XPS line 4th gen Intel Haswell 2013 Refresh?

Did Dell ever resolve the Wi-Fi issues with the L521?

I'm also trying to decide whether to go with the old L521 if the price drops a bit, or get the new model and hope its better or go with the Inspiron 15 (7537) and put an SSD in it myself. However with the Inspiron I haven't had much luck finding anyone that has done that in the new model and chassis is rather different to the previous models, so don't want to end up being stuck.

 

No, the L521x STILL has the same WiFI issues. I picked up an August 2013 built L521x recently, and while it does have Rev02 of the internal WiFi antenna, the issue still persists.

For those considering picking up the L521x on the current sale prices:

I picked up my L521x (Core i5, 6GB, 500GB+32GB mSATA, 630M) for $560 recently. It was a one month old barely used model off eBay. Even at that low of a price, the throttling/hot operation and WiFi issue are enough for me to consider selling it and buying the new XPS 15, or something else.

The CPU idles in the 50-60C range, and the bottom gets uncomfortably hot on my lap within 30 minutes of use doing basic stuff like web browsing or editing in MS Office. Even the i5/630m version will throttle the GPU at full load within 2-3 minutes of a stress test. However likely not much while gaming. Still, I can't imagine how badly the i7/640m must throttle.

The WiFi works OK on 5 GHz networks. I upgraded to the 7260 card and have no problems with strong signal and 50 Mbps internet downloads. However it still can't compete with my HP EliteBook 8460p, XPS m1530, or the ENVY m6 range wise. 2.4 GHz networks are just a joke on the L521x unless you are 5 feet from the router. I've taken the laptop apart and tried to add new wifi antennas, to no avail. If WiFi performance is important to you, I'd vote that you avoid the L521x, unless you don't mind using a USB WiFi adapter on 2.4 GHz networks. I can pull 50 Mbps down in my bedroom (2 walls + ~30 feet from router) on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz with either the m1530 or 8460p. The L521x is lucky to break 8 Mbps on 2.4GHz, but 50 Mbps on 5 GHz. I did a few network file transfer tests, but nothing formal enough to post results. These are all based on speedtest.net results. So while I'm saying 5 GHz works OK, that's just within the realm of providing enough bandwidth for a reasonably fast internet connection through a few walls. It doesn't speak to the relative performance on 5 GHz compared to the maximum it should be. It's likely not performing as well as other laptops would. Also, my other laptops pick up 15+ SSIDs from within my apartment, whereas the L521x will show as many as 5-8, but sometimes as few as 2.

Also something else annoying that I noticed; the aluminum case blocks the signal to my microsoft bluetrack wireless mouse on the right side of the laptop since the USB ports are all on the left. The mouse skips and jumps around half the time. This doesn't happen with my XPS m1530 or my girlfriend's HP ENVY m6. I haven't tested it on the 8460p, but I imagine it won't be an issue there either.

I really love the L521x for it's build quality and design, but the heat and WiFi SUCK!! Even at a discount I have to admit that I don't think it's worth it. Seeing $300 plasticky pentium-dual core laptops connecting to WiFi just fine, and your "premium" aluminum XPS struggling to connect is rather frustrating.

 

Any idea when to expect delivery?

 

What the heck is going on with laptop manufacturers because of Microsoft? I need a computer with a matte screen and good hardware. These glossy touch screens are so annoying....

 

Ordering will start this friday on the 18th in the US and select countries. I hope the Netherlands is one of those select countries. Need a laptop asap.

 

Where can I see what countries are on the list of "select countries"?

 

You can't unfortunately. Dell hasn't specified the countries.

 

@rflynn88, I think that makes my mind up for me. Not going to touch the old XPS. Really leaning toward the Inspiron 7537 and installing a decent sized SSD myself. I don't need the crazy good screen and slightly better processor...although a bigger battery would be nice in the Inspiron.

 

Anybody's guess. No one from Asia Pacific or Australia & New Zealand has revealed anything.

 

My actual old XPS 15 laptop is faulty and Dell want to replace it.
I received from them an offer with a Latitude E6540

- 4th gen Intel Core i7-4800MQ Processor (2.7GHz, 6M cache, Quad Core)
- 39.6cm (15.6") FHD (1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit LCD Panel
- Integrated HD Camera with Microphone
- Memory 8Go (2x4Go) 1600MHz DDR3L
- 500GB (5.400Rpm) Solid State Hybrid Drive with 8GB Flash
- DVD +/-RW Media Bay Drive
- 9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge
- AMD Radeon HD 8790M Graphics 2GB GDDR5
- Intel Centrino Adcanced-N 6235 2X2 802.11n + Bluetooth 4.0
- Internal French Azerty Backlit dual Pointing Keyboard
- Qualcomm Gobi 3G DC-HSPA+ 42Mbps WWAN Card (SIM not included) for Windows 7

This setup seems awesome but i am not a fan of the E6540 design :s
- The trackpad look small.
- He is designed and look for business.
- He is a bit heavy and thick

So I don't know what do to.
I'd love to have the new XPS 15 but no clue when it will be released in France.
I don't think Dell will wait weeks to replace my faulty laptop and I need one working before mid november.
The old XPS 15 should be fine but it has Wifi and throttling issue

Should I ask for a downgrade to the new inspiron 15 serie 7000 or something else ...

I am a bit lost

 

MS isn't forcing anyone to use glossy touchscreens. If you want a matte display, maybe look at the Razer Blade.

Gugus2000, why don't you wait until Friday to decide? If the new XPS doesn't launch in France on Friday, then that might simplify your options.

 

The Haswell XPS 15 is a complete redesign of the 15 inch XPS laptop, so it's hard to extrapolate too much from earlier models. The laptop has two fans, but the powerful GPU could still be a problem with respect to throttling. It will depend on fan size and how much copper is used inside the laptop. The ventilation openings seem sufficient. The XPS 15 is bigger and heavier than the Macbook Pro when it is configured with a 9-cell battery. Hopefully the extra space inside the laptop has been put to good use. The only material listed for the base is carbon fiber. It is possible that they simply neglected to mention that it also made from magnesium-alloy, like the smaller XPS laptops. However, if the base is not made from metal then it should not interfere very much with wifi or Bluetooth signals. The actual Dual-Band AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0 Intel chip seems hard to beat, so hopefully that will be problem free. The glossy display is one of my biggest gripes with this laptop. There are ways to reduce glare in glossy displays, but gorilla glass is certainly not one of them. The resolution battle has been very important in mobile devices for the last couple of years. I hope that manufacturers will switch over to focusing on other aspects of the screen. Touch devices are extremely popular, and glare is their biggest flaw.

 

Don't think anyone's posted this yet

http://youtu.be/_Rq0BTkgF-k

 

Unless you absolutely wants to cut down some weight (however, note that Insprion 15 7000 is very heavy for a laptop with ULV CPU and without optical drive), I don't see why you would want i15 7000 over what is being offered. Business laptops tend to have better build and support, and are easier to maintain. the lack of clickpad is plus, not minus IMO -- clickpads never work well when you ave two mouse buttons -- not to mention that you are getting dual pointing setup! It has 50% larger battery, which compensate the higher power draw of full-voltage quad CPUs it has. And hey, having business laptops will make you look like a professional, which always is a plus, IMO.

 

the latitude has no hdmi out.

 

I'm currently trying to decide between the m3800 and the new XPS 15. Outside of the graphics card, are there any other items that one has that the other does not? I'm leaning towards the XPS because the graphics card is better. I would welcome any other opinions.

Thanks!

 

It's pretty simple. If you need a workstation graphics card, then get the M3800. If not, get the XPS15.

You'll know if you need it.

That's the only reason. Otherwise they (should) be identical.

 

I absolutely cannot wait for this thing to come out. I'm tired of my Retina Macbook Pro; it's booted into Windows most of the time for school/ light gaming and it doesn't like that much, and I never got to like OSX. Friday can't get here fast enough.

Edit: rofl, joined 2011, first post. Guess I just like to read.

 

Incorrect. Dell's specs list HDMI out, and Notebookcheck's review has HDMI in the specs and pictures.

Latitude E6540 Secure Business Laptop Details | Dell
http://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Dell/Latitude/E6540/seitlinks.jpg

 

Just contacted Dell...there is no information whatsoever about the configurations or SKU's they'll handle at launch..which honestly is weird..when I was at Alienware we had the info at least one month before launch...

 

This very well may be true. I work at Dell as a business analyst for support. They had a new product showing a week ago where I got to see the M3800, the latitude line and the new xps 11 along with the tablet line up. All I really wanted to see was the m3800. When I asked about the xps 15 the rep told me she hadn't seen it yet but that she thought it was just a refresh of the current model and not much was changing which is why it hadn't been at the demo. I think it's changing quite a bit but it's not a 'new' product like some of the others so I can see her point.

Either way, it was neat to see the m3800. Can't wait until Friday

 

The new XPS 15 is just a consumer version of the M3800. Essentially the same laptop without the workstation graphics card, and different pricing/configurations.

Really looking forward to Friday!!! Hoping for a reasonably priced i7/750M XPS 15 config!!!

 

Does someone knows if there is any news concerning a new Haswell XPS 14?

It seems, so far, the only 14" Haswell option yet is the Inspirion line, right?

 

I'm hoping for a not-outrageously-priced 3200x1800/750M version of the XPS 15 (or a not-outrageously-priced 3200x1800/K1100M M3800) that I can possibly haggle down further.

No way am I keen on paying $1900+ on a GT 750M + 3200x1800 model just because Dell might want to force-sell me a SSD and a Quad Core CPU or whatever along with it. Maybe not the SSD if Dell is reasonable enough to offer a cheaper model in addition to the ultra-top-end SSD-equipped model, also equipped with the GT 750M and 3200x1800 display, but the released brochure indicates that the GT 750M and i7-4700HQ are tied together at least. Particularly not when something like the Vaio Flip 15 is already available for a much lower ~$1200 with 15.6" 2880x1620, Touch, and a GT 735M. The 3200x1800 + 750M XPS 15 would be an improvement on those two aspects which are important to me (and are also, for a lot of other people's usage, going to be the things that bring in most of the keystone concrete differences), with the rest of the aspects of the two models being something I'd like to see Dell not force-sell upgrades on. Well, yeah, the build quality of the XPS 15 might be better, with its fancy carbon fiber and all, but not $600+ better.

For much cheaper I could also just buy the Vaio Flip 15 with 1920x1080, hope the 1920x1080 LCD is already using eDP with the same connector in the same location Sharp's 15.6" QHD+ panel would be using it (presumably the 1620p panel would be eDP, and I'm farily certain Sharp's QHD+ panel is eDP), swap in the QHD+ display (signs point to the panel itself not being *too* expensive), and deal with the GT 735M.

So many alternatives sound more attractive than giving into price gouging -- which, letalone on forced upgrades, is already present on the base model XPS 15 (the ubiquitously quoted $1499 for such a bland base model, are you kidding? The competition for 15.6" 1080p touchscreen laptops without dedicated GPUs tends to top out at $999 for nice ones, and even includes some stuff for as low as $499), so hopefully a combination of acceptably low markup for the cheapest 750M+3200x1800 model over the base, and haggling, will be able to bring in the right price.

---

From what I can guess based partially on the information in the brochure, the models will be something like this:

Model #1	Model #2	Model #3
$1499	$1699+	$1899+
1920x1080	1920x1080 or 3200x1800	3200x1800
Intel HD 4400	NVIDIA GT 750M	NVIDIA GT 750M
i5-4200H	i7-4702HQ	i7-4702HQ
500GB HDD w/ 32GB SSD	1TB HDD w/ 32GB SSD	512GB SSD
8GB DDR3L	8GB DDR3L	16GB DDR3L
61WHr Battery	61WHr Battery	91WHr Battery

What would really be a good thing for Dell to do is split this speculative "Model #2" into two models: One with 1920x1080 and one with 3200x1800, because I know there are people here who want the GT 750M but don't want to deal with small text or inconsistent scaling, and I know there are people who the main thing they're looking for is the 3200x1800 display. Either way, it's going to be a huge turnoff if Dell doesn't end up offering that 3200x1800 display in anything other than an ultra-expensive fully-loaded model.

 

http://youtu.be/l0By1tf9iyw
Not much new information, confirmed shockable though.

 

I'm really hoping for your option #2. Like REALLY hoping. Don't let me down Dell!

 

No way the high-end model will be anywhere close to 1,900. More like 2,500+

 

I have to say that I agree. 200 bucks more to switch to an mSATA 512 GB SSD, increase battery capacity by 50%, and adding RAM? That's not happening.

 

He's probably already underestimating the middle version, if this link posted previously is accurate

Dell XPS 15 15.6" QHD+ (3200 x 1880) Touchscreen Ultrabook Computer XPS15-6843SLV

 

Yeah I'm almost certainly underestimating. Welp, come Friday the haggling shall commence.

 

I notice Dell Australia (was the first website to launch the previous xps 15 model) has taken down all versions of the xps 15 apart from 1 (can't even chose to customise) so I am hoping something will be up there in around 6 hours time (midnight EST).

 

yup they did that a couple days ago. didn't realise it was 17th already, or that it usually appears in Australia first

let's see what the pricing is like hehe

 

fingers cross on the high end one. hope fully it's somewhere around 2000ish. I can get student discount for 15% off

 

​

Novemberish my friend...

 

Just to confirm...Dell AUS is in clearance sale...."while stock lasts" check their page and add to cart....

 

To be honest I don't think we'll see it tonight at midnight... that's too organised for Dell haha (who has historically been pretty slow to list things on their website and putting tech documents and what not up first, like when they released all the 2013 monitors earlier this year ).

My guess is if they're gonna do it, some time tomorrow, if not when its the 18th US time.

But you're right, Dell Aus usually gets things up first (if you look at when they've done releases before, it's usually PR from Dell Aus or Dell JP).

 

What we have right now for alienware

Config:	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Price:	$1099	$1299	$1850	$2500
Proc	I5-4200M	I7-4700MQ	i7-4800MQ	I7-4900MQ
Memory:	8GB	8GB	16GB	16 GB
HD:	750 GB	750 GB	750 GB	Three 256 SSDs
Video:	750M 1 GB	750M 1 GB	765M 2 GB	765M 2 GB
Optical:	dvd	dvd	blu-ray	none
Display	1366 X 768	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080
NIC:	Killer NIC N	Killer NIC N	Broadcom AC	Broadcom AC

Huge jump between 3 and 4. Kinda silly jump between 2 and 3 as well.

 

well, it's after midnight here in Melbourne, Australia and nothing on dell website. I guess will try again tomorrow T_T

 

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/529308/dell_reveals_australian_pricing_xps_11/

Might be coming later in Australia?

 

Surprise surprise

Yea saw that on WP. Hopefully not I mean, technically we are in Q4 2013 right now

 

yeah wasn't really expecting a midnight release. it's only early morning on the 17th where Dell is headquartered.

we might get it in 24 hours

 

I don't expect a XPS 14 at all. Dells press release only mentioned XPS 13 & 15 with Haswell. With the XPS 13 confirmed to be coming in November (later release date to the 15), it's highly unlikely an unmentioned XPS 14 will arrive then also. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if current 3rd-gen models are sold and the 14 is phased out.

Personally, I feel there's too much choice as it is, let alone adding another XPS model to the mix, although I do understand it may be desirable to some. We'll have to wait and see, but I certainly wouldn't expect it this year.

 

I respectfully have to disagree. The XPS 13 is too stripped down to be called a power-users machine. The 15" footprint some just find too large and not feasible for them. (Although making a 15" ultrabook thin/light power machine is a step in the right direction). The 13/14" chassis with power user specs has always been a sweet spot for many users (myself included), just look at the Asus UX302, Gigabyte P34g, Acer V7-482PG, HP Envy 14t, even the Lenovo T430/440/s models I would say fit into this..... its a market for sure and one dell will not have covered well if they don't update the 14.

/$.02

 

XPS isn't power or enthusiast users anymore. Largely.

When they had the XPS M1330 they really started going for Business and other mobile users, not just gamers and heavy users.

Even the larger models of the past few years haven't had very powerful specs. The quads are largely slow or lower end quads. The dual cores have been pretty entry level. Maybe the Studio XPS had an extreme dual core CPU but that was it.

The XPS is lighter, design looks good, but performance wise it isn't a huge step up from the best of the Inspirons, Vostros and Latitudes.

A better strategy would be to make really good 13 and 15 inch models to satisfy both ends of the spectrum rather than offer too many options in screen size. Options should be offered at the config level.

 

I understand it's the perfect balance for those who feel a 13" is too small and 15" is too big, but as regards power user specifications, even the current model XPS 14" is hardly a power user's laptop, so what makes you think a future one will be. It won't want to tread on the XPS 15's toes so that was why I suspect it may not be updated/what you're looking for, if it ever does appear.

In fact the only power user 13/14" model I can see Dell offering is the Alienware 14, although it does have the footprint of a 15" laptop. They've definitely gone for the sleek and slim looks over power in the XPS though, and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

 

It is coming on dell australia

 

XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Details | Dell Australia


Enjoy HIGH PRICE !!!

 

Here it is....expensive!

XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Details | Dell Australia

 

XPS 15 Touch Screen Laptop Details | Dell Australia

the highest end is $2500 AU, that is still a lot less than macbook pro with same spec ($3200 AU). I will take that! With student discount, it will be 2100ish... very happy

 

How does this thing not have a numpad