Dell XPS 13 (Early 2015) Notebook Review

[Redaktion]

Simply brilliant. Dell now offers the XPS 13 with a non-touch display and a more mainstream resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels for a much more affordable price. Not only is the new display brighter, but it's matte as well, which improves outdoor usability. The remainder of the hardware is very similar to the QHD+ model, so the new model inherits both strengths and weaknesses.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-13-Early-2015-Notebook-Review.139382.0.html

[Yop]

Just a litle note about the temperature section.
Don't forget that the room temperature was different between the tests: 18 vs 23°C.

The measured "41 vs 45°C" can maybe be partly explained by this ?

[Slav]

What with competition ASUS UX303LA?
Core i7 6GB 128GB SSD 13.3 inch Full HD?? :)))

[Bernie Pechlaner]

Don't forget that the room temperature was different between the tests: 18 vs 23°C.

The measured "41 vs 45°C" can maybe be partly explained by this ?

Hi Yop,

Yes - you are right: the ambient temperature will of course influence the result. We do know, however, that Dell released BIOS version A02, which - in addition to the CPU microcode - also updated the fan management. The touch version got much louder when stressed, indicating a much higher fan speed - so it stands to reason that it would run cooler as well....

Cheers,

Bernie

[Bernie Pechlaner]

What with competition ASUS UX303LA?
Core i7 6GB 128GB SSD 13.3 inch Full HD?? :)))

Hi Slav,

The (linked) review of the touchscreen version does mention the Asus Zenbook UX303LN-R4141H (the model with a dedicated graphics card) as an alternative...

Thanks,

Bernie

[Alireza Shiasi]

plz correct the resolution, 1920x1080 is correct  ;)

[behi16]

it's nice

[BG]

The Dell website makes no mention of matte screen. Is it still safe to say that all basic models are matte? Id really like one for work purposes, and mattes the way to go in my opinion.

[Yuri Petrov]

Hi,
I liked this review and bought this laptop and actually I like it very much.
It's really good one.
BUT
I faced one issue I can not cope with and it kills my experience completely.
My problem is brightness of the laptop. It changes (dims) without my wish when I switch between applications. In the one windows it's bright as I define in the other windows it instantly becomes dim. It happens all the time I work and is very unpleasant for my eyes.
All latest drivers and BIOS firmware are installed.
In the Intel Graphics Power Plan - "Maximum Performance" is set.
In the Display properties "Brightness adaptive adjustment" is off.
All settings are the same for both battery and power.
The issue has not disappeared.
What can I do to fix this problem?
OS - Windows 8.1 x64.
If someone knows anything about the case please let me know.
My email - [email protected] .
P.S. Did author of the review notice such behavior of the display on his exemplar? If yes, what he did to fix it?
Thanks,
YP

[Karasardelis]

Based on yours (and other) reviews, i decided to upgrade my old Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B (i5 2nd/900p/4Gb/256Gb) with the DELL XPS 13 FHD 1080p Non-Touch, i5 5th/8Gb/256Gb. I had high hopes for this laptop but unfortunately it's not as good as your reviews says. It's almost same size as the Series 9, only shorter but a little thicker. It's also about the same weight and just a little faster and the battery lasts longer. The keyboard on the other hand and the touchpad are much better on the Samsung (glass touchpad) and also the case quality of the Samsung (duraluminum) is so much better (look AND feel) than the dell, that dell looks like a kid's toy next to the Samsung. Worst of all is the display which is not better than the Samsung's one... not as bright and not as vibrant and crisp. White colors on the Dell look pale next to Samsung's white color and 100% brightness on the Dell equals 70% brightness on the Samsung - display angles also are not as good on Dell. Are you sure the brightness is measured at 400+ nits? Is this really the laptop of the year? At the moment it' s my only option for a new model with non-touch anti-glare FHD display - can you think of something better?

[EricTraveler]

I am also interessted by this model, but seems to be not available anymore on dell.com in EU (checked in France and Germany).
On alternative websites, the i5 model costs 1200euros, quite a big jump from $1000 !

but my main concern is the display: why does it not get better deltaE after calibration? No way to calibrate the monitor??