XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

Ordered a month before. Finally there.
Wants to compare with MacBook Pro.
130 Watt Power adapter with short cable. (my comment: quite compact for a 130W)
Aluminium is a little darker than Apple.
Looks very good.
Seems; as thin as the MacBook pro.

Box made with bamboo.
Plastic protection looks exactly like the one from Apple.

Keyboard: seems very good.
Touchpad: about the same size as on the MacBook Pro.
Lists the ports. (my comment: I didn't see there was no Ethernet port, I'm quite pissed especially as the USB-Ethernet adapter does not seem to be automatically bundled .)
Power plugs: he prefers the magsafe system from Apple in case someone walk on the cable.
He has never used touch.
He thinks touch works good. He doesn't see any fingerprints (my comment: ahem dream on ;-)
He wants to evaluate color, he'll do another video on this theme.
He is not sure how the scaling will work with old apps.
Yep, he sees the fingerprints.

 

Just a quick look at the specs and it looks to be the same config. Can't imagine why they would have taken it down but must of had a reason. Anyway, order away.

 

Thank you for that, quite good that he can directly compare it to a rMBP seeing as its a direct competitor.

 

hi everyone,

Can I use this laptop for 3dmax?


Thanks.

 

The big difference to the MBP seems to be the "better" screen res, which most programs don't support and Dell choosing a lesser processor (and lesser integrated GPU) and mSATA vs PCIe. The Apple SSD's spec out a 50% faster read and 100% faster write and with the fatsre processor...... The Dell warranty is way better with home service and optional accidental damage protection.

 

Probably just a coincidence that it's back now, but I figured out how to get their website to load the top tier XPS into my cart about 12 hours ago.

 

ETA tomorrow not much notice though...

I'll be using visual studio so if anyone wants any info on that I'll try to help.

 

Someone please find out if optimus can be disabled fully on this laptop? Via bios or settings?

 

where you at? did you have expedited fedex shipping? email notificiation or did u check order status?

congrats

 

Yeah that is because it is PCIE and mSATA maxes out a lot less. Big draw to me on the Dell was the fact that the battery/ram/memory are all user serviceable, unlike the MACs... now the question being, does that really buy me anything? If nothing ever breaks, no.. but if a stick of Ram goes bad... then impossible for me to fix on MAC but just buy a new stick on Dell.

I felt like I would have to buy AppleCare on a MAC, but don't feel quite so compelled on the Dell.. I would assume the biggest issue will probably be the touchscreen (besides of course the charging port, those always break), which I could live without if I had to...

I keep thinking to myself, so much money for this machine.. but everytime I find a cheaper one, and configure it with 8-16GB of ram in it, and a 512 SSD, it is basically the exact same price.

 

He ordered the MBP because he didn't want to wait for the dell. He seems to be staying with the MPB (kinda implicit) but wants to take a look at the dell anyway. If he wouldnt have the MBP allready, he would be pretty satisfied with the dell.

He's promising in-depth videos.

 

UK (East Midlands)

Standard shipping

Checked: the pending under left manufacturer disappeared 5 mins before so I admit to F5'ing a bit

 

Here is another fresh unboxing vid. This time in englisch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO0E2-yhqMc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

WOW, that's not a screen, it's a MIRROR !!

 

Im thinking of getting an anti glare cover to put on the screen, do they impact color production much. Im assuming brightness won't be an issue considering the display can put out 400 nits.

 

I'm planning on doing that too... Let me know what you order and if it works well!

 

Looks like I'll have to get it first and measure it up, as screen is quite heigh compared to the previous XPS and most other 15" laptops.

 

must be the camera and angle...it is definitely not that reflective in real life. I've had mine since Wednesday last week and no issues with the glare. And I am coming from an HP ENVY with matte screen

 

It's not coil whine. At least, it isn't on mine. I can hear it if I put my ear to the keyboard or by the vents, but if I run my ear along the front speaker vent, I notice two spots where it's distinctly louder - on the far right, and a bit left of center. That just so happens to be exactly where the speakers are located (obviously the laptop is upside down in this pic):

imgur: the simple image sharer

There's an even, high-pitched whine, combined with a sound reminiscent of a seeking HDD and/or a modem dialing up. For me, it seems to happen whenever the laptop is on. I'm not sure what's causing it.

 

No one has tried to run 3D mark 11 / 13 on XPS15 just to compare with Precision M3800:

 

i just went to "shipped" can you believe it...i thought this day would never come...i have so many people to thank...where do i start...my agent, my publicist, my stylist....and my dog!

 

Yes. I hear it too

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk Pro

 

XPS pron





Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk Pro

 

So you're hearing some sort of interference coming through the speakers?

 

It's definitely not coming from the speakers. I have mine running on my bench with the bottom lid off. Its loudest near where the display plugs into the motherboard, and towards the direct center (large blue ribbon cable area)

 

Hi,

Yes it should be an excellent laptop for 3dmax.
However, if you use it professionnally all day long you may want to check the Dell Precision M3800.

As far as we can see it is basically an XP15 with a Quadro card instead of a GeForce, and certifications with most software vendors.

 

Just called in to dell support at their main number and they said they'd send someone out to replace my screen due to the dead pixels. They were extremely nice and even offered to send me a replacement system all together (but warned it could take much longer). I'm having no issues with the system other than the screen, so I opted for the screen replacement only. Overall, extremely nice service.

 

Very interesting.

If you compare this with the m3800 (with 61Wh battery) from the m3800 owners thread, this one is missing the SATA Connector and has the additional ribbon cable below the left fan. Where is the mSATA Modul? Below the cable?

 

Yes, the mSATA is below that cable.

 

Its not in the BIOS, I just poked through there. Honestly the BIOS is pretty trimmed down compared to most other machines. There isn't allot you can adjust.

 

I knew it! Dell quality control has let them down again. Clearly they do not test their products properly. Sounds like a coil issue or CPU whine caused by Intel's low power mode which used to be an issue back with the L501....

Far better layout than the last XPS, much less cramped ( no dvd of course ) and dual fans at last. Looks very much like the internals of my MPB! Now the BIG question, have they fixed the flipping wireless? I really need someone to do a video response to the video in my signature as I get asked daily if it has been fixed!

 

That's my best guess. I'm not sure what would be causing the interference. I already verified that it wasn't my cell phone. There could be other possibilities, like bad speakers, or something weird with the speaker driver/amp. I think I'll try unplugging the speakers tonight just to triple-check that the sound is coming from there. Not that that will keep Dell tech support from asking me to restart Windows to try and fix it .

I think that orange/yellow (kapton) ribbon cable comes in all configurations; the manual says it connects the I/O board on that side to the motherboard. Bokeh may have simply had it disconnected so that people could see the mSATA card.

 

Is the SATA connector really missing or could you switch out the 61Wh battery for a 91Wh one and get a SATA HDD instead?

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Here's a closeup of that area, I would say its missing the SATA plug, unless it comes from the open ribbon socket in the top right of the attached pic.

 

has been fixed for me. My XPS gets the fastest N speeds of all the PCs in my house. All running W 8.1 and latest intel drivers. That wasn't the case when I had the L521

Wireless AC blows even that out the water as expected too

 

Ok, so I got a little over anxious and made too many changes at once.. so I dont know which change made the difference.

First, I re-seated the RAM. That didnt make a difference.
Second, since the noise seemed to come from the area of the monitor plug, I re-seated that plug along with re-seating the bridge ribbon cable over the mSATA module (mostly because I wanted to see the model of the mSATA). After putting the machine back together, I changed a few power management settings and it NO LONGER makes any noise what-so-ever.

I've only had the machine for 2hrs... so time will tell if it returns. I will report back.

 

You are right. Its gone. In the picture of bokehs m3800 the SATA connector is connected to the open ribbon port.

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It does actually... looks like it is a plug in at that ribbon cable spot just right above it from the m3800 thread.. so we just don't have that connector.
See the m3800 below..

 

Additionally the 2.5" harddrive has a sled that allows it to attach to the chassis. So if you wanted to downgrade your top tier model you would have to get the SATA cable and the harddrive sled from Dell Parts, something that shouldn't be that hard if you ever had to do it.

 

Yes, correct.
The SATA plug is connected with a cable to the vertical connector right above.

So you can replace the battery and add an addional SATA drive, if wanted.
Sound good!

 

It's been delivered (Toronto) - my Dad now has it in his office (I'm 14).
Will post pictures.

 

Hi everyone... Hope everyone is enjoying their new machines... Quick questions for a few of you pro's out there... Architecture student here and I'm really considering the top end model here... Just wondering if anyone has any experience using autocad, revit, rhino 3DSmax and Photoshop on the QHD+ screen? Like this is gonna be my main work station - and the competition is the rMBP - but I don't see the point in paying the apple premium for OSX when alot of my program's are made for windows!! Or anyone have any other laptop recommendations? Want something that will last a good while - have a decent battery - and look good!!! €2000 is a lot to drop on a laptop!!

 

I'd probably wait until Thursday and check out the Dell m3800 (suppose to be out then.)

 

Oh cool... I know im posting this in the wrong place - but the main difference is the graphics card??? And any estimations on price compared to the xps?

 

Yeah, price will be a bit higher.. but you also get by default Win 8.1 Pro. Estimate at least 100-200 more for the same spec

 

99% CPU whine caused by low power modes then. I bet if you change the power settings back to default it will start whining.

 

Woot mine's delivered. I'll try and make a video when I get home tonight for those that are dying for an unboxing. FYI I'll have to use my phone and it won't be very professional.

 

Still wondering what the battery life really is.. early reports some people had good.. some had bad.. Now that you guys have had it a few days.. is it any better? 6 hours heavyish usage? That would be awesome.

 

Yes please, if possible include the backlight keyboard and screen, thanks in advance...

 

Yeah please make sure to show the keyboard.. noticed the keyboards in the video were not normal ones.. guessing different for different countries.. but the Enter key was too big on one of them and you lost the \