XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

They're all made in the same manufacturing facilities, and since the defects don't seem to apply to particular spec configurations (some of which may or may not be available in various countries), I don't think it matters at all. Maybe the QHD+ panels are more prone to dead pixels and dust issues, but since few people here ordered FHD, that's hard to tell.

 

I think notebook check also showed that the EURO version has lower brightness levels on the screen over the US version.

 

yes notebook check clearly shows that the USA version has more brightness but the contrast on screen was more on the EURO version..1600:1 contrast for EURO and 1430:1 contrast for the USA version....also i read on this thread before someone was saying that most people here with complaints have the EURO version...which version u guys have?

 

So I can report from my side since I'm on my 3rd screen (Europe):
- The first was the best: high brighness good color balance (I have 2 monitors more or less calibrated (color cards) at home)).
- The second had less brighness as the first one (like my 1. on 90%) an good color balance
- the third hast same lower brighness at my 2. and a little bit too warm, brown color.

Reasons for 3rd screen:
1. worked good until 14 days ago one FULL row of full rbighness green pixel menwhile I was writing.
2. replacement: direct after 2 hours of working. the left diplay backlight started flickering and turned ouf regulary (every 10 minutes for some seconds)
3. is working great until now

But from brighness and color I would have rated my first screen as most impressive. ... It is interesting, but maybe dell also shipped (I was one of the first) in the first exemplars for europe also the US screen? Many companies do such tricks for the reviews which come up in the first weeks/month. - one can find such examples for fans/collingsystem of graphiccards.
And as we talk about different equipment: I have the 'glas-like' (no it is not glas) touchpad.

 

It does not. I considered a Macbook Pro 15 Retina as an alternative to the XPS 15 and did some research into what it was like dual-booting and it's not ideal. As you said, driver support from Apple for Windows is very poor and spotty, which should come as no surprise. Also, there will be significant performance degradation.

I dug up some benchmarks while researching but basically a top-tier XPS 15 can boot Windows 8.1 in 4 to 5 seconds. The top MBPr 15 with 512GB SSD can boot Mac OS X Mavericks in around 4 seconds as well. Conversely, the same MBPr 15 will take just under 30 seconds to boot Windows 8.1 with boot camp. So there's a huge difference there already.

The other option is to run Windows as a Virtual Machine using software like Parallels. I actually did this on my 2009 Macbook Pro 13, using Parallels to run WinXP as a virtual machine. It generally worked well but I only did that to run the occasional Windows-only software and would recommend it if you want to run Windows as your main OS.

Overall, I'd say if you get a Macbook, get it for Mac OS X, don't buy a Macbook with the intention of running native Windows as your main OS because you're going to be compromising software performance significantly, which makes no sense if you're shelling out that much money for a computer.

Sorry but you keep asking for information that nobody has, except maybe for Dell.

In terms of Mac OS X, it's a fine operating system that works well. It's as they say, a walled garden. As long as you operate and use it within Apple's defined constraints, you'll have a great experience. If you try to expand or want to go beyond it, it won't be as pleasant and can be frustrating. Gaming on a Macbook is also subpar, my 2009 MBP could not run Civilization 5 for example despite the laptop being only a year old when that game came out.

I've used Mac OS X from 10.6 Leopard to 10.10 Mavericks, I originally switched from Windows when I gave up on Vista. Got my Macbook a few months before Windows 7 came out. Mac OS X is much better then Vista, but then Vista was garbage. My beef with OS X is that in the last 5 years, there hasn't been much progress or innovation with the OS, I find there's relatively little changes between Leopard and Mavericks besides better iOS integration. It's good if you use iOS devices like iPhone, iPad and AppleTV but beyond that it is in my opinion, a very stale operating system.

I've been using Windows 7 the past year and a half at work, and Windows 8.1 at home now that I have an XPS 15 and I have to say, Windows 7 is easily on par with Mavericks, slightly better in a few areas. Windows 8.1 is, honestly, my second favourite Windows to date (only behind Windows XP) and IMO blows Mavericks out of the water, if you have a touch screen.

In regards to the touchpad, I have the "glass" one with the little middle line at the bottom. I'd say its more like a graphite slab, it's generally smooth to the skin but if I put my nails on it, it feels and sounds like I'm scratching a chalk board and it leaves a mark (which can be rubbed out). It's okay but definitely nowhere as nice as the fibreglass touchpads on the Macbooks which is very, very smooth no matter how to touch it.

 

Apparently both touchpad variants have the line in the middle of the bottom, but the chalkboard touchpad is the non-glass pad. Or maybe they're both glass, but apparently that's the one that according to GoNz0 isn't as good as the replacement. I don't have any real issues with it other than that it's not the absolutely best touchpad in the world, but just fyi.

 

Ah thanks for clarifying, I wasn't sure. People's descriptions indicate the non-glass one has a textured rubbery feel, I would say it's not textured or rubbery at all, just more like a relatively smooth piece of graphite.

 

Anyone buy this from Costco ? How did that work out ?

They have the top line 16 GB / 512 SSD for $1999 with 2 year warranty.

Seems to good.

 

yeah thats what i m thinking abt that how are they selling it for the same price as the mid tier dell xps 15.....maybe its one of those that were returned and replaced by people with issues...good deal though

 

Costco does not sell refurbs, it'll be a brand new system from Dell.

Costco negotiates special prices and deals with manufacturers, they are a wholesaler after all. Their profit margins on the items they sell are razor thin, that's why they charge membership fees to make up for it.

 

@caucasian fury i also wanted to ask something abt which i cudnt get info in the entire internet..i want to know at what quality do movies play on this 3200 by 1800 display...we mostly dont even have more than 1080p bluray movies or tv shows yet.so are the 1080p movies blurry?i mostly used to download yify bluray rips which are compressed 1.5 gb 1080p movies and they play phenomal on my current 1080p laptop..so well do ur videos play because we still yet dnt have 4k videos available for movies and tv shows

 

They will not be blurry, they will look like they would look on a 1080p screen. Of course a 4K video would be much sharper.

 

As stated, not blurry at all. In fact, it's the opposite, it is very sharp and looks excellent. I watch 1080p videos on the XPS 15 all the time, Crunchyroll (Anime), Netflix and Youtube 1080p vids all look fantastic, better then my 1080p TVs

 

Anyone know an image viewer that will display 1080p still images (jpegs) at full screen with perfect 1x1:2x2?

Windows normal image viewer shows them as 1080pixel rectangles in the middle of the screen and I've got some images to show a client that I want them to be blown away by without having to export at exactly QHD+ as well as full res and 1080p (which are my standards).

 

The Photos app in Metro. That would also allow you to show off the touchscreen since you can swipe from image to image and pinch to zoom. However, if you have source material that can be exported to QHD+, why wouldn't you do so before showing a client if the goal is to impress them? You'd be leaving a lot of the panel's resolution capacity on the table with 1080p, and I presume you won't exactly be showing hundreds of images in this meeting, so exporting couldn't be THAT time-consuming, especially since I assume your app supports batch exports.... Either way, spend some time learning your way around Metro before presenting to your client: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/getting-around-tutorial.

Also, 1:4 pixel mapping won't work with 1080p material. The panel's resolution is 3200x1800, so you'd need 1600x900 material for perfect 1:4. Yet another reason to export your content for native QHD+.

 

Yeah it is hundreds, it's a wedding...

D'oh on the pixel mapping, although if metro's that good, I might just browse the full res ones and let it do the scaling. I'll have a play tonight and see which looks best, cheers!

 

I dont think it has to do with GPT, been cloning alot with clonezilla, i like the program alot.

tho my error seems to have something todo with iwlwifi, right before clonezilla goes to its login prompt i see some error that it cant find the correct iwlwifi firmware. i been trying with 5 diffrent clonezilla kernels but none of them seem to find my Intel wifi firmware.

thats why im curious about finding out if there is someone that has run clonezilla succesfully.

 

nevermind, i didnt try the latest Debian based clonezilla version, that one worked alright.

 

So I just got my XPS 15! Wow - it really does look spectacular - and bigger than I thought (in a good way).

First impressions:
- No coil noise!!! Whooohoo!
- Looks spectacular!
- Absolutely quiet during regular use and even when fans kick in during gaming, they are not too loud
- Good performance: was able to max out Dota 2 at native 3200x1800 and get 27-33fps at average with AA on; 3DMark 11 - 2998
- Good temps so far: GPU usually 73-75°C - never above 78°C (so far Dota 2 and Heaven Benchmark)

Questions
- What is the default clock speeds for the 750m? GPU-z shows: GPU clock: 941 MHz; Memory 1250 MHz; Boost 967 MHz - but when I was logging the performance to check for temperatures and throttling it recorded: GPU clock 1058.2. Memory was normal at 1249.7MHz. Is this some sort of boost or OC?
- When I try to change screen resolution from 3200x1800 to 1080p it does not work. When I hit apply/ok, the screen flickers twice and goes back to the native resolution. Is there anything I'm missing?

Next stop - Witcher 2

Thank you!

 

the coil whine will come....

 

Did it come with yours? After how long?

I also read a good review about Y50 that just came out so I'm still considering switching there.

 

the replacement i got has tripled in noise over 2 weeks from nearly nothing too noticeable in a quiet room. the original one is unusable now.

 

Sorry to hear that! I just got it today - so I still can return it. The plan is to wait for the Y50 reviews - if it has good screen and battery life, it's worth the 1lb tradeoff - especially considering the price.

Do you know if Dell counts the 30 days from the moment they get the order - or from the moment you receive the computer?

EDIT: Aaaand the coil whine is here . Well - it was fun while it lasted XPS. It's a shame - such a good machine.

 

For those (like me) finding that the wifi drops out when reception is low, uninstalling the Microsoft Kernel Debug Adapter may help.
It's done in device manager. You just need to show hidden devices and look in "Network Adapters". I've no idea what the adapter is meant to do (and whether removing it has any unwanted side-effects) and why removing it helps, but it seemed to make a difference on my machine.

 

I wish killer networks bring out a 3x3 ac card like the 1103 card which is a must have for anyone!

 

For the resolution issue, try pressing OK instead of apply, failing that, use the Intel Graphics > Properties option in the Notification area.

Also note that if you change the scaling, it's best to log out and log in again or even reboot for it to redraw the windows stuff.

 

Lol ...

 

Yes, both the CPU and GPU are capable of throttling and overclocking themselves as thermal conditions dictate/allow. I don't know the exact range of the 750M though, and I believe that OEMs are allowed to tweak those parameters, so specs from some other system will not necessarily apply to yours. I wouldn't worry about it though. A "base clock" doesn't really mean much if the CPU/GPU can (and sometimes must, in this system) operate below that speed and can also often operate above it, and there's also nothing you can realistically do to change clock speeds anyway.

I don't have any problems changing to 1080p or any other resolution using the Windows function or Intel's applet. Update your drivers and BIOS maybe? And yes, if you switch to 1080p, you'll want to log off and back on so scaling can be completely adjusted appropriately.

And of course read the XPS 15 Wiki, specifically the "What to do when you get yours", the how-tos, and the complaints sections (even if you have none). They'll clue you into stuff on this system that you might not find otherwise and might want to disable, like splendid mode, MaxxAudio, and Rapid Start.

 

Picking up my new XPS 15 tonight after work cannot wait has been delivered really excited. My 1640 already throttles when doing certain tasks so noises shouldnt bother me anyway.

Just looking forward to it. Will i notice this coil noise from what in particular??

 

I am also between the XPS 15 and the newly released Lenovo Y50.
Here is a quick but very detailed breakdown comparison between the two models for those looking into both.

Dell XPS 15
-3K, Top quality IGZO based, Touch Screen
-NFC
-DisplayPort
-Better Wifi with AC support
-Lighter and smaller Ultrabook like form
-Very good Sound and Speakers
-A version with the new Haswell Refresh CPU is coming soon but not available in the USA and Europe yet
-16GB RAM and 512GB SSD out of the box
-More "Professional like" look and feel
-Weak and outdated NVidia 750M GPU
-No NumPad
-About 5 Hours of Battery Life
-Coil whine is a confirmed major issue of the current configurations of this model
-$2400 price tag before taxes

Lenovo Y50
-4k Touch Display (hopefully is NOT a TN, as 4K configurations are not available yet) 1080p panels are however TN based
-the latest Maxwell based NVidia 860M even with 4GB of GDR5 RAM (simply there is no comparison with the XPS's 750M)
-Configurations with the current Haswell and the just released Haswell Refresh are available right now
-16GB RAM and 512GB SSD out of the box
-No NFC
-No DisplayPort
-Weaker Wifi in the current configurations, with AC support
-NumPad available
-Little heavier and bulkier than the XPS 15, not Ultrabook form design, but still very slick package
-Red themed keyboard and backlights (I am personally not a fan of this, most people however love it)
-Great Sound and Speakers experience with a build-in Subwoofer
-About 5 Hours of Battery Life
-Significantly lower price. Currently you are getting the top of the line 1080p configuration for $1450(!). This is ~$1000 cheaper than the XPS 15. I am expecting the 4K configuration to add another $200-300 but still WAY lower than the Dell

 

I think your missing a massive plus as well if your an IT geek and pro, is the dell is easily customisable too. Meaning take the back panel off and change or tweak what you need to without stripping back the whole laptop.

I cant really see any pros or likes for the Y50 your comparing why its better bar the GPU.

Dell after sales support is very very good from experience and drivers accessible and software.

 

Just watched this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49hhTRbxJXM

See the video completely different standard of quality and build when you compare it to the XPS

 

What's not to compare? Both are almost in the same category, high-end, slim, 15.6 inch 4K Touch based laptops.
The differences I mention are about 99% of the complete list. Each has both advantages and weaknesses.
Choose which one is better for you, but they are totally comparable. In fact if you follow both forums you will find A LOT of people that are between these two models right now.

Lenovo is as easily customizable, but if you get the SSD and 16GB configuration, there is nothing else left to add in the future.

 

Having a bit of an issue with mine at the moment, three times in the last couple of days I've had the machine fail to recover from sleep when the lid is opened.

Instead I have to press the power button and I'll then find the "OS did not shutdown cleanly" (or something along those lines) and then "checking X, checking Y, etc." box pops up on the dell screen and when windows loads it's lost my session entirely.

What could be the cause of this? I shut the lid a lot to put it to sleep, and it's never happened until a couple of days ago and now it's happening quite frequently. Worth a call to Dell or is there anything I should check first?

Worth mentioning I do not have RapidStart active at all, so it should be going into a true sleep, I'm also 100% sure this isn't because of battery capacity as it just did it twice while connected to AC Power...

 

Does anyone know how I can order an extended size cell battery for this laptop? I have a 6-cell one right now.

 

On the Y50:

- Lack of DisplayPort means you can't drive external 4K displays @ 60 Hz, which is kind of a bummer from a futureproofing standpoint. And if its HDMI output isn't HDMI 1.4, then you can't drive 4K even at 24-30 Hz. Also, having only HDMI out means that you can only drive a single external display, whereas having DisplayPort means that just you could drive anywhere from 1 to 6 external displays off that single DisplayPort connection (using daisy-chaining displays or an MST hub). Or if you don't want to deal with that, at least having both DP and HDMI means you can drive two external displays with no fuss.

- The numpad is either a blessing or a curse; on the one hand, it's convenient if you'd use it frequently, but if you won't, then its presence forces you to sit off-center relative to the display, which many find irritating (and which is why many laptops don't have numpads even when space is available).

- There's also no indication of whether any of the Y50's USB ports remain powered while the system is off; that's really become a killer feature for me, especially on the XPS since ALL of its USB ports work that way.

- There are no real-world impressions from it yet, e.g. how is the build quality, keyboard and touchpad feel, etc. For all we know the Y50 will have its own coil whine type of issue.

- And I'm sorry, but the fact that the Y50 weighs 5.3 lbs and is 0.9" thick (with little to no apparent taper) puts it in a completely different class of system IMHO -- which explains why it can have a faster GPU. That's not just "a little heavier and bulkier". Lenovo bills the Y50 as a gaming laptop. Dell's XPS brand USED to mean gaming (until Dell bought Alienware), but now it's a moniker to describe their top-end offerings from a design, feature, and all-around performance standpoint.

I'm not saying that there's no value to comparing these two systems, but they're pretty clearly aimed at different markets, so it's not entirely apples to apples.

I also wouldn't consider the XPS 15's speakers very good. MaxxAudio "enhancements" mask a lot of the disappointing performance, but they do it by grossly exaggerating the bass. It seems to help the built-in speakers a bit, but it makes external speakers sound awful, and MaxxAudio applies to both the built-in speakers and whatever is attached to the headset jack.

 

You'd have to buy it off someone with the top-tier model as it's not available elsewhere.

You'd also have to get rid of your physical harddrive.

 

You'd have to call Dell Spare Parts, but thus far nobody has been successful getting either battery size sold to them. The last time anyone posted about it was quite a while ago though, so you may as well give it a shot. The exact part number is somewhere in either this thread or the M3800 thread, which might make your life easier when dealing with them.

 

I have been using mine 3 weeks ago and mine doesn't whine. I have asked about 10 people to listen for it, there is hope.

 

All of the above are great points. I totally agree and co-sign them, all.
But are also obvious (at least to me). XPS 15 has an "Ultrabook like" form factor and its not a gaming oriented, in the other hand when you want high performance GPU you cannot compare the new 860M with the 750M. DisplayPort means 4k output at 60hz. The XPS 15 MaxxAudio Speakers are scoring very good reviews all over, this is why I listed them as good.

If your needs require slimmer and lighter package, then the Y50 is off your list, even thought the Y50 is nothing like the heavy duty Gaming Laptops we used to have. If performance especially GPU, not only for games, and price are important then you go with the Y50.I am between the two, personally I am not spending $2500 on the XPS until they fix the coil whine problem, and for that money I would love to have a modern GPU ex. 850M, the same way I am not spending a single dollar to get a TN Screen based Y50. Again that is me.

Between this forum and the Y50 you will notice that quite a lot of people are between these two laptops, after all, 4K high-end, 15.6 Slim Laptops that are available today can be counted in one hand, I think the breakdown list I did will cleanup a lot of stuff for the potential buyers, thanks for adding the above clarifications, it will help people to understand these points even further (ex. what the lack of DisplayPort means).

 

Totally fair. I guess the XPS speakers are good for its class, but since I'm coming from one of those earlier-era heavy machines (a 9 lb. heavy, 2" thick Precision M6300) that had room for awesome speakers, the XPS is quite a step down.

I also realized (and just added to an edited version of my above post) that the Y50 only having HDMI out means you can only drive a single external display, which is a dealbreaker IMHO. I know there are USB port replicators with video, but they're (currently) limited to 1080p and can show compression artifacts if too much of the display area changes too quickly -- as might happen while gaming. The XPS has DP and HDMI, so you can drive two external displays easily right off the bat, but that single DP port can also drive up to 6 displays all on its own if you have daisy-chaining displays or an MST hub (actual number depends on the resolution of each display). I don't see why the Y50 couldn't have included both given its size, but I think if only one could have been included, DP would have been the far better choice. DP to HDMI adapters are cheap and plentiful, DP would have provided far more capability in both number of displays and maximum bandwidth to a single display, and unlike HDMI, DP is royalty-free!

 

Thank you!

 

I was and still am in the very same situation as you. I posted pretty much the same post with regards to two systems and specs/price. I decided to go with XPS for now and try it before any real reviews of Y50 come out. So far the XPS:

- looks and feels amazing!; good performance for what 750m is (3DMark 11 - 3000, Dota 2 Maxed out native ~30fps, maxed out 1080p 60fps, Witcher 2 900p High with some setting turned down ~28-40fps)
- few throttling issues if any
- but the coil whine came -> it's not there all the time, but sometime it is and you can hear it (@!*#^&$(@ Hell!)

The two major things I'm worried with Lenovo are: screen quality and battery life (perhaps temps too - but those should be fine) - if those boxes are checked, I'm probably going to switch.

Also to note, the 4.4lbs are not much compared to my old 9.3lbs alienware, but every ounce counts so I'm not sure about the added weight. And lastly, you can get XPS from the dell outlet for about ~$450 less than normal. I did that -> some would argue that your chance of coil whine will be higher or that it might have other issues, but really with Dell it's hit and miss anyway and if you purchase the warranty (which you should with Dell/XPS) you are covered.

 

OK, just got this best from Costco.

One issue ...right click trackpad physical feel on click.

Mine feels squishy if you will on right click, left click feels great.

Is this normal or defective ?

TIA

 

Having some issues when trying to play DotA. Even on lowest settings, the game performance is unplayable..

No troubles playing World of Warcraft. I have tried DotA with nvidia card and without and same problem. Around 30 seconds into game it will start to freeze up. Checking temps.. it is around 132F. Even at lowest settings..

What can I do?

 

they should be the same.

 

One thing to note about the Lenovo Y50 is that it's not available with a 4K screen yet, all configs offered on Lenovo USA's website only includes a 1080p screen.

In fact, on the Y50's feature page specifically points out "Up to 15.6" FHD Display with Available Multitouch", so I'm not sure what this means or when and if the models with 4K displays will be available any time soon.

 

Your power settings are set to max performance? Drivers are updated?

 

Argggg. Need to return.

Man this thing is fast.


Such a cheap part to have an issue with