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"Sexy but heavy!" on by Vince-GP
Pros: Looks awesome, nice screen, really like the back-lit keyboard and nice big comfy quality keyboard. HDMi port is handy. Graphics is a breeze - loads of RAM and solid 320GB sata drive. Firewire port is handy with videocam. Nice 2MP embedded webcam.
Cons: Easily smudges, heavy machine, short battery life, slow startup and shutdown, high price, poor quality assurance and insufficient USB ports (only has one).
Summary: Overpriced, over-rated, impractical and really heavy - only has good looks going for it. Both the Apple Macbook Air or the Macbook Pro would have been better purchases. Startup and shutdown is painfully slow, and there is simply no justification for the horrendously high price - in South Africa this model cost the equivalent of $2,422 (ZAR19,380).
Leather insert on the cover is easily damaged and looks out of place.
Always shows finger prints and smudges on glossy black back cover and interior of machine.
Dell DCP (Control Point) software is very poor "losing" the wwan card (embedded 3G HSDPA) almost every single time you use it (device not found error is common and required constant reboot to resolve).
The WLAN card was defective from the moment the box was opened and had to be replaced (The Dell technician that replaced the wlan card scratched the laptop, and now refuses to fix it - their service in SA has really tumbled over the past 2 years).
DVD/CD slot doesn't allow mini disks, only full sized cd/dvd's and the dust protector sleeve on the slot came loose after being used only once!
Has only the one USB 2.0 port - Sata port doesn't count as USB!
Battery life truly sucks.
Running Vista Ultimate OS - it takes ages to startup and shutdown - yet has virtuallly nothing on it (8GB of data, and bare minimum of software and programs).
As a huge (former) Dell fan (I have owned 9 Dell's in the past 5 years) I am very disappointed and will not easily go Dell again. I do not recommend this notebook. -
"Very good overall laptop" on by calvinmclastname
Pros: Powerful, Well built, Nice standard features.
Cons: Mediocre battery life
Summary: I have had this computer for 3 years and in fact I am on it right now. This computer can run most games and has very nice touches such as a 9 button sense pad for audio controls. The backlit keyboard is also a pro along with the very nice overall look, feel, and build of the computer. It does not run any hotter than a macbook pro so I wouldn't worry about that but battery life is not to good. I can stream video for about 2 hours but I like to keep it plugged in. It is a great computer and I would recomend it to anybody who wants a powerful and portable laptop.
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"Fantastic Laptop, Great for travelling/light gaming" on by Valient5
Pros: Small/Portable with lots of features, eSata/usb port G210 graphics card plays most games Rpg's and Strategy games. 9cell battery lasts 7hrs
Cons: could have done with a better GPU
runs hot with the default 6cell batterySummary: runs cool with a 9cell battery, 6cell tends to cause the laptop to heat up. runs everything, even VMware workstation, plenty of memory DDR3 and eSata drive or USB3 with an express card connection. core2 2.4ghz proc runs great
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"Did everything I wanted it to... except breathe." on by shoopes2
Pros: First laptop and I found it quick enough for most games and almost everything I did. Any hardware issues were because I dropped it or broke it. Looks pretty good.
Cons: Batterlife: Sucks
Vents: whoever designed these probably has an extra chromosome and has limited neuro-functionality and was only added to the Dell team because it was part of a "help the disabled" program. DOESN"T BREATHE AT ALL! All vents on bottom excSummary: All but ventilation is superb.
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"A Machine that Doesn't Compromise" on by andStack
Pros: -Pretty compact
-Backlit keyboard
-Slot loading drive
-Fast performance
-Dedicated mouse buttons (personal preferance but I don't like clickpads)
-Excellent port selection (Including HDMI. Two headphone jacks is really nice)
-Dedicated media buttonsCons: -Does run a bit hot (not sure how it compares to other machines)
-Media buttons are capacitive (would rather have physical push to activate buttons)
-Battery life is purely average
-Chasis is a bit plasticy (metal accents are nice, but I'd prefer an alSummary: So I realize that this laptop has long since been discontinued, but I have a lot to say about it and I hope people read this review because I have a lot of objections with modern laptop design.
What the Dell Studio XPS 13 offers me was a machine that doesn't compromise. I really think that this is only possible in 13" machines because they are large enough to fit in all the features you'd want, but have a small enough screen to save battery life. Modern laptops more and more are cutting important features for thinner and lighter designs and I have a real problem with this. This machine is very small, and relatively light (in a backpack it won't be heavy at all) and I'm willing to stay at this size and weight to get a machine that has all the features I want.
This machine is not perfect but it's hard to find a machine these days that has a backlit keyboard, a slot loading optical drive (or an optical drive at all), and 13" screen. I also really hate that modern machines tend to integrate the buttons into the touchpad, because it makes it harder to know you've clicked, and operations like click and drag are much harder. Essentially, functionality is being sacrificed for style and this machine had style and functionality. I'd really like to see Dell dust off this model and offer us a new version with a metal chasis, latest generation processors, a fingerprint reader, better battery life, physical media buttons, and an SSD. It really would be the perfect laptop. The Envy 14 comes close, but compared to this machine, it's a bit big and heavy, and it also has an integrated clickpad rather than individual buttons. No dedicated media controls either. Vendors are getting close but haven't quite hit that "perfect" mark yet.
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