IT: Review on the Dell XPS 13

Within last few years we saw the introduction of the Macbook air, a ultrabook which marries technology and design into one sexy machine. Many windows based notebooks manufacturers are shocked by its design and good cooling system. Though its a mac, it can install with windows (through its intel based processor and other installation methods)

Consumer side, we have asus, acer and other taiwanese companies coming out the the macbook lookalike. But the corporate customers, only HP came out with the Filo. Most recently, Dell also came out with the Dell XPS13 which is design around the macbook air.

Having both the XPS 13 and macbook air for use in my company, i can say that the XPS 13 do have its drawbacks which is its battery life and small design details. Beyond that, it is a good machine capable of holding its weight in the fierce competition

The model we purchased is the top end of the range and technical specs are as below

Model: Dell XPS 13
Processor: Intel I7-2637
Ram: 4GB
Hard disk: 256GB SSD
Wireless: Intel 6230
Graphics: Intel HD 3000
USB ports: 2
Battery: 6cell (non 'removable')

I spend one sat afternoon to do the necessary software installation via the wireless and it install very quickly. Everything is moving very smooth and fast. It took me just 2 hours to finish all the installation plus windows update. However it took me another 1 1/2 hours to repair the partition as i removed the 12.5GB recovery partition which holds the bootup partition for the windows 7 64-bit SP1. I don't understand why such a large partition is given for the recovery partition.

There is also another 8GB given for the hibernation partition. For those who may not know the new intel chipset allows the creation of the hard disk to hold the hibernation packages so that one can easily come out of hibernation. Previously this was done via the paging files in windows. I don't know if this is a better way or not but since it is a small parition, i decided to leave it. 

The bottom of the XPS 13 are where the fans are so unlike the macbook air which has no fan outlets at its bottom. One also cannot open the XPS 13 via a single hand unlike the macbook air which hinge allows single hand operation.

The battery life is nothing to shout at. A macbook air can last 6 hours usage which the XPS 13 a mute 3 hours max. We tested both machines by continuously running a 5 mins video file over and over. For the notebook to be truly mobile, we prefer the notebook to have at least a 5 to 6 hours of running time.

Since this is for business usage, we order with the 3 years warranty and hopefully we don't need to call dell in for repairs within the 3 years usage.

All in all, i see that the Dell XPS 13 will fulfill the needs of those of us who wish to have the macbook air design but stick to the familiar windows feel.