Dell XPS One 27 Review: The Premium All-in-One
by Dustin Sklavos on May 29, 2012 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Dell
- Intel
- XPS
- Ivy Bridge
- Kepler
- all-in-one
- 600M
- NVIDIA
New Inspirons and the Conclusion
I've mentioned briefly that in addition to the flagship Dell XPS One 27 being launched today, Dell is also launching two smaller Inspiron One systems, the One 23 and the One 20 (take a wild guess what the numbers after the "One" represent). These systems honestly just aren't quite as compelling as the massive 27" XPS One 2710, but they're also more affordable.
The Inspiron One 23 peaks at the same top-end CPU as the XPS One 27, but loses the 27" Quad HD display for a standard 1080p display. You also sacrifice the mSATA SSD, and the GPU takes a major hit, being able to top out at only AMD's Radeon HD 7650A with 1GB of DDR3, rendering it essentially unable to handle gaming at the system's native resolution. For these sacrifices, though, you do go down to a starting price of just $749, making it a more affordable option.
Dell's Inspiron One 20 is their ultra-affordable entry level model. CPUs are still Sandy Bridge generation and top out at the Intel Core i3-2120T, with a TDP of just 35W. No dedicated graphics options are available and worse, the only GPU on hand is Intel's horrendously crippled HD 2000, taking any casual gaming beyond Angry Birds completely out of the equation. The 20" screen is also specced at an anemic 1600x900. On the flipside, the Inspiron One 20 starts at only $529, but it's one of those situations where I'm incredibly disappointed to hear these words from a vendor: "We're committed to Intel." There's no reason to commit to anyone, and an entry level all-in-one like this one is the kind of place where AMD's Trinity would thrive.
So with the broader Dell all-in-one line in perspective, I'm of the unusual opinion that the end user should probably go big or go home. The Inspiron One 23 may offer a compelling enough price-performance ratio, but the One 20 is just too cut down. Meanwhile, the XPS One 27 is essentially the One to go for if you're in the market for a Dell all-in-one. Of course, I wish the situation were so cut and dry.
Big Buddha strike me dead for saying this, but the lack of touchscreen support is, in my opinion, a potentially serious liability. Windows 8 isn't that far away, so to not offer a touchscreen on a premium model like this one is extremely shortsighted in my opinion. I also feel like the 65W processors Dell outfits the XPS One with are just too much for the cooling system. Intel's 45W models may take a bigger hit in performance, but they're better suited to builds like this where thermal headroom is at a premium, and I'm not sure most people using an all-in-one really need much more CPU power than what the T-series offers. Then again, with a 27" display taking up plenty of space, it's difficult to believe there wasn't a better way to keep both CPU and GPU temperatures in check, even under load. Laptops have managed far more with even less space after all.
The good news is that Dell has largely fixed the aesthetic and connectivity from the previous generation, and the screen quality is excellent. If you're not going to push the system too hard the XPS One 27 is probably worth considering. Once again, though, thermals prove to be the Achilles' Heel of an all-in-one, and the lack of foresight demonstrated by the omission of a touchscreen should give you pause. This isn't a bad system, but as always, end users should be cognizant of what they're getting into.
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robco - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
I will say I like the fact that the Dell keyboard still includes a numeric keypad. I wish Apple still offered a wireless keyboard with one. But I do wonder if the thermal issue will be a problem for people planning on keeping the system a while. Guess it's a good idea to get that extended warranty. We have the current gen iMac with the 6970M and even playing D3 and other games, the system never gets too loud. If Dell can fix the cooling issues, this would make a nice alternative. I do like the ability to connect other devices to utilize the display, something I hope Apple will allow at some point.But as with tablets and phones, it seems when other manufacturers catch up or exceed Apple, Apple releases a new version. I'm sure we'll see Ivy Bridge in the next iMac soon, and probably a GPU bump. I'm not sure what else Apple has up their sleeve.
So far having the AIO has been nice for getting rid of cable clutter and keeping things neat. But aside from installing RAM on the iMac, everything else is a PITA and involves removing the display.
cjb110 - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
My first thought when you mentioned the lack of cooling, is why the solid back? Couldn't you cover that thing with holes??picklemilk - Saturday, June 2, 2012 - link
I would really like to see a review of the Z1 it seems to be doing the right things.Wised - Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - link
The bechmark scores of the z1 and the dell are almost identical. With the Z1 you get at most a 10% improvement in scores for twice the price. But they are also 2 completely different beasts anyway, one is a zeon workstation the other a home multimedia appliance. Wht is neat to see is how much improved the new intel processors are now you can get zeon level performance on a run of the mill i7.gagaliya - Monday, June 4, 2012 - link
I just dont understand why those PC Makers refuse to provide us with a decent graphic option for extra cost. The previous generation iMac is the only all-in-one offering a respectable graphic upgrade of radeon 6970m which is still the fastest graphic card in an all-in-one and that was 2 years ago.Dell continues to fail with their all in ones by offering such a mediocre graphic with no option to upgrade, dont those guys realize when you shell out $1500-$2500 for a pc, graphic matters.
I will continue to wait for vizio or imac...
Wised - Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - link
Completely erroneous, the graphic card specs are only part of graphics performance. The most potent Imac with the "premium" radeon 6970 offers almost identical graphics performance to the One 27 with its more "proletariat" nvidia 640. Graphics performance is a combination of card, processor, memory speed and bus performance, thus having a higer "ranking" card is no guarantee of better graphics execution. In fact the one 27 beats the mac on most graphics parameters.WPLJ42 - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
I am glad to see this review. My HP AIO uses an Athlon II X2 250u, with an 18.5 inch screen. It still runs warm, and was very noisy until I unstuck the exhaust fan with compressed air. The Inspiron One 20 and 23 inch models are on Dell's site now. Yes, the 20 is all Sandy Bridge, and the 23 has just one Ivy Bridge. Dell is in error as we speak, as the 23 is listed with i3 and i5 Sandy Bridge CPUs, and HD 4000 graphics. All things considered, including this review, I am disappointed with the Dell desktops. Almost the entire Inspiron desktop lineup is low end CPUs with HD 2000 graphics.Bownce - Friday, June 15, 2012 - link
Has Dell pipelined the monitor itself yet? I already have an iMac 27" and doubling up with either a Cinema Display or this update to their U2711 is intriguing.AX-Turbo - Friday, June 29, 2012 - link
Hello!Just read this article and I wonder under which conditions the 97° of the CPU was reached, resp. how the "high load" was made - with real, common load-situations, or with the extreme way (e.g. Prime 95 x8 Tasks + Furmark + extreme heat mode) - load, which you usually never reach in day-to-day-situations? Thanxx for an short answer and sorry for my rookie english.
Wised - Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - link
I fail to see what advantage a touchscreen would provide in a multimedia 27 inch screen. One of the main advantages of a big screen is to be farther away, beyond touching distance! Windows 8 touchscreen abilities are for pad and phone use they are pretty much worthless on a largescreen PC, furthermore you can enjoy all the other advantages of windows 8 without any touch features at all, in fact you can disable the metro interface completely. If you wish to use the metro portion of windos 8 you can always use a gesture friendly wireless touchpad like the the one available from logitech or you can opt for one of the new gesture recognition peripherals and not have to touch anything at all :) Lastly regarding the "thermal" issue, unless you are regularly going to be calculating the orbits of the Jovian moon system, you will never be runnig the 3770s processor hard enough to raise the temperature to a critical level. The computer can run 3d games all day long without straining the system, in fact, you can be running business applications and similar software all the time without the fans ever coming into play at all. The thermal "issue" is at best a theoretical one for the overwhelming majority of users, in fact, most will probably never even scratch the surface of the available computing nor video capability, ever. I've been processing 36mp photos, on a constant basis, I have yet to hear the fans. The fact is that considering what this computer is and what its aimed for, its performance is exceptional in all parameters. PC users have been long waiting for an all in one to measure up to the i MAC. Well, here it is, not only does it compete, it beats it in essentially all categories, at , I might add, at a much better price. To get a similarly equipped imac to my 16 meg ram version is around 1K more.