I have had the XPS18 since late april or early march as they were just released.
I saved a few dollars and have the I3  but added ram to the 8 gig level.
Im pleasently happy with the XPS18 i nthat it serve very well as the family computer. I have a robust desktop to run my virtual machines and work stuff o nbut this it the one I spend a lot of time on Checking email ,watching Netflix movies, my daughter does half her homework at the desk connected to our living area rather than the laptop and desk in her room.
I take this camping as the battery life is great for a portable and sound is more tha nenough for a group of five to watch and hear the movie (I dont rought it much)
Overall I wish I had gotten the I7 as it is the CPU to have but the I3 will do 95% of what I need and the video card is fine for almost all but the demanding newest games. The carry bag from dell is a graet add on to the XPS18 and more ram is always nice.
Plus its a show stopper where ever you go as everyone wants to see it .
I can say I would recomend it to a friend and my daughter may get her own when it time for a new laptop

Quote from: Niels Woisin on July 01, 2013, 03:38:44
This has potential for greatness...

Lack of a digitizer, even as a paid option is also poor.  This would make such a great portable machine for photoshop, painting, drawing, sketching. Sad, sad, so much potential from low hanging fruits wasted...

Yes, I completely agree, Niels. I am looking for a tablet that will support Active Reading and Studying of IT PDF textbooks, such as those from Cisco Press and Microsoft Press. The size of the XPS 18 is, I believe, perfect for this purpose, as it will allow a dual-page view of a PDF book, or a single page view with room on the side for a page of notes.

The lack of a Wacom digitizer seems to be a gross oversight, although I would assume they made a decision to not include the capability. However, it is bizarre from my experience as to why these companies generally bring out devices that leave out some critical features that would make them very compelling. It's like the Acer R7, which also does not have a Wacom digitizer. 15.6" would be okay for Active Reading.

I'm despairing that a suitable product might not come available for me to purchase in the next two weeks. I was going to get the Samsung ATIV Q, but really, at 13.3", it is just too small. It also cannot be inclined at a slight angle that is suitable for long term writing, unlike the Acer R7 and XPS 18.

Yes, the XPS 18 comes so close, but no digitizer is a deal-breaker for me.

Here is an excellent paper about Active Reading, annotating and note taking:
http://www.fxpal.com/publications/FXPAL-PR-98-053.pdf

It is older but articulates very well the requirements of anyone learning from digital books. Written by three Xerox researchers.

This has potential for greatness.

But with only 2 USB ports and no further ports built into the Stand, I detect a major failing.

Lack of a digitizer, even as a paid option is also poor.  This would make such a great portable machine for photoshop, painting, drawing, sketching. Sad, sad, so much potential from low hanging fruits wasted...

Thank you for acknowledging LCD backlight bleed.  This is something that can be corrected by the LCD manufacturer as not all LCD panels exhibit this problem.  If LG can produce a screen for the IPAD with 3.1 million pixels and not one bad one, then they can make a screen that has been fully sealed around the edges. 

Needs a good graphic card. That would make it great for artists and gamers.
With a drawing pen would be even better.