Dell XPS 18 Evaluation

This March, Dell released its newest all-in-one desktop PC, the XPS 18. At that time, we were fascinated by the 18.4-inch slim screen. When we were conducting the XPS 18 Review, Dell had repeatedly emphasized that it provided a complete all-in-one desktop experience, not just a large tablet computer. Users can freely use the mobile computer that moves back and forth in the home, but they are less suited to carry around in a park or travel. If you're considering upgrading your home desktop, is Dell XPS 18 a good choice for you? Without further ado, let's delve into what kind of function and application it can bring.

Objective

We haven't used a desktop computer for at least 6 years, and instead of dealing with daily work and living in a notebook computer. When choosing a desktop computer, I will first look at the configuration of this computer, run some of the processor and graphics requirements of the PC game is fluent, similar PC games such as the latest "Call of Duty", "Assassin's Creed" and so on.

As we all know, desktop computers are assembled from a variety of components and peripherals, if you do not like the original mouse or keyboard, we can switch to the likes of the style at any time, if not satisfied with the internal configuration, we can easily upgrade the part of the modification. But obviously, configuring upgrades is very difficult for one computer. Therefore, the configuration specification of one computer is very important for making purchasing decision. What about Dell's configuration specs for the XPS 18?

Dell XPS 18 Parameter specifications

18.4-inch Full HD display screen (1920x1080 resolution)

Intel®core i5-3337u Processor (3M cache, highest to 2.70 + Intel HD Graphics 4000

8GB 1600MHz ddr3l Memory

Windows 8 (64-bit)

500GB HDD + 32GB mSATA Interface Flash module

Intel 2230 Combo W wi-di, Qualcomm 1202 wireless network card (Killer series)

Bluetooth 4.0 (via WiFi Mini card)

2x USB 3.0; 1x Headphone/Microphone Combination jack

Eight All-in-one card Reader (support type: SDXC, SD, MMC, MS, Memory Stick PRO, xd㏄icture, hi speed㏒d, hi capacity㏒d)

Dell Tangerine Wireless Keyboard + Dell Tangerine Wireless Mouse

463.6mm x 283.7mm x 17.7mm (18.2in x 11.1in x 0.6in)

2.19kg (4.85 lb)

69Whr

Super Industrial Design

I think we all should have seen one computer, whether in the workplace, the library, or the Internet café. In order to be able to install the whole computer components, the common computer display screen is relatively thick. Dell XPS18, as the thinnest product in one of the current computer markets, displays a screen thickness of only 0.6 inches (17.7mm), and even makes people who don't know the product mistakenly think it is just a display, not a single computer with a full PC application. Have to make people admire.

The Dell XPS 18 is simple and elegant in appearance. A black border, the upper-right corner marks the Dell LOGO, and a camera is set in the middle of the top border. The back of the fuselage is anodized alumina, the bottom of the back of the two corners have two of rubber material can be expanded design, pull off can do product support. This design allows Dell XPS 18 to provide users with two different experience modes: Browse mode and working mode. Of course, the user switching between these two modes of use is also very easy and easy.

Both sides of the screen have a stereo, the volume button on the left side of the screen, the key is designed to the right side of the screen.

When Dell XPS 18 is connected to the cradle, the magnetic front of the XPS 18 base is always easy to connect to the wireless charging dock with the correct computer. When the charging connector on the base is successfully connected with the XPS 18, the side small LED light will light up to show the computer is charging. The base can also adjust its own angle, whether it is almost horizontal or almost vertical, or any other angle, with your own tune.

Dell's XPS 18 is equipped with Dell's original Tangerine Wireless keyboard, which requires 2 AAA batteries for power, and a built-in USB2.0 to connect the wireless keyboard and wireless mouse to the computer at the same time. Keyboard work is very solid, the key sound clear, responsive, very good feel. More specifically: compared to the traditional wireless keyboard, this keyboard is relatively short keys.

Keyboard and Button are black, each button is marked with silver characters, function key characters are bright blue with a thin silver edge. In the middle of the upper back of the keyboard is the Dell logo logo, below the logo, is the wireless keyboard battery placement port. On both sides of the battery, each has a raised rubber bar, which creates an optimal typing angle for the keyboard.

The original Tangerine Wireless mouse function is very powerful. First it is very ergonomic, its design allows the user's hands to operate in a very comfortable, natural radian. The front end of the mouse has a split line, the area separated the left mouse and right button. Sliding the middle of the mouse pulley, you can do page scrolling and paging, light pulley, you can also achieve the entire page of automatic scrolling. In addition, the mouse on both sides, also set two keys.

The wireless mouse retains the same color as the XPS 18 and the keyboard. The black mouse is inlaid with a thin silver border. The sides of the mouse pulley, also dotted with silver thin lines. At the bottom of the mouse, the optical sensor is installed, and can be used smoothly even on the reflective table.

Interface: Dell XPS 18 has 2 USB 3.0 connectors, a headset/Microphone jack combination interface, and the computer adapter's interface to the left of the display screen at the bottom. In the left half of the back, there is a eight All-in-one card reader. In general, the interface is relatively small, but all interfaces are easy to find and can be easily used.

Target audience for Dell XPS 18

As an All-in-one computer, the main selling point of XPS is portability. Of course, here we would like to reiterate that Dell does not expect users to take this computer full street, but within the family, from the study to the living room, to the restaurant, and even to the bedroom, how you want to move, you can move, very easy.

Admittedly, the XPS 18 is not heavy and we can easily move around at home. But imagine how Shong it would be to sit on a couch and use a 18.4-inch "tablet" in a world where the maximum size of a tablet is 10 inches and 11 inches. Conversely, if you use the computer with someone else or a group of people, the picture will look much more natural. Because people can spread around the computer and share what is displayed on the screen. This makes us realize that the XPS 18 may be an ideal device for small companies or teams that require regular collaboration, and even for home users: Parents can play games with children, family members watch YouTube videos, browse Web pages, and so on.

Display screen

In the section shown, Dell XPS features a 18.4-inch, 1920*1080-resolution Full HD IPS screen, offering a 178-degree, wide-viewing angle, perfect for high-resolution pictures and videos.

The XPS 18 has a screen brightness of 350 lumens, comparable to the current screen brightness of the mainstream computer. On a sunny day, we found that only need to set to its highest brightness of the 20%–30%, can be very comfortable in the indoor office, if the adjustment of the screen to the highest brightness, it can be easily used in outdoor work.

Overall, the 18.4-inch Full HD screen of the Dell XPS 18 is stunning. We believe that once you have experienced the screen of this computer, you will certainly like it.

Camera

Dell XPS 18 is equipped with high-definition cameras to take photos and record 720P video. For comparison purposes, we used the ASUS Zenbook HD camera to contrast it.

In daylight, the XPS 18 photo is a little blurry, but has a high color reduction. The photos taken by the XPS 18 are a little blurry, but much better than the photos taken by Asus ' Zenbook.

Under weak light conditions, the XPS 18 has a far better shot than Asus Zenbook. The XPS 18 camera is able to take full advantage of the weak light conditions for shooting, complete rendering scene. Although the light is insufficient, it can restore the color of the object to some extent. However, the photo taken by Asus Zenbook only barely sees the scene.

Performance test

The Intel Core i5-3337u processor on the Dell XPS 18 is not unfamiliar to our readers. Many of the super books we've reviewed recently, including Acer Aspire Kirabook, are all equipped with this processor. This processor has high performance, low power consumption and is usually 1.8GHZ in frequency. However, with Intel's exclusive turbo Boost Technology, the XPS 18 processor can be overclocking to 2.7GHZ with the thermal conditions allowed.

PCMark 7 is a software that we often use for computer testing, simulating real tasks such as opening applications, starting computers, and doing simple graphics tasks to test computer performance.

In the PCMark 7 test, the XPS 18 ran into 4409, although the performance of Acer's Aspire XPS 18 was easy to handle with multitasking.

The second software we use to test a computer is 3DMark 11, a software that focuses on testing the performance of a computer game, and its testing standards are more stringent. To be sure, this is to say that the game does not refer to Facebook games or other Flash-based web games, we say that the game is similar to the "Call of Duty", "Assassin's Creed" and other processors and graphics cards have certain requirements of the game.

The Dell XPS 18 has a video card for Intel HD Graphics 4000, a common configuration on hyper-and laptop computers, with 3DMark 11 running at a low point. There is no suspense, the XPS 18 runs only for P621. This also fully demonstrates that the XPS 18 is not suitable for high intensity graphics processing, especially for running some games that have high performance requirements for graphics cards.

The final Test project is Geekbench, unlike PCMark 7, which focuses on the processor's computational power and performance.

The Intel Core i5 processor on the Dell XPS 18 is very powerful, with Geekbench running up to 5481 points. This also means that the XPS 18 is capable of very fast processing of various operations.

Theory of performance and weight

As we all know, when people buy a computer, they often refer to the internal configuration parameters of the computer, and then choose a computer to meet the current needs. But one of the most easily overlooked factors is the weight of the computer. Because most of the computers with strong performance and portability will be heavier than the average computer. Therefore, we recommend that when choosing a computer, you should combine performance and weight to consider whether the weight of such a performance is worth your while, or whether such a computer's weight matches the performance it should have.

Although Dell XPS 18 is a portable All-in-one computer, Dell does not consider it a true portable computer. Dell hopes it will help users move and be portable within a home environment. Given the fact that it's not actually being asked to be a mobile computer, it's too unfair to score in our weight-buying equation. Of course, because it weighs only 2.19kg, we can easily move it from one room to another at home. When compared to other computers, Dell XPS 18 is one of the best products for the same type of product with both weight and performance.

Battery Endurance

Dell XPS18 is equipped with an oversized 69Whr battery, but it is also reasonable given that the computer has a 18-inch large display screen.

The first battery test project for the XPS 18 was to run a long-term power-consumption test to see how fast the electricity was consumed. In the test, we keep the boot state, turn on Wi-Fi, screen brightness adjustment to the maximum brightness of 50%, after 1 hours, the electricity consumption of about 18%. This also means that, under such test conditions, the XPS 18 is expected to provide about 5 hours of battery endurance.

We also carried out an extra test to test the consumption of electricity in the context of video playback. The first video test was performed with a screen brightness of 50%, 1080P local video playback, 1 hours in the past, a 22% reduction in power, which means that under this test condition, XPS 18 is expected to be able to play the local video for 4.5 hours in a row. The second test was for network video, and in the same setting, we watched a 1080P video from YouTube and consumed 25% in 1 hours, so it was possible to calculate the battery's duration of 4 hours.

Given that the XPS 18 is mostly a study or a corner of the home, most of the time is connected to the power supply, in fact, the battery charge speed is not too important. But does not rule out the user accidentally to bring the computer into the room forgets the charge to cause the electricity exhaustion, in this case, completely fills the electricity to need 3.5 hours. Some people may feel that the charge time is not short, but it is necessary to emphasize that the charge is a 69Whr super battery oh. In this case, the charging speed is still very alarming.

Summarize

Dell XPS 18 is both an awesome computer and a large mobile computer. It can help the user to realize the easy movement in the home environment, realizes the team discussion collaboration, or carries on the webpage browsing and the joyful sharing with the family or the friend.

If you want to see the performance and portability of the Dell XPS 18 alone, you will find that it is not performing well compared to a desktop computer, and that it is more portable than a super extreme. But its lightweight design and the large size screen, which can provide many people with a share, have to be impressive. This time, Dell has injected a fresh vigor into the dull, integrated computer market with XPS 18. If you are looking for a product like this, especially if you plan to use it with more people, don't miss out on a stunning product.