Dell XPS 13: A Different Kind of Ultrabook
by Dustin Sklavos on March 13, 2012 9:00 AM ESTBattery Life
One of Intel's big mandates for the ultrabook line was for them to have good battery life, and that's a mandate anyone can really get behind. Dell has gone out of their way to further optimize the XPS 13 for better running time, but their optimizations do run afoul of our testing: the screen features an ambient light sensor which will dynamically adjust the brightness depending on how bright the surrounding room is, and while their optimized mode is enabled it's impossible to prevent the system from going to sleep if left idle. As a result, the XPS 13 was tested in our tried-and-true customized "Power Saver" configuration.
It's hard to complain too much about the battery life the XPS 13 produces, but it's also a situation where you have to wonder if a better thermal solution might not pay off dividends here. Jarred has already proven that Intel's "Hurry Up and Get Idle" mantra is actually accurate to Sandy Bridge, and the XPS 13 could stand to run the fan a bit less.
Heat and Noise
This is really where the Dell XPS 13 just isn't as good of a citizen as we wish it was. Under stress testing, we found the XPS 13's core temperatures would idle in the mid forties and then push into the low eighties. That trouble is compounded by the fan noise; the XPS 13 just seems to have a hard time in general dissipating heat. There's a ceiling that it hits, and then the fan will keep running well after the system has stopped being stressed as it slowly but surely tries to get the temperatures back down to the forties. As I mentioned before, once any obstruction is placed under that bottom vent, it's not at all difficult to get the core temperatures into the high nineties.
Fan noise under heavy load is at least 43dBA, and as is customary with the small fans ultrabooks require, the character of the noise is extremely high pitched. Again, this is really going to be the price of admission for an ultrabook. I want to say that Dell probably could have tweaked their fan controls better, but really it's the fact that the whole cooling system just doesn't seem to be as efficient as competing designs.
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JojoKracko - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
That is it. I'm never buying another laptop until they start making them with screens at least as good as on a $500 tablet.Who is with me?
Fight the manufacturers idiocy!
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Agreed!I'm strongly tempted to say the same about desktop monitors, too.
;)
cptcolo - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
I could not agree more. It is absurd that a $500 iPad3 can have a great screen that has 3,145,728 pixels yet a $1500 Ultrabook has only 1,049,088 pixels and in terrible 16:9 layout at that!I am with you all 1440 x 900 for 13 inch screens! They need to follow the MacBook Air all the way.
xenol - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I have this problem with the laptop industry in general. Why is it that the basic panel is 1366x768? How come there are few intermediaries available (not that they don't exist in theory, but in stock) between that and 1920x1080? I had to spend weeks looking for a new laptop because I refused to have a "720p" laptop and nobody stocked bigger resolutions until I got to 17"Pneumothorax - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
It's why I still purchase MBP/MBA and just run win7 on them: The screens rock. The touchpad is another area that I don't understand why PC manufacturers can't at least match Apple in function. I'm still forced many times to use an external mouse when I get on a PC laptop.Pneumothorax - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
To Dell: It's ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC that my circa 2005 Dell Inspiron 6000 15" WUXGA 1900x1200 screen has a higher resolution than your WHOLE current consumer line of laptops in 2012!retrospooty - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
"To Dell: It's ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC that my circa 2005 Dell Inspiron 6000 15" WUXGA 1900x1200 screen has a higher resolution than your WHOLE current consumer line of laptops in 2012!"I agree that 1366x768 is useless, but its not like your 1900x1200 was standard. Back then on a 15 insher 1280x800 was standard, 1920x1200 was an upgrade option, just like 1920x1080 is today.
Still though, this is one thing (and the only one thing) I like about Apple, they still offer 16x10
peterfares - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
The thing is a big part of Dell's lineup used to have upgradable screens. I would like it if that was still the case. Instead, we usually only have one screen, and if it's 14" or smaller it's 1366x768. ASUS did announce they will have an IPS 1920x1080 option on the refreshed Zenbooks so that should be pretty awesome.KoolAidMan1 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Exactly. The screens, trackpads, and keyboards on most notebooks are garbage. It would be great if more were as good as Apple's, but then that would jack up their prices further and nerds who only see pricetags would complain that they are "overpriced".Racing to the bottom has destroyed quality except among premium brands.
retrospooty - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
"The screens, trackpads, and keyboards on most notebooks are garbage. It would be great if more were as good as Apple's, but then that would jack up their prices further and nerds who only see pricetags would complain that they are "overpriced""Alot of people dont care about those things. That is the good thing about PC's. You can get low end or high end and only pay for features you care about.