Dell XPS One 27 Review: The Premium All-in-One
by Dustin Sklavos on May 29, 2012 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Dell
- Intel
- XPS
- Ivy Bridge
- Kepler
- all-in-one
- 600M
- NVIDIA
Introducing the Dell XPS One 2710
The last time we reviewed an all-in-one from Dell, our impressions were decidedly less than favorable. Dell delivered a polished software experience, but the Inspiron One 2320 we saw had serious issues virtually across the board in terms of both hardware and configuration. As a family appliance (the market typically targeted by all-in-ones), the Inspiron One 2320 was a bust. Yet with the XPS One 27 (along with the impending Inspiron One 20 and Inspiron One 23) they're looking to reverse their fortunes.
Gone are the poor quality screen, awkward stand, and middling connectivity. In their place we find a PLS screen by Samsung, a more ergonomic stand, and all the modern connectivity you could ask for. Better still, the advent of Ivy Bridge and Kepler promise to shore up many of the hardware weaknesses of the last generation of all-in-ones. So does the new Dell XPS One make the grade? Starting as usual with the hardware specs, here's what we received for review, in bold, with alternate parts listed where applicable (e.g. on the CPU).
Dell XPS One 2710 Specifications | |
Processor |
Intel Core i7-3770S (4x3.1GHz, Hyper-Threading, 3.9GHz Turbo, 22nm, 8MB L3, 65W) Intel Core i5-3450S (4x2.8GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo, 22nm, 6MB L3, 65W) |
Chipset | Intel H77 |
Memory | 2x4GB Samsung DDR3-1600 SODIMM (Max 2x8GB) |
Graphics |
Intel HD 4000 (16 EUs, up to 1150MHz) NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB GDDR5 (384 CUDA cores, 645MHz/4GHz core/memory clocks, 128-bit memory bus) |
Display |
27" LED Glossy 16:9 2560x1440 Samsung PLS |
Hard Drive(s) |
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 2TB 7200-RPM SATA 6Gbps HDD Samsung PM830 32GB mSATA 6Gbps SSD |
Optical Drive | Blu-ray reader/DVD+/-RW writer (HL-DT-ST CA30N) |
Networking |
Atheros AR8161 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 802.11a/b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 |
Audio |
Realtek ALC275 HD Audio Stereo speakers Headphone and mic jacks |
Front Side |
Webcam Speaker grilles |
Right Side |
Optical drive Power button |
Left Side |
Headphone and mic jacks 2x USB 3.0 SD/MMC/XD/MS Pro card reader |
Back Side |
4x USB 3.0 Ethernet jack Line-out HDMI out HDMI in Optical out CATV in |
Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Dimensions |
19.32" x 26.14" x 1.25-2.81" 490.75mm x 664mm, 31.76-71.6mm |
Weight |
35.16 lbs 15.95 kg |
Extras |
Webcam Wireless keyboard and mouse Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo) Blu-ray reader TV tuner (Optional) |
Warranty | 1-year basic support |
Pricing |
Starting at $1,399 As configured: $1,999 |
Dell wasn't messing around with the new XPS One, and indeed the entire line is the result of their engineers having gone back to the drawing board. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, Dell also benefits from the new technology Ivy Bridge and Kepler bring with them.
The Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core i7-3770S is capable of being almost every bit the performance equal of the i7-3770K, starting from a 3.1GHz nominal clock speed (to maintain the slightly reduced 65W TDP) but able to turbo up to 3.9GHz on a single core, just like the 3770K can. It's only in the in-between turbo modes that the 3770K is able to produce a performance advantage, but the mild reduction in performance coincides with an equally mild reduction in overall power consumption. Honestly I remain a bit skeptical about the need for the S series chips; when Intel's quad-cores had 95W TDPs, a 30W reduction would be a substantial one, but just 12W seems too incremental and you'll see later on that the difference wasn't enough. The i5-3450S is the lower end CPU option for now, which drops the clock speeds and Hyper-Threading, along with a lower price.
What got my attention when I saw the spec sheet for the XPS One was the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M equipped with GDDR5. Spec wise, the GK107 chip that powers the GT 640M is only slightly weaker than the previous generation's GF116. The GF116 may have been slightly underwhelming compared to AMD's Radeon HD 5770/6770, but it was generally able to get the job done at 1080p. The GK107 loses 8 ROPs and 64 bits off of the memory bus, but has roughly equivalent shader power. 384 CUDA cores clocked at 645MHz aren't bad at all, but when we reviewed the GK107 in the Acer TimelineU I suspected the chip was being memory constrained with just DDR3. Now that we have a system that pairs it with GDDR5, we can see if the increased memory bandwidth will allow the GeForce GT 640M to stretch its legs. Better still, there's the potential here to finally have a reasonably-priced graphics solution that can actually power all-in-ones and justify including discrete graphics hardware.
While the rest of the system's configuration is pretty respectable (with the 32GB SSD configured for Intel's Smart Response Technology), the screen is another big plus. Dell opted to include Samsung's PLS technology display in a 2560x1440 resolution, and it's a thing of beauty. If there's an unusual omission here, it's the lack of touchscreen support on this or even any of the new Dell all-in-ones. While I'm not a fan of large touchscreens, Microsoft has clearly decided to go whole hog on them for Windows 8, and so omitting that feature here seems shortsighted. If you're like some and prefer to stick with the old mouse and keyboard interface, though, you may find more to like here.
The price looks pretty steep at first glance, but you have to consider everything that you're getting. The base model still includes a display that would typically go for around $1000 on its own (Samsung's 27" PLS displays don't come cheap!), so $400 gets you the remaining components for a decent desktop experience. At the high-end, which is what we're reviewing, Dell loads up all the extras: more memory, faster CPU, SSD caching, Blu-ray, etc. There's definitely a case of diminishing returns, but Dell is clearly going after the same market as the high-end Apple iMac. That may not be a great way to go about things, though, since one of Apple's biggest selling points is the uniqueness of their OS X experience. In terms of strict hardware comparisons, however, the XPS One 2710 at $1999 comes out ahead of the current 2012 iMac 27" in quite a few areas. Let's get to the benchmarks now and see just what Dell has to offer.
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Tchamber - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
You can't configure the iMac with 32gigs though, and it doesn't even have an option for bluray, and to get an i7 brings the price up to $2500.Penti - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Memory is installable and so is an external Blu-ray drive, you need Windows in Bootcamp though if you don't wish to break DMCA ripping discs. But then again you probably have that BD connected to be ripping discs. So you can get them playbacked one way or another. Otherwise you can pop your BD movie into an 90 dollar BD-player under your TV. The i7 adds 200.dagamer34 - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
The point of an AIO is to avoid extra cables and crap, otherwise you might as well build a desktop, it's a far better value and upgradeable too.Penti - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Sure but you can get blu-ray playback on a Mac mini too. LG had a NAS (which they broke) with integrated BD-drive (burner) before, mounting over iSCSI and ripping over the ethernet is fine and clutter-less. Any iMac has a disk drive connected for Time-machine or similar so it won't exactly be clutter free. Power-cable, ethernet and one USB is pretty much fine though. You don't have to get the ugliest ODD ever setting it in front of your iMac on your desk and sit there staring at it all day. It's just a possibility if you need to illegally rip your discs. Not a necessary.Laststop311 - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Shame if they just fixed the temps and noise this thing would be a beastBownce - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Here are some options I've been eying for my mid-2010 iMac i5 27"SSD, eSATA, etc.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/iMac_2010_2...
Not spam. Just a customer looking at the options.
Bownce - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Oh yeah, and as of 2010, 32Gb of RAM is supported based on their info.Wurmer - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
True but getting 32 Gb of RAM will add another load of $$$. 800-900 and beside a few users who really need that much RAM ?palladium - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
If you're looking at 32GB RAM, you probably should be looking at a workstation with a hex core i7, not an AIO.sfooo - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Wouldn't it be more fair to call the current iMac lineup the 2011/SandyBridge set? Calling it the "current 2012 iMac" implies a refresh that hasn't happened yet.