Overview
This is one of the first Windows 8 specific notebooks that converts
to a tablet in seconds. It has a beautiful display, clean design and
excellent build quality. Other highlights include an excellent backlit
keyboard and touchpad, decent battery life and fast performance; it even
has solid speakers. If you're looking for a Windows 8 computer and want
the full experience, this is your $1,199 ticket.
Build and Design
The XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook takes a design element from the older Dell Inspiron
Duo netbook and features a display that flips inside the frame to turn
into a tablet. This mechanism is rock solid and works well. The display
is held in place by a series of magnets once rotated into the desired
position and there's no chance of dislodging it unintentionally. The
major drawback to this design is that it's screen-heavy; this makes it
impractical to use the touch screen while in notebook mode because it
will tip backward if touched. It's a little awkward.
In
tablet mode the XPS 12 can be held in any position. The cooling fan is
hidden inside the chassis so it can't be blocked. It's comfortable to
hold; I like the rubberized exterior surfaces. The display surface is
glass and is easy to track fingers over. The overall tablet experience
is seamless.
The build quality of the XPS 12 is outstanding. It's made from a
combination of carbon fiber, aluminum and magnesium. The result is a
strong-yet-lightweight (3.35 pounds) design that doesn't bend or flex.
It's difficult to find anything wrong with the build quality or spotless
attention to detail.
Aside from the quality and unique screen flipping mechanism the XPS
12's design is rather nondescript, a good thing in my book; this
computer doesn't look any flasher than it has to. I like how the palm
rest and keyboard keys have a rubberized surface which is durable and
hides fingerprints and dust. There's no glossy surfaces on this entire
notebook save for the Gorilla glass display surface; it gets smudged up
easily but that's unavoidable given its touch screen nature.
As
with most modern Ultrabooks and convertible notebooks, the bottom of
the XPS 12 lacks any of the traditional access panels for upgrading RAM
or the storage drive. Granted, most people buying this PC won't ever
consider upgrading it themselves. If you want to do affordable upgrades
on your own then be prepared to remove the 10 Torx screws in order to
disassemble the chassis.
Input and Output Ports
If the XPS 12 is lacking in any area it's in port variety and
quantity; it has just two USB 3.0 ports and a mini-DisplayPort
connector. It lacks Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, ExpressCard, and a media card
reader; the latter is borderline unforgivable. Something else I miss
from the XPS 12 is the lack of a storage drive activity light.
 |
 |
| Left: Display rotation button, power switch, volume up/down button, left speaker |
Right: Right speaker, battery indicator button, 2x USB 3.0, mini-DisplayPort, AC power jack |
Keyboard and Touchpad
The XPS 12 includes a full-size keyboard with a Chiclet-style layout
(extra spacing between the keys). It is backlit with white LEDs and
automatically varies the level of brightness. This keyboard has the most
pleasant tactile feedback of any Ultrabook keyboard I've used - finally
a keyboard with a normal amount of key travel.
The keys have a slightly grippy rubberized surface like the rest of
the palm rest area. It's reasonably quiet to type on. The only thing to
note is that the home, end, page up and page down keys are integrated as
secondary functions into the arrow keys; this is more or less expected
on a notebook this small but a con nonetheless.
The
Cypress touchpad is a clickpad; press down anywhere to produce a click.
It's quite usable and I didn't have accuracy issues. Clicks take just
the right amount of effort. The rubberized surface helps accuracy. My
only real complaint is the clicks are too loud for my taste; they should
be as close to silent as possible.
Screen and Speakers
The screen is the biggest highlight of this notebook - it's beautiful
to look at and the touch screen accuracy is perfect. The Gorilla Glass
surface is supposedly more resistant to scratching than normal glass;
its slick surface means it's easy to slide fingers across. The downsides
of the glass surface are that it does get smudged up with fingerprints
(I suppose that's unavoidable with a touch screen) and overhead and
ambient lighting creates distracting reflections.
Another truly appreciated aspect of this display is the full HD
resolution (1920x1080 pixels). This translates into a ton of working
space and the ability to use two windows side by side. It's especially
an asset when using the XPS 12 in tablet mode especially in portrait
orientation because so many lines of text are visible at once. And
because this is an IPS (In-Plane Switching) display, the picture looks
the same no matter which angle you're viewing from (unlimited viewing
angles).
On top of all this the display is extra bright and has excellent
contrast; whites and blacks truly stand out. Saturation is good too -
images look like they have the appropriate amount of color without going
overboard.
The XPS 12 has two speakers which face out the sides of the chassis.
This is an unusual layout; it makes sense to have them externally facing
since this notebook can turn into a tablet though. The speakers have a
good range of mids and highs with a hint of bass; they're overall
surprisingly full sounding given their size and location. It's hard to
complain.
