Ultrabook Dell XPS 13: soon in Russia
An Ultrabook Dell XPS 13 was brought to my editorial office. In Russia, this model is not yet sold, and it is terrible to say that there is only one copy for the whole country. I had to get it for a test a couple of weeks ago, but Dell took part in one conference in Monaco, and the ultrabook flew there. It so happened that I, too, was among the participants of this event, and it was there that we met for the first time. Another 2500 kilometers in the air, a couple of journeys by taxi, and now the meeting continues in Moscow.
One of the important features of the Dell Ultrabook is that it has a 13-inch screen, and the case dimensions are similar to those of 12-inch laptops. This is achieved by a very narrow frame around the matrix. Inside it is quite standard for the current generation of ultrabooks Intel Core i5-2467M with a frequency of 1.6 GHz, but it will soon be replaced by an analogue for Ivy Bridge. As a result, not only the battery life will increase, but also the performance in games will significantly increase. Integrated into a family of processors Ivy Bridge GPU will be very good.
')
Speaking of battery life. If we open the XPS 13, we find that the layout is very, very dense. Memory (4 GB) is soldered directly on the board. SSD is also not easy, but with the mSATA interface. 128 GB is basically enough for basic needs. But if it is not enough, it is better to purchase an external hard drive, because it is not easy to find a more capacious SSD with mSATA, and it costs twice as much as a similar one with SATA.
We can not but rejoice that the WiFi adapter in the Dell ultrabook is used by the native, Intel's one with support for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. I was somehow unlucky with the more common Atheros: they work normally in normal “office” mode, but if you start to drive HD videos through the air, twitching and just “freezing” of the picture occur cyclically. I was not lazy, I ordered two PCI-E Intel 6200 adapters on eBay. They are not the newest, and therefore cost quite humanely - $ 14 per piece (including delivery). And now two months no, you know, jerks while watching a movie on both home laptops. However, we digress.
There are a few connectors for Ultrabook XPS 13: 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 and mini Display Port. The card reader did not find a place on board, which for me, of course, is not very convenient. On the road, you usually have to take a lot of pictures, and the external card reader is no, no, but you forget at home. Well, nothing can be done. But the USB-ports are conveniently located on the sides and do not overlap when working from the outlet.
The keyboard and touchpad are beyond praise: in spite of being compact, work is archiudic. This is what I tell you as a ThinkPad user, and we are picky guys. In addition, the keys have a built-in diode backlight, which can not be useful on the road.
It is also great that the bottom is made of rough carbon fiber, and instead of small rubber legs that have the habit of instantly falling off and losing, two wide rubber bands are glued. And the vent is almost the entire width of the case. Hot there will be no knees or stuffing. The only cooler inside the case has a very ... resilient sound. He wakes up infrequently, but not to notice his work will not work at all desire. Nothing can be done, the current generation of processors still needs quite intensive cooling. Most likely, with Ivy Bridge acoustic comfort will increase significantly.
When you turn on the XPS 13 first thing ... I determined my coordinates in space, and quite accurately. I was really glad that there is a built-in GPS-receiver, but no - as long as the coordinates are calculated by WiFi access points. “Bye” - because in the pre-installed software there is a tab of the GPS-module and even a utility for testing it. Apparently, touched on the near future.
Ultrabook works very, very quickly. Core i5 of the second generation, normal memory, 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, and in combination with a decent SSD (7.4 points on the integrated Windows benchmark) - the brakes simply have nowhere to go. The screen first produces a very decent impression with bright hues and the absence of a pronounced grain, as in some budget matrices. But it’s worth looking at the image not at a right angle, but a little to the side, as you understand - alas, we have the usual TN with all the consequences. The text on a white background is decently readable at any angle, but the photos lose color already when the degrees deviate by 40 ... On the other hand, I haven’t yet seen any ultrabooks with IPS or * VA. Appear, then we will be capricious.
The Dell Ultrabook sound is quite loud. This is probably all that can be said about him. It is recommended to listen to movies and music in headphones, otherwise many details of the artwork will not get to your ears.
The thickness of the Dell Ultrabook case is 16 mm. But one thing is just to talk about millimeters, and another - something to attach. My “old” iPhone 3GS was a “something”. This is not the thinnest phone in modern times, but perhaps not the thickest. And this is a PHONE, not a laptop. We compare them with the ultrabook in the thickest place ... Oh, wow! And the "iPhone" seems thicker!
That's really - survived.
Of course, in the pursuit of grace, there should be a measure, and it is unlikely that anyone will be pleased if, taking an ultrabook by one edge, we find that the second one ... hangs a little under its own weight. I dare to suggest that the block with the keyboard will soon lose weight permanently, but the screen part, on the contrary, will become full. After all, becoming a touch, it will certainly be asked to the will of the keyboard.
I tried to work on the Dell XPS 13 in its usual mode - Word, ICQ, the web version of Twitter and Facebook, and occasionally Photoshop for processing illustrations. In this mode, the battery asked for mercy after four hours and twelve minutes. I think if you give up on Facebook, you can easily cross in five hours of autonomy, because the web interface of this social network is very CPU intensive. Would you like more? Yes, perhaps - especially given the fact that the battery takes up more space in the case than electronics. But for me personally (for me personally) four hours is enough.
We can not rejoice at the fact that Dell thought about the approximation of the size of the power supply to the energy consumer, and it turned out to be quite compact.
The only pity is that the fork is still hefty.
In the US, such an ultrabook costs $ 999, plus sales tax (another 8-10%). I dare to suggest that in our rich country the price at the start of sales (March) will be slightly more expensive, but then gradually decrease to 30-32. This, of course, is not as cheap as we all would like. But, I remember, a year and a half ago, when I really needed a mobile, durable and fast laptop, the most advantageous offer started at around 45,000 rubles, and I eventually bought a copy for 60,000. Now the price level has fallen to a more humane level - without damage to mobility, strength and speed. That would be something else useful cheaper at the same pace. For example, real estate.
Have you already asked about ultrabooks?
One of the important features of the Dell Ultrabook is that it has a 13-inch screen, and the case dimensions are similar to those of 12-inch laptops. This is achieved by a very narrow frame around the matrix. Inside it is quite standard for the current generation of ultrabooks Intel Core i5-2467M with a frequency of 1.6 GHz, but it will soon be replaced by an analogue for Ivy Bridge. As a result, not only the battery life will increase, but also the performance in games will significantly increase. Integrated into a family of processors Ivy Bridge GPU will be very good.
')
Speaking of battery life. If we open the XPS 13, we find that the layout is very, very dense. Memory (4 GB) is soldered directly on the board. SSD is also not easy, but with the mSATA interface. 128 GB is basically enough for basic needs. But if it is not enough, it is better to purchase an external hard drive, because it is not easy to find a more capacious SSD with mSATA, and it costs twice as much as a similar one with SATA.
We can not but rejoice that the WiFi adapter in the Dell ultrabook is used by the native, Intel's one with support for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. I was somehow unlucky with the more common Atheros: they work normally in normal “office” mode, but if you start to drive HD videos through the air, twitching and just “freezing” of the picture occur cyclically. I was not lazy, I ordered two PCI-E Intel 6200 adapters on eBay. They are not the newest, and therefore cost quite humanely - $ 14 per piece (including delivery). And now two months no, you know, jerks while watching a movie on both home laptops. However, we digress.
There are a few connectors for Ultrabook XPS 13: 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 and mini Display Port. The card reader did not find a place on board, which for me, of course, is not very convenient. On the road, you usually have to take a lot of pictures, and the external card reader is no, no, but you forget at home. Well, nothing can be done. But the USB-ports are conveniently located on the sides and do not overlap when working from the outlet.
The keyboard and touchpad are beyond praise: in spite of being compact, work is archiudic. This is what I tell you as a ThinkPad user, and we are picky guys. In addition, the keys have a built-in diode backlight, which can not be useful on the road.
It is also great that the bottom is made of rough carbon fiber, and instead of small rubber legs that have the habit of instantly falling off and losing, two wide rubber bands are glued. And the vent is almost the entire width of the case. Hot there will be no knees or stuffing. The only cooler inside the case has a very ... resilient sound. He wakes up infrequently, but not to notice his work will not work at all desire. Nothing can be done, the current generation of processors still needs quite intensive cooling. Most likely, with Ivy Bridge acoustic comfort will increase significantly.
When you turn on the XPS 13 first thing ... I determined my coordinates in space, and quite accurately. I was really glad that there is a built-in GPS-receiver, but no - as long as the coordinates are calculated by WiFi access points. “Bye” - because in the pre-installed software there is a tab of the GPS-module and even a utility for testing it. Apparently, touched on the near future.
Ultrabook works very, very quickly. Core i5 of the second generation, normal memory, 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, and in combination with a decent SSD (7.4 points on the integrated Windows benchmark) - the brakes simply have nowhere to go. The screen first produces a very decent impression with bright hues and the absence of a pronounced grain, as in some budget matrices. But it’s worth looking at the image not at a right angle, but a little to the side, as you understand - alas, we have the usual TN with all the consequences. The text on a white background is decently readable at any angle, but the photos lose color already when the degrees deviate by 40 ... On the other hand, I haven’t yet seen any ultrabooks with IPS or * VA. Appear, then we will be capricious.
The Dell Ultrabook sound is quite loud. This is probably all that can be said about him. It is recommended to listen to movies and music in headphones, otherwise many details of the artwork will not get to your ears.
The thickness of the Dell Ultrabook case is 16 mm. But one thing is just to talk about millimeters, and another - something to attach. My “old” iPhone 3GS was a “something”. This is not the thinnest phone in modern times, but perhaps not the thickest. And this is a PHONE, not a laptop. We compare them with the ultrabook in the thickest place ... Oh, wow! And the "iPhone" seems thicker!
That's really - survived.
Of course, in the pursuit of grace, there should be a measure, and it is unlikely that anyone will be pleased if, taking an ultrabook by one edge, we find that the second one ... hangs a little under its own weight. I dare to suggest that the block with the keyboard will soon lose weight permanently, but the screen part, on the contrary, will become full. After all, becoming a touch, it will certainly be asked to the will of the keyboard.
I tried to work on the Dell XPS 13 in its usual mode - Word, ICQ, the web version of Twitter and Facebook, and occasionally Photoshop for processing illustrations. In this mode, the battery asked for mercy after four hours and twelve minutes. I think if you give up on Facebook, you can easily cross in five hours of autonomy, because the web interface of this social network is very CPU intensive. Would you like more? Yes, perhaps - especially given the fact that the battery takes up more space in the case than electronics. But for me personally (for me personally) four hours is enough.
We can not rejoice at the fact that Dell thought about the approximation of the size of the power supply to the energy consumer, and it turned out to be quite compact.
The only pity is that the fork is still hefty.
In the US, such an ultrabook costs $ 999, plus sales tax (another 8-10%). I dare to suggest that in our rich country the price at the start of sales (March) will be slightly more expensive, but then gradually decrease to 30-32. This, of course, is not as cheap as we all would like. But, I remember, a year and a half ago, when I really needed a mobile, durable and fast laptop, the most advantageous offer started at around 45,000 rubles, and I eventually bought a copy for 60,000. Now the price level has fallen to a more humane level - without damage to mobility, strength and speed. That would be something else useful cheaper at the same pace. For example, real estate.
Have you already asked about ultrabooks?
PS Part of the pictures for this post was made on the Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone. The rest, as usual, on the Nikon D90.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/138760/
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