Dell XPS 13?

[Stereodude]

Anyone played with or used a Dell XPS 13?

Aside from all the reviews complaining about the webcam placement it tends to be quite positively reviewed.

 

[Howell]

Yes, I had one for about a week. I liked it for all the reasons the reviews like it. I did not like that the screen was short enough to affect my use of outlook. I ended up with an xps 15. I would be willing to try the 13 again, I was under the gun to make a decision at the time as well as fighting av produced bsods.

 

[Stereodude]

I did not like that the screen was short enough to affect my use of outlook.

Which screen option/resolution did you have?

 

[Howell]

The 4k option I believe. It was purchased for me by someone else. I spent most of my time fighting the bsod and didn't get to look under the hood much.

 

[Stereodude]

So they released an updated model in the fall with Kaby Lake-R with a true quad core processor. It apparently has quite a bit better performance.

There's a new model that was announced for CES that has been tweaked to make it even thinner by removing all the USB 3.0 A ports and using a smaller battery. That's a step too far for me. I've been looking for an outlet deal on the late 2017 mode with the FHD screen. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the config I wanted over the weekend / Monday with the extra 20% off coupon.

 

[LunarMist]

So they released an updated model in the fall with Kaby Lake-R with a true quad core processor. It apparently has quite a bit better performance.

There's a new model that was announced for CES that has been tweaked to make it even thinner by removing all the USB 3.0 A ports and using a smaller battery. That's a step too far for me. I've been looking for an outlet deal on the late 2017 mode with the FHD screen. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the config I wanted over the weekend / Monday with the extra 20% off coupon.

So you must have 3 dongles hanging from the unit? USB-C has not replaced USB-A by a long shot.

 

[Stereodude]

So you must have 3 dongles hanging from the unit? USB-C has not replaced USB-A by a long shot.

You got me. I won't be buying one. Not having a simple USB port is a non-starter.

 

[Howell]

So you must have 3 dongles hanging from the unit? USB-C has not replaced USB-A by a long shot.

Attaching your devices without a cable is less ideal anyway. Just use multiple A to C cables or a C port hub.

 

[LunarMist]

It's still a PITA to carry two mice , adapters, etc.

 

[Stereodude]

Attaching your devices without a cable is less ideal anyway. Just use multiple A to C cables or a C port hub.

You don't plug your USB flash drives directly into your PCs? You use a cable? :scratch:

 

[LunarMist]

Or the mice?

 

[Howell]

You don't plug your USB flash drives directly into your PCs? You use a cable? :scratch:

I rarely need to plug in flash drives but yes, short cables.

 

[Stereodude]

I rarely need to plug in flash drives but yes, short cables.

Congratulations on being very unusual.

 

[Stereodude]

I ordered one today from the Dell Outlet. The deal wasn't as good as before, but I got the config I wanted. I wouldn't have minded 16GB of RAM over the 8GB config I got but that's just not an option with the FHD screen and I didn't want to sacrifice battery life with the higher resolution screen that won't add anything useful to the experience. I had a similar QHD+ high resolution screen on my work laptop (Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro) at my last job and didn't care for it one bit. It caused more problems than any benefit it might have rarely had.

I don't see 8GB of RAM being a limitation for anything I want to use it for (since it can't be upgraded). I can replace the 256GB NVMe SSD later if/when SSD prices return to more sane levels, but the included drive will be just fine in the mean time, or even in the long term. The top end i7-8550U processor (true quad core + HT) has over 2x the Passmark score of the i5-4300U in my HP Elitebook. That's pretty :cooler: for something still a ULV processor.

 

[Howell]

Congratulations on being very unusual.

Probably not that unusual. I'd be surprised if I was the only one who didn't like banging my ports around in the server rack.

 

[Stereodude]

My XPS 13 (9630 late 2017) arrived today. It looks completely brand new to me. I don't see any signs of refurbishment. FWIW, it came with a 256GB Samsung PM961 NVMe SSD. It only had the 1703 build of Windows 10 on it.

I plan to clean install it either later today or in the next few days with 1709 to get rid of the pre-installed software/bloat though I can't say I see any slowdown from it.