NotebookCHECK - Notebook Forum

no updates about gaming with A06 BIOS?

any news about gaming with BIOS A06?

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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* ..

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

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.

My mounse pad rattles. Every time I touch it it is a though it moves down fraction and produces a rattle. This  driving me mad and is really annoying when I am working.

It also means I tend to double click without meaning to or teh cursor oves without me wanting it to.

This problem combined with the learning Windows 8 is alomst too much in one go for a non techie!!!

I have this laptop and now I love it.  I did not at first for one simple reason the trackpad was psychotic.  It made the computer almost unusable.  But a reacent update of the driver cured that and now the laptop is a pleasure to use in every aspect.  I read a lot about heat in the review, but I really have not noticed anything beyond my experience with other laptops.  I would say it runs cooler than most I have used. 

I dont really play games beyond microsoft flight simulator and it handles that very well even with some pretty significant add-ons to the game.

I very very happy with this laptop.  I have have windows 7 with the i5 processor.  I recommend it highly

I guess that I am also fortunate not to have experienced problems with the WiFi.  I use WiFi at home exclusively and at work probably at least 30% of the time for meetings etc... no problems.  I use this laptop as my desk top computer for work.  I travel quite a bit and no problems there either.  If anyone can generally get get wireless access, then I can.   

So the BIOS is up to A12 now I think? Can anyone here tell me if they have fixed throttling yet? Because my L502X is having serious trouble they are sending me the L521X as a replacement, on paper it sounds like an overall upgrade, they are throwing in the best processor and graphics card as well as an increase to 8gb RAM all for free so I am pretty happy. Then I start reading up about all these issues! For the record can anyone tell me if I will likely have an overall increase or decrease in my gaming experience (minus the constant freezing I was getting that caused the replacement)

I mainly play: CS GO, CIV V, Skyrim, Fallout 3/New Vegas and Far Cry 3. Any help would be appreciated, this site has given it an 86% gaming performance but these throttling issues sound like a deal breaker.  :-\

I have had this XPS15 for a few days. Firstly out of the box I found a dead pixel and the right speaker did not work. If that was the only problem with this nice looking laptop I would be happy. But all the complaints are true, the display looks grid-like you can see the shadows of the pixels... and it overheats idling hot at 65 - 70!

Whatever you do, dont buy this laptop. cancel your order!

Comparing the internet forums and this article, it seems to me NOTEBOOKCHECK published it just to be able to mention SCHENKER at the end of it :D.
Also guys black value of 0.65 cd/m2 in a computer for 1650EUR is mediocre, not impressive. But it is not a major fault, as apparently the computer has many bigger drawbacks...

This laptop is amazing if it was only tested on the A04 Bios. If you want to do extreme gaming then stick to this bios but the drawback is that its not compatible with windows 8 UFEI bios concept. Downgrading the bios wasn't a problem for me since I used my old hdd to run win 7.  Anyways, I came here to make this comment quick but if u need to downgrade the bios follow this link http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/673630-xps-15-l521x-owners-lounge-503-print.html

go down to the very bottom of the page and read the instructions. Be careful of what your doing

I love the Dell XPS 15 (L521X) Any recommendation for  Graphics or 3D softwares like Maya,3D Max

Avoid this laptop at any cost, except it's free. Mine L521x's touch pad is "not" working, No WIFI if you are about 3m away from your router. Heat problem IF any 3D is on screen and I even didn't mention all the drivers and installation problems you will encounter if you want to use Windows7... Really these problems aren't worth to spend your time for. Don't waste your time for this crap of s***.