Also, thanks to that weave pattern, scratches are virtually a non-issue. It feels nice too, especially if you have the laptop on a flat surface and are letting your wrists hang off the palm rest. Disagree with me if you like, but I think it instantly makes this $800 machine look more expensive than it actually is. For one thing, the carbon weave is nice to look at. It's a design that's both beautiful and practical, and I'm glad Dell didn't mess with a good thing just for the sake of shaking things up. On the inside, a soft carbon fiber finish stretches across the keyboard deck all the way from the hinge to the palm rest. Which is to say, it features a smooth metal exterior, with details that include a metal plate on the bottom side to cover up all the required FCC fine print. Other than the smaller footprint and nearly bezeless screen, the XPS 13 hews to the same design language as Dell's previous Ultrabooks. You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu. Not bad for a 13-inch laptop! (Even with the optional touchscreen, it's still 2.8 pounds.)
After a week with the XPS 13, I'm reminded that weight and thinness aren't everything, though it definitely helps that this thing starts at just 2.6 pounds. At the same time, I had enough space to juggle multiple browser tabs, as well as WordPad in a separate window. And for those moments when I had to put my laptop out of sight, it was small enough that I could stow it inside the seat-back compartment with room to spare. It was easier to balance on a cramped airplane tray, even with the person in front of me leaning all the way back (thanks, dude). The laptop took up less space in my backpack than my MacBook Air would have.
Take my recent cross-country flight to Seattle. Especially for frequent travelers like me. That said, with a display this big, the XPS 13 feels like the best of both worlds.
To be fair, of course, I'm a little late to the game: Netbooks and 11-inch laptops have been around for years, but until now, I've avoided them precisely because I prefer the extra screen real estate. I suspect many people will buy the XPS 13 purely because of that gorgeous screen, but personally, after using the laptop for a week, I'm more impressed with how small it is.