Viewing angles aren't great, either - especially in the vertical plane where there's a relatively narrow 'sweet spot'.Īs we noted above, there are three preconfigured XPS 13 models available on Dell's UK website. The aforementioned hinge system means that the screen won't tilt back much beyond 90 degrees from the keyboard section, which may disappoint some users. The resolution is a standard 1,366 by 768 pixels: had Dell been able to better this, the XPS 13 would stand out more among the ultrabook competition. We're not fans of its shiny, reflective finish, and it's very attractive to greasy fingerprints, but it does look nicer than screens that are embedded within their bezels. screen features edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass for strength and scratch resistance. We approve of this minimalist approach, which presents the XPS 13 ultrabook as 'ready for work' without any unnecessary glitz. It's so discreet as to be almost invisible. The only key or button that's not on the main deck is the on/off switch, which is offset to the left of the Esc key. The cursor keys are small and the Fn key row very shallow, but all are usable. The bottom row of keys is very slightly larger than the main QWERTY set, which is unusual but didn't cause us any typing trouble. The keys themselves are well spaced, very slightly concave and responsive, allowing us to reach our normal touch-typing speed with ease. This is not as severe as we've seen on some notebooks, but could prove irritating on occasion. There's no light bleed around the keys if you're sitting in a fairly upright position at a desk, but you may see some distracting bleed if slouching in an armchair, for example. The keyboard is backlit, and you can disable the light using a Fn key combination.
The trackpad didn't seem to want to support multitouch actions, but reportedly poor responsiveness wasn't evident in our review unit and we had no trouble moving the cursor around the screen. The XPS 13 has a large touchpad with embedded buttons the keyboard is backlit Despite being embedded into the trackpad, these buttons depress well: they don't go an awfully long way, but they do deliver a reassuring click. The wrist rest is deep, accommodating a large trackpad with embedded button areas - identified by pale, minimalist vertical lines. This puts it slightly further away than a standard hinge design would, providing a little more area for the keyboard and trackpad. Open up the XPS 13 and you'll notice that the hinge pushes the lid section past the back of the base. However, there's nowhere near the degree of flex that worried us so much with Toshiba's Portégé Z830. If you try, you can indent the lid by pressurising it, and this could damage the LCD inside. The XPS 13 is, for the most part, solidly built. The Dell ultrabook's weight, at 1.36kg, is admirably light - although the Toshiba Portégé Z830 is even lighter at 1.2kg. That's stretching the point a little, but the XPS 13's footprint is certainly dainty at 31.6cm wide by 20.5mm deep. screen is squeezed into a footprint that's 'similar' to an 11in. The Windows and Intel branding is discreetly plced on the underside of the system, rather than plastered over the wrist-rest as garish stickersĪccording to Dell, the 13.3in.
DELL XPS 13 2012 TRACKPAD ISSUES WINDOWS 10 PRO
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