The thinnest 15.4 inch Windows laptop measures less than an inch and seems quite a looker. So with little or no competition in the Windows thinness stakes, will Dell be able to carve out a niche for the Dell XPS 15z in terms of performance. We take a first look at this aluminium beauty.Key Features
* Less than one inch thick
* Unibody aluminium exterior
* 15.4in, Full HD screen
* Sandy Bridge Core i7, GeForce GT525M 2GB
* 8GB of RAM, 750GB 7200rpm HDD
Design, Build and Connectivity
Dell is no stranger to creating slim and sleek, metal-clad laptops. Its Latitude 13, which has recently been upgraded to Sandy Bridge and USB 3.0, is a monument to this. Yet when inevitably compared to the Macbook Air, the choice becomes far from straightforward, especially as Samsung is in the mix here with its duralumin Series 9 900X3A.
However, Apple doesn’t make a 15 inch Air, and indeed there is surprisingly little competition for a super-slim laptop of this size. Mind you, the 15.4 inch Macbook Pro is still the reigning thinness champion, but if you’re after a Windows machine, Dell’s brand-new XPS 15z is one of the few choices. At under an inch (24.6mm) thick, it’s the thinnest Windows laptop of its size in the world (Apple’s equivalent MacBook Pro is actually 24.1mm), and weighs a mere 2.54kg.
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But it’s not just its dimensions which catch the eye. In a blatant attempt to imitate the simple elegance of Apple’s designs (and that’s certainly no bad thing), the XPS 15z sports a unibody outer shell made completely from anodized aluminium. It’s elegant, unbroken lines really are something to behold, and only its generous connectivity spoils the picture somewhat if you look at it from the side or back.
Thanks to its milled-metal exterior, build quality is superb, and the only part that suffers from fingerprints is the screen. Opening the laptop up, you’re again greeted by a very cohesive look, though it’s slightly darker as the metal used changes from aluminium to a magnesium alloy. This is both softer and warmer to the touch, which makes it more pleasant to rest your palms on when typing. Chrome strips divide the two, and the only plastic bit you’ll find is the isolation/chiclet keyboard keys.
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The unusual silver hinge looks like a horizontal stack of key-rings and probably won’t be to everyone’s taste, but we rather liked this quirky touch. To either side of the keyboard are patterned speaker grills which might also be a matter of personal taste, but at least allow some decent audio through. Overall then, the look and build of Dell’s slimmest XPS is very attractive indeed.
Connectivity is not compromised even one iota though. Along the left, HDMI 1.4 and Mini-DisplayPort cover every modern video output (including 3D to a compatible monitor or TV). Here you’ll also find a combined USB2/eSATA port, twin USB 3.0 ports, and an SDHC/XC card slot. Again somewhat reminiscent of Apple, there’s also a button that activates a classy battery indicator that indicates the amount of juice left using five white LEDs.
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At the back we have a lone Gigabit Ethernet port, while the right houses a combined headphone/microphone jack and slot-loading DVD drive. Unfortunately, Dell also appears to follow Apple in not offering a Blu-ray drive, which is even more confounding considering the XPS 15z gives you a Full HD screen and discrete graphics. Finally, wireless connections are handled by both Wi-Fi N and Bluetooth 3.0.
After being pleasantly surprised by the generous connectivity on offer, it’s great to see that Dell doesn’t compromise much on performance either. The only limitation the super-thin chassis imposes is that you can’t opt for a quad core mobile processor due to heat dissipation issues. However, with the XPS 15z rocking a dual-core Sandy Bridge Core i7-2620M (running at 2.7GHz and supporting four virtual cores) by default, there’s not much that this slim slab can’t handle. This is especially true since the currently available configuration sports a whopping 8GB of RAM, and an equally impressive 750GB, 7,200rpm hard drive.
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Graphics are also competently handled by an Nvidia GeForce GT525M, which has no less than 2GB of dedicated RAM. While this doesn’t quite make it a dedicated gaming machine, it will let you run most titles at lower settings. Thanks to Nvidia’s Optimus it will dynamically switch to Intel’s integrated solution to get as much as it can from the integrated battery.
This touches on one of the disadvantages to the unibody shell, which doesn’t allow you to swap out the eight-cell battery. Still, we’re told you can expect over eight hours on a single charge, which should be plenty even for road warriors.
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Unfortunately, we encounter our first hiccup when it comes to usability. While the keyboard’s individual keys offer decent if shallow feedback, typing isn’t a particularly pleasant experience thanks to the spacing between these keys being slightly too wide for comfort. With some practice it’s usable, but it does dent the laptop’s premium feel. It’s a real pity too, since it looks great and is beautifully backlit in white.
Thankfully we’re back on track with the multi-touch trackpad. Its smooth, metal-coloured surface blends well with its magnesium alloy surroundings and is nice to run your finger across. Surprisingly, Dell hasn’t copied Apple, HP and most recently Samsung in going for a ‘buttonless’ pad, and its buttons here offer a light yet well-defined click.
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One of the greatest highlights, and one that puts the XPS 15z above other laptops in its class, is the glossy Full HD screen it comes with as standard. Sure, viewing angles aren’t as good as Samsung’s Series 9 900X3A has shown us they can be using a TN panel, but nevertheless it appeared nice and bright with punchy colours, reasonable contrast and no obvious aretefacts. That 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, meanwhile, gives you a lot of room to play with on your desktop and ensures everything stays pin-sharp.
The XPS 15z’s current Australian launch price of $1,699 doesn’t seem too steep when you consider that it has few competitors, and the specifications it packs into its slim metal shell – though we really hope a Blu-ray drive and SSD option will be offered in the future. However, be sure to read our upcoming review for the final verdict!
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To read the original review, click here
