Dell XPS 18 Quick Review

I have been a fan of Dell since I got my Dell XPS 27 workstation and have played around with the small but powerful Dell Venue 8 Pro. They have really upped their ante when it comes to hardware, specs and pricing of their machines. Recent products such as the good-looking Venue 8 7000 and the much-revered infinity display of the Dell XPS 13 ultrabook show the dedication to craftsmanship and innovation over at Dell.  

The Dell XPS 18 is Dell’s portable all-in-one desktop (slash tablet) running full Windows 8.1 with touch screen functionality. The one I’m using has these configurations:

• Display: 18.4 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with IPS/Truelife and FHD resolution (1920 X 1080)
• CPU: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i3-3227U processor (3M Cache, 1.9 GHz)
• RAM: 4GB Single Channel DDR3 1600MHz (4GBx1)
• Storage: 320GB 5400 rpm SATA Hard Drive
• GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Accessories: Dell KM714 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

Design

I have been using the Dell XPS 18 for a few months now running the new Windows 10 Preview and it has been running flawless without any issues. One thing to note that this machine doesn’t come with the stand out of the box. It’s an extra $90+ optional accessory for those who want to use a stand, besides that, it would work normally with the flip feet at the back. I still wished the stand already came in bundled though or didn’t cost that much in the first place.

There are 2x USB 3.0 ports and a hidden card reader on the left side. There are no ports for external displays (no HDMI or Mini Displayport) unfortunately but the XPS 18 does support Intel’s Wireless Display technology, meaning it can stream what it displays on compatible devices (probably an extra purchase of wireless adapter for that)

The included keyboard and mouse is the same as the ones included on the XPS 27. It’s a Dell branded but Logitech made hardware so it works with Unifying receivers everywhere.

My Experience

I really like that this machine has a built-in battery inside meaning that I can unplug it and bring it along with me on the kitchen, on the bed, on the sofa and watch movies and even read websites (on portrait mode which is perfect). The battery also serves as a backup UPS in case of power failure so that’s covered. Battery life runs for almost 4+ hours of normal use which is great considering the large display.

Speaking of the display, the panel Dell used looks great and crisp. The colors and texts are sharp and the touchscreen functionality is smooth to use.

One thing to note that while this is essentially a portable computer, you really wouldn’t want to lug this around most of the time due to the weight and the usual “warmness” of the device when running at full power (watching videos)

The Dell XPS 18 overall is a great machine at the cost versus what it can do. It currently retails for $700 for the i3 version and $1,300 for the more powerful i7 configuration with 256 SSD storage, which would really make this machine super blazingly fast.