WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:08.639 Monitors, sure, but actual computers from Dell, ironically, were never really 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:13.360 my bag, baby. However, due to recent events, I've been forced to rethink this 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:17.760 strategy. For one thing, you guys seem to love the Dell content, and for 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:23.439 another, they've just done some really great stuff lately, like this easily 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:27.599 upgradeable Inspiron 7559 model with a 00:00:23.439 --> 00:00:30.480 GTX 960M and a reasonable price tag. So, 00:00:27.599 --> 00:00:41.680 by popular demand, here is my take on the XPS15 9550. 00:00:41.680 --> 00:00:47.440 The Master Case 5 by Cooler Master gives you the freedom to truly make your 00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:51.039 midtower PC case your own with a variety of modular parts and accessories. Check 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 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:02.719 attention to Dell. So I actually knew very little about the new Super Mario, 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:04.400 excuse me, new XPS15 when I pulled it 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:10.080 out of the box, making these initial impressions very raw. First, Dbrand, who 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 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:19.600 in addition to Macs, so good work, robots. And second, while it feels 00:01:16.479 --> 00:01:21.439 really sturdy, I was surprised by the 00:01:19.600 --> 00:01:27.600 size and weight because compared to the Blade 14 2015 that I use as a daily 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:30.560 driver, it just didn't feel that slim 00:01:27.600 --> 00:01:35.119 and sexy in spite of the carbon fiber construction. Though, there are reasons 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 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:43.759 really starts with the screen on this bad boy. On the one side of the slim, 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:48.240 well- constructed panel, you'll find a Dell logo surrounded, in our case, by a 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:53.759 wood grain vinyl skin. And on the other side, the built to order Infinity Edge 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:57.680 display. Dell boasts about the practically non-existent bezels, the 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:02.159 viewing angles, and the color reproduction of this Exo panel. And I've 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.200 got to give it to them. It looks awesome. It gets bright enough for easy 00:02:05.119 --> 00:02:11.039 use in broad daylight. And more importantly for me, it gets dim enough 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:16.720 without assistance from a third party app for use at night in the dark. I went 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:21.599 with a 1080p non-touch model because I was considering the 9550 as a Blade 14 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:27.200 replacement, and I was willing to trade display sharpness for battery life, but 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:33.200 it's also available with a touch-en 4K Exo display as well. My one complaint 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:37.280 here was that there was more backlight bleed than I would like to see in the 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:42.000 corners, but frankly, I stopped noticing it after the first day. So, there you 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 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:53.200 a pretty decked out model. So, packed inside the guts on the bottom is an 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:56.239 Intel Core i7 6700HQ 45W quad core with 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:58.480 hyperthreading, 16 gigs of DDR4 memory, 00:02:56.239 --> 00:03:05.519 apparently upgradeable with 16 gig dims to 32 gigs total, a GTX 960M 2 gig video 00:03:02.480 --> 00:03:09.120 card, and a 512 gig PCI Expressbased 00:03:05.519 --> 00:03:12.560 SSD, a Samsung 951 to be precise. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:15.440 Showing though Dell doesn't specify, so 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 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:23.440 range of specs to meet almost anyone's needs from mine all the way to someone 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:29.440 who wants something more basic, I continue to be disappointed by their 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:31.440 online configurator. Dell, the GPU 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 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:42.959 onboard graphics and the other of which packs a GTX 960M, look like you're 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:45.120 paying $250 for a hard drive upgrade, 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:52.799 unless you scroll way down. Not only that, but while the 512 gig SSD models 00:03:48.959 --> 00:03:55.680 say solidstate drive, the one terabyte 00:03:52.799 --> 00:04:00.560 PCIe SSD models, you know, the ones where the storage drive costs about a 00:03:57.920 --> 00:04:05.599 third of the entire machine, are labeled hard drive. Does anyone even proofread 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:10.560 these? Get your head in the game. And while we're at it, Dell, stop being 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:14.640 misleading. If the 4K option is the only one with Corning glass on the front, 00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:19.680 then that shouldn't be mentioned in the chassis blurb on a model that doesn't 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:23.440 have a 4K display and doesn't offer it as an upgrade. Get your together, 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 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:36.400 for me actually, yeah, it is a good product. The XPS 159550 was mostly a 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:39.440 treat to use. The IO is a very solid mix 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:41.759 with SD USB 3, a battery indicator, and 00:04:39.440 --> 00:04:47.840 a lock on the right, and a combo audio jack, USB typeC, Thunderbolt 3 port with 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:52.960 charging capability, HDMI, and another USB 3 port on the left. Thanks to the 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.240 sixth gen processor, and beefy battery, even my Core i7 model lasted me all day 00:04:55.520 --> 00:05:01.120 with ease. the two fans that take in fresh air through the vents in the 00:04:59.520 --> 00:05:05.600 bottom, then exhaust onto the lower bezel of the screen, keep the GPU 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:11.280 running at full speed, and take advantage of that extra size. I said I 00:05:08.880 --> 00:05:16.240 would get to this versus the Blade 14 to stay reasonably quiet even under an 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:21.600 extended gaming load. And like that recently reviewed Inspiron, they turn 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:24.320 off entirely during light use. Great. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:28.479 The backlit keyboard, which thankfully using function and escape allows you to 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:32.960 default to the F keys instead of the secondary functions, is quiet and 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:37.280 responsive with good tactile feedback and a really solid feeling palm rest. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:41.440 And the touchpad was responsive with good palm rejection and solid 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:46.080 performance during two-handed use. Something that many laptops that have 00:05:43.440 --> 00:05:51.199 click pads rather than separated buttons struggle with, which isn't to say that 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:56.639 it's perfect. As a communication device, the XPS15 falls flat for me. While I 00:05:55.039 --> 00:06:01.199 would describe the recording quality of the 720p webcam as acceptable, there are 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:06.639 a couple of other issues that I have. Number one is that while I understand 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:08.720 that Dell had to move the webcam below 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:13.600 the screen in order to make room for the Infinity Edge display, what they didn't 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 00:06:15.520 --> 00:06:20.880 off into the distance somewhere when I'm actually looking dead center on my 00:06:18.880 --> 00:06:25.680 screen. So, it could be closer to this experience if it weren't offset to make 00:06:22.880 --> 00:06:31.520 room for the precious Dell logo. My other issue is that the included 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:33.280 microphone is awful. Why wasn't that put 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:37.360 along the bottom edge of the screen as well? Instead, it's on the leading edge 00:06:35.440 --> 00:06:43.039 of the bottom of the laptop, giving an extraordinarily echoey sound, even 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:47.919 compared to other laptop microphones. This recording is from my Razer Blade 00:06:45.039 --> 00:06:51.840 14. So, for those reasons, I can't recommend this device to anyone who 00:06:49.840 --> 00:06:57.280 plans to use it extensively for video chatting over Skype or Hangouts. The 00:06:54.960 --> 00:07:00.800 Wi-Fi is Broadcom rather than Intel-based. And while it delivered 00:06:59.039 --> 00:07:05.680 actually awesome performance in my sustained file transfer tests, I have 00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:11.199 seen reports online of flaky behavior on 2.4 GHz networks while using a Bluetooth 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:14.479 mouse. The keyboard gets a little warmer to the touch than I'd like during idle, 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 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 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:29.319 the accessories, including the USB Type-C dock, aren't available yet, dur 00:07:29.440 --> 00:07:36.080 organizational criticism and less of a jab at the product itself. So, in the 00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:40.479 grand scheme of things, these are some pretty minor complaints that I'm taking 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:46.400 into my conclusion here. And here it goes. In a vacuum, I probably wouldn't 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:50.479 be that impressed by the XPS5. I mean, sure, the slim bezel makes more of a 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.039 difference to the experience of using the device in practice than you'd 00:07:52.400 --> 00:08:00.560 probably expect, but it doesn't do anything else that's really that 00:07:57.599 --> 00:08:04.720 special, right? Well, it's more complicated than that because while it 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 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:15.120 fair price, it apparently is because most laptops are frankly kind of junky. 00:08:13.280 --> 00:08:20.240 And when we consider the rest of the market as well, the XPS15 stands out 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:25.919 from the crowd by, despite my complaints, doing what it says it will 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.280 and doing it very, very well. 00:08:25.919 --> 00:08:32.479 Speaking of doing what they say they will, and doing it well, Dbrand Skins 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:36.080 makes pretty freaking sick skins for all kinds of devices. They've got their 00:08:34.479 --> 00:08:41.039 online configurator that lets you go, hey, look, this is my phone or this is 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:44.560 my game controller or my game console or 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:47.680 my MacBook or whoa, they've got PCs now, 00:08:44.560 --> 00:08:49.760 including the XPS 15. And you can 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:54.160 actually use that configurator to mock up all kinds of different combinations 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:58.959 of skins, so you can personalize your device exactly the way you want to. And 00:08:56.880 --> 00:09:03.360 there's a practical component to it, too. The vinyl skin that you apply will 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:07.600 also help protect your device from incidental scuffs and scrapes. Something 00:09:05.920 --> 00:09:12.000 that is great for something like a laptop that you're constantly sliding in 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 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:20.720 is head to the link in the video description and check out Dbrand's 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:25.440 highquality vinyl skins. I mean, what are you waiting for? Go do it. I ran out 00:09:22.959 --> 00:09:29.040 of gas there on my on my spot, but you guys get the point. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:33.440 All right, so thanks for watching, guys. If you disliked this video, hey, you 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.200 know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.040 even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop on 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:44.320 Amazon. Instructions for which are up there, by buying a cool shirt like this 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:47.920 one, or with a direct monthly contribution. Links for all that stuff 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:50.640 is in the video description. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:54.880 probably wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top 00:09:52.640 --> 00:09:58.690 right corner to check out this video that we're previewing here right now. I 00:09:56.959 --> 00:10:03.079 guarantee you it's amazing.