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The Dell XPS 15 (L501X) is a hell of a machine and while we know that many people immediately dislike the name ‘Dell' even before judging a system on its merits, we can easily say that this is one of the fastest mobile machines we have used to date. I am also finally able to state that a laptop is capable of being used as a rendering machine in a work environment. Sure it isn't going to be as fast as a well equipped desktop machine, but the Intel Core i7 840QM is a mobile powerhouse.
While we could pick holes in the default software installation, there is very little to fault on a hardware level. The machine is very quiet and it doesn't generate a lot of heat on your legs as the airflow is forced from the top left of the chassis, out the side. This singular position is the only warm area on the chassis and is a very clever design so people can be productive with the machine on their lap.
The keyboard, quality of the screen and overall design is absolutely brilliant and will certainly help Dell win over the minds of the high performance enthusiast audience. Those who are willing to give the company a chance anyway.
The inclusion of several USB 3.0 ports with a dual eSATA/USB port is very forward thinking from Dell and we have seen just much potential this technology has, as more people release USB 3.0 storage devices in 2011. It is certainly a small market right now, but with the Dell XPS 15 you have futureproofing and peace of mind.
The machine isn't perfect – we are slightly bewildered at Dells positioning of the activity lights …. behind the screen, meaning that people sitting opposite you on a bus or in an airport can see that your machine is writing data to the hard drive, but you can't. Well, unless you continually twist your head around the side of the screen. Its not a major issue by any stretch of the imagination, but I just don't understand who thought that position was a good idea. We would also have liked to see another USB 2.0 port included somewhere on the chassis, as a total of three ports is the bare minimum for a performance machine.
Pricing of this specific machine is £1,319 including VAT, although if you don't need the BluRay drive and are willing to downgrade to the 740QM, you could reduce the cost by £370. Dell also offer a 9 cell 90Whr battery for £50 more, if you need to work or play for longer periods of time before a recharge. If you want to upgrade to an SSD you will have to do this yourself later as there are no SSD options offered for this unit in the Dell store.
You can build your own over here.
KitGuru says: An excellent machine, with very few weaknesses in any key areas. A very powerful mobile system equally suited to both gamers and professional level designers and modelling artists.
That really is a fucking sweet laptop. even without the bluray and dropping down a CPU, its under a grand. t hat is excellent.
Always great when I get a new Kitguru review alert on Twitter 🙂 awesome review man and that is a hell of a good looking machine. I am not sure im sold on the appearance, that two tone thing looks a bit messy, id prefer it was darker, like the front, but I suppose you arent looking at the underside much. the intel core i7 cpu is great.
Wow that Intel QM CPU blows me away
Well what a great stoke of luck. I was looking at this machine on christmas eve and didnt know if it was going to suck. ill aim for a lower specification than this, but I need a new laptop for 2011 for work, and ill bill it to the company (just need to keep it realistic).
Excellent, I like the skins, some really cool looking ones
njice to see dell reviews here, only thing I will say is that I have had a terrible time with dell batteries failing after 18 months to 2 years time. Not sure if it has been a batch, but google shows quite a few people seeing the same thing.
excellent machine, I just bought an Acer for £500 quid in PCWORLD though :p
Great machine, however, Dell took away the 1080P screen option though! Hopefully dell will have that option back soon, or else the CPU and the GPU will be wasted! (This option is back in other country except for the US)
They actually arent selling the 1080p machine in the UK either? what happened?
I think the 1080p machine is available in parts of europe now, but it might be due to 1080p screen demands and lack of stock. very unusual to pull a system mid range though.
The 1080p option will be back at some stage. Dell said this “We still offer the screen but had to temporarily take it offline as our supplier had to de-commit on certain quantities. It can still be ordered over the phone if one doesn’t mind an extended lead time. “
The 1080p option is back in Canada
Conservative design in my opinion, and it’s even kinda of thick for laptops nowadays.