Dell XPS 13: A Different Kind of Ultrabook
by Dustin Sklavos on March 13, 2012 9:00 AM ESTConclusion: Excellent Starting Point
Dell's first entry into the ultrabook market is a patient and smart one. They've arrived at the party a bit later than the competition, but they're fashionably late: instead of a design that just apes the Apple MacBook Air, Dell has taken care to produce something unique to them with the XPS 13.
Aesthetics are almost always a matter of taste, but I continue to personally prefer the looks of the XPS 13 to the other ultrabooks on the market barring the hot pink Zenbook ASUS produces. The materials Dell has chosen to use in the construction of the XPS 13 are notable not just for their quality on their own, but for the lack of chintzy or cheap materials employed. The two-toned black and silver design is also a distinctive one; where other vendors are emphasizing silver and aluminum tones (and giving away their inspiration), Dell has produced an ultrabook that stands out in the right ways.
That's why it's unfortunate that despite the clear attention paid to practicality in the design of the XPS 13, it's also practicality that often needlessly suffers. The keyboard is par for the course for ultrabooks and I'm not sure how much refinement Dell could offer there, but unified touchpads continue to be problematic on PCs and the XPS 13 is no exception. Despite the extended period of time I had to use the XPS 13, I still wasn't ever able to totally adapt to it. I'll also readily admit that I'm personally annoyed by the lack of an integrated card reader; your mileage may vary and certainly it seems like a nitpick, but this is something that I get a tremendous amount of use out of in my aging ThinkPad X100e.
Most of those problems are probably things that the end user will adapt to without too much difficulty, but the XPS 13's thermal solution is a trickier issue. If you're just using the XPS 13 to do word processing or surf the internet, and you use it primarily on flat surfaces, you're not likely to have many issues with it. While the fan can be irritating, the carbon fiber shell ensures the ultrabook never gets uncomfortably hot to the touch. Unfortunately, venting the bottom instead of the sides or back feels like it was the wrong decision, and the ultrabook sometimes has trouble enjoying the benefits of Intel's Turbo Core the way many of its kin do.
None of the issues with the XPS 13 are fundamental flaws or uncorrectable. This is a good product at a reasonable price point that basically just needs a refresh. If you're in the market for an ultrabook I wouldn't dissuade you from going with the XPS 13, but I might advise you to really examine how you're going to use it and do some shopping around first. That's just good advice for any computer purchase, but it's definitely relevant here.
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Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I had an A8Jm a loooooooonnnnnng time ago. If you're remotely interested in the history of Dustin's laptops (which he changes out like once a year because he can't settle on anything for too long):A8Jm -> HP dv6000z -> HP dv2000t -> ASUS X83 -> Dell Studio 17 + ThinkPad X100e -> Alienware M17x R3 + ThinkPad X100e
rwei - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
So what you're saying is that you change machines SLIGHTLY more often than I do =/Oddly, though, for the first time, I have trouble seeing any reason why I'd upgrade for some time, other than hardware/battery wear (and I have 2 batteries for the Envy, so...). I game way less than before - besides, the Envy 17 is still potent enough for pretty much anything I throw at it - and I don't see anything on the horizon that would require more performance. That was not at all true when I owned the A8Jm. Even the x120e is plenty for browsing, video watching, and whatever else I'd do on the go. Only complaint about my current setup is that the Envy 17 -> Thinkpad x120e transition is really jarring with the $)*@ing bad screen on the x120e...I wish, so dearly wish, I could stick a "New iPad" screen on the x120e (time to get a dremel tool and soldering iron??). Would be just about a perfect device.
The only thing I can think of that would make me upgrade is a Win8 tablet/notebook hybrid (which I partly bought a WP7 device in anticipation of), but I see that being at least 2 years out for reasonably mature hardware and a good software ecosystem.
It's a strange thing that, these days, when (normal) people ask me "what computer should I buy", I can pretty much entirely discount the performance of the CPU as a consideration (barring Atom, and sometimes Zacate netbooks - "yeah, sure, that one's 60-150% faster, but who cares?!").
AMD might be on to something with their new strategy.
Hulk - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Okay that's it. My 5 year old Inspiron with a half decent high resolution screen and a C2D at 2GHz is going to have to hold me until I can buy a relatively thin and light laptop (~1" thick and around 4lbs) with a good IPS screen.If I'm going to suffer I might as well suffer with my current lappy and save some money. I'll just put an SSD in it when the performance gets unbearable.
bji - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I'm with you. Except my laptop is a 7 year old Panasonic Y2 with a Pentium M at 1.6 Ghz, and I'm just holding out for a 15 inch Macbook Air, which I thought was supposed to come out Q1 this year but is completely MIA at this point.santeana - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I've never been a fan of Dell. But if ever they had a good laptop, it was their XPS line. Great performance for the price they offered it at. Now, to see an XPS machine, supposedly a premium mainstream laptop going from a discrete graphics solution to an onboard HD3000 chip.... I dunno. Just doesn't seem right to me.c4v3man - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
XPS laptops have always been hit or miss. Exceptionally heavy, usually run somewhat hot, and questionable reliability. The best laptops are enterprise grade units and mobile workstations, such as Dell's Latitude's, their Precision Mobiles, HP's EliteBooks, and Toshiba's Tecra lines to name a few.It might be good for gaming, but not for much else.
bhima - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
2 things Dell could have done to make this Ultrabook look better than the competition:1) a good MATTE screen. I do not understand why we still have glossy screens on mobile devices (except for phones because the gorilla glass is needed for protection), especially when all of the best screens whether desktop or laptop are all matte.
2) Where is my Dell docking station jack? It may seem like a "little" thing, but having a Dell docking station and using a Dell laptop as your main computer is actually quite amazing. Having instant access to more ports, real keyboard and mouse AND a nice second display really solidifies the laptop as a capable primary workstation. When you are on the go, you hit one button and take your laptop off the dock. This should be on EVERY Dell laptop.
These things would set it apart from the entire competition and would give people good reasons to choose this Dell over say a MacBook Air.
Malih - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
The touchpad is basically what I'm complaining about today's laptops, specifically Windows laptops, Apple does really well in this departement.But I've seen the demo video in YouTube (/watch?v=mL_jasHqrVI) for the Synaptics Clickpad with WIndows 8 which seems to be quite sensitive and seems to tackle most issue I have with current touchpads,
I just wonder whether they will release the Clickpad before Windows 8 release, perhaps coupled with laptops with decent graphics, like Trinity laptops (possibly).
Stas - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
I'm really liking this laptop. Sexy, quick, Windows, 256GB SSD for <$1500. Too I wouldn't use one much. Between power of my desktop and portability of the smart phone, I'm hard pressed to justify hauling a laptop around.Stas - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
Too bad*