Asus U80V VS Dell Studio XPS 13

Need a little help here. I'm about to purchase my first laptop and I'm caught between two sweet ultraportables. Thing is I want a lappie with decent graphics horsepower since I've been ekeing it out on my primitive desktop armed with a paltry 32MB ProSavage card. Hope you guys at the forums could help me over here.

 

Hi. Also looking at your post on another thread:

judging from the 3DMark of 2300+ here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=309769&page=4

I would say the 4570 is more powerful than the 9400M. I got 3200+ points in 3DMark2006 with it, on my F6Ve. But keep in mind the CPU influences the score; the F6Ve has the T9550.

 

Wow. That was fast. Thanks for the info. So the dedicated GFX beats out the integrated one huh, even from Nvidia. Would you consider a thousand point difference in 3DMark06 to be rather significant? Sorry if I don't have a clue since I don't have these benchmarking software.

 

Well look at it as a 50% difference, and not as a 1000points difference. Yes it is significant for gaming.

(Although, of course, not all games will gain 50% performance -- some may gain more, some less. But the difference is significant.)

Also note that Macbook score was in 1024x768 whereas I got the score of 3200+ in native res, 1280x800 (which is a larger number of pixels to push for the GPU). So this further skews the results to the advantage of the 4570.

 

That's real helpful. At least it clearly shows ATI's solution pulls ahead of Nvidia's. Finally I can move on to DX10 gaming.

 

Hi all,

Coincidentally, a few thousand kilometers away in Singapore, after much research, I've also narrowed down to these 2 models. (I'm new to this forum, but not new to computing nor laptops.)

I still can't figure out which one to choose as both have their own strong and weak points. My primary usage will be for photo and video editing (I'm on EOS 5D Mk II, so my photo and video files will be HUGE).

Here are my thoughts:

Studio XPS 13

• I'm getting at Staff price through a contact, so I can get the extras at no extra costs.
• CPU - P8700
• Vista Home Premium 64-bit (should I???)
• 6 GB RAM
• nVidia 9400
• 500GB HDD 7200 rpm

U80V

• Seems nicer aesthetically, especially the keyboard
• Cheaper
• CPU - T6500
• 4 GB RAM
• ATI HD4570
• Larger screen
• 320GB HDD (should be 5400 rpm)

I think the deal-breaker for me would be the quality of the screen and the reliability of the machine. Having used the Asus W3V for more than 3 years now with ZERO problem, I'm inclined towards the U80V, but I've also heard good things about Dell laptops for the past 2 years.

My questions are:

• Has anyone compared the two screens before?
• Based on the configuration, which machine will likely be more suitable for video-editing/rendering? Will there be much difference between the two machines' performances?

Based on past experience, IMO, specs are just specs - if you don't like the way the machine looks, no matter what superb specs it has, you'll give it a miss.

Any thoughts?


Cheers!
KG

 

thats a beast of a xps, damn. only thing it is missing though is the 9500 if your doing editing.
basicly this is what you have
ram-xps
procesor-asus
hdd-xps
videocard-ASUS

*little side note, xps 13 is SUPER HIGHLY UNRELIABLE. they bsod weekly. they over heat and just flop over and die. the lid covers the spot that the fan pushes air out when lid is open.

the asus is a little more powerfull, imo, but the xps has the ram and the hdd which you will need to store all your pics. i woulld have gotten the xps a month ago if it wasnt for its terrible design.

gl

 

ASUS U series tend to be of high quality am i right?

 

In another thread about the U80, it says that it is solidly built and that there are no cheap parts. Not to count that there'd be aluminum but maybe durable plastic to justify its lower cost. SXPS 13 has the CCFL and LED screen, while the ASUS screen has the LED screen default. Only difference (if you're choosing the LED screen for the Dell) is that it's Edge-to-Edge display for the SXPS 13, and that it's very reflective that it causes glare under bright light conditions. However, given that it has a LED screen, it should hopefully counter that. Aesthetically, for me, the Dell is more sexier than the ASUS, and the 500GB HDD should be well enough to hold your files. Specs-wise, the SXPS13 wins over the U80 in every department except for the GPU area. However, the U80 uses only the DDR2 version instead of the GDDR3 version of the 4570 so it'll be a bit slower.

About the BSODs, I think BIOS and utilities driver updates from Dell support should be enough to fix that. The screen meanwhile doesn't block the hot air. Rather, it deflects the hot air upwards. But with the BIOS fix, temps should be under control.

 

hold on which laptop are you talking about? the xps 13 or the STUDIO xps 13 that howitzer225 was referring to? there are major differences between the two, so it'd be best for you to clarify before incorrect comparisons are made.

 

agreed, which one?
the studio xps DOES HAVE BSOD HEAT PROBLEMS, NO GETTING AROUND IT. if it deflets heat up, it is causing resistance for air to get out equating to hotter than normal run temps. i read some guy took his xps and did a benchmark in his room, then went outside and ran it, his score was 50% faster when it was colder outside. HEATING PROBLEMS! go read everywhere. bsod bsod bsod.

i dont know much about the just xps 13, havnt looked at it at all so cant say anything.

with the asus, you cant go wrong but i didnt know that it was ddr2, that sucks. The ddr3 version is pretty kick @$s respectively. could you post the link where you found this?-- nvm, i just found the site... the one that i read like 3 days ago . my bad. still, the ddr2 4570 should be better than the 9400

 

Just saw the U80V during lunchtime. My, it's a beauty, especially the keyboard.

Another advantage of buying it is the fact that one can upgrade to Windows 7 FOR FREE when it comes out later this year...

mmm... I'm swinging towards the U80V rather than the SXPS 13...

 

It's the Studio XPS 13. Is there another model of the XPS series? The only 13" XPS laptop I could think of would be the M1330.

 

Yeah, the U80 is one sweet notebook. A little downside though is the U80's keyboard is not fully backlit (Letters and symbols do not get illuminated), the backlighting only highlights the keys. With the Dell SXPS 13, it's fully backlit (letters and all) just like a Macbook would. Then again, the light from the screen should be enough for the keys to be seen in the U80 since it's LED.

 

hello,

Howitzer: It would be a bit weird to compare the Studio XPS 13 and U80V as first of all they have different screen sizes. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the Studio XPS 13 as I heard they are suffering from heat problems, (check the dell forum for this) and well, it is a dell.

As for the U80V, I had a cousin who bought it recently. I will say that besides the illuminated keyboard, there isn't anything really special about it.

@Kartgen: I live in singapore, so might be able to help. For screen comparison, I can say its roughly about the same (its best if you go down to SLS or Funan and take a look). For your second question, i would say the U80, because of the 4570. But the processor is a bit weak.

Just wondering, have you ever considered the F6Ve?

General Specs:
C2D P8600 and ATI 4570 in a 13.3" screen. I think this makes it the best of both worlds as you can have the better processor and graphics card of the two into a 13.3" form factor?

The only downside of the F6Ve would be the lack of a fanciful design and illuminated keyboards.


hope this helps.

 

It's in another thread. Here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=359763&page=21

 

I'm really biting into the backlit keyboard feature. Both have one, but I'm a bit uncomfortable with Asus lacking Firewire and an Esata port, since I'd be using it for some multimedia purposes and hooking it up to an external hard drive. But I guess there will be compromises. I'm choosing between the two because they are the ultraportables that fit my bill of a notebook with good graphics card. I did look up into the F6ve, but it's a little way over my budget of $1000. I am choosing between the Studio XPS 13 because I can get one very cheap at the outlet while the U80V has a rumored price tag of $900. I've read at the reviews over at Dell that BIOS updates help alleviate the heat problem. I'm comparing them since I'm aiming for a notebook in a 13"-14" form factor.

 

hello,

just wanted to know what currency is your $900? If its USD, at a recent IT fair in Singapore, the U80 costs more than that (around $1100+, the price might be marked up, not sure though)

If there really is a BIOS reflash that helps with the heat problem, then maybe the Studio XPS is not bad.
However, does the Studio XPS you are going to buy come with the Hybrid graphics solution or the 9400M?

this is an interesting review of the studio XPS if you haven't seen:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Notebook.14081.0.html


About backlist keyboards, I personally feel that they aren't necessary Because at least for me, I turn on the light when I use my computer and it just eats away your battery power

Oh yes, I believe the U80V has an eSATA port, you might want to check that out.

 

It's in US dollars. I'd be buying abroad since computers there are way cheaper. I guess I'd go for the 9500M for a little extra graphics kick. Really? The U80 costs that much? I hope Asus releases a more cheaper model. Engadget announced it'll be around $900, so I'm rooting for it. Hopefully within the next few weeks there will be retail versions of it like at newegg. I'd be buying later this year so I guess I have enough time.

Really? It has esata? I've looked into the product page at ASUS and it doesn't say it has one. I'll go check.

 

hello,

you can take a look here: http://www.bootstrike.com/itfairsg/pcshow2009/asus+ux50+u50vg+u80v+notebooks-flyer-brochure-leaflet/
Some people claim that the prices here are a bit overpriced.

As for the eSATA port, I'm not very sure, but I thought eSATA ports were pretty common in asus notebooks.

EDIT: just checked the ASUS global site. Seems they don't have eSATA. sorry about that.
link here: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=7pC8THhTAvFuqV9q

 

Cherhuan,

Thanks for the heads-up. I did consider F6V, but the design (or lack of one!) puts me off a little despite the specs, etc. My understand in terms of built (from another thread), U series is of a better quality built compared to the F series.

In terms of price, here is what one would get OFF THE SHELF for the respective machines (as I said earlier, I'm getting all the extras because of my connection)

Studio XPS 13

• SGD 2099 nett
• CPU = P8600
• Vista Home Premium 32-bit
• 4GB RAM DDR3
• 250GB 7200 RPM
• nVidia GeForce 9400M

U80V

• SGD 1698 nett
• CPU = T6500
• Vista Home Premium 32-bit Plus Free Upgrade to Windows 7
• 4GB RAM DDR2
• 320GB 5400 RPM (not stated, but should be)
• ATI HD4570

F6Ve

• SGD 1898 nett
• CPU = P8600
• Vista Home Premium 32-bit (doesn't seem to have free Upgrade to Windows 7 - not sure)
• 4GB RAM DDR2
• 320GB 5400 RPM (not stated, but should be)
• ATI HD4570

I reckon a free upgrade to Windows 7 probably will save me around SGD200 or more.

I agree with Howitzer with regards with the Firewire as I need one of it, but I realized while doing my scouting that many brands have dropped the FW ports, e.g. HP, Asus, Gateway. On the other hand, the down side of the SXPS 13 is the miserable 2 USB ports! I already find 3 to be insufficient currently, let alone 2!

I guess at the end of the day, there is no one perfect machine (like there is no one perfect husband or wife). As long as it looks good to your eyes, it'll be good enough.

Cheers.

 

Well, I agree the feel of it is very important. For eg, this PC show I was all set to buy the highest spec lenovo Y450 but when I looked at the display set I wasn't really enthusiastic about it. Specs is one thing but the feel is definitely something you need to factor in.

You can actually also consider the highest spec lenovo Y450 (for kargtan). Comes with P8700 with GT130M (which is better than 4570)

So if we do a simple comparison between the 3:

Price: F6Ve seems to most value for money for specs.
CPU: the F6Ve and XPS 13 wins here. (P8600)
RAM: DDR3 so SXPS 13
HDD: Not sure of the difference between 7200 and 5400, but i heard loading times will increase slightly, so they are all about equal i feel, given the compromise between speed and size.
GPU: This is my personal opinion, but i feel 4570 wins this one. although nVidia has better driver support for their notebooks cards.

Other things you should factor in: weight and battery life.

you can check out graphics card comparisons here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Grafic-Cards.130.0.html
(not 100% accurate)


EDIT: @kartgan, I saw your earlier post on your customised SXPS 13, in that case the P8700 would be good. 6gb ram i feel is a bit over kill, but if you decide to get it, make sure you get the 64-bit of vista (as i heard the 32-bit only detects 3gb of ram even if you have 4gb). The only thing about the SXPS is I suggest you look into the heat issues a bit more, as that's the first thing that comes to my mind if you talk about the SXPS 13.

 

Hehe, I guess I could live without firewire. It's disappointing to see a notebook without an esata since the transfer times would be very handy when moving files between the notebook and an external hard drive. But the 400Mbps transfer rate of the USB 2.0 isn't too bad.

Yeah, the thread for the U80 says it's solidly built and that there are no cheap parts used. The difference between a 7200 and 5400 RPM Hard drives will not vary much..just a few seconds in boot time I think. Not unless you're using an SSD.

The 2 USB ports are really not justified since I see a lot of space on the left side of the SXPS 13 which can be placed with an additional USB port. But I guess there's no such thing as a perfect laptop.

Really? The Y450 has an Nvidia GT 130M? That's real nice, since the model I've seen only comes with a paltry Intel GMA 4500MHD. What I don't like about it though is its facial recognition software-The Dell SXPS13's Fast Access registered faster recognition times than the Veriface software of the Lenovo.

 

not sure about ph, but the singapore one has the Y450 with the P8700 and GT130M DDR3, pretty good deal I must say, that is if you like the actual product itself. I find the notebook too wide, don't really like it
As for facial recognition, are you sure you will be using it for long? I heard if you have a photo of the person you can log into the system :O

 

Philippine site has the model with the GT 130M, but will have to find retailer with the same specs. I doubt it will stay within $1k (48,000 Philippine pesos) because of the taxes and retailer's markup. Maybe that configuration will be around $1500 (70800 php). It's odd that in the US site, they have the Y450 maxed out at a 2.13 GHZ processor and a Nvidia G 105M. I'm wondering if the U80 will have facial recognition since it has no fingerprint reader.

I think the facial recognition wouldn't be very practical since it'll require good lighting conditions for the computer to recognize you properly. Yeah, also heard that it's very bugged, with like you said a photo can gain access.

 

indeed. I doubt it would be able to fit into your budget. I guess your best bet is to wait for the U80 price.

I guess the Y450 might be more suited for kargtan's needs.

 

Cherhuan,

The Y450 is white in the interior - after my first white car in 1992, I've avoided all things white! It's a nightmare in terms of maintenance.

As I said, specs are just specs, I really need to like what I see. Right now, the mind says U80V because of $$$ issue - It's S$400 cheaper than SXPS, and possibly another S$200 more thanks to the free Windows 7 upgrade. That's the price of a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4!

 

hahah. Well, there's actually one with a black interior that is out in china, not sure if its coming to singapore or not.. hehe

 

so not to revive this thread or anything, but i was wondering if anyone knows when the asus u80v is being released in the u.s.?

 

I think it'll be about mid-July.

 

Guys, have you considered the LG P310?
it trumps the mentioned laptops. its got a 9600 gt. it is almost impossible to get though unless you order it from germany.

kargtan, im in SG too. do you plan to purchase the asus at newstead?

 

that's the thing i guess.. have to import from germany..

also it requires a external optical drive

 

Same here. I like my optical drives built in. Plus, Germany is a long way from here. I don't wanna talk about importation costs. Well, in terms of graphics power in a 13", The Fujitsu Amilo SA3650 should be able to match the P310's 9600 GT with an external Mobility Radeon 3870.

 

thanks howitzer! : )

 

What about new Sony SR refresh? It's supposed to have ATI 4570, and it's a 13.3" laptop.

 

but knowing sony it's going to be priced really high

 

It shouldn't be too bad. Z series is the expensive version.

 

You can actually take a look at the performance of the ASUS F6Ve, which also has a 4570, but not sure if the F6Ve has DDR3 or DDR2

 

The SR's 4570 would perform much better than U80V's since it uses GDDR3 VRAM instead of DDR2.

 

thanks Howitzer225, did not know it had DD3. Checking the SR out now.

 

Choices choices... I had pretty much decided on the Asus F6Ve, then I find out about the U80V?!

The U80V definetly wins in the looks department. Im not so sure about the increased size of a 14" over a 13" though? Apparently its quite thin and light, anyone managed to compare the U80V to the F6Ve by chance? Unfortunately I can't find any brick and mortar stores out here in Australia selling the F6Ve, so Im unable to get hands on with one!

Annoying, let us know how you guys go. Hopefully some local stores will stock a U80V soon, might check around this weekend.

 

just wondering here, why are you guys thinking that XPS13 is only limited with 9400?

i got my XPS like this afternoon and i have the G210M 512 ( obviously slightly better than the 4570 with the Hybrid SLI mode that G210M offers )

and i did custom it, but just to say that it's not limited only with 9400

i know this thread is like 3 months ago, but well, if you are still considering between u80v and XPS13, my recommendations will be to get XPS

i've heard some issues about the heat, well it does give some heat, but im using it with a notebook cooler and it's effectively solved, and i think the hyped about the heat is just a bit over

now i run a test on 05 benchmark, and i hit 8.840, with the following specs:

Intel Core2Duo P8700, 2.53GHz
Win7 Home Premium 64bit
Nvidia G210M GS DDR3 Vram 512mb
4gb Ram ( im planning to upgrade it into 6gb next week )

so far im loving it

ok if you want looks, i must say u80v is pretty sleek, but XPS13 looks more "solid" for me

so far i have only tried WoW and Lost Planet 2 with medium high settings

WoW runs very very smooth, i dont know the fps, since i dont have the fps software yet ( as i just got it )

Lost Planet 2 runs pretty well

all in all

with the new optional G210M vga available, i would recommend the XPS13

cheers

 

Hi there Twe Foju! My, thanks for adding to a *dead* thread

Yeah, still stuck in the that situation of choosing...December's coming up, and I gotta make up my mind fast. I've heard that there is a new version of the U80V which is the U80V-B2 but still no product info so far. I'm a little jittery about the Hybrid SLI setup since I've read it has little support in applications and games. Looking to use my next lappy for photoshop and games like Sims 3 and Oblivion. How do you think these games would run on the XPS 13 with the 210M?

 

hm regarding the U80V B2, i think Asus learnt from their mistake on the 1st U80V on having a ddr2 VGA and my guess is that the u80v B2 will be pretty much the same specs but with a better VGA and probably already comes with win7

my guess is, it will be using one of the class 1 VGA you can see from here

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

if you still have time till december, i would recommend you to wait, because anything can happen within these 1 month

any new product could be out.

regarding the Hybrid SLI, well, kinda true, i tried it with WoW, nothing seems to be better or perhaps the improvement is very slightly that it's barely noticeable in my eye

but technically, from review, it should push the performance to about 10% better or more

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-G.9451.0.html

Photoshop will work wonders with the XPS specs, regarding Oblivion, um i haven't tried it, but it should run well on medium settings

9300M GS runs Oblivion with high settings for 20+ fps, my guess is, G210M will run around 40+ with High and 60+ with Medium

* i dont really play Oblivion..sorry

 

Well I doubt they'd put a high-end graphics card in the U80V-B2 due to their monstrously large energy requirements, but hey it's ASUS we're talking about here. I've been reading around the forums that it should be out by 11/1, so better wait and see.

You should try FRAPS whenever you're gaming to get a comparison on performance between Hybrid SLI On & Off. Yeah, same guess on fps since the 210M has twice the core count of the 9300M GS and has higher clocks. If you wouldn't mind, could you run 3DMark06 and get some bechmarks on the XPS 13? I'd really like to see the numbers. Thanks.

 

Why are you guys guessing still. It has already been posted (by myself) that the U80V-B2 is available for preorder on Amazon and that it's not much more than a Windows 7 refresh.

http://www.amazon.com/U80V-B2-Light...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256649050&sr=1-4

 

ok with the 929 price tag, it's a fairly good deal, but if i have u80v, i will stick with u80v thanks

@Howitzer

just run 3d06, i got 4305, i dont know if the mark is very good for a 13incher or not, but after checking on notebook check, their XPS only scored 3xxxx, so im content

---edit---

i will try again next week after i upgrade my XPS to 6gb RAM