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raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
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My X1 Yoga crapped out on me (thought I had it fixed – no dice) and Lenovo could not get it replaced or repaired fast enough for my needs to I ordered this as a replacement. The Lenovo is on it’s was back to the mothership for a refund and this arrived a few days ago.

I ordered this machine and it came yesterday which was about 3 days before I was expecting it. It’s an almost top spec’d Dell XPS 2in1 13” machine with the 10th gen CPU and Iris graphics. The only options I passed on are 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD. It’s my 1st Dell machine in a long time but figured I’d give it a go for a year or so (as long as it holds up) and see how they’ve progressed.

Overall it’s tiny for having a 13.4” screen. Bezels are non existent. The build quality appears to be above average and it feels well built. The keyboard has shallow key travel and it’s about as shallow as say the MBP. The screen is UHD 4K and it just as nice as the one I had on the X1 Yoga. I’ve never really had an issue with the shallow keyboard on the MBP (my issue with them is the failure rate) and this is similar in travel and feel.

SSD speeds are okay and fast just not lightning fast. Plenty fine in the big scheme of things for my use though. The trackpad is smooth and large. The trackpad and keyboard do make rather loud and clicky sound when pressing them. Sound from the speakers is good but nothing to jump up and down over.

Ports are lacking. You get 2 USB C (one on each side) and a SD card slot. Yay for the SD slot but bummer on the ports. It also has a headphone jack. No LTE options on this machine. Dell does include a USB C to USB A adapter in the box.

The overall size of the machine makes me think of the 12” MB but with a larger screen and much better specs. It's small but feels heavy for it's size. It comes in right at about 3lbs.

I got the Platinum Silver, Carbon Fiber Black interior version and it does collect fingerprint smudges just not nearly as bad as the X1 Carbon in black do. They do make a white version but I’ve never had good luck with backlighting on white keyboards and I didn’t dig the white bezels around the screen.

I’ve only had it a few days so I can’t speak to battery life yet but I’ll update as time goes on. From my research battery life looks to be pretty bad on the 4K screen version.

Machine specs:

10th Generation Intel(R) Core i7-1065G7 Processor
13.4" 16:10 UHD+ WLED Touch Display (3840 x 2400) 500 nit
512GB PCIe NVMe x4 Solid State Drive
16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x Memory
Intel(R) Iris Plus Graphics
Windows 10
Killer AX1650 (2x2) built on Intel WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0
Premium support with onsite service 2 years

Price as configured was an eye watering $2,270 (before tax) but I used a discount program offered by the joint I retired from and got it for $1830. I do think it’s overpriced at full cost but the price I paid is not bad all things considered. Overall the X1 Yoga 4th Gen is the better machine and value but the XPS is not bad.

The CPU, compared to the i7 8665U, is about the same but the Iris graphics (if you get the machine that has it) is a massive step up over the 620 GPU.

Quick thoughts for now. I’ll keep the thread updated and answer any questions as I go along with it.

A few scores (10 being max)

Build quality = 8.5
Screen = 10
Keyboard = 8
Sound = 8
Trackpad = 8.5
Battery life = ???
Windows 10 = 9
SSD speed = 8
CPU = 8.5
GPU (Iris - integrated) = 10
Fan noise = 8.5
Heat = 8.5
Ports = 7

Photos and benchmarks:

1.jpg


2.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg


5.jpg


6.jpg


Annotation-2019-09-10-113519.png


Annotation-2019-09-10-114052.png


Annotation-2019-09-10-114427.png


Annotation-2019-09-10-200923.png

Full CPU Geekbench here: https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/14593641

Full GPU Benchmark here: https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/4532982
 
Last edited:
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raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
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Could you launch a game like fortnite or apex legends? They are free to play games
Sure, I assume they are downloadable in the Win Store? Never heard of either of them but I'll give one a try for you. What should I look for?
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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I'm not 100 sure but definetly are there in the Web somewhere. Apex legends uses ea origin for example
EA Origin? Sorry but you are speaking Chinese to me at this point.. LOL

I'll try and find a download for one of them and give it a go. What would you like me to look for when I start the game?
 

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
EA Origin? Sorry but you are speaking Chinese to me at this point.. LOL

I'll try and find a download for one of them and give it a go. What would you like me to look for when I start the game?
Frames per second (install fraps) on and if its choppy/laggy. Try at 4k res? If or 1080p and note down the graphics settings u have used.

Thanks!
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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Frames per second (install fraps) on and if its choppy/laggy. Try at 4k res? If or 1080p and note down the graphics settings u have used.

Thanks!
Ok fraps is a separate program that monitors FPS I assume? I'll give it a try later today or tomorrow for you. I'll try the Fortnite game as I found a download for it. I'll look for the fraps program later.

I'll tag you once I get some numbers for you from that fraps.
 
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jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
Ok fraps is a separate program that monitors FPS I assume? I'll give it a try later today or tomorrow for you. I'll try the Fortnite game as I found a download for it. I'll look for the fraps program later.

I'll tag you once I get some numbers for you from that fraps.
Yea it calculates fps. Thanks man
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
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@jrichards1408 I tired and failed. Downloaded both and kept getting this error. I tried to troubleshoot it via their help and still got same error after trying to change high res option.

No clue why it's telling me I don't have permission for C:\Program Files but it is...

I gave up and uninstalled both.

Annotation-2019-09-11-082902.png
 

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
@jrichards1408 I tired and failed. Downloaded both and kept getting this error. I tried to troubleshoot it via their help and still got same error after trying to change high res option.

No clue why it's telling me I don't have permission for C:\Program Files but it is...

I gave up and uninstalled both.

Annotation-2019-09-11-082902.png
Try running the installer in admin mode. Very strange error your getting
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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I'll try the other game you mentioned later and see if I can get it to work.
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
2 issues to report:

1. Spacebar key is crunchy at times. It's getting better as I use it but maybe this is just me adjusting to where I tap it. KB is clicky clack sounding like the MBP's. Not a big deal to me but worth mentioning.

2. I was getting very slow WiFi speeds after resuming from sleep. Normal for me is about 500 Mbps down but after sleep I was getting about 40. Tried several fixes = no dice. I do / did have my 5G and 2.4G named the same and have never had an issue with this. I changed the 5G to have a 5G after the name and so far so good. I've read a lot of complaints on the Killer WiFi drivers so time will tell but separating the network names appears to have done the trick.

Spent most of yesterday configuring and tweaking the machine. Dell includes a lot of junk (junk to me at least) like support drivers, support aps ect.. Got all the Dell bloat along with the standard Win bloat removed. I also axed Cortana and a few other worthless Win programs and apps.

I am liking the machine overall. I will keep an eye on the WiFi. Overall it's fast, snappy, quiet and cool.

To note: The Win My Phone app is garbage. Dell includes their own version and it's even worse. I had hoped to use one of the 2 to replace Pushbullet but no dice, the others suck so Pushbullet it is!

@jrichards1408 I'll try the other game for you here in a bit.
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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Try running the installer in admin mode. Very strange error your getting
I am a doofus! The reason it would not install is that the Epic Game folder was located in c:\Program Files (x86) but it defaulted to wanting to in install the game in the non (x86) folder. Fixed and downloading now.

How do I use the fraps program? Just let it run and record?
 

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
I am a doofus! The reason it would not install is that the Epic Game folder was located in c:\Program Files (x86) but it defaulted to wanting to in install the game in the non (x86) folder. Fixed and downloading now.

How do I use the fraps program? Just let it run and record?
Yea hehe just let it run
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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@jrichards1408 I played it and it was laggy. I could not figure out how to run the FPS program or it didn't work, not sure. I didn't adjust screen resolution so I am not sure if I should have.

Probably of no help, sorry...

Jumped out of plane and when trying to look around it lagged, big time. Once I hit the ground it was a little better but not much. I think I was running it at the 4K resolution though and full screen.
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
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And the beat goes on... No luck at all this past week.. So my WiFI fix was a no go! Woke from sleep and my normally 500 Mbps download speed was reduced to 35 Mbps….

Disconnecting and reconnecting or a reboot solves the issue. I tried:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
netsh int ip
netsh winsock reset

No love! Think I'll find me an old Commodore 64C and call it good at this point...
 
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jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
And the beat goes on... No luck at all this past week.. So my WiFI fix was a no go! Woke from sleep and my normally 500 Mbps download speed was reduced to 35 Mbps….

Disconnecting and reconnecting or a reboot solves the issue. I tried:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
netsh int ip
netsh winsock reset

No love! Think I'll find me an old Commodore 64C and call it good at this point...
Maybe it's your router that's screwed up
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
Maybe it's your router that's screwed up
Nah not the router. I am on another machine now and it blazes and does my desktop connected via wifi. Never had a single issue but I am seeing why a lot of peeps complain about these Killer WiFi cards....

Only happens resuming form sleep. I'll reset the machine (giving it one chance) and then it gets boxed up and sent back if it does not behave...
 

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
Nah not the router. I am on another machine now and it blazes and does my desktop connected via wifi. Never had a single issue but I am seeing why a lot of peeps complain about these Killer WiFi cards....

Only happens resuming form sleep. I'll reset the machine (giving it one chance) and then it gets boxed up and sent back if it does not behave...
It's your router. It doesn't like the two other machines u tried lol.

Are u connected using 2.4ghz or 5ghz?
 

raqball

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
2,323
9,573
It's your router. It doesn't like the two other machines u tried lol.

Are u connected using 2.4ghz or 5ghz?

It does not matter which band I connect to same result. All my other computers work fine, even the Yoga I sent back and the MBP that was on it before. Guaranteed not the router.

Edit to add: Appears to be a highly reported issue with the Killer cards. The card in this machine is new version but apparently same unresolved issues. I am resetting it now so we shall see..
 

jrichards1408

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2016
615
194
It does not matter which band I connect to same result. All my other computers work fine, even the Yoga I sent back and the MBP that was on it before. Guaranteed not the router.

Edit to add: Appears to be a highly reported issue with the Killer cards. The card in this machine is new version but apparently same unresolved issues. I am resetting it now so we shall see..
I thought your yoga had the same wifi issue
 
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