Beat me to it. The XPS 13 had amazing battery life, but it also had überaggressive display diminution. Without it, how good would battery life actually be? This is an area where AT could contribute by just doing a quick test.
That's an interesting point. Dell has some special sauce that boosted their battery life numbers. I'd love to see Anandtech do a follow up to validate that.
I took great pains to ensure that the CABC did not kick in during the battery life testing, and left the i1DisplayPro on the display to monitor the brightness throughout the test, so no, it shouldn't affect the overall results.
Every damn laptop should have the ability to turn that damn CABC off when it leaves the factory. It is a joke that this has to be in a patch this much after launch.
absolutely agree! the fact that it took a year to provide a fix for this simple issue is a farce. there's even the new model out already which suffers from the same problem if i'm not mistaken, how long will it take for this one to be fixed as well?
i also read that the display brightness setting itself can't be controlled 100% manually on last years xps13 and the ambient light sensor always readjusts the manual setting, is that fixed now as well?
such a great machine and then they drop the ball so hard on such a basic feature as brightness control, it is simply a shame.
Well that was disappointing, contacted support and they said they were not aware of any such patch, and dell did not plan to release a patch for the 1080p version
I was told specifically by Dell that you just have to call support. With the replies here from people, I sent them a link to this so that they can let support know about this patch.
Sorry there's no source - I got this via email from Dell. You have to call support for the XPS 13 I would suggest doing the same with the M4800. And no, a workstation should not have this enabled.
Ahh, I see. This should still count, since you posted as a writer for AT.
Thaqt said, some searching later from my end, I found some public statements by some Dell engineers indicating the same on the github page for the XPS Linux support project. You can find them referenced in this thread http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop... , and may want to link it somewhere in the article, so that those of us who are trying to get this firmware have an ever so slightly easier time escalating up by having evidence on hand, from their own engineers about it being available.
My previous screen had it. This replacement seems not to. It got swapped while trying to fix a screen flickering issue.. which is still here after we swapped the motherboard, LCD cable and screen. Next up is the GPU, which should be getting swapped tomorrow (I love NBD OnSite coverage!).
I just spent 1:45 on dell chat today asking if they had released this yet. 1:45 of bashing my head against a wall with someone who seemed incapable of understanding a very basic question. Please do update the review after testing with the patch running! And can you comment on calibration too now that the display won't be ruining the tests.
a few choice quotes from the lengthy Dell chatlog:
12/21/2015 11:40:05AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "please note dell does not provide you any software help in dynamic contrast / or calibration for XPS 13/ 15" 12/21/2015 11:40:12AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "you need to use a 3rd party software for that" 12/21/2015 11:41:43AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "these changes are to be done only via a software which you need to find it from your side" ................... 12/21/2015 11:47:20AM jan: "does the XPS13 also? and for it to be any use you need to be able to turn off dynamic contrast. Has Dell made this possible yet?" 12/21/2015 11:51:58AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "please note dell does not have any software for these" 12/21/2015 11:52:06AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "so you need to try a 3rd party from your side" 12/21/2015 11:53:41AM jan: "yes the colorimeter will have software, but Dell dictates whether the settings are locked down or not. And again, please answer my question, does the XPS13 have the same Dell software to allow adjustment of the screen? It is a very simple question." 12/21/2015 11:54:33AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "No dell XPS 13 does not have the software" 12/21/2015 11:54:54AM jan: "so you offer greater control on the 15?" 12/21/2015 11:55:10AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "yes that is right"
.................... 12/21/2015 12:12:14PM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "we will not have software (technical information) on this for the calibration" 12/21/2015 12:12:20PM jan: "and what about dynamic contrast?" 12/21/2015 12:12:38PM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "No dell does not have software for dynamic contrast for either XPS 13 / 15"
As with anything else supportwise; unless its a critical need you're generally best off waiting at least a few days after a public announcement to give time for the tier 1 phone staff to be given new pages for their scripts.
2. Possibly the worst Wi-Fi performance I have experienced in last 3-4 years, not sure if it is a driver issue (and there are some suggestions that screen flickering may be linked to Wifi issues) or just poor hardware but at time I have got better performance from a 5 yr old tablet in same location as the XPS 13
The wifi on the XPS 13 (Dell 1560, not sure about those with the Broadcom version) is fucked up on Windows 10 because of the driver. In order to make it work you need to install an old driver version. The version 6.30.223.262 for the Dell 1560 on Windows 8 works like a charm (even on Windows 10). The only problem though is that after some updates Windows overrides the driver, forcing you to install again the older one in order to have decent wifi.
Been with the laptop since may and sincerely I think it's a great machine. Great battery life, good performance and great display (I have the UHD). The only inconvenience is the poor support from Dell (and the shipping time, about a month...).
Key repetition was a problem that lasted months and I'm not sure it's 100% fixed. Wifi is still not properly fixed (in a profressional way, with a decent driver). I didn't even notice the brightness issue.
Fuckup up is an understatement. The wireless simply did not work for me under Windows 10. Would connect for maybe 30 seconds, then spam a hundred errors to the Windows logs and stop working until I rebooted.
Fortunately Dell exchanged the laptop for one with Intel wireless when I complained, which although still not great, at least has working Windows 10 support. If you have that problem, call dell and get a replacement.
The link says this only works specifically for the 2015 uhd version, can you confirm that this is the case or does this also work with either the fhd 2015 version or either of the 2013 models? Do you have any information beyond the github post?
Over there http://www.3dcenter.org/blog/leonidas/adaptive-hel... could be a general device-independent solution for over-zealous adaptive brightness control. Sorry for ther German text, but you should be able to find that menu. The battery life hit is substantial, though: from 5h to 4h with the 1st option and to 3.5h with both. Can't test myself how this differs from Dells patch, as I don't have any such hardware.
Rather than guess from the comment splatter... Brett, can you be clear: is this patch for the UHD model only, or does it also apply to the FHD (1080) model?
I just received a brand new skylake 16Gb/1TB i7 XPS13 and I am getting 4-5 hours of battery life while only browsing and emailing at 50% screen brightness. Is this the advertised "Up to 18 hours of battery life standard. Add an additional 10 hours with the optional Dell Power Companion."? - straight from the Dell web site specific for this model.
Is this the same as the advertised 50 GBit internet I signed up for and where I only received 14GBit? Or is there something I can do about this?
Its seems the near solution will be either Sony's magnesium batteries or whatever lithium solution comes out from Tesla's push. No other viable battery improvement paths in sight. Plus OLED, the logical next step for screens, actually adds to the consumption. Thus the idea of the powerful, connected, light, portable, and with all-day-battery-life laptop that with Precision M3800 Dell hinted us and has recently released as its second generation in the form of the new XPS line and workstation's Precision line 5510... are simply not delivering in the battery life department. Solution? get three chargers; one for the office, 2nd for home and 3rd for the car. Sad reality for 2016.
While the XPS 13 looks like a great product, Dell still manages to screw it up. I decided against buying it. Dell does a fair job on their business laptops in terms of reliability, but their consumer products don't have the commitment to software quality and drivers to make them a worthy challenger to Apple and Microsoft. I had high hopes for this laptop and I can see why many people like it. Dell has made significant improvements in their build quality. I still have concerns that Dell designs their laptops to get too hot. What I dislike the most though is the proprietary power connectors that Dell makes are expensive and tend to last only about 2 or 3 years before failing. I strongly considered buying this XP13 laptop, but I am glad that I have held off. Dell does not work quickly enough to address issues and to try and head them off proactively. At the moment, if I was going to buy a laptop, I would choose Apple or Microsoft over Dell. I am hoping that the industry moves to USB-C for power connections.
Yeah I keep getting write fails when I try to run it. I'm glad it's failing and not bricking the display driver but it's still pretty sad (as in embarrassing for dell) that they couldn't fix a serious issue for a lot of people who care who bought their golden boy last year.
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arsjum - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Does turning this off with the patch change the battery performance of Dell XPS 13, as initially measured by Anandtech, I wonder?Mondozai - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Beat me to it. The XPS 13 had amazing battery life, but it also had überaggressive display diminution. Without it, how good would battery life actually be? This is an area where AT could contribute by just doing a quick test.ikjadoon - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Agreed! Battery life is a HUGE selling point for the XPS 13. Will it be affected by this patch?Presumably, it won't affect retail customers because it still ships retail customers.
ImSpartacus - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
That's an interesting point. Dell has some special sauce that boosted their battery life numbers. I'd love to see Anandtech do a follow up to validate that.jasonelmore - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
at least it wont dim when we are plugged in anymoreBrett Howse - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
I took great pains to ensure that the CABC did not kick in during the battery life testing, and left the i1DisplayPro on the display to monitor the brightness throughout the test, so no, it shouldn't affect the overall results.nagi603 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Every damn laptop should have the ability to turn that damn CABC off when it leaves the factory. It is a joke that this has to be in a patch this much after launch.fokka - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
absolutely agree! the fact that it took a year to provide a fix for this simple issue is a farce. there's even the new model out already which suffers from the same problem if i'm not mistaken, how long will it take for this one to be fixed as well?i also read that the display brightness setting itself can't be controlled 100% manually on last years xps13 and the ambient light sensor always readjusts the manual setting, is that fixed now as well?
such a great machine and then they drop the ball so hard on such a basic feature as brightness control, it is simply a shame.
CharCharBinks - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
THANK THE LORD that was so annoying for gamingCharCharBinks - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Well that was disappointing, contacted support and they said they were not aware of any such patch, and dell did not plan to release a patch for the 1080p versionBrett Howse - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
I was told specifically by Dell that you just have to call support. With the replies here from people, I sent them a link to this so that they can let support know about this patch.CharCharBinks - Friday, December 25, 2015 - link
As of today, I've spoken with multiple reps, and all of them deny such a patch existing. This is really frustrating.Gunbuster - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Sure dragged that out. Went with a Surface pro instead even though it has the worlds worst wireless chipZeDestructor - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Can we have a link to the source? I need to get rid of that on my Precision M4800 (a workstation laptop of all things has that damn thing!!!)Brett Howse - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Sorry there's no source - I got this via email from Dell. You have to call support for the XPS 13 I would suggest doing the same with the M4800. And no, a workstation should not have this enabled.ZeDestructor - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Ahh, I see. This should still count, since you posted as a writer for AT.Thaqt said, some searching later from my end, I found some public statements by some Dell engineers indicating the same on the github page for the XPS Linux support project. You can find them referenced in this thread http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop... , and may want to link it somewhere in the article, so that those of us who are trying to get this firmware have an ever so slightly easier time escalating up by having evidence on hand, from their own engineers about it being available.
Voldenuit - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
Are you certain you have it on your M4800?I have a M4800 at work and have seen no signs of CABC behaviour, although to be fair, the laptop spends most of its time docked.
ZeDestructor - Wednesday, December 23, 2015 - link
My previous screen had it. This replacement seems not to. It got swapped while trying to fix a screen flickering issue.. which is still here after we swapped the motherboard, LCD cable and screen. Next up is the GPU, which should be getting swapped tomorrow (I love NBD OnSite coverage!).ik9000 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
I just spent 1:45 on dell chat today asking if they had released this yet. 1:45 of bashing my head against a wall with someone who seemed incapable of understanding a very basic question. Please do update the review after testing with the patch running! And can you comment on calibration too now that the display won't be ruining the tests.ik9000 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
a few choice quotes from the lengthy Dell chatlog:12/21/2015 11:40:05AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "please note dell does not provide you any software help in dynamic contrast / or calibration for XPS 13/ 15"
12/21/2015 11:40:12AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "you need to use a 3rd party software for that"
12/21/2015 11:41:43AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "these changes are to be done only via a software which you need to find it from your side"
...................
12/21/2015 11:47:20AM jan: "does the XPS13 also? and for it to be any use you need to be able to turn off dynamic contrast. Has Dell made this possible yet?"
12/21/2015 11:51:58AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "please note dell does not have any software for these"
12/21/2015 11:52:06AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "so you need to try a 3rd party from your side"
12/21/2015 11:53:41AM jan: "yes the colorimeter will have software, but Dell dictates whether the settings are locked down or not. And again, please answer my question, does the XPS13 have the same Dell software to allow adjustment of the screen? It is a very simple question."
12/21/2015 11:54:33AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "No dell XPS 13 does not have the software"
12/21/2015 11:54:54AM jan: "so you offer greater control on the 15?"
12/21/2015 11:55:10AM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "yes that is right"
....................
12/21/2015 12:12:14PM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "we will not have software (technical information) on this for the calibration"
12/21/2015 12:12:20PM jan: "and what about dynamic contrast?"
12/21/2015 12:12:38PM Agent (Ram_Swaroop): "No dell does not have software for dynamic contrast for either XPS 13 / 15"
Pissedoffyouth - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
I bet that wasn't a human you reached either. Would have been a computer.ik9000 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
if it was a computer it may well have passed the turing test. Even misspelt my name and everything.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
As with anything else supportwise; unless its a critical need you're generally best off waiting at least a few days after a public announcement to give time for the tier 1 phone staff to be given new pages for their scripts.cjs150 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Great now all they have to fix is:1. The screen flickering off an on randomly
2. Possibly the worst Wi-Fi performance I have experienced in last 3-4 years, not sure if it is a driver issue (and there are some suggestions that screen flickering may be linked to Wifi issues) or just poor hardware but at time I have got better performance from a 5 yr old tablet in same location as the XPS 13
Pissedoffyouth - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
>the screen flickering off an on randomlyugh I had a Compaq 615 that did the exact same thing years ago. Good to know new stuff is just as bad
ik9000 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
The flickering - is it the regular PWM cycle or random interference?poemcompiler - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
The wifi on the XPS 13 (Dell 1560, not sure about those with the Broadcom version) is fucked up on Windows 10 because of the driver. In order to make it work you need to install an old driver version. The version 6.30.223.262 for the Dell 1560 on Windows 8 works like a charm (even on Windows 10). The only problem though is that after some updates Windows overrides the driver, forcing you to install again the older one in order to have decent wifi.Been with the laptop since may and sincerely I think it's a great machine. Great battery life, good performance and great display (I have the UHD). The only inconvenience is the poor support from Dell (and the shipping time, about a month...).
Key repetition was a problem that lasted months and I'm not sure it's 100% fixed.
Wifi is still not properly fixed (in a profressional way, with a decent driver).
I didn't even notice the brightness issue.
saratoga4 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Fuckup up is an understatement. The wireless simply did not work for me under Windows 10. Would connect for maybe 30 seconds, then spam a hundred errors to the Windows logs and stop working until I rebooted.Fortunately Dell exchanged the laptop for one with Intel wireless when I complained, which although still not great, at least has working Windows 10 support. If you have that problem, call dell and get a replacement.
echoe - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
The link says this only works specifically for the 2015 uhd version, can you confirm that this is the case or does this also work with either the fhd 2015 version or either of the 2013 models? Do you have any information beyond the github post?ik9000 - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
which link?echoe - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop...It was within the post, maybe it was removed or I was seeing things? Or I clicked it in the comments?
BMNify - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Brett, Waiting for your Dell XPS 15 review.Brett Howse - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
So am I ;)MrSpadge - Monday, December 21, 2015 - link
Over therehttp://www.3dcenter.org/blog/leonidas/adaptive-hel...
could be a general device-independent solution for over-zealous adaptive brightness control. Sorry for ther German text, but you should be able to find that menu. The battery life hit is substantial, though: from 5h to 4h with the 1st option and to 3.5h with both. Can't test myself how this differs from Dells patch, as I don't have any such hardware.
DesktopMan - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
Please pester Dell about the FHD version. I just received the new 9350 FHD model and haven't even opened it yet, and now I hear it won't be fixed...nedge2k - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
Wow, only 11 months late...Arbie - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
Rather than guess from the comment splatter... Brett, can you be clear: is this patch for the UHD model only, or does it also apply to the FHD (1080) model?Dndn - Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - link
A patch for brightness fix the freaking trackpad!!!! So we can use chrome or Firefox.. How about a patch for that!ThomasDahl - Friday, December 25, 2015 - link
I just received a brand new skylake 16Gb/1TB i7 XPS13 and I am getting 4-5 hours of battery life while only browsing and emailing at 50% screen brightness. Is this the advertised "Up to 18 hours of battery life standard. Add an additional 10 hours with the optional Dell Power Companion."? - straight from the Dell web site specific for this model.Is this the same as the advertised 50 GBit internet I signed up for and where I only received 14GBit? Or is there something I can do about this?
Why do I feel ripped off?
Regards
Thomas Dahl
thomas.[email protected]
Nexing - Sunday, December 27, 2015 - link
Its seems the near solution will be either Sony's magnesium batteries or whatever lithium solution comes out from Tesla's push. No other viable battery improvement paths in sight. Plus OLED, the logical next step for screens, actually adds to the consumption. Thus the idea of the powerful, connected, light, portable, and with all-day-battery-life laptop that with Precision M3800 Dell hinted us and has recently released as its second generation in the form of the new XPS line and workstation's Precision line 5510... are simply not delivering in the battery life department.Solution? get three chargers; one for the office, 2nd for home and 3rd for the car.
Sad reality for 2016.
glad2meetu - Thursday, December 31, 2015 - link
While the XPS 13 looks like a great product, Dell still manages to screw it up. I decided against buying it. Dell does a fair job on their business laptops in terms of reliability, but their consumer products don't have the commitment to software quality and drivers to make them a worthy challenger to Apple and Microsoft. I had high hopes for this laptop and I can see why many people like it. Dell has made significant improvements in their build quality. I still have concerns that Dell designs their laptops to get too hot. What I dislike the most though is the proprietary power connectors that Dell makes are expensive and tend to last only about 2 or 3 years before failing. I strongly considered buying this XP13 laptop, but I am glad that I have held off. Dell does not work quickly enough to address issues and to try and head them off proactively. At the moment, if I was going to buy a laptop, I would choose Apple or Microsoft over Dell. I am hoping that the industry moves to USB-C for power connections.CharCharBinks - Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - link
The patched linked is for the skylake model, not the broadwell model.willis936 - Sunday, February 14, 2016 - link
Yeah I keep getting write fails when I try to run it. I'm glad it's failing and not bricking the display driver but it's still pretty sad (as in embarrassing for dell) that they couldn't fix a serious issue for a lot of people who care who bought their golden boy last year.