Dell XPS 15 review: A practically perfect laptop

Dell XPS 15 $2,299.00 What's not to like? The XPS 15 delivers gaming power with Ultrabooks looks. Yeah, it's pricey, but consider all you're getting for the money.

The latest incarnation of Dell’s XPS 15 is the laptop of my dreams.

I’m not being hyperbolic. I adore everything about this machine, from its slim, sleek exterior to its powerful Haswell processor and discrete Nvidia graphics card. I admire its 15.6-inch QHD display and its speedy 512GB solid-state drive. I love that videos play smoothly and audio sounds excellent–with lots of depth and bass–through its built-in speakers.

The only thing I’m not ecstatic about is its price tag. Although the new XPS 15 starts at a reasonable $1500, our review model (which includes all the extras I’m lusting after) costs a pricey $2299. That’s not crazy expensive, but it is a lot of green.

But you have to pay to play, so let’s take a deeper look at what all that cash delivers.

ROBERT CARDIN

Okay, at 4.9 pounds, Dell's XPS 15 is no featherweight. But neither is it a shoulder-straining behemoth. 

The XPS 15 houses an Intel Core i7-4702HQ processor, an Nvidia GeForce GT 750M GPU with its own 2GB GDDR5 frame buffer, and 16GB of DDR3/1600 memory in a pretty, well-constructed chassis of smooth brushed aluminum with a carbon-fiber base that stays cool to the touch. At first glance, it looks a lot like an Apple MacBook Pro, but with sharper edges and a shiny Dell logo on the lid. Inside this 4.9-pound package resides a full-size, backlit, island-style keyboard; a large, smooth clickpad; and a 15.6-inch Quad HD display.

That exquisite display—resting behind super-tough, edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass NBT—is definitely the XPS 15’s biggest draw. The glossy touchscreen is super-bright (400 nits, where most displays top out at around 300) and extremely sharp, thanks to its 3200-by-1800-pixel resolution—enough to give any Apple fanboi a raging case of pixel envy (for the record, the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina display has a resolution of 2880 by 1800 pixels).

ROBERT CARDIN

If not for the Dell logo, the XPS 15 could easily be mistaken for a MacBook Pro (with a better-than-Retina display).

The screen is sharp, with crisp, clean images and text, and bright, accurate colors. Although it’s glossy, there’s very little glare, and its ultra-brightness means you can use it just about anywhere–even outside, in direct sunlight. And since the XPS 15 isn’t your typical 15-pound performance machine, you’ll want to take it everywhere.

As a touchscreen, the XPS 15’s display is good, if not fantastic. Touch is accurate and smooth, but I did notice a slight lag when I was moving between windows. Still, everything looked so good that I didn’t really mind. HD video playback is smooth and effortless, with very little artifacting and just a smidgen of noise in high-motion scenes.

ROBERT CARDIN

Edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass guards the XPS 15’s gorgeous touchscreen. 

Dell provides a generous array of I/O ports, too, including three USB 3.0 (with PowerShare, so you can charge mobile devices using the XPS 15’s battery), both Mini DisplayPort and HDMI, an Intel Centrino Wireless-AC 7260 Wi-Fi adapter, and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.

Although I’m (obviously) a big fan of this laptop, not everything is excellent. While the XPS 15’s clickpad is roomy and easy to use, its keyboard is a bit cramped and the keys are slightly stiff. This makes it difficult to type on quickly and accurately. The keyboard is backlit, but the lighting looks a little uneven. Okay, so that’s not exactly a fatal flaw, but I’m trying!

Dell's XPS 15 gets beat by larger, heavier gaming-oriented laptops, but a WorldBench 8.1 score of 356 is impressive for a notebook this light. 

Performance-wise, the XPS 15 is practically a gaming laptop, but without the bulk. It scores an impressive 356 in our WorldBench 8.1 benchmark tests, which means it’s about 3.5 times faster than our baseline testing model (an Asus VivoBook S550CA). This score puts it below genuine gaming laptops, such as the Origin EON17-S (which scored a 449).

The XPS 15 is clearly geared more toward businesspeople than gamers (it scored 5259 on our Office Productivity test, which is close to the EON17-S’s score of 5955), but that doesn’t mean it can’t run games reasonably well. In our BioShock Infinite graphics test (at 1024 by 768 resolution, with image quality set to low), the XPS 15 managed a frame rate of 107.4 frames per second, a distant third to the EON17-S’s rate of 214.2 fps.

Here again, the gaming rigs outpace the XPS 15. But gaming really isn't this machine’s raison d’être.

The XPS 15 didn’t fare quite as well in our BioShock Infinite Ultra test (at a resolution of 1920 by 1080, with image quality set to Ultra), posting frame rates of just 23.3 fps. Still, the fact that it could even run that test is saying something, given that most laptops can’t. By comparison, the EON17-S managed rates of 62.9.

All that power and more than 5 hours of battery life? Yes, please!

If you’re looking for a sexy notebook that can deliver at least credible gaming performance, and you’re prepared to pay for the privilege of owning a powerful machine in a thin, lightweight package, Dell’s new XPS 15 is definitely for you. The XPS 15’s positives—great screen, great performance, great overall look, and easy portability—easily justify its lofty price tag.

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HP Z1 Workstation Review: Pretty, Powerful, and Pricey, but Not Perfect

The new HP Z1 Workstation is the most attractive, most powerful, and most expensive all-in-one PC I've ever seen. And that isn't an exaggeration: This all-in-one workstation, the first of its kind, has a gorgeous 27-inch edge-to-edge glass screen, packs desktop-class components, and will set you back a cool $5673 (as configured, and as of April 10, 2012).

Our review model sports an Intel Xeon E31280 processor, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Quadro 4000M graphics card, and runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional. The graphics card alone currently goes for around $750 online, so that's a big chunk of the Z1's hefty price tag. The model we tested also features built-in Bluetooth 3.0, built-in Wi-Fi, a high-def (1080p) 2-megapixel adjustable webcam, and a Blu-ray Disc writer. Budget-minded shoppers can pick up the Z1 with lower-end specs (such as a 32-bit OS, a DVD-RW drive, or an Intel Core i3-2120 processor) for less, as the Z1's base configuration starts at $1899.

Performance

I'll just go ahead and say it: This machine is, hands down, the most powerful all-in-one PC we've ever tested. In PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Z1 posted an impressive score of 159. That means the Z1 is 59 percent faster than our baseline model, a desktop with an Intel Core i5-2500K processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. The score puts the Z1 well ahead of the rest of its class (most large-screen AIOs score in the 80-to-100 range on WorldBench 7), and even ahead of some of our lower-end performance tower desktops.

The Z1 also offers impressive graphics performance, thanks to its Quadro 4000M professional workstation graphics card, which supports high-quality 3D. In PCWorld's Dirt 3 graphics tests, the Z1 delivered very good frame rates of 69.1 frames per second (high quality, 1680-by-1050-pixel resolution) and 112.9 fps (high quality, 1024-by-768-pixel resolution).

Design

The Z1 is housed in a gorgeous, if large, all-in-one chassis. The machine sports a glossy 27-inch screen with edge-to-edge glass across the slim black bezel. It sits on a sturdy plastic stand that flexes and folds to allow you to lay the screen flat and snap open the chassis. The stand is rather deep--16.5 inches, to be exact--which is necessary to support the Z1 when it's vertical and when it's horizontal. The depth is unfortunate, however, since it means that this otherwise slim PC takes up a lot of desk space.

Ports are mostly located on the back of the Z1, inconveniently underneath the point where the stand connects to the machine. Making things even more inconvenient, these ports angle upward, so plugging anything in is extremely frustrating. On the back of the Z1, you'll find four USB 2.0 ports, one gigabit ethernet connection, DisplayPort in/out, S/PDIF, a subwoofer connection, line-in, and line-out, as well as a lock slot. A few convenience ports--two USB 3.0 ports, one FireWire port, a four-in-one card reader, and microphone and headphone jacks--are located on the side of the system.

Unlike most all-in-ones, the Z1 is made to be opened and tinkered with. However, while it is housed in a toolless chassis, opening the Z1 is tricky. First you have to lay the screen flat, which involves a lot of pushing and hoping that nothing breaks (putting the screen upright again is much more difficult, too). Then the screen snaps open from the bottom, and you're treated to the neat-but-cramped interior of an AIO. Inside you'll find four PCIe slots (one PCIe x16 slot that's full, plus three open MiniPCIe slots), four memory slots (32GB maximum), and three USB 2.0 ports.

Screen, Speakers, and Peripherals

The Z1's crowning glory is its 27-inch LCD In-Plane Switching screen, which has a native resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels. The screen is very bright, with striking contrast and crisp images and text. Thanks to the IPS technology, colors look accurate, and viewing angles are very good. The screen is not a touchscreen, which is disappointing, since most higher-end AIOs have touchscreens these days.

Multimedia looks and sounds great on the Z1. Video playback is smooth, with very little artifacting (and much of the artifacting we saw was due to the video source, not the Z1's playback). Audio sounds very good, with full, rich bass and decent surround-sound simulation. The speakers are quite loud, so this AIO could easily double as a TV substitute. (Not that you'd be watching much media, when you should be working.)

The Z1 comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse, both of which are mediocre at best. The keyboard, which has regular-style keys, is easy to type on but offers weak feedback. The optical mouse is typical, with two buttons and a scrollwheel, and is slightly jumpy and oversensitive.

Bottom Line

The HP Z1 Workstation is gorgeous and powerful, but it's definitely not perfect. My biggest issue with the system is that it lacks a touchscreen, a feature that most of its competitors have. The Z1 also has difficult-to-access ports, an inconveniently deep stand, and mediocre peripherals. These problems aren't usually deal breakers, but for $5673 I pretty much expect perfection.

Still, the Z1 is exceedingly powerful for an AIO, and it's also extremely attractive. So if you like traditional input devices (and you have your own), and if you have a lot of desk space to spare, you may want to check out this beauty. Plus, the ability to open the PC up and swap out parts--even if it's fairly cramped in there--is something you won't find in any other all-in-one.

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GroupMe App Review: Perfect For Coordinating With Friends

Free group messaging with anyone you know. Works on any phone.

Now works over data—no text plan required!

Group Messaging

- Start groups with the people already in your contacts.

- Send and receive messages using your data plan, or use SMS if you have a poor connection.

- Share photos with your groups inline.

Location

- Add your location to any message you send.

- See all group members on a map.

Conference Calling

- Every group gets a unique phone number.

- Any group member can call the number to start an group conference call.

All that and so much more... absolutely free.

GroupMe — Your Real Life Network.

Recent changes:

2.1.9.1

-Bugfix for Foursquare Authentication

-Bugfix for syncing Groups to phone (+1+1 bug)

2.1.8/9

-Minor UI speed enhancements

-Basic Honeycomb support (new tablet interface coming soon!)

-Minor bugfixes

2.1.7

-Major stability and reliability enhancements

-Beta Emoji Support

-Lots and lots of bugfixes

2.1.6

-Bugfix for notifications

-Restored Enter key functionality

Content rating: Low Maturity

by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal, PCWorld

GroupMe is a free app that allows you to message multiple people at once. I know what you're thinking--you can already text message multiple people at once, all you have to do is add multiple numbers to the "To:" field in your texting app--even non-smartphones have this ability. GroupMe is different, though: It doesn't just let you send messages to multiple people, it lets you have a group conversation.

Let me explain. When you text multiple people at once, all you're really doing is sending the same message to a bunch of different people. However, if those people text you back, then their response only goes to you--there is no "Reply All" button in text messages.

GroupMe is like a default Reply All button. GroupMe sets up a special number for each texting conversation, so when you text multiple people at once they get a text message from that number. Then, when they reply to the text message, their reply is sent to everyone in your GroupMe conversation. So it's like a group chatting app, except via text message.

Your friends don't have to have GroupMe installed for it to work--which is a good thing, because that means that people who don't have smartphones can also partake in the fun. Only the conversation starter needs to have GroupMe installed. However, if you want to directly message people, the recipient of the message will need to have the app installed on their phone.

GroupMe isn't just about texting, though--it also has conference calling, a mapping service (which gives the approximate locations of the other chat participants), and a (still-in-beta) "Ask a Question" feature.

GroupMe's main screen looks like a texting app--it's got all of your grouped conversations, a search button, a prominent "Start a Group" button, as well as buttons for Home, Contacts, Featured, and News. The Featured button takes you to a list of GroupMe partners (such as the TV show Dexter and the artist Ke$ha) and lets you start groups based around said partners. The News tab is just sort of a random newsfeed.

Starting a group is as easy as pressing the big green plus button at the bottom of the home screen and adding a couple of worthy contacts. Message them once and your contacts receive a couple of texts--including a note that they've been added to a group and a list who else is in the group with them. Any member of the group can start a conference call by dialing the special phone number your group has been assigned for the duration of your group conversation.

The original conversation starter can also disband the group--but once a group is disbanded, its special private group number ceases to exist.

GroupMe is an innovative way to get multiple people involved in one conversation. It can be annoying to have your phone constantly go off whenever someone replies to the group, but it's great if you're trying to get a group of people together to meet up, or if you have a bunch of friends who really love to talk to each other.

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Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate Review: Easy and Powerful, but Not Perfect

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate ($66 direct, as of February 1, 2012) is a lot more than its name implies. Yes, it converts video, and it does so quickly and capably to a multitude of formats. But it also rips DVDs, records and downloads online video, and even edits and processes video with special effects. It's more a video toolbox than a simple converter.

Video Converter Ultimate handled every test video file I possess--including some rarer types such as Real Media and Ogg Theora. (With every other video converter I've tried, I've had to insert a "nearly" or some other qualifier in that statement.) The program provides handy conversion templates for a host of specific handheld devices, such as iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and even my HTC HD7, which runs Windows Phone 7--a mobile operating system that other packages often ignore. As with other programs of this ilk, you simply select the target playback device, and the software generates the appropriately sized output. It also supports outputting video optimized for social sites such as Facebook and YouTube, but the program doesn't facilitate uploading the video for you.

Editing in Video Converter Ultimate is surprisingly simple. It offers a basic trim editor, but it also provides a post-processor that allows you to add effects such as grayscale, negative, or an old-film look. If you wish, you can perform freehand crops, rotate, watermark the video, and add subtitling. Everything I edited and converted in Video Converter Ultimate worked perfectly: I encountered no missing key frames, redraw issues, or crashes. The program uses AMD, Nvidia, or Intel GPU acceleration if it's present.

Video Converter Ultimate will rip your DRM videos to nonprotected versions, but this feature works only if you have the original tokens for the video involved. It works via Windows Media Player's DRM support. It will also capture Web videos with audio from YouTube and the like, though it isn't as easy to use in that respect as browser plug-ins like Video DownloadHelper in Firefox.

Alas, in my tests Video Converter Ultimate took a misstep in the most unlikely of places--with the long-established technology of DVD. Wondershare understandably doesn't play it up, but the program rips protected DVDs. However, in my hands-on trials, DVD playback stuttered noticeably, and more unfortunately, so did converted output. Wondershare was unable to replicate this behavior, or provide a fix.

Wondershare is a powerful if slightly pricey video converter and light video editor, and it performs its core tasks very well. The DVD playback and ripping glitch is a puzzler, but that isn't part of the program's core functionality anyway--and according to the company, the feature should work.

--Jon L. Jacobi

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate is an all-in-one DVD Video Converter, by providing you a one stop solution for family video/DVD conversion. You can convert both SD and HD videos to any video format for your portable media player or cell phone including iPod (Classic, Nano and Touch), iPhone, Apple TV, Zune, PSP, Pocket PC, Creative Zen, Archos, and 3GP mobile phones, etc. You can rip DVD to video in any format for enjoying them on your mobile devices on the go. You can also burn video to DVD and edit DVD from video for playback on your home DVD player. Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate is surprisingly easy and amusing for family media enjoyment, by allowing you to merge multiple files into one file, to clone a file, to clip one file into multiple segments, to trim the file length, to crop video, to adjust video effect, to edit either text or image watermark, to add subtitle, to set video and audio output settings, to capture images from video/DVD files, to customize DVD menu and so on.

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