The ultrabook category has long been dominated by the MacBook Air for its portability, design and performance, but finally, however, it has met a worthy opponent: Dell's XPS 13.
Dell claims that XPS 13 is a 13-inch display in the chassis of an 11-inch notebook, and they're right. While both devices (the Macbook and XPS) have the same screen size, if I put the XPS on top of a 13 inch MacBook Air, I can see the size difference.
This is because Dell has nearly eliminated the screen bezel (frame of the screen). This does not only shrink the size of the laptop as a whole, but the so-called "Infinity Display" also creates the effect that the display on the inside appears to go right off the sides.
It's not just small; from the external aluminium shell to the carbon fibre palm rest, the XPS is undeniably a great looking laptop. When recently showing it off to colleagues, they all paid a great deal of attention to it, unlike anything I have previously reviewed.
Normally, manufacturers can't shoehorn powerful specs inside an ultrabook, since performance and portability do not normally fit together. But the XPS has managed it, and it's exceptional.
The XPS 13 comes with Intel's fifth-generation Core i7, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. The machine perfectly serves as a serious business laptop. Booting up as well as launching programs like Word or Photoshop takes only a few seconds.
The overall performance is hugely impressive and everything but gaming is fine on this laptop; an ultrabook isn't designed to play games anyway.
This Infinity display has a higher pixels per inch (compared to the MacBook Air) that offers a whopping 3200-by-1800 resolution. This makes photos and videos look amazing and on top of that, it's a touch screen, how cool is that? Note: the retina display on the upcoming MacBook (yes, the one with the gold finish) offers 2304-by-1440.
For connectivity, the XPS doesn't compromise on ports either; it comes with two full-size USB3.0, SD card slot and Mini DisplayPort.
All of that in a package that weighs just 1.26kg and only 15mm thick. This alone makes the MacBook Air look chunky. Really, if seeing is believing, go to your nearest PC shop and see for yourself.
The XPS with those powerful specs and a touchable screen lasts for around seven hours, which, although good, is far from the 12 hours on a MacBook Air. There's also a trackpad issue when I clicked and failed to drag an icon, so I prefer the MacBook's glass trackpad since it's more accurate.
Now, everything has its cons. So, here they are:
Firstly, because of the infinity display thin bezel, the webcam is now at the lower-left corner of the display. As a result, any time you have a video call or take a selfie, the underside of your chin gets all the attention — think how fat you will look from that angle.
Next is the price, the XPS 13 is, I believe, one of the best ultrabooks on the market, but with its scary price tag (62,900 baht) is somewhat expensive for PC users. This means fewer potential buyers. But look on the bright side; you will get the best of what the market can offer.
Lastly, there's an annoying Windows 8 bug. After a Windows Update, all I got after a reboot was a blank screen and a movable cursor, I couldn't use or open any menus or programs for hours. After Googling the solution, I discovered the black screen problem is common for Windows 8 users. Not good, Microsoft.
What's more, most programs aren't customised for a high-resolution screen, so icons and menus look too small on the Windows desktop. Not to mention, tons of unknown Windows Updates. Really, how many bug fixes do users have to install?
I have to admit that a Mac guy like me likes this XPS 13. It may not wow the user in terms of design, like the Gold MacBook does, but in term of specs, it beats even the MacBook Air. If installing Mac OS X is possible, MacBooks might very well be in trouble. It is nice to see something good coming from the PC side.
The XPS 13 proves to be a MacBook-worthy opponent. So, if you're a Windows user who craves power and portability and money isn't a problem, then look no further.