Getting To Know The XPS One 27
The familiar Windows 8 UI is where we get the most touch functionality from Dell’s fabulous QHD (2560x1440) WLED TFT LCD panel. An 89° viewing angle and approximately 60° of tilt help you get more up close and personal to a device you'd typically look at from a foot or more back, while edge-to-edge glass reduces the likelihood that small spills might enter a seam and damage its electronics.
Height adjustment is this PC's biggest limitation, with the upper arm's narrow range of motion stopping the vertical screen approximately 1.75” above the desk. Tilt it back, and the arm lowers enough to give nearly 5.5” of drop. These constraints keep weight centered over the base to keep the system from tipping over.
A power button and hard drive activity LED are found on the chassis model 2710’s right edge, while touch controls occupy the lower-right corner of its face. The touch control all the way to the right operates a slot-loaded optical drive, with Blu-ray read support on our review unit.
The left edge hosts microphone and headphone jacks, USB ports, and an 8-in-1 media card interface. If you didn't already look at the spec table on page one, you might be surprised to learn that the USB ports are 3.0-compliant, even though they don't bear the standard's familiar blue color. The media drive also adds a feature—xD capability—to the expected SD, MMC, and MS standards.
Do you worry about spy software hijacking your camera? Dell’s mechanical shutter should help alleviate those concerns by physically hiding the 2 MP sensor's lens.
The 2710’s rear panel provides four USB 3.0 ports—again without the expected blue color coding—along with a gigabit Ethernet network jack, digital optical audio, HDMI out, HDMI in, and a full-sized PC power jack. HDMI input is pass-through-only, allowing the unit to act as a standalone display.
Though not present on this unit, Dell also offers an internal mini-PCIe TV tuner card on all four XPS One 2710 models.
