Dell XPS 15 (Summer 2012)

Competition is tough among manufacturers of premium desktop replacement laptops, with plenty of players vying for the Windows PC market and a growing number moving to Apple products. But while everyone is busy doing their best Apple impression, not every laptop has the performance to back up a premium price tag. The Dell XPS 15 does, thanks to a quad-core Ivy Bridge processor, switchable Nvidia graphics, and a design that is highly refined, if not entirely original. If you're not yet ready to go the Mac route, this could be a solid backup plan.

Design
The Dell XPS 15 has a minimalist design, with a dark all-metal chassis with curves and smooth surfaces that echo the MacBook Pro's unique look. Dell has done its best to distinguish the XPS 15 with a two-tone design of dark metal on the lid and a stripe of bare silver aluminum around the edge, but with the Dell XPS 15 sitting on the laptop testing bench alongside the soon-to-be-reviewed Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Mid 2012) and the Editors' Choice Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display) , it's hard to ignore the similarities. In fact, "similarities" may not be strong enough a term?perhaps "uncanny resemblance," "clear inspiration," or "out-and-out clone" would be closer. Dell may not say it in any ads, but it's clear that this is Dell's answer to the MacBook Pro. In fairness, Dell isn't alone in this, as we've pointed out designs cribbed from Apple in other premium desktop replacements, such as the HP Envy 15 (2012) .

Believe it or not, we're not knocking Dell for pulling a page from the Jony Ive design book. In fact, Dell has put a great deal of time and attention into improving the XPS 15's look, and has largely succeeded. Where Apple uses bare aluminum, Dell adds soft touch paint on the palm rest and a silicone panel on the bottom, making the XPS 15 both more touchable and a bit more stable on some surfaces. Apple's unibody design has a hard edge around the palm rest, but Dell softens things with a minute bevel. The backlit chiclet keyboard adds some curvature to the key caps, making for a comfortable typing experience, and the clickpad is coated with the same soft touch paint as the palm rest. All in all, although the XPS 15 looks like an Apple product, it actually feels better.

The 15.6-inch widescreen display offers 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, the same seen on the HP Envy 15 and surpassing the more modest resolutions of the Samsung Series 7 (NP700Z5A-S03) and last year's Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft) , but it can't touch the groundbreaking 2,880-by-1,800 Retina display on the new MacBook Pro. (It's tough to compete with technology that Apple bought with its giant pile of money?but you'll also pay a $500 premium to get it.) The XPS 15 also has solid audio, with Waves MaxxAudio 4 and two integrated two-watt stereo speakers. The only thing you won't get is an integrated subwoofer like the one seen (or rather felt) in the HP Envy 15.

Features
In addition to a quality design, the Dell XPS 15 also offers a full selection of ports. Most are located on the left side of the laptop, with three USB 3.0 ports, a compact Ethernet port, and HDMI and Mini DisplayPort outputs (for monitors and HDTV). On the other side you'll find a card reader (SD/MMC), jacks for both headphones and headset (the latter also doubles as a microphone jack), and a slot-loading optical drive that reads Blu-ray discs and burns DVDs. Above the screen is a Skype-certified 1.3-megapixel webcam, and a dual-mic array provides clear sound while chatting.

Inside its magnesium chassis, the XPS 15 is equipped with 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. If you don't want the hassle of connecting to a TV through the HDMI port, the XPS 15 also offers WiDi 2.0, although you'll need to also use an adapter, such as the Netgear Push2TV ?one normally costs $99, but Dell will bundle it with the XPS 15 for $79. The XPS 15 is available with both traditional hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs), but our review unit offered an excellent combined solution: a 750GB 7,200rpm hard drive and a 32GB flash memory cache, providing the requisite speed for Intel's RapidStart technology and snappy performance for less money than the cost of a full SSD. It's not as snappy as the 256GB of flash storage found in the MacBook Pro, but it has a considerably larger capacity.

On the hard drive you'll find several programs already installed, including Adobe Reader X, Microsoft Office 2010 Starter, Skype, Internet Explorer, Windows Live Essentials, Wave 4, and a 30-day trial of McAfee Security Center. Instead of the usual one-year warranty, Dell covers the XPS 15 with its Premium Protection plan, which also includes coverage for accidental damage, Lojack for Laptops, remote diagnosis and in-home service, and premium phone support.

Performance
Dell has updated the XPS 15 with an Intel third-generation Core i7-3612QM quad-core processor, paired with 8GB of RAM. The new processor provides a significant step up in capability, allowing the XPS 15 to surge ahead of systems equipped with second-generation processors. In Futuremark PCMark 7, the XPS 15 scored 4,003, as compared with the Samsung Series 7 (2,697) and the HP Envy 15 (2,218). It also led in CineBench R11.5, where the XPS 15 scored 5.64, ahead of both the Samsung (4.55) and the HP Envy 15 (2.67), although it fell behind the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display), which scored 6.18 when tested in Mac OS X. Speedy times in Handbrake (1 minute 23 seconds) and Photoshop CS5 (3:43) showed off the system's multimedia chops as well.

Thanks to an Nvidia GeForce GT 640M discrete graphics processor and 2GB of VRAM, the Dell XPS 15 also has some facility with gaming. It cranked through 3DMark06 with some of the best scores we've seen in this category, scoring 12,458. As for our real-world gaming tests, it tore through Crysis at 74 frames per second (fps) and Lost Planet 2 at 58fps?only gaming-specific laptops did better. By comparison, the Samsung Series 7 fell behind in both Crysis (49fps) and Lost Planet 2 (64fps). Unfortunately, until we test both MacBook Pros with Windows, we don't have benchmark numbers to compare. Given the similarity in hardware, however, they are likely close in performance.

The Dell XPS also benefits from Optimus automatic switching, which allows the graphics processing to shift seamlessly between the Nvidia graphics card and Intel's integrated HD Graphics 4000, making for better energy efficiency without sacrificing graphics quality. As a result, the XPS 15 lasted an impressive 7 hours 28 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 battery rundown test.

Among premium desktop replacement laptops, the Dell XPS 15 is an above-average contender, with top hardware and solid performance. Unfortunately?especially with such a strong physical resemblance to the MacBook Pro?it can't match Apple's Retina display, Thunderbolt connection, and top-tier operating system. As a result, the Editors' Choice Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display) stays on top, but the Dell XPS 15 takes a close second place with strong performance and a much more affordable price. If you're in the market for a premium laptop, the Dell XPS 15 is an easy choice among Windows PCs.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
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