Dell XPS 14z

craig_coleman · 30 Nov 2011 at 15:57

All,

Has anyone had any experience of this laptop? I have the option of getting a discount on a dell so was wondering if anyone has used one or heard if they are good or not?

Im looking for a portable laptop small and thin but also that has a bit of power under the hood.

Thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

TheHitMan-1973 · 30 Nov 2011 at 16:19

craig_coleman said:
All,

Has anyone had any experience of this laptop? I have the option of getting a discount on a dell so was wondering if anyone has used one or heard if they are good or not?

Im looking for a portable laptop small and thin but also that has a bit of power under the hood.

Thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks

Depends what your budget is , ive seen a few different price ranges of the Dell XPS 14z or look at the DELL XPS 15z

craig_coleman · 30 Nov 2011 at 17:11

I currently have a 15.6" laptop and I find it's just to much to lug around so looking for something more portable but still has good processing power. Budget wise about £1000

TheHitMan-1973 · 30 Nov 2011 at 18:10

craig_coleman said:
I currently have a 15.6" laptop and I find it's just to much to lug around so looking for something more portable but still has good processing power. Budget wise about £1000

14.0" (36cm) HD WLED True-Life W/ETE & Slim Bezel (1366x768) with 1.3 Mega Pixel HD Camera
Intel® Core™ i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M
750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 (2x2 b/g/n+ Bluetooth Combo Card)
Internal Backlit UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard

Total Price £995 including shipping

For going extra £200 you could get Dell XPS 17 with 1920x1080 screen + 3GB GT555 including x 2 500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

shootersam · 30 Nov 2011 at 18:16

TheHitMan-1973 said:
For going extra £200 you could get Dell XPS 17 with 1920x1080 screen + 3GB GT555 including x 2 500GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

Do this, it may be more to lug around, but there will be a noticeable difference.

TheHitMan-1973 · 30 Nov 2011 at 18:22

shootersam said:
Do this, it may be more to lug around, but there will be a noticeable difference.

I lug my XPS 17 around easy , i would recommend the 1920x1080 screen its amazing , i did upgrade from 1600 x 900 well worth it

craig_coleman · 30 Nov 2011 at 19:14

Appreciate your input here. The screen resolution is a bit low but it's portability I need and thats why the XPS 14z seemed the best of both worlds. To me a 17 inch screen is just way to much.

MikeHunt79 · 30 Nov 2011 at 19:22

The 13" Macbook Air is smaller with a higher res screen, 1440x900, it's a little over £1000 however.

craig_coleman · 30 Nov 2011 at 19:54

Yeah the Air has been an option but the issue I have with that is the processor I believe is a lower voltage and I want a full strength processor.

Amp34 · 30 Nov 2011 at 20:03

Sony Z does all you want (full fat processor, 1080p screen and small and light 13" body), however don't look at the price...

craig_coleman · 30 Nov 2011 at 20:07

Amp34...... Yeah way ahead of you there, seen that a little while ago and man it looks nice, but waaaay out of my price range. The only reason I said about te XPS is that it's small enough to be mobile but also I get a 15% discount.

MikeHunt79 · 1 Dec 2011 at 16:38

craig_coleman said:
Yeah the Air has been an option but the issue I have with that is the processor I believe is a lower voltage and I want a full strength processor.

I didn't know that, I guess that's why the battery life is something crazy like 5hours+ on the air then, but then again this could be also be down to the SSD which is used.

In fact the SSD does make them pretty fast I've found, I've tried Ableton on a friends Air and it works pretty well unless you go crazy with the reverb plugins.

craig_coleman · 1 Dec 2011 at 20:01

Yeah a lot of these new ultrabooks all have ULV professors which is how they make them thin, light and good battery. Sadly there are not a huge amount of models out there which are thin good battery and full fat processors.

Domo · 19 Dec 2011 at 15:14

Amp34 said:
Sony Z does all you want (full fat processor, 1080p screen and small and light 13" body), however don't look at the price...

It's an awesome looking piece of kit but I cannot believe the price. The basic model with an i5, 128GB SSD and just 4GB RAM comes in at £1434 (inc. VAT) on Sony's web site.

Think I'll go for the 14z (even with the 'dim' screen according to TechRadar's review).

MumboJumbo · 19 Dec 2011 at 16:09

Samsung chronos 7 series:
15" - 1600x900 matte screen so it's anti glare and can be used outside in the sun
6750m so it plays games fine or go onboard and save some bucks
intel i5
6-8gb of ram
very thin and light, looks like a macbook pro
4-7 hours of battery are commonly claimed
frosted glass mouse pad

Prices from 700-850 from what I've seen depending on if you get 6gb with onboard gpu or discrete with 8gb. I currently have one on order from somewhere with a £40 quid off voucher and 3 years warranty for £900.

It beats the 15z for spec, is lighter and it's dimensions are that of a 14". Only downside is that it's not a 1080p screen and the colours are better on the 15z. But it's also £200 cheaper as a result.

The 9 series is even sexier if you want ultra portability without playing games and with a ssd.

ChrisD. · 19 Dec 2011 at 18:04

Don't know about the 14z but the 15z is pants.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18295818

MikeHunt79 · 19 Dec 2011 at 18:11

craig_coleman said:
Yeah a lot of these new ultrabooks all have ULV professors which is how they make them thin, light and good battery. Sadly there are not a huge amount of models out there which are thin good battery and full fat processors.

Are the ULV processors much slower than the full fat processors?

Or do they cut a few corners with them, eg. less cache, no HT, etc. ?

Dangerous_Dave · 19 Dec 2011 at 20:06

Well I'm enormous (6'6) and I find 15.6" a bit cumbersome when it comes to really moving around with it - or even generally moving around the house. I think that the the new 16:9 screen ratio 14" laptops are a real sweet spot when it comes to size and screen usability: they have the web browsing capability of the smaller 13.3" (because of the lack of height), but you don't need a big screen for that; but they have the movie watching capability of a 15" (because of the extra width), and that's when you do need it.

However, I am not a big fan of Dell at all, and that's as a result of experience of owning four different models: they seem to want to compete with the likes of apple on style without spending the money on quality. What you end up with is laptops that look good but fall apart, or desolder their own graphics chips, bend like a banana under a moderate load, or attempted to brand your knee with the dell logo using their excessive heat, or any combination of the above. My latest Dell, an XPS1530, was apparently the BDSM variant as it gave me frequent electric shocks from the metal casing.

So with the Dells I'd say it may look nice, but it won't be much fun to live with.

MumboJumbo · 19 Dec 2011 at 20:36

Well like I said, the samsung 7 series is a 15" screen in a 14" chassis.

Domo · 19 Dec 2011 at 21:56

Dangerous_Dave said:
My latest Dell, an XPS1530, was apparently the BDSM variant as it gave me frequent electric shocks from the metal casing.

Funny you mention that. When working in IT we deployed Dell6400/6410s and I'd regularly get shocks off the casing. Weirdly, if I'd rest my elbow on one machine while working on another I'd feel a current. Rather unpleasent! Thought it was just me