1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:08,639 Monitors, sure, but actual computers from Dell, ironically, were never really 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:13,360 my bag, baby. However, due to recent events, I've been forced to rethink this 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:17,760 strategy. For one thing, you guys seem to love the Dell content, and for 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:23,439 another, they've just done some really great stuff lately, like this easily 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:27,599 upgradeable Inspiron 7559 model with a 6 00:00:23,439 --> 00:00:30,480 GTX 960M and a reasonable price tag. So, 7 00:00:27,599 --> 00:00:41,680 by popular demand, here is my take on the XPS15 9550. 8 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:47,440 The Master Case 5 by Cooler Master gives you the freedom to truly make your 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:51,039 midtower PC case your own with a variety of modular parts and accessories. Check 10 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:56,399 out the link in the video description to learn more. Okay, so I don't pay much 11 00:00:53,840 --> 00:01:02,719 attention to Dell. So I actually knew very little about the new Super Mario, 12 00:00:59,359 --> 00:01:04,400 excuse me, new XPS15 when I pulled it 13 00:01:02,719 --> 00:01:10,080 out of the box, making these initial impressions very raw. First, Dbrand, who 14 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:13,680 provided the unit to us, did a great job of the skin. Apparently, they do PCs now 15 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:19,600 in addition to Macs, so good work, robots. And second, while it feels 16 00:01:16,479 --> 00:01:21,439 really sturdy, I was surprised by the 17 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:27,600 size and weight because compared to the Blade 14 2015 that I use as a daily 18 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:30,560 driver, it just didn't feel that slim 19 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:35,119 and sexy in spite of the carbon fiber construction. Though, there are reasons 20 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:39,280 for that. So, we'll get to that later, but let's do the physical tour. It 21 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:43,759 really starts with the screen on this bad boy. On the one side of the slim, 22 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:48,240 well- constructed panel, you'll find a Dell logo surrounded, in our case, by a 23 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:53,759 wood grain vinyl skin. And on the other side, the built to order Infinity Edge 24 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:57,680 display. Dell boasts about the practically non-existent bezels, the 25 00:01:56,159 --> 00:02:02,159 viewing angles, and the color reproduction of this Exo panel. And I've 26 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:07,200 got to give it to them. It looks awesome. It gets bright enough for easy 27 00:02:05,119 --> 00:02:11,039 use in broad daylight. And more importantly for me, it gets dim enough 28 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:16,720 without assistance from a third party app for use at night in the dark. I went 29 00:02:14,319 --> 00:02:21,599 with a 1080p non-touch model because I was considering the 9550 as a Blade 14 30 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:27,200 replacement, and I was willing to trade display sharpness for battery life, but 31 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:33,200 it's also available with a touch-en 4K Exo display as well. My one complaint 32 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:37,280 here was that there was more backlight bleed than I would like to see in the 33 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:42,000 corners, but frankly, I stopped noticing it after the first day. So, there you 34 00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:47,120 go. What I did notice day-to-day though was the speed of this thing. I went with 35 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:53,200 a pretty decked out model. So, packed inside the guts on the bottom is an 36 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:56,239 Intel Core i7 6700HQ 45W quad core with 37 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:58,480 hyperthreading, 16 gigs of DDR4 memory, 38 00:02:56,239 --> 00:03:05,519 apparently upgradeable with 16 gig dims to 32 gigs total, a GTX 960M 2 gig video 39 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:09,120 card, and a 512 gig PCI Expressbased 40 00:03:05,519 --> 00:03:12,560 SSD, a Samsung 951 to be precise. 41 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:15,440 Showing though Dell doesn't specify, so 42 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:20,000 your mileage may vary in the future. But while I think they've got a wide enough 43 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:23,440 range of specs to meet almost anyone's needs from mine all the way to someone 44 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:29,440 who wants something more basic, I continue to be disappointed by their 45 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:31,440 online configurator. Dell, the GPU 46 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:36,400 belongs in the summary at the top of the page. These two models, one of which has 47 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:42,959 onboard graphics and the other of which packs a GTX 960M, look like you're 48 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:45,120 paying $250 for a hard drive upgrade, 49 00:03:42,959 --> 00:03:52,799 unless you scroll way down. Not only that, but while the 512 gig SSD models 50 00:03:48,959 --> 00:03:55,680 say solidstate drive, the one terabyte 51 00:03:52,799 --> 00:04:00,560 PCIe SSD models, you know, the ones where the storage drive costs about a 52 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:05,599 third of the entire machine, are labeled hard drive. Does anyone even proofread 53 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:10,560 these? Get your head in the game. And while we're at it, Dell, stop being 54 00:04:07,599 --> 00:04:14,640 misleading. If the 4K option is the only one with Corning glass on the front, 55 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:19,680 then that shouldn't be mentioned in the chassis blurb on a model that doesn't 56 00:04:17,199 --> 00:04:23,440 have a 4K display and doesn't offer it as an upgrade. Get your together, 57 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:29,600 marketing and product merchandising teams. All right, this is a good product, so get this stuff right because 58 00:04:27,759 --> 00:04:36,400 for me actually, yeah, it is a good product. The XPS 159550 was mostly a 59 00:04:33,199 --> 00:04:39,440 treat to use. The IO is a very solid mix 60 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,759 with SD USB 3, a battery indicator, and 61 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:47,840 a lock on the right, and a combo audio jack, USB typeC, Thunderbolt 3 port with 62 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:52,960 charging capability, HDMI, and another USB 3 port on the left. Thanks to the 63 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:58,240 sixth gen processor, and beefy battery, even my Core i7 model lasted me all day 64 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,120 with ease. the two fans that take in fresh air through the vents in the 65 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,600 bottom, then exhaust onto the lower bezel of the screen, keep the GPU 66 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:11,280 running at full speed, and take advantage of that extra size. I said I 67 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:16,240 would get to this versus the Blade 14 to stay reasonably quiet even under an 68 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:21,600 extended gaming load. And like that recently reviewed Inspiron, they turn 69 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:24,320 off entirely during light use. Great. 70 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:28,479 The backlit keyboard, which thankfully using function and escape allows you to 71 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:32,960 default to the F keys instead of the secondary functions, is quiet and 72 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:37,280 responsive with good tactile feedback and a really solid feeling palm rest. 73 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:41,440 And the touchpad was responsive with good palm rejection and solid 74 00:05:39,199 --> 00:05:46,080 performance during two-handed use. Something that many laptops that have 75 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:51,199 click pads rather than separated buttons struggle with, which isn't to say that 76 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:56,639 it's perfect. As a communication device, the XPS15 falls flat for me. While I 77 00:05:55,039 --> 00:06:01,199 would describe the recording quality of the 720p webcam as acceptable, there are 78 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:06,639 a couple of other issues that I have. Number one is that while I understand 79 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,720 that Dell had to move the webcam below 80 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:13,600 the screen in order to make room for the Infinity Edge display, what they didn't 81 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:17,199 have to do is stick it off to the side cuz it looks like I'm kind of staring 82 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:20,880 off into the distance somewhere when I'm actually looking dead center on my 83 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:25,680 screen. So, it could be closer to this experience if it weren't offset to make 84 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:31,520 room for the precious Dell logo. My other issue is that the included 85 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:33,280 microphone is awful. Why wasn't that put 86 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:37,360 along the bottom edge of the screen as well? Instead, it's on the leading edge 87 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:43,039 of the bottom of the laptop, giving an extraordinarily echoey sound, even 88 00:06:40,319 --> 00:06:47,919 compared to other laptop microphones. This recording is from my Razer Blade 89 00:06:45,039 --> 00:06:51,840 14. So, for those reasons, I can't recommend this device to anyone who 90 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:57,280 plans to use it extensively for video chatting over Skype or Hangouts. The 91 00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:00,800 Wi-Fi is Broadcom rather than Intel-based. And while it delivered 92 00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:05,680 actually awesome performance in my sustained file transfer tests, I have 93 00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:11,199 seen reports online of flaky behavior on 2.4 GHz networks while using a Bluetooth 94 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:14,479 mouse. The keyboard gets a little warmer to the touch than I'd like during idle, 95 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:18,560 and I feel like Dell might want to at least give me the option to fine-tune 96 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:23,680 the fan curve a little bit so my hands don't get sweaty. And finally, most of 97 00:07:21,199 --> 00:07:29,319 the accessories, including the USB Type-C dock, aren't available yet, dur 98 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:36,080 organizational criticism and less of a jab at the product itself. So, in the 99 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:40,479 grand scheme of things, these are some pretty minor complaints that I'm taking 100 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:46,400 into my conclusion here. And here it goes. In a vacuum, I probably wouldn't 101 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:50,479 be that impressed by the XPS5. I mean, sure, the slim bezel makes more of a 102 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:55,039 difference to the experience of using the device in practice than you'd 103 00:07:52,400 --> 00:08:00,560 probably expect, but it doesn't do anything else that's really that 104 00:07:57,599 --> 00:08:04,720 special, right? Well, it's more complicated than that because while it 105 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:09,840 doesn't seem that hard to do what Dell did here, deliver a solid product at a 106 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:15,120 fair price, it apparently is because most laptops are frankly kind of junky. 107 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:20,240 And when we consider the rest of the market as well, the XPS15 stands out 108 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:25,919 from the crowd by, despite my complaints, doing what it says it will 109 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,280 and doing it very, very well. 110 00:08:25,919 --> 00:08:32,479 Speaking of doing what they say they will, and doing it well, Dbrand Skins 111 00:08:29,759 --> 00:08:36,080 makes pretty freaking sick skins for all kinds of devices. They've got their 112 00:08:34,479 --> 00:08:41,039 online configurator that lets you go, hey, look, this is my phone or this is 113 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:44,560 my game controller or my game console or 114 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:47,680 my MacBook or whoa, they've got PCs now, 115 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:49,760 including the XPS 15. And you can 116 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:54,160 actually use that configurator to mock up all kinds of different combinations 117 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:58,959 of skins, so you can personalize your device exactly the way you want to. And 118 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:03,360 there's a practical component to it, too. The vinyl skin that you apply will 119 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:07,600 also help protect your device from incidental scuffs and scrapes. Something 120 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:12,000 that is great for something like a laptop that you're constantly sliding in 121 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:15,760 and out of, say, for example, a backpack or briefcase. So, all you've got to do 122 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:20,720 is head to the link in the video description and check out Dbrand's 123 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:25,440 highquality vinyl skins. I mean, what are you waiting for? Go do it. I ran out 124 00:09:22,959 --> 00:09:29,040 of gas there on my on my spot, but you guys get the point. 125 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:33,440 All right, so thanks for watching, guys. If you disliked this video, hey, you 126 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:37,200 know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or 127 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:41,040 even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop on 128 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:44,320 Amazon. Instructions for which are up there, by buying a cool shirt like this 129 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:47,920 one, or with a direct monthly contribution. Links for all that stuff 130 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:50,640 is in the video description. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're 131 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:54,880 probably wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top 132 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:58,690 right corner to check out this video that we're previewing here right now. I 133 00:09:56,959 --> 00:10:03,079 guarantee you it's amazing.