I really would like to have generous space, so I would like to get space from as many as above listed "free" sections - not just from splitting the OS section. Section 1, 2 and 3 aren´t worth touching it and I better not do. (EFI, etc.)

But what is Dell's intention with section 5 and 6.Any experiences from other systems/users? Is there any information online?

 

Mine arrived yesterday but until now I was only able to play less than an hour with it. Mine also doesn't have this issue so you should definitely contact dell.

My first (short list) of impressions after 1 hour of playing time:
- great build quality (except the home button on the screen which has a more "cheaper" feel)
- very good screen with accurate touch controls
- good keyboard, only a little smaller
- the track pad is rather good for most gestures and bad for pinch to zoom gestures, I have updated the drivers and I think it is a little better now but still, somehow the transitions (zooming, scrolling) seem to be less fluid than when you use the touchpad
- I haven't tested it in daylight yet, but for now I had no problems whatsoever with the space between the screen and the hinge
- When I flip the screen ('presentation mode') my screen orientation didn't adjust.
-Perhaps it was due to the first run, but the fans actually turned on very often,even during some very simple tasks (I have the core i5). To me this was not really annoying but I found it remarkable as it didn't match with previous posts on this forum.
- my initial feeling is that some things just still don't work that well but I blame it more to the OS than to the laptop (note that on my XPS 12 it appears as there is a previous build of Windows 8 (in Dutch) installed (the home screen states "build 9.01...." ), no idea why, I still have to check this out. Also many reviews state that you just have to get used to some things in Windows 8, so I expect this to get better)

Overall feeling after 1 hour: very good laptop, Windows 8 is really a little getting used to

 

Those partitions are not free as Windows says, they are hidden. Actually is were the recovery files are stored. If you delete them you will not be able to format the computer in the future. Primary partition I think is also for that but I am not sure. One option you have is look for the program Dell uses to hide those partitions and extract the files for future use. Anyway I recomend you to leave them as they are. They maybe useful in the future.

You can access to the restoration proccess without Windows, from the BIOS. I think that in the manual are the keys needeed to be pressed

 

I have a question about the internal memory..I had been told by a Dell Rep that they were easily removable and not soldered like some have said. Could someone clarify this for me?

 

okay, thanks lioso.

noticed both things as well.
For the presentation-mode-orientation sometimes I have to flip, close and re-open the display.
But this was not always the case.

Fans turn on and can be noticeable, yes. Happened yesterday even in idle mode - doing nothing.
Did an update but had no time to test it again.
For me also not really annoying, but expected them only to turn on when doing CPU intensive things.
I think we have to wait for a driver update.

Haven´t opened it but can't believe that.
Also no word in the owner manual. Almost every review so far said "soldered RAM" which is pretty much standard for ultrabooks/this size.

 

Ok, don't know much about soldered RAM..does that mean I will never be able to upgrade from 4gb to 8gb if I wanted to? No reason to get the next step up and pay the extra if I can always add memory later (easy fix). If someone has an xps 12 and wants to open it up, I would love to know the answer!

 

Thanks netrowdy and SuperTongue for the info regarding SSD partitions on the 256 and 128 drives.

103 GB free on the 128 is a whole lot better than the ~50 GB free on the Lenovo Yoga 13!!

 

Thanks for the info guys

btw whats the silver xps thing on the bottom? i saw in some pictures it flips up?

Don't recall where I saved this from but for the RAM upgrade issue:
"A note on upgradability... According to the NotebookCheck review, the RAM is soldered into the XPS 12. No news yet regarding SSD upgradability. Yoga users, on the other hand, have already confirmed user-upgradibility to 8 GB of RAM and adding of an additional 256 GB SSD! For some incredible reason Lenovo left an empty mSata slot inside. Fortunate for those folks, because reviewers are noting that the 128 GB SSD is partitioned from the factory so many different ways that there's only ~50 GB of usable space. Hopefully Dell doesn't do this too!"

Hmmmm yeah I won't be playing driving games or anything. But it's something nice to have when you want to play those app games that use a accelerometer once in a blue moon.
Haha specially considering price of the machine.

@swenpro - nice chart, was thinking of doing that too, might want to consider changing the battery life for the xps, I have read it lasts approximately 5 hours
also, consider adding external ports or whatever you call it
xps only has a mini DVI so you would have to buy adapters if you want to connect an external lets say to a VGA or HDMI device
"The port selection for the XPS 12 is minimal. There are two USB 3.0 ports, and a mini DisplayPort which will drive VGA and HDMI displays--with the additional $33 and $20 adapters. There's a headphone/headset jack, but the unit also features a dual-array microphone next to the 1.3 megapixel Webcam. Connectivity is good--if you don't want or need wired Ethernet, which will also require a $20 USB-to-Ethernet adapter. Sacrificing one of only two USB ports to Ethernet may present problems for some. The XPS's Wi-Fi is 802.11 a/g/n and the Bluetooth is 3.0."

@bill_p and @lioso when using the ease of access , when increasing the size does it also reduce the quality of the display? or lets say relative to lowering the resolution settings would it reduce the quality less?

 

I didn't notice any decrease in display quality after making everything on the screen bigger.

 

How can you check or set it to 125% vs. 150% etc. ?? On my "PC Settings / Ease of Access" I see only an on/off toggle to "Make Everything on your Screen Bigger".

BTW I couldn't find link to owners manual in the archive - is it really there? Dell support told me it wasn't available yet (seems weird that they shipped without it being ready).

Overall I really love the system and like Windows 8 (I'm coming "back from Mac"). The engadget review complaining of "flimsy" screen is weird. The frame is rock solid and there's no worry about flipping accidentally because it only goes one direction, if you are for example opening the lid you can press down on the top edge all you want b/c it doesn't flip in that direction. But the quickstart guide is too skimpy - manual is sorely needed.

 

Just received mine today and its got the same loose touchpad problem. On hold with Dell right now. Very disappointed in Dell quality control at the moment.

 

The option you found is on the Start screen. The other option is on the Desktop (Right-click on Desktop > Screen Resolution > Make text and other items larger or smaller). I selected the "Larger - 150%" option which is fine for me, but you can make it even larger by selecting "Custom sizing options."

Lioso posted a link to a hardware manual here.

 

Take a look at the detailed manual at the Dell website. It has photos of the inside of the machine along with instructions for accessing various parts. What you will see is that the SSD is mounted in an mSATA slot and is therefore capable of being upgraded by a user. There are even instructions for this operation. On the other hand, if you look closely, you will also see a row of DRAM chips in various of the photos and these are all soldered directly to the motherboard.

Ira

 

I got mine yesterday. A couple things:

I have a 128GB version, which left about 104GB for C after Dell's recovery partions (multiple ones, two 500mb, 40mb, 6gb, and a 8gb). I might just make my recovery media and delete the partitions.....I did do a factory restore, so not sure if some of those were created for that process?? I hope not.

First issue I noticed is, when playing music, and using headphones, when I lock the screen, the music/sound is muted. Doesn't matter if it's a metro app or something running on the dekstop in a browser (like slacker radios web site). Doesn't happen if paying through laptop speakers.

 

Where is this manual of which you speak? On the Dell website page for "Manuals and Documents for XPS 12 (L221X)" I see "Online documentation is not available for the product you selected" and Dell support confirmed it wasn't ready yet. But maybe you have access to it via some other URL??

 

Very strange. I did find documentation a few days ago at the Dell site. It appears that Dell has pulled the documents. Sorry.

 

Hi everyone

After ordering an XPS 12 I came across this forum so thought I would join in. Good to see people talking about it!

My story so far: I ordered my XPS 12 on 30th October and was given a delivery date of 23rd November (UK). A few days ago the 'pre-production' order status changed to 'in-production' and I still have 23rd November as the expected delivery date so fingers crossed it will ship soon.

For anyone looking for the manual, this worked for me but is slow loading so hope this helps:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps12/en/OM/om_en.pdf

I've also been looking at a few reviews and found this site quite useful as a summary:

Dell XPS 12 review - gdgt

Will keep you updated as soon as my XPS12 arrives.

 

Yes, that is the manual I saw a few days ago. I have no idea why Dell pulled it. Perhaps its just a broken link due to a webmaster screw up.

In any case, if you look on page 19, you can see 8 nearly square chips, 6 of which are partly covered by a yellow strip of tape. That is the DRAM and as you can see it is soldered to the motherboard and there are no sockets or connectors anywhere for installing additional memory. Thus, whatever you order is what you have forever.

Ira

 

so i just kinda bought a lenovo yoga and been playing with it for an hour, ill give you my opinions
love some feedback on how this would comare to your xps'

still in the middle of the two laptops, hate how i cant see the xps in person

pros:
-leather surface surrounding keypad, virtually no fingerprints
-exterior material feels scratchproof, rubbery feeling
-hdmi port
-most models with similar configurations seems to be $100 cheaper than the XPS
-buying the cheapest model would suffice at $999 considering RAM and SSD is user up-gradable, and if i recall correctly there is one RAM slot open
-battery life from all the reviews i read on average the yoga will last an hour longer
-bigger screen


cons:
-the mouse trackpad sometimes gets stuck and doesn't travel back up depending on how the laptop is resting, hard to explain...
-no backlit keyboard
-keyboards nice but oddly place, not used to it, small enter key and oddly placed shift key, coming from using a macbook (used for 3 months and sold it)
-the hinge is solid BUT when using the windows metro/tiles in laptop mode, touching the back button causes it to shake because it is near the top of the screen --> does xps have this problem?
-not enough levels of brightness, the most bright setting is always too bright, but one down is always a little dim when using in a lit room

help guys! totally stuck
my main reason i would buy the XPS is for the tablet mode because this is a little bit awkward with the keys, its not horrible at all but knowing its resting on the keys bothers me a bit
.
any reasons you guys can vouch for to buy the xps?
spent way too much time reading up every review, but just cant get my hands on the xps to try

 

Well, most of the reviews have said the XPS 12's keyboard is really good. IMO the hinge is not a worry on either of the Ultrabooks. The partitioning of the disk drive is much better on the XPS 12. The battery is obviously better on the Yoga because the battery capacity is higher. The screen on the XPS 12 is really good. The XPS 12 has Intel WiDi and the Yoga doesn't.

 

Just ordered mine!!!

Went for the full spec.

Delivery on or before Dec 6, which is ages away.


Intel® Core™ i7-3517U processor (1.90 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.00 GHz - 8GB RAM & TPM)
8GB2 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
256GB Solid State Hard Drive

 

Two questions for those who have already received theirs:

1. What is the speaker quality like? Any better than your standard laptop speakers?

2. What case are you using to protect your laptop?

 

1. Speakers won't win any awards, but they are pretty decent. The side placement makes them easy to hear in either tablet or laptop mode. I'd say they were slightly better than "decent" quality, but not much more. Not too "tin-can" sounding as some other laptops.

2. As for a case, I currently just throw it into my backpack that I use for work and class. It's been in there with books and some other things, but it seems to be holding up fine so far. I'll probably either buy a sleeve or a 13" laptop bag in the near future.

 

Finally mine got the shipped status yesterday 11-09-12 but until today I have had no access to the tracking number. It was expected for the 12th but because of "This shipment is warehoused until it is released by clearing agency" it is now to be delivered the 13th. Anyway much better than the 26th!

User--------Order Date-------Estimated Date-------Delivery date---Country----Config

SuperTongue-10-13-12---------10-30-12/11-06-12----11-05-12--------USA---------
IntelUser---10-17-12---------11-15-12-------------xx-xx-----------CANADA------i7-8-128
jabbok------10-23-12---------11-15-12-------------xx-xx-----------------------
Regret------10-12-12---------11-05-12-------------11-12-12--------USA---------i5-8-256--Got delayed
Bill_P------10-18-12---------11-13-12-------------11-07-12--------USA---------
netrowdy----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-07-12--------GERMANY-----i5-8-256
PhilipX-----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-05-12--------BELGIUM-----i5-8-256
Lioso-------10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-12-12--------SPAIN-------i7-8-256
dmehers-----11-05-12---------11-30-12-------------xx-xx-xx--------SWITZERLAND-i7-8-256

 

User--------Order Date-------Estimated Date-------Delivery date---Country----Config

SuperTongue-10-13-12---------10-30-12/11-06-12----11-05-12--------USA---------
IntelUser---10-17-12---------11-15-12-------------xx-xx-----------CANADA------i7-8-128
jabbok------10-23-12---------11-15-12-------------xx-xx-----------------------
Regret------10-12-12---------11-05-12-------------11-12-12--------USA---------i5-8-256--Got delayed
Bill_P------10-18-12---------11-13-12-------------11-07-12--------USA---------
netrowdy----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-07-12--------GERMANY-----i5-8-256
PhilipX-----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-05-12--------BELGIUM-----i5-8-256
Lioso-------10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-12-12--------SPAIN-------i7-8-256
dmehers-----11-05-12---------11-30-12-------------xx-xx-xx--------SWITZERLAND-i7-8-256
itsnotlikethat--11-10-12----12-06-12------------xx-xx-xx-------UK-----------i7-8-256

 

User--------Order Date-------Estimated Date-------Delivery date---Country----Config

SuperTongue-10-13-12---------10-30-12/11-06-12----11-05-12--------USA---------
IntelUser---10-17-12---------11-15-12-------------xx-xx-----------CANADA------i7-8-128
jabbok------10-23-12---------11-15-12-------------shipped-----------Canada--------i7-8-256
Regret------10-12-12---------11-05-12-------------11-12-12--------USA---------i5-8-256--Got delayed
Bill_P------10-18-12---------11-13-12-------------11-07-12--------USA---------
netrowdy----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-07-12--------GERMANY-----i5-8-256
PhilipX-----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-05-12--------BELGIUM-----i5-8-256
Lioso-------10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-12-12--------SPAIN-------i7-8-256
dmehers-----11-05-12---------11-30-12-------------xx-xx-xx--------SWITZERLAND-i7-8-256
itsnotlikethat--11-10-12----12-06-12------------xx-xx-xx-------UK-----------i7-8-256

Mine shipped yesterday so it may get here by the 15th but I know it comes ground through the US then at least a day once it is in Canada.

 

User--------Order Date-------Estimated Date-------Delivery date---Country----Config

SuperTongue-10-13-12---------10-30-12/11-06-12----11-05-12--------USA---------
IntelUser---10-17-12---------11-15-12-------------shipped-----------CANADA------i7-8-128
jabbok------10-23-12---------11-15-12-------------shipped-----------Canada--------i7-8-256
Regret------10-12-12---------11-05-12-------------11-12-12--------USA---------i5-8-256--Got delayed
Bill_P------10-18-12---------11-13-12-------------11-07-12--------USA---------
netrowdy----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-07-12--------GERMANY-----i5-8-256
PhilipX-----10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-05-12--------BELGIUM-----i5-8-256
Lioso-------10-29-12---------11-26-12-------------11-12-12--------SPAIN-------i7-8-256
dmehers-----11-05-12---------11-30-12-------------xx-xx-xx--------SWITZERLAND-i7-8-256
itsnotlikethat--11-10-12----12-06-12------------xx-xx-xx-------UK-----------i7-8-256

It looks like it should be here Tuesday or Wednesday since Monday is Rememberance Day here. The product was in Calgary warehouse on Friday.

 

For those who received their XPS 12, how is the battery life? I am talking about real life battery life while browsing the web for example.
Thanks.

 

hello from Australia, just got mine today and joined this forum

i have a question, when the XPS 12 is closed and looking at the closed screen with the gap around the edge - the bottom of it i can see more silver on the left bottom than the right bottom of closed screen. I can't take a photo right now, but it makes it look lower quality or that something is wrong with it, but so far i think it functions fine. Maybe just cosmetic issue.

did anyone else notice this when the screen is closed?

thanks

 

Battery life seems pretty decent so far. I've never really sat down and used it for "X" number of hours until it died, but I'll normally make it through the day on battery power doing daily things. At home, I'll be using it on the couch for a few hours on and off with little drainage. The consensus from reviews seems to be 5.5 to 6 hours of use, which seems about right.

Can't say I'm seeing this on mine. Post a picture whenever you get a chance and I'll see what you're talking about.

 

i have attached hopefully it works. is actually hard to see the difference in the images, but one of the silver parts is more visible than the other

 

btw, anyone found screen protecters? i'm thinking to get $2 ones off ebay for laptop and cut to size, but it will not look perfect

 

Could you charge it completely, install BatteryBar, use it for 50% of battery and then post the reported FULL RUNTIME ?

 

So, this touchpad rattle issue irritates me because simply replacing the touchpad (which is easy!) won't fix it; it is nothing short of a design flaw. I took mine apart to investigate (it was very easy actually!) and what's happening is when the battery pack is screwed down, it's flexing the upper frame of the chassis just enough to pull away from the touchpad and it's tactile switch, thus causing the 'rattle' when you push down on it. It looks like they tried to overcome this by putting a dot of hot glue over the tactical switch to minimize the sound, but obviously that isn't working. Had dell used a membrane switch on the bottom of the touchpad (like they have been using on all normal touchpad buttons for the past, eh 5+ years) this noise wouldn't have been perceptible.

Anyway, putting a small piece of electrical tape over this landing area where the switch makes contact lessens the noise, but is still irritating. If you put more than 1 layer of tape though it becomes too thick and raises the touchpad up above the plane of the palmrest which is irritating as well.

I might see if I can find some slightly thicker silicone or fabric tape that will do a better job of sound dampening..

Anyway, hope someone get's some use out of this info!

 

The fact that only some have the touchpad issue indicates not a design flaw, but more of a quality control issue. That's not reassuring I know, but you should try sending it in for a new one.

I think if you are willing to use power save mode, and do web browsing only, it can last 7 hours or more. One of the tests that got 5-5.5 hours was from video playback which is pretty damned good.

 

Definitely! Thanks!
Mine is getting "repaired" (hopefully) by a Dell service partner in a couple of hours. The trackpad will be replaced and I am more than excited to see if that alone will work. Reading your post, I am not very convinced though.

Please keep us up to date if you find another solution.

I will post the result of the touchpad exchange.

 

new touchpad same problem!

Spare Touchpad as a single device (not built-in /exchanged yet) shows the same rattle issue.
So the tech did not even need to exchange it - useless!

What a fail!
I am quite frustrated!

Update: Dell Rep called me and told me that the noise is normal and this is not unusal.
I argued that a clicking noise is normal when clicking on the touchpad (lower area) but not when hovering it.

If this should be normal I cannot really explain why most of the owners so far do not have the problem but as from now I will give it back

 

i just noticed during reboot that i have a pixel which has an issue it stays the same colour all the time, so i might have to get it replaced

anyone else have this problem? pixel tester is here: LCD Dead Pixel Test Backgrounds

 

Dead pixels are a common problem with any LCD screen. This is nothing specific to Dell. Would recommend trying to get a replacement.

 

I really would recommend against putting a screen protector on the screen... It's Gorilla glass, which is unscratchable in most situations unless you are running a diamond ring or a car key over it. These predicaments are more of a possibility with cell phones, not so much with laptops.

 

Hi everyone.

Nice to see Dell XPS 12 users on this forum. I believe mine will come considerably later than others. I ordered (i5 4GB) mine on 8th Nov scheduled for arrival in on 4th Dec (London). Still in Pre-Production stage...Was looking at that little table showing when people received their hybrid, and DAMN! PhilpX got his one considerably faster than anyone else. I wonder why that is??

 

Can someone either confirm or not...this case scenario. Listen to music or video (either xbox music or something streaming from web or local) with headphones. Lock computer (windows Key - L) Sound is muted through headphones. Does not happen when not using headphones.

 

Mines coming on the 6th mate. Also UK. Where are the UK computers shipped from? China I presume?

 

I can confirm your findings as exactly the same happens to me.

Unfortunately I still didn't find much time to very intensively use the laptop but for what I have been doing with it, I actually really love it (even more than during my first day of use). The only two negative remarks i can made with respect to the XPS12:
- text is rather small so I also had to increase text size (to 150%) , now it is fine for me
- the trackpad is really not very accurate, better drivers are required! Fortunately, I also found myself constantly interacting with the beautiful touch screen. What's even more, I really use this laptop often in tablet mode (much more than I thought I would). Perhaps I should try a real tablet once

 

Just found a new review:

Dell XPS 12 12.5" Convertible Ultrabook Laptop Personal Computer Review

 

Yet another one in Russian:

Тест и обзор: Dell XPS 12 - трансформируемый ультрабук с шарнирным механизмом