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XPS 13 Developers Edition first impressions
Hi,
My brand new XPS13 (i7/8GB/256GB) arrived today and I'd like to share my initial thoughts with you all.
- Design: nice sturdy ultrabook design with (limited) ultrabook connectivity (only 2 USB ports)
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS runs very fast and stable (in comparison with my other Ubuntu 13.10 machine)
- Display quality is excellent, very wide viewing angles and the 1080p resolution using Ubuntu is very productive. But noticeable white 'pressure point' in the left corner when using a black background.
- Battery life: I'm getting around 6 hours (first charge) which isn't much in comparison to other Haswell based ultrabooks (the Macbook Pro retina 13 can easily get around 9-10 hours, while using a more power hungry CPU)
- Touch screen: personally I don't see the point of touchscreen when working in Ubuntu (even in Windows). When I want to swipe, I just use my tablet. Maybe a non-touch i7 would be an interesting option.
- Coil whine: I'm experiencing a high-pitched sound when my keyboard backlight is on. When turned off, it's still noticeable, but very low in intensity
- Speakers: Sound quality is decent but on regular base my left speaker makes a quite loud creaking sound.
In brief, I'm very glad a 100% Ubuntu machine is available for purchase with optimal driver support (Sputnik Team: thank you!) but I'm a little bit disappointed in the overall quality. The 'coil whine' issue and the speaker problem are well-known internet-forum topics for over a year, and still Dell isn't able to resolve those issues in the 3th iteration of the XPS 13 product. I'll wait to contact Customer Support for a repair since no clear solution for both stated problems has been found.
But, nevertheless, looking forward to the 14.04 LTS DE version!
travsformer
16 Posts
0
September 28th, 2014 10:00
Personally, I had my sites fixed on a few XPS 13's for my company, but after all I've read here, I think I might go for the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro or the Samsung Ativ 9 Plus....A shame, really, as it's a nice looking ultrabook with very interesting specs...
InfraTom
2 Posts
1
September 28th, 2014 13:00
Coil whine is really annoying but only when keyboardlight is NOT full on. When the keyboardlight is full on there is no annoying noise. Maybe because my XPS 13 have bios version A05 and not A04
For me it's really frustrating but my girlfriend can't hear the coil whine.
Also the USB power share won't work. When the laptop is in standby mode, I can't power up the XPS 13 with an hit on XPS's keyboard, external keyboard or mouse.
svrana
15 Posts
1
September 28th, 2014 13:00
I'll add a post to this thread when customer support manages to replace the board in my xps13 with one of the fixed versions that does not suffer from the coil whine problem. But still no luck getting it replaced, though they are happy to reinstall the same kind of motherboard with the same problem. Poor.
cfaber
36 Posts
0
September 28th, 2014 19:00
Terry@Dell, what's the deal with getting the correct MB revision installed to eliminate is problem?
It's more than just making annoying noises, it's also affecting SNR of 2.4GHz wifi.
SteveH1UK
4 Posts
0
September 29th, 2014 15:00
I am also considering a xps13. Does tis noise only exist with he developer edition or does it also exist on the windows version?
Wolfe_BTV
3 Posts
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October 6th, 2014 12:00
It's there with the Windows version as well--I don't believe there are any hardware differences between the two versions.
Wolfe_BTV
3 Posts
0
October 6th, 2014 12:00
Just a heads-up, I opened a ticket mentioning the internal document ID and after having the system board replaced the coil whine is still there, as loud as ever :-/
cfaber
36 Posts
0
October 7th, 2014 15:00
Just received a replacement and it's even worse than the original, though it does correct another problem I had "flashlighting" with the screen.
cfaber
36 Posts
0
October 7th, 2014 21:00
I'd also like to note that the replacement has it's own problems, This one came with the track pad half way popped out of the bezel. WTF is going on with Dell? These aren't cheap laptops but they sure seem that way based on my very recent experience.
travsformer
16 Posts
1
October 9th, 2014 07:00
Sounds a lot like Fight Club to me...
Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now: should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
Business woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
Narrator: You wouldn't believe.
Business woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?
Narrator: A major one.
SteveH1UK
4 Posts
0
October 11th, 2014 02:00
Looking for this problem via Google it seems to be a problem with the XPS13 that Dell are struggling to solve :emotion-6:
Hopefully they are making sure the next version (with Broadwell) will not have this issue. I really fancy the XPS13 Developer edition but the possibility of being plagued by a Coil Whine is off putting.
If this continues to the Broadwell XPS13 I might have a look at a Tuxedo linux laptop (being UK based).
skobi
4 Posts
1
October 11th, 2014 05:00
After this issue is hot for so long now and all the messages from so many affected users (including me) I would be really interested whether this issue will be solved at all even though the "revised" boards are available now! Can some DELL member, e.g. Barton George or Terry B please verify if there actually is a working solution at all!
I have to say that all this is slowly shattering my faith in DELL! I use their products both at work and in private. The reason why is not that the products are the best on the market but the support is the best I know! All issues that I had with notebooks, servers and so on have been solved to my satisfaction until now. This time I start doubting...
Please DELL, make this unholy story end asap and satisfy your customers!
svrana
15 Posts
0
October 11th, 2014 08:00
After my service request was escalated, I'm now in contact with someone else who claims to have ordered the correct motherboard (part number W8HM2). Hopefully installation will occur on Monday. She also assured me the older motherboards are being purged from their inventory, though no specifics on when or how long that will take.
I'll post again after installation.
applejack1337
3 Posts
1
October 15th, 2014 15:00
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
The immortal words of Albert Einstein.
svrana
15 Posts
0
October 15th, 2014 15:00
So, I got a new motherboard installed on Monday. The whine is still there.
Support says it's possible that I might have gotten an old board and they are willing to send me another one now that they are sure the old (bad) stock has been purged from supply. Support also says the noise may not go away completely, but it should be better.
This will be the 3rd motherboard swap! Support seems completely incapable of guaranteeing the installation of one of the new motherboards until the stock is purged. (which she claims it has been, so contact your support staff now)
Again, I'll follow up after the next installation. I'm not holding my breath any longer. The whine isn't bad, but it also shouldn't exist (at all) in a machine that costs this much.