nkedel

*ROFLOL* There's an OMNI-thread to be had there, I think.

maortega15

So unfortunately, I might have to get my rather new Dell XPS 13 replaced due to multiple hardware issues.

-Sound crackling
-Won't turn on on occasion
-Randomly shuts down at times

And the list goes on...

pseudoswede

I got to play with the Lenovo Yoga 900 at the Microsoft Store the other day. If only my wallet would agree...

maortega15

Now that you mention it, would the Lenovo Yoga 900 be better than the Dell XPS 13 if I was given the chance to exchange mine with another model of my choosing?

ScottC

I have one here in front of me, trying to compete with my Surface Book

nkedel

In general, I'd say the XPS 13 is better if you want a pure laptop, but the Lenovo obviously brings being a convertible tablet to the table.

Cyllabus

Ok Ok--
Have had laptops since Mitsubishi 24lb thing-- which I still have, with it's 10 mb hard drive. Have always lost weight in each new laptop iteration since. Really liked the tiny Sony VAIOs in the day.

For several years my travel machine was a Toshiba 836 Portage. A good thing, took a lot of punishment-- until it forgot our boot password, so it's a brick.

Now I have an old Acer S3 ultrabook for rougher travel (Vegas, China) and me lovely Dell XPS 13, bought in July 2015 from MS Signature-- the top model at the time. Also their max extended warranty. Since then, loaded MS10 and all my old and new softwares-- Adobe, Office--basic stuff, no games. I manage and write a 250-page website, with lots of graphics as my main use, plus old movies captured from the streams with Playlater.

I first saw the Dell at CES, where it won the CES Award. Beautiful machine! But I've had many Dells. Only one, made by Samsung was any good. Then the XPS13 won the Spark Design Awards and got raves from all the tech mags-- so I tried one out.

It's been to Madrid, Shanghai, HK, Seoul, Munich, SF, Copenhagen on week-long trips and performed flawlessly. Lightweight, great screen, OK battery life (5 hrs) and as pretty as any Mac. (A previous machine was a Mac Air.) A mighty fine travel laptop.

So nice, that I'll take the Acer to CES next week-- and save the Dell to savor!

Happy New Year, Flyertalkers!

April 1 2016 Update: Dell xps13 still strong, been to Asia twice and SF on long work trips. Many more coming up. Best!

painintheuk

I have now had my X15 for a few months and it is far and away the worst laptop (or computer) that I have ever owned or had to support. It crashes regularly, plugging in headphones requires a reboot, the Wifi craps out and needs a restore at least once a month (for example connecting to hotel wifi) and Dell bloatware makes MS look like geniuses!

I wasn't entirely happy with my MBP, but at the end of the day - it worked. EVERY time. My XP desktop does the same. This machine is a time sinkhole!!!

To be fair, I should have known better after reading the smallprint as indicated above.

Dr. PITUK

nkedel

Are you using the Dell-installed Windows installation, or a clean installation?

painintheuk

I'm using the installation that was delivered to me (eventually!), so Dell-installed. I wasn't offered an alternative. There is an icon to create a recovery USB, but I assume that it would be the same crap that I was given originally.

Dr. PITUK

painintheuk

I would have posted this earlier and likely found solutions (which I shouldn't have to!), but the last 4 months I've been completely swamped with work and other issues.

Dr. PITUK

nkedel

Yes, the recovery media that you had the option of creating would have included at least most of the Dell pre-installed cr*p.

You can download a Windows 10 reinstall media direct from Microsoft using the tool they make available for upgrading older systems.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

I'd recommend doing a clean reinstall. OEM images tend to be awful; it's hardly just Dell.

Doing a "reset" accomplishes some of the above but will likely keep some of the Dell drivers... but it's less hassle, and it can retain your documents. Either way, you'll be reinstalling applications. In both cases, there may also be some drivers it can't find at all through Windows update -- although I highly recommend using the Microsoft-provided Windows Update drivers when they're available.

My new employer ordered a Precision 5510 for me (the business version of the XPS15 9550, basically, although not quite as close as the XPS 15 9530 and Precision M3800 were), although I haven't received it yet -- when I do, I may have some other suggestions about annoyances with the system, since I'll be using almost the same one.

painintheuk

Thanks nkedel. I think (having just had the graphics driver crash again) that once my current heavy workload dies down in a few weeks I'll do a clean install. I hadn't realized that was an option, so I appreciate the link!

Dr. PITUK

nkedel

Welcome.

The versions of three drivers -- the Intel HD video driver, the NVidia video driver, and Intel DPTF (Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework) drivers are all somewhat interdependent, so with luck it will all get the right versions off Windows update. If not, it may take some experimentation to find the right versions to work together, but in general for the Intel and NVidia video drivers, if the Windows Update versions don't work the best choice is to go directly to Intel or NVidia and not to use the Dell-provided ones.

(Sadly, there is no direct download for the Intel DPTF driver from Intel, only from OEMs.)