The XPS 15z impressed us with its battery life too. The battery is non-removable, something we’re seeing more and more of these days, but the system ticked along for 6hrs 13mins in our light-use test, a good hour or two more than we were expecting. That was using Intel’s built-in HD Graphics 3000, though: switching to our heavy-use test caused the Nvidia GPU to automatically kick in, pulling Dell V79YO battery life down to just 1hr 16mins.
Dell claims its latest baby is one of the thinnest laptops 15.4in laptops in the world, and with the exception of the 15in MacBook Pro, we don't know of one that's thinner – certainly not one sporting heavy-duty specifications and an all-metal chassis. Considering these factors, the 15z is quite light, at a mere 2.54kg.
The reason the XPS 15z is still good? It strikes a chord in both design and performance. It’s not meant to be a powerhouse laptop, but rather a well-balanced, all-purpose machine. It can be tricky to find a well-executed machine like this for under $1,000, and the model we tested squeaked under the bar at $999. For the most part, it delivers, with just a couple of quibbles that most users can probably overlook for all that Dell gives in return.
The trouble with most glossy displays, especially those that are geared mostly toward the consumer market, is that they offer far from ideal viewing angles. Unfortunately, the Dell XPS 15z also suffers from this fate, even if it’s not quite as pronounced as the displays on its cheaper Inspiron stablemates.
At this point, a short flashback to the product positioning "heavy business use, light entertainment". This gives hope for a good application performance that even bids a certain amount of reserves for multimedia use in terms of hardware. The XPS 15z's spec sheet appears to have just the right configuration for Dell XPS 15z AC adapter. Dell lists the Intel Core i5-2410M CPU, as well as the higher clocked top chip from the Sandy Bridge dual core range, the Core i7-2620M, as possible processors. Both processors have Intel's Turbo Boost Technology which automatically lifts the processor clock rate up to 2.9, respectively 3.4 GHz when required. Furthermore, two additional threads can be simulated in addition to the two physical processor cores thanks to Hyper Threading. This can supply a decisive speed advantage in multi-core optimized applications.
As you can see in the above table, Dell shipped us the fully upgraded version of the XPS 15z, which is good and bad. On the good side, there’s a nice 1080p display, CPU performance will be better, and the GPU gets twice the memory; there’s also 8GB of system RAM and a very large 750GB 7200RPM hard drive. Also note that all the available configurations other than the base model comes standard with a 2-year warranty and include Office 2010 Home/Student; the base model gets you Office 2010 Starter and a 1-year warranty. So what’s the bad news? The price is 50% higher than the base model, and performance definitely won’t be anywhere near 50% higher. Most of the performance gains will come from the CPU upgrade, which amounts to a 17% average increase in CPU-limited applications.
BatteryEater Pro tends to measure worst case scenarios, in that it doesn't really take into consideration power saving features, instead loading up the system until it dies out. It runs a spinning graphic constantly until the Dell XPS 15z battery dies. We keep our test machines with Wi-Fi on, and screen brightness hovering at 50% for the life of the test.
The XPS 15z's performance is about what you'd expect from a laptop with a midlevel dual-core Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Our review unit scored an impressive 134 on WorldBench 6, and its gaming performance was okay; you can play real modern games, but you'll have to run the more strenuous titles at reduced resolution and settings to maintain a smooth frame rate. Our test unit lasted just over 5 hours on one charge in our battery tests--less than Dell claims, but reasonable for a powerful system with a 15.6-inch screen. We would have expected a better graphics card in a $1500 laptop, however, in place of the pointless doubling of graphics RAM. The entry-level model's price/performance ratio is far more appealing. Audio quality from the built-in speakers was among the best we've seen in this class of laptop.
As the name suggests, the 15z has a 15.6in screen; at its native 1,920x1,080 resolution, text can appear very small. Thankfully, Dell sets the default Windows text size to 125% in the factory, so we could easily read file and folder names straight away. Adding to the incredibly sharp picture is a very bright backlight. It's rated at 300cd/m2 compared with the 200cd/m2 of most laptops. Contrast is also great, but it isn't all good news. Colours were much too vibrant at the default settings and the glossy finish is also highly reflective.
The optical drive, however, does not present much room for upgrade because of limited space. The Dell XPS 15z battery can last for up to 5 hours. As with other Dell machines, it also has the PowerShare feature and this allows users to charge mobile gadgets, even when the device is shut down. The machine is also a bit bigger and heavier compared to the 15-inch Macbook Pro. It is about an inch thick and weighs 5.6 pounds.
Inside the Dell XPS 15z, the PC's keyboard sits in the middle of the chassis and looks great, with curved metallic keys. They don't travel far when hit, but they're firmly set and well separated from each other, which makes typing comfortable. Even better, they glow when used in low light so you aren't squinting to see.
The display hinge is strong and doesn't allow the display to wobble when let go abruptly. Additionally, the display can be opened with one hand which is convenient. I'm not a fan of the physical appearance of the hinge; it's not in sync with the rest of the chassis in terms of color or texture. Overall the XPS 15z is one of the most solid feeling notebooks I've tested in some time.
Clean lines, smooth curves, and vast expanses of beautifully textured metal, cool to the touch -- the MacBook Pro has captivated Apple fans for years, and there's no doubt Dell's trying to capture much of the same charm. From the aluminum chassis to the placement of the speakers, DVD drives and majority of ports... heck, even the tiny arrow key bars on the backlit keyboard and feet on the bottom of the chassis are cribbed from Apple's product.
The 15z also has the graphics chops to take on the most intensive 3D games, thanks to the discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 525M. It cranked out above-average 3DMark 06 (8,610) scores and very good frame rates in Lost Planet 2 (36.4 frames per second, or fps), both at 1,024-by-768 resolution and medium detail settings. Though it wasn't as impressive as the XPS 15 (9,787 in 3DMark 06, 38.2fps in Lost Planet 2) and Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (10,878 in 3DMark 06, 65.7fps in Lost Planet 2), the 15z can hold its own as a gaming laptop. During non-gaming-related tasks, the discrete graphics chip is automatically disabled by an Nvidia feature called Optimus, which lets the Intel integrated graphics take over to optimize battery life.
The new XPS 15z is a fresh start, although it carries over a few touches, such as the inset lid hinges that move the screen slightly closer to the user. Otherwise, this is a sleek metallic box, less than 1 inch thick, and thankfully monochrome, except for some chrome borders around the edge. Yes, it's very thin, but not as thin as the 15-inch MacBook Pro. But honestly, the two are within a hair of each other, so we're willing to call it a tie. Despite the slimness of the body, the Dell Vostro V130 battery still feels sturdy and solid; it's dense, but not too heavy (but it's still heavy enough that you won't want to lug it around every day).
After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes at full screen, the XPS remained fairly cool. The touchpad registered just 82 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 89, and the middle of the underside was 85 degrees. However, after we played World of Warcraft for about 10 minutes, the XPS 15 became noticeably hotter: The bottom near the vents reached 104 degrees, and we could also feel the left side of the keyboard heat up, too.
The USB ports, including one which doubles up as an eSATA port, are all on the left hand side, just like the MacBook Pro. This might not seem like a big issue, but if like this reviewer you should be a left-handed mouse user and have a dongle for the wireless mouse in one of the ports too, you're likely to find yourself knocking into those peripherals on a frequent basis.
The previous XPS might have a slight edge on sound quality; you have to crank the volume closer to full than we prefer to get the full richness of the audio system on the Dell XPS 15z charger but when you do it's impressive. You can hear a huge amount of detail in the mid-range, the treble is clear rather than sharp and there's plenty of bass. The position of the speakers makes for great stereo separation too. We have heard one or two notebooks with even better audio quality (and significantly higher price tags), but you'll really enjoy listening to music on the XPS 15z.
The fast (7200 rpm) hard disk installed in our test device unfortunately has a rather adverse effect on system noise. The HDD's running noise is always present and can even cause a sonorous vibrating on certain surfaces. Our meter never fell below the noise level of 34.6 dB(A), even with a deactivated fan. However, the Dell Vostro 3750 battery would have the potential to be a noiseless device with a silent solid state drive because the fan usually stays completely disabled in idle and office mode. Dell doesn't have an according option available until now, though. Moreover, it seems to be difficult, if not impossible for the user to upgrade it due to the lack of a maintenance cover. In any case, the possible loss of warranty should be clarified in advance.
With its eight-cell Dell V79YO battery, the Dell XPS 15z matched its peers almost exactly on our Battery-Rundown Test. For this test, we loop The Matrix on DVD, with the screen set to 50 percent brightness, until the battery dies. The XPS 15z lasted 3 hours and 47 minutes on our trial, while the Asus K53E-B1 ran 3:45 and the Dell XPS 15 ran 3:38.
The bottom line is that at it's price point, we doubt you'll find a superior 15.6" machine out there right now. Dell has done just about everything right with this one. Plus, it's fast. Really fast in everything save for hardcore gaming. For the vast majority of consumers, it'll do everything they need and more, and look great while doing it. The Dell XPS 15z is great buy, from top to bottom.
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