[UPDATE - TIM Change] XPS 13 (2015) Review

[Ghost]

UPDATE - CHANGING TIM

 

As promised a long time ago I changed the TIM on my XPS 13 from the stock TIM to Liquid Ultra. The results are as follows:

 

Idle Temp: 61C -> 38C

Load Temp: 84C -> 73C

Load Fan Speed: 6134RPM -> 5577RPM (Although it too far longer to reach it's peak with the new TIM)

 

Verdict: Do it!

 

Pictures:

 

Before TIM Change test results:

Old TIM:

More Old TIM:

After TIM Change test results:

 

 

--------------------------------------------

 

Hey, this will be my review/blog about my 13" XPS 13 with a 3k (3200*1800).

 

 I usually use a desktop with 3*1080p monitors. So when considering a laptop 1080p was not going to be enough. I am also fortunate enough to have good eyesight so I was not particularly intimidated by the prospect of running at the native resolution of the laptop with 100% scaling. I am a Computer Science student so my main use for the laptop will be note-taking, coding and other work outside of using my main desktop.

 

I encourage people to message me or post here if you want to find out anything about the laptop before buying. I love to procrastinate and don't bite.

 

Day 1/2

 

When the laptop initially arrived I was surprised by how small it is. I used a ruler to see it's size, but without any real comparison to other 13" laptops I was different from what I expected. It is very solidly built with what feels like a thick metal plate along both the top and bottom, I'm sure it will stand up to a lot of punishment.

 

One thing that I did not notice was the thinness of the bezels in person, probably because how little screen there is at 13" the ratios don't play in the favor of the bezel looking think in real life. I own three U2414H s which I use with my desktop, maybe because all of my normal screens have thin bezels they didn't seem as thin to me. But the laptop is certainly small because of how small the bezels are. It is light enough to carry in one hand while watching video with a plate of food in the other, without feeling as if anything is going to drop.

 

It also feels very heavy for it's size, but because it feels so heavy it also feels very solid, so it has that going for it.

 

The speaker performance is unexpected, it is very loud, loud enough to feel uncomfortable at max volume from a meter away, huge bonus for that, for a 13" laptop it is very loud.

 

The fan does get very loud often, whenever the CPU gets above 80% load you will know about it, also, a flaw I discovered is when you move the laptop the fan shifts, and scrapes across something, sounds like putting your finger so it just brushes a computer fan. The fan is also noticeably and annoyingly loud. Even using the laptop, browsing in bed leads to annoying fan speed. This is the only con to the laptop in my opinion. The low CPU TDP did not help fan noise.

 

The keyboard is nothing special. I can compare it to my Logitech K810 and say the two feel identical with the laptop keyboard having slightly less travel.

 

Gaming performance is horrific and don't expect to play any games on this. It struggles to run Super Hexagon smoothly. A combination of the 3K screen and mobile (I do have the top tier) CPU lead to noticeably bad frame rates, but this was never a machine intended for gaming.

 

Onto using the 3K screen with 100% scaling, weird at first. It is definitely something you need to get used to, even with good vision. Everything is tiny as expected. I have not yet had trouble reading any text at 100% scaling while browsing the web. I immediately installed display fusion a split the display in two so I had a virtual "left" and "right" screen. There are enough pixels on both sides to not have horizontal scroll bars on webpages. I have just taken a screen shot to illustrate how much you can fit on both sides of the screen.

 

 

So if you are willing to put up with tiny text. It is fine if you have good eyesight. All the text is sharp and I have only had a few instances where it is not.

 

That mostly concludes my Day 1/2 impressions of the XPS 13.

 

I haven't included any pictures of the laptop here as there are plenty online. For scale, this is what it looks like on my desk next to my 24" monitors. http://puu.sh/ftcNl/26145e62ac.jpg

 

Day 2/3

 

In regards to the fan noise I mentioned previously. I believe the fan in my unit may be faulty so the fan may be nothing to worry about.

 

In regards to Steam in-home streaming. Using 5.8Ghz Wireless on both the host and laptop. Bioshock Infinite kept stuttering at 1080p and was therefore unplayable. I'm unsure as to if that was because of the network or the laptop. Super Hexagon worked fine mostly with only an occasional stutter, so unfortunately, without a better network, I can't say whether it is the fault of the laptop network. ( @FloRolf )

 

Day 14?

 

I had a dell technician come to replace the cooling fan on the XPS 13. Didn't help with the noise problem but at least I know why there is one now:

 

 

This laptop is loud under load.

[Jerakl]

I was looking at this laptop for next year school and maybe uni?

Depends whether or not I join the military.

 

It looks really sleek, has decent specs (except that 8GB RAM limit. Grrrr)

 

Awww yus. 3*u2414h.

 

I'll look at this again later.

[minibois]

Pretty cool review so far.

Seems like a decent but niche laptop.

 

(By the way, your desk+peripherals is my dream great setup!)

[Ghost]

I considered getting the XPS 13 Linux Edition but Skylake will be available later this year so I decided to hold off for that version instead.

There will always be something around the corner. I waited 6 months to get this, waiting for broadwell though, so I don't blame you.

[chriscoolzap]

Love the review. I was thinking about getting this laptop for high school. 

[FloRolf]

I hate laptops but this is one that i actually consider buying

Can you try steam inhome streaming on it?

[fallendigital]

Love the thin bezel look! But i think i will still stick to my 13" Macbook Air

[Ghost]

I hate laptops but this is one that i actually consider buying

Can you try steam inhome streaming on it?

I will try that out tonight and report back.

[Mood]

I was thinking about getting for next school year, But I'll go for the 1800p 

[Wind]

how about battery life? Dell say it can last 15 hour. is it true?

[Ghost]

how about battery life? Dell say it can last 15 hour. is it true?

I would say it lasts about 5-6 hours running for me. So no.

 

I think the 12 hours rating for my model is if you are editing text in DOS with minimum screen brightness.

[Norman_the_Owl]

I was looking at this laptop for next year school and maybe uni?

Depends whether or not I join the military.

 

It looks really sleek, has decent specs (except that 8GB RAM limit. Grrrr)

 

Awww yus. 3*u2414h.

 

I'll look at this again later.

Eh, skylake>broadwell

You could get something with thunderbolt 3 and use an external GPU

 

Edit: wait a while in other words

[rambi36]

I was thinking about getting the 1080p version of this laptop. Looks like a pretty good value

[FloRolf]

@Ghost Thanks dude!

Can you tell me what router you got? Because i get the same results on my pretty new router with lan connection but with a pretty crappy laptop.

Maybe it's only steam in home streaming which sucks. i dont know ^^

Not sure but it might also be a factor that you are on amd cards because Steam works together with nvidia quite closely.

The XPS13 doesnt have a rj45 port does it? That's probably the only thing that really bothers me about the laptop other than the price

[Ghost]

@Ghost Thanks dude!

Can you tell me what router you got? Because i get the same results on my pretty new router with lan connection but with a pretty crappy laptop.

Maybe it's only steam in home streaming which sucks. i dont know ^^

Not sure but it might also be a factor that you are on amd cards because Steam works together with nvidia quite closely.

The XPS13 doesnt have a rj45 port does it? That's probably the only thing that really bothers me about the laptop other than the price

I have an ISP router. (Virgin Media Super Hub 2)

[Wind]

I would say it lasts about 5-6 hours running for me. So no.

I think the 12 hours rating for my model is if you are editing text in DOS with minimum screen brightness.

that dissapointing.

[Ghost]

that dissapointing.

It not good enough to comfortably go for a 7 hour day out to work/college. If you don't do any CPU intensive tasks it might last that long but you will be coming in at <10%.

[Opask]

that dissapointing.

Dell said that the 1080p with an i5 would get that battery life. His is the 3k one and I think he said it has an i7.

[Ghost]

Some followup: I have updated the OP to show why the XPS 13 is so loud. It's heatsink is the size of an AA/AAA battery. I may have to get it replaced if they can't fix it, the Dell technician was starting to propose another laptop to me, and replacing the motherboard etc.

 

It sounds ridiculous when even watching 1440p video on youtube, kinda disappointing. Fan spins at 6000 RPM...

[eaglex3]

Interesting outcome. I've had my QHD model TOTL i7 for about 5 days now and really liking it. My only problem is that I am forced to use IE as Chrome is a CPU hog causing youtube 1080p videos to stutter when watching. 

 

Which browser do you use to watch 1440p videos ? 

[Ghost]

Interesting outcome. I've had my QHD model TOTL i7 for about 5 days now and really liking it. My only problem is that I am forced to use IE as Chrome is a CPU hog causing youtube 1080p videos to stutter when watching. 

 

Which browser do you use to watch 1440p videos ? 

I've been using Chrome. Will try with IE later. Out of intrest, how loud is your laptop, can you hear the fan almost immediately when the CPU usage spikes?

[eaglex3]

I've been using Chrome. Will try with IE later. Out of intrest, how loud is your laptop, can you hear the fan almost immediately when the CPU usage spikes?

 

My one ramps out randomly after bootup for a couple of seconds and does it now and then for 2minutes. It isn't excessively loud but I can deal with it. I have used it in lecture halls and barely notice the noise if it does so. It does get noticeably louder when CPU usage spikes but again I have no problem with it. 

 

What program do you use to track the RPM of the fan?

 

Tbh using IE just makes the unit alot smoother and watching videos are alot better than Chrome. 

[Ghost]

My one ramps out randomly after bootup for a couple of seconds and does it now and then for 2minutes. It isn't excessively loud but I can deal with it. I have used it in lecture halls and barely notice the noise if it does so. It does get noticeably louder when CPU usage spikes but again I have no problem with it. 

 

What program do you use to track the RPM of the fan?

 

Tbh using IE just makes the unit alot smoother and watching videos are alot better than Chrome. 

You can get into Dell diagnostics if you hit delete, or something in the region during boot. It will show you fan speed there.

[eaglex3]

You can get into Dell diagnostics if you hit delete, or something in the region during boot. It will show you fan speed there.

 

Ah. I will take a look at that once I am home. 

[pyromaniac]

It sounds ridiculous when even watching 1440p video on youtube, kinda disappointing. Fan spins at 6000 RPM...

 

First the 8gb ram limit and now the Fan speed issue... this was going to be my next laptop but as my laptop usually only gets used in bed watching youtube (while the missus is sleeping) and on holidays etc this is really disappointing. what a shame