Dell XPS 12 Review Discussion

This premium convertible Ultrabook features a carbon fiber and aluminum construction, full 1080p IPS touch enabled display and of course Windows 8. Is this computer worth the premium price? Read our full review.

Read the full content of this Article: Dell XPS 12 Review

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One of my two favorite Windows 8 convertible tablets (the other obviously being the Vaio Duo 11). One's strength is the other's weakness. The XPS 12 offers a full-size keyboard and trackpad; the Duo 11 offers superb connectivity. Both offer gorgeous screens and unimpeachable build quality.

The first wave of ultrabooks fizzled because they were really just "me too" shots across the bow of the MacBook Air. With convertible ultrabooks like the XPS 12 and Duo 11, Windows OEMs are finally offering ultraportable laptops that fill a similar role (ultraportable computing) but leapfrog over the MacBook Air in terms of innovation (convertible form factors) and features (1080p IPS screens) instead of just nipping at its heels. Nicely done.

 

Ended up buying this one because of 8GB ram, excellent build/keyboard/screen quality and a convertible-solution only topped by detachable screens (the keyboard down on the table solution of the Yogapad sounds like a bad idea to me).

I guess the compromise you have to accept for this is ~200-300 grams added weight. If the Samsung np900x3c had 8GB ram or/and a better SSD, I would probably go with that one.

I'll probably try to get a light carrying bag so I don't have to obsess about those grams any more

 

Thanks guys for the comments. I grew quite fond of the XPS 12 convertible tablet during the week I had it. Superb quality, gorgeous screen - it even has a fantastic keyboard and a usable pair of speakers. Aside from the software glitches I really couldn't find a reason not to recommend this device per my conclusion.

The base $1,200 model is definitely the best value but another $200 or so buys double the RAM (8GB) and bumps the processor to the i7 - that's the one I personally would buy. The 256GB SSD models are a little pricey for my taste.

 

About the bugs:

The first has widely reported in the Vaio Duo 11 community, so it must be related to Windows 8 itself. I've had it happen three times since October 29th, so I can testify that it's real, but not common enough to make me tear my hair out or anything. The other three I've never heard of on a Duo 11, so I suspect they're XPS-12-specific.

 

So there's a display rotate button?

Couldn't Dell have just put an accelerometer in there, and used the space for an HDMI port or mini-vga?

 

I really want this laptop... like really really want. I had an XPS13 and absolutely loved the design but wished the screen was better. Dell really did everything right with this laptop. They learned from the mistakes of the old Duo and combined that with the beauty of the XPS line.

One thing I am really curious about is seeing pics of this next to an XPS 13.

 

I think it's a rotate LOCK button, not a button that makes it rotate. iPads and many other tablets have rotate lock switches or buttons. My Vaio Duo 11 has one. I normally keep my screen locked so that the orientation won't change even if I'm shifting it around or reading it while laying on my side or something.

 

The last item regarding not being able to resume full screen brightness is a known Windows 8 issue in notebooks/tablets that come with a sensor for automatic dimming... you just have to turn off the feature for automatic dimming by going to Settings -> Change PC Settings ->General->Screen. I initially found that irritating as well.

There are definitely some software glitches... probably a combination of Dell drivers and Windows 8... but overall, I do love the laptop and I'm willing to wait for patches.

 

It's probably worth noting that I haven't had problems with issues 2 or 3 at all on my XPS 12 either... I've had problems using the power button to wake the laptop up on two different occasions (I've owned mine since 11/3)... but never trouble shutting it down or putting it to sleep.

 

Now that you mention it, I disabled automatic screen brightness adjustment (via the Vaio Control Center on my machine) a day or so after I got it. I completely forgot about it, but I do remember that issue now that you mention it. It never seemed to get the brightness right. It's so easy to adjust screen brightness in Windows 8 (it's a slider right there in charms > settings) that there's not much purpose to auto brightness adjustment.

So yeah, I had both bug #1 and bug #4 on my Duo 11.

That said, I have to echo the thoughts of the XPS 12 owner who posted above me. It'd be nice if these bugs were patched, but they're not a prominent part of my user experience at all. I'm not saying we shouldn't discuss them, but I don't want to give the impression that either of these machines are buggy messes just because we've been talking about bugs for a while.

To the contrary, these two machines are to me everything people have been ragging on Windows OEMs for years for NOT doing. They're unapologetically high-quality, made out of premium materials. They have superb screens and excellent resolution. They are fashionable and highly portable. They are innovative hardware-wise instead of following. It's almost as if the design teams of Dell (and Sony) got together and said "what are all the things we're criticized for not doing? Let's do them all. All at once. On a reasonably-affordable consumer-oriented device." And they did. BOOYAH.

 

Interesting,
I was more looking for a touch Ultrabook such as Zenbook Touch or Aspire S7 but I am surprised about the positive feedback on the XPS12.

Does the screen mechanism look solid?
How good is it as a tablet? Not too heavy to use with one hand?
How good is it as a busines laptop?

 

I think the general opinion in the reviews I've read is that it's too heavy to use comfortably as a one-hand tablet, the tablet mode is more for resting it in your lap or on your table, seeing as it's around 2.4 times heavier than an Ipad.
Most reviews state the lock mechanism feels solid.

In the XPS 12 thread in this forum, issues with the trackpad drivers have been reported, but they seem possible to resolve with driver and/or setting changes.

 

I carry the Vaio Duo 11 just fine one-handed, but not by pinching one side of the bezel like I would with a Kindle or iPad. I rest it on my forearm like a waiter carrying a tray. If it's on my left arm, for example, my left hand is holding the right side of the tablet, and the left side of the tablet is tucked into my left elbow, with my forearm supporting the tablet from underneath. It's stable and you can easily carry a three-pound tablet this way for as long as you want. I suspect the same would work just fine with the XPS 12.

 

I find the XPS great to use as a tablet, don't notice the weight as signifcantly more than an ipad - but I'm always using it on my lap or a desk, not trying to walk around holding it. The great thing about the XPS setup is you can flip the screen and prop it up on your lap like a tent / upside down V. Much more convenient when sitting on a couch or in bed than the ipad I have as you don't have to hold it up to view.

I haven't found that it tips over when using the touch screen in laptop mode, and to my surprise I find that I use the touch screen a lot in this mode, even with the desktop, as just easier and quicker to touch certain things than use the trackpad or keyboard (haven't got a mouse yet though). Perhaps the reviewer has heavy hands!

I've also had the touch function freeze a few times, more so when I first got it, only occaisionally recently - good to read that this is not just a Dell issue. Will have to turn off the sensor for screen brightness, as I've experienced that issue too sometimes. Sometimes when switching users it seems to have frozen so I've had to force a shutdown.

Apart from that I think it is a brilliant machine

 

That does look like a nice machine. I think I'm going to wait for the ThinkPad Helix before deciding whether to upgrade. Probably by the time it's released, the X220i will be close to nearing two years old and it'll be time to upgrade.

 

I'm very much missing the XPS 12 since I let it go .... ahh. I want one. As long as it has the 256GB SSD, I think I can use it just find as my primary computer.

 

I agree with mdarch on the "screen-heavy" not being a problem.

The only time when this is an issue is when you aren't typing anything and you want to press on something mid-screen. Even then, you can rest your arm on the device so it won't tip anyway. It'll even help you mitigate the "Gorilla arm" problem!

 

The thing where the touchpad is unresponsive for a couple of seconds goes back to XPS 13 and the Cypress drivers. Note the XPS 14/15, wireless and throttling scheme aside, did not have this issue with its Synaptics touch pad. If you kill one of those Cypress executables that runs at start up, that problem goes away, along with multi-touch.

 

Do the issues exist if the Cypress executable is run manually after Windows is started?

 

So I am really wanting to get the xps 12 but I'm not sure it would have enough power.
I would like to use a usb 3.0 bluray burner to burn videos from my camcorder. 1080p 60fps 5.1ss
Can it handle it?
Also I would go with the 8gb i7 model

 

What software? Let's take a look at the system requirements.