Dell XPS 13 - Ultrabook that looks like they've almost got it right

[fuzzymath10]

How hard would a passive design be? My Dell Mini 9 has no moving parts, fans included. The difference can't be more than several watts when you factor in the horrible 945 chipset the 9 has.

A silent/fully solid state ultrabook would stand out.

 

[vbuggy]

I seriously don't hear as much complaints about the Macbook Air. You gotta admire Apple for actually testing out a product before they release it.

This is why there's an Apple Rev.A history of course :hmm:

As a user who's equally demanding on Windows and OS X gear, I can say that 90+% of my Apples have been in the shop at least once. And they're updated on a 1-year cycle for notebooks and 18 months - 2 years for desktops.

No, it's not that they test better, it's that their most enthusiast buyers convince themselves that participating in a public beta is a good thing. Informed Dell buyers are in fact far more demanding, but due to the poor CS they end up being far more pissed off.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I've got an XPS 13 sitting on my desk right now and it's much nicer than all of the reviews made it sound. The screen isn't an IPS panel by any means but it's still better than the vast majority of ultrabooks and looks roughly the same as the panels in the Macbook Air in terms of quality although I don't have one of those on hand to do a side by side comparison. The Touchpad is surprisingly good to, I have no complaints with their implementation of multitouch and two finger scrolling works very well. I also love the carbon fiber chasis, it feels great and should hide wear much better than aluminum.