XPS-2!!! Best Gaming Laptop Evah!

[trikster2]

Edit 2:

Compliation of XPS-2 on the web. kudos to hardcore/manko and whoever else for coming up with the links

hothardware
gamespot (with video)
Toms
pcmag
extremetech
Anandy
long thread on notebook forums.com (is this our don66?)



EDIT: Looks like I was wrong about the 9300 being dead. 9300 is alive and well. Thread edited to reflect reality

Well it looks like the long wait for the Inspiron 9300 is over

Dell just released the "XPS-2" which essentialy has the specs of the anticipated 9300

LINKY To DELL HOME

Kind of silly. Won't ship till April 8th!



Basically it's a 9200 with a cool car stereo amp looking lid Sonoma chipset, PCIe Nvidia 6800 (12 pipes?) and a glarry/sony style WUXGA screen.

Kudos to hardcore for digging up the picts:

Picts of XPS-2

Cool bling bling feature is the custom inserts. Here are a couple of the views for the "City of Villians" inserts:

Just the Insert Linky

Insert installed in XPS-2


What $2,200 buys you:

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2GHz, 2MB Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Intel® 915PM Chipset
Displays
17" Wide-Aspect UltraSharpTM TFT Active Matrix WUXGA (1920x1200) display with TrueLifeTM .
TrueLife provides for higher contrast ratios than non-glare displays.

Graphics
256MB NVIDIA® GeForceTM Go 6800 ULTRA with PCI Express x16 interface

 

[kbdrand]

So people have ben claiming that the GeForce 6800 Ultra in the XPS2 has 16 pipes not 12, but I haven't seen any definate answers on that.

I have already placed one on order, now the long wait until April 8 begins.

 

[Looney]

Here's a review of the iXPS2 from PCMag http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1769520,00.asp

I'm really not sure which one i'm going to get, the iXPS2 or Sager 9860. I actually placed my order for the 9860 already, just haven't paid. The Canadian Dell site doesn't have the iXPS2 up yet, hopefully it will tomorrow (they always do site updates on Friday), and i'll make my decision then.

Things going for the Sager: 650 CPUs, even though there really isn't a performance increase, but 64bit is somewhat valuable. 1650x1050 resolutions vs Dell's 1920x1200... i have 1920x1200 as my main monitor, but i can't imagine looking at that on a 17" (and i can't imagine people got it with the old 15"). Sager gives you MUCH more capabilities, such as RAID0, dual optical drives, 4 RAM slots, TV-turner... and the big one, i don't have to wait a friggin' month for assembly.

What Dell has going for it is the 6800Go Ultra and Complete Care.

Those are the things that concerns *me*.

It's a great time to buy a DTR.

 

[kbdrand]

Yeah they 9860 is a better machine if you want things like RAID, extra hard drives, etc.

Personally I like the longer battery life of the XPS2 and the weight (since I travel).

The highest resolution on the XPS2 doesn't really concern me. I run my Dell Inspiron 8200 at 1600x1200 and it's only a 15" screen.

 

[Looney]

I've been reading around, and i don't think the 6800Go Ultra has 16 pipes... i think it's just a higher volt, higher clocked 6800Go. The scores that i'm seeing with the 6800Go Ultra at default are about 12k in 3dmark03 and 4800 in 3dmark05... which are very similar to those 6800Go Rev2 that have been OCed to similar Ultra speeds.

Anyways, i'll be making my decision tomorrow which to go with, the iXPS2 or 9860.

 

[ShellGuy]

Can anybody shed some light on to y Peeps in FL and Ny cant get the Plus and Prem service packages???

Will G.

 

[trikster2]

> i have 1920x1200 as my main monitor, but i can't imagine looking at that on a 17" (

I have WUXGA on my 15.4" D800.

Trust me it's wonderful. You can always scale down to a lower resolution you can never scale up........

Yeah windows font scaling is not perfect but you learn to deal. Once you get used to the razor sharp screen everything else looks like garbage. It's the reason I thought the 15" powerbook screen looks like cr@p 1280x800 is dang fuzzy!

 

[Stealth1024]

But where is the successor to the 8600?!

 

[trikster2]

I just noticed this on the configuration page:

Personalization Shield w/Inserts [add $29 or $1/month1]

And this:

Customizable Personalization Cover
Choose the optional personalization cover to display your favorite game's "colors" or print your own personal display page.


Sounds like you will be able to put your own image of some sort on the lid of the laptop?

Also, another major advantage over the 9200 is Gig ethernet and "specialized XPS support".

What does the latter mean? Your tech support is guaranteed to really be named Fred?

 

[manko]

Well, the US 9300 is supposed to be released very soon too (early March). It will be minus the fancy trim and have a non-ultra 6800 (along with x300 options), following the pattern of the previous XPS/9100.

New Dell Gaming and Entertainment Notebooks

Dell Inspiron 9300

-Starting price of $1,599 at 7.85 pounds2.
-17-inch widescreen notebook available in either XGA+ or UXGA TrueLife.
-Front-and-center navigation keys with Dell MediaDirect to provide customers with easy and quick access multimedia content.
-Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and USB 2.0 TV Tuner options for simplified multimedia content management.
-Wide range of configurability and connectivity options to meet consumers' needs, including: Standard 64MB graphics card, configurable up to 256MB.
-Availability of Intel® Pentium M processors up to 2.1 GHz and dual channel 533MHz DDR2 memory up to 2GB.
-Multiple ports, including support for DVI, S-Video, IEEE 1394 and up to six USB connections allows the Inspiron 9300 to work seamlessly with a host of peripheral products.
-For more information about the Inspiron 9300, please visit www.dell4me.com/Inspiron.

According to this: Hot Hardware Review, the Go 6800 Ultra is 12 pipes, but it's clocked 50MHz higher than the desktop Ultra.

THG Nvidia Interview on GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

It has 12 pixels per clock shader, and six geometry units...

The XPS 2 is very tempting, but I'm not sure I can shell out the extra cash just for the Ultra over the non-Ultra 6800.

 

[dr150]

How much of a value is the 9300 vs the XPS 2?

Is the price premium dollar-for-dollar compelling or should most wait for other competitors to come out with cheaper similarly performing machines?.....

 

[trikster2]

Hmmm

Dr150 thats a good question.

I guess it depends on how important gaming performance is to you and how long you can wait?

Dell and Nvidia seem to have a good relationship. Will the 6800 go ultra be a "dell only" part like the ATI 9800 mobil was??

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: trikster2
Dell and Nvidia seem to have a good relationship. Will the 6800 go ultra be a "dell only" part like the ATI 9800 mobil was??

One of the reviews said that Dell has an (undisclosed) limited-time exclusive on the Ultra, but the other brands will also start releasing the Ultra option in coming months.

Originally posted by: dr150
How much of a value is the 9300 vs the XPS 2?

Is the price premium dollar-for-dollar compelling or should most wait for other competitors to come out with cheaper similarly performing machines?.....

Well, when you look at numbers like these: Direct X9: Halo Benches (vs. the Clevo/Sager notebooks, P4 with vanilla Go 6800), the Ultra is scoring almost double the standard Go 6800 which will most likely be used in the 9300. We'll have to wait for the official release of the 9300 to know for sure, but the Ultra is definitely the only way to go for the hardcore gamer. If you read the AT review, the Go Ultra scores in between the desktop 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra. That's unheard of performance in a laptop.

Even when other manufacturers start offering the Ultra, I don't expect them to be much cheaper than the XPS 2. Brands like Alienware and Voodoo will probably be more expensive and the more reasonable Clevo clones will probably be close to the XPS 2, when you consider Dell's discounts. Not to mention that the XPS 2 being a Pentium M is lighter and slimmer than all the other P4-based notebooks which are likely candidates to get the Ultra.

One of the upcoming games I'm looking forward to is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and I'm guessing the Ultra would be able to handle it, while the standard Go 6800 on the 9300 might have trouble playing it at anywhere near the same quality. The same goes for F.E.A.R. and other future games with demanding graphics.

The question everyone has to ask themselves is: is the performance worth the price difference between the XPS 2 and the 9300 with standard Go 6800? If you want the ultimate gaming performance or if the notebook will be your only machine, I think the answer is yes. If you also have a desktop for gaming, you might want to go with the 9300 and put the savings towards upgrading the desktop.

 

[trikster2]

Curious that the press release indicated the 9300 would ship before the XPS-2 but I can buy an XPS-2 today.


Still no 9300 listed on the dell site. Any inside info on when it will actually be released? Would like to compare to the XPS-2 before "pulling the trigger".

I had been looking at the 9200 for when I am on the road and doing a separate upgrade of my 2 yr old home system. The XPS-2 may be more expensive and weigh a pound more but it will be my only computer. I can't really put a price on the value of not switching back and forth (but my wife can!)

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: trikster2
Curious that the press release indicated the 9300 would ship before the XPS-2 but I can buy an XPS-2 today.

Still no 9300 listed on the dell site. Any inside info on when it will actually be released? Would like to compare to the XPS-2 before "pulling the trigger".

I had been looking at the 9200 for when I am on the road and doing a separate upgrade of my 2 yr old home system. The XPS-2 may be more expensive and weigh a pound more but it will be my only computer. I can't really put a price on the value of not switching back and forth (but my wife can!)

I don't have any inside info, just what I see on the hardware sites and forums.

It sounds like the the 9300 could be announced at any time, but definitely within the first couple weeks of March.

I'm guessing Dell is trying to clear out some 9200 stock before they put up the 9300. From Dell's perspective, I'm sure it doesn't hurt that a lot of people who have been waiting a long time might pull the trigger on the more expensive XPS 2 rather than wait a few more days for the 9300.

 

[Looney]

Well i decided to get the iXPS2 anyways... ETA is March 15 for me, much sooner than the US it looks like!

 

[trikster2]

Originally posted by: manko

Originally posted by: trikster2
Curious that the press release indicated the 9300 would ship before the XPS-2 but I can buy an XPS-2 today.

Still no 9300 listed on the dell site. Any inside info on when it will actually be released? Would like to compare to the XPS-2 before "pulling the trigger".

I had been looking at the 9200 for when I am on the road and doing a separate upgrade of my 2 yr old home system. The XPS-2 may be more expensive and weigh a pound more but it will be my only computer. I can't really put a price on the value of not switching back and forth (but my wife can!)

I don't have any inside info, just what I see on the hardware sites and forums.


It sounds like the the 9300 could be announced at any time, but definitely within the first couple weeks of March.

I'm guessing Dell is trying to clear out some 9200 stock before they put up the 9300. From Dell's perspective, I'm sure it doesn't hurt that a lot of people who have been waiting a long time might pull the trigger on the more expensive XPS 2 rather than wait a few more days for the 9300.

Dell announced the 9300 at the same time as the XPS-2

Linky to dell 9300 announcement

Thats why it's so weird that it's not on the web site yet....

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: trikster2

Dell announced the 9300 at the same time as the XPS-2

Thats why it's so weird that it's not on the web site yet....

Well, yeah I posted that Dell link earlier. In my post, I meant actually "released" for ordering on the website within the first couple weeks of March rather than "announced."

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: kbdrand
So people have ben claiming that the GeForce 6800 Ultra in the XPS2 has 16 pipes not 12, but I haven't seen any definate answers on that.

I have already placed one on order, now the long wait until April 8 begins.

12 pipes
5 verts
450mhz core
1100mhz gddr3

and a ton of optimizations and improved efficiency....because it beats a stock 6800GT in most benches, 100mhz faster clock dont make up for 4 pipes, so they most of found a good way to make the chip efficient

the 6800go has

300-375mhz core
700mhz? ddr1
12 pipes
5 verts

more like the regular desktop 6800 NU

 

[trikster2]

Huh. Just noticed that the 9200 screen is actualy brighter than the XPS2 (200 vs 185 nits)

 

[uOpt]

It says UXGA, but surely it looks like a wide display. What gives?

 

[Looney]

It says WUXGA in the first post and on the Dell specs (actually says Wide UXGA - is this where you're confused?)

 

[uOpt]

Allright then, I was just scanning the chars.

This notebook looks ... kinda nice

 

[AmigaMan]

damn, and I just dropped $1500 on my 9200! Crap! Wonder if Dell will trade me...

 

[trikster2]

A pretty good review with some nice benchies and pictures of the XPS-2

http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=648

Their tests confirm this laptop has graphics beter than X800 or 6800 based desktop cards.

This is blowin my mind. All in one bundle I have my new laptop ($2000), my desktop upgrade ($600) and that 17" LCD I was gonna get for Instant Messaging ($250) while Full screen gaming.

This is starting to look like a bargain.....

Must resist.......