Dell
XPS 13
A fantastic
portable that could claim the Ultrabook crown
Anyone
in any doubt that Ultrabooks are anything other than the spotlight
device for 2012 will have to take stock after a slew of new machines
were revealed at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las
Vegas. One of CES’ brightest lights was undoubtedly the Dell XPS 13
Ultrabook (price TBA) which should hit the shelves by the end of March.We couldn’t wait that long to get the lowdown on the Dell XPS 13, so we’ve nabbed a pre-production model for review. And, from the looks of things, we reckon it could rival the Asus Zenbook for the top Ultrabook title.
Like all Ultrabooks, the XPS 13 certainly turns heads. From the outside, it looks like a smaller version of the Dell XPS 15z and 14z which is no bad thing.
A curvaceous silver aluminium shell at a feather-weight 1.4kg means when you pick the XPS 13 up, it’s akin to holding a tablet. Conforming to the design restrictions laid out by Intel for the Ultrabook format, the XPS 13 measures 7mm at its thinnest point and 18mm at its thickest.
Once you lift the lid and peer inside, the craftsmanship of the device becomes apparent. Unlike the silver interiors of the Zenbook UX31 or the Acer Aspire S3, the XPS 13 is jet black and devoid of any stickers or markings. The
interior of the chassis is coated with a soft rubber surface that feels comfortably like the interior of an expensive sports car.
The exception to the rubber coating is the centrally-placed glass multi-gesture touchpad.
The touchpad features integrated mouse buttons, similar to the Aspire S3. While we feel that this doesn’t offer the best usability, we will concede that these buttons are aesthetically more appealing.
Similarly, the isolation-style keyboard is a joy to use. Because of the thinness of the chassis the keyboard here - like other Ultrabooks - has a very shallow travel. This isn’t much of an issue though, and the spacing of the keys is well proportioned - as is the slightly curving design of the keys themselves. Dell has also given the keyboard a backlight that works very well with the all-black interior.
Screen saver
We had to marvel at the screen on the Dell XPS 13 - even though we were told the pre-production model could face further tinkering to improve it. It wasn’t so much the colour of the picture, which admittedly had a faint paleness about it, but the engineering of the screen. There’s almost no bezel around the edge, which enables Dell to keep the size down, without compromising screen real-estate. Although the XPS 13 has a 13.3-inch screen, it feels like it’s staring at you from an 11-inch chassis. The 1366 x 768 pixel resolution here is pretty standard for an Ultrabook and will allow you to enjoy 720p high-definition videos on the move.
When you’re done admiring the outside of the XPS 13, you’ll find the interior components are just as pleasing. Our pre-production model came sporting a quad-core Intel Core i7-2637M CPU, which isn’t to be sniffed at, especially considering we might see this Ultrabook retail for around £899. The Sandy bridge chip runs with an integrated Intel graphics card with about 1.5GB given over to shared video memory.
In practice, performance is what you’d expect from Dell and Intel. You can comfortably multitask with several programs in Windows 7 and run graphical websites and programs, although games will be beyond this machine.
Another key feature is the 256GB SSD internal storage. Because an SSD has no internal moving parts, operating like a USB flash disk, it is faster, lighter and needs less power to operate. This is one of the most important features of an Ultrabook and helps the Dell XPS 13 reach a battery life of 177 minutes.
Slot machine
If you wanted to add more storage, or any other peripherals for that matter, you can take advantage of two USB slots either side of the chassis. One of which is the faster USB 3.0 format. Unfortunately that’s about it for expansion ports, the only other being a mini DisplayPort for hooking up an external display.
There is also built-in 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth of course, but if its connectivity you’re after, the best bet is still the Toshiba Satellite Z830.
But despite these relatively minor shortcomings, we can’t help but be
mightily impressed with the Dell XPS 13 and readily admit that it’s jaw-droppingly attractive. We feel the performance is also on a par with what we would expect from an Ultrabook and were glad to see that the battery life carried through admirably.
At time of going to press, we still hadn’t had a confirmed price for the Dell XPS 13, which will be a key factor for many people. What looks likely is both a Core i5 and Core i7 model being made available at different price points.
Either way, the XPS 13 is the most desirable Ultrabook we’ve seen and an excellent choice for anyone wanting a highly powered, highly portable machine. On the strength of this great machine,
2012 is undeniably the year of the Ultrabook.
While this wasn’t a final build, we will be fully benchmarking the Dell XPS 13 in a future issue, to find out how it stacks up against the rest of the Ultrabook market.
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