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#Post#: 34--------------------------------------------------
Dell's XPS 13
By: Agilent Date: February 17, 2015, 1:14 am
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The perfect portable computer is something we’ve been chasing
for decades. Ideally, it’s an exceptionally light, incredibly
thin computer that can fit comfortably on our lap and slip into
a shoulder bag. It should easily last all day or more without
needing to be plugged in. It needs to be powerful enough to
justify carrying it around instead of just getting everything
done with an even more portable smartphone or tablet. It really
ought to look good, too. Oh, and could you put a flat-out
gorgeous 13-inch screen on it too, please, without making it
feel big? Thanks. No pressure.
HTML http://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2012/02/24/5b221a32-67c3-11e3-a665-14feb5ca9861/thumbnail/770x433/2aead61e9fa46f273d88e726e606d4f4/Dell_XPS_13z_35117826_02.jpg
Dell’s new XPS 13 is just the latest laptop that promises to
check all those boxes. It’s technically a 13-inch computer
thanks to its 13.3-inch display, but it’s the size of a typical
11-inch computer. Dell boasts that it’s the “smallest 13-inch
laptop on the planet,” and sure enough, it has a significantly
smaller footprint than the 13-inch MacBook Air and other 13-inch
computers.
a standard non-touch model with a 1080p screen and a full-touch
version with a 3200 x 1800 pixel panel. Both versions have what
Dell is calling an “infinity display,” which really means a
screen with very small borders around it, enabling Dell to put a
larger display in a smaller package.
HTML http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54dcfef16bb3f727798b4567-1200-900/dellxps13-2.jpg
while they are certainly more compact and portable than their
13-inch counterparts, the compromises you have to make in terms
of screen real-estate and keyboard comfort aren’t usually worth
it. But a computer with a 13-inch display and the footprint of
an 11-inch model? . That’s exactly what Dell’s promising with
the XPS 13, and for the most part, it pulls it off.
amming a larger display in a smaller frame is such a good idea
that it’s hard to understand why it took laptop makers this long
to get around to really trying it. It makes the computer easier
to carry, easier to balance on your lap or a tight airplane tray
table, easier to slip into a normal-sized bag, and just
generally makes traveling with the XPS 13 more pleasant than
with larger computers. But you don’t lose any screen real-estate
compared to Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air, even though the XPS 13
is 23 percent smaller according to Dell’s measurements. If other
laptop makers take anything away from the XPS 13, it should be
this.
The actual display itself is very bright — and has great
viewing angles. The touchscreen model is packed with pixels
(3200 x 1800), but even if you don’t fork over the premium for
that, the standard 1080p screen is plenty hi-res. Windows 8.1’s
default scaling on the Quad HD panel makes icons and screen
elements way too big, but adjusting it one step down and will
bring more usable real-estate back. It’s really quite a nice
display, and Dell should be proud of it.
While there have been countless computers that have mimicked
Apple’s MacBook Air design, the XPS 13 manages to incorporate an
aluminum finish and a wedge shape without looking like something
that rolled out of Cupertino. It’s an attractive computer, its
finish is darker than the light silver Apple uses, and it's
complemented by a contrasting black deck for the keyboard and
trackpad. The deck has a soft-touch finish, which is more
pleasing to rest your hands on than bare metal, and it manages
to hide finger grease and smudges better than cheaper plastic
materials.
HTML http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54dcff356bb3f7e1748b456b-1200-500/dellxps13side.png
You can split hairs all you want on whether or not the Dell is
thinner than other ultrabooks or the MacBook Air, but it’s more
than thin enough to be super portable. Its 9mm-thick frame slips
into my bag with ease, and that’s really all I care about. The
touchscreen model’s 2.8lb weight is also plenty portable.
The only thing that Dell didn’t really sort out with the XPS 13
is where to put the webcam: it’s located in the lower left
corner of the display, which makes for unflattering up-the-nose
angles during video calls. Additionally,
Despite the trimmed-down frame, the XPS 13 still has two USB 3.0
ports, a full-size SD card slot (which Apple frustratingly omits
on its 11-inch computers), and a mini Display Port. Make no
mistake, the XPS 13 is a real computer, not a stripped-down
substitute for one. It also has a convenient button and strip of
LED lights to check its battery level without powering the
computer on. The only thing I find missing is an HDMI port,
though there are many computers in this size range that lack
that as well. (Dell is selling an optional adapter that plugs
into a USB port on the XPS 13 and adds HDMI, Ethernet, and VGA
ports, but it’s significantly larger than a basic Display Port
adapter.) The side-mounted speakers are also really impressive;
they are louder and fuller sounding than the speakers on the
vast majority of other ultrabooks.
Typing on the XPS 13’s shrunken keyboard is a pleasant
experience — the backspace key is smaller than normal, but most
other keys appear to be normal-sized. Dell also managed to put
in backlighting, making it much easier to continue using the XPS
13 once the cabin lights have dimmed on that cross-country
red-eye flight. It’s a good keyboard.
It’s a large, clickable Microsoft Precision trackpad, with a
soft finish over glass. But like virtually every other trackpad
on Windows laptops, it’s fraught with poor software and drivers.
Two-finger scrolling is very unpredictable: sometimes it will
work just fine, other times it won't respond, no matter what I
do. The cursor will also jump across the screen at random times
while I’m typing, and it’s far too easy to activate clicks while
my fingers are on the keys. It’s 2015; I shouldn’t have to plug
an external mouse into laptops anymore, but that’s exactly what
I did with the XPS 13 after a few frustrating hours with the
trackpad.
For software, the XPS 13 comes with Windows 8.1 out of the box,
and there’s no reason that it won’t be upgradeable to Windows 10
when that’s released. It’s refreshingly devoid of most bloatware
— the only really annoying thing on it is a McAfee antivirus
trial.
The last components to making a great portable computer are
making sure it’s powerful enough to warrant carrying it around
and making it last all day without needing to be recharged. The
XPS 13 hits on one of these points and fails pretty
spectacularly on the other. The Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM
(available in the touchscreen model, the base version comes with
4GB and a slower Core i3 chip) are plenty powerful enough for
most tasks you can throw at the XPS 13, save for gaming. Even
resource-intensive programs like Chrome and Photoshop don’t have
any issues running on the XPS 13, Unsurprisingly, none of the
internal components are easily upgradeable, but fortunately they
are specced well enough that most people won’t be looking for
more power.
Battery life, on the other hand, is a different story. Dell
claims 15 hours of life from the base model and 11 hours from
the touchscreen version. In my experience, the XPS 13 reached
nothing of the sort, barely hitting the halfway point on Dell’s
estimate. In our battery rundown test, different from Dell's,
the touchscreen model lasted for 6 hours and 40 minutes before
giving up the ghost. But more problematic was my everyday
experience, where the same touchscreen unit would always need to
be charged halfway through my work day. In the weeks I used the
XPS 13, never did it exceed six hours without needing to be
plugged in. When other computers are easily lasting 11 to 13
hours before needing a charge, the XPS 13’s performance is
downright disappointing. Dell will happily sell you an external
battery pack for $119.99 that lets you recharge your laptop (or
your cellphone, via USB) on the go, but even with that, I
couldn’t go a full 10 hours without having to plug back in.
If there’s something to take away from the XPS 13, it’s that the
future of ultra portable laptops looks pretty great. There’s no
doubt that other laptop makers will likely be swift to
incorporate some of the ideas Dell used here, especially the
minuscule borders around the display that enable a larger screen
in a smaller body. Rumors have it that Apple will release a
completely redesigned MacBook Air this year, and it’s hard to
believe that Apple won’t pull off similar tricks with its
dimensions as this Dell.
As for the XPS 13 itself, its battery life issues and poor
trackpad make it tough to recommend over other options, even
with its ultra efficient design. Too many other computers do so
much better in those respects that I can’t ignore them on the
Dell.
But after years of seeing clumsy tablet-laptop hybrids and other
ill-conceived designs, we’ve moved into the post-post-PC world
now, and it’s clear the PC is back. The XPS 13 is one of the
first exciting designs to arrive in this world
.
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