StephenAZ
 
 
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StephenAZ's Reviews
 
Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell XPSD12-5335CRBFB Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop: Easily move between work and play with this flip-hinge 2-in-1 laptop with Full HD touch screen. It's ultrathin and light and made with durable materials, so you can take your entertainment with you and be productive on the go.Learn more about the New Windows ›
 
Excellent device ruined by display flaw
Customer Rating
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Posted by: StephenAZ
from Scottsdale, AZ
on August 24, 2013
Display
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Performance
5.0 out of 5
5.0
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What's great about it: Excellent performance, strong battery, very portable
What's not so great: Image ghosting, too much storage used by Dell
This could have been a glowing review for a truly innovative convertible since the XPS 12 is second only to the Surface Pro for performance, flexibility, and portability, but the device has a fatal flaw that I have since learned is quite common. The high resolution display is extremely susceptible to image ghosting. By that I mean, the displays in many units retain the outlines of bright images if they remain on the screen for more than a minute or two. If you own one, you can easily test whether yours has the problem by doing the following:
1) Set the Windows 8 start screen background to blue (pretty much the default).
2) Go to the Windows desktop, and set the color to something akin to the old XP blue or any comparable color. This is not necessary but does make the resulting issue easier to see in less time.
3) Pin a few items to the task bar, and add a couple icons to the upper left portion of the desktop.
4) Work on the desktop for few minutes with the task bar and upper left corner visible (five to ten minutes is enough). You can even just leave the desktop open and on the screen - no need to run anything as long as the desktop and task bar stay visible.
5) After five minutes (mine was no more than a minute after a few days), hit the Windows button to jump back to the start screen.
6) Observe the bottom of the screen that corresponds to where the task bar is on the desktop, and the upper left where you placed the icons.
7) If you have the display issue, you will see the faint to vivid outlines of the taskbar and pinned items, and the same of the upper left icons showing through as ghosts. An example is attached to this review. These will fade in anywhere from a minute to up to ten minutes.
8) You can achieve the same result by opening a bright web page in a windows and then after a few minutes switching to a darker screen.
While some may think this is trivial, the above is just a test to demonstrate. It does have a real world impact in functionality. For instance, if you are working on a bright object in something such as Photoshop, you can be stuck with the ghosting when you switch to editing a darker image. On that subject, no one should have to wait for the display on a $1000 laptop to fix itself so that you can complete a task. Even more importantly, I confirmed with mine over the course of a week that the effect takes less time to be triggered the longer it is used and takes more time to dissipate. That suggests at some point there is a potential for a memory effect and permanently marred display.
I would write this off as just a single defective display except if you do a search you will find numerous complaints, with Dell's solution being to replace the laptops, sometimes with ones with the same problem. I also stopped by two Phoenix area Best Buys and checked their multiple demo displays and all had the same issue. I showed this to the staff in one store who were shocked by it and acknowledged it was pretty obvious if you were looking for it.
This would be unacceptable for a low end bargain machine but the XPS 12 is definitely a lot more than that. It is a performance laptop with a $1000 price tag. Under the circumstances, I cannot recommend it. If you buy one (or already own one) I would further recommend checking for the problem. It will not go away, will worsen with time, and is not limited to early production units. You should not have to live with the problem, or suddenly realize it is there after your warranty expires. As I said, it is also not just some trivial little test such as looking for a bit of backlight bleed that has no effect on actual use. This can impact actual use in very inconvenient ways.
BTW, do not let anyone convince you it is common to all 1080P displays. While early MacBook Pros with Retina displays had a version of the same problem they have fixed it. The equally high resolution Surface Pro which I also own is not susceptible to the problem at all. This is a Dell XPS 12 problem, not a universal high resolution display issue.
This product is... subject to serious screen defects
About me... Technology guru, Regularly process large video or graphics files, Business Professional
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+32points
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Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell XPSD12-5335CRBFB Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop: Easily move between work and play with this flip-hinge 2-in-1 laptop with Full HD touch screen. It's ultrathin and light and made with durable materials, so you can take your entertainment with you and be productive on the go.Learn more about the New Windows ›
 

is there a screen lock button?

if i'm listening to music, and want to turn screen black while i listen? like on a tablet or phone, you can turn off the screen and let the music still play.
You can set the display to turn off after any interval one minute or greater just as on any Windows 8 laptop. Music will continue to play with the screen off unless you have also set the option in the power plan to allow the device to sleep while playing media.
10 years, 8 months ago
by
Posted by: 
StephenAZ
 from
Scottsdale, AZ
 
Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell - XPS 2-in-1 12.5" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 128GB Solid State Drive - Carbon Fiber
Dell XPSD12-5335CRBFB Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop: Easily move between work and play with this flip-hinge 2-in-1 laptop with Full HD touch screen. It's ultrathin and light and made with durable materials, so you can take your entertainment with you and be productive on the go.Learn more about the New Windows ›
 

3G / 4G

Does this device work with a sim card?
No. It is WiFi only.
10 years, 8 months ago
by
Posted by: 
StephenAZ
 from
Scottsdale, AZ
 
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