DELL XPS15 sandy bridge questions

[pilzner]

Anyone have any opinions on this deal?

http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/...xps-15-15-6-inch-sandy-bridge-laptop-2011044/

Additional questions I was wondering:

* Anyone know if the Sandy-Bridge i7 has Integrated Graphics? Was hoping to be able to switch between integ/dedicated to save on battery life. If not, I'm presuming the i5 has integrated.

* Is the GPU enough for a decent gaming rig? The resolution on this thing seems enormous (I'm used to 1280x1024 on my at-home game-box). If I wanted to improve perf, would playing games at lower than native resolution look weird?

* Any opinions on build quality - I know it is Dell... I'll probably be using this on transit quite a bit and expect it to get a little banged up.

Thanks

 

[Sgraffite]

It supports Optimus, and is able to switch between integrated and discrete video cards depending on the application.

From what I've read the GPU can play any game currently out. Some would need graphical settings turned down though, but that is to be expected as it is a mid-range graphics card.

This looked like an all-around solid laptop to me, BGR LED 1080p screen, decent speakers, Sandy Bridge, etc. I bit on the deal they had with the EPP coupons and $99 Dell Streak.

 

[Gloomy]

I own a gen 1 XPS 17, my brother has an XPS 15.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NotebookcheckReviews#p/u/12/24ts8rFaN1c

Every silver surface you see is aluminum, every black surface you see is plastic. The palmrest is tinted bluish aluminum. The hard drive access panel is plastic. If I hadn't taken it apart I would have assumed the laptop was cemented together. All the pieces fit snugly and there is no flex from anywhere other than the lid, where a slight amount is to be expected. Even the battery locks in very tightly (one of the biggest gripes I had with the Studio XPS 16 was that the battery wiggled like all hell and even scratched the screen when I closed it-- but that's a different story).

The palmrest is tinted and fades with prolonged skin contact. I have had mine since it came out and-- considering the time and how much I use it, it isnt surprising really-- the left-hand palmrest faded slightly from prolonged contact with my skin when I set my hand on the WASD keys while playing games. Keep in mind I play ALOT of games so this probably wont be an issue for you-- and it is a very slight discoloration. My brother doesn't use his nearly as much so it doesn't display the same behavior, but I expect the palmrests would behave the same on both models. I'll get a picture once I find my camera.

Other than that, the keys don't show any signs of glossing over (moot point since the SB models have new keyboards heh), and the aluminum surfaces wipe clean very easily and don't show dirt very well anyway. The only signs of wear and tear you have to worry about on this laptop are dings and scratches.

On a side note, both models are very unforgiving maintenance-wise. You will literally have to break the whole thing apart just to replace the thermal paste.

Hope this helps.

 

[ImDonly1]

Also, fyi, if you downgrade the warranty it goes to $675. I am considering this deal, but not sure.

Link
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=335835&t=2828711

 

[Ns1]

I got this laptop from the last deal

powerful as fuck, hate the bloatware that it came with, and build quality blows donkey balls compared to my 3 year old macbook.

BUT it is cheap and fast as shit.

 

[alent1234]

I got this laptop from the last deal

powerful as fuck, hate the bloatware that it came with, and build quality blows donkey balls compared to my 3 year old macbook.

BUT it is cheap and fast as shit.

how bad is the build quality? It's $1000 or so for the XPS i've been looking at and my wife has talked about a Macbook this year

 

[pilzner]

I own a gen 1 XPS 17, my brother has an XPS 15.
....
Hope this helps.

That was a seriously proper writeup on the build quality, thanks Gloomy. Just what I was looking for.

 

[Ns1]

how bad is the build quality? It's $1000 or so for the XPS i've been looking at and my wife has talked about a Macbook this year

MacBook = underpowered luxury car
XPS = overpowered economy car

Build quality is not bad if it's what you're used to EXCEPT FOR THE BEZEL AROUND THE SCREEN.

seriously, the bezel around the screen feels so cheap that it feels like the lid will eventually snap in half if I try to close it by pulling down on the edge instead of the center.

 

[Gloomy]

how bad is the build quality? It's $1000 or so for the XPS i've been looking at and my wife has talked about a Macbook this year

You probably won't find anything to complain about on this laptop, but Macbooks have noticeably better build quality. I think that sums it up pretty well. It's solid, but it's not a Macbook.

And yes, the bezel is plastic, gets gouged and scratched pretty easily, and can be popped off to access the LCD panel (if you need to change it for whatever reason)

On the flipside, best laptop speakers ever. I had to buy new headphones because I couldn't stand the cheap ones I had after listening to this laptop go. I'm not an aural aficionado but these laptops can fill a room with music that doesn't sound as if it comes from the inside of a Pepsi can, and has enough bass to make you want to move.

 

[Jovec]

I own a gen 1 XPS 17, my brother has an XPS 15.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NotebookcheckReviews#p/u/12/24ts8rFaN1c

Every silver surface you see is aluminum, every black surface you see is plastic. The palmrest is tinted bluish aluminum. The hard drive access panel is plastic. If I hadn't taken it apart I would have assumed the laptop was cemented together. All the pieces fit snugly and there is no flex from anywhere other than the lid, where a slight amount is to be expected. Even the battery locks in very tightly (one of the biggest gripes I had with the Studio XPS 16 was that the battery wiggled like all hell and even scratched the screen when I closed it-- but that's a different story).

The palmrest is tinted and fades with prolonged skin contact. I have had mine since it came out and-- considering the time and how much I use it, it isnt surprising really-- the left-hand palmrest faded slightly from prolonged contact with my skin when I set my hand on the WASD keys while playing games. Keep in mind I play ALOT of games so this probably wont be an issue for you-- and it is a very slight discoloration. My brother doesn't use his nearly as much so it doesn't display the same behavior, but I expect the palmrests would behave the same on both models. I'll get a picture once I find my camera.

Other than that, the keys don't show any signs of glossing over (moot point since the SB models have new keyboards heh), and the aluminum surfaces wipe clean very easily and don't show dirt very well anyway. The only signs of wear and tear you have to worry about on this laptop are dings and scratches.

On a side note, both models are very unforgiving maintenance-wise. You will literally have to break the whole thing apart just to replace the thermal paste.

Hope this helps.

Nice, I have a gen 2 XPS 17 en route. The price seemed right considering the upgrades (2630, 96w/hr batt, backlit keyboard, 555 GT, 1080p) for just under $1200 with tax and shipping. However, it does still fall prey to the marketing morons. The NV 555 GT comes with 3GB VRAM Seriously? 1GB is plenty for 1080, especially when you consider that the GPU isn't going to run at max settings anyway. I also would have liked to see an option for a larger keyboard rather than then included 10-key.

Nearly all the reviews mention the high quality laptop speakers too. Saved me $50 or so since I won't have to buy a Logitech Z305 speaker bar.

 

[ultimatebob]

I just got my new XPS 15 in today, and it's pretty sweet. The display looks great, and the keyboard is better than what I thought it would be.

The styling reminds me of a Macbook Pro, but it costs about half of what of those would be with similar options.

Is it built as well as a Thinkpad? No, but it seems more solidly constructed than anything from their Inspiron line. The speakers are certainly better than any Thinkpad I ever used, that's for sure.

The bloatware wasn't as bad as prior Dell systems that I've seen, but I found myself uninstalling the Dell Dock and the McAfee software pretty quickly.

I'm still getting used to the freakishly large touchpad, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for long

 

[alent1234]

when i priced out the XPS 15 it came out to around $1500 or so when compared to the higher end MBP 15". I forgot the retail price but my educational discount is $1999 for the 15" MBP.

not a big deal for me but my wife wanted MIMO wifi in a laptop and only the high end ones seem to have it including all the new MBP's

 

[ultimatebob]

when i priced out the XPS 15 it came out to around $1500 or so when compared to the higher end MBP 15". I forgot the retail price but my educational discount is $1999 for the 15" MBP.

not a big deal for me but my wife wanted MIMO wifi in a laptop and only the high end ones seem to have it including all the new MBP's

Huh? I got mine fully loaded with the quad core processor, 1080p display, upgraded battery, and BluRay player for $1,250 after the coupon deal.

 

[Ns1]

Huh? I got mine fully loaded with the quad core processor, 1080p display, upgraded battery, and BluRay player for $1,250 after the coupon deal.

he was pricing it out w/o a coupon.

 

[alent1234]

not 100% apples to apples but this is pretty close and $1788 before coupons. trying to compare this to the $2199 15" MBP that i can buy for $1999 with my discount.

i checked some benchmarks and the Radeon in the MBP beats the 2GB GT 540M in the dell in some games

with the Mac you also get software like iPhoto and Garageband if you're into music creation. with the dell you have to buy it all. and OS X has features in it that are only in WIn 7 Ultimate Edition

PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook edit
SERVICE PLAN 1 Year Basic Service Plan edit
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus edit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial edit
HD DISPLAY 15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0 edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 edit
My Software & Accessories
COLORS Elemental Silver Aluminum edit
KEYBOARD Backlit Keyboard - English edit
MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broad Band Selected edit
OS RECOVERY MEDIA Recovery DVD for Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English edit
ADOBE & ENTERTAINMENT Adobe® Photoshop® Elements + Adobe® Premiere® Elements

 

[Ns1]

not 100% apples to apples but this is pretty close and $1788 before coupons. trying to compare this to the $2199 15" MBP that i can buy for $1999 with my discount.

i checked some benchmarks and the Radeon in the MBP beats the 2GB GT 540M in the dell in some games

with the Mac you also get software like iPhoto and Garageband if you're into music creation. with the dell you have to buy it all. and OS X has features in it that are only in WIn 7 Ultimate Edition

PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook edit
SERVICE PLAN 1 Year Basic Service Plan edit
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus edit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial edit
HD DISPLAY 15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0 edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 edit
My Software & Accessories
COLORS Elemental Silver Aluminum edit
KEYBOARD Backlit Keyboard - English edit
MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broad Band Selected edit
OS RECOVERY MEDIA Recovery DVD for Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English edit
ADOBE & ENTERTAINMENT Adobe® Photoshop® Elements + Adobe® Premiere® Elements

the kicker in the decision making process is you can save upwards of $400+ on the dell by using coupons whereas on the MBP you are stuck paying 2g's.

I sold a MB to get the Dell XPS 15 and am waiting the day where I can return to the 15" MBP (but I sure as fuck aint paying 2g's just to get 1gb of VRAM) or maybe the next gen MBA

 

[kowalabearhugs]

Build quality and the slim form factor were the major reason why I opted for a Macbook Pro. I've owned Dell, Acer, and Toshiba Laptops and they cannot hold a candle to the unibody MBP.

 

[alent1234]

the kicker in the decision making process is you can save upwards of $400+ on the dell by using coupons whereas on the MBP you are stuck paying 2g's.

I sold a MB to get the Dell XPS 15 and am waiting the day where I can return to the 15" MBP (but I sure as fuck aint paying 2g's just to get 1gb of VRAM) or maybe the next gen MBA

the xps 15" with 1GB vram is $1688. the difference is in the extra software, no crapware that dell gets money to install, english speaking support people and better build quality.

it's not like the xps is half the price

 

[Ns1]

the xps 15" with 1GB vram is $1688. the difference is in the extra software, no crapware that dell gets money to install, english speaking support people and better build quality.

it's not like the xps is half the price

I paid 950 for my XPS with 1 gb VRAM...

 

[alent1234]

I paid 950 for my XPS with 1 gb VRAM...

so, apple sells cars like acura or lexus. they sell you all the options because they have a specific profit number they want to hit. apple sells a computer with almost every upgrade a dell or hp would have.

if you configure a xps with all the options including the nice battery to hit the battery life of a MBP the price is close enough to the MBP to make it worth thinking about. and the ridiculous resale value means you can buy a new one every year for not that much $$$

 

[Bootleg Betty]

I heard XPS has awesome display (not just full HD, but also great colors) and sound, making it great multimedia center. Is that true?

How is the touchpad? I can imagine it not being up to Mac quality, but is it usable so you don't need mouse?

 

[Ns1]

How is the touchpad? I can imagine it not being up to Mac quality, but is it usable so you don't need mouse?

usable enough. 2 finger scrolling not nearly as good as a mac but better than before.

i still run with a gaming mouse though.

 

[zuffy]

Can't take my Dell 700m anymore. I ordered the XPS 15 with the 1080p display, i7-2630qm, 6gb ram, 500gb hdd, 525 1gb video, 6-cell battery for $1128 with tax. Would love to get a macbook pro though if money was not an issue.

 

[JETninja]

I got mine last week, love it. Its our 4th Dell XPS laptop in 5yrs. (2 were for graduating sons)

i7-2630, 6Gb DDR3, nVidia GT540M 2Gb, 640GB HD, BT 3.0 & USB 3.0, Intel Centrino, 1080P LED, Blueray, etc. Got it with a EPP 30% discount but all through April you can do as well with coupons. Got them to match Sony with free shipping. (was looking at a Sony, but the Dells GPU was a bit better)

Order with extended warranty, then call back and say you want to cancel it, they'll offer to give you $50 to $100 to keep it. Wish I'd known that when I ordered mine...

Plays all my Steam games (ME, ME2, LFD2, etc) and Battlefield Europe great...

 

[zuffy]

My XPS 15 have not ship yet but for folks with the new XPS 15, can you tell me what brand and type of RAM are installed? Is it 10600, 10660 or 10666? I got the 6GB configuration and thinking of upgrading to 8GB.