Dell XPS 18 Portable All-In-One Review

1. Introduction2. Dell XPS 18 All-In-One3. Overview & Testing Methodology4. System: PCMark 85. System: ALLBenchmark Catzilla6. System: Unigine Heaven Benchmark7. System: Unigine Valley Benchmark8. Processor: Blender 2.699. SATA 6Gbps Testing10. Real World: BluRay Playback11. Tomb Raider (DX11)12. World of Warcraft (DX 11)13. Thermal Dynamics14. Acoustics Performance15. Power Consumption16. Closing Thoughts17. View All Pages

Today we are taking a look at the Dell XPS 18 Portable All-In-One. Sporting an 18″ Full HD screen the XPS 18 All-In-One comes equipped with an Intel Core i5-3337U, a 32 GB mSATA SSD cache drive and 8 GB of DDR3 memory clocked at 1600 MHz. The big question is, can the XPS 18 All-In-One successfully combine everything we like about notebooks and tablets?

The XPS family has traditionally consisted of powerful notebooks. Dell is now breaking that tradition by introducing two XPS All-In-One models: The XPS 18 All-In-One Portable and XPS 27 All-In-One Portable. 

Specifications:

• Intel Core i5-3337U
• Intel HD 4000 Graphics
• 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
• 500 GB 5400 RPM HDD
• 32 GB mSATA SSD
• 18.4″ WVA Touch
• Dell KM714 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
• Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 (a/b/g/n 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
• 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x Headphone/Microphone combo jack, 1 x Headphone jack, Media Card Reader
• Waves MaxxAudio Pro
• 69 Whr, 8-Cell Battery
• HD Camera; H.264 via SW, Color Sensor, Integrated Dual Digital Microphone Array for Skype
• (H) 0.7 in x (W) 18.25 in x (D) 11.17 in 
• Sensors: Accel, gyro, compass, AGPS (with LTE/HSPA+ configs), ALS, sensor fusion

The Dell XPS 18 All-In-One ships in a black box with only the Dell XPS brand name visible. The XPS 18 All-In-One inside is protected between layers of Styrofoam and an additional box.

Initially it is easy to mistake the XPS 18 All-In-One for a Surface Pro. The Dell brand name in the top left corner of the screen is the only immediate indication that we are dealing with a Dell system.

The Dell logo is proudly displayed around the back and remains visible above the stand.

As the stand is optional, Dell have chosen to include two large feet to rest the system on. Using these feet the system can be placed in both vertical and horizontal positions. A clever feature which makes it possible to quickly switch from using the XPS 18 All-In-One as a desktop system to using it as a tabletop device.

The bottom left and bottom right corners each contain a mesh to aid with airflow in the tiny chassis.

On the left-hand side we are presented with an Audio/Mic jack, two USB 3.0 ports and the charger input. Directly to the left of the two USB ports is a small latch that hides the SD Card Reader from sight.

The right-hand side houses the Power LED and Power button. A small mesh covers the system's speakers.

Dell shipped our review sample with the optional charger stand. The stand itself is surprisingly heavy and easily outweighs the XPS 18 All-In-One. Its sturdy construction does mean the system remains safely in place, even if someone accidentally bumps into it.

The charger input is tucked away underneath the stand's hinge.

Dell include the KM714 keyboard and mouse combo in the box, as well as a pack of batteries to power the peripherals. Neither the keyboard nor the mouse are groundbreaking but they are acceptable.

The back cover is held in place with screws and we are happy to see that Dell has avoided the use of adhesives.In the top left corner we can see the blower fan that takes care of cooling the CPU whilst the top right corner houses the hard drive. Situated directly between the CPU and hard drive is the memory.

We can see the small speakers on either side of the XPS 18 All-In-One. Resting in the center is the mammoth 69 WHr, 8-cell battery. All in all, this is a very clean layout for such a compact chassis.

The Dell XPS 18 All-In-One ships with Windows 8 pre-installed. The operating system has proven very unpopular with our audience based on poll results on our Facebook page and home page. Dell does offer an optional downgrade to Windows 7 Professional as an alternative to Windows 8 Pro.

CPU-Z shows the Intel Core i5-3337U's Turbo speed and confirms the memory is clocked at 1600 MHz. CPU-Z validation is available here.

The Dell XPS 18 All-In-One ships without too much bloatware, although McAfee is installed which we would immediately deinstall ourselves.

Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):

DinoPC Asusinator 4670K OC
Processor: Intel Core i5 4670k @4.2ghz.
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-K
Coolers: Corsair H60 2013 Liquid cooler
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1,866mhz
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX770
Power Supply: 600w Corsair CX
Optical Drive: 10x Bluray RW SATA
Chassis: Fractal Design ARC Midi R2
Boot Drive: Plextor 128GB M5S SSD
Secondary Drive: 2TB SATA

Intel E5 2687W x 2
Motherboard: Asus Z9 PE-D8 WS
Coolers: Corsair H80 x2
Memory: 64GB Kingston Predator 1,600mhz 9-9-9-24 1T
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Seasonic 1000W Platinum Modular
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000FN
Boot Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron GTX SSD
Secondary Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron SSD

Intel E5 2660
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 16GB G.Skill ARES 2,133mhz @ 9-11-10-28
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000a
Boot Drive: Intel 510 120GB
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB WildFire

Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS WorkStation
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT8 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Boot Drive: Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB Pyro SE

Intel i7 3820
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4-M
Cooler: Intel reference cooler
Memory: 8GB Corsair GTX8 @ 2133mhz
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: Lian Li PC60
Boot Drive: Crucial C300
Secondary Drive: Patriot Pyro SE 240GB

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.2 – OCUK Prodigy Arctic Gaming System
Motherboard: ASRock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77
Cooler: Coolit Liquid
Memory: Corsair Vengeance White 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750W PSU
Chassis: Bitfenix Prodigy Mini ITX Case – White
Boot Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB HDD

AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Processor: AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire

Intel Core i7 990X
Processor: Intel Core i7 990x
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Memory: Kingston HyperX 6GB
Drives: Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Chassis: Antec Twelve Hundred

Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)

Intel Core i7 2700k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2700k
Cooling: ThermalTake Frio OCK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.

Intel Core i7 2600k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
Cooler: Intel XTS-100H
Memory: ADATA 1600mhz DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Boot Drive: Intel 510 SSD 250GB

Intel Core i5 2500k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Boot Drive: Patriot Pyro 120GB SSD.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire.

Software:
PCMark 8
Blender 2.69
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11
HQV Benchmark V2.
Atto Disk Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark

Games:

World of Warcraft (Direct X 11)
Tomb Raider (Direct X 11)

Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
30-130 dbA Digital Sound Level Meter
Plug-in Power & Energy Monitor
Canon 1100d with Canon 18-55mm lens.

PCMark 8 is the latest version in the popular series of PC benchmarking tools. Improving on previous releases, PCMark 8 includes battery life measurement tools and new tests using popular applications from Adobe and Microsoft. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 helps you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs.

Considering the XPS 18's dimensions, a score of 2582 is very good and indicate the system will be able to handle light office tasks with relative ease.

Catzilla is an OpenGL 4.0 and DirectX 9/11 benchmark for Windows that incorporates a parallel graphics engine that can take advantage of multi-core CPUs.

The benchmarks consist of a literal giant cat fight scene, which stresses both the CPU and GPU, and a set of smaller benchmarks to test CPU rigid body physics, GPU smoke simulation, fur rendering, and liquid simulations.

More information can be found here.

A total score of 1608 for the CPU and GPU test in Catzilla confirms that the XPS 18 is not a gaming powerhouse. However, it did successfully complete the entire benchmark.

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
• Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

We use the settings shown above. Average frame rates were obtained using Fraps.

Despite its low-power components, the Dell XPS 18 All-In-One still manages to reach an average of 19 FPS in Unigine Heaven.

Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark.

The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird’s-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal.

This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.

We use the settings shown above. Average frame rates were obtained with Fraps.

The lush vegetation in Unigine Valley proved to be more taxing than Unigine Heaven as the XPS 18 only managed to average 12.5 FPS.

Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, interactive 3D applications and video games.

Blender’s features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging and skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, particle simulation, soft body simulation, sculpting, animating, match moving, camera tracking, rendering, video editing and compositing. It also features a built-in game engine.

We used a popular render amongst the Blender crowd, a BWM created by user MikePan. The scene can be downloaded here.

The XPs 18 All-In-One completed the render in 9 minutes and 29 seconds. An impressive result considering there is no dedicated GPU.

On this page we test the performance of the 500 GB 5,400 RPM hard drive.

The combination of an mSATA SSD cache drive and 5400 RPM hard drive helps with the 4K QD32 tests, although sequential read and write results with incompressible data are slightly underwhelming.

The mSATA SSD really shows its effectiveness in ATTO Disk with up to 316 MB/s read performance and 87 MB/s write performance.

Cyberlink PowerDVD 13 Ultra is one of the finest solutions for the BluRay experience on Windows and we found this software to work perfectly with this chipset.

We tested with The BluRay Disc of The Dark Knight.

Less than 6% CPU usage is an excellent result.

After a delayed release from late 2012 to March 2013, the game received much anticipation and hype.

Tomb Raider received much acclaim from critics, who praised the graphics, the gameplay and Camilla Luddington’s performance as Lara with many critics agreeing that the game is a solid and much needed reboot of the franchise. Much criticism went to the addition of the multiplayer which many felt was unnecessary. Tomb Raider went on to sell one million copies in forty-eight hours of its release, and has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide so far.

We used the above settings and ran the built-in benchmark.

The XPS 18 All-In-One averaged 13.2 FPS. Again, an impressive result considering its limited dimensions.

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994.

World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous Warcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001. The game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.

We used the above settings and recorded the average frame rate using FRAPS.

World of Warcraft was released 9 years ago but can still strain CPU's, courtesy of numerous updates to the game engine.

The XPS 18 All-In-One averaged 16.3 FPS in a heavily populated area during European peak hours.

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 22c.

Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes.Load measurements were acquired by playing World of Warcraft for 30 minutes and measuring the peak temperature.

All fan settings were left on automatic.

The system did a great job keeping maximum operating temperatures in check with the CPU topping out at 72°.We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation. Ambient noise in the room measures close to the limits of our sound meter at 30dBa.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

Under normal operating conditions the XPS 18 All-In-One's noise levels fell below the lower limits of our meter. Stressing the system to its limits produced 31.2 dbA, making it barely noticeable.

We measure power consumption at the socket via a calibrated meter – system wide. As the Dell XPS 18 is an all-in-one PC we include the monitor.

Power results were measured at idle and when loading the system with the Catzilla benchmark.

Leaving the system at idle we measured 19 Watts. The XPS 18 All-In-One is very power efficient and should not have a noticeably negative impact on electricity bills.

Overall, we are impressed with the Dell XPS 18 All-In-One Portable. The build quality of the system is excellent and the included stand will deal with a lot of rough handling.

Perhaps most surprising is the effectiveness of the cooling system. Cooling powerful hardware in such a small chassis is no mean feat but Dell have managed to prevent the system from running too hot, even after prolonged periods of stress.

Looking at the results of our benchmarks it would be easy to conclude the XPS 18 All-In-One delivers unremarkable performance when compared against high-end notebooks. However, after several weeks of using the XPS 18 All-In-One for general office tasks we feel it is up to the task.

We have no complaints about the battery life. We managed to squeeze 3 hours and 41 minutes out of the system whilst performing a variety of office tasks. Casually browsing the internet increased this time to 4 hours and 21 minutes.

Using applications such as Photoshop and 3DS Max Design (under light work conditions) was a pleasure, in large part due to the IPS panel's excellent clarity. Although a pixel density of 119 ppi is not ground breaking in the world of mobile devices, viewing angles, colour saturation and text display all rated highly. Using scenes up to 1 million polygons in size, the XPS 18 All-In-One remained responsive in 3DS Max Design. That said, we would recommend exporting scenes to a dedicated desktop machine for final renders.

Applying a variety of filters and effects in Photoshop CS6 proved to be no problem on a 4272 x 2848 pixel image, as the system remained responsive throughout the whole process.

In our opinion, the XPS 18 All-In-One can be a great addition to office environments where regular collaboration is essential and for staff in customer facing roles. When compared to desktop solutions the system offers reduced cable clutter and very low power consumption.

However, it is not as clear cut in a household. In terms of versatility we feel the lack of an HDMI Out port makes the XPS 18 All-In-One less suited as an alternative media hub when compared to the likes of MSI's Wind Box systems. We do hope this is something Dell will consider implementing in future revisions.

The 18.4″ screen size also means it is not feasible to continuously use the device on the go as one would with, for example, a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Apple iPad.

At the end of the day, the Dell XPS 18 All-In-One is a solid performer in terms of general office tasks and casual home usage. The basic model retails for £979.99 inc vat which means it is expensive, but ideal for a variety of real world tasks.

Pros:

• Excellent IPS panel.
• Great cooling system prolongs system life span.
• Low power draw.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Lack of an HDMI port limits media capabilities.

KitGuru says: In its attempt to bring together the best of mobile devices and traditional desktops the XPS 18 All-In-One leaves its mark.

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