And so my review of the Dell XPS 15z starts of by loading it up with all the stuff I need to get about my day to day activities and I do this by installing Dropbox to sync all my documents, workspaces and applications.

Just for reference, the software I’m putting on this machine :-

1. Dropbox for file syncing
2. FileZilla for FTP transfers
3. GIMP for image manipulation
4. OpenOffice for document processing
5. Spotify for music
6. VLC for video playback
7. XAMPP for my web development environment
8. WorldCommunityGrid for donating processor power to international science projects
9. GoogleTalk
10. Skype
11. Android SDK
12. Eclipse IDE
13. Notepad++
14. Google Chrome

After a day of mostly word processing, some development work and using the web, I found that the laptop lasted about 4 and half hours on battery but, as always, I think it shoud last longer as I get used to the laptop and know how to optimise the battery life and quit tinkering around with settings and updates.

In the 24 hours I used it, I came to really appreciate the facial recognition feature of the sign in screen because it really saved me the hassle of having to keep typing and re-typing my password each time I turn it on or come back to it. Again, a picture might fool the camera but I’ll test that another time.

Having also installed spotify, I took the opportunity (when no one was in the office) to pump up the speakers and it’s actually pretty decent even at higher volumes. That said I rarely use laptop speakers unless it’s to watch a video together with friends so it really isn’t that important to me.

Towards the end of the day, I also really appreciated the backlit keyboard because I found the keyboard of the XPS 15z quite different from the keyboard I’m used to – the keys are lot more spaced and that caused me to mistype all the time. Having it backlit really helped when I didn’t want to have to work with all the room lights on at night.

One thing I decided to do from now on was also to install WorldCommunityGrid on review devices to see how much processing it can get done (some review devices come with really good GPUs so why let it go to waste right?). At the end of the review series, in “The Review” piece, I’ll collate the amount of processor contribution the device has made.

Oh 24 hours in and I have a big gripe. There are no USB ports on the right hand side of the XPS 15z and because i’m right handed, I have to plug in my mouse on the left and loop all around the back of the laptop to right side. Not a big deal but when you have a mouse plugged in, power cables, USB hubs and your phone connected to the laptop the wires criss crossing each other can really mess up the table and somehow a messy table makes it harder to work. I never really realised having ports on both sides was important until now.

So yeah, in one day, I think the XPS 15z is pretty good device although the usb thing sort of bugs me. Will share my experience with it after I’ve used it for a week.

Other posts in the Dell XPS 15z review series:-

• Dell XPS 15z – A work machine you can carry around
• [Pictures] Dell XPS 15z
• [First Impressions] Dell XPS 15z

Ridzuan Ashim
Starting and maintaining Ridz.sg aside, Ridzuan is Co-Founder of Senseless Labs – A software solutions company currently focused on building mobile-based Marketing and CRM solutions. He has been dabbling in both web and mobile development since 2003. His interests include how technology can be used to improve the human condition, poverty alleviation through sustainable development, education and microfinancing.