Dell XPS 13: A Different Kind of Ultrabook
by Dustin Sklavos on March 13, 2012 9:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
While Dell is able to differentiate the XPS 13 substantially in terms of its external design, the internals are still largely governed by the requirements of the ultrabook class. The XPS 13 benefits greatly from the Samsung 830 SSD, but we're still dealing with a Sandy Bridge ultra-low-voltage i7 and the accompanying HD 3000 graphics. If you want a better idea of how these graphics will perform, you can check out our Sony Vaio Z2 review as that notebook's HD 3000 should be comparable.
Our PCMark 7 results are mostly predictable, but the takeaway should really be that the Samsung 830 SSD is one of the best SSD solutions we've seen in an ultrabook thus far, even besting Sony's unusual RAID 0 configuration in the Vaio Z2. That lines up largely with conventional wisdom on desktop builds: a single 256GB SSD is generally preferable to a pair of 128GB SSDs in a striped RAID.
Unfortunately, you could argue the XPS 13 is also hitting some thermal limits as its application performance is a bit behind the curve. While the overall design of the XPS 13 is attractive, the cooling system causes the tiny fan to run at full bore just to keep temperatures manageable, and without that thermal overhead the chip has a harder time hitting and sustaining those high turbo clocks.
Our 3DMark results corroborate our other findings: where ultrabooks are concerned, the XPS 13 continues to be slightly behind the curve.
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ArmanUV - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
That's a "good thing"? How on earth can you not care about the screen, trackpad and keyboard? What good is a beefed up internal hardware when you have to suffer everytime you actually have to use the device?Do people buy laptops to brag about the cpu/gpu or do they actually use it?
robco - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
That's the problem though, the XPS line is supposed to be high-end. If they wanted to make a cheaper ultrabook, they should have made it an Inspiron. There should be a higher quality baseline for a higher end product line.tipoo - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Agreed. Everything about this thing looked great, besides the resolution (and the battery could be better, but I don't usually go that long unplugged).nklak - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I am CEO of dell partner company, and requested Vostro V131 as soon as it was availavable in channel. Great notebook, excelent ergonomy (superb battery capacity and design) etc. etc. After 3 days of looking to lousy screen, ditched it to my wife and bought myself a sony. I still think that V131 is BETTER overall than sony Z but I COULD NOT look into it. This 768p dimm screens with no life on them are terrible. I am bussinesman, I dont watch movies on 13.3" so 16:10 (1440x900) is far more usable for all bussines apps.kmmatney - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
My pesonal opinion is that the 16:9 ratio just does not work well with smaller screens. It only becomes acceptable at 17", (although I probably could live with a 15" screen at 1600 x 900). I'm still using a work-provided 1920 x 1200 17" Dell from 2006. I'm approved for a new laptop, but just don't want to lose the beautiful screen I have now. I'm seriously thinking about getting a MacBook and running windows on it.Cloudie - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
'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.'This line tickled me! haha. Also loving the aesthetics of the XPS 13 but it's a shame about the other stuff. Thanks for the great review!
Ryan1981 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Hi, I was wondering, I don't know the meaning of the expression barring in this context (I am dutch :P) Would you care to explain what the reviewer means by "barring the zenbook"Thanks a lot
Cloudie - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Barring in this context means 'except' or 'with the exception of'. :)dfiler76 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Exactly. In other words, what the reviewer means is:'Aesthetics are almost always a matter of taste, but I continue to personally prefer the looks of the XPS 13 to nearly all the other ultrabooks on the market. The only one I think looks nicer is the hot pink Zenbook ASUS produces.'
Ryan1981 - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
Thanks a lot both :D