VS MACBOOK PRO OVERVIEW:
There's no question this is Dell's/Windows answer to the MacBook Pro. My wife owns the latest 13.3 in MBP and side by side these look and feel a LOT alike. The hardware specs on this Dell are superior, but my honest assessment is the performance is pretty similar.
While I'm not crazy about the Lion interface, one thing I like about the MBP is that it's quiet, all the time. This Dell is VERY quiet by PC standards, silent most of the time, but if I'm doing a lot at once (videos, graphics, other heavy applications) I will hear the fan. Not bad at all, but noticeable.
If you like the look and feel of the MBP but you're married to Windows, Google, etc, this is probably as good as it gets.
DISPLAY:
It's great. Very bright and crisp. The 1600x900 is better than you'll get on a comparably priced MBP and seeing them side by side, I'll take this one.
KEYBOARD:
Clearly built to be like the MBP. I don't need to look at a keyboard when I type this one feels good, with a caveat: I feel like the keyboard is offset to the right just slightly. Maybe this is just me, but when I place my wrists on the deck, I can easily hit "r" when I mean to hit "t". It's taken me a few days to get used to this. Now that I have, the keyboard performance itself is really nice.
TOUCHPAD/MOUSE:
This is my least favorite thing. Again, maybe it's just me, but I felt like the mouse/cursor movement was slow out of the box. In Control Panel, I adjusted to as fast as possible, and I still think it's just fast enough. Taps and clicks on the touchpad are not as responsive as I would expect. Not terrible, but not great to me. That being said, I don't care for the touchpad on the MBP either, and this is a lot like that one, so maybe it's just me.
PHYSICAL LOOK AND FEEL:
Fantastic.
BATTERY:
On a full charge, my first battery run lasted just over six hours of moderate computing. That's pretty good, I think, but not fantastic. If it gets better, and I expect it will, I'll update.
BOOT/WAKE TIME:
I guess the SSD Dell built into this laptop helps. It's far quicker to respond than other Windows laptops. Don't expect it to be instantaneous though.
OVERALL:
Almost, but not quite, perfect. If you're a Windows/Google user who admires the MBP, this is it.
UPDATE:
First, the more I use this the more comfortable I become, particularly with the keyboard and touchpad.
Second, while another reviewer has claimed this does not have a media card slot, all I can say is, mine does. It's located on the right side of the laptop, and is not immediately obvious because the cover is well-engineered and flush to the body.
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My son is off to his freshman year in college in Sept. I have been waiting for this product from Dell, a MBP killer for the MS Windows World. Similar size as 13" MBP but with a 14" screen. The best laptop processor, Intel 3rd Gen i7, with 8GB of main memory. A combined large hard drive and SSD drive for performance and quick boot times is a great touch. Like the NVIDEA separate graphics with another GB of graphics memory. And long battery life, key for college kids on the go. Thin & light. Purchased and external IOMEGA Super slim USB optical drive inexpensively, for when he really needs it--he can leave this in his room.I dont think you can beat this package, buy it for those that really need a MOBILE computer, yes, a real computer that runs local apps (Photoshop, MS Office) lightning fast! And with plenty of local storage--take all your files with you in one small package. No tablet (iPad, etc) can even be mentioned in the same breath as this machine. There is no comparison. Apple has been outdone, and I love my iPhone and my son is thrilled with his 2nd Gen iPad.
I wish I had one of these, there is more than enough technology to last my son all 4 years of college!
Best Deals for Dell XPS XPS14-10909sLV 14-Inch Ultrabook Laptop (Silver)
Love it! I have had my XPS 14 for about a week now. I originally purchased the XPS 13, but ended up taking it back because I didn't want to spend $1500 on last year's technology. I debated on waiting for Dell to update the XPS 13, but then I decided to go ahead and make the purchase on the XPS 14. By purchasing the XPS 14 I was getting, over the XPS 13, the newest processor, higher resolution and better screen quality, 8 GB of memory, high end display adapter with 1gb of dedicated ram, SD card reader, full size HDMI port, and a built in Ethernet port. In addition to all that I saved $200 over the XPS 13. What you lose is a little size and the 256 GB SSD drive. The SSD is a big deal to me. What is the point of an ultrabook without a SSD? I noted that Amazon carried a Crucial 256 GB SSD designed for ultrabooks for $200. This puts the price equal to the XPS 13, with significantly better hardware on the XPS 14. When I got the XPS 14 I was amazed at how small it was for a 14 inch screen notebook. Replacing the hard drive with the SSD drive was easy. Since the XPS 14 comes with a 32gb SSD designed for caching, which I no longer needed since I was adding a SSD drive I got a bonus of an extra 32 GB of SSD drive space. With the added SSD the computer boots, shuts down, wakes, and sleeps almost instantly. If you are debating on this computer I highly recommend it.Honest reviews on Dell XPS XPS14-10909sLV 14-Inch Ultrabook Laptop (Silver)
I bought the Dell XPS14-10909sLV Ultra book Laptop computer for my daughter to use in college. She uses it to take note during classes, to do her class work, cruise the web, watch videos, and play some games that she likes. Perhaps the battery doesn't last 11 or 12 hour as some of the info in this site stated. The battery lasts a good five hours or so with continues use. She told me that she is pretty happy with it. It doesn't have any optical drive but she hardly use that in her old laptop. She used to have a HP DV-4 Notebook. The problem with that is the battery life doesn't last perhaps just for one class. And the composite video card didn't run some of the games she wanted. I hope she is happy with the Dell XPS14 not just because it's a step up from experience with the HP-DV4.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081YPXOU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
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For gaming this is well worth the money. I use this for pretty much everything. Gaming on this is great and one problem I have is it started to overheat. It would get as hot as 190'degrees. The fan would be louder then anyone would think. I worked the settings and it works much better now but fan still does turn on. I dont think it is a manufacturer defect because I've seen the same review online. Other than the overheating, this laptop performs phenomenally. I recommend the keyboard. Your fingers glide over the keys like hot butter :)
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