XPS 15 2020 Refresh

well... hope they fixed teh thermals!!
on a side note.. the XPS 15 might have a footprint closer to the MBP 13"

 

Looks that way. The XPS lineup is awesome. The new 17 is sweet. smaller footprint than most 15/16 inch models from other makers.

 

I wouldn't expect big difference in thermals with new XPS 15 9500.

Cooling system not changed much and we still have 14++++++++++++++nm Intel CPUs.



But XPS 17 with vapor chamber and bigger fans can show some nice results.

 

lol. This looks like an optimized Skylake 9550 from 2015. On the same essential CPU. There are a lot of minor improvements. I hope Dell does a better job with the drivers and firmware.

Agreed.

With yet another Skylake CPU, the motherboard and cooling system don't look so different from 2015. VRM cooling has evolved a bit but that takes thermal headroom from the CPU & GPU.

I would expect Dell to redesign the guts of the XPS 15 when Intel starts selling CPUs that are not stuck on 14nm.

 

New XPS 15 9500 have exposed display cable.

 

@vs40 brilliant design. Wonder how long that will last until it breaks or gets damaged.

 

For repetitive movement, it will be better as it's not confined inside the unit, it has more freedom to move. damage from the outside world? A somewhat different story. That being said, you have to be a nimrod with your computer to damage it bad enough to break that cable.

 

Bought a 9500 to try on for size - is there an owners thread yet? Weird that there is an XPS17 thread now, but I'm not seeing one for the new 9500 model. I get the 17 is probably the most exciting - but it's still BIG.

Couple of questions for owners -

How is sleep mode working on this? Is it instant/fast resume capable, or does it still go into hibernation with a long wake up after a set period?

Is the blue light filtering occurring at a base hardware level - or does it require dell software running? I would like to transfer my 7590's clean windows install.

Does the second M.2 slot support SATA SSD, or is it PCIE only?

 

I guess you could make one Smugpanda. Also, the 17 is within mm of the macbook 16. That's pretty dang small imo. That's what I love about the entire XPS lineup. they have small footprint, and large performance.

 

I hear ya - 17 looks legit awesome. What is it, 5lbs? I still think prohibitive as a daily portable machine - but maybe I'm completely wrong about that. I like that the 15 has slimmed up considerably in length and width from the 7590, which I already loved as a portable 15" machine. Can't wait to see the 9500's dimensions when I receive it today.

 

In contrast the Macbook pro 16 is 4.61 lbs. The xps 17 is winning me over. Need a big screen now.

 

Awesome - definitely a slick looking monster screened machine.

 

First impressions of the 9500 as someone who previously had the 7590.

D@mn - this thing really feels like a (albeit heavier) 13" machine. I put my iPad Pro 12.9 with magic keyboard next to it...and shockingly the 9500 is matching the overall depth, and is only about 2.25" wider and the XPS is only a few MM thicker. I get fans of the 17", but I'm someone interested in power packed in ever smaller packages and the 15" provides power at the right form factor.

Other rapid reactions:

• Keyboard is better feeling than the 7590
• power button is in a stupid location - dell needs to put a "long press" feature so I'm not constantly putting my machine to sleep instead of hitting delete
• windows hello IR camera - yessssss!
• no double clicking trackpad - seems perfectly fine - massive too - might make playing strategy games passable on a trackpad??
• ok - yeah, these speakers are finally GOOOOOOOD - every XPS before this has been put to shame
• however - I am getting some occasional glitches on the sound at times - and I updated the BIOS to the latest
• seriously deceptive thickness - this new metal unibody design (or whatever you call it) makes this thing seem slimmer than actual dimensions
• one finger open is and incredible upgrade over the prior XPS15 lineup
• all screen - although, I'm so used to good screens, this 1200P screen isn't necessarily blowing me away per-se as my ipad pro's screen is amazing - but I didn't want to pay the premium for the 4K option - and since I offloaded the 7590 last week, I can't compare side by side
• I noticed quite a bit of ugly sounding coil whine when using a third party 100W USB-C adapter

Still have a lot to test - the glitching sound mars an otherwise excellent first impression with these much upgraded speakers. Windows onboarding is the worst thing ever - you want to fire up windows the first time and see this magnificent screen immediately, not some 4:3 ancient looking blue box! By the time Cortana is done yelling at you, you are exhausted LOL.

This form factor is so impressively small as to make me rethink my decision to get the magic keyboard for the ipad pro! Add to that I know the 9500 will be much more capable machine as it can run the majority of my Steam/GOG/Ubisoft backlog without issue - something that of course my ipad can't do (to state an obvious fact). However, I still love USING the ipad OS over windows as a daily machine for my needs, but since that Magic keyboard is so damn expensive, maybe I will offload that and stick to using the touch interface on the 12.9. I dunno - I just couldn't resist trying the new 9500 out - which is all completely superfluous computing machine for me as I have a high-end desktop and a high end ipad pro. There is a part of me always hunting for a perfect "all in one" device though - I can't quite bring myself to use gaming laptops though as their fan noise is an atrocity, and usually the looks and thickness don't compare to the XPS15 for everyday use.

 

is there an owner's lounge yet?

 

GOOD NEWS!

SATA SSD's seem to work fine in the secondary slot. I just put my "old" Crucial MX500 1TB in there. One of the bigger advantages of the new 9500 is the dual M.2 Slots, so glad I could find a new home for this drive.

EDIT: The XPS15 9500 manual stated support for NVME PCIE drives, but no mention of SATA SSD.

 

I will double down on these speakers - first Dell laptop I'm enjoying listening to music for extended period of time. Prior 7590 was trash - passable for the basics, but I would never play music - basically a headphone only setup. Thank goodness Dell finally got this part of their design together. I'm sure a Macbook sounds better - but Apple has always had the best speakers. My ipad pro 12.9" has beat every windows laptop I've owned up until this Dell 9500.

Edit: This occasional spike of static/distortion/audio skipping that bursts through the speakers is not cool though - I don't know what's causing it.

 

Some Dell XPS 15 9500 machines may have a display hinge issue notebookcheck.net

Wobbly trackpads may have affected multiple early XPS 15 9500 units, but it has emerged that others will not stay closed when they are picked up. Picking up some XPS 15 9500 machines causes their display lid to pop open, almost as if no magnets are holding them in place. Dell is yet to acknowledge the issue publicly, but there are multiple examples of it spread across Dell Community and Reddit forums.

 

User need to do some gymnastics to pop open that lid (see the notebookcheck video). Not Apple level lid QC but good enough for me.

 

Any of you guys ordered the frost white color for the XPS? Curious to see how it looks.