Dell XPS 13 or Alternative

upended on 27/11/2021 - 12:28

Any users on OzBargain that own a Dell XPS 13? What is your experience using it? Anything in particular I need to watch out for? Any other brand recommendations? Specifications I am after:

12 to 14 inch display
Intel i5 or higher. AMD okay too but not too familiar with Ryzen processors. Are they any good?
8-16 GB RAM
256GB SSD or higher
6+ hours genuine battery for high school use
Offers at least 1 USB-C port
Weight preferably under 1.6 kg

It appears Dell XPS 13 ticks these boxes, but happy to consider alternatives.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Computing 13.3inch Computer Dell Laptop Ultrabook

Comments

  • specks on 27/11/2021 - 14:42

    have a look at thinkpad x1 carbon

    • upended on 27/11/2021 - 16:35

      Thank you!

  • Detonator58 on 27/11/2021 - 14:51
    +1

    I have owned a Dell XPS 13 for almost 3 months, so not too much experience yet. I have the 9310 model (i7-1185g7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, UHD+ touch screen). I got it for $1900 off ebay.

    Pros:

    • I am really impressed with the build quality. CNC aluminium makes it super solid, and the sharp edges look really good. It is still quite lightweight.
    • Keyboard and touchpad feel really good. The keys are very snappy. They have low travel, which took a bit to get used to, but now they feel awesome. The glass touchpad is super smooth, even when my hands get a little sweaty.
    • The carbon fibre deck is really comfortable to rest my wrists on.
    • 16:10 aspect ratio fills the entire screen with barely any bezel, and extra vertical space. (black bars on videos are only a little annoying)
    • Even with an Intel CPU and a UHD screen battery life comfortably lasts 6 hours of a school day, usually with 30-40% remaining. The power adapter is only 45W and super light, making it easy to take to school with me.

    Cons:

    • Intel processor. Intel processors tend to take more power and run hot (maybe 12th gen will fix that, but idk yet). I run the laptop in 'Optimised' mode, but it still gets warm when a few chrome tabs are open (like 10 or so). And when running a simple 2d game (Snakebird), the fans ramp up, and the laptop is really warm (still not too hot though). Added to all that, the top-of-the-line intel processor (for thin-and-lights) comes with a measly 4 cores, compared to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800U with 8 cores. Overall, AMD processors (especially in the thin-and-light category) run cooler, take less power, and has more cores)
    • UHD screen. The 3840x2400 screen simply has way too many pixels. This reduces battery life and (probably) is one of the reasons my laptop gets so hot when running simple games. A FHD (1920x1200) screen will be jsut as sharp, but unfortunately there is no touchscreen option at that resolution.
    • There are only 2 thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, 1 microSD card reader and a headphone jack. This is quite disapointing, and I needed to buy a separate USB-C dongle. But seeing as all devices are slowly transitioning to USB C, this might not be an issue in the future.
    • upended on 27/11/2021 - 16:32

      Thank you for your thorough response. It's a shame they don't come with an AMD option.

  • cabler365 on 27/11/2021 - 14:52
    +1

    Got a dell xps 13 as my personal laptop, had it for almost 3 years, no problems, love it. The 8gb of RAM is a bit limiting so I would go for 16gb if you are buying new. You can't upgrade! I don't know what battery life I would get out of mine but I easily get 3-4hours now (on a 3 year old device)

    I've got a Thinkpad carbon from work - good laptop as well, no issues.

    If the specs and price were exactly the same I'd probably go Dell myself - but thats because I've had Dell's personally (and mostly Dell's for work) and I've only ever had one fault (and that was done under warranty).

    • upended on 27/11/2021 - 16:32

      Thank you!

  • djkelly69 on 27/11/2021 - 15:45

    Lenovo Ideapad Slim 5 Pro 14".

    If the 5600u is ok for you (equivalent to i5), you can get it with 16gb/512gb for under $1100 through the Lenovo Edu store at the moment.

    2 usb-c ports, 1.4kg.

    • upended on 27/11/2021 - 16:34

      Thanks for suggesting this alternative. Will look into this.

  • upended on 27/11/2021 - 16:40

    Just came back from a visit to my local JB. There, I also checked out the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 13.5" i7 512GB/16GB (Matte Black). Thoughts on this?

  • SlowCarSlow on 27/11/2021 - 17:04
    +1

    If Windows isn't necessary / ideal MacBook Air 13 inch can be had for $1,300.

  • specks on 27/11/2021 - 20:57
    +1

    xps 13/15 also have an issue with sleeping, and overheats while charging. not sure if they have fixed it in the newer revisions.

  • solidussnake on 28/11/2021 - 09:50
    +1

    I've got 6th Gen I7 XPS 13 with the QHD screen and its gorgeous great battery life, build quality is next level touch screen is handy sometimes, I would imagine the new models are even better

  • flyingpig on 02/12/2021 - 11:02

    Has anyone tried new XPS with i7-1195G7 processor ? Wondering how is overall performance including battery life and heating issue with these new ones.

    Also will a slightly older i7-1185G7 with 32GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x Memory Onboard be faster than newer 1195G7 with a
    16 GB, LPDDR4x, 4267 MHz, integrated, dual channel RAM ?

    • gram on 07/12/2021 - 17:13

      the difference real world from 95 to 85 would be marginal at best. 16gb of ram on the other hand is actually useful so definitely the 32gb system over the newer cpu

  • DevD on 29/03/2023 - 13:13

    which one did you go with ?

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