Hands-on Dell's XPS 14 and XPS 15: A New Standard Discussion

When Dell brought back the XPS name, it did so with little fanfare. The first new XPS computers were mediocre, with little to differentiate them from the models they replaced. But these - these are worth of the XPS moniker, and might be the best laptops Dell's yet made.

Read the full content of this Article: Hands-on Dell's XPS 14 and XPS 15: A New Standard

Related Articles:

• Dell Releases New XPS 14 Ultrabook, XPS 15 Premium Notebooks
• Sony Teams With LL Cool J on Music Software for 'Realtime Collaboration' Anywhere
• Acer Introduces The Aspire S5 As The World's Thinnest Ultrabook
• Hands on: Dell's New Vostro Business Notebooks
• Dell XPS 13 vs. Samsung Series 9: Business Ultrabook Battle
• Any Video Converter (AVC) Ultimate Review: Cool But Quirky DVD Copying
• Exclusive: Kingston SSDNow V200 Review: New(ish) And Improved At Last!
• Toshiba Showcases New Ultrabooks

 

Thanks, can you confirm which laptop this one is? The viewing angles look suspect when looking at the same pic but not at an angle.

 

The one You are interested in is 15" model

BTW what about availability, for 14" model? Also shame on Dell they should offer possibility to have that 14" with 256GB SSD, at the moment i am really looking for a new machine my old M1330 broke down a last week, but it is already 5th year so i don`t blame them. I would love to stay with dell, but when i have to pay 200-300$ extra just for additional 256GB, which i don`t need, just to have SSD, it leaves me to consider possibilities to move on samsung 9 series or something like that.

 

anyone know if these are kepler GPUs? otherwise they seem competitive. will have to wait till we can get some reviews =)

 

Yes. The XPS 15's definitely is.

KuulAsIce, in terms of availability, they're both out today.

That's the XPS 15, since it's sitting next to the XPS One 27. Which you may have seen before on a related site, heh, heh. :|

 

looks awfully similar to mbp

 

Nice article. I liked the previous XPS 15 but it was pretty average all around besides its great screen and speakers. The design was cool and the build quality decent but again, pretty average. The game is definitely stepped up here.
I would also like to see a better graphics card on the 15" model; the last XPS 15 suffered from the same problem. I think Dell is trying to force people to Alienware if they want a good graphics card, these are more of a premium multimedia device if anything.

Let me help poor JR out here - Desktop Reviews - PC Reviews and Desktop Computer Buying Guide

 

Ahahaha. Mostly I was referring to the fact that I accidentally published the XPS 15 like a month ago, and of course it got picked up in the forums.

In re: GPU - I'm in complete agreement. I was surprised to see that the 650m wasn't an option.

 

Ok I got a question , what about Dell XPS15 weight compared the Non Retina MBP 15 !??

 

Reading the article the XPS 15 is 4.9 pounds. The "regular" MBP 15" is I believe 5.6 pounds. The rMBP is 4.46 pounds.

 

Well in the Dell UK website it is stated that it starts at 5.79 pounds, this is why I am confused
New! XPS 15 laptop details — Entertainment laptop | Dell UK

 

No.

"The new machines are also just a bit heavier than we'd like to see, at 4.6 or 4.9 pounds for the XPS 14 and 5.8 pounds for the XPS 15 - no doubt over five and six, respectively, once you include the power bricks."

 

How does the XPS 15's display compare to the B+RGLED display of the previous generation?

Also, how was the contrast of the XPS 14's display?

 

Yeah, the last XPS 15 (L502X) was not the best gaming notebook on the block and clearly neither is this new L521X. You can get an HP dv6t Quad notebook or Lenovo Y580 for cheaper and with better graphics performance -- Nvidia 650M and GTX 660M respectively. However, this XPS 15 is clearly better looking than either of those, seems Dell has decided to go in the direction of making the XPS more of a premium design line. Alienware is where you need to go if you're into gaming.

 

Well done, Dell. Well done.

 

Very attractive, too bad they are on the heavy side. But it is good to see that XPS means a good looking laptop again. I have XPS 16 that has been great but I have found that 6 pounds is more than I want to deal with now.

 

not only that, but apple has a patent for a 'device' with screen and keyboard

time to sue dell

 

The non-retina MBP 15 has an all-metal construction and an optical drive and weighs 5.6 lbs.

The new XPS 15 has an all-metal construction and an optical drive and weighs 5.8 lbs...only 4% more.

By contrast, the Vaio S15 weighs only 4.4 lbs and has all-metal construction and an optical drive, but many have complained that it has a flexible case and feels fragile and insubstantial.

Without compromising solidity, the only other way to bring weight down would be to use plastic or to drop the optical drive. I'm glad the XPS 15 does neither.

 

Ah my mistake, misread it.

 

We need a full review of these. Great to see they have high res sreens.

 

True but your argument would be much better if it had a GT 650 instead of a GT 640.

I saw this at notebookcheck but not sure if it is relevant:

 

The 650 isn't appreciably heavier than the 640. You may want a 650 instead of a 640 in your laptop for gaming performance, but that has nothing to do with whether a 5.8 lb 15" laptop is unreasonably heavy.

 

No, I meant to make the weight more acceptable. For example, "A bit heavy but it can play Blu-ray's and game"...

 

A brushed metal laptop? RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

 

A 640M can handle Skyrim on high and Diablo III on ultra. It most certainly can game just fine, even though a 650m is even higher-performance. Y'all are just impossible to please

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Looks good. Dell is finally starting to make good laptops again.

 

The Panasonic B10 is 4.1lbs w/ optical drive. It's a Toughbook, so I doubt its built flimsily.

It's definitely possible to make a lightweight 15 inch notebook without sacrificing durability or the optical drive.

 

No dedicated graphics (or the cooling system to deal with dedicated graphics) and a price tag about twice that of the XPS 15 thanks to its unobtanium construction...apples and oranges. You've got to compromise somewhere. Price, solidity, weight, features like an optical drive...at the end of a day, these issues become a zero-sum game. Something has to give. The XPS 15 is relatively heavy. The Vaio S15 lacks solidity. The Panasonic is painfully expensive and lacks a GPU. Choose your poison.

 

Great looking machines. If the RAM & HDD are user-serviceable without much pain, a XPS 14 may be coming home with me.

 

Dear Dell,


Could you please make a 17 for december? Please. I so need a 17 inch of these. =D.

Man i would so buy a 17 inch with gt 650m

 

I don't see how these laptops are a "new standard" when the B+RGLED screen has been done away with, but okay...

IPS option would be nice too...

 

Dell giveth and Dell taketh away. Gone are the subwoofer, B+RGLED, trackpad buttons that you can see, 7200rpm HDD and externally replaceable battery. For that they add less weight and bulk, an SSD cache, slot loading drive, and a battery that doesn't stick out like a hernia. It's also way more expensive than the previous XPS. I got mine for $960 USD after a coupon code (1080p, i7, blue-ray, 9-cell battery).

BTW, on some pics, it looks like the battery is replaceable but you have to open the panel to get inside. I'm okay with an internal battery as long as the user can do the replacement. Yeah, it might void the warranty, but you shouldn't need a new battery for a couple of years in which case the warranty already expired. Can anyone confirm?

 

Let me see if I have this straight: the new XPS 15 has a worse screen (the former being among the best on the planet) and worse audio (ditto) and while the design was cool and the build quality decent, the L521, at a higher price and virtually the same weight is an improvement? Is sleekness of design the new standard in DTR laptops? Though you didn't mention it, it also won accolades for its keyboard.

The winners here are people who can pick up the L502 on closeout.

 

^ Anything for the sake of sleekness (and MBP imitation *cough*)

 

Yeah, I like the approach of the previous XPS better. It embraced the desktop replacement concept wholeheartedly (class-leading screen, class-leading sound) instead of being a knock-off of anything else.

On the other hand, this will probably sell better...

 

Man, total bummer on the lack of expresscard; I was just about to order one to complement the hilariously small 2 USB ports, since I could also use it with my current laptop, when I saw that it doesn't have that slot either. I really like the laptop, but it needs day 1 upgrades: The 30 GB mSATA has to go, it's too slow to be useful; need a USB 3 hub; down the line, probably replace the panel with something better, but at least the resolution is OK for now. (I look forward to the day when it's as easy to buy "retina" aftermarket panels on eBay as it is to get HD ones now.) All of that makes me leery of going for it after all.

 

What we're seeing here it seems is that the desktop replacement laptop as a market segment is becoming marginalized. The L1502x was almost the perfect desktop replacement. Top 1080p screen, best in class speakers with subwoofer, 7200 rpm HDD, USB 3.0 before others had it. Only missing element is it didn't have a high end graphics card. But now it's all about thin and light for current laptops. We might not ever see a laptop like the 1502x again.

 

I'm thinking that too. The desktop replacement is disappearing; Sony got rid of its F line, Dell is only making thin and light, etc. The only "desktop replacements" are super heavy gaming laptops or business laptops. Man, if the replacement for desktops is disappearing, I must be really behind the times by having a desktop...

 

These days I feel like the only user a desktop is aimed at is businesses and basement-dwelling WoW freaks, so I feel you. There are a few good offers out there on Ivy Bridge parts, though; the real reckoning won't be until Intel declines to produce a desktop chip at some point, pushing higher-margin laptop chips in things like the Acer Veriton N and HP Ultra-slim. I sort of doubt AMD will pick up enough slack to matter.

 

Interesting announcement by Dell.
They have 3 Ultrabooks (as defined by Intel) and the XPS 15 is not included.

 

Oh how the XPS/mighty have fallen. So instead of the XPS of old we get MBP look alikes with terrible looking keyboard. Looks like the XPS 1645 was the last true XPS IMHO.

 

Give me a better wireless card and we'll talk. Shame, I finally thought someone got it right, hoping things will get fixed b4 I buy.