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The Dell XPS 15 is a fantastic high-end notebook that ignores the Ultrabook threat and instead parades proudly in a slightly curvaceous, but lusciously attractive exterior.
The wealth of cutting-edge technology afforded to the buyer more than makes up for its slightly expensive price-tag and, pound-for-pound, it actually comes in at slightly cheaper than Apple's MacBook Pro – a machine that it's impossible not to compare the Dell XPS 15 to.
We liked
The design, albeit somewhat Apple inspired, is fantastic and the Dell XPS 15 exudes an air of assurance through the use of both premium materials and precision manufacturing.
The impression only improves when you open up the 15.6-inch model with the near-frameless edge-to-edge Full HD display, and the incredibly comfortable keyboard and trackpad make the XPS 15 an absolute pleasure to use.
Finally, it's impossible not to be impressed by the raw performance of the 2012 Dell XPS 15. The Ivy Bridge CPU adds a welcome speed boost for everyday tasks and, combined with the discrete Nvidia GPU, the healthy amount of RAM and the generous hard-drive storage, you'll have no issues keeping up with the digital revolution.
We disliked
It's hard to pick any major faults but, if we're being picky, Blu-ray as standard would have been nice, and the backlit keyboard doesn't seem to glow quite as magically as its MacBook Pro rival.
And while we're on the subject of the competitor in the Cupertino corner, and although we've already praised the gorgeous design, it would be foolish to consider the Dell XPS 15's outer workings as original.
A direct copycat it is not, but the similarities are striking.
Final verdict
If you're looking for a high-end PC that marries good looks and superb performance, and are more Windows than Mac, then you really shouldn't look any further than the Dell XPS 15.
Sure, the Sony Vaio S series probably has the upper hand when it comes to aesthetics on the laptop top-table, and the Asus N56V shades it slightly in terms of operating pace, but the Dell XPS 15 ticks a much wider range of boxes and delivers with aplomb on all fronts.
The final mention must go to the incredible Corning Gorilla Glass, Full HD display. It may not have the "wow" factor of the MacBook Pro with Retina display, but in the PC market we're not sure we've seen anything quite as impressive.
