Dell XPS 13 launched, priced thru the roof!

Waiting is now finally over as Dell’s ultrabook brainchild has now officially unveiled in an event held at the Mind Museum BGC Taguig. The Dell XPS 13 is the American company’s first shot at the ultrabook fame and a very impressive attempt at that.

It’s only fitting to showcase the XPS 13’s sexy and well thought of design by equally gifted and sexy models who also featured the intricately designed clothes by Filipino designer Pablo Cabahug.

As for my hands-on experience, here’s what I’ve observed on the Ultrabook.

At its thinness, this razor-like Ultrabook only measures at 6.8mm and 18mm at its rear (weight starts at 2.99lbs).

The Dell XPS 13 sports a Carbon fiber base for an even lighter weight as compared with other Ultrabook without compromising its durability. The base also doubles as a heat inductor assuring that extended hours of usage of the ultrabook on your lap (or any part your body for that matter) shouldn’t cause any mild burns due to the heat coming out of the system.

The XPS 13’s lid is also tailored with Precision-cut Aluminum that guards it against usual bumps and also adds a touch of sophistication the whole design of the Ultrabook. Protection to your valuable (and expensive) ultrabook doesn’t stop on the outside as the 13” display is reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass from edge-to-edge to shield it against scratches.

Typing in any lighting condition shouldn’t be any concern as the XPS 13 features a backlit Chiclet keys.

As a trend for Ultrabooks, it’s a must that it should be able to wake up from a sleep state in a matter of seconds. Dell has upped the ante by making getting the XPS 13 to wake up in under a second, that’s definitely saying SOMETHING if you ask me. It can also boot up from off state in less than 10 seconds. At the heart of this beast is Intel’s latest processor paired with a SSD that guarantees faster boot up and resume on sleep state.

To keep you company on your long trips or time away without your charger, the XPS 13 is equipped with a battery which is exactly clocked to last at least 8-hours and 53-minutes (talk about precision measurement) on a single full charge. That translates to more productivity while on-the-go and less wasted time charging.

Protection seemed to be in the top priority of Dell engineers when they developed this well-crafted Ultrabook, for a very good and obvious reason; PRICE. As we all know by now Ultrabooks, with all of its sleek design and insane features, doesn’t come cheap and the XPS 13 is no exception. Thus making sure that your Ultrabook will stand a chance against usual bumps and scratches by adding extra shield here and there (at a cost of extra grand or so) is the most rational thing to do. You’ve already spent a great deal of cash; why not spend a little more to secure your investment.

The XPS 13 line comes in three slightly altered configurations which also differ in pricing.

Dell XPS 13 (V560106PH)
13.3″ WLED display @ 720p
Gorilla Glass Display (edge-to-edge)
Intel Core i5 2467M 1.6GHz
Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.3GHz
Intel HD 3000 Graphics
128GB SSD storage
4GB DDR3 RAM
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
1 3.MP camera
1 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0 with PowerShare
1 x mini DisplayPort
6-cell battery
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Price: Php59,590USD 1,015INR 86,084EUR 967CNY 7,395

Dell XPS 13 (V560107PH)
13.3″ WLED display @ 720p
Gorilla Glass Display (edge-to-edge)
Intel Core i5 2467M 1.6GHz
Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.3GHz
Intel HD 3000 Graphics
256GB SSD storage
4GB DDR3 RAM
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
1 3.MP camera
1 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0 with PowerShare
1 x mini DisplayPort
6-cell battery
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Price: Php71,990USD 1,227INR 103,997EUR 1,168CNY 8,934

Dell XPS 13 (V560108PH)
13.3″ WLED display @ 720p
Gorilla Glass Display (edge-to-edge)
Intel Core i5 2637M 1.7GHz
Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.8GHz
Intel HD 3000 Graphics
256GB SSD storage
4GB DDR3 RAM
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
1 3.MP camera
1 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0 with PowerShare
1 x mini DisplayPort
6-cell battery
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Price: Php79,990USD 1,363INR 115,554EUR 1,298CNY 9,927

(Editor’s Note: We had our first look of the Dell XPS 13 over a month ago here but was surprised with their pricing plans for the various variants – Yuga.)