4 ms·

Did they fix the coil whine? If not, I will not buy a 4th XPS 13. This review seems to be mainly focused on the location of the webcam. Do that many people use

Did they fix the coil whine? If not, I will not buy a 4th XPS 13. This review seems to be mainly focused on the location of the webcam. Do that many people use webcams on laptops? I generally remove or tape over mine, and see countless coworkers and random folks in cafes do the same.

konschubert 8y ago
Yes, many people use their webcams. Our company has people working remotely and I use mine multiple times a day
methou 8y ago
I sometimes use the tape covered camera as an rng. If that counts.
CogitoCogito 8y ago
I would like to echo that everyone should be aware of the coil whine issue when considering this laptop. The problem is that there can be a slight high-pitched and intermittent sound that may or may not drive you crazy if you hear it. It is inconsistent as well and may not be noticeable until after you've used it for a short while (probably within minutes of use, but maybe not when you first play around with it in say a store). I loved the XPS 13 years back when I first bought it, but this issue caused me to return it directly (but not tell them why). At the time it was important to not mention the issue as the reason, because Dell would insist on sending you back either a fixed laptop or a new one (usually of course the issue would be present). Actually it was a bit worse, since any Dell rep would claim to never have heard of the issue and so you'd have to first go through that back and forth explaining them what was happening. Many customers went back and forth multiple times (and didn't even have a laptop in between the back and forths) and finally after multiple months Dell would refuse a refund and you were left with a laptop that was essentially psychologically unusable. I was a listener on a thread about this on the Dell forums where the same complains would be posted for _years_ with newer versions of the laptop. Their disrespect for their customers shouldn't be forgotten. So basically it's buyer beware when it comes to this machine. Maybe it's no longer an issue, but Dell does _not_ deserve the benefit of the doubt here. I would consider it again if I could try it ahead of time (i.e. at a store) and only in a situation in which I knew I could return it afterwards (without a restocking fee or anything similar). I recommend others take the same precautions.

konschubert 8y ago

Yes, many people use their webcams. Our company has people working remotely and I use mine multiple times a day

methou 8y ago

I sometimes use the tape covered camera as an rng. If that counts.

CogitoCogito 8y ago

I would like to echo that everyone should be aware of the coil whine issue when considering this laptop. The problem is that there can be a slight high-pitched and intermittent sound that may or may not drive you crazy if you hear it. It is inconsistent as well and may not be noticeable until after you've used it for a short while (probably within minutes of use, but maybe not when you first play around with it in say a store). I loved the XPS 13 years back when I first bought it, but this issue caused me to return it directly (but not tell them why). At the time it was important to not mention the issue as the reason, because Dell would insist on sending you back either a fixed laptop or a new one (usually of course the issue would be present). Actually it was a bit worse, since any Dell rep would claim to never have heard of the issue and so you'd have to first go through that back and forth explaining them what was happening. Many customers went back and forth multiple times (and didn't even have a laptop in between the back and forths) and finally after multiple months Dell would refuse a refund and you were left with a laptop that was essentially psychologically unusable. I was a listener on a thread about this on the Dell forums where the same complains would be posted for _years_ with newer versions of the laptop. Their disrespect for their customers shouldn't be forgotten. So basically it's buyer beware when it comes to this machine. Maybe it's no longer an issue, but Dell does _not_ deserve the benefit of the doubt here. I would consider it again if I could try it ahead of time (i.e. at a store) and only in a situation in which I knew I could return it afterwards (without a restocking fee or anything similar). I recommend others take the same precautions.