Dell announced two new products, a 2-in-1 version of its popular XPS 13 clamshell-type laptop, as well as an ultrathin 27-inch monitor with QHD (2560x1440) resolution and USB Type-C connectivity.
XPS 13 2-in-1
The XPS 13 has been one of Dell’s more successful notebook product brands in the past few years, competing directly with products such as the Apple Macbook Pro, Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon, HP Spectre, and so on. Dell even made a “Developer Edition” of the XPS 13 that was pre-installed with Ubuntu, which similarly saw some success within the developer community.
Dell is now looking to expand this successful brand with a 2-in-1 variant and compete directly against Lenovo’s X1 Yoga and HP’s Spectre x360.
One of the more appealing features of the XPS 13, beyond its general premium build, was the “InfinityEdge” display, which is Dell’s brand name for its notebook displays with thin bezels. The new XPS 13 2-in-1 comes with the same IPS InfinityEdge display with 3200x1800 resolution that we’ve seen on the XPS 13.
Dell said that the new XPS 13 2-in-1 comes with an Intel Kaby Lake chip, just like its brother, allegedly giving it a 10% boost in performance over the previous generation XPS 13. Dell also claimed that the notebook can play up to 9 hours of Netflix videos on a single charge. The device can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. Dell is also offering an optional active pen with 2,048 precision levels.
You can buy an XPS 13 2-in-1 in a few days, starting January 5. The entry price will be $1,000 and will increase from there, depending on the selected configuration. (You can read a hands-on analysis of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 over on our sister publication, Laptop Magazine.)
| Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Processor | -7th Generation (Kaby Lake) Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor (4M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz) -7th Generation (Kaby Lake) Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor (4M Cache, up to 3.6 GHz) |
| Display options | -13.3-inch UltraSharp Quad HD+ (3200x1800) InfinityEdge touch display -13.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) InfinityEdge touch display 400-nits, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 72% color gamut, anti-reflective 170° wide viewing angle, capacitive touchscreen with 10-finger touch support |
| Construction | CNC machined aluminum in silver Edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass NBT Carbon fiber composite palm rest with soft touch paint Steel hinges wrapped in aluminum |
| Storage | 128GB SATA, 256GB PCIe, 512GB PCIe, or 1TB PCIe SSD with Intel RST |
| Memory | 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB Dual Channel LPDDR3 SDRAM at 1,866MHz (On Board) |
| Audio | Stereo speakers professionally tuned with Waves MaxxAudio Pro 1W x 2 = 2W total |
| Webcam | Widescreen HD (720p) webcam with dual array digital microphones |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 615 |
| Battery | 46WHr battery (not user-replaceable) |
| Pen | Dell Active Pen with 2,048 pressure sensitivity |
| I/O Ports | -Thunderbolt 3 with PowerShare, DC-In & DisplayPort-USB Type-C 3.1 with PowerShare, DC-In & DisplayPort-MicroSD card reader-Headset jack-Noble lock slot |
| Wireless Connectivity | -Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC + Bluetooth 4.2 -Miracast capable Intel Smart Connect Technology |
| Dimensions | Height: 0.32-0.54 x 11.98 x 7.8 inches / 8-13.7 x 304 x 199mm (HxWxD) |
| Weight | Starting at 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg) |
Dell 27 Ultrathin Monitor (S2718D)
According to IHS Global market research firm, Dell has been the #1 desktop monitor maker for the past three years. The company’s new ultrathin 27” monitor takes aim at customers that want monitors that look and feel more premium.
Based on Dell’s own internal analysis, the new S2718D should be the world’s thinnest monitor on the market. It’s also among those with the smallest bezels, using the company InfinityEdge display technology.
The monitor has a 2560x1400 resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, 6ms response, and 400 nits brightness. It’s also one of the most accurate desktop monitors, with an sRGB color gamut coverage of over 99%. S2718D’s display also support HDR, but Dell said the standard it uses is different from what TV makers are using.
The new monitor will be sold on Dell.com in the United States starting at $700. It should be available by March 16, 2017.
| Dell 27 Ultrathin Monitor | |
|---|---|
| Model number | S2718D |
| Display | 27” / 2560x1440 @ 60 Hz |
| Viewing angle | 178⁰/178⁰ wide viewing angle / glossy |
| Color gamut and depth | 99% sRGB / 16.7 million colors |
| Brightness / Contrast ratio / Response Time | 400 cd/m2 / 1000:1 / 6 ms (gray to gray) responsetime |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C with power deliver (up to 45W), HDMI 2.0, Audio line out |
| Misc. | HDR (high dynamic range) technology embedded (Scalar-only solution) |
The latest market share showed that Windows 10 since July only gain 0.72% on the market where Windows 7 alone for the past past went up for 1.17%. Windows 10 is a dead OS.
Dell needs to work on that logo. It just makes the laptop look cheap. Apple's logo looks classy. Whether you like the company or not. It looks good.
$1000 starting price for 1.2Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM, 1920x1080 display and a 128GB SSD. They took a page out of Apple's playbook. It almost makes the Macbook look reasonably priced.
Movie industry would also help is they make the jump to 16:10.
I know it was going to cost $5k, but the sooner the $5k monitors hit the street, the sooner there should be OLEDs I can afford!
One caveat...You need an HDMI 2.0 port to support the 4K resolution. And only one of the three ports on the TV supports uncompressed color.
Don't believe me? This site: www.rtings.com\tv reviews is how I found my 40" Samsung 4K Display. They really know what they are talking bout.
At the distance I'd be sitting, some curvature would really help.