XPS 13 (9333 Haswell) Owners Lounge

does anyone's brightness fluctuate randomly with seemingly no cause?

it's driving me mad, and i think it must be something t odo with the ambient light sensor... or some piece of software i'm missing / can' figure out..

cheers!

 

I also noticed this and it was driving me nuts. The setting is in the Power options under the Intel Graphics Settings panel. I don't have my machine with me at the moment but I believe the culprit was called Intel Power Saving Display Technology (or something like that). The feature is supposed to lead to lower power consumption by dynamically altering screen brightness/contrast. Turning this off seemed to fix the problem for me.

I used mine last night for ~3 hours on my lap while working on my dissertation (ugh!) and didn't find it uncomfortable. It got warm, but not uncomfortably so. I was also wearing pants so YMMV especially if you tend to use your computer while wearing no pants.

 

yeah i actually quite like using this machine on my lap, very user friendly or extended periods

 

Thanks dude. When I go to bed I usually stuff my laptop down my pants to keep warm while sleeping, I just hope the dissipating heat from the XPS 13 is enough.

According to the review the battery isn't replaceable. Anyone know if it's soldered to the board somehow or you can actually open up the laptop and replace it if needed?

 

Can anyone comment on the screen? Is there any backlight bleed when the screen contents are black (or in dark film scenes)? Thanks

 

Haha! Never thought about using it that way.

I had an XPS12 before swapping it for the XPS13 and it definitely had a replaceable battery. Given all the similarities in chassis between the two machines I would bet the XPS13 battery is replaceable too.

 

So I am curious about this as well. The Dell Audio panel reports Waves Maxxaudio 3 on mine, but my packing slip definitely says 5. Anyone know why this is the case?

 

I have some in all 4 corners.. The top two corners have it really bad that it's visible on other than black screens and is the reason why I'm exchanging mine.

All ips screens have it to some extent or another. I had the 3rd Gen Intel version and that had some but it was acceptable.. My ex gf also had the older model and hers also had some but it was acceptable.. On my unit it's pretty bad in the top corners

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated. Does anyone else have the backlight bleed too? Trying to determine if it's all XPS13 models or if this is just a one-off. I currently have a Spectre13 that has some backlight bleed and wondering if it's worth returning for an XPS13. But no point if it has the same thing

Couple of photos of it on Spectre13 here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/735074-hp-spectre-13t-3000-a-131.html#post9539041 . Is it better or worse than that?

Many thanks for the help

 

I received my new XPS13 yesterday, and I'm pleased to say that I don't have any problems with backlight bleed or sound issues that have been reported. The only problem I have is that the base isn't level, so the laptop rocks on the desk when I type - which is very annoying. But overall, I'm very happy with the laptop.

 

That's a pretty big thing dude, aren't you going to return it? You're going to be using it for years, the rocking is unacceptable.

 

Which review? Seems pretty replaceable to me - see page 14 of manual.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...s_laptop/xps-13-9333_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

In fact, aside from RAM it seems to be a highly serviceable ultrabook all round.

 

This review. Although to be fair they do say it's not "removable", so maybe they mean it can't be easily popped out as in some laptops.

Anyway happy to hear you can replace it. The ability to replace battery and SSD is a must for me.

 

It's not quite as bad as I probably made it sound. It rocks slightly, more so if I put pressure on one corner. It's barely noticeable when typing. I think I will be able to put up with it. It seems minor compared to backlight bleed and annoying sounds that others have. I've got another week to decide whether to return it, so I'll see how it goes in the meantime.

My last laptop was a Sony Vaio, which had terrible fan noise after a year - it sounded like an aircraft taking off. The XPS is a dream compared to that. So silent, and fast.

 

Got mine on Monday (despite ordering it Nov. 15). Hardware is very good. If it had keys like the M1330 and a 9-cell battery, it would be close to perfect.

 

Okay, so my XPS 12 (the one with the freaky flip screen) has an image retention problem, and I'm looking to get a refund so I can buy an XPS 13 which apparently doesn't have this issue. But I have to buy the cheaper model because the top of the line (like my XPS 12) costs a lot more than what I'm getting back from the refund.

What I'd like to do is upgrade the SSD myself, and I'm looking at the Crucial M500 because it's cheaper than any other 240GB SSD I can find. I want to know: is this one compatible with the XPS 13?

 

I did the same thing. I bought the 128GB model and then a Crucial M500. It works fine. Are you going to be doing a fresh Windows 8.1 install?

 

You might try and work out a system replacement with Dell. I originally had a top of the line XPS12 9q23 and after going through a display swap, a refurbished XPS12, and a new XPS12 (all which exhibited the image retention issue) they offered a system swap for a top of the line XPS13 9333. YMMV, but I would definitely try this route before I got a refund and had to pony up more cash for a similar spec'd XPS13.

 

I still have to do my research here, so I'm not quite sure what I should be doing. What's the best course of action for me, if I basically just want to put everything on the 240GB SSD without paying for a new copy of Windows? Can you walk me through the process please?

 

The reason I asked if you would be doing a clean install is because of the following.

I wanted to restore a system image onto the new hard drive, so I would have all the Dell drivers, Dell recovery and Intel Rapid Start etc. So I took a backup on to an external drive, put the new SSD drive in the laptop (there's a video on You Tube, and it's very easy to replace the SSD) and did a system image recovery. All worked fine, except that the C drive was still only about 100GB in size. I had 300GB+ of unallocated space. Using the Windows Computer Management and third party partition managers I could not extend the C drive to use the unallocated space, because they were not adjacent. The Intel Rapid Start and Dell Recovery partitions were in the way. So the only way to extend the C drive was to remove those, but then I couldn't get Intel Rapid Start to work correctly.

So the only 2 options are to a) Create a separate partition with another drive letter - eg C drive for 100GB and D drive 300GB+, or b) do a fresh install..

I really wanted one drive (C) with 400GB of space, so, after a week of trying to move partitions, extend partitions, reinstall Intel Rapid Start, I gave up and did a fresh install. I had previously purchased a copy of Windows 8 Pro, and the key worked for 8.1. I then had to install the Dell drivers manually. Intel Rapid Start isn't installed, but the laptop starts up very quick anyway and wakes from sleep almost instantly so I don't know what the benefit of IRST is.

So I finally got it all setup the way I want it yesterday, with a C drive capacity of 438GB.

 

Someone on the XPS 12 thread mentioned using a software under the Paragon brand, which allows automatic resizing of partitions. Any idea how I'd go about that?

 

Hi guys!

So I just bought this nee xps 13 with Haswell. I got the i3 version with windows 7. Please tell me I didn't made a wrong choice. I will use this xps 13 to write mostly and web browsing. I have a gaming laptop if I want to play games. Thanks!

 

I'm loving mine. I am using it mostly for writing my dissertation and it's great. Awesome display, superb battery life (imo), and great build quality. Really an all around nice notebook. Any particular concerns you have?

 

Thanks!

I was just scared that the i3 4010u + 4gb or ram wasnt strong enough or the windows 7 couldn't handle the full def on a 13inc screen.

 

I think you'll be just fine. I personally would have gone for Windows 8.1 because I think it's a faster more efficient OS (once you get over the metro ui), but Win7 is good too. Let me know if you need any help with anything.

 

Somebody uploaded this on YouTube. Anyone else got such bad bleeding?

 

Think I'll juste install windows 8.1 and everything should be ok

 

I'm having difficulty booting into Bios. Anybody else able to manage it with F2 at startup? Also F12 and F8 have no effect. F2 or F12 (as appropriate) will be highlighted in the bottom right hand corner when I press them, but it still proceeds to start Windows. I've disabled Fast Boot in Windows.

 

It might be F1 or F10, I'm not quite sure.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm looking to buy this laptop after my refund for my returned XPS 12 is completed (the XPS 12 has some serious image retention problems).

Anyway, I'm wondering if the XPS 13 has any of its own crippling and widespread problems (I've heard about the occasional backlight bleed, but that doesn't seem to be something that will decrease the usable life of the system, and it doesn't seem to be widespread).

 

I got mine today. It looks almost exactly like the one in this video and to me this is an untolerable amount of blacklight bleed. My dell IPS screen from many years ago has only 10% of this amount of blacklight bleed. I also got the coil noise when using the blacklit keyboard.

I should have read more about this laptop before buying as I didn't know it had this production faults beforehand. God dammit! Two weeks waiting for it to assemble and ship and I get this crap.

 

This doesn't sound good. I bought mine a week or so ago and it's currently in production. Reading this thread I thought the quality varied and some units were better than others, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I'll let you all know when I get mine...if the coil noise and backlight bleeding is bad enough I'll definitely return it.

 

Mine had zero issues upon receipt and continues to perform without any issues. I've now had the unit for 30+ days. Great replacement for my aging M1330.

I also have little to no issue getting to the boot or bios screens. I have to press the fn key immediately after pressing the power key.

 

Good to hear, keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Is backlight bleed an "either it happens or it doesn't" thing, or is it something that can develop over time?

Personally, I make a habit of staying on the lowest level of backlight, changing to the third-lowest level if it!s not enough. Am I likely to notice the bleed if it occurs?

 

No it is a manufacturing fault with the screen in the laptop, so no bleed will occur over time.

 

My two cents: also replacing an M1330.

I've has this machine (i7 build) for 24 hours. No backlight bleed (minor at best), and minimal and very tolerable whine. Yes, it is there sometimes, but barely noticeable. Hey---maybe its at one of those frequencies that old people (I am nigh on 40!) cannot discern as clearly as the youth.

I am very happy with this machine so far. A pleasure to use.

 

Okay just got mine. My honest verdict:

Backlight bleed
Very weak with three spots along the bottom of the screen and one spot (most noticeable) at the middle top. It seems very weak especially compared to the video above, but I've only tested during daytime with the curtains drawn. I'll test again at night where it might be more noticeable and take a photo for you guys.

Coil noise
Yep, definitely there, with focus emanating from lower right side of keyboard. Changes pitch and level according to keyboard lighting (also changes pitch kind of randomly, dunno what if anything triggers it, might be due to SSD activity). Turning on Caps lock also creates coil noise.:
1. Keyboard light off: It's there constantly, but can only be heard if I lower my head to a distance within 10cm of the noise focus (so if you're sitting at a normal distance you'd be hard pressed to hear it).
2. Keyboard light on, first press: The pitch and level quickly rises and then...no noise! Just completely disappears. Even pressing Caps lock does not produce any noise. Weird.
3. Keyboard light on, second press: Coil noise rises and can be heard up to a distance of 1m, maybe a bit more.

Mind you, I did the testing in a silent room, doors and windows closed, just a bit of ambient sound coming from outside. If you do not have complete silence around you I doubt you'd notice the whine.

I'll test again in the evening but atm all in all backlight bleeding is definitely acceptable to me. Coil noise..I'm not sure. If I'm sitting at normal distance I can't hear it (except if I use the third keyboard light setting, then it's clear). I'm concerned if I send my unit back for replacement I'll get the same problem if not worse. Also the backlight bleeding might be worse in the replacement...I'll have to think about it during the next few days.

Other stuff
- Somebody mentioned the base of the laptop rocking. I have no such issue, mine is rock solid.
- Build quality is great. The keyboard font is kind of weird.
- I'll install DOTA 2 and give it a run in case anyone is interested...

EDIT: BTW my build is i7 HD 4400 with IPS touch screen.

 

Played a bit of DOTA 2. Got around 20FPS using the highest settings and 1080p resolution. Lowest settings 1080p gave me around 60FPS. Medium settings around 30FPS.

All in all quite laggy IMO, unless you turn down the settings, in which case the graphics are horrible. I'm probably spoiled by my desktop, but I wasn't satisfied with the performance. HD4400 is simply not powerful enough. This laptop is for work, internet and old games, not new games.

Also regarding the coil whine; I used the laptop a bit more and have decided it's a deal breaker. I usually work in a quiet environment and I figure having this noise constantly in the background will drive me insane. Also, the XPS 13 is supposed to be a top of the line model. Considering the price, this is not acceptable. I'll see if Dell comes up with a solution in the next week or so (loads of buyers having this problem, check here: New XPS 13 (9333) Constant Noise - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community), but if not, I'll return it.

A damn shame really, I love the screen, the construction and the design of it. Oh well.

 

I'm still waiting for my XPS 13 which I switched to from an XPS 12 (to avoid the Image Retention issues on that machine), and it's honestly frustrating reading about these coil noise issues. Especially since I've already invested in an mSATA SSD to increase the storage space.

I do have three things to ask about it:
1. I *never* turn on the backlight. Is it consensus that the noise is either nonexistent or inaudible when the backlight is off?
2. Does it get worse with time?
3. I forgot what the third question was. I'll ask it when I remember it.

 

I'll answer to the best of my ability:

1. No, for some people the coil noise is audible when the backlight is off, but disappears when the backlight is turned on. For others the reverse is the case. People have also experienced the situation reversing after a reboot. For me the noise is audible when the backlight is off. Here's a video of the coil noise:

2. No, it remains at the same constant high pitch. I've only had it for a few days though, I don't know if and how it would change as the years pass by.
3. Sure, np. :thumbsup:

 

Just recieved mine. The coil whine is inaudible when the backlight is off, which to me is the best case scenario. Furthermore, I didn't notice much backlight bleed (though I am biased toward the lowest backlight level).

My complaint comes from the wifi. I can't hold a connection for more than a few minutes, and that connection is really slow. My netbook and my phone hold stronger and more consistent connections. Can someone help me out here?

My wireless driver is version 16.6.0.8, which apparently has been having problems?

EDIT: updated to 16.8.0.6 and the problem is the same, if not slightly worse

EDITEDIT: downgraded to 16.5.3.X and the problem's still there.

 

Anyone know how long the production time is? My pc is still in production en app delevery date is next monday...

 

Okay, I had a technician come over and fix the wireless problems by replacing the wireless card.

However, I take back the other thing I said before. It's true that there's a whirring sound that only happens when the backlight is on, and that I never turn the backlight on, but at *every* time there's a high-pitched whine sound (distinct from the whirring - the whine is more uniform). It superimposes on the aforementioned whirring sound. It's easy to pick up in a quiet room.

The worst part is that neither of my parents can hear it when the laptop is placed next to their ears. It means that, if the Dell technicians are older, then they might not be able to pick up the sound.

 

Approximately how old are you and your parents respectively? I'm not a spring chicken, and have been eyeing this machine, and all this talk about the noise has kept me back so far (I really don't like noisy machines, fans or otherwise, so that matters to me). However, if it's at a frequency I wouldn't be able to hear ...

If I got the machine and returned it for this issue, would Dell still charge a restocking fee?

 

I'm 20, my mother is in her 40s and my dad is in his 50s. That might not be the most helpful bit of information though.

Again, I must reiterate that this high-frequency whining sound is distinct from the whirring that appears when the backlight is turned on. The latter is not a problem to me because I never have the backlight on, and it isn't really worse than the whine. Both sounds are very soft, and the only reason I care is because the "high-pitchedness" of the whine is getting on my nerves a bit.

It might be a symptom of either the Wireless Card replacement done by a technician or the SSD upgrade I did myself (the sound wasn't as loud before those happened), so I'll see if I can get a motherboard replacement or something.

EDIT: I replaced the old SSD and the noise is still there.

EDIT2: my mother can hear the noise.

 

Thanks for the info, I hope this issue is resolved quickly and successfully for all XPS 13 owners (present and future). Sort of puzzling why Dell would allow their most premium ultrabook suffer from this apparently widespread problem.

I'm holding off for the time being getting an XPS 13, might consider alternative systems/manufacturers (Lenovo or Samsung possibly).

 

I also dropped this machine from the running due to the coil noise. I ended up with an HP Spectre 13t. It ended up being cheaper for the same configuration, and it seems like one of the best Ultrabooks. It's scheduled to be here on Wednesday.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

 

I would go for the Spectre too, but actually around here it's more expensive than the Dell. It's also a bit more heavy.

 

I didn't know about the Spectre until the post above (thanks for mentioning it oryan_dunn) , I did a bit of reading about it, and there seem to be some concerns about fan noise on them? Anyone else heard about that? (no pun intended ).

How's battery life?

Not sure I'm a fan of the bronze/brown color set - but could live with that

 

Without derailing this thread, it seems the fan does have a slightly higher pitched noise, but I figured I/we could live with it. The battery life is rated pretty well, usually 7-9hrs depending on what your doing.

I actually really like the brown/champaign color. It looks really sleek, and different from a MBA clone. The Best Buys near me have the Spectre on display, so you can see (and hear) it in person.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9