Dell XPS13 replacement/equivalent?

BenEadir

Hi all,

I won't bore you all with the details but long story short is I've had a Dell XPS13 for a year and when it works it;s a dream. Great size for travelling around, great screen, GREAT keyboard and backlight too whic is a real bonus, great speed and overall the best thing ever including the general look and design despite the stupid fan location/design.

Problem is I'm on my 4th hard drive and it's gone again. For the last few days the fan has randomly started to run at full speed and the cpu at 100% until it gets so hot that it just crashes. I literally watched it do this for 15 minutes a couple of days ago with only a couple of Office applications open and then crash. Dell support aren't interested and all they want to do is replace the hard drive again which means another lost day or more loading programs and data etc. I refused to have the hard drive changed again for the 4th time and in the end they have agreed to give me a full refund of what I paid for the device a year ago but only after I return the device to them.

I've a pain in my bo**ix with Dell I can tell you and don't ever want another one of their machines.

Those of you who know the XPS13 will know what I'm after. Basically a 13" lightweight business laptop which has strong performance, good battery life and a good screen. A backlit keyboard would also be nice as I really like that feature.

Any thoughts on what I should get and where I should get it?

I've toyed with the idea of switching to Macs for a few years but have so many documents and complex spreadhseets created in Windoze that I'm afraid the hassle of switching over would outweigh the benefit. FYI I have a friend in IT who used windows for 20 years and made the switch 2 years ago. He can't believe how much better the whole Mac experience is and his only regret is not switching years earlier. For Wndoze specific applications he runs VM ware or something which allows the Mac to run Windoze applications as though it was a windoze machine? Is that really viable? Would VM ware run the windoze version of Excel in particular?

All thoughts on the best Win 7 machine to get or Mac to get much appreciated. the budget all in inc any new software I can't transfer from my existing machine is €1,500.

Ben

xsiborg

ben your question is far, far too open to be able to pin down any sort of specific laptop for you, let alone whether it be a windows laptop or mac, although for that price you could buy a mac laptop and a copy of windows 7 and dual boot win 7 on the mac. i would ask your friend in IT about this option.

BenEadir

Apologies XSIBORG, let me simplify.

I love the XPS13 but if you couldn't have an XPS13 and wanted a thin and light yet powerful and well built business laptop (windows or mac) with at least a 13 inch (max 15 inch) screen ideally costing no more than €1,500 what would you go for?

Does that narrow it down enough?

Ben
PS I could maybe stretch to €2,000 for something really special I could get 3 years use out if.

xsiborg

would you mean perhaps something like this?

http://store.apple.com/ie/configure/MB991B/A?mco=MTM3NDgxMzg

BenEadir

Yep, that would definetly be a runner.

Any thoughts on a Windows machine to compare it against?

Ben

xsiborg

try this one, seen them in pc world, the whole flip screen into a tablet is nice...

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/HP_TouchSmart_tx2-1340ea_Laptop_-_12.1inch_Touchscreen_VJ667EA/version.asp

BenEadir

Na, don't want a tablet.

Having done a ton of research last night guess what came in as fitting the bill? The dreaded XPS 13:mad:

All other 13" machines seem too lightweight V's its 2.5ghz processor and super screen, backlit keyboard etc.

All of the super thin machines like the Adamo are well sexy etc but all massively compromised via slower processors, crap battery, no CD/DVD drives and fewer connection options etc etc.

I'm truly stumped. Why oh why do I keep coming back to the XPS13 when I know it's just going to let me down for a 5th time.

Alanstrainor

Do you really need a disc drive? I hardly ever use them, and i'd say most people are in the same boat. You could have a usb one for those times that you do need a drive.

xsiborg

im with Alan on this one, I haven't used the cd drive on my netbook in I dont know how long, even loading operating systems from USB key, so much faster and convenient.

for backup have a second 500GB hard drive in my main laptop that i use as a central storage for all my computers, transferring files across the network using the drive as a mapped network drive.

even my netbook i thought when i was buying it would a USB cd drive not be handy? turns out i havent needed it.

AnnaF

What did you go with in the end? Similar problem with the 13'' XPS. Don't really want a dual boot and VMs are annoying if you use a lot of Windows-only based apps. But stil tempted with the Mac.

Dell provided a refund? Did yours just have a faulty drive x 4? Did you escape the overheating graphics card...4 motherboards and 2 screens. I'd be reluctant to go with a Dell again!

I've had a look at some 13'' models - HP and Toshiba, not as light weight or as good a chassis but would be reluctant to shell out as much again. Even had the built in 3G card...

BenEadir

AnnaF,

The honest answer is I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement and I seem to have found a work around to the heating fan and 100% cpu. If you power up on battery power only it never seems to invoke the 100mph fan and 100% cpu!! Mad or what? I've also changed the power options so that the NVIDIA Hybrid SLI options in GPU settings are set to "Save Power (Motherboard GPU)" for both plugged in and battery instead of "Boost Performance (Multiple GPU's)". I know that all sounds a bit mental and I'm probably losing some graphics performance but if it means the machine stops crashing and I get to keep it then bizzare as it sounds I'm probably going to pass up the opportunity for a full refund and a brand new machine.

Does that make any sense to you?

Ben

AnnaF

yeah I tried all those options too but no luck.

What model do you have? Does it have the Nvidia 8400 graphics card? Still problems with overheating and fan in models < 1 yr old. Wow! I wonder how the Studio XPS 13 fairs...

One of the longer Dell threads: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19242368/19372866.aspx?PageIndex=5

How can you be sure a 5th hard drive will resolve the issue? Will you need a 6th in less than 3 months?

AnnaF

Here's a comprehensive review with fan information towards the end. Your reference to energy saving mode is made.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Notebook.14081.0.html

Seems like this is still an issue when the laptop is on for long or doing anything more than light typing.

I know someone with one. Going to take a look at it.

AnnaF

Mmm...more problems:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19258421.aspx