I purchased this Dell XPS 15z a few months ago and have had enough time using it to properly review it. When I heard that Dell was releasing a slim line of XPS laptops I was very excited. The Dell XPS line has always impressed me because they are performance systems at affordable prices. Combine those two elements with a slim line of laptops and you get one heck of a deal. For a while I contemplated purchasing a Macbook Pro 13" because of it's aesthetic appeal but was having a hard time justifying paying the $500 premium for the design and operating system. That all came to an end when Dell finally released the XPS 15z. The laptop is a Macbook pro clone, it looks very similar to the 15" model that apple offers. All of the usb and peripheral plugs are on the left side (except for power and Ethernet plugs), the battery indicator with little lights is also on this side like the mac. There is a slot loading dvd drive on the right side and the dimensions are basically the same.The new XPS comes with the second generation sandy bridge processors from Intel, unfortunately they are only the dual core processors but they are still plenty powerful for most applications. In addition to these new processors the laptop comes with a GeForce GT525M with 1GB of video memory. So far this graphics card has been able to handle everything that I've thrown at it seamlessly. I'm not a PC gamer and I've read other reviews to suggest that this card would be able to play most modern game at medium settings. Which isn't bad for a laptop of this size. One of the nicest things about the laptop that I own is the full 1080p resolution of the screen. That option alone basically sold me on the machine, not very many laptops come with this option and have all the other goodies that this comes with. Like the USB 3.0, Mini DVI, New Processors, Fast RAM, Optimus Enabled GeForce Card.
I've also had a good experience with the battery life on my laptop. Using the dell power management settings I can get around 5-6 hours of time on the laptop watching movies online, surfing the web, listening to music and doing work. That is very similar to my friends Macbook Pro 13", the times that the companies post online about 8 hours battery time is nonsense. Unless you turn the brightness setting down to the lowest settings and use word or some low CPU intensive program with no sound you aren't going to get that kind of battery life stated on company websites. But nonetheless 5-6 hours is plenty for me.
Although I love the laptop and wouldn't trade it in for any other laptop, there are a few negatives I need to mention. The chrome trim around the base of the machine seems like more of an afterthought and doesn't really hold up very well. It's really just a plastic piece that is clipped in there. The panel surrounding the plugs on the left side is also a little flimsy, not that big of a deal but definitely not first class material. Also, as a computer guy I don't know why anyone would use the Dell Stage software. It really seems like a waste of RAM but that might be more of a taste thing, kind of like how I don't like anything on my desktop except for the My Computer and Trash icons.
All in all this laptop is great and I would give it a 4.5 stars if I could on here but since I can't I'm rounding up. If you can spend the extra hundred bucks I strongly recommend upgrading the screen and getting the full 1080p experience. That way when a mac fanboy tells you how much better his 15" laptop is just ask him what the resolution of his screen is :P, it definitely won't be 1080p. If you prefer Windows to Mac OS and want a slim line laptop get this, if you have the money and like Mac OS then go with the 15' Pro. Also, a 14" model of this is coming to market very soon! So if you wanted something even smaller wait for that, it will have all the same stuff except for the full 1080p screen.
Pros:
New Processor (2nd Gen Intel Core i processors).
Fast RAM, and plenty of it.
Beautiful resolution. (If you get the 1080p resolution, 720p is nice too)
Efficient graphics card with optimus technology that will get you better battery life.
Battery life is good.
Affordable for the high end specifications.
Multi Touch Trackpad (Works great for me)
Cons:
Build quality could be better. Chrome trimming is cheap.
No quad core processor option.
Not designed for hardcore gamers. (Regular XPS or Alienware line is for gamers)
Thank you for reading my review.
Cheers,
Hunter
I like this 15Z but I have been disapointed in the lighted keyboard for following reasons...
1) Very shiny surface on keys but are hard to see unless you have very good ambient light or the keyboard is lit.
2) The user has few options to change the way the keyboard lights work. The stock Windows 7 allows the user to program the lights to your liking but Dell has locked the user out of that capability. By default, the lights are "dim" (aka...unreadable) when you power it up. You can change that to be brighter but it defaults back to dim if you power your laptop off. Even if you adjust the brightness, the keyboard will go off after a minute or so of unuse. The lights will come back on when you start typing again. That might be a reasonable strategy when on battery but mine is typically not on battery. I would prefer to (a) change the default brightness to high and (b) increase the time before the lighted keys turn off. That user option is not available with the way Dell has locked out the user.
Otherwise, I think this is a great laptop. I wanted to give it a 5 but I knocked off a star due to the inability of a user to make adjustments to the lighted keyboard.
Buy Dell XPS 15Z X15z-5834ELS 15.6-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver) Now
Pros:-Very well made.
-Great performance. I play BF3 on it on all high settings.
-Reminiscent of the Macbook pro design, right down to the backlit keyboard and mechanized DVD drive.
-Mini-displayport out. Works with iMac display port.
Cons:
-Network port will not sync @ gig speeds after standby. You need to pull the cable and reconnect. No big deal if you don't care about hardwire network.
-Screen is not 1080p only 1366x768.
Overall very pleased with purchase.
Read Best Reviews of Dell XPS 15Z X15z-5834ELS 15.6-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver) Here
I got Dell XPS 15z for $800. The configuration is as follows:Intel i5 processor
6 GB RAM
500 GB HDD @ 7500RPM
1GB GeForce graphics card.
I have used the laptop for almost a month now and the experience is excellent.
The design is very elegant and sleek. The display quality is very good. I have played a couple of high graphics games and they work without any problem.
The sound system, webcam, wireless, bluetooth etc work great. The battery life is about 2-3 hours with brightest display. Backlit keyboard is convenient for me to type and looks great.
I installed Linux (dual boot) on the machine and it was installed without slightest trouble. All the devices work equally well on Linux.
I use the laptop for programming, gaming and surfing. All of these work just fine.
On the downside, the laptop heats up very fast when playing high graphics games. It does not shut down or anything, but heat is too much to hold it on lap. Also, the scroll facility of touchpad does not work with the default windows7 installation which is annoying. Small size of the keyboard means you have to use 'Fn' key to do Home/End/Pg up/Pg down while typing.
Also, the price of the laptop shoots up higher than lennovo which has 8GB RAM and i7 processor.
Overall it is a great laptop, with great look and feel as well as performance. I am happy I got it.
Want Dell XPS 15Z X15z-5834ELS 15.6-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver) Discount?
This is a great computer. It had worked flawlessly for me for about a year now. It shreds games and the screen is beautiful. Keyboard could be better.
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