Introduction and design
The XPS 15 sees Dell bring its evolutionary InfinityEdge display to a 15-inch laptop for the first time. If you’re a fan of the XPS 13‘s space-saving design, but enjoy the productivity gains of a 15-inch laptop, Dell’s latest machine promises workstation-class performance in a similarly compact chassis boasting the footprint of a 14-inch laptop.
As a former 11-inch MacBook Air owner, I was a fan of last year’s revamped XPS 13. It looked the part, had the chops to cope with any task I threw at it and fit snugly into my backpack.
The XPS 15 sacrifices some of that portability in exchange for a roomy 4K display and a dedicated GPU. This makes the Dell XPS 15 a good, but not great, choice for 1080p gaming – but more on that later.
Design for life
The new XPS 15 bears little resemblance to its early 2015 predecessor, which itself was upgraded with a 4K display. The latest model’s corners are much squarer, lending it a more box-like shape, and any silver flourishes on the inside have been swallowed up by a sea of matte black material.
Dell’s latest XPS 15 is essentially a larger XPS 13 design-wise, from the black Dell logo etched into its silver aluminium lid to the thatched pattern on its black base. The laptop’s minimalist look is the opposite of what you’ll find on flashy gaming laptops. If you prefer the quietly subdued, no-nonsense look, then you’ll enjoy what the XPS 15 has to offer.
I find the tactile, rubberized material around the trackpad much more welcoming than the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro‘s all-aluminium base, though the XPS 15 gets dirtier much easier. It attracts grease and natural hand oils like a sponge, so have a damp cloth handy if you want to keep it looking like new.
The touchscreen, on the other hand, does a better job of keeping fingerprints away. Any that do appear can be wiped away easily with a soft cloth.
On the underside of the XPS 15 are two strips of rubber that keep the machine in place when using it on a hard surface. Its display reclines around 45 degrees which, combined with the Sharp IGZO display’s wide viewing angles, is enough to give you a good view of whatever it is you’re doing when balancing the XPS 15 on your lap. You can manhandle the machine as much as you want, thanks to its stellar build quality, granting peace of mind when transporting it in a backpack without a case.
Everything on display
While the XPS 13’s display tops out at QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800), the XPS 15 is configurable with a 4K touchscreen that boasts a 3,840 x 2,160-pixel resolution – and it’s stunning to look at. Superlatives are often applied liberally when talking about laptop displays, but the XPS 15 deserves its praise.
Dell claims that the display covers 100% of the Adobe RGB color space, which is almost the case. Measured with my i1DisplayPro colorimeter, it achieved a hugely impressive 95%, which makes the XPS 15 a great option for photo editors who require spot-on accuracy,
The vibrancy of the display is exaggerated by Dell’s PremierColor app, found lurking in the System Tray when you boot up the machine. Each of its six presets correspond to an activity you may be doing on the machine – from watching movies (Cinema – DCI-P3) to designing websites (Internet – sRGB), working with video (Rec.709/Rec.601) and editing images (Photo – Adobe RGB). I didn’t see any reason to switch from the default ‘Vibrant’ setting, which produces deep blacks, colours that “pop”, and bright, natural whites.
The XPS 15’s superb colors are complemented by its high pixel density. At 282.4 ppi (pixels per inch), it’s sharper than the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina (220 ppi) and the Surface Book (267 ppi) while matching the Asus UX501 (282 ppi), which also comes with a 4K display.
Having such a pixel-packed display brings the benefit of highly legible text, smooth lines on menus, crisp icons and massively detailed photos. Navigating archives to find a new desktop wallpaper suddenly becomes an enjoyable (and regular) task.
The XPS 15 ships with Windows 10‘s scaling set to 250%, which shifts the balance too far toward legibility, versus room on the desktop. Adjusting the slider to 200% gives you the same amount of space as a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution monitor without making a noticeable dent in clarity. If you’re used to working with large spreadsheets, editing 4K video and undertaking other tasks that require a roomy working area, setting the scaling to 125% lets you squeeze in more rows and toolbars without making fonts and icons too small to make out.
The downside is that some Windows applications still aren’t optimized for high-resolution displays, so you’ll inevitably end up with tiny or huge icons and fuzzy images in applications that haven’t been updated to take advantage of the extra pixels. You’ll occasionally come across apps, such as Evernote, that don’t even render fonts correctly at scaled resolutions. The good news is that developers are updating their apps to support scaled resolutions in much greater numbers than they were before Windows 10 came along.
Specifications and value
The XPS 15 might be more compact than other 15-inch laptops, but it’s equally as weighty as some of them. Weighing 4.58 pounds (2kg) for the 4K version, it’s a pound (0.4kg) heavier than both the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina and the Surface Book. The 15-inch Asus UX501, on the other hand, is half a pound (0.2kg) heavier.
While it’s worth noting that the 1080p version of the XPS 15 weighs a more palatable 3.9 pounds (1.8kg), the Dell’s forward-thinking design and its grippable materials mean that the extra weight shouldn’t be a deciding factor in your choice. If it’s too heavy for you, you’re probably better off with a 13-inch laptop.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why Dell made the XPS 13 with an InfinityEdge display before the XPS 15. Small laptops never go out of fashion – you only have to look at the 12-inch MacBook for evidence of that.
However, I couldn’t help but think that the 15-inch laptop segment was in greater need of a laptop built with a compact chassis. As the specs show, the XPS 15 has the smallest footprint of them all.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina puts up an admirable fight, and is only marginally less compact than the XPS 15, measuring 35.89 x 24.71 x 1.8cm, or 14.1 x 9.72 x 0.7 inches (W x D x H) versus the 35.7 x 23.5 x 1.7cm, or 14 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches of Dell’s machine. The UX501 is a comparable bloater and more typical of 15-inch laptops, measuring 38.3 x 25.3 x 3.23cm, or 15 x 10 x 1.2 inches.
While narrower than the MacBook and XPS 15, the 13-inch Surface Book is equally as long due to its 3:2 aspect ratio display. It’s also taller due to its convertible design, measuring 32.2 x 23.2 x 2.3cm, or 12.7 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches.
Spec sheet
- CPU: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 6700HQ (quad-core, 6MB cache, up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost)
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M (with 2GB GDDR5)
- RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 (2,133MHz; (8GBx2)
- Screen: 15.6-inch, 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) InfinityEdge touch
- Storage: 512GB PCIe SSDSolid State Drive
- Ports: HDMI, USB 3.0 (x2) with PowerShare; Headset Jack (1); SD card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC); Kensington Lock slot; Thunderbolt 3(1)
- Connectivity: DW1820 3×3 802.11ac 2.4/5GHz + Bluetooth 4.1
- Camera: Widescreen HD (720p) webcam with dual array digital microphone
- Weight: 4.4 poundslbs
- Size: 35.7 x 23.5 x 1.7cm (W x D x H)
Dell usually aims to get everybody into the party when it comes to its consumer-focused line of XPS devices, and the XPS 15 is no different. The lowest of the four configurations comes with a 1TB spinning hard drive, 8GB of RAM and a 1080p display for £1,099 (US$999.99, or AU$1,410), undercutting its main rival, Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina, by £500 (US$500, or AU$706).
Maxing the XPS 15 out fetches you a 512GB SSD, 16GB of RAM and a 4K display for £1,889 ($1,779.99, or AU$2,512). That’s just £100 ($120, or AU$169) less than Apple’s similarly-specced machine, and it makes for a much fairer fight.
Of course, the gulf in cost between the top and bottom configurations will have an impact on the overall experience. The entry-level XPS 15 is slower, but the larger capacity hard disk and 1080p display arguably make it a better fit for gamers, who will spend less time on the desktop. If you’re more concerned with editing high-resolution videos, streaming 4K video and working with text documents and spreadsheets, in addition to gaming, only the 4K version should be considered.
All configurations feature the same healthy selection of ports, including two USB 3.0 ports and a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port, which allows you to take advantage of USB-C peripherals – from power banks to monitors and even external graphics card enclosures, such as the Razer Core. Touted as the “one port to rule them all,” USB-C holds massive promise but is currently limited by the number of supported peripherals out there.
Performance and benchmarks
The XPS 15 is loaded with high-quality components, including Intel’s latest sixth-generation Skylake processor and an Nvidia GTX 960M GPU. That dedicated graphics chip places the XPS 15 in unusual territory.
Dell isn’t marketing the XPS 15 as a gaming device, but it’s powerful enough to handle most modern titles on high graphics settings with the resolution set to 1,920 x 1,080. Again, it’s here that the XPS 15’s color-rich, accurate display really shines.
Whether I was smashing skulls against Mortal Kombat X’s vibrant and detailed backdrops, driving around the streets of Los Santos in GTA V or playing a frenzied match in Rocket League, I was constantly in awe of just how the display brought the game’s colors to life. Where the XPS 15 managed to run games at the golden 60 frames per second (fps) mark with the graphical details ramped up, it was the best experience I’ve ever had on a 1080p laptop, period.
And when it didn’t hit 60 fps? Not so good.
The 960M sits pretty as a mid-range mobile GPU in Nvidia’s lineup, and its limiting 2GB of virtual memory means it’s ill-equipped to handle texture heavy games, such as Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3, without suffering serious frame rate dips in busy scenes. In Fallout, for example, I had to lower the resolution to 1,366 x 768 and the graphical details to minimum to hit a consistent 60fps.
If that sort of experience is likely to frustrate you, skip the XPS 15 and hunt down a gaming laptop with a GTX 970M, the Aorus X3 Plus v3, which has a similarly sleek chassis, thin display bezels and a whopping 6GB of video memory for roughly the same cost.
Benchmarks
Here’s how the Dell XPS 15 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
- 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 16,942; Sky Diver: 12,541; Fire Strike: 3,930
- Cinebench R15 CPU: 679cb; Graphics: 69.46 fps
- GeekBench: 3,248 (single-core); 12,449 (multi-core)
- PCMark 8 (Home Test): 3,424 points
- PCMark 8 Battery Life: 1 hour and 52 minutes
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (1080p, Ultra): 298.66 fps; (1080p, Low): 66.13 fps
- Metro: Last Light (1080p, Ultra): 58 fps; (1080p, Low): 118 fps
Let’s remind ourselves of how Dell’s XPS 15 from 2015 fared. The older model features a fourth-generation Intel Core i7-4712HQ Haswell processor, clocked at 3.3GHz, and an Nvidia GeForce GT750M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory.
- 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 10,408; Sky Diver: 6,866; Fire Strike: 2,060
- Cinebench R15 CPU: 595cb points; Graphics: 72.05 fps
- PCMark 8 (Home Test): 2,571 points
- PCMark 8 Battery Life balanced 50% screen: 3 hours 30 mins
Unsurprisingly, the new XPS 15 beats last year’s incarnation in every area, notching a 29% higher score in PCMark 8’s Home Test and 13% higher in Cinebench R15’s CPU test. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ Skylake chip inside has a thermal design power rating (TDP) of 45 Watts and is one of the beefiest processors around.
As expected, it outperforms the fourth-generation Intel Core i7-4720HQ Haswell chip in the Asus UX501, achieving a 28% higher score in PCMark 8’s Home Test. It also easily beats the dual-core i5-6300U processor in the Surface Book, achieving a 38% higher score in same the benchmark.
Processor performance is identical to gaming laptops, such as the Origin EVO15-S, which feature the same CPU. Origin’s machine scored 3,416 points, versus the XPS 15’s 3,424 points. If you regularly edit video, work with complex spreadsheets or 3D rendering programs, the XPS 15 offers the most processing grunt available in a machine with a compact chassis.
It all adds up to a laptop that excels at everyday computing tasks, whether that’s surfing the internet with 30 or more tabs open in multiple browsers, editing big image or video files, typing up documents in Office 2016 or streaming content in Ultra HD. Having 16GB of RAM under the hood, along with a fast 512GB SSD, means you never have to wait for apps to open or endure long loading times when playing games.
Longevity is lacking
The one area where the XPS 15 performs badly is battery life, and even a Skylake chip inside can’t do much to prevent the laptop’s bright 4K display from draining power quickly. The XPS 15 lasted for just 1 hour and 52 minutes in PCMark 8’s punishing battery life test, which is what you can expect when you’re pushing the machine to its limits.
It fared much better under real world use – typing up documents, watching YouTube videos and occasional bouts of Battlefield 4 and Rocket League – lasting around 3 hours and 30 minutes with the brightness lowered to 75%. Even so, it doesn’t make the XPS 15 a laptop you’ll want to take on a trip if power sockets will be in short supply.
Nixing the number pad
Sorry, accountants: Dell has spaced out the XPS 15’s chiclet-style keys to kept the keyboard’s layout centred, leaving no room for a number pad. The keyboard’s response is underwhelming due to its low amount of key travel, so if you’re expecting a greater amount of tactile feedback then prepare for disappointment.
Though fine for general use, this keyboard lacks the tactile and comfortable typing action that you’ll find on other devices, such as Dell’s own XPS 12 and the Lenovo Yoga 260. The next XPS 15 has to address this if it wants to be taken seriously as a productivity machine.
I had a brief problem with the XPS15’s space bar, which suffers from an irritating squeaking sound. In one instance, it came stuck and refused to pop back out again, something that was eventually fixed by pressing down on it harder. I’ve also been unsuccessful in my attempts to keep the keyboard backlight to remain on permanently, despite pressing the appropriate function key combination and setting it in the BIOS to remain on. Dell is currently investigating whether that’s a one-off issue related to my product sample.
Trackpad and tweeters
The XPS 15’s roomy clickpad is the best I’ve ever used on a Windows laptop, and is almost as smooth and responsive to use as the ones Apple uses on its MacBooks. It’s even possible to use three-finger gestures smoothly in Windows 10. The experience isn’t quite as fluid as what you’ll get on OS X El Capitan (palm rejection is worse for a start), but Microsoft and its partners are catching up in this area.
But the XPS 15’s speakers are disappointing, to put it mildly. Dell made the strange decision of placing the laptop’s two stereo speakers on the underside of the machine, making the already muddy tones even more difficult to make out.
Dell attempts to gloss over the XPS 15’s poor speakers using the Waves MaxxAudio app, which artificially enhances the sound by manipulating bass, mid-range and treble tones through a software equalizer to poor effect. When the speakers on Apple’s 12-inch MacBook outshine those on a much thicker 15-inch laptop, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
Verdict
The Dell XPS 15 ranks among the best 15-inch laptops money can buy, but it’s not without its problems. Its space-saving design and great performance all add up to a machine that feels like a capable desktop PC and a great 4K monitor rolled into one.
If you’re mainly going to be using this notebook away from a wall socket, however, it’s a poor choice. Neither is it appropriate if you want to stay on the cutting edge of laptop tech for the next few years.
We liked
The XPS 15’s combination of an eyeball-pleasing, accurate 4K display, compact dimensions and powerful processor makes it one of the most attractive workstations on the planet. So long as you’re near a wall outlet, you’ve got a machine that’s primed for any task: from productivity work to entertainment to gaming.
The XPS 15 has enough grunt for 1080p gaming, and any titles that it can run at 60 fps benefit from the display’s shimmering color saturation and vibrancy. For once, you won’t mind using the XPS 15 in the absence of a mouse. With a smooth gliding action, it has one of the best clickpads on a Windows machine. Combined with the touchscreen, you’ve got two solid input methods to help you pick out menu icons and toolbars.
We disliked
Poor battery life is the main drawback to the XPS 15: you simply can’t rely on it for long when using its internal battery. You can lower the brightness to eke out a longer runtime from the battery, but you won’t get the full benefit of its gorgeous high-resolution display.
The XPS 15’s keyboard fails to enhance its reputation as a machine geared for productivity. It’s serviceable, but if you’re an ardent typist who appreciates a certain amount of key travel, you’re unlikely to be impressed.
Its speakers tell a similar story, producing sound that’s plenty loud but suffers from a distinct lack of clarity. Don’t expect the XPS 15 to run tomorrow’s demanding games, because it tends to struggle with some of today’s demanding titles at 1080p due to its GPU’s limiting 2GB of video memory.
Final verdict
If you’re itching to get your hands on the most compact and powerful workstation around, the XPS 15 is a great choice. It will take some time for a display to best its pixel-packed 4K panel, and the strength of its Skylake processor should see you good for at least a few years.
Its Thunderbolt 3-powered USB-C port offers further future-proofing, though it will be some time before you can take full advantage of it due to a lack of supported accessories today. At the same time, the XPS 15 lives for the moment.
This laptop can play just about every modern game in 1080p, but will struggle to power tomorrow’s titles with the graphical details dialled up. You could take it to a coffee shop and watch a full-length 4K movie in glorious 4K with the brightness lowered, but you’d have to hunt down a power socket straight after.
Compromise is at the heart of the XPS 15, and if you’re prepared to make it, you’ll net yourself of one of the best 4K laptops around.
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I would pay up to $5000
The sound isn't bad, but it does suffer a bit from the fact that the speakers are on the bottom of the laptop. So if you're using the laptop on your lap, where your legs are blocking the speakers, the sound will come out a bit muffled.
Also, by default "speaker enhancement" will be turned on in the Dell audio settings app when you get the laptop. It doesn't really enhance anything in my opinion. Turning that off makes the sound cleaner.
Jumps, not Jumped
I just returned a 9550 Dell XPS 15 – I got my first Mac – an Air – about 2 years ago and thought that the XPS would be a cheaper and quicker way to get the powerhouse laptop that I wanted. After 15 years of Windows computers and laptops including an XPS desktop, building my own Windows desktops and reading many 3rd party reviews which put the XPS 9550 on the top of their list – I thought that it would be a surefire choice to return to Windows w/ the XPS 15.
A lot of things were very nice about it – the compact size for a 15", the build quality and materials, it was zippy, the screen looked awesome watching 4k content*…
As I set it up and tested it – watched YouTube videos etc – a few things really just made me want to return it and wait for the 2016 Macbook Pro:
1 – Sound. The sound was awful compared to my Air. Dell – There are many sound settings and while changing to the correct one for the type of content greatly improved it – it never sounded good – always too much bass or artificial sounding. I tried changing the sound presets, turning off the maxxsense software, modifying the presets and turning on the various equalizer settings – nothing sounded great. Air — you can play a show, song or dialogue over it and without having to change any setting – it always sounds very clear and natural.
2 – Dead Pixels. *The screen had a big ole nasty dead pixel on it – whenever the screen went dark playing a movie, show or anything – it stuck out plain as day – a very bright white dot like a star in the night sky. When I get a $400 4k screen on a laptop, I expect it to be perfect. Yes, I'm sure I could have gotten a replacement or had the screen swapped out but reading some threads, I saw that dead pixels are a pretty prevalent problem – I didn't want to mess with attempting multiple times to get a screen that was flawless (or wind up with one that wasn't and miss my window to return).
3 – Windows. As I got into the arrival maintenance updating the OS, drivers etc – I rerealized what a pain in the butt it is to keep a Windows machine running. To update the drivers you have to individually dl and install each one from dell, a separate utility for windows updates, always have to keep virus software running. Then I had flashbacks of my PC days before the Air – numerous viruses, having to reinstall the system every 6 months because of some OS problem. With the Air – you open the App store > Updates > Update All and downloads then updates everything in one step – the drivers, OS updates, software updates. I will say that resetting the XPS and reinstalling windows was a much more pleasant experience than in the past – restore > stick in the the usb and it runs for a couple hours (if you want to flush the entire drive of original content) and then its ready to go. Still doesn't beat the Mac where you can do the same thing but it doesn't need a USB drive – it will pull it all from the internet. Also, the new Windows is a bit all over the place – there are different settings for the same thing in different places.
4 – Dell! I tried to order this laptop from Dell which was a nightmare – I ordered it – took 3 weeks to be built – on the day it was supposed to ship – they somehow 'canceled the order in error' and created a new one with another 3 week time. I think they just screwed up somebodys order and decided to give them mine. Anyways – I went through numerous chats and phone calls – went through 3 contacts who said I was contacting the wrong department (i was directed to each of them from the previous) then on the final contact I spent 4 hours on hold trying to reach them to resolve the order issue and could never get linked with a person. Also, on the new order they created – a specific person contacted me saying they didn't have the proper card information to process the order (probably cause they needed the CCV again) – I called and emailed that person And her secondary contact and manager and didn't get a single response back over a few days. So I cancelled and ordered through Microsoft store who gave me the same machine with an upgraded 512 ssd for less – shipped it to me in 2 days. Anyways – the point is that I never want to deal with Dell support again like if I had to go through them for 1 year warranty.
4 – Trackpad. The trackpad navigation is far from the fluid experience of the Mac and any other windows laptop. Single tap selections on items was a hit or miss – with the first tap failing, I found myself having to make a 2nd one finger tap Many times to get it to register the selection I wanted. The two finger scroll was erratic & jumpy in many applications like Outlook/Hangouts and would always have a delay upon trying to use in anything. I researched the delay – modified certain items which people said resolved it (no delay on taps, increase cursor speed, update trackpad drivers) but that didn't fully repair it. I also have grown very accustomed to the three finger drag on the Mac
5 – Misc. A few small things bugged me about the XPS. The lid is kind of a pain to open – very tight and with no finger lip. The camera is in a pretty crappy spot – it works if you are in a position such that you can bend the screen far back but if you're laying or slouching down and using the keyboard – they'll be in the view. Trying to create a windows profile picture was fun as you have to click on the trackpad to take it – ended up having to tilt the computer back in a weird way to capture a mugshot w/out a hand in it. The fan exhaust and the speakers are on the bottom so if you're like me and like to lay it across your chest, lap or on a bed – the fabric is going to block the airflow and muffle the speakers making it sound even worse.
It was really just a mixture of things that made the XPS 15 very unappealing – at least for a Mac user. If you're used to Windows laptops – I think it might be a good choice assuming that you get a flawless screen since so many 3rd party reviewers name it (the 13") the #1 windows machine. I'll just assume that the sound is okay compared to other Window laptops and the amazing sound on a Mac is just an anomaly. My last HP laptop had even crappier sound… I would suggest that you get it through the Microsoft Store with their 2 year complete care to avoid contact with Dell as much as possible.
I was a bit disappointed in other reviews to find the audio quality isn't the best. That use to be a trademark of the previous XPS 15. The solid loud sound quality. Is this true. Is the sound quality on this new XPS worse than the previous gen?
When can we expect a full review? I am interested in how quiet it runs
If only that screen was OLED, what a shame.
I don't think may people would be willing to pay the $2000 price premium.
Yeah, that's what it means. The resolution is double that of 1920×1080, but with 200% scaling, all of the UI elements will also be scaled up to double the size, so everything ends up being the same physical size as it would be on a 1080p laptop at regular scale. They'll just be more crisp-looking because of the smaller pixels.
Obviously the scale is adjustable, so if you want to go with smaller UI elements you can lower the scale and get more effective screen space at the cost of everything being smaller.
If you're really worried and the warranty hasn't expired you can get still buy an extended warranty if it really worries you.
I bought a dell xps 15, it worked fine for a year or so. Now it's starting to have problems as it gets close to warranty expiration. It will not turn back on after shut down or sleep. They sent a technician to change the motherboard which fixed it for a while. But the problem returned a second time. It's very frustrating. I will need to wait for the technician to come fix it. It's an expensive machine and I expect it to be reliable and dependable. If I knew it has this problem I would have bought another machine. Don't buy dell. It's a piece of crap.
We are seeking units for our road warriors and like the new 15"XPS – however we have find it confsuing that laptops with 4k (or high res screens) have to zoom or increase display size to see icons and text clearly (not tiny). Also it seems that these high res screens show less information than std hd versions after beng zoomed in. Ibelieve that is why many reccommended the xps13 units with std hd and not 4k.
Your comment "which offers a pixel-resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. That means that with even with Windows scaling set to 200%, which makes fonts look incredibly crisp, you still get the same amount of space on the desktop as a 1080p monitor."
Does this mean that if you placed the xps 15 with 4k next to the nontouch 1920×1080 version the screen would look the same – ie same size/real estate showing?
To anyone who is looking at getting this laptop be warned I have had my top speck model for two weeks and in that time the charging port, screen and mother bord have gone, and have to be replaced. The device looks amazing and seems to be but sadly build quallity is poor at best
I would wate for a while untille Dell fix thiese issues with the laptop
I actually have gotten used to the XPS15 keyboard and have come to appreciate it. While it does have very shallow key travel, it's fairly accurate and doesn't have any noticeable issues with high-speed typing like previous laptops I've owned – I type somewhere around the ~100 WPM range. The same can't be said for other laptops that I've owned in the past.
To be fair, this is my first new laptop since 2011. So it may be partially a case of not having overly high expectations relative to where cutting-edge laptops are at in 2015, but I've been really impressed with the XPS15 so far.
For what it is, it's relatively thin and light. I've always preferred the 15.6" screen size for productivity, but the 13" size chassis is better for portability. This laptop offers both.
The precision touchpad is great – I typically have hated touchpads in general, but with a few settings tweaks to prevent accidental clicks while typing, this one is good enough that I don't really have any desire to plug in a mouse.