Apologies if this is not the right place for my query but I respect the opinions of all on this forum. Can any owner give a 'warts an' all' review for a Dell XPS15. Having read computer mags which say it's great to some owners who say it's the worst buy ever. It looks just what I need but don't want to throw my money away. Many thanks for any advice you can give.
There are several models of the XPS15 listed on the Dell support site.
I have an Inspiron 15, 5577 model. Inspiron's are the most popular model line.
Whether a brand or model is good or bad is very subjective. One can think its a piece of cr@p and someone else may think the exact same model is the best PC they have ever had.
Dell has a forum, look over the posts in the Laptop section. See if or what the posts are on the XPS 15 models.
XPS - Dell Community
The Inspiron 15, 5577 model I have is sold as a gaming laptop but I bought it for my recording studio for "on site" recordings and its working out perfectly for that application. It came with an M.2 SSD and boots and loads programs as fast as my i7 6700K desktop.
I have an XPS 15 9550 i7, 16GB RAM, and SSD. That is a two year-old model. It is working great for me. Some of the problems I ran into:
1. I among many had the swelling battery problem after just over a year of use. Fortunately they replaced it and the popped up touchpad without charge. Initially Dell would not recognize this as a serious problem even when day after day more people were posting this issue. It took Dell quite a while to recognize the issue and send out a recall on it.
2. I had bought the Dell TB15 Thunderbolt 3 dock when it first came out. That was a disaster. It never worked properly. I sent it back. There have been issues with the Thunderbolt 3 port. This was one of the first systems to come out with Thunderbolt 3 so some problems were to be expected. After a number of driver and firmware updates the issues now seem to have been resolved. Newer models should be in better shape. The Dell replacement dock (TB16) has had some issues as well. I bought a third party TB3 dock which works great.
3. If you visit the forum you will see a lot of mentions of problems after BIOS or other updates. There have been a lot of issues with updates coming from Dell support. I have shut off Dell automatic update software and only manually download and install needed updates if I can verify that there are no issues with them.
I am happy with my XPS 15 but because of all the update issues I am uncertain whether I will buy another Dell in the future.
JohnD
Dell issued BIOS updates for the Meltdown and Spectre but there were many problems and they have removed them. We were told to tell users that new BIOS updates are in the works but no ETA.
I haven't had any problems with Dell (or Microsoft) updates on my 2017 Insprion 15, 5577 model.
Dell 9550 i7 (Sky lake) 4X Touch screen 32 MB Memory 1 TB SSD. Had a very tough start with this NB. Was returned to Dell twice for OS (Win 10 Pro) problems. Finally Dell replaced it after about a year of trying to repair problems. They actually updated the Memory and SSD from the original configuration (16 MB/256 GB SSD). Also had the battery replaced (swelling) by Dell at about the 2 year mark. I can say that after all of that it has worked perfectly for about the past15 months or so. Would I buy another Dell like this one? Yes probably will after they upgrade the processor. IMO Touch Screen is probably not necessary.
I don't currently own a Dell but have in the past. Gave my last one away. As firebird said everyone has a different opinion/experience with Brands/Models and MY experience with Dell's have been negative. Both Laptop and Desktop and I will never willingly buy another. From bad updates/drivers to snarky customer service I've just had enough. Others (see above) have had different experiences so ......
I live in Round Rock, TX, about 4 miles from Dell Galactic HQ. On my street, at least half the households have one or more people who work for Dell living in them. I've bought LOTS of Dell computers over the years, most of which have been notebooks, tablets, or all-in-ones. My results have been mixed, but I am generally positive on the company. I've never owned an XPS-15 though I've come close to buying one on two or more occasions (right now, I have 2 tablets [one a Dell Venue Pro 11 7130], 4 desktop PCs [one a Dell XPS2720 AIO], and 2 laptops [both Lenovos]). These days, "the boss" (my wife, Dina) won't let me buy any new computers without also getting rid of one I've already got to make room. I would own the XPS 15 right now if not for that. That's about as close to an endorsement as I can give you -- an endorsement based on techno-lust, if you will! Of everything I've read about those units, and everything I've heard from friends and colleagues who own them, 75% or more is positive. These days, that's about as good as it ever gets.
HTH,
--Ed--
Last edited by EdTittel; 13 Feb 2018 at 11:25. Reason: Fix type
A big thank you to all of you who took the time and effort to reply. It is much appreciated. Writing this on my old old HP which has been upgraded from Vista to Win7 to Win10! Could be a case of stick with what works but I'm tempted. Again many thanks to all. Kind regards Flissa
The only real issue in working with Dells is their propensity of using Inspiron as model names for both Desktops and Notebooks so it becomes critical in knowing the model number as well, more questions for the clients to get to the root of their problem/s. Their other lines don't double up the names.
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