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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r3loaded - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
All these bandwagon-jumping ultrabooks are soon to be rendered irrelevant by the upcoming Asus Zenbook UX21A/UX31A. Both will feature a 1920x1080 IPS panel as an upgrade option, immediately placing it above and beyond almost every other laptop in terms of display quality.ZekkPacus - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Thing is, a good panel shouldn't be an upgrade option. These devices are premium products - this ultrabook as reviewed is a $1500 machine. For that kind of cash, I want a 1440*900 IPS panel AS A MINIMUM.retrospooty - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I know, it sucks too, because this is a really nice laptop outside of the crap screen.mmaestro - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Agreed.What manufacturers don't seem to realize is that a large part of consumers' perception of quality is to do with the screen. It is, after all, the thing you spend all day staring at, and so if it's crap, it's what you'll notice. This is IMO why Apple has such a perception of quality to do with their products: They don't compromise on their screens, they use absolutely beautiful panels. Until other manufacturers try to compete with that then they'll carry the perception that their product is substandard. It's stupid, and this should be obvious. Yet next to no one seems to realize this.
fuzzymath10 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I think in the price categories people focus on, screen quality is not very important. Seems like more cores, more GBs of RAM, more TBs of space (SSD loses out here where it shouldn't), more inches of LCD are what sell.Also, while high res displays have been an option for ages (my Dell Inspiron 8500 from 2003 has a 1680x1050 display which was a $100 upgrade from 1280x800, and another $100-150 got you 1920x1200), it did also cost me $2500. If we say that's $3000 today, we have many high res options at our disposal.
ThreeDee912 - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
Apple seems to focus a lot on the things people actually interact with the most, like the screen, trackpad, keyboard, and battery, as well as build quality. The actual specs are balanced. Not excessively powered that it kills the battery, but now so crap that it makes things feel sluggish. It makes sense, and this strategy seems to be working well.It's somewhat like the megapixel (and now optical zoom) wars. There's a lot more to cameras then the spec sheet.
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
It's not an Ultrabook, but Apple is rumored to be releasing a 2880x1800 notebook soon (2nd quarter this year is what I read), a notebook with closer to a tablet screen AND 16:10. I'm not a fan of Apple the company, but that's a head-turner for me, and it's the first time I've considered Apple in the running for a purchase since the Lisa (which was just dreaming back then as there was no way I could afford one).As far as I'm concerned, 16:9 is exponentially worse as screen size goes down; 16:10 or 4:3 should be what notebooks and smaller screen have.
;)
makaronen - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I created an account here just to applaud Dustin Sklavos in summarizing the annoyment I feel about PC manufacturers and the useless screens they put in premium laptops. A good screen in every high end laptop with stable viewing angles and high contrast should be a minimum as ZekkPacus puts it!Asus UX31A will hopefully be a game changer and a VERY late wake-up call for PC manufacturers...
Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Wow it cant do anything without going to 80 celcius? lol what a piece of trash. Is that really what you get for $1000? What can this steaming pile of trash do that a $500 notebook cant do?Rinadien - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
ummm.... weigh less than 3 lbs???