Review: Dell XPS 13

By Gaurav Shukla | Updated: 5 June 2012 00:45 IST

Highlights

Dell's debut in the ultrabook market - XPS 13, is a great looking laptop with impressive features, but does it justify the Rs 79,990 price tag?

Toshiba Portege Z830 and now Dell XPS 13, it is raining ultrabooks in India these days. While, there is not much of a difference in ultrabook hardware specifications, it is the device aesthetics that keep on changing with manufacturers. Dell's entry in ultrabook arena XPS 13 seems promising with a nice design and the standard ultrabook internals but is it worthy of the Rs 79,990 price tag, we will find out in this review.

Hardware
When you first put your hands on Dell's XPS 13, there is a surprisingly nice feeling to the overall ultrabook. Company hasn't gone for any lightweight or thinnest milestones thus giving it ample amount of space to build decent good looking and fairly sturdy device. Unlike Toshiba's Portege Z830, which we reviewed last week, XPS 13 feels comfortable in hand thanks to the rubberised deck and the carbon fibre weave on the base of the laptop.

Dell Discussion

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Our review unit came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and Dell has pre-loaded its own set of bloatware including Dell Datasafe, Zinio reader, Fastaccess facial recognition, and Support Center. Company has also bundled a trial version of McAfee Antivirus on the laptop.

During our testing, Dell XPS 13 gave us 4 hours of battery backup with full display brightness and using apps like Google Chrome, Tweetdeck, playing videos and music. It is way less than company's promised 8 hours of backup.

Dell also falter on another promise that laptop will be a lot cooler because of the presence of carbon fibre, but we did find it heating up at times. The fan is also placed oddly at base, which blocks proper air-flow when you are using the laptop sitting in bed or your lap.

Alternatives

There are quite a few ultrabooks currently available in the Indian market. You can also opt HP Folio 13 (Rs 69,990 - Core I5, 4GB, 128GB SSD), Asus Zenbook(Rs 89,990 - Core I5, 4GB, 256GB SSD), Lenovo IdeaPad U300(Rs 67,990 - Core I5, 4GB, 128GB SSD), Samsung Series 5(Rs 48,990 - Core I5, 4GB, 500GB HDD), Acer Aspire S3(Rs 49,990 - Core I5, 4GB, 20GB SSD+320GB HDD), Toshiba Portege Z830 (Rs 96,290 - Core I5, 6GB, 128GB SSD) and Macbook Air(Rs 73,900 - Core I5, 4GB, 128GB SSD)

Verdict

Dell XPS 13 shows a lot of promise, but is still way off from an ideal ultrabook. It scores in the aesthetics department, premium feel and decent performance, but is letdown by so-so battery life, no-so great display, and lack of ports. Pricing is another factor that needs a correction from the company. Given the choices that we have, Rs 80K price does not really present a great case.

For more pictures of the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook please visit our picture gallery.

Pros

Great build/premium feel

Comfortable keyboard

Good performance

Cons

Lack of ports/SD card slot

Poor Viewing angles

Price: Starting Rs. 79,900

Specifications

13.3 inch WLED, 300-nit (1366x768) edge-to-edge display with Gorilla Glass

128 GB SSD or 256 GB SSD drive options

Intel Core i5 2467M and i7 2637M processor

Intel HD 3000 video graphics

4GB DDR3 SDRAM

Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard

47WHr 6-cell battery

USB 3.0 (1) + USB 2.0 with PowerShare (1), mini DisplayPort, and headset jack

Built-in 1.3MP webcam with dual array digital microphones

Microsoft Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

Optional 100GB of cloud storage through Dell DataSafe

Review: Dell XPS 13

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