XPS15 9560 Kaby Lake Product Page.....

In the 9550 I got WDC WD10SPCX-75KHST0. I thought of replacing it with an 1TB 7200rpm I had in my old laptop but couldn't because only thin drives fit inside. But I wanted two bays, and all i7+SSD models here came with the bigger battery.

 

Now 2tb NVMe drives are hitting the market you could probably get away with one drive

 

Unless you are running an extremely taxing game, and you want to multitask by opening Chrome tabs, the 8x2 makes almost no difference. Only for that very case do 2 sticks running on dual channel work better and provide a smoother transition between apps and games. I'd rather have a 1x16GB because I'll then have a spare slot, should I want to go 24 or even 32.

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Why do you guys suspect they make it impossible to get a configuration that has both a 1080 matte screen and a 1tb SSD drive? Are those two things really that rare to want together? Seems like plenty of people that want a high end configuration also prefer the 1080 matte screen to the 4k touch for personal preference reasons. Am I wrong here or is it a real mistake for them to not realize the demand for this? I thought hard drive size was usually one of the things they allowed to be fully customizable so it's disappointing to see that the largest SSD you can get with a 1080 screen is 512gb.

 

Or be a smarter lad and do this:
If Dell charges extra hundreds for both the 1TB SSD and the extra 8gigs of RAM (making it 16), why don't you get the least specced model with 1080p non touch / SSD / bigger battery? I think it costs 1599$ for a 7700HQ, 256GB SSD, 8GB DDR4 and 1080p screen. And then you can get your own ultra fast SSD and extra RAM.

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Appreciate the suggestion but a few follow ups regarding installing your own upgrades:

1. How hard to install are these parts if you have virtually no experience handling hardware?

2. How will this effect my next day multi year at home warranty which I value very much?

3. Is there anything tricky about picking which 1TB hard drive and which extra 8gb of ram to order? Do you have any specific recommendations? Do they come in different physical sizes such that only certain models will fit in the XPS 15?


If this is genuinely easy/risk free and preserves the warranty with no issue, I would definitely consider going this route but I'm afraid I could run into complications.

 

To get the larger battery and the i7 with the FHD you have to go with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd which does not allow you to change the ssd.

 

So, fingerprint reader seems gone and the fingerprint catching carbon nonsense is still there? If so, why should we care for this new version over the previous one?

 

CPU will use less power, bigger battery, faster GPU, less power hungry GPU, true x4 thunderbolt port...

Dell is smart enough not to allow an i7/4k/8GB/256GB option. The 4k/8GB/256GB config is only with an i5.

 

So why is Dell so 'smart' as to not offer i7/1080p/16gb or 32gb/1TB SSD?

 

Who cares if people would rather get those with minimal specs and use their own SSD amd RAM?

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For anyone who hasn't seen this video about the 9560 configuration options.

 

Just spoke with a rep and he confirmed that all 9560 laptops come with a fingerprint scanner.

 

I dont believe him, but if so... "hell yeah!"

 

Can anyone take a stab at this?

I see an option with an i7/FHD/256gb ssd. why can't this be replaced?

 

Sure. I recommend (and am buying for my own 9560) one of the samsung 960 evo drives.

Links: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5nd5co/xps_9560_upgrade_own_ram/dcaipel/

and guide: http://www.windowscentral.com/more-ram-dell-xps-15-9550

Same steps to get it open, just you are replacing the chip to the left of the ram (face down battery towards you, one screw, tilt the stick up !slightly! and slide out). Harder part is reinstalling windows. Since the laptop will already have a key saved in the bios use the media creation tool [here]( https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/) with an 8GB flash drive (it'll get wiped, so make sure its empty) to install.

It wont change your warranty on anything you don't change.

 

So just to make clear, you're buying the i7 1080p 256gb 8gb config options listed at $1371? From there, buying a 1TB SSD and one more 8gb stick of ram?

 

There is a fingerprint reader driver listed on the support page ( http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...-15-9560-laptop&languageCode=en&categoryId=SY) for 9560 so I guess it has/will have one.

 

I went i5/4k/8GB/256GB. Upgrading to 2x8GB and 500GB. I love RAM but don't think I need 32GB yet. And 1TB 960s are expensive.

 

Never take a Dell reps ord until you see it on here

Really easy as you can always download the service manual, it will not invalidate the warranty unless you physically break it.

 

But it is not mentioned at all at the order page, at least not the last time I looked at it.

 

I wonder how long it will be until I can get refurbs off eBay.

 

Still no word about what SSD is in the 9560?

 

It will likely be like the 9550. That means whatever they have in stock and got a good deal on.

 

No information from the service manual ( http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/xps-15-9560-laptop_Setup Guide_en-us.pdf).

It's interesting that it seems they re-use lots of pics from the 9550 service manual. For example the pic of the battery still says 84WHr so I guess the pic of SSD is from the old one as well. It says PM951 but I doubt that (guess it would be PM961 or XG4).

Another interesting things is 9560 has an audio daughter board, not sure if this is the same for 9550

 

You will see in 9550 threads that the PM951 was one of many SSD used by Dell. The SSD model is a bit of a crapshoot here which is one reason I took that into my own hands buying a low-spec and upgrading to a good SSD and 32GB low CAS memory.

The other reason was massive cost differential. But the cost equation might be very different today as 3rd party SSD and RAM are very expensive but Dell might be able to hold down the prices with their long-term volume contracts. Not sure.

The 9550 also had a separate audio daughter board; I have a spare in the basement.

 

I also checked the driver/firmware download page but there was no info.

 

You're right. But PM951 was actually the only one when launched, and I don't think they would change the pic as more models got introduced.

 

There is one for Hynix SSDs. Maybe that's one possibility.

 

https://www.skhynix.com/eng/product/ssdClient.jsp

The Hynix seem to be 2.5", so it can't be that (for those with the 97WHr battery) and it also says sata3.

Maybe these guys but they're a year old: http://www.liteonssd.com/pcie-ssd/CX2-SERIES.html

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...-15-9560-laptop&languageCode=en&categoryId=SA

 

Brief comparison of the GTX 1050 to a 960m in Dave Lee's latest video:

 

Dell is saying no fingerprint reader yet. https://twitter.com/AzorFrank/status/819564157553016832?s=09

 

Yeah, I get that. But they advertise 40 Gbps bi-directionally. Its semi-understandable that this is met via a combo of displayport (24gbps) and PCIe (16gbps) coming out of the laptop, but I have yet to hear of any option to get 40gbps flow into the laptop via TB3, using any varied combo of DisplayPort, USB, or PCIe data. Is there a way that I'm missing, through a dock perhaps (I assumed this used PCIe)? Just going off my reading of the 9530 schematic that doesn't appear to have enough "sink" capable traces/connections that combine to 40gbps in.
I'll try to not to harp on this, and I understand they did not violate the Intel specs and that the TB3 controller itself supports this link speed. But I'm honestly confused on why its acceptable to advertise 40gbps bi-directional if there's no possible way under any circumstances to get this advertised speed into the laptop. Of all the issues/complaints a number of us have had with these models, to me this appears the most egregious and most justified for complaint

 

Well, TB3 itself seems to be 40 Gbps bidirectional, except that the bandwidth backwards is never fully used
It would be funny if one could use the DP link backwards from an eGPU to the laptop panel.

 

Are there any matte screen options?

Also, should I assume the following:

32GB Solid State Drive: ****ty SATA cache SSD
256GB PCIe Solid State Drive: Decent NVMe SSD

 

IIRC the FHD is matte.

and correct.

 

How many downsides are there to the 4k touch screen vs 1080? Glossy (personal opinion), very significantly more battery drain (what percent would you estimate?), heavier, and more expensive. Missing anything or misstating something?

 

I'd rather choose the 1080p screen for the following reasons:

4k is overkill for the GTX 1050.

1080p is matte, you can use the laptop outside and still be able to see everything.

If you choose the SSD model with the bigger battery, you'll get the best battery life you'd wish for in a ultrabook with a dedicated GPU. I don't know how much the 4k panel drains the battery, but it generates 4 times the pixels of a 1080p panel!

Most programs would look microscopic on a 4k screen, even with adaptative scaling, since they are designed to be used on smaller resolutions (1080p and 1440p). See If the apps you are willing to use are adapted for QHD. If they are, this reason wouldn't apply for you.

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In fact, most recent progams scale just fine, and it is possible to read finer print and zoom in less on images if your eyes are good. But there are some older programs which don't scale well, and there may be issues setting them up.

A similar thing with the wide gamut of the UHD: XPS is one rare laptop to offer such a panel. But in non-color-managed programs the colors are oversaturated by default. They can be toned down using Dell PremierColor. Which is still broken after Win10 Anniversary update AFAIK ;( It is possible to swich between profiles provided by DPC in Windows Color management and get rid of DPC. But it takes a geek spirit to handle this.

 

The 4K Screen is absolutely stunning and well worth it in my opinion.

I don't have any problem with the gloss within my personal lighting conditions (your situations may vary depending on your room layout, office, how often you use it outside, etc)

I also never expected to use the touch feature, but I find myself using it frequently, especially when navigating maps and photos (where pinch and zoom come in handy) browsing in bed, or playing light games like hearthstone, civilization, etc.

I get about 6 hours battery life with light use (browsing, MS office, etc). Enough for me, but maybe not for others. I'm not too far from an outlet when needed.

Yes, it is true you won't be gaming at 4K resolution, but playing games at 1080p look great, and i've had zero issues not playing at "native resolution". It can handle a lot of games at "2K" resolution (2048x1152) as well (Overwatch, CS:GO, WoW, Diablo 3, Path of Exile) and it looks amazing. And this is on a 960m, you'll be getting the (Slightly) improved 1050

Scaling on windows 10 is much improved, though there are some software that are not optimized for it. That is the one downside I see.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/The-XP...ith-official-response-from-Dell.191316.0.html

 

The moral of the story is that sales reps never know what the the **** they're talking about.

 

Who cares fingerprint scanner exist or not? It is not Iphone, seriously! I'm more interested 3DMark 11 points and if SSD + HDD option possible?

 

It was supposed to have a Windows Hello compatible camera. I care about ways to log in, especially as more and more of our personal data is accessible from our computers.

 

I like the fingerprint scanner since it gives me extra security. Yes, M.2 SSD + HDD is possible, but only with the smaller battery. And not everyone is going to use this for gaming (although if I buy one I may), there are other things that it can do as well.

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I just preordered one of these laptops. So it won't come with a fingerprint scanner? Should I cancel my order and wait?

Am I crazy to preorder a laptop like this?

 

I had to take some breaths and step away once I had the m5520 in my basket all loaded up

 

It was never supposed to have the IR camera. It was supposed to be the fingerprint scanner. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

 

Have you confirmed that the Thunderbolt controller is not the old JHL6240 from the 9550 or precision model? Heck, I never saw anyone confirm that was the original controller but just assumed it was because only single port, x2 setup, and 0.5 watt power savings.

That JHL6240 is still a current part, $1.50 cheaper (list) than other controllers, and given 9560 motherboard has not likely changed much, might still be with us...

http://ark.intel.com/compare/94031,94032,94030,87402,87401

 

Given the clusterfuck of the 9550, I think it's smart to wait.