Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook. Thing of beauty.

Alanstrainor · 13-03-2012 10:09pm #1

Anyone think that the XPS 13 looks incredible?

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-13-l321x/pd.aspx?p=xps-13-l321x&view=pdetails

Really want one...but don't quite have a grand to put into a laptop!

Torqay · 14-03-2012 12:51am

All good and well, but a Core i5 or i7 with Intel HD3000 and no option to upgrade makes cringe.

Adamo reloaded... Fuggeddabowdit!

GreenWolfe · 14-03-2012 1:00am

Torqay wrote: »

All good and well, but a Core i5 or i7 with Intel HD3000 and no option to upgrade makes cringe.

Adamo reloaded... Fuggeddabowdit!

At least they didn't create a weird and pretentious site for this laptop.

Alanstrainor · 14-03-2012 1:03am

It falls in line with all other ultrabooks as far as spec. Graphics performance isn't something that worries me on these kinds of machines. Really can't see it holding people back tbh.

Wouldn't bother me.

Torqay · 14-03-2012 1:35am

Except the design, i don't see much difference to any run-of-the-mill 450 Euro Notebook with a Core i5, throw in a 120 GB SSD and it's still half the price. 600 Euro to show off?

Everyone to their own then.

Alanstrainor · 14-03-2012 1:52am

Torqay wrote: »

Except the design, i don't see much difference to any run-of-the-mill 450 Euro Notebook with a Core i5, throw in a 120 GB SSD and it's still half the price. 600 Euro to show off?

Everyone to their own then.

Ah jaysis, I mean we're talking super slim Macbook air design here. Doesn't compare to your typical laptop. And the Aluminium + Magnesium + Carbon Fibre chassis seems pretty bitchin to me:D

GreenWolfe · 14-03-2012 2:43am

Don't forget to include the cost of dongles needed to connect this to a HDMI display or a VGA connector, but I suppose compared to the purchase price the cost of connecting dongles isn't that bad. They're just the type of things that are so easy to lose though.

I was going to put the lack of Ethernet as a bit of a downer, but then I realised how many times I've used the Ethernet on my own laptop since I got it, i.e. 5 times over ~2 years.

U_Fig · 14-03-2012 3:23am

well for someone with the need for a fast lightweight portable notebook..It's very nice but personally I think >15" is a pain to work on so my iPhone can pretty much do most of the things that I'd need to do on the road so I just don't have the need or desire to own a machine like this

For Forks Sake · 14-03-2012 8:40pm

EarthlyPangaea wrote: »

Don't forget to include the cost of dongles needed to connect this to a HDMI display or a VGA connector, but I suppose compared to the purchase price the cost of connecting dongles isn't that bad. They're just the type of things that are so easy to lose though.

I was going to put the lack of Ethernet as a bit of a downer, but then I realised how many times I've used the Ethernet on my own laptop since I got it, i.e. 5 times over ~2 years.

usb 2 + usb3 + HDMi + Displayport + Ethernet + card reader...

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/14/hp-envy-14-spectre-review/

APM · 15-03-2012 2:44am

good article here, basically saying that the XPS13 will be an amazing laptop, just not at initial release.

I also don't like that I can't spec it with more than 4 gigs of memory. My M1330 had 4gb of ram 5 years ago.

wingnut · 15-03-2012 3:00am

Got my hands on one. Its so identical to the macbook air its not funny. The carbon fibre base is nice, its got some soft coating on it.

Basically a macbook air.

BostonB · 15-03-2012 3:03am

APM wrote: »

...My M1330 had 4gb of ram 5 years ago.

We have one here with 2GB running Windows 8 quite happily.

If you need a machine with more than 8GB would you be buying an ultrabook?

APM · 15-03-2012 3:08am

BostonB wrote: »

We have one here with 2GB running Windows 8 quite happily.

If you need a machine with more than 8GB would you be buying an ultrabook?

8gigs would do me fine, not even an option with dell. I just think that if I bought a laptop 5 years ago with 4gigs, technology has moved on and it should be possible to sell a ultrabook with more now. 8gb is an option on the Macbook Pro though. I'd be buying an ultrabook because I travel 50% of the time and the extra ram would come in handy.

AlmightyCushion · 15-03-2012 3:08am

I wouldn't buy an ultrabook myself but it is a nice bit of kit.

BostonB · 15-03-2012 3:33am

APM wrote: »

...8gb is an option on the Macbook Pro....

So? its not a Ultrabook. Get a XPS 17 it can take 16G

alb · 15-03-2012 3:57pm

Assuming resolution is only 1366x768? dealbreaker for me, nothing less than 1600x900 thanks.

I don't care how thin my laptop is when I'm using it. Plenty of reasonably thin non-ultrabooks with many other upsides (screen-res, specs, ports etc).

BostonB · 15-03-2012 4:43pm

I don't think you buy a Ultra book for the bang per buck.

Alanstrainor · 15-03-2012 7:46pm

BostonB wrote: »

I don't think you buy a Ultra book for the bang per buck.

Definitely not. They're not performance machines, they're thin and light and have great battery life with pretty decent performance to boot.

Keith186 · 15-03-2012 10:15pm

alb wrote: »

Assuming resolution is only 1366x768? dealbreaker for me, nothing less than 1600x900 thanks.

I don't care how thin my laptop is when I'm using it. Plenty of reasonably thin non-ultrabooks with many other upsides (screen-res, specs, ports etc).

There's a rumour there maybe a higher screen res option down the line. They never did this with the xps14z so I don't know if they'll do it with this either.

Thankfully more of the competition are starting to use higher res screens again.

Maybe Dell will wait until Ivy Bridge is out ti refresh the line but rumour is Intel will release some IB chips but delay the majority of stock to let vendors clear a lot of SB stock they've got lying around.

For me this Dell is overpriced to begin with and you can't use the vouchers with this machine yet to make it easier to swallow.

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook. Thing of beauty.

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