Dell's thin, high-res XPS 13 laptop does Linux

Dell's thin, high-res XPS 13 laptop does Linux

Ubuntu just went 1080p on Dell's sleekest laptop.

The 2.99-pound XPS 13 Developer Edition -- started as a project to create an open source developer laptop -- is now available on Dell's site for $1,549.

Those specifications, with the critical exception of the Ubuntu Linux, are identical to the 1080p XPS 13 for Windows 8.

Here are the specs:

• Operating system: Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS
  
• Display: 13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 panel
  
• Processor: 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3537U
  
• Memory: 8GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
  
• Storage: 256GB solid-state drive
  
• Graphics: Intel HD 4000
  
• Price: $1,549
  

In addition to the U.S., Dell will also start to roll it out in select countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland.

The XPS 13 is one of the better ultrabook designs to emerge from a top-tier PC vendor. It squeezes a 13.3-inch screen into a footprint more typical of 12-inch laptops, boasts Gorilla Glass, and is constructed from aluminum and carbon fiber, allowing Dell to keep the weight to just under three pounds.

The upgraded display is also brighter and has wider viewing angles than the original 1,366x768 XPS 13 model.

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Lenovo yoga 730 13 review lenovo yoga 730 comparison lenovo yoga 730 2 lenovo yoga 730 15 review reddit new lenovo yoga 730 lenovo yoga 730 review 15 lenovo yoga

Lenovo Yoga 730 review: Still a great 2-in-1 for the money

Lenovo Yoga 730 review: Still a great 2-in-1 for the money

Sometimes playing it safe really is the best move to make.

The 13.3-inch Lenovo Yoga 720 was an excellent two-in-one for the money, and its follow up, the Yoga 730, is no different. And when I say "no different" I mean Lenovo changed little between the two models, resulting in a slightly better but not drastically dissimilar laptop. Moving up to eighth-gen Intel Core i-series processors is the biggest change, and it results in a noticeable performance boost. 

There are a handful of other changes, like it now has two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports instead of only one, and Lenovo added far-field microphones letting you call out to Microsoft'sCortana digital assistant and eventually Amazon Alexa services from up to 13 feet (4 meters) away. 

The 730's design changes slight, too, but you probably wouldn't notice unless it was next to the 720. it's a little thinner and lighter, and the edges are rounded more, especially at the back. All the changes make it more comfortable to use as a tablet, whether that's with your fingers or the optional $60 Active Pen 2 with 4,096 levels of pen sensitivity.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Despite the improvement, the pricing stays about the same as the Yoga 720: The 730 starts at $880, but my review system is priced at $950, which gets you a storage increase from a 128GB PCIe SSD to a 256GB drive. The Yoga 730 isn't yet available in the UK or Australia, but the US price converts to about £700 and AU$1,265. For office work, for school work, this is just a solid pick and a good value to boot if you want a thin and light laptop. 

Lenovo Yoga 730-13IKB

Price as reviewed	$949.99
Display size/resolution	13.3-inch 1,920x1,080 touch display
CPU	1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8250U
Memory	8GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz
Graphics	128MB dedicated Intel UHD Grphics 620
Storage	256GB SSD
Networking	802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.1
Operating system	Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

More and less

Basically, everything that made the 13.3-inch Yoga 720 an excellent two-in-one is still present in the 730, albeit in a slimmer, lighter package at 2.7 pounds (1.2kg) and 0.55-inch (14.1mm) thick. The iron gray metal chassis gives it a premium look and feel as do the slim bezels around the full-HD-resolution touchscreen. The screen's hefty 360-degree hinges keep the Yoga in just about any position you could want it in. They're stiff enough that it will require two hands to open it, but not so much that you'll have problems adjusting it.

The display has good color performance, but not good enough to recommend for critical photo and video editing (though this isn't designed for that in the first place). It gets adequately bright for outdoor use, though with the glossy coating you might still struggle. One nice extra, though: The display also supports Lenovo's optional $60 Active Pen 2 if writing or drawing on the screen is a necessity for you.  

Lenovo's Active Pen 2 works well on the Yoga 730 with little to no discernable lag. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

The keyboard might not feel as firm as one of the company's professional ThinkPad models, but the keys still have a fair amount of travel to make typing comfortable, and they are well spaced, clearly labeled and brightly backlit. 

The Windows Precision touchpad works really well and I didn't experience any cursor jumpiness. The precision pad means you get full multitouch gesture support for three- and four-finger gestures for quickly switching between applications, activating Cortana (Microsoft's digital assistant), or hiding all open windows. Speaking of Cortana, Lenovo added far-field mics so you can use Cortana from up to 13 feet (4 meters) away. Lenovo intends to add Amazon's Alexa services, too, assuming the integration into Windows 10 ever pans out. 

Like many ultraportables, the Yoga 730 isn't loaded down with ports. If having built-in Ethernet, an SD card reader and an HDMI port are necessities for you, you'll have to look elsewhere. Instead, you'll get one USB 3.0 port (type-A), two USB-C ports and a headphone/mic jack. Both of the type-C ports can be used for charging and are Thunderbolt 3, so with a dock or adapters you'll be able add video outputs, an Ethernet jack and more, as well as accommodating data transfer speeds up to 40Gbps.

More power to you

The 13.3-inch Yoga 730 (it's also available in a 15.6-inch size) I tested was just a step above the base configuration with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB of memory, integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics and a 256GB PCIe SSD for storage. You can get the system with more memory and storage, and if you're willing to pay $1,550, you can get it with a 1.8GHz Core i7-8550U, 16GB of memory and a 512TB PCIe SSD. There are currently no 4K UHD-resolution screen or 1TB PCIe SSD options, which were offered on the Yoga 720. 

The configuration I tested is more than enough for day-to-day tasks, though depending on how much you push it, you will end up with some fan noise. Want to listen to music while you answer some email and post to Facebook? This will have you covered. However, Playing the latest first-person shooter on ultra settings and editing high-resolution video are not in the cards. That said, it made quick work of some basic photo and video edits.

As for battery life, it underperformed compared to similarly configured systems we've tested with our video-streaming battery drain test. It did run for 8 hours and 21 minutes, which isn't bad, but it is 25 minutes less than what we got with the Yoga 720. 

Under normal use you're probably not going to get through a full day without hooking up to your power supply or a USB-C power bank. The positive here it has a quick-charge feature that gets you two hours of battery life with only a 15-minute charge. 

Still one of the best you can get

Like its predecessor, the 13.3-inch Lenovo Yoga 730 has a premium look and feel, but with a smaller price tag. It's a pretty nice little two-in-one for students or the home office where some added flexibility comes in handy and a quality thin-and-light design is appreciated. 

Geekbench 4 multi-core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Yoga (3rd) 14,301 HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (2017) 14,120 Lenovo Yoga 730-13 12,191 Lenovo Yoga 720-13 7,300 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2017) 7,014

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Multitasking multimedia test 3.0 (in seconds)

HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (2017) 236 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Yoga (3rd) 291 Lenovo Yoga 730-13 322 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2017) 734 Lenovo Yoga 720-13 1394

Note: Shorter bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R15 multi-core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Yoga (3rd) 658 HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (2017) 650 Lenovo Yoga 730-13 504

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Video-streaming battery drain test (in minutes)

HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (2017) 536 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2017) 536 Lenovo Yoga 720-13 526 Lenovo Yoga 730-13 501 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Yoga (3rd) 454

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

System configurations

Lenovo Yoga 730-13	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8250U; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel UHD Graphics 620; 256GB SSD
Lenovo Yoga 720-13	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7200U; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel UHD Graphics 620; 256GB SSD
HP EliteBook 1040 G4 (2017)	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 2.9GHz Intel Core i7-7820HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel HD Graphics 630; 512GB SSD
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2017)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.3GHz Intel Core i5-7Y75; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,866MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel HD Graphics 615; 256GB SSD
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Yoga (3rd)	Microsoft Windows Pro (64-bit); 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-8650U; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 128MB dedicated Intel UHD Graphics 620; 1TB SSD

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Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

Dell XPS 12 review: A unique take on the convertible laptop/tablet

If you're one of the few who remember the original Dell Inspiron Duo from 2010, pat yourself on the back. Like that Duo, the new XPS 12 has a screen that swivels at the middle of the lid's sides, so it can rotate 180 degrees along its horizontal axis and end up facing out from the back of the lid's frame. This allows you to display the screen in what some call a "stand" mode, or else fold the clamshell shut to form a slate-style tablet.

While inventive, the original Duo was hobbled by a low-power Intel Atom processor and never lived up to its potential. Dell walked away from the Duo, which seemed doomed to be another too-early hardware leap, much like Dell's long-lost proto-ultrabook Adamo laptops.

Imagine my surprise when Dell announced that the Duo was back, originally showing us the system behind closed doors this summer. The new version, now part of the high-end XPS line, has gotten a massive physical upgrade. Now it's ultrabook-thin, with a slim metal frame around its screen, and a button-free clickpad. The new version trades up to current-gen Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, along with solid-state-drive (SSD) storage, meaning that in terms of hardware it can stand toe-to-toe any mainstream ultrathin laptop.

Between our preview this summer and now, the biggest change has been in the name. Dell has decided to drop the "Duo" branding altogether (perhaps it still has negative connotations) and simply call this the XPS 12. That's certainly apt for a laptop with 12-inch display, but I do miss the descriptive nature of the Duo moniker -- now there's nothing in the name to indicate this laptop's special physical features.

The XPS 12 starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and goes up to $1,699 for the hardware we tested, with a Core i7 CPU and a 256GB SSD.

This is one of the first laptops with Windows 8, the new touch- and tablet-friendly OS, and it's meant to be used as both a traditional laptop and a tablet. But when evaluating new hardware and new software at the same time, the question is: how much of the user experience in the XPS 12 comes from Dell, and how much from Microsoft? In an Apple laptop, it's fair to consider software and hardware together, as a single company is responsible for both. For Windows-based systems, it's sometimes hard to tell on which side of the fence the faults lie.

And, there are faults. Even though the XPS 12 is a slim, well-built, and frankly ambitious convertible, it works better as a laptop than as a tablet. In the closed, slate mode, it's obvious that the Windows 8 operating system still doesn't always know what to do with your apps and fingers. The not-Metro interface (my own shorthand name for the Windows 8 tile-based UI) works fine, but jumping into apps, even Windows 8-specific ones such as Internet Explorer 10, can yield unpredictable results.

For example, at this point, nearly everyone in the universe uses some form of Web-based e-mail, but Gmail navigation on the small screen in IE10 is tough. Shift the screen just a bit and the orientation changes, with just enough lag to be annoying. Tapping on a text field sometimes brings up the Windows 8 onscreen keyboard, sometimes not (and it takes several steps to call it up otherwise).

That onscreen keyboard is miles ahead of previous Windows ones, but the layout of some keys is counterintuitive, and I ran into just enough lag to make using the Shift and Caps Lock keys especially troublesome.

But, these are the same problems I've found on other Windows 8 systems, so is it fair to lay them at Dell's feet? On the excellent Acer Aspire S7, the touch screen was a secondary experience, mainly used for finger-swiping and scrolling. On the XPS 12, you're expected to use touch much more. And as a touch-screen laptop, the XPS 12 works well. Folded up as a slate, it's still not an entirely satisfying tablet experience.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,699 / $1,199
Processor	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	256GB SSD
Chipset	Intel QS77
Graphics	Intel HD 4000
Operating system	Windows 8
Dimensions (WD)	8.5x12.5 inches
Height	0.6-0.8 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	12.5 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.4 pounds / 4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Design and features
Aside from the swiveling lid, the XPS 12 shares an overall design with Dell's other recent high-end laptops, such as the XPS 14 and XPS 15. All are thin, with full or partial metal construction and dark accents. When closed, the XPS 12 looks like any small ultrabook, although at nearly 3.5 pounds, it feels dense and sturdy.

The interior is minimalist, with only the keyboard and touch pad. A power button, in the uncommon form of a slider switch, is located along the left edge, and most other functions, from the Wi-Fi antenna switch to volume control, are mapped to the row of Function keys. The wrist rest, keyboard, and keys are all matte black, with a powdery finish that resists fingerprints and nicely offsets the metal trim along the outer edge.

The XPS 12's island-style keyboard is similar to the ones found on most current laptops. In Dell's version, the keys have more-rounded corners than most, and the top row of Function keys is half-height. Typing was comfortable and accurate, and the keyboard is backlit.

The buttonless clickpad is only used when the system is set up as a traditional clamshell laptop. It's a good size, considering this is a small laptop, and works well for general pointing and navigation. But, again, Windows 8 sometimes seems to not know what to do with touch-pad gestures. With some apps and Web pages, two-finger scrolling works well, other times it's too fast and jumpy, and still other times, it's very slow. Trying to execute Windows 8 moves such as displaying the Charms bar or calling up the Taskbar is a pain on a touch pad, and I usually found myself performing these tasks via the touch screen.

The biggest feature here, as previously described, is the rotating screen. Unlike other convertible laptops with rotating screens that swivel along the vertical axis via a central hinge, the XPS 12 rotates along the horizontal axis, flipping end over end. This is possible because the screen is placed inside a thin metal all-around frame, hinged in the center of the left and right sides.

The screen mechanism feels well-designed, and it stays in the traditional laptop position without slipping. Dell says the mechanism has been tested to 20,000 cycles, and it certainly feels sturdy enough.

When you want to flip the screen, a gentle push pops it out of the frame, and it rotates freely, locking in again at 180 degrees; this leaves the screen pointing out from the back of the lid, making it easy to show your screen to someone sitting opposite you (the motion sensor automatically flips the screen image over, so everything appears right-side-up). From there, you can push the lid all the way closed, so the keyboard and touch pad are inside the clamshell but the display is pointing up, making this a slate-style tablet.

When the XPS 12 is folded down as a tablet, you can access the onscreen keyboard built into Windows 8. As I mentioned above, it's thankfully better than the onscreen keyboards in previous Microsoft operating systems, with responsive, well-spaced keys. I found the Shift key would lag a little occasionally, leading to some typing mistakes, and you'll have to spend some time getting used to the layout, which is slightly different from that of the iPad's familiar onscreen keyboard. Besides the standard keyboard layout, there are also split-key and handwriting options.

The biggest difficulty I encountered was the onscreen keyboard not popping up when it should have, in Google Docs, for example. If you need to call up the onscreen keyboard manually, it's an unintuitive procedure, requiring too many steps (slide out the Charms bar from the right side of the screen; tap Settings, tap Keyboard, then pick the style of keyboard you need).

The 12.5-inch screen has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which is incredibly high for an ultraportable laptop. The Windows 8 not-Metro interface scales nicely to it, but Web pages and the traditional Windows desktop view can look very shrunken. Fortunately, the display's pinch-to-zoom feature works great, much as it does on an iPad or Android tablet. That said, I found some Web sites didn't render correctly after pinching to zoom, and in Google Docs, for example, the onscreen cursor and the zoomed view didn't quite match up.

Audio was predictably thin, but fine for basic online video watching. Interestingly, the original Dell Duo had a sold-separately docking stand with bigger speakers built in.

	Dell XPS 12	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	DisplayPort	HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader
Networking	802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet (via dongle), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Expandability, performance, and battery life
With such a small body, the port selection on the Dell XPS 12 is likewise slim. The most notable deviation from the norm is the video output -- you get a DisplayPort output, rather than the more common HDMI.

Dell offers four base configurations of the XPS 12 (the unit I reviewed is the most expensive one). The entry-level model starts at $1,199 for a Core i5 CPU and 128GB SSD, and by adding either a Core i7 CPU, a larger 256GB SSD, or both, you can take it all the way up to $1,699. Several of the more design-heavy Windows 8 laptops we've seen have targeted that premium price range, but a $1,600 laptop is still a very tough sell, no matter how clever its engineering.

With an Intel Core i7 low-voltage CPU and 8GB of RAM, the XPS 12 was predictably fast in our benchmark tests. Honestly, if you're interested in this system, the lower-end Core i5 configurations will be more than fine for everyday Web surfing, productivity, and media playback tasks.

Battery life was, unfortunately, not the strongest in this laptop. That's a shame, as this is a slim system clearly intended for travel or use as an untethered tablet. In our video playback battery drain test, the XPS 12 ran for 4 hours and 43 minutes, which is on the low side for an ultraportable laptop -- especially one with a power-efficient SSD hard drive. Anecdotally, while using this laptop I found myself reaching for the A/C adapter more often than I'd expected.

Conclusion
The Dell XPS 12 is unique among the Windows 8 laptops we've previewed and reviewed, offering a different take on the convertible laptop/tablet concept. At the same time, it's not exactly an original idea, being based on one of Dell's previous high-concept designs, the Inspiron Duo.

The flip-screen construction is surprisingly practical for sharing your screen with others, and using a touch screen with a keyboard and touch pad works well in Windows 8. But it's hard to justify spending $1,699 when the XPS 12 doesn't entirely satisfy as a slate-style tablet, even if Microsoft shoulders most of the responsibility for that. If you're in love with the XPS 12's design, I'd suggest sticking to the less expensive configurations.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:

Dell XPS 12
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 32MB (Shared) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Lite-On IT SSD

Sony Vaio Duo 11
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Toshiba SSD

Toshiba Satellite U925t
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Samsung SSD

Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M / 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Vizio Thin and Light CT14-A2
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Toshiba SSD

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