Dell launches its XPS 13 With great battery life, top quality displays, zippy performance that doesn’t deteriorate over time and cutting edge design.
The laptop has just arrived for which you were waiting for
The laptop has just arrived for which you were waiting for
it has a 3200 x 1800-pixel screen and the claimed 15 hours of battery life.
When you buy an Ultrabook (or the Apple equivalent) for computing on the move, you want two incompatible things: a big screen and a small machine. The Dell XPS 13 manages to offer both, better than any other laptop I've used. And it does that, very simply, by reducing the width of the bezels so the screen almost fills the available space.
As a result, Dell has been able to fit a 13.3in screen into a chassis that's not much bigger than laptops with 11.6in screens. In fact, the dimensions of 304 x 200mm are much smaller than a 13.3in MacBook Air (325 x 227mm), and very close to the 11.6in MacBook Air (300 x 192mm).
Of course, there's a dramatic difference in screen resolution, because the 11in MacBook Air screen only offers 1366 x 768 pixels. When you open the XPS13, it's like opening an 11in MacBook Air and finding a better-than-Retina 13.3in screen inside.
The only obvious drawback is that the Dell's tiny bezel doesn't have room for a webcam, which has been relocated to the left hand side, under the screen. If you're a heavy Skype user, this is probably not the machine for you. I'm not, so I don't care.
Second, Quad HD+ screens still have more drawbacks than benefits in Windows.
The Dell XPS 13 (2015) screen is extremely bright and looks gorgeous, and it's great for watching movies. But it has no real advantages for everyday work, and at least three drawbacks: (a) all those pixels are expensive; (b) they have to be lit and moved around, which eats battery life; and (c) not all Windows programs scale correctly to 3200 x 1800 pixels. In fact, I don't expect many of my old Windows programs had ever been run at this resolution before they were launched.
The problem is that 3200 x 1800 pixels is close to 6 megapixels, whereas a typical Windows screen (1366 x 768) is only 1 megapixel. All those extra pixels are used, even if you reduce the effective resolution. This has a significant effect on battery life. Dell reckons you should get 15 hours of battery life with the 1080p screen and only 11 hours with the Quad HD+ screen.
The 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor with HD 5500 graphics, 8GB of memory and 256GB SSD in my loan sample made this one of the fastest laptops I've used, but switching to 1080p provided better frame rates and therefore more playable games.
As a result, Dell has been able to fit a 13.3in screen into a chassis that's not much bigger than laptops with 11.6in screens. In fact, the dimensions of 304 x 200mm are much smaller than a 13.3in MacBook Air (325 x 227mm), and very close to the 11.6in MacBook Air (300 x 192mm).
Of course, there's a dramatic difference in screen resolution, because the 11in MacBook Air screen only offers 1366 x 768 pixels. When you open the XPS13, it's like opening an 11in MacBook Air and finding a better-than-Retina 13.3in screen inside.
The only obvious drawback is that the Dell's tiny bezel doesn't have room for a webcam, which has been relocated to the left hand side, under the screen. If you're a heavy Skype user, this is probably not the machine for you. I'm not, so I don't care.
Second, Quad HD+ screens still have more drawbacks than benefits in Windows.
The Dell XPS 13 (2015) screen is extremely bright and looks gorgeous, and it's great for watching movies. But it has no real advantages for everyday work, and at least three drawbacks: (a) all those pixels are expensive; (b) they have to be lit and moved around, which eats battery life; and (c) not all Windows programs scale correctly to 3200 x 1800 pixels. In fact, I don't expect many of my old Windows programs had ever been run at this resolution before they were launched.
The problem is that 3200 x 1800 pixels is close to 6 megapixels, whereas a typical Windows screen (1366 x 768) is only 1 megapixel. All those extra pixels are used, even if you reduce the effective resolution. This has a significant effect on battery life. Dell reckons you should get 15 hours of battery life with the 1080p screen and only 11 hours with the Quad HD+ screen.
The 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor with HD 5500 graphics, 8GB of memory and 256GB SSD in my loan sample made this one of the fastest laptops I've used, but switching to 1080p provided better frame rates and therefore more playable games.
Dell XPS 13 specifications | |
| Processor | Dual-core, 2.6GHz Core i7-5500U |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Size (WDH) | 304 x 200 x 20.6mm |
| Weight | 1.27kg |
| Sound | Realtek HD Audio, 3.5mm headset jack, stereo speakers |
| Pointing device | Touchpad, integrated buttons |
| Screen size | 13.3in |
| Screen resolution | 3,800 x 1,800 |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Graphics adaptor | Intel HD Graphics 5500 |
| Graphics outputs | Mini-DisplaPourt |
| Total storage | 256GB |
| Optical drive type | No |
| USB ports | 2 x USB 3 |
| Bluetooth | 4, LE |
| Networking | 2x2 801.11ac Wi-Fi |
| Memory card reader | SD card |
| Other ports | 3.5mm headset jack |
| Operating system | Windows 8.1 64-bit |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.