Dell XPS 14 review: Dell XPS 14

Forget the image of Dell laptops as generic-looking plastic boxes (or, less generously, cheap-looking ones). The past couple of generations of both Inspiron and XPS laptops -- the company's mainstream and high-end lines, respectively -- have been moving in the right direction in design, even if dragged there by the growth of Apple's MacBooks and the push toward thinner, snazzier ultrabook-style laptops.

7.9

Dell XPS 14

The Good

The new <b>Dell XPS 14</b> is solidly built and powerful. It's also slim and attractive, especially for a laptop with an Intel Core i7 CPU and discrete graphics.

The Bad

This is way heavier than any 14-inch laptop without an optical drive needs to be.

The Bottom Line

The flagship of Dell's revamped laptop line, the XPS 14 is a worthy competitor to something like the MacBook Pro, and the two systems share a similar aesthetic. But Dell's new Inspiron ultrabook is nearly as good, and a lot less expensive.

The latest revamps of the Inspiron and XPS laptops are the best either system has ever looked, and the new flagship may well be the 14-inch XPS 14. A midsize version of the Dell XPS 13 we saw earlier in the year, this is a similarly solid, slablike system, with an eye for aesthetic minimalism but with enough extra features, from a higher-res display to a backlit keyboard to a DisplayPort jack, to feel premium. Our review sample included an Intel Core i7 CPU and discrete Nvidia GeForce 630M graphics, for $1,499.

There are a still a couple of things that give me pause. This is a thin midsize laptop, but it's heavier than any 14-inch laptop without an optical drive needs to be. Too heavy to be a laptop for serious daily commuting, to be sure. I said the same thing about the recent MacBook Pro with Retina Display, which weighs a little less (4.46 pounds versus 4.7 pounds), but has a larger 15-inch screen.

And, if you want a thin 14-inch ultrabook laptop with a third-generation Intel Core i-series processor, discrete graphics, and a combination of solid-state drive (SSD) and hard-drive storage, Dell's recent Inspiron 14z may also fit the bill, for a few hundred dollars less (and it weighs only 4.1 pounds). The Inspiron tops out at a Core i5 CPU, the screen resolution is lower, and the graphics come from AMD, not Nvidia, but our review configuration of that system cost $899, versus $1,199 for an otherwise comparable XPS 14. Plus, the Inspiron 14z is a pretty sharp-looking system, especially considering the price. No, it's not as sharp, as configurable, or as solidly built, as the XPS 14 reviewed here, but hey, it's your money.