is the xps aluminum?

on dell it does not say but i thought i have seen some say it was? if it is whats all aluminum?

thanks

 

Nope, plastic shell but it is still quite solid all the same.

 

The display back is aluminum, and the palm rest area is a thin layer of aluminum over thin plastic. It feels solid...in comparison to most of the other Dell consumer models...which isn't saying much.

 

Nope, the display back is plastic, too.

 

The XPS 17 is no Apple mac replacement in build terms, but it's better specced and about half the price.

 

Are you sure the back of the display and around the keyboard isn't aluminum? I just got my XPS 17 and it feels like metal. Thin metal but it does feel like metal. The bottom is definitely plastic.

 

Not sure what material it is but I have to say using the laptop in 26c sunshine yesterday the palm rest becomes a handy portable bbq. My sausages came up great after 10mins on my xps palm rest. Actually, those were my fingers!

 

I talked to a sales rep at Dell and he said it was indeed aluminum.

I too thought it was plastic though...

 

It's altogether likely that the sales rep has never even seen one, don't take what they say as gospel. TBH, the info the sales reps provide is not even reliable enough to qualify as a solid rumor.

I have taken my L502X apart to install a matte display...the display back is most definitely plastic. If any owners doubt it, just remove the bezel and take a look. Seriously.

FWIW, the palm-rest isn't aluminum over plastic either...it's just more painted plastic. It looks convincing, but wait until someone bumps or scratches theirs and posts to tell about it, you'll see. DAMHIKT

 

The body of the laptop is all plastic. There is aluminum veneer on the palmrest and display, but right underneath that is again all plastic.
Treat it gingerly, mine fell about 2 feet in a padded laptop case and ended up with a 1" crack on the bottom corner plastic, they're not tough.

 

The display is definitely aluminum, just not sure how much. One thing's for sure, it isn't no Mac in terms of build quality, but you're getting much better specs for a fraction of the cost.

 

Wrong. ^^^^

 

I think it is aluminum coated atleast, cause my dad has one and the laptop always felt cold, plastic never feels cold.

 

Remove the bezel and you will see that it is totally plastic, including the sharp edges typically found in any molded plastic piece. Really. Or wait until someone drops one and scratches or cracks one, then they can tell you what it's made of.

Here's a serious question - what is with this fascination and repeated insistence that it is aluminum? Does it make it a better laptop? Is admitting it is plastic like saying it's cheap crap? And what would be the benefit of laminating a layer of aluminum over cheap plastic? It would add to production costs, but add nothing of value to the finished product. Plastic can be molded to mimic brushed aluminum, and can be painted to look like shiny chrome too. No gimmicks here...just plastic, and that's ok! It's still a great laptop.

People that have disassembled the laptop have noted how it is built, but folks want to believe a Dell CSR that has probably never even seen the laptop much less worked on one, go ahead. Me...I'm just gonna get some more coffee cuz clearly I'm in need...

 

I agree, I mean, plastic or not, doesn't make it a bad laptop, but I think everybody is trying to figure out, are we talking about aluminum over plastic or plastic as aluminum. I mean, no matter how much you mould plastic, cover it in whatever sheen you want, it doesn't feel like aluminum, whether by texture or by the way it conducts heat, it would feel like plastic with shiny paint.

 

It doesn't hold a candle to Apple laptops. Too much plastic.

 

On the UK site, if you go to the configurable options it quite clearly states:
Silver Anodized Aluminum Cover [Included in Price]
Design Studio Featuring 130+ Designs Personalize Prices vary

This seems to tell me the outer lid is definitely aluminium.

 

why do all the pics of the XPS 17 (L702x) look like the deck (area where your hands lie - next to the speakers)... look like brushed aluminum - but the dell website shows that part as a dark color?

Is it silver colored aluminum or is it black (or very dark grey)?

 

The display cover and the palmrest cover are both aluminum. For sure. I am writing on it. I think they rest over a plastic shell while the chasis itself is a magnesium alloy. Scott_RC-Tek dissasembled it, so he can confirm about the inner construction, but those 2 layers outside are brushed aluminum and nice to the touch.

 

That part is darkish grey (it would look different depending on the light). The screen cover is silver aluminum and the bottom is silver painted plastic.

 

so the pics lower on this site- the silver JBL pic and the rest where it looks much darker -it's the same thing - just different angle/lighting?

XPS 17 Laptop - Feel the Thrill with 3D Laptop Screen | Dell

 

Yes, that sheet of aluminum looks grey up front and darker from an angle.

 

All plastic. Very little structural metal. Any metal is purely cosmetic.

 

Thanks so much - that clears it up for me!

 

They are definitely not aluminum. I also have a L702x. Feels completely like plastic.

 

One man's aluminum is another man's plastic maybe? It's actually fascinating that there is even this debate to me. Is it a matter of people referring to the material on the surface of the XPS on one hand (which people can't agree on whether it's aluminum or plastic) and the material under the surface on another (which I think everybody can agree on, is plastic)? When I felt an XPS, I'm not a chemical engineer, but I can tell the difference between aluminium and silver-painted plastic, like my old Dell Inspiron was and the XPS is definitely not. Also, I think every single review of the XPS L-502x, and I mean every professional review from the magazines and tech blogs and also the user video reviews on Youtube, etc. all say that the lid and palmrest material is aluminum. I mean, a couple of people may feel that the material is not aluminum, but I mean, scores and scores of people, who have felt and used the XPS have said that it's aluminum. I mean, we can't trust Dell Customer Service reps, to tell us what it is, but, I mean, anecdoctal evidence speaks for itself right?

 

Checked the UK site, it says " Metalloid Aluminum Cover".

So, the UK site is describing it as a "cover that resembles aluminum". Slick marketing stunt, choose particular wording in hopes that people would think it's aluminum. Guess the strategy is working...

 

Checked the UK site, it says "Metalloid Aluminum Cover".

Where does it say this? When you configure an L702x it quite clearly says aluminium. Here is the link:
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

However the L502x is metalloid. Which XPS machine are we arguing about here? It would seem the L702x does have an aluminum cover but the L502x does not. So falcon64 is right. The machine he has is plastic; but if you have a L702x you have an aluminum one.

 

US site calls both "Elemental Silver Aluminum" indicating identical construction, and the UK site uses different descriptions for the 15 and 17. That makes things clear as mud! (hehehe)

Yes I am referring only to the L502X as that is what I own and have disassembled several times. I have never seen an XPS 17 so I can't speak to how that is built. OP never specified which they were inquiring about, so maybe that accounts for the differing answers - we've all made staggering assumptions, and you know what they say about assuming.

Time for a beer...

 

This.

Except for the VERY old dell laptops, every one I've dissasembled has aluminum/magnesium covers. They look like plastic from the outside, true. BUT when was the last you had plastic reading 0 ohms from a multimeter?

I'm talking about my old inspiron 9400 (magnesium everywhere except for the palm rest cover), latitude e6500, e6510, studio 15 (yes even a studio! I was sure this one was plastic but nope) and we'll see what my soon to arrive xps17 is.

 

This debate is incredible. Indeed every review out there state that those particular surfaces are aluminum. For example:

Review Dell XPS 17 Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

I never stated that the shell itself was aluminum, in fact I said it was plastic, but the outer layers in the deck and screen cover are clearly aluminum. You can cleary feel the diference in texture and temperature (when cold) between those and the plastic parts like the bottom.

 

I can confirm the LCD backing is 2.0mm thick polycarbonate (same material as the bottom hatch door) with a 1.0mm thick ALU laminate/plate cover. The palm rest is the same, but with a thinner 0.5mm ALU laminate cover so it can flex more when removed from the top assembly cover (the black metal frame). It would have been nice to have a 100% metal base even if it cost a little more, but the current offering is still nice.

I am talking with an associate who has a precision CNC facility and I may send him an extra base section of the L702x I have to see if he can produce a 100% ALU replacement, which would not be cheap but it would be VERY COOL.

Maybe if I can get 10 or so fellow owners to go in and share the cost, we can all get upgraded CNC metal bases for our L702 systems.

Scott-

 

Here's a serious question for you - if it's not important, and the fascination wasn't justified, then why did Dell apparently go to such great lengths to make the XPS 15 appear as though it was manufactured out of aluminum? If you don't think that's the very essence of a gimmick, I dunno what to tell you. I've disassembled a L502X several times over the past week, down to the heatsink, and I was relatively certain that the back of the display lid was aluminum, while the palmrest was predominantly plastic with an outer layer of thin aluminum. If it's actually all plastic, then they fooled me as well.

 

You're right, of course. Poor wording on my part, sorry.

 

No need to apologize, I might have been harsh with my post. Sorry if I came off that way. But honestly, I was under the impression when I bought the XPS, that most of it -was- constructed of aluminum. I didn't realize my mistake until I was unboxing it. I'm still a tad PO'd about it.

 

Thanks for your clarification, Scott. I was hoping that the aluminum on the screen cover was the entire cover and not just a little sheet (I thought it would be more solid). The policarbonate construction looks solid enough thought. Can you confirm that the chassis is magnesium alloy?

In any case the aluminum covering at least makes it nicer to the touch, if not structurally more solid. I would hope there were other with actual alu unibodies like the MBP, but I looks that the only that come close (and not really) is the HP Envy, and I will never buy HP again after an awful experience with 2 broken laptops and horrible custumer service.

 

Well, in my opinion, the LCD casing is very robust and the poly under-layer adds to the solid feel since it reinforces the internal LCD panel mounts, antennas, and case hinges.

Yes, the main frame (Dell calls it the "top cover assembly") that everything top and bottom mounts/attaches to is in fact a solid single piece of cast and milled magnesium. This powder coated black frame assembly is the main foundation of the laptop and gives it that solid built feel. The flat black metal trim between the palm rest and the bottom non-metallic base is the perimeter of this magnesium assembly. Additionally, the entire rear end of the L701/2x (behind the LCD) that houses the external data, media, and power ports along with the side fan duct is also part of this single metal structure. Overall, it is a very solid laptop with no body flex and it does offer metal components in the proper places.

Scott-