Dell XPS 15 Touch (950)

Introduction
The Dell XPS 15 Touch Screen laptop (9530, Haswell Edition) was first released in October
2013, is a high-end, premium-class and very potent multimedia notebook. It is the fourth
generation XPS 15, which has taken many of the design elements of the Ivy Bridge Edition XPS
15 but fixes the cooling/throttling, adds a Haswell CPU and an updated 750M NVIDIA GPU,
ditches the optical drive, and on the higher-end SKUs you get an ultra-high resolution
3200x1800 display. Buyers looking for notebooks in this category expect a perfect design,
superior build quality, and lots of power, use it as Windows-based alternative to Apple MacBook
Pro 15. The XPS 15 ships with Windows 8.1 and carries a one-year on-site warranty. Worth
mention is that there are three different models of the new XPS 15 available right now. The base
model XPS 15 comes with a 1920x1080 touchscreen display (it’s not clear if this is a TN panel
or not), 500GB HDD with 32GB SSD cache, dual-core i5-4200H CPU, 8GB RAM, integrated
HD 4400 Graphics, and a 61Wh battery for $1500 (or a 3-year warranty for $1750). Stepping up
to the $1950 XPS 15 will get you the quad-core i7-4702HQ CPU, 3200x1800 PPS (similar to
IPS) touchscreen, 16GB RAM, GT 750M GDDR5 GPU, a 1TB HDD with 32GB SSD cache,
and a 61Wh battery. The high end $2350 edition is mostly the same as the $1950 model but it
dumps HDD storage completely in favor of a 512GB mSATA SSD and adds a larger 91Wh
battery in place of the 2.5” drive. The 2015 update includes an 15.6-inch UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra
HD (3840 x 2160) touch display. The system's QHD+ screen has 10-point touch, and responds
well to standard Windows 8.1 swipes and commands. Edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass NBT covers
the screen. The chiclet-keys of backlight keyboard are matte black and feature a slightly concave
surface area. The 9530 has been criticized for the instability of 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Currently this
model has an issue with respect to an annoying electrical/hissing noise called 'Coil Whine'. The
problem has been reported by a lot of customers on the Dell community forums.
Specification

PROCESSOR
4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4712HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 8.1 64-Bit English

MEMORY
16GB DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2)

HARD DRIVE
512GB Solid State Drive

VIDEO CARD
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 750M 2GB GDDR5

DISPLAY
15.6-inch UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) touch display
WIRELESS
802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 2x2
PRIMARY BATTERY
91 WHr, 6-Cell Battery (integrated)

SECURITY SOFTWARE
McAfee LiveSafe 12 Month Subscription

SUPPORT
2 Year Premium Support

DIMENSION
Height: 0.3"-0.7" (8 -18mm) x Width: 14.6" (372mm) x Depth 10" (254mm)
Weight: Starting at 4.44lbs (2.01kg)
BATTERY LIFE
Up to 11 hours of battery life

PORTS
USB 3.0 w/PowerShare (3)
USB 2.0 with PowerShare (1)
Mini DisplayPort (1)
HDMI (1)
3-in-1 media card reader supporting SD, SDIO, SDXC
Headset jack (1)
Noble lock

CHASIS
Exterior Chassis Materials
Machined aluminum
Carbon fiber composite base
Edge-to-edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ display
Silicone palmrest

Keyboard
Full size, backlit chiclet keyboard

Touchpad
Glass integrated button touchpad

Touch Screen
Features and Design
Visionary detail
The XPS 15 combines jaw-dropping resolution and vibrant color in a large 15.6" touch display.
Its crisp, sharp detail and rich color is perfect for editing photos and graphic design with Full HD
or the optional UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160). It’s bright with a wide viewing angle,
so you can easily share your eye-catching display.

Dazzling Screen

The XPS 15 uses the latest in display technology, with an available IGZO2 panel in stunning
UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160). With over eight million pixels, it’s seven times the
resolution of standard HD, four times that of Full HD and over 3 million more pixels than the
MacBook Pro 15 with Retina display. With such high resolution, you can zoom in for great detail
when editing pictures and video or see more rows and columns in your excel spreadsheet to
enhance productivity.

Light it up: The bright display (400-nit) is easy to see indoors or outside and it’s 100% brighter
than the typical laptop panel (200-nit). The 160-degree wide viewing angle makes it easy to see
photos and videos from almost any angle.
Vibrant color: With a high color gamut of 72% and a 1000:1 contrast ratio (typical), the whitest
white is 1000 times brighter than the blackest black and more colors are represented for a better
experience when working with graphics and color. Colors are rich, saturated and bold.

Stunning strength
Thin and light: The sleek design – starting at less than 4.44lbs/2.01kg8 and 0.3”- 0.7”/8 - 18mm
thin – maximizes your mobility.

Tough stuff: The machined aluminum construction is precision cut from a single block of
aluminum for a sturdy, durable chassis.

Cool under pressure: The carbon fiber base is strong and thin like aluminum (which is why it is
often used in high-performance cars) while also being lighter and cooler to the touch.

Resists life’s “oops” moments: The edge-to-edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ display is
up to 10 times more scratch resistant than soda lime glass, so it helps prevent scuffs caused by
handling, cleaning or wiping.

Powerhouse performance
The XPS 15 is the most powerful XPS laptop ever. It’s packed with performance features to help
you stay productive and entertained, wherever you go.

Get more done: Up to 4th Gen Intel® Core™ processors (Quad Core™ i7) are powerful and
power-efficient, letting you do more and plug in less.
Navigate smoothly: Windows 8.1, designed for a more responsive touch experience, helps you
interact naturally with your content.

Boost your performance: Game faster and see even richer graphics with the optional NVIDIA®
GeForce GT 750 2GB graphics (up to 50% faster than last year’s GeForce GT 650M).

Maximum performance
Keep going: Power through a long day with up to 11 hours of battery life. Plus, use your XPS 15
to charge your other mobile devices even when it’s off.

Maximum Storage and Responsiveness: Find plenty of room for file storage with a 1TB hard
drive plus an mSATA solid-state drive (SSD). Boot and resume. in seconds with SSD and Intel®
Rapid Start technology and get fast access to your favorite multimedia and applications thanks to
the standard hard drive, SSD and Intel® Smart Response.
Reviews
Reviewed by

Michael A. Prospero
A Review Editor

Michael A. Prospero states that it has a very sharp 4K display with attractive design , strong
performance and has a great audio but the cons is that it runs hot.

“4K displays are relatively rare for TVs, and even more so for notebooks -- which is one of the
reasons Dell's refreshed XPS 15 is so interesting. Its crystal-sharp 15-inch touch screen is a
delight for video and photo editors. But, more important, the XPS 15 ($2,549 as configured;
starting at $1,599) has the muscle to back it up: a Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT
750M graphics. And it's encased in a lovely aluminum and carbon-fiber shell, making it as -- if
not more -- attractive than the MacBook Pro with Retina display. But is it worth it to spend more
than $2K on 4K?”

Design
Similar to the MacBook Pro, the XPS 13's lid is made of aluminum but has a darker finish than
Apple's machine. Unlike the smaller XPS 13, which now has an aluminum lid and undercarriage,
the bottom of the XPS 15 remains carbon fiber. Two ridges run parallel to each other across the
width of the bottom, elevating it from the surface of a table or your lap.

“ I really like the soft-touch keyboard deck, which felt extremely comfortable on my wrists. “
I really like that the all-black keyboard deck is coated in a soft-touch finish. It felt extremely
comfortable on my wrists. The polished stainless-steel trim along the edges is a nice aesthetic
touch, too.

In all, the Dell is more interesting to look at than the MacBook Pro, whose monolithic all-
aluminum design, while attractive, is starting to wear on me.
The Dell XPS 15 has a slightly larger footprint than Apple's notebook and, at 4.6 pounds, is
slightly heavier than the 4.4-pound MacBook Pro. Still, it's lighter than the mostly plastic -- and
pedestrian -- 4.8-pound.

Display
Packing a quad-HD (3840 x 2160-pixel) touch-screen display, the XPS 15 is one of the sharpest
screens you'll find on a notebook. The MacBook Pro with Retina display is no slouch, but it has
a lower, 2880 x 1800p resolution.
In terms of brightness and gamut, the XPS 15 and the MacBook Pro are pretty evenly matched.
The Dell's display rings in at 320 nits, while Apple's is 317 nits. The Acer V15 came in at a
much lower 212 nits.

Likewise, the Dell and the Mac can reproduce 88.3 and 89.8 percent of the sRGB spectrum,
respectively. (The Acer scored a near-perfect 97.8 percent.) Where Apple pulls ahead is
accuracy: Its Delta-E score of 1.4 is near-perfect, and much better than the XPS 15's score of 7.2.

Keyboard And Touchpad

You'll get a near desktoplike experience when typing on the XPS 15's large keyboard. The keys
are well spaced, and the caps have a nice concave shape that cups your fingertips. The keys have
a fairly deep travel of 1.6 mm, and require 63 grams of force to press.

On the 10FastFingers typing test, I averaged about 60 words per minute on the Dell, which is
close to my desktop score of 60 wpm. Still, I preferred the snappier action on the MacBook Pro's
keys; as a result, I averaged about 66 wpm on the MacBook Pro.

The XPS 15's spacious 4.1 x 3.1-inch touchpad has the same finish as the rest of the deck.
Executing Windows 8 gestures and two-finger scrolling was smooth for the most part. There
were several instances, though, where, instead of scrolling down a page, the cursor would select
icons or text. The soft-touch finish -- similar to that on the rest of the keyboard deck -- didn't feel
as comfortable here, and made for slightly less-accurate navigation compared to what I
defined.experienced with the MacBook Pro's touchpad.

Ports And Webcam

On the left side of the XPS 15 are two USB 3.0 ports, a mini DisplayPort, an HDMI port, and
headphone and power jacks. Over on the right are two more USB 3.0 ports and an SD card
reader. It's a nice assortment.

The XPS 15's webcam delivered bright images, but they had a bit of visual noise, which
degraded sharpness.
Why Dell XPS 15 considered as one of the best laptop?

The XPS 15's 512GB SSD was fast, duplicating 5GB of multimedia files in 33 seconds -- more
than a minute faster than average. Again, though, the Dell was trumped by the MacBook Pro's
PCIe-based flash storage (18 seconds), as well as the Acer's more conventional 256GB SSD and
1TB HDD combo (25 seconds).

Similarly, the XPS 15 matched 20,000 names and addresses in OpenOffice in 4 minutes and 9
seconds, which is also more than a minute faster than the average but slower than its closest
competitors. The Acer was a few seconds faster (3:55), while the Mac was a minute faster (3:04).

Graphics

The Nvidia GeForce GT 750M processor and 2GB of vRAM in the XPS 15 are strong enough
for video editing as well as high-end games, albeit with the settings turned down.

Heat

One of the few areas where the XPS 15 could improve is heat dissipation. After it played a Hulu
video at full screen for 15 minutes, the underside of the notebook hit 114 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's nearly 20 degrees hotter than what we consider acceptable. The space between the G and
H keys was also too warm, at 100 degrees. Only the touchpad, at 77 degrees, was cooler than our
threshold.

Battery Life

Although the configuration has a 91-watt-hour battery -- larger than the 61-Wh batteries in all
other configurations of the XPS 15 -- the review unit lasted 6 hours and 59 minutes on the
Laptop Mag Battery Test.

Configurations

Dell offers four configurations of the XPS 15. The least-expensive one starts at $1,599; for that,
you get an Intel Core i5-4200H processor; 8GB of RAM; a 1TB, 5400-rpm hard drive; a 32GB
SSD; and a 1080p touch-screen display with Intel HD 4600 graphics.

The cheapest model with a 4K display -- if you can call it "cheap" -- will run you $2,149. You
also get an Intel Core i7-4712HQ processor, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce 750M GPU
with 2GB of memory.

Ours was the splurge config. At $2,549, this model includes a 512GB SSD and a 91-Wh battery
that's larger than the 61-Wh batteries in the other configurations. This makes the notebook
slightly heavier, but the design is unaffected.

By comparison, the MacBook Pro costs $2,499, and has a 2.5-GHz Intel Core i7 processor,
512GB PCIe-based flash storage, 16GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics with
2GB of vRAM.

Performance

It's not just the XPS 15's screen that impresses. Inside the notebook was a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i7-
4712HQ processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive. I had no trouble playing
videos, running scans and browsing the Web simultaneously on this machine, but in our
performance tests, it fell a bit short of the competition

Bottom Line

Dell's consumer notebooks have really impressed us over the last year, and the XPS 15 is further
proof. It has a gorgeous design, an impressive 4K display, and more than enough performance for
photo and video editors. My only concern is the amount of heat it kicks out, so you'll want to keep
it on a desk, rather than on your lap. Although the XPS 15 costs $50 more than a similarly
configured MacBook Pro with Retina display, the premium is worth it for the higher-resolution
touch screen.
 Project in ITE

Project in ITE
Submitted by: Paulette Grace A. Britanico

II-BSA