Final thoughts and rating
Despite some niggling issues, we've come away modestly impressed with the XPS 15z. The notebook's design may not be original (far from it), but the end result is an elegant-looking machine that's thin, light and armed with plenty of power beneath the hood.
Dell has managed to capture some of the beauty of Apple's MacBook Pro, and offers it in a considerably cheaper package equipped with a Windows operating system that's familiar to millions. But while the notebook has borrowed from Apple's charm, it doesn't manage to maintain the same level of build quality and our review sample suggests that while the XPS 15z's central chassis is robust, its surrounding trim is less forgiving and may not stand the test of time.
Build quality could and perhaps should be better, but Dell has managed to deliver a lot of performance-per-pound in a visually-attractive PC. The £899 base model is let down by a uninspired 1,366x768 display, but for £999, the next model up provides the computing speed of a second-generation Intel Core i5 processor, the graphical grunt of a discrete NVIDIA GPU and plenty of frills - including a backlit keyboard, a high-capacity battery, USB 3.0 connectivity, and a full-HD 1080p display.
Our biggest gripe isn't that the XPS 15z falls short of meeting the standards set by the MacBook Pro, it's that the XPS product range has sacrificed function in favour of form. This is a lovely-looking machine, but last year's chubbier and heavier XPS 15 is better equipped and comfortably cheaper.
The Good
Looks like a MacBook Pro
Excellent overall performance
Comfortable keyboard and trackpad
Good battery life
The Bad
Build quality could be better
Standard 768p display is basic
Lacks options; no SSD, Blu-ray or quad-core CPUs
HEXUS Rating
Dell XPS 15z
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Dell XPS 15z notebook is available to purchase direct from Dell.co.uk.
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
Dell has issued the following statement in response to this HEXUS review:
June 5th, 2011
When submitting a product for review, it is Dell’s practice to provide the reviewer with the same out-of-box experience that our customers have when purchasing a Dell system, and therefore, a system that was less than perfect should not have been sent. As product reviewers tend to put systems through their paces and sometimes conduct stress tests, these systems will periodically show signs of wear and tear earlier than what most customers will experience, and the review unit that HEXUS received was recently a display model at an event and may have sustained cosmetic damage either at the venue or in transit. We have provided your feedback to our engineering teams to look into further.
