Review: Dell XPS 12 Windows 8 tablet-cum-Ultrabook Making a laptop with a screen that spins within its bezel isn’t a new idea. Early in 2011, Dell tried the trick with its Inspiron Duo netbook, but sadly that proved to be a woefully poor device. Now Dell is trying again, this with Ultrabook hardware and Windows 8 as the basic ingredients. It helps that, unlike the Duo, the new …
Then buy a laptop. These half way house devices are exactly that and are always compromised one way or another. They were tried years ago and failed miserably, the only difference now is that they have win 8 and better touch support as such. Still a poor choice, buy a dedicated laptop or tablet depending on your needs.
At home, I have an 802.11n wi-fi router and gigabit switch. In my office, 5M away, I get 12kbps from the router - old house! At work, I don't have any wi-fi.
Wi-fi is fine, when I'm in the lounge, but when I'm actually working, it needs a cabled connection.
I'm tempted by the XPS12 and with a USB->Ethernet adapter, it might be useful.
I'll accept that from my tablet but not a laptop of any description. It's one of the things that make the Air a bad idea, the only way to connect that by a hard wired connection is via a dongle and with that you get a less-than-stunning 10\100 connection. Whoop.
It's a shame because otherwise this looks like a nice device.
If thats your opinion, I take it you feel you may as well just have one on board USB port and make anything run through a USB hub?
Personally, on a portable device I like it to be portable. The grief of having to carry unavoidable stuff (PSU/external HDD/optical drive/Mice, etc (delete as appropriate) doesn't need to be worsened, and the port is small and cheap enough that theres not a lot of reasoning to remove it.
So, yeah, your opinion may vary, but not having an on board eth is a factor in my decision to buy. Ethernet is a pretty standard medium in an office environment so i wouldn't want it as an extra.
You're in a habit of dragging your laptop around without a case? If you've got a case then you've got space for both of the adaptor cables we're talking about. RJ45 connectors aren't tiny, and neither is HDMI. For compact use you need a compact connector, plus some sort of adaptor/cable to full size.
Likewise optical media are dying out. For most people there is little need for an optical drive any more. If you're part of the limited set that still need it then there are still machines that suit your needs, but in a bigger, heavier package. You pays your money and you takes your chance, but don't assume that you're in the majority here.
"You're in a habit of dragging your laptop around without a case?" for the last 2 years for my 10" baby laptop at least, yes. RJ45 and HDMI are tiny compared to this chassis, as is a clip to hold a removable battery, all could be integrated into this footprint. Agree the optical drive is not an option without compromising the design though.
A USB-Ethernet dongle in the office if you need that, leave it on your desk and use wireless when you're away from the office. I use wi-fi all the time at home, why wouldn't you? Or get a spare home dongle if you like.
But I have an RSI-like keyboard disability so I'm lusting after a true tablet, whose lighter weight is a vast advantage for carry-around use. I also want a Wacom stylus. On the other hand, there's a lot to not like in Windows 8, and the Windows 7 tablet that I got has bad bugs; stylus is intermittent and the darned thing frequently freezes for a full minute. Maybe I got one bad one. But it's an expensive experiment.
Hey, you know on some PCs you have to press a special key to boot from a USB device? Didja try that? Also, try SystemRescueCD. It's not great for apps but it usually takes you from "doesn't run Linux at all" to "doesn't run Linux well", at least. You can get a command line although you may not want that.
I had an Acer Travelmate tablet/laptop in 2005 that wasn't so different. The C204TMi, which I bought in the UK and used for several years had a screen that slid forward over the keyboard to get into tablet mode.
It probably would have last a bit longer if Acer's sales & support weren't so rubbish.
displayport -> hdmi/dvi/vga adapters are cheap enough, in the order of £10-15. If you're spending £1000 on a laptop you can afford £10 for a display adapter, and yes displayport -> hdmi will support the audio component also, so no need to get your panties in a twist over the laptop being no good for media.
Similarly a usb->ethernet adapter is ~£5-15 if you need it. Personally I'm a big fan of wired ethernet too, but ti's not the end of the world to have to use a usb one, at least both the ports are usb 3.0.
You can now buy perfectly good USB 3 gigabit dongles, and Apple do their own Thunderbolt -> gigabit adaptor. Both of these are no more bulky than an adaptor cable that you'd need to put a physical port on a compact machine. Hardly a show stopper.
Because it is another level of crappy adaptors you need to have. And also it ties you to OS choice/versions for which your USB/Thunderbolt/whatever to Ethernet bridge actually works well (if at all) on.
Come on, a RJ45 socket is not *that* big!
RJ45's aren't big? You're kidding right? You need at least 14mm, plus some space for the board and the case. You can fit 2 USB ports into the same height. Did there look to be space for two USB ports (one on top of the other, not edge to edge) on the Dell?
Dell say "Height 8-20mm" so it is not impossible, given the total size, to have something RJ45-ish in there.
Is it really so important to have a few mm off a thing you wont ever slide in to a tight hole anyway, compared to supporting standard connectors?
It's not a show stopper, just incredibly irritating when a lot of folk (which surprises you even though people keep commenting on the fact) use ethernet constantly. I use my Ethernet port more often than a USB port, hence why it bugs me when I see numerous new laptops with no ethernet port and yet numerous USB ports.
So it's not a show stopper, but can you not see why it irritates people when a) They need to buy extra gear to use a popular connectivity method, and b) remember to carry this adapter/dongle (no matter how small) around with them.
...as long as there weren't any real show-stoppers on the hardware front, I wouldn't mind seeing Arch running on this fella. It even makes my venerable Eee 701SD run smoothly, so I bet Arch would go like the proverbial off a clean shovel on an XPS 12.
Wonder if anyone's managed to install it on one of these yet?
True, but in my experience Ubuntu has been one of the better ones for installing without hassle. Well done for the reviewer to point this out - for me a laptop that can't have alternative OS installed on is just not an option (add to the the lack of gigabit Ethernet). No sale for me Dell!
["Arch guy" again] I agree - Ubuntu makes a lot of effort on the easy-to-install/use front, and Arch isn't recommended for the "newbie" (nor does it claim to be). On the other hand, I was writing "off" this sentence in the review:
"Trying to boot Ubuntu off a USB stick proved equally fruitless. In short, this is not a machine for the home tinkerer or the more casual Linux buff."
Arch is a great distro for customising a lean and fast installation (especially on more limited hardware), but you do really need at least some idea of the "nuts and bolts" of Linux to get the best out of it.
I suspect the inability to boot Ubuntu is due to UEFI and/or Secure Boot (more likely the latter) as mandated by Microsoft for Windows 8.
AFAIK it's not yet possible to boot Linux without disabling Secure Boot, which then prevents Windows 8 from installing.
I dare say someone has done it, but until Canonical, RedHat, the Linux foundation et. al. get around to adding it to the installers "normal" users are out of luck.
Seriously, anyone who thinks that swivel screen is a good idea is silly. Regardless of the materials used, they're rubbish and break easy. Especially with latches that will snap off with any excessive force. It's just another thing to go wrong and makes the tablet mode pointless being really heavy and bulky to use.
I spy Eurostile typeface for the key legends.
Meh, its too heavy for a tablet and not enough ports for a proper laptop. no doubt battery life will suck balls too once Win 8 has attracted all the barnacles it needs to make it function adequately.
I'm waiting for a laptop the screen just comes right off with a wireless link to the body which can thus still have a sensible spec.
"I'm waiting for a laptop the screen just comes right off with a wireless link to the body which can thus still have a sensible spec."
Depending on whether the new Atoms are anything useful or not, and providing you are looking for a tablet(ish) sized screen, the HP Envy X2 might be an interesting option.
Could have resolved all the connectivity problems that people are bitching about!
I doubt Dell though of that and its a great shame really, I'm yet to see a true "Business class". I work with a laptop and have docking stations at the office and home, so I get the benefit of every connectivity you can think of, along with portability when I need it.
Dunno, maybe someone hit the wrong button.
My laptop has 6 USB 2.0 ports... but sometimes I still want a little hub. Why? Because memory sticks stick out too much, and are easily knocked. The 'nano' receiver is okay, but its predecessor was too big, and had to be removed (and usually mislaid) between home and work.
What I envisaged at the time was a little USB hub within a pouch, that could be tethered to the Kensington lock socket, so my dongles and the like were kept safe and near, yet couldn't damage my USB ports in transit.
Next up: Modify my dummy ExpressCard so that it becomes a safe place to store SD cards. Who needs a 3D printer when you have glue and Duck tape?
(Heck, this laptop has such an abundance of ports and sockets... it must be nearly obsolete!)
Whilst I cannot stand windows 8 in non-touchscreen mode your comment is just foolish.
An asus transformer connects to a domain just brilliantly doesnt it? It also prints to lots of different printers too. Scanning a document into an asus transformer is childs play. Photoshop runs great on an asus transformer (full fat photoshop that is) Oh wait a minute.
Like most things, it is a tool, use it how you will but android/ios or W8 wont do everything you want.
By all means blame Apple for the modern trend of no optical drives and un-removable batteries. But NOT for "compromise" Devices like this. They have the sense to not try and force feed a tablet solution to a desktop market. Apple at least understands the reason for separate devices and OS.
Tablets and laptops. Two good things that go bad together.
Tablet laptop hybrids are the worst of both worlds. The thinness and lightness requirements of a tablet tend to make for a high cost, poorly featured laptop And the folding and spinning screens required to cover the keyboard make for a device that is far too fragile for really heavy, robust laptop use. And of course, the less said about the Metro/Modern interface, the better.
Would it have been too much to ask for you to clean the pubes & grease off before taking the snaps? It's something they do all the time over at Ars; lovingly-taken high def piccies that really show off every grungy chunk that fell from the reviewer's spoinky fingers. Ugh!
First principle of product shots: clean the feckin' thing first!
quote: "Would it have been too much to ask for you to clean the pubes & grease off before taking the snaps?"
Since the point of the photo (according to the photo tagline) was to highlight the fingerprint-magnet qualities of the matt finish around the keyboard, I can only agree with you on the pube part. The grease was apparently deliberate x.x
Fairy nuff. Didn't actually read the tagline but tbh most kit these days is a grease magnet, specially ultrabooks. I have to keep a cloth in the bag and use it pretty much every day. Which makes me a bit OCD I suppose... I jumped on the pic mainly because of the unsightly hair, which I *hope* is an eyebrow hair or eye lash!
So on the windows 8 TIFKAM start screen vetically do you get...
3 tiles like you can see on the Dell video
4 tiles as shown on your photos
or 5 tiles as you would expect on a 1080p screen
I'm tempted by this device but I don't really want or need the tablet part. If Dell made this device for a bit less money just as a laptop and with a matte screen I'd take it, but paying for the "flipping screen" (this is what you'll call it in 2 years time when the connection wears out) which I can only see myself using for the first week seems stupid.
To answer my own question I went to Techradar who have some pictures they took themselves. 2 things are immediately obvious
1. it's 5 tiles vertically as would be expected for a 1080p screen
2. That screen is very, very glossy
the vertical tiles thing is a dead give away that images have been stuck on afterwards.
all those PCMCIA ethernet cards had dongles for connection but there was a couple that had popout connectors. You had to be careful not to snap it off but it shouldn't be beyond the skill of the manufacturers to bring the concept up to date. I guess they feel that there isn't enough demand for it.
The comments about lack of Ethernet are valid, but the problem is the ancient RJ45 connector standard; its too big and too fragile (the plug side anyway).
RJ connectors weren't designed to be plugged and unplugged daily; they were intended for fixed telephone apparatus (how often did you move your desk telephone in the 1960s?)
A new Ethernet connector with smaller form factor and greater resilience is needed; ideally using an "any way round" connector like Apple's "lightning" port (as this greatly reduces the chances of damage during insertion).
I initially dismissed this, thinking the frame would be way too flimsy. I was quite, quite wrong.
Having played around with it myself for a few hours, I really like it.
It's not too heavy to hold in your lap and watch movies and it's easy to browse the 'net with chrome/FF for an hour or two. (if you need to browse the net on a touchscreen for MORE than 2hours, re-examine your life...)
Although I can't say if the latch'd stand up to 1k+ rotations, the few hours I used it for was completely fine, and the frame was exactly 1.27 bajillion times more sturdy than I expected it to be.
Lots of people here say it's ugly. Again, I disagree, I think the carbonbibre+aluminium look is gorgeous.
The HD 4000 graphics can run FarCry3 @ 1024*768 at all-low settings, which means it'll handle KSP + Borderlands perfectly fine and that's all the gaming I do outside of LAN parties.
And to all the whingers about the ethernet / display dongles... for crying out loud, it's an ultraportable. What do you fucking want?! If you want to be able to plug it in all the time, you ARE going to be carrying around a case for it, and then it already begins to lose the ultraportability.
If it wasn't for the fact that I'm in the market for a gaming laptop + NAS to replace my ageing rig I use for LAN parties, I'd snaffle this up quick smart.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
