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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NCM - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
CF is strong and lightweight, but it has poor thermal transfer compared to aluminum. The resulting trade-off for this Dell is compromised cooling, and it shows in these test results. This is already an area that's something of a challenge for densely packaged ultrabooks, and while the CF bottom case may protect your lap from getting toasted, those watts have to go somewhere. Or as here, fail to go somewhere, instead driving up processor core temperatures.The author's conclusion that the XPS 13 represents "an excellent starting point" may well be accurate, but what kind of a selling point is that for Dell? I don't know about anyone else, but when I shop I'm looking for a fully realized product, not one that may eventually become adequate in some future version.
jigglywiggly - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
clevo laptops have good displaysi have the p151hm1/np8130 and it has an amazing 95% ntsc color gamut display. 15in 1920x1080
bennyg - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
Yep can't wait till Clevo make an ultrabook. It might not look spectacular but if their P150/151 line is anything to go by it'll look like a 2000 Thinkpad but have an awesome screen :)I got P150HM with 1080p 95% gamut matte display and its even more awesome than the 15.6" Truelife in my previous Dell. The point everyone's whining about is WHY are NBs with great displays the exception? Why has the ONLY option for a 900p/1080p screen in <14 inch been the Vaio Z for over 2 years ??!
I also have a cheap netbook - Acer Aspire One D255E - with a screen that is astonishingly good, I was massively surprised (bought it 2nd hand for chips). It's only 600 px high which is of course the major bummer but I reckon it craps all over a great deal of notebooks even 5 times its price.
ndizzy - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
In case people want to see the inside of Dell XPS 13, here is a teardown video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Jzr1gSHHwQChronoD - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Any word on if you guys are going to be getting either or both of these machines in for a review? I totally agree that most of the machines out there have absolutely crap screens, and for $1,000+ we should be able to get much better. I'm hoping that both of these live up to the hype from their announcement.Kelly - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I may be stupid and/or ignorant but: What unit is the temperature in?Thanks for a nice review :)
dfiler76 - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
The reviewer states that the XPS 13 is idling in the mid 40s.45 deg F = 7 deg C (which would be way under the ambient temperature). Therefore it must be measured in Celsius.
I can understand why you weren't sure though: If blocking the bottom vent can push the core temps within a whisker of boiling point then I wonder about the longevity of the components...
lukarak - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
There's the first problem, the bottom vent. Small portable laptops with a bottom vent are just not practical. Apple does it much better.ExodusC - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
I'm so miffed- why do manufacturers continue to make otherwise well-rounded, or even great "Ultrabooks," but pack them with such awful screens?If anything, I would sacrifice color reproduction on a 13" panel for a higher pixel density than what you get with these ~720p displays.
Hell, the 1600x900 resolution on my laptop's roughly 14" panel feel much more significant than 720p.
rwei - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link
Didn't you have an A8Jm at some point? And now an x100e?I went A8Jm -> Envy 17 + x120e...