The company doesn't have an official attendance at CES 2012 unlike many other manufacturers such as HP, Acer and Asus. The first thing that strikes you about the XPS 13 is how compact it is. Despite it being a 13-inch display, the 31.6 x 20.5 cm footprint is narrow and Dell makes no secret of its desire to be smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Air but with a similar screen size. It's thin, too, with a 6-18mm footprint and is a gorgeous-looking device. Our previous Ultrabook design best has to be the Asus Zenbook but the Dell XPS 13 really cuts it. It looks the part and feels it too at 1.4Kg. Despite initial concerns over the keyboard, it proved very comfortable to type on and we'd happily recommend it. The keys may not be as stylish as the MacBook Air's or Zenbook's, but there is more of an accent on practicality.
The keyboard is also backlit. The mouse buttons are a little clicky for our liking but you do get used to them. Unlike with some other laptops where the trackpad can be a bit slippy, here it's the opposite – things can get a bit sticky, especially if you have slightly sweaty fingers. We were a little disappointed with the screen (which is devilishly thin, by the way) – the MacBook Air's isn't the finest but we still prefer it compared to this. It just isn't as crisp as it could be, and looks quite grainy on a white background. However, it should be pointed out once again that this is a pre-production unit and Dell says the final retail SKU will carry a more developed display. That should make it brighter, with better viewing angles.
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