Dell is back with a brand new XPS 13 this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, and it looks like the best one yet. After gradually improving the screen with a new model last year, 2015’s XPS 13 will ship with an even better and truly beautiful 13.3-inch “infinity” display. It has an incredibly tiny 5.2mm bezel on the top and sides. While previous models of the XPS 13 have always had an impressively small bezel, the latest feels truly edge-to-edge, and it’s dazzling to look at. Dell hasn’t just stopped at thin bezels, though, and the 2015 model now has an optional 3200 x 1800 high-resolution touchscreen display. That’s a massive improvement over the 1366 x 768 resolution we disliked on the original.
Like so many other Windows laptops over the past few years, this one looks amazing, and can easily hold its own versus a MacBook Air. However, this paragraph doesn’t do it for me. You can now imagine me furiously scrolling down and skimming the article, hoping to…
Ah, there it is!
Alongside that, Dell has vastly improved the trackpad. I usually hate most Windows laptop trackpads, but I was very surprised with the new XPS 13. It’s using a glass button and a precision trackpad, which is something Microsoft has been encouraging OEMs to implement. Precision trackpads allow Windows 8.1 to directly control the pointer, multi-touch, and gesture support in trackpads, making them feel more like a mini touch-screen with smoother scrolling and better zooming and panning support. Gliding around with the Dell XPS 13 felt very smooth, although we’ll need to review it fully to test exactly how good it is. Either way, you’ll want a precision trackpad on your next laptop.
Now I’m truly intrigued. Touchpads are the last bastion where Apple’s laptops truly outshine the competition by a huge margin, and despite years of tiny improvements, Windows laptops rarely even got close. The first laptop that does… Oh boy.
How well does linux run on it?
The original XPS 13 had a variant with identical hardware and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS preinstalled, so I’d imagine pretty well. Now that RHEL 7.2 is re-basing on GNOME 3.14 with its hiDPI support, even desktop-CentOS rollouts should be able to take full advantage.
Edited 2015-01-07 00:38 UTC
There’s a Dev Edition that is supported by Ubuntu 14.04.
>> Touchpads are the last bastion where Apple’s laptops truly outshine the competition
There is also the power connector. Barrel plugs are still just as stupid as they always were.
Third to last bastion: As I see on the first photo in that article, this laptop still comes preloaded with malware like McAfee Antivirus and other junk.
Whatever happened to those pure Windows machines we were promised? Is that only the Surface line these days?
If there will be an edition that comes preinstalled with GNU/Linux then we will have a pure laptop. And yes I also count Windows into this category of crapware/malware.
This. Windows PLUS the “helpful” software from the Wintel OEMs can make any hardware not worth it.
And about the trackpad… I’ll believe it when I read a lot of independent opinions that it’s as good as on OS X. On macbooks you can survive pretty well without an external mouse. Even in some (okay, a few) games. Every heavy Windows laptop user seems to carry a mouse around.
Never, ever mention “Windows PLUS!” again.
Edited 2015-01-07 15:12 UTC
I think you should have a look at the Microsoft Signature program: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store?SiteID=msusa&Locale=en_US&Actio…
And I actually think the powerconnector on the Surface Pro 3 beats the one on the Macs: http://ksp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Surface-power-connector.jp…
This Dell looks incredibly good. TouchScreen, apparently good TouchPad, that screen, that bezel, that battery and the price seems okay as well
The USD79 Magsafe PSU gets a pathetic 1.5/5 stars based on 2123 reviews on Apple.com
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC461LL/A/apple-60w-magsafe-power…
Meanwhile I paid the equivalent of USD10 (including shipping) to buy a psu for my Acer laptop.
Back to reality land where people get their PSUs with their laptops and the PSUs outlast the laptops. Also your off-brand knockoff doesn’t actually compare given an official power supply from places like Dell is also about $70.
You should not bring reality land to this discussion, because in that place the external PSU have traditionally been one of the Achilles’ heels of Apple’s notebooks.
The Magsafe reviews on the apple website were overwhelmingly negative (over half were ONE star). The main complaint was that the Magsafe adaptors don’t last long. [Sometimes even the Apple sheep realise they are being fleeced.]
The fact is that Apple accessories are often cheap nasty shit sold at huge markups (eg Beats headphones).
ALL PC laptop chargers are generic models produced by companies such as Chicony. They are designed work on many models from different brands. As long as it has the right (colour coded) plug and wattage it will work. Why would anyone pay a large premium for an identical “genuine” Dell etc model?
The Magsafe is an incredibly stupid “design’ to solve a largely non-existent problem (barrel plugs actually work well.] It is often difficult to use the Magsafe because the bulky body makes it difficult to access many power points. There is no separate power cord so clumsy adaptors have to be used in overseas markets. [I see many overseas students using adaptors on Macs. If they had a Windows laptop they could just buy a $5 3 prong Australian cable.]
Edited 2015-01-07 23:22 UTC
Yes a power connector capable of transferring a lot of torque to the motherboard is a great design. Obviously you weren’t around when laptops would routinely break the power socket off the motherboard.
Funny, my macbook pro at work came with an adapter with a separate power cable. Must be my imagination.
Looks decent however it still looks plasticy. Perhaps that was by design… a fact that doesn’t deter from aesthetics however I’d imagine that in comparison to a Macbook air… it fails miserably when strength is considered. The Macbook air is very very strong and practically unbendable despite its thinness.
Though the choice of materials will almost certainly help Dell with price comparisons against Apple as these high end thin breed of laptops get this thin it’s impressive that strength is maintained otherwise all this high tech gadgetry can quickly turn into high-end junk real quick.
Edited 2015-01-07 02:02 UTC
It’s made entirely out of aluminium and carbon fibre, which is stronger and lighter than aluminium. It’s in the article and video, so no ides how you missed it.
Edited 2015-01-07 07:19 UTC
It’s carbon fiber, not your average plastic. Besides it has an aluminium chassis. This thing is very durable.
Edit: Parent beat me to it.
Edited 2015-01-07 14:54 UTC
*pff*, the casing is 5.2mm plus a black boarder around the screen of another 5 to 8mm (estimated from the picture).
Also the keyboard layout is horrible.
Edited 2015-01-07 07:36 UTC
I am a bit nervous about that small line at the “bottom” of the trackpad, does that indicate this is the area you need to push to click it, where to the left of it is left click and to the right it is right click?
For me, other than the precision and size, the real advantage of the apple trackpad is that the entire trackpad is a button with a physical click. I just can’t work with touch to click, but it also feels silly having to move my hand to push a physical button. The apple trackpad solves this totally for me, i never click it by accident (i do this constantly with touch to click) and i can still both click and right click without moving my hand.
This dell does indeed look quite nice, i just wish it didn’t come with glossy display, i prefer looking at my work instead of a mirror image of myself and worse windows and other light sources behind me. But that battle seems to be lost by now, so will try to see how long i can keep my macbook pro that was the last generation that offered the matte screen as an option running. I also wish that all chargeable devices would get a magsafe like charger, i especially hate micro usb that is both very fiddly and flimsy, but the last time i had a dell i was also constantly afraid of breaking the charger port.
I really only have one design problem with the apple laptops (well, other than glossy displays), that indentation below the trackpad that helps you open the display, why oh why must it have so sharp corners, it is really annoying, especially if you often have to switch between the keyboard and the trackpad. It doesn’t matter if using the laptop for just a short time, but it is actually the main reason i lug a mouse when i need to use it for a prolonged time as it can really irritate the skin on my wrists after a while.
I’d have to use this new computer in person to see how the issues are addressed, but I have hatred of certain laptop characteristics that you’ve partially touched on:
* Glossy screens = suck.
* Keyboards with poor tactile feedback.
* Batteries that can’t be quickly swapped out for a backup (looking at you, Apple)
* Senseless speaker locations, on the bottom of the unit for example.
* Location of trackpad. There’s no way to type on an Eeepc, for example, without accidentally touching the pad, causing random and productivity-destroying actions. I disable the pad and use a mouse.
I think the lower res version has a matte screen and I believe the speakers are on the left and right side of the device.
http://liliputing.com/2015/01/dells-799-xps-13-ultrabook-might-bett…
Any word about the Developer Edition?
You know you can configure the touch pad, right?
Apple doesn’t make their own, they buy from the same two companies making touch pads as everybody else. In my experience Windows just configures the touch pads terribly by default. Boot the same laptop to Linux and everything works perfectly smooth.. or spend 1 hour to figure out where to configure it in Windows and another to play with the setting until it is sane.
That would be an incorrect assumption. The newer trackpads are better BECAUSE Windows manages them!
The old windows drivers are horrible and highly inconsistent going from bad to terrible. They’re bad out of synaptics/alps dev lab, they’re even worse once customized by OEM.
Microsoft is now actively pushing for manufacturers to “see the light” and let the OS manage the trackpad, using a coherent driver amongst many trackpads.
That’s where Apple shines. The trackpad itself isn’t magic. But their drivers sure are!
Looks great! I may have to get rid of my 15″ Samsung (that I’ve grown to hate).
All the specs are nice however there is little that differentiates itself from the Macbook air save for the price ($100 cheaper for the lowest price option) and the resolution 3200 x 1800 is genuinely impressive for this price point. (I can care less about a laptop’s touch screen).
They say that the battery will last 15 hours. I’d like to see this tested as Dell is notorious for exaggerating their battery life. If this is true I’d be impressed however I’d wager that it gets closer to 9 hours… but even that is a solid battery.
I still use a first-gen xps13 almost every day, and I still very much like it (although its ~4 hours of battery life is not much, it’s lightweight and sturdy enough), and since this new xps13 looks really nice, it’s probably going to be the one that replaces my old xps13. I never ever liked Dell laptops before I got this old xps13, but they did something nice there and it seems they don’t want to mess up a good recipe – so be it
The new 13″ XPS with the i7 processor, only 8GB of ram and a 256GB hard drive retails for $1,600. Am I that out of touch, or is that an asinine price?
A 17″ Inspiron is hundreds of dollars less, even when equipped with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive.
The 13″ XPS memory is described as “onboard,” so that means it can’t be upgraded or replaced?
This is completely different category. XPS is much lighter, higly probably has better build quality, has longer battery life and better (IGZO2 IPS) display.
1TB hard drive in Inspiron is a piece of crap. It makes no sense to use it in a computer as a system drive unless price is your only objective.
XPS memory is not replaceable and probably there is no other slot for it.
I wish we could save the phrase “edge-to-edge” for displays that truly have no bezel.