The Dell XPS 13 has long been considered to be one of the greatest lightweight laptops on the market. The company regularly updates the computer with new features and hardware options. This year's upgrade, which just went live from Dell, has made a number of high profile changes, all for the better.
A number of the changes are around the screen. The first and most welcomed change is the removal of the "nose cam." This highly unwanted feature was a move of the webcam built into the computer's screen bezel. Because the screen bezel had gotten so small, in what Dell calls the InfinityEdge, the company decided that the best course of action was to move the camera lens to the bottom of the screen. This meant that, when using the camera, it was often aimed up the user's nose instead of pointed at their face. This led to some unique and interesting conference calls. As of this model, the nose cam is gone, and the lens has been moved back to its rightful place.
The camera isn't the only part of the screen to be upgraded. The actual panel itself has seen some changes. The most notable is the aspect ratio has changed from the standard 16:9 to 16:10 (or 8:5). This gives more vertical screen real estate, meaning more content on the screen. Any time you can get more content on the screen without making it harder to read it is always a benefit.
The processor on the computer has also been upgraded, moving to the newest 10nm Intel processors. While this does likely indicate better battery performance, it does not necessarily mean any performance increases. Tom's Hardware's tests have proven little to no performance changes from one architecture to another. However, using the newest hardware does mean that it will likely have better battery life. We will know soon when the Tom's Hardware product review is published this week.
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
