U.S. grade A Fancy
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen (I want this so bad! But that price! Argh!)
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen at local Microsoft Store for $1,299.
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen at local Microsoft Store for $1,299.
I don't own the new XPS 13 (2015). I played with the touch display version for about 45 minutes in the Microsoft store. Also, I played with the non-touch, 1080p matted display for a couple of minutes. Reading web articles (using IE browser), this matted display showed jaggies on the letters and also was dimmer and the colors were less vibrant. The touch screen's high-resolution display was much better in every way (and no jaggies were visible in the web browser) except it had plenty of annoying glare.
Keyboard was only okay to type on. I wanted more downward travel on each keystroke for better confirmation of key press. There was some key wobble. The MacBook Air keys definitely feels better, sturdier, and more comfortable to type on than this XPS keyboard.
Speaker sound was loud enough for me to not have to strain to listen to YouTube's Adele music video playing in the Microsoft store's moderate background noise. But the sound quality was only so-so. I have definitely heard better sound from other laptops.
Cold start and shutdown times were very fast! I was impressed probably because I am accustomed to using Windows 8.1 on hard drives on my laptops.
Pros:
1. Small screen border enabling a form factor of a typical 11" laptop yet have a 13" screen (Wow and bravo to both Sharp and Dell!).
2. Very pleasing, high quality looking touch screen. Viewing angles seemed wide (both vertical and horizontal). Touch works good/responsive too!
3. Loud speakers positioned next to keyboard. But sound quality is only so-so (not the best, but not the worst I've heard from a laptop).
Cons:
1. The matted non-touch screen was average looking. Jaggies showed on the text; the colors were muted.
2. Trackpad: Sometimes I had to try multiple times to get the two finger scrolling to work on the trackpad. This was such annoyance that I just used the touch screen to scroll or I wished I had a mouse wheel to use!
3. Opening the closed lid required using two hands. I tried it with one hand and the lid would only open about one inch before it stopped opening and the bottom of the laptop then lifted up into the air. Also, I had to find the right spot on the edge of the lid in order to separate it from the bottom part. This definitely is not as quick in opening as say on the Macbook Air.
BTW, I never own one or use a Macbook Air regularly, only evaluated them hands-on at Best Buy. Same for the Dell XPS 13 (2015); I don't own one; only test drove it for 45 minutes in the store.
TheVerge article said "Dell's XPS 13 is a look at the future of laptops" and I would agree with that. Seeing and using this laptop, there's no going back to using laptops with bigger screen bezels. But, this laptop (with touch screen) is too pricey. One year from now, other brands will have these small bezel touchscreens too. I want this Dell now, but I can wait for a much lower price.
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen (I want this so bad! But that price! Argh!)
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen at local Microsoft Store for $1,299.
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Infinity Display with Touchscreen at local Microsoft Store for $1,299.
I don't own the new XPS 13 (2015). I played with the touch display version for about 45 minutes in the Microsoft store. Also, I played with the non-touch, 1080p matted display for a couple of minutes. Reading web articles (using IE browser), this matted display showed jaggies on the letters and also was dimmer and the colors were less vibrant. The touch screen's high-resolution display was much better in every way (and no jaggies were visible in the web browser) except it had plenty of annoying glare.
Keyboard was only okay to type on. I wanted more downward travel on each keystroke for better confirmation of key press. There was some key wobble. The MacBook Air keys definitely feels better, sturdier, and more comfortable to type on than this XPS keyboard.
Speaker sound was loud enough for me to not have to strain to listen to YouTube's Adele music video playing in the Microsoft store's moderate background noise. But the sound quality was only so-so. I have definitely heard better sound from other laptops.
Cold start and shutdown times were very fast! I was impressed probably because I am accustomed to using Windows 8.1 on hard drives on my laptops.
Pros:
1. Small screen border enabling a form factor of a typical 11" laptop yet have a 13" screen (Wow and bravo to both Sharp and Dell!).
2. Very pleasing, high quality looking touch screen. Viewing angles seemed wide (both vertical and horizontal). Touch works good/responsive too!
3. Loud speakers positioned next to keyboard. But sound quality is only so-so (not the best, but not the worst I've heard from a laptop).
Cons:
1. The matted non-touch screen was average looking. Jaggies showed on the text; the colors were muted.
2. Trackpad: Sometimes I had to try multiple times to get the two finger scrolling to work on the trackpad. This was such annoyance that I just used the touch screen to scroll or I wished I had a mouse wheel to use!
3. Opening the closed lid required using two hands. I tried it with one hand and the lid would only open about one inch before it stopped opening and the bottom of the laptop then lifted up into the air. Also, I had to find the right spot on the edge of the lid in order to separate it from the bottom part. This definitely is not as quick in opening as say on the Macbook Air.
BTW, I never own one or use a Macbook Air regularly, only evaluated them hands-on at Best Buy. Same for the Dell XPS 13 (2015); I don't own one; only test drove it for 45 minutes in the store.
TheVerge article said "Dell's XPS 13 is a look at the future of laptops" and I would agree with that. Seeing and using this laptop, there's no going back to using laptops with bigger screen bezels. But, this laptop (with touch screen) is too pricey. One year from now, other brands will have these small bezel touchscreens too. I want this Dell now, but I can wait for a much lower price.