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Dell XPS 13 Review

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#91

Post by whitecat »

maaaats wrote: post #49
whitecat wrote: post #39

This turned out to be a longer first post than I though it would be. I don't know why people are comparing these "good" laptops to Apple laptops in specs. Apple laptops really have not been better than the best laptops. For every MBPr that has come out there has been a better laptop by one of the tops Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer. The reason is I buy Apple is I need a stable operating system. The last 4 Windows based…

> The last 4 Windows based machine I owned crashed when I close/move/sleep/awoke it/plugged in another display What century was this? I could understand one model having these issues, but 4? I think you embellish.

I actually didn't tell enough. I have had 2 Asus, 1 Dell, 3 Lenovo, 1 HP, 1 Chromebook, 1 MBPr 2013 late. In the span of 5 years 2008-2013. I only stick need my Apple now.

I purchased and sold 4 of those the Asuses, Dell, and HP. The Lenovos were purchased by my Prof. I complained and she gave them to the incoming students and I got a new one.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#92

Post by jdonaldson »

igravious wrote: post #54
jdonaldson wrote: post #23

I had been trying to find a decent developer's laptop for some time, and it led me to the xps 13 "developer edition" (the predecessor to this one). Keep in mind that I really wanted to like that laptop. However, in the end, I went back to my macbook air. There were just too many small headaches to deal with. I'll list them here. I'd like to know if there are any improvements this time around. I'd be curious to know i…

Okay. Those are the technical differences. Now, what are the price differences? Also, the XPS 13" dev edition is 1080p, does the equivalent MBA? The Dell can come with Ubuntu pre-installed and certified, and while they are both Unix there is the fact that Ubuntu is more-or-less FOSS whereas MacOSX is proprietary to some (most?) extents. What I'm trying to say is that in listing the differences, you didn't list all th…

The "new" low end xps 13 looks like it starts around $800. Macbook Air is roughly in the same ballpark. For my purposes, the raw tech/price specs were not enough to matter.

My old xps 13 dev had a higher resolution screen, but it ended up being more of a problem than a bonus, mainly due to the inability of most of the ubuntu ecosystem to scale gui elements well. I could go on in more detail on this, but the fact is that Apple chose an even multiple for pixel scaling in retina displays (so non-retina apps can simply be displayed at effectively at twice normal size). In FullHD, some manner of fractional scaling must be employed on a 13" screen, and it needs to be done across the OS gui elements, as well as the rest of the app ecosystem in order for it to look right. I don't believe Ubuntu has this completely covered yet. In Ubuntu's defense, I haven't seen a fractional pixel scaling done "right" in a desktop environment (e.g. Windows 8).

As far as the opening/closing issue goes (as well as the other small fit and finish nits), this Forbes article mentions these details as well on the latest xps 13: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2015/01/26/dell-x...

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#93

Post by cies »

lhl wrote: post #86
cies wrote: post #72

A Developer Edition (with Linux preloaded) will come at some point. Currently there are driver issues of which the non-working audio is most persistent. Most elaborate info on it here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1413446 In this Reddit thread... http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/2u0jjd/linux_support_... ...you find comment from barton808, who identifies himself as the Team Lead of Sputni…

For those interested in following along on the process: https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2... With an updated BIOS and a bunch of patches, it looks like it's getting close...

Nice one, thanks!

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#94

Post by avn2109 »

Alupis wrote: post #43
noja wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I would expect someone not to buy if they are expecting good support, and the vendor cannot offer that.

> after sending a technician out three times to replace the logic board. Seems like that is premium support. Lenovo only does that if you pay the upgraded support fee and have a business model laptop. Most have to mail their laptop to the depot and wait 1-2 weeks to get it back... then discover the original problem wasn't fixed. In my experience, Dell's support is pretty good.

Today is not a good day to extoll Lenovo's benefits :\

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#95

Post by stcredzero »

hsitz wrote: post #62
jbk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weight isn't that different, though.

Current 13.3" Macbook Pro weighs 3.46 pounds. The Dell XPS 13 weighs 2.6 pounds. The MBP thus weighs 32% more (0.8 pounds) than the Dell. That's a big difference to me, and to lots of people.

Something a bit bulkier, but a lot lighter and more durable would be great.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#96

Post by jdonaldson »

robotic wrote: post #29
jdonaldson wrote: post #23

I had been trying to find a decent developer's laptop for some time, and it led me to the xps 13 "developer edition" (the predecessor to this one). Keep in mind that I really wanted to like that laptop. However, in the end, I went back to my macbook air. There were just too many small headaches to deal with. I'll list them here. I'd like to know if there are any improvements this time around. I'd be curious to know i…

> Darwin isn't a "true" *nix, but it's close enough for me. Yosemite is a registered UNIX 03 product. http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/

Darwin to me is pretty much the poster child for "unix-like" operating systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_%28operating_system%29

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#97

Post by whitecat »

artimaeis wrote: post #44
whitecat wrote: post #39

This turned out to be a longer first post than I though it would be. I don't know why people are comparing these "good" laptops to Apple laptops in specs. Apple laptops really have not been better than the best laptops. For every MBPr that has come out there has been a better laptop by one of the tops Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer. The reason is I buy Apple is I need a stable operating system. The last 4 Windows based…

This is a surprising comment to me. I've followed the laptop market pretty closely for years now and Apple consistently has offered the highest quality devices of everyone in my opinion. Most importantly to me is the sheer size/weight of the device while still maintaining features. In this way Macbooks have been superior for years - but I'm hoping there's just some lines I've missed. If you could point me to some lap…

Dell has been producing amazing spec'ed laptops since 2013. When they use the IGZO display. Dell and Fujitsu both produced a 3200 x 1800 display laptop. Samsung has their 9 and 5 series that are pretty nice spec'ed work horses. Apple Does not have any laptop with 32 GB of memory, and you cannot upgrade them. They have the i7 but only 1 of the 13 different possible specs.

Given size it is a bit more difficult but there are laptops with higher display density than apple and faster processors.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#98

Post by bwilliams »

chiph wrote: post #79
mrjatx wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, I finally a few years ago got completely comfortable with OSX and scripted so much stuff that I can set myself up basically anywhere in 5-10 minutes. Now I'm stuck on a MBPr and get to watch all of these amazing new PC laptops come out that are so innovative. All of the hybrids, convertibles, detachable convertibles, rotatable convertibles. I'm so envious. Come on Apple, seriously.

The MBP is not all that "pro" any more. Soldered components, the bare minimum of USB ports, no RJ-45 ethernet jack. I'd be more than willing to add thickness & weight to one in return for those features, and better thermal management.

I don't think those features are what make it "pro". I prefer it being thinner and lighter with soldered components rather than heavier without. RJ-45's are terrible on laptops, they're ugly, bulky, and hardly used. I'd much rather just use USB -> RJ45.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#99

Post by adwilson »

jakevn wrote: post #14
bryanlarsen wrote: post #7

The interesting difference between this review and that of most others is that Anandtech endorsed Dell's claims of 15 hours of battery life. Reviews like at The Verge[1] measured the battery life at 6.5 hours. I trust Anandtech more than The Verge to conduct properly controlled tests, but it really does illustrate the point that usage has a far bigger impact on battery life on modern notebooks than it did in the past…

Apparently simply disabling Windows Indexing increased battery life from 7.5 hours to 9.5 hours in some tests.

Do you have a link to the tests or the data?

I work on the indexer and am always looking for more data about what we are doing wrong.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review

#100

Post by Someone1234 »

FlyingLawnmower wrote: post #87
Someone1234 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a Pro or Enterprise edition of Windows, you can configure this: 1) Launch mmc (Win+R, "mmc") 2) File -> Add/Remove Snap-In 3) Group Policy Object Editor -> Add -> Local Computer -> Ok 4) Expand Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Search 5) Find "Prevent indexing when running on battery power to conserve energy" 6) Enable -> OK -> Close If yo…

I'm giving this a try, and I'm having trouble following step 4. Once I add the Group Policy Object Editor to the right side of the GUI, I can click on it and get a pop-up, but I can't seem to find the expansion option.

Are you still in the "Add and Remove Snap-Ins" dialog by any chance? If you click ok on that dialog after having added the snap-in, it should appear in the main mmc UI on the left hand side.

https://i.imgur.com/ZHzEDrC.png

I've updated the original instructions a little to be more clear.

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