[NEWS] Studio XPS 15 and XPS 17 !!

I don't watch movies on my laptop. Seems kind of silly. I watch movies at the local IMAX with its 66 foot wide screen, 8,000 watt projection lamp and 15,000 watt 8-track audio system.

I edit images on my laptop, and they're in 3:2 aspect ratio, for which 16:10 is closer. I need screen real estate so I can have those over-4000 pixel wide images open along with editing palettes and side bars and so on without the image occupying a postage-stamp sized portion at the middle of the screen.

You can easily turn a 1200 pixel tall screen into a 1080 pixel tall screen with black bars top and bottom. You cannot get 120 more vertical pixels out of a 1080 pixel tall screen no matter what you do.

 

The source for the 420m also might be running an old driver that is tamping down performance, or the card could be in a poor system. I don't know why people are insisting, with no evidence, that the 435 is worse than the 5730. Dell's release will put these cards into higher circulation, so we should get more performance info in the next few weeks.

It does seem kind of absurd, however, to pair these cards with the core i7, which has no integrated graphics and cannot do Optimus switching. Seems like I'll have to wait until Jan.

 

It seems that the ordering system is the problem...it won't let you order an i5 and 435M together because it only gives you a 130W adapter with the i7, which is surely needed for the 435M...

 

True, and the 2GB vRAM they're pairing with the 425 and 435 is kinda ridiculous. Desktop GPUs that run much higher speeds/resolutions don't have that much. Seems like a waste.

As far as drivers go, there's been a few tests done on drivers, and newer drivers almost never raise performance over the life of a card. New drivers sometimes have tweaks for specific games, but overall GPU performance is what it is.

The reason that nobody believes the 435 will beat the 5730, is that x7xx cards are the top of the ATI midrange, whereas the x3x cards are at the bottom of Nvidia's midrange. If the 435 could beat the 5730, they would have marketed it as a higher card, like a 440 or something like that.

Also, according to Nvidia's own specs, the 435m has 249.6 GFLOPS of processing power. Yes, GFLOPS aren't the best measure of GPU power, but it can be used to compare relative performance differences between different cards from the same manufacturer. For example, the 335m does 233 GFLOPS, making the 435m only 7% more powerful. There's no way that a 335 + 7% will beat a 5730.

The 5730 does 520 GFLOPS. Yes, there are differences among manufacturers, but even with that variance you can't tell me that Nvidia's self-advertised 250 GFLOPS will beat ATI's 520.

Though you're right, we'll have to wait for more real-world benchmarks to be sure, but until we know more, it's very safe to assume that the 435 is slower.

 

It seems that the combination i5+435 is definitely possible, it can configured if ordered by phone.

 

Tuff choice between the XPS 14 and the Sony Z series. I am not a gamer, but do some photo editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, would I notice a difference between this new video card (the 425) vs Sony's NVIDIA® GeForce® Graphics with 1GB VRAM 330.

The one huge thing really drawing me to the sony is the weight.. its only 3 lbs, vs 5.5 .. and Sony seems to have a much nicer case (I am trying one out now)

 

The 425 should be faster, but the 330 is more than enough for photo editing. Unless you were gaming, you wouldn't notice a difference.

 

I think they are not in the same league...the Sony Z is almost twice the price...its one of the best notebooks currently available.

 

I have to say, the new xps serise looks ugly and like business class notebooks

 

If its as sturdy as a business notebook...I don't have any problems with that...one of the problems with alienware is the flamboyant design.

 

If that's true, I'm relieved.

Anyone think there'd be any problem buying an i7 640M off eBay and dropping it in to replace the i5 460M?

 

Probably not. They're both 35W TDP.

 

The F series is comparable.....like the 17" (my I9300 is dead so looking at replacements) but would rather match the 445M with an i5...don't need i7 with that GPU...silly.

Looking at a Sony F 16.4" at the Egg...i7, 425M, BD drive, 900P, Backlit keys, under $1200...not bad. But I have 3 Dells in the house, love how they have downloabable service manuals so I can and do take them apart...something Sony does not.

 

Yeah, but since the model was never designed with that CPU as an option, would the system recognize it?

 

Just because it isn't offered at launch, doesn't mean it won't be/ wasn't designed to be.

 

Not true, I just went thru and configured a similiar XPS 14 and it came out to $1609, but that was with a 640GB 7200RPM HD, vs the sony 1190 I am trying out( $1939), which came with a 256GB SSD.
In fairness tho, the Dell had the i7 740QM the sony the i7 620 which is not a quad core, so the raw processing power of the Dell is a bit more future proof.
The 740 does take more power and run much hotter.

 

The only card in Nvidia's 4xxm midrange that is higher than the 435 is the 445, which is a part for heavier laptops. Nvidia has added a lot of shaders, and I don't really know how to guage the merits of shaders vs clock speed vs memory bandwidth or fill rate.

I want to know how the new Dells perform in modern games at high detail settings.

Here's notebookcheck's review of the 420m in an Acer. The 420m is one rung up from the very bottom for the 400ms, and it performs on par with 330m systems in gameplay tests. The Nvidia 335 lagged the 5650, which is the same architecture as the 5730 with a slower clock rate.

If the 435 barely outperforms the 335, then it won't roll with the ATIs. But if it gets the 20-30% performance increase that NVidia seemed to promise over the comparable last-gen part, it will blow the 5730 out of the water.

If the 435 sucks, I guess I will have to get the 17 inch XPS, which blows the Alienware M15 out of the water, and costs less. I hope they will offer HD screens for it.



Review Acer Aspire 5745PG Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Do people actually pay full price without any good coupons? The primary reason I buy Dell is the stackable coupon deals.

I'm hoping by the time Sandy Bridge rolls out, a 1920x1080 display will be available.

 

Dell marketing makeover simplifies brands, kills off Adamo altogether

Beautifully crafted? I consider the new Macbook Air beautifully crafted. Heck, even the last several generations of Macbook Pros look great. The new XPS...not so much. I'll pass final judgment when I actually get my hands on one.

 

Well, they can't exactly put down "Half-baked piece of crap" either...otherwise they're in dire need of a better marketing team.

 

Just checked out the AU site and it feels like they just threw up what they had in stock. There's no duel-core options anywhere(huh!), no full HD for the 17"(weird). I guess the options will improve as they get more parts in from the manufacturers. The design does look abit old-skool. But price-for-features wise it's a pretty good deal. Looking forward to some reviews.

 

how soon do yall think that it'll be before a decent coupon comes along that applies to the new xps line? Once a 20% coupon hits, i'm in there!! I've got 700 dollars coming my way, so i just need to save a couple more hundred (which will take months), or a decent coupon to hit!!

 

The design is horrible but the price for those specs are good.

So they killed off the Studio XPS and Adamo line? Then use the Adamo's design on the new XPS's!!!!!! The Adamo's design is nice. Don't use that boring gray! At least use a light aluminum like the HP dv series or dark aluminum like those Sony Vaios.

 

lol good point

 

Hey, the desktops are included in that too, and say what you will, but I think the Studio XPS desktops look pretty great.

 

They wouldn't look that bad, if it wasn't for the 'butt sticks out the back' design. It just looks retarded.

 

Do the new XPS have matte or glossy screens? I can hardly find a good laptop with a matte screen nowadays.

 

Glossy. You won't, unless you buy a business laptop.

 

Dell XPS Laptops: Back to the Future - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

That thing is so thick and heavy, reminds me of my first dell laptop from the 90's, good specs though .... bezel is also wide ... I read somewhere that the frame or chasis is made out of magnesium. Anyone find any info on the construction of these.

 

I'm with you. It's thicker and heavier than my XPS M1530... What a disappointment..... The overall design is not bad but I was looking to get something as thin/light or thinner/lighter than my current XPS so I don't think I could upgrade to this model.

Why is so difficult to get a laptop as nice/light/thin/decent as a MacBook Pro 15 but without the unnecessary OSX and hefty price tag? I can't believe it.

 

I am soo glad I got my Envy 14. Waiting this long for Dell to put out this POS would have sucked.

 

why doesn't dell make a clone of the mbp ... it would sell like crazy ...they just have to look at Hp's envy and it's sales.

 

Congrats on being the first to review the XPS 14 after using it first-hand!

Amazing how you got access to it the same day it was released!!!

 

I like how they look fine, and didn't pay attention to thinkness/heavyness, but I bet if they are it's because they're ACTUALLY ENGINEERED RIGHT again! Dell used to put function over form, make the least gimmicky stuff around. But their mid range systems for years haven't had adequate cooling, power in some cases, and often use low end GPUs. These look like legitamate mid range performance systems. Very solid non-embarrassing GPUs. Power supplies that appear to be big enough, etc. I mean like the M1530 shipped with a Geforce 8600GT, which I guess in retrospect wasn't bad for the time, but still it felt incredibly dated when it was released. The Studio XPS 16 had all kinds of problems. The Studio notebooks only had low end GPUs, etc.

 

Yup to be honest a lot of the complaints seem to be stemming from people that prefer aesthetics over function. What would be the point of building a slim notebook like a mac if it overheats and has throttling schemes built into the bios? Then all of you would be crying about that. There has to be a compromise made and Dell made a very sound design decision based on the specs I've read and what I've seen. I think the 15" XPS will be the sweet spot for many especially with it's B+RG LED display.

 

If the thickness is built due around a design to elimate heat
and built to last, I'd agree with you. Hopefully these models
have gone thru some testing and dont have the throttling issues.

 

like a mac

 

I'm one of the few that actually really like this design. It appears to solve a lot of the problems the Studio XPS's had.

 

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Video: Dell Studio XPS 15 und 17 - Vorschau(0:50)

I don't think it looks that great to be honest. But after the SXPS "experience", my opinion is decidedly skewed towards function over style. And while not exactly impressive, the new XPS look is not ugly, so I'm fine with and even extremely interested in it.

 

Really? Can anyone else confirm that? The new XPS aren't yet available in Canada.

i7 + 435M combination just isn't something for me, plus both draw more power (considering optimus won't work for quads)

 

Hee hee, and here I am wishing I could get a six core notebook :-D I hated having to buy a dual LAST year LOL

 

Why is everyone complaining about weight? Yeah sure its heavier than XPS M1330/1530 but this is at least (for the XPS 15) equal to Studio XPS 16 in weight. Maybe not so thin.

I can't order i5-560M with GT 435M. Because the Dell people insist I do the checkout thing and send them the thing. Which makes sense, if only it could work. But it does not. And clearly I do not want i7 + GT 435M or i5-460 + GT GT 420M. This is damned ridiculous.

I feel the Australian's pain. Here in Australasia we always get screwed over. While XPS 16s were configurable with i7-620s for some of you guys, we only had low duos and the quads. And now, no i5-560M even, no i3-370M, no XPS 17 even. Just 14 or 15 with i5-460M or quads.

Did I hear someone say they are pushing new Adamos in 2011? In case you don't know the Adamos are Core 2 Solo or Duo or Low Voltage or SU... not your average laptop. Not to mention its cost is just due to slimness, weight, style and design.

Screw XPS when are the new AMDs / Sandy Bridges. Oh and stop glorifying Nvidia as the "great sturdy GPUs, that was good of Dell to come up with" because we all know they are just global warming devices.

This makes me sick because a year ago I bought an i7-720QM with GT240M and JBL/WavesMaxx. And now what's on sale is i7-740QM with GT435M and JBL/WavesMaxx. I'd like a Low TDP GPU without a vent problem.

 

Yes, that's true. How about you just configure it the way it allows you to, and just call them up and insist on getting i5+435M instead?

 

Well here is how it went online:

12:55:08 PM System System
Connected with Ross_Chan
12:55:13 PM Agent Ross_Chan
Welcome to Dell Sales Chat. My name is Ross. I'll be your personal sales agent. How can I help you today?
1:06:35 PM Customer Tim
Hello
1:06:55 PM Customer Tim
I am interested in the XPS 15 laptop. However I must ask you
1:07:09 PM Customer Tim
why can't I order XPS 15 with i5 and GT435M
1:09:36 PM Agent Ross_Chan
GT 435M must order with Core 7 processor.
1:14:04 PM Customer Tim
Why what is the reason?
1:15:16 PM Agent Ross_Chan
This is the restriction set on in customize page.
1:17:00 PM Customer Tim
I know but can I not order it like that?
1:17:06 PM Customer Tim
Why is there this restriction?
1:17:46 PM Customer Tim
I waited over a month, Dell withheld all information, but now they cannot tell me why I cannot order the right options?
1:21:55 PM System System
The session has ended!

I am not buying anything till they come to their senses.

 

The guy Ross_Chan must be programmed to answer like that... The conversation sounds like standard canned DELL responses which DELL must be busy compiling for the !new! XPS series.

So much for waiting...

 

The way I see it, you get a quad core i7 and GT 435M 2GB, plus FullHD screen, and it would be a perfect replacement for your SXPS 16.

That is, if you Want i7. I don't. Anyone has anything apart from Envy to recommend.

 

the xps 17 has gt445m with ddr3 or ddr5 memory?

 

I'm not sure why they would do that. If I were to give Dell the benefit of the doubt, I would wager that they don't have the GT435M stocked enough and are trying to limit the orders. This story also fits for the 445M. I believe these laptops are the first ever to use these two fermi chips, so it's not surprising.

Except... well, they do the same thing for the GT425M in the XPS 14, a chip which has already been adopted.

It's just Dell being Dell. i5+Optimus is a ridiculously good combination, it's the very best for portability and performance balancing in a laptop at the moment, there's nothing better. But Dell can't stand having an outstanding product it seems...

IdeaStorm | i5 with high end graphics in new XPS line.

Promote the idea.

 

How does the market work? They make HD 5750 but nobody uses that. They make i5-580s and Dell refuses to use that. They force us to use i7-720/740/820/840QM instead.