31Mar New laptop showed up. Quick look at the DELL XPS 15.
The new Dell XPS 15 laptop showed up while I was out on the road. Thankfully or not, I’ve been sick for 2 days straight, so between medication, hot baths, and cough drops, I’ve been able to mess around with it. My first impression is that this beast is only slightly smaller then my old 17 inch HP, it’s defiantly lighter, but some of the design choices are a little strange.
For example, if you look at the laptop from the side you’ll notice a dramatically rounded cover plate on the optical drive. You’ll also notice that you’re left with a square section jutting out past the monitor. I would consider it to be average ugly. Even though I regret the stylistic choices made by Dell on the XPS 15, the performance makes up for it.
The built in speakers sound rich and full, the trackpad is large and supports multi touch, and every key has a satisfying click. The power under the hood allowed me to watch 4 DSLR mov files with picture in picture in my premiere timeline in real time, and after I added the nvidia script hack, I bumped that number up to 7 with no problem.
I may feel a little self conscious setting the Dell XPS 15 next to a MacBook Pro, but i think the savings will keep me happy.
April 1st, 2011 at 10:14 am
Whats the nvidia script hack? Id love to use something like that if it can increase the speed on my laptop while editing in premiere.
April 1st, 2011 at 11:09 am
I should have posted a link here you go.
April 2nd, 2011 at 4:55 am
How do you think laptop will perform for Sony vegas 10? thanks!
April 4th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
just wondering, what video card are you using? I am thinking of picking this up, and was wondering if the hack would work for it.
btw what do you edit in? Premiere pro?
April 4th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Yes, that graphic’s card should work with the hack just fine. $980 is also a good price. I do most of my work in Premiere pro.
April 4th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Do you ever have any problems with real-time playback? do you trasncode at all out of the t2i? I have the same setup as you and I’m contemplating refresing my macbook pro or saving 50% and getting this and using premiere pro cs5.
April 18th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Hey DeeJay,
I like the XPS 15 and I too was thinking of updating my macbook pro- but can’t justify spending an additional $1500 bucks. Do you think the XPS 15 with the GeForce GT 540m w/ 2gb graphics card will work with the Premiere Hack?
Just want to know before I pull the plug,
todd
April 18th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Yes the Premiere pro hack works great with the XPS 15’s geforce graphics card. Editing with the XPS 15 has been very nice so far.
April 18th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Hey Deejay,
Can I ask one more question? I noticed a few questions about you using a T2i or is that a 7d? I myself use a 5DMarkII and shoot lots of pics, but am starting to take the plunge with the HD Video my 5D takes. My current MacBook Pro chokes on Premiere (poor video card) and the Dell Latitude I have doesn’t cut it at all- so you do think the XPS 15 is the way to go? Should I spend the $$ to max the ram and get the biggest drive available? Did you get the 9 cell battery?
tia,
todd
April 19th, 2011 at 11:53 am
The XPS 15 does a good job. I maxed out my ram (8GB) and sprung for the 2gb graphics card. You can always plug in an external hard drive, which could be cheaper then dells “hard drive upgrade” so I went for the 500gb drive. If you want to save a little money 6gb of ram and the 1gb graphics card will still handle your footage just fine in CS5. You could probably get away with a first gen I7 as well. The 9 cell battery was a “free” upgrade at the time I ordered. I’ve been getting about 2 to 4 hours out of it depending on what I’m using the computer for. The 9 cell battery also lifts the back end of the laptop off the table a little bit and helps overall airflow cooling.