New Laptop - 2015 Dell XPS 13

[midwestfisherman]

I picked up one of the new Dell XPS 13" laptops yesterday. It's a very nice laptop. I got the non touch screen model with the i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128 GB SSD. The RAM on this model is not user upgradeable but, the HD is. For my purposes I have no need for more then 8GB of RAM so it works for me.

The screen is excellent. I like the small bezel surrounding the screen. The back lit keyboard is really nice to have. The aluminum case on the outside looks great and the matt carbon fiber type finish on the palm rests and inside is cool too.

All in all a great new laptop. IMHO

 

[jji7skyline]

Sounds like a good little laptop. I hope it doesn't have one of those underclocked i5s, those are painfully slow.

 

[midwestfisherman]

It has the Samsung PM851 M.2 SSD. Boot time is approx 5 seconds. I've noticed no slowness so far. It's pretty snappy!

 

[Seven]

I got the i3 model. Yeah, its a nice ultrabook. Not as fast as my desktop, but that was expected for the price I paid.

 

[RossMAN]

I saw this in person at my local Microsoft Store, what a beautiful machine. Great keyboard and display!

 

[midwestfisherman]

I'm really loving the keyboard and the display. I really didn't want to shell out that much for a laptop but, I'm glad I did. This one is worth it.

 

[corkyg]

Soumds like a good machine for you. Just a suggestion - image/clone your SSD to a spare HDD snd put it away. Then you always will have a quick return to sanity should you ever have a SSD or malware problem.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Soumds like a good machine for you. Just a suggestion - image/clone your SSD to a spare HDD snd put it away. Then you always will have a quick return to sanity should you ever have a SSD or malware problem.

That's the first thing that I did. Great minds think a like!

 

[EvilYoda]

I actually just went to a Microsoft store today to look at one! (Since you're in SE MI, OP, the Somerset store)

What a gorgeous laptop. I'm going to wait to see what Apple's next Mac update is (my MBP is barely over a year old) but I'll be more than happy to go back to a non-Mac. Although the price is a little daunting...that high-res touchscreen is just so pretty.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Definitely is a nice screen!

 

[iCyborg]

I saw it at Microsoft Store, it does look very nice.
But it just illustrates how hard it is for me to find a laptop where I don't have to make a bunch of sacrifices:
- The camera's location makes it practically useless. Sadly, this is a rather big use case for me.
- Even the $200-$300 laptops come with HDMI nowadays. Not this one. Only miniDP which means buying an adapter and remembering to carry it around wih me. HDMI is the only thing that matters to me.
- 1080p is not touch screen. I wouldn't say I need touch, but these days they're pretty standard and handy. 3200x1800 has a big hit on battery and too pricy.
- RAM is soldered on and not upgradeable. And MS store (in Canada) only has 4GB for the 1080p model, which is rather low given that I expect to use it for 5-7 years.
- SSD is M.2 format. For 256GB I don't care, but 128 is too small and 1080p only comes with 128GB at MS store. I can clone 2.5" easily, but not M.2, and I'm not buying adapters for a one-time use. Dell Canada does offer 256GB with 1080p, but at $1400. For that price I expect a lot fewer of these "sacrifices".

None of these are real dealbreakers or they could be worked around with some major inconveniences (carrying a discrete webcam around...), but for the price there are a bit too many of them.

I might still pick it up if MS store starts offering 8G/256G model for ~$1000 in the next month or two, though I've been leaning towards Inspiron 13 7000.

 

[Whiskey16]

I might still pick it up if MS store starts offering 8G/256G model for ~$1000 in the next month or two, though I've been leaning towards Inspiron 13 7000.

Same boat. I considered the new XPS 13 as well, but what I preferred also didn't exist on the MS store -- an i5, 8GB, and 256GB SSD.

I'd also prefer a 1080p system with a touchscreen.....

So, from the MS store I went for a 5th gen i7 Inspiron 13 i7348 and quickly swapped the HDD for a 480GB SSD I had laying around. A much more flexible (better machine than any of the Yoga choices) system with a 1080p touchscreen. With an educational discount (I cheated..the MS store doesn't verify) of 10%, I paid CA$819 after taxes, and then also added a 3 year accidental damage warranty for $129. It was ordered last Sunday and quickly arrived on Tuesday.

Build quality is fine and much more serviceable to the change the HDD/SSD, memory, Wi-Fi card (no need yet as it came with an M2 Intel 7265), and battery. When just basic Office use and internet browsing, the fan doesn't even come on this i7 laptop! Silent for the majority of my usage, unlike many of the XPS 13 user reports.

The only relative practical cost for this Inspiron 2-in1 to the XPS 13, are a slightly bigger size, weight, and a battery life limited at a practical max of ~7:15.

The XPS 13 is nice, new, and shiny, but I don't feel it to be worth it when considering the alternatives. Besides, by the fall and next year there will certainly be more appealing systems with the current XPS 13's size, but adding a 2-in-1 convertible form factor, the next gen Intel Skylake fabs, etc... Retail M2 SSDs will also be more readily available and much cheaper. If not fully meeting your needs, save your cash and pass on this latest gen of XPS 13.

 

[iCyborg]

One thing putting me off the new Inspiron 13 is a disturbing amount of people complaining about "ghost screen", i.e. screen detecting touches that aren't there and opening up menus, apps etc. on its own. Definitely sounds like a quality control issue at Dell. I'll wait to see if it's been addressed in the Broadwell based models...

 

[cronos]

One thing putting me off the new Inspiron 13 is a disturbing amount of people complaining about "ghost screen", i.e. screen detecting touches that aren't there and opening up menus, apps etc. on its own. Definitely sounds like a quality control issue at Dell. I'll wait to see if it's been addressed in the Broadwell based models...

You're talking about a completely different laptop. Are you assuming that the defect in the Dimension also exists on the XPS? Or is this a typo and the defect is on the XPS?

Edit: I guess it's the third option, you are talking to the person posting above you, instead of discussing the title of this thread. Sorry about that

 

[Ubermateo]

I just pulled the trigger on this laptop. Got the i5/8/128/1080p spec.

I haven't seen specifically what type of M.2 slot this thing has for the SSD. Does it support PCIe -ala Samsung XP941- or not?

 

[Seven]

I just pulled the trigger on this laptop. Got the i5/8/128/1080p spec.

I haven't seen specifically what type of M.2 slot this thing has for the SSD. Does it support PCIe -ala Samsung XP941- or not?

One of the XPS disappointments that it doesn't come with the PCIe SSD as the Macbook Air. If it doesn't support, I will sell it and get skylake with all the latest goodies once it hits the market. Dell pretty much never releases a flawless product. Revisions and batches fix their issues... I would definitely not spend over $1k for this.

 

[Ayah]

not sure how people stand 8GB of ram. maybe I'm just the odd one out in my usage patterns.

 

[sze5003]

not sure how people stand 8GB of ram. maybe I'm just the odd one out in my usage patterns.

Depends what your doing. On my desktop yesterday I had about 8 tabs open, YouTube in Firefox, 1 program running, 2 instances of android studio and an emulator running before I got the low memory usage pop up.

I am considering this laptop but I would just get the i7 model, 8gb ram and buy my own 256gb ssd.

But I want the dev edition running Ubuntu. No clue when that one releases. I need a laptop that will run Ubuntu or Linux flavors without me having to edit scripts. Which is why I haven't bought a laptop in such a long time.

I may actually go with the inspiron 7000 15 inch, i7 base model.

 

[midwestfisherman]

not sure how people stand 8GB of ram. maybe I'm just the odd one out in my usage patterns.

8GB of RAM is more than enough RAM for the average user and I'd venture to say it's more than enough for most "power users" (whatever that means). IF you're commenting from a developers stand point then you have a case. If not I don't understand the obsession with the whole RAM thing!

I've done a fair bit of dev work on mine already and 8GB is working just fine for me.

 

[midwestfisherman]

I just pulled the trigger on this laptop. Got the i5/8/128/1080p spec.

I haven't seen specifically what type of M.2 slot this thing has for the SSD. Does it support PCIe -ala Samsung XP941- or not?

My XPS came with the 851 M.2 (22x80x2.4mm). I have the same model as you.

 

[saratoga172]

Depends what your doing. On my desktop yesterday I had about 8 tabs open, YouTube in Firefox, 1 program running, 2 instances of android studio and an emulator running before I got the low memory usage pop up.

I am considering this laptop but I would just get the i7 model, 8gb ram and buy my own 256gb ssd.

But I want the dev edition running Ubuntu. No clue when that one releases. I need a laptop that will run Ubuntu or Linux flavors without me having to edit scripts. Which is why I haven't bought a laptop in such a long time.

I may actually go with the inspiron 7000 15 inch, i7 base model.

You do have the M3800 as an available option for something a bit more powerful.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...wered-precision-m3800-developer-edition-beast

I use the Windows version of the this laptop and love it. Mobile, powerful, light and gets good battery life as long as I don't use the graphics card.

 

[sze5003]

You do have the M3800 as an available option for something a bit more powerful.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...wered-precision-m3800-developer-edition-beast

I use the Windows version of the this laptop and love it. Mobile, powerful, light and gets good battery life as long as I don't use the graphics card.

Yea I looked over that and its pretty pricey. Started looking at other models with similar components. All I really want is a decent i7 with the ability to add an ssd and 16gb of ram. I ordered a lenovo y50 but I'm going to return it because now the base model I got has the i7 4720 instead of the 4710 that mine came with. They took forever to ship it, mine also has the new IPS screen but I can't decide if its worth a return for the 4720 and 16gb ram.