XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

Mid-tier model here.

I get the whine noise when charged at 100% and plugged in. Otherwise the sound doesn't come on battery or when actually charging and plugged in.

 

Hey, so I am actually very interested in this as well. So i ordered a M3800, and was sent a xps15 in error. I really didn't use it much at all as i was just wanting to return it and get the one i ordered. But I will say on my xps15 the color shift was VERY noticeable. So i basically choose the color scheme in win 8 where it is black and orange back ground. And when i tilted my head or moved off center VERY slightly, the orange shifted to Green, and white became yellow. Needless to say this bothered me a LOT. I've been using a xps1645 with the RGBLED screen,, and although it is over saturated (esp. in the reds), and probably not technically as accurate... I preferred that old screen to the new one. It's kind of a bummer, because the xps15 had a much Brighter, and Crisp Screen, but the viewing angle was really a deal breaker for me. So... I have my correct m3800 in production (big proppers to jphughan with some assistance), and waiting to see if it is the same. Would love other thoughts from current owners on viewing angle. Also... with all the issues with High DPI and programs like Photoshop, After Effects, Cinema 4D, I am curious if the rMBP's have those same issues, or if because they have been out longer some of those things have been rectified?

 

Hi, I'm one of those people looking at this vs the macbook pro retina 15. Just wondering if anyone has tried to make xps 15 into a hackintosh and what are the results like - anything not working correctly?

All I really want is to be able to program in xcode mainly on the mac side of things, most of the other stuff I would probably do in windows. So now that both of these have been out for awhile anyone w/ both have any updated results on which they like better? Also I'm just curious how would these 2 compare to mid 2012/early 2013 mbpr's - the apple refurb site has the i7 2.6 ghz, 512 solid state, 16 gig ram and nvidia 650M vid card for about 2100 ish, is the 400 dollar premium worth it to get haswell processor, wireless ac, a pci-e solid state, and 750M vid card vs the 650M?

Thanks,

 

Glad I was able to help out getting your order sorted. :thumbsup:

I noticed that viewing angle wasn't as good as a proper IPS panel or even some of Dell's higher-end laptop panels. But as you said, it's also much sharper and more color-accurate (once you disable the questionably named "Splendid mode" in Mobility Center), and ultimately that matters more to me because I'm never viewing my panel off-angle. In fact I seldom even have OTHERS viewing my panel off-angle either, but frankly I wouldn't sacrifice the benefits of this panel in order to gain viewing angle that would only really benefit other people who aren't using this system constantly and didn't pay for it.

Not sure about the Mac versions of all of the apps you listed, but Adobe's apps run perfectly fine on Mac OS in HiDPI because Mac OS has a fundamentally different approach to implementing HiDPI. It's ultimately less versatile (and more resource-intensive) than the Windows approach, but it's easier for app developers to adopt -- and Apple can afford to be less versatile because they control both the software and hardware, whereas Microsoft has to implement features in ways that allow for an optimum experience on a wide variety of hardware, which they're still in the process of working out in the case of HiDPI.

 

Good stuff as usual. I will say i forgot to mention that i did NOT turn off Splendid mode in my very brief testing. But that was not my chief complaint, it was more a viewing angle thing. Also... call me crazy, but in SOME of the metro tiles, i could very very faintly see what appeared to be lines that i perceived to be touch screen based. I could be tripping... because i could only see them in Some of the tiles, and it depends on the color of the tile. I do have pretty sensitive eyes, and tend to notice small things others do not. Also.. was not a big deal at all, just mentioning it. The viewing angle thing is pretty bothersome.. Im not worried about other peeps viewing my screen from off to the side, but if i even tilt or shift my head a little i can see the shift, and it just bothers me immensely. So I'll wait to get the m3800 and calibrate it, give it some time and see what I think....

P.S. does anyone have ANY idea when Adobe will be updating stuff? Is there some sort of like.. petition or forum or way to let them know people are REALLY needing their programs to work with these new hiDPi displays?? Becuase thats going to drive me nuts too

 

I don't see any lines in Metro apps. The only thing I noticed that I believe to be touchscreen-based is when I was at the airport and the huge bay windows were shining directly onto the panel (i.e. I actually moved myself out of the way), I noticed that there were (relatively) large and widely offset dots on the panel, almost exactly the same size and spacing as an air hockey table surface if you've ever looked at one. It didn't affect the image at all (hence the touchscreen suspicion) and I didn't really care because I could only see it when going out of my way to create very harsh conditions that I'd never work under; when I moved myself back upright and blocked the direct light, it was fine. But that's the only display issue I've noticed.

Unfortunately I seriously doubt that calibrating your panel will change anything in terms of off-angle color shift, though definitely disable Splendid mode before calibrating!! I dunno, I guess I just can't think of a good reason I'd ever lean to one side or the other to work, so for me weak off-angle viewing in this case is more an academic limitation/irritation than a practical one.

As for Adobe and HiDPI, there are a few threads about it running on their forums, but they have no ETA on fixes. They're currently blaming Microsoft for not providing the required APIs even in Win 8.1 to implement HiDPI properly on their products, so their official line is "We're working with them, and once they give us what we need, we can get to work updating our apps." I have no idea how legitimate the Microsoft gripe is since I'm not an app developer, but yeah, no word on an ETA from anyone unfortunately.

 

hello

sorry if this has been mentioned before but is anyone having microphone issues? my internal mic doesnt pick up anything...

tired reinstalling drivers, using windows drivers, updating bios... no help... high tier model...

 

Go to Control Panel > Sound, choose the Recording tab, and make sure the Realtek device is set as the default device? You'll also see a level meter there to see whether it's capturing anything. Note that if you have an external device connected to the headset jack and set it as a mic or headset even accidentally, it will disable the internal mic by design and expect mic input to come from the externally attached device -- so if you selected "Headset" when you meant "Headphones" for example, disconnect and reconnect your headphones so you get prompted to update your selection, and then the built-in mic will work.

If all that fails, not sure what's up. My mic works fine when it's supposed to.

 

yeah i tried that already. The weird thing i sometimes when i go into the recording device panel itll flash full level for a second and stop woring again. also my headset stopped poping up asking if it is a headset.

 

Hmm, that's strange. The popup is controlled by a setting under Control Panel > Dell Audio > Advanced > Jack Information. As for the mic behavior itself, if you're comfortable opening your laptop (and you have the required Torx screwdriver) you could try disconnecting and reseating the webcam connector, which also handles the built-in mic.

 

Okay i have that popup option again. I switched back to the dell driver. Still no voice working. I put in a service call with dell. I shouldnt have any problems with a 2000 laptop =\

 

In all honesty, if you want to use xcode, then you are best off getting a mac. You won't have to worry about incompatible hardware or updates breaking your system. Easily hackintoshable laptops are few and far between. Most with discrete graphics cards will not work, or can work, but only the integrated graphics are usable so you get no benefit. I don't think anyone has had any success with the new xps 15 yet. I think some of the HP haswells have been able to get MacOS installed, but it seems like there are a lot of compatibility issues with systems using 4th gen intel at the moment. I think the best place to research this is at: Laptop Compatibility - tonymacx86.com

This was posted in the m3800 thread and it compares the 2012 mbpr, 2013 mbpr, and m3800. In lots of cases the 2012 was faster than both, I think the benefit of haswell is mostly the battery life:
http://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/Precision_M3800_MacBook_Pro_1113.pdf

 

Yup .. I run mac osx in a vm and it works great.

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If you read the reviews, in the touch screen review they disabled Samsungs power management which slows the CPU down when not needed to conserve power and keep the fans from running. In the non-touch screen review they did not do this, therefore the non-touch screen was able to throttle effectively and get better power management. Notice how on load the non-touch screen was actually ~10% worse in battery life instead of ~40% better? Well that is because under full load the throttling doesn't matter.

 

guys does dells wireles docking station work with this laptop? If not is the D3000 the dock to buy? Never used one before but as I use this laptop a lot in the office I wouldn't mind the extra screen space of an external monitor. If I am using an external monitor I can't see how you could possibly still use the laptop keyboard comfortably

 

I have read both the reviews, and you have reason for touch screen model review (NotebookCheck says that specifically) but for the no touch screen model review they don't say nothing about silent mode (this is the name of the feature) that locks CPU to 1.2GHz to avoid that fans switch on and nothing about auto brightness screen feature.
Usually they do these tests with locked brightness.
So it's just a your speculation that NotebookCheck has used these features on battery life test about no touch screen model.

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Question for owners... is the resolution scaled? i.e. does it run at 3200x1800 100%, or is it at 200% or something? Thanks

 

I tried checking the status of my order with the Purchase Order number I've gotten from Costco and my billing zipcode but it says that the info I'd submitted is invalid. Do you happen to have Costco's billing zipcode that you'd used? Thanks.

 

You have to get the Dell order number by emailing Costco and then use your billing zip code (full 9-digit code) to see the status. Are you using the Costco order number, or did you write them, asking for the Dell order number? The Dell order number was not present on my order from Costco.

Hope this helps.

 

I gave them a call and the rep gave me a "purchase order number" which starts with 00847*. I just ordered on the 19th so probably it hasnt been submitted to Dell for fulfillment.

 

Ah I see. I waited a couple weeks before I ask them for my order. If it helps mine was a nine digit number. I would give them a couple more days. Best of luck!

 

I'm updating the bios to the A01 version but it's stuck at 3% of the Programming EC stage for 20 minutes and I'm getting worried!
Neither the mouse or the keyboard works and the fans are at full speed, but windows is running in the background (the clock is showing the time correctly).
How long does it take for the bios to update?

Update: Nothing was working after an hour waiting. Tried everything. Couldn't even turn off the laptop. Then I plugged in an USB pen drive and it resumed updating and finished within seconds.

 

WiGig docking isn't supported by the Intel 7260 card. If you got a WiFi card that supports it, the laptop MAY work with it, but that's not certain. The D3000 from a connectivity standpoint is as good or better than any other option I've found at Dell or basically anywhere else.

You can set whatever you want, but 3200x1800 @ 100% is basically unusable, certainly for any extended usage. Windows defaults to 200% scaling, but I can use 150 or 167 comfortably. The problem is that not all apps support scaling well, notably most Adobe apps and Remote Desktop, so your mileage may vary depending on what you use. You can also find out a lot more by reading this thread, which has already covered a lot of information about scaling.

 

does this laptop have static noise through headphones or speakers? My inspiron 15 7537 does and it is annoying me...I am considering returning it for the xps 15...thanks

 

Thanks, jpyughan. I'm just debating between this and the Yoga 2 Pro, which also runs 3200x1800 scaled at 200%... which means I should get exactly the same amount of screen space, just bigger on the XPS 15, if I'm not mistaken?

 

Same resolution and scaling will always mean the same amount of real estate. :thumbsup:

 

No noise out of my Logitech speakers, don't have a chance to test headphones at the moment though.

 

Meh.. tracking number still not working.

Ordered: 02.12.13
Sent: 15.12.13
Credit card charged: 17.12.13

XPS 15 where are u :/ I am here in Europe waiting for u !

 

I ordered on the 2/12 as well from the UK. I have received mine a couple of days ago. I should show up soon..

 

I somehow don't find it awkward at all. Maybe its down to the year of using the Surface and Surface Pro. I actually find it awkward using a non-touch screen. The fingerprints are not even visible with the screen on, though yes you do need to clean the screen ever so often. I wish they would create a fingerprint resistant version of Gorilla glass.

 

Meh I hope so.. tomorrow will be the only "working day" in my country for the next 6 days or so :S
@edit: when did your tracking link start to work ?

Actually I think touchscreen can be very awesome when using the laptop without mouse (e.g. when sitting in a coffee shop or whatever). I generally hate using touchpads.. I see a lot of ways where touchscreen would improve the working experience. About fingerprints: Since I use the laptop screen as "secondary screen" anyway, I don't care that much about fingerprints.

 

I think that you are absolutely right... I have been using a surface pro as well for a year now, which is basically a laptop with all you can do on it. I almost never use the track pad on it and I also have that neat little mouse which I use occasionally on some particular software.
So I think it will feel completely natural to be using it on my new M3800 touch screen (whenever it gets here.... lol). Also as you said you cannot see any finger prints while using the computer. They only show up when you turn the unit off. So I carry a small piece of screen cleaning rag in the bag which I use to do a couple of swipes from time to time and they come off instantly. With the screen being so smooth, it takes no effort to clean.
So I also think that I will be using mine pretty extensively especially while surfing on the net or during casual use. While doing some more extensive work, the mouse will be my second option probably since on my actual laptop, I hardly use the track pad...
Actually I am very curious of the benefits I might get using touch in my modeling software??? it might prove useful there as well... I will let you know once I get to use it.

 

That would be really interesting. Mine got shipped 18. and got the mail on 20. but I still can't track it.

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Must have gotten in just under the wire. Costco has removed the XPS 15 from their website; it cannot currently be ordered through Costco (you can still get a wide assortment of other Dells, of course).

 

There have been many input options developed over the years and only the trackball seems to have been stuck in niche status. I welcome every new method because it is likely to be a game-changer for at least SOME consumers, and that's great.

Personally, I suspect the near future is going to ditch touchscreens in favor of using a stereoscopic webcam to read finger gestures, preferably gestures that can be used while the palms are still in typing position. Try it; just slightly rotate one hand up from the keyboard and make a lateral swipe gesture with your forefinger. It feels natural and it minimizes the time-gap from typing to swiping back to typing again. I think that will be mainstream in a few years' time. In addition to being more time/effort efficient for the user, it has the advantage of not smearing fingerprints across the screen, requiring high-glare GorillaGlass™ displays. I'm guessing the constant video analysis would drain batteries faster than a touch sensor, and many would complain about having the privacy loss of having a constantly-activated webcam, but I think enough consumers would like it that it would sell. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

In the meantime, I'll add touchscreening to mousing and trackpadding. I really wish the XPS line had a good trackpoint (like ThinkPads), but it is what it is. The ThinkPad trackpoint is the only one I've used that feels natural. The competing versions all feel a little off to me, so I guess it's just as well Dell didn't work one into the XPS line.

 

Same here, sent 15 December and still no tracking number working, I think there are no chance to have it before Christmas.

Seems UPS doesn't works good as the delivery company used to UK.

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Well I already got a lot of deliveries before the tracking number started to work. We will see.. I hope to get it tomorrow.. else I probably won't get it this year :S

 

According to the reports on Italian Forum, before of delivery everyone has seen the tracking number working, also 24, 27, 30,31 December (in my country) are working days.

 

What's the difference between an XPS and an M3800? An M3800 appears be a fairly similar computer except I can get a 500gb ssd drive and only the 1080 screen (don't have the need for the QHD one)... are there any other significant differences? It seems a bit hard to find info on the M3800.

 

Graphic cards are the most significant differences IMHO. While the Geforce family (XPS) provides better support in DirectX (gaming), its counter part Quatro family (Precision M3800) does support Open GL (Engineering rendering software CAD, CAM, etc..).

BTW, has anyone here tried to upgrade mSATA card with a higher capacity?
I ordered the mid model with 32GB + 1TB HHD as I thought the laptop would come with an empty 2.5" bay so I can install my existing SSD drive together with the 1TB HDD. But I then realized mSATA is the only way to go if I wanna have 1 more SSD for this guy

 

I put in a 256gb mSATA. Put OS and programs on it. Using the 1tb for storage. Setup is working great.

BTW, any way to fix the scaling using Chrome browser? It doesn't look great and I rather not use Firefox / IE.

 

Try this if you haven't already. Open chrome, go to the right-hand drop down options menu and click 'relaunch chrome in desktop mode'. Once you do that it will remember your preference. I thought it looked great after I switched over. Hope it works for you.


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Just called Dell:

UPS tracking link works when the package reaches Europe (comes from China). UPS updates the website (and tracking links) every afternoon. So it could be possible that a package reaches europe today morning, gets delivered tomorrow morning. I don't think this will happen but we will see ;P

 

If anyone wants to know the maximum speed throughput (USB 3.0 ANKER to Gigabit Ethernet) Here ya Go. Haven't tested AC yet.

http://puu.sh/5VYhx.png

As you can see, a slight bottleneck on the download, should be 930+

 

Still no tracking here, at this point I hope for a delivery before New Year's Day.
I guess our XPS are traveling together...

 

Ye looks very bad :/

If they seriously travel together... i will come to italy to invite you to "una grande bierra per favore" (or smth like that) ;D

btw: do u have any plans on installing win7 on your XPS ?

 

Was just on Costco's website to order, and now it's gone.

Any idea if it'll return? I don't know enough about how Dell/Costco deals usually work.

 

im in Toronto, Canada. my order was set to be delivered on 18th. the dell order checking page still shows 18th Dec. i have still not received any tracking number. last thursday i had rcved an email from dell advising of delay and that i will be contacted within 2 business days. got no update today so i chatted with dell rep and was advised that its delayed due to part shortage. she said its due to shortage of LCD hinge covers.said "it might take 3 to 4 business days"

 

:thumbsup:
I'm already switched my desktop PC to Windows 8 + Start8, so it boots directly in desktop mode and I have classic Start button, without Start8 is a total pain, there are many free software that do the same thing like Classic Shell.
So I will keep Windows 8.1 on XPS because it seems that Windows 8 is slightly faster than 7 also it has a better support for touch screen and
and you can also access when you need it to Modern UI to use APP.

 

I do not know whether it will return, but I suspect it will. It came off the website within a few days of Costco sending out notice that they were going to give me a $100 credit on the order I had placed a few weeks prior. Given that their profit margin is $104, if that $100 credit came out of Costco's end completely, there's minimal financial interest in leaving the laptop up for order until the supply is more predictable. If it's not back on the website by the end of January I'd be surprised. Costco still offers the XPS 12 and XPS 14, after all.