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Review Dell XPS 15 (L521X) Notebook

Started by Redaktion, August 27, 2012, 08:40:43

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Redaktion

Light and shadow. The new Dell XPS 15 would like to dethrone Apple's MacBook Pro 15 and provides a lot to be successful: superb workmanship, an excellent display and fast hardware are supposed to convince solvent customers. Unfortunately, the noble multimedia bolide does not come without weaknesses, too.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-15-L521X-Notebook.80033.0.html

alfling


alfling


Sawer

Great, 85% for a laptop that generally does not work... "Our stress test even brought the XPS 15 to a reproducible shut down after 5 to 15 minutes" - following the user forums, this cannot be fixed as it is a design flaw of using the same heatpipe on a processor and GPU heatsink, generally meaning the GPU is frying the CPU when in load.

notebook check noob

Could you do an dell precision m6700 or m6700 covet review next?

Liliane

I am thinking of getting this laptop.
How serious is the bad wifi issue people are reporting ?

RonD.

Why pay so much for this laptop? Better get a MacBook Pro.

Luis Carlos

Hi

Any update about the problem with wifi and throttling?, i love the deign of this laptop, but this problem scares me of buy it.

thanks.

Dmitri

Just received this laptop on 9/28 and has severe throttling and wifi issues. Loud fan runs nonstop for hours when computer is idle and only internet browser open. Wifi does not work more than 10 feet - yes 10 FEET - away from router otherwise constant disconnect and less than 1 mbps download speeds when it does stay connected for more than a couple minutes.

The 1080p display is also pixelated which makes the screen appear grainy. Anyone with good eyesight will clearly notice this. This is completely unacceptable as well. Will be returning. The L521X should have never been made available with these major issues. Stay away from buying this machine until the issues are corrected, which will be when Dell releases the next generation XPS. All the issues I pointed out are truly intolerable for a $300 machine, let alone one that costs over $1600.

I think the reviews on notebookcheck.net are top notch, however, it appears the reviewers may have been too enamored by the L521X's look and feel (which I admit is very nice) and did not take adequate measure in testing the wifi and processing.

Jake Bryson

I see that the BIOS has been updated to A11 now shoudl this sort out the issues as above?

Cy

One of the most beautiful computers I have seen. The design made me fall in love with this laptop and this is why I bought it. There were many other computers with same or even better features for less price, but I the design completely caught my eye and I wanted to have it. I returned it and asked for a refund after a few days. The reasons:

The internet wireless doesnt work at all or has big issues. This is a big problem of this model, if you google dell xps 15 wireless issue you will see that a lot of people have the same. Dell apparently doesnt know how to solve this yet, because no solution has been provided. Either the wireless card doesnt detect enough signals, or either it doesnt connect at all. That was my case, the computer didnt connect wireless although other devices I had near me could connect succesfully.

Computer gets hot quickly, after 5 mins of use. That was a big surprise. And the fan is turned on almost immediately. The fan is loud and makes the computer very noisy. You really have to get used to the sound to end up ignoring it. The keyboard is beautifully designed, with soft and nice looking led keys, but its noisy as well. When you type in the middle of the keys, there is a feeling that there is a "void" and a empty noise is produced. Definitely not a silent computer.

Monitor has very good colors and quality, but its way too reflective. Its annoying to use the computer with daylight, and its impossible to use it outdoors.

Battery doesnt last long, expect only 3 hours.

In sum, one of the most beautiful computers I have seen, with a very poor performance and a high price. It gives the feeling that it was released at a very early beta stage. Probably Dell will improve it in the future, but at the moment it feels as it was a test version of a potential good laptop. I wouldnt recommend buying it right now, it doesnt worth the money. Unless until Dell provides a definite solution to the wireless issue, provide a matte option for the display and find a way to make the computer a bit more silent.

Ruben Misrahi

Indeed, there are many problems with the wireless card. Unless you're very near your router, the speed slows down to 2 mbps, while other older machines give me 30 mbps downstream, of course.
Look at this Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=x-KFW7_UxJM
How can this site miss such an obvious thing?

systemBuilder

It is truly amazing that you'd give a laptop 85% when the wireless doesn't work.  How much is the deduction if the display doesn't work???  *snicker* ..

TFF

Fantastic laptop. Beautifully made, solid, wonderful laptop. Seriously good-looking (nothing competes). I run Ubuntu Linux on it and it works perfectly (though a little configuration is required to get the nvidia GPU working - bumblebee is required).

Wireless cuts out occasionally, though I have not yet identified if this is a hardware or driver issue. This is an inconsistent problem with the above complaints as when the wireless is working, the speed is generally fair (though not great), so I think this is a driver issue.

The laptop can get hot, though the wrist rests and keyboard remain fairly cool. I'd say the fan is not terribly noisy - it would have to be a quiet room to be noticeable. I've not played any intensive games, so have not experienced any overheating issues.

Keyboard is really comfortable with a useful backlight. They've not done any majorly stupid key rearranging. Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Vol Up and Vol Dn have to be used with the Fn key though, and I use these keys quite a lot, so it's a pain. The trackpad is huge, allowing for some greater precision. If you're used to buttons, they're part of the trackpad, which could take some getting used to.

I was not aware of the wireless/heating issues when I purchased this, but the solid build quality (seriously, it has sharp edges), screen quality and how comfortable it is leaves me with no regrets. Everyone thinks I have a MacBook Pro with a skin though :P

dell user

I've got few dells and each one of them shuts down after a while due to temperatures. I can't believe that such a large company is releasing products with so ridiculously inefficient cooling systems. It's not a rocket science to deal with heat (I got them working much longer with simple modifications) and they should really consider hiring some not so brainless engineers to redesign cooling and cases.

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