-->*OFFICIAL: Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge*<--

I wanted Seagates and decided to just order a single 200GB 7200rpm drive with my system. I thought I would check what drive it was when it arrived, and if it was a Seagate I would be able to just buy 1 more.

Turned out it was a Hitachi, which I sold and replaced with 2 Seagates

I think if you choose the option for the drives with the freefall sensor, you get Seagates.

I was just wondering TBH. Didnt think about whether they would even be available or not! lol

I dont think you need a BIOs change. The only processor you need a BIOs change for is Penryn, which needs BIOs version A06. Which version are you on at the moment?? A03 worked fine with my X7900. I only upgraded to A06 as I thought the added advancement for thermal transfer may help a little......not sure if it does or not, but puts my mind to rest

Hopefully this is the last time and it will go through straight away! lol

The customer services lady was right. I think they see more up to date info, and the site only gets updated once in a while. With my order the CS rep told me it was in production 2 days before the status on the site changed!
You'll probably find the status on the online page to change in the next day or so anyways.

 

I feel your pain... mine was like £2150 XDDDD usd 4500$ or so xDDD

 

Mine was the same. They just dont bother updating the dates probably. Just look at the stage its on, all the estimated dates are rubbish.
The only pretty reliable estimated date you will have is from the courier with the delivery date!

 

I,m sure the site has a serious lag as my last order stayed on pre- production for 5 days, then when I checked on the 6th day it was "out for delivery"!! I would have thought that with all the barcodes they use to keep track of every part the system should automatically update the status on their site, guess not...or dell don't have an up to date tarcking system.

I know when the techie comes to replace a part the first thing he does is scan the barcode into his laptop so their records are kept up to date, surely the same system should work for building a computer. Dell works in mysterious ways.

As you say ifti the couriers seems to have mastered the way to do things and their info is about the most reliable.

 

A quick question, does anyone know is the Dell factory is open 24 hrs and on weekends or do they all have 9 - shifts 5 days a week?

 

Yeah? In the states they read barcodes on the insite visits?? thats so funny, I can count at least 10 visits from dell, and I havent signed anything or seen anybarcode checks XD

 

^^^
I was just thinking the same.
Here the part is shipped to us in the morning, then the technician turns up with his tools and just replaces the part, and takes the old part away. No scanning etc. Just a signature to say he's done the job.
A lot of the time I get one of my technicians to replace the faulty part (if its in a desktop) and the technician just comes in and takes the old part away, gets us to sign, adds a bit of extra time on, and goes for a bite to eat! lol

 

My case is that I have never signed anything... The first time they came I was like where do I sign, and the engineer said, you dont have to sight anything XDDDD...

 

^^^
lol, maybe its different for business etc?
I always have to sign just to say they have done the job and all is working etc.

 

My computer was bought throught a smaller or equal to 200ppl company account...

I guess its only in holland then....

 

Same here, maybe it is the location then, since I am in London....

 

I keep checking the couriers tracking page every 10 minutes now!!!
No change yet - Estimated date is still tomorrow!

I bet it comes right at the end of the day at 5pm!!

 

Ifti, congratz with your system How come you still don't have Crysis?! Do you have demo version at least? Waiting on your review and some charts

 

Well, just ordered my new Dell XPS M1730 with dual 8800's, or at least tried?!

I was told Dell Australia were releasing the 8800's on the 18th (today). Looked on their site... Didn't see any 8800's... Upon closer inspection I saw it on the general overview view, only available with the top of the range config.

Clicked on the button eagerly, only to find on the customisation page there was only the 8700's available... *scratches head*

Didn't want to order over the phone as I didn't want to have to go through each config option I wanted with someone from India who most likely knew nothing about these machines. So I played the waiting game, refreshing the page every hour or so. Finally caved in by 5pm with still no change on the website and called up Dell.

As I got through to the lady I hit refresh again, only to see that now also on the overview page, the 8800gtx option had disappeared... But the woman said the 8800gtx had been released and had it open on her screen. She said a few people had been calling up about it and the website problem.

So, I wanted to leave it till the 8800 option was available to customize on the internet, but the 2 years warranty for free option would expire tomorrow... So I went through the process of telling her the rig I wanted... She's going to get back to me tomorrow morning as for some reason the Blu-ray burner wasn't available with my config.

Im mighty confused as well about the processor options. The base model pretty much only comes with Penryn processors now (T8300/T9300). Where as the ultimate model (with 8800gtx) Can only be customised with the Santa Rosa chips (T7700 etc..). Are the Penryn chips slower due to their better power consumption and the Santa Rosa chips faster or something?

* Im assuming the Penryns are the T8300/T9300 and the Santa Rosa's are the T7500/T7700 etc.? <--- Please tell me if this is wrong!

 

Cheers, but i already have my system, its just the 8800 card that Im excoted about, since the second system is coming with that! lol

Ive got the demo of Crysis already downloaded, so I'll check it out, but Ive gone a bit crazy and bought loads of other games as well!

Gears of War
BioShock
Company of Heroes
NFS Pro Street
Doom 3 (an old classic!)
XBox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows

I need to chill for a while now! lol

I'll probably get Crysis along with Assassins Creed at some point later on - the 2 resource killers! lol

 

Damn man, you've had to wait ages!!!

You are correct about the CPUs etc. I know my system was put back another 8 days due to the BluRay drive not being in stock, so you may have to wait longer for that, but dont let the longer wait put you off! Its worth it. BD movies look awesome both on the laptop screen or on a larger screen, as it can output a 1080p signal.
The only downside is that you have to be picky with your drivers, since most of the ones on LV2G are not WHQL certified, hence BluRay wont work. We have to stick with crapper drivers for now!
So what system have you spec'd out then?

 

I think Dell Australia are getting a little muddled up with their website! Or they're trying to get rid of old stock or something.

Whilst ordering over the phone it was all confusing. What she was offering was different to what I was going for with the online config (word of advice to all, don't try ordering a machine over the phone, can get real frustrating trying to specify what you). The girl I was talking to was actually pretty good though, but there was confusion as to what I wanted and was getting. Glad I held off paying till she had emailed me my config so I could double check it. Now she'll get back to me tomorrow on it.

Ifti, I spec'd out the following:
T9300 2.5ghz
2 x 200 gig HDD 7200rpm
4 gig Ram
8800gtx SLI
Bluray burner(?)
XP OS!

Its annoying that with the only config available that came with 8800's you can't specify 2 gig Ram, only 4 gig option available. Dell charge like $350 out here for 4 gig ram...

And from what I know, XP can only use 2 gig ram? So 4 gig is kinda pointless, but oh well.

Now here's the interesting part, because of all the confusion on Dell's part on their website/pricing, it looks like I'll be getting this machine for a pretty cheap price... $3600.00AU including the defence force discount of 8%. I'll find out tomorrow though. They might catch on before then. Somehow im thinking I should of just left the Bluray burner and just paid then.

 

That's cool Gears of War and NFS are really the only one which will actually chalenge the lappy

 

Guys, this might have been asked before, but there's an option to go for Advanced HD audio software. Its like another $20. Whats the deal with this? Does it actually make much of a difference?

Back when I had my M1730 with the 8700's, I don't remember having purchased this addon, and I thought the sound was pretty damn good!

 

Doing it over the phone means you get to negotiate....

I saved some on my config (if it ever happens) as I can see you did.

32 Bit vista will see about 3.1 gig of that 4gb but it might be slightly less due the 2 x 512Gb video cards I am guessing less than 3Gb

 

This is an update of my previous post, including new benchmarks

Tests on a Dell XPS M1730 with Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX SLI yield the following results with stock drivers:

3DMark06 @ Standard Resolution

With SLI disabled
X7900 @2.8 Ghz 9.192
X9000 @3.0 Ghz 9.625 (+8.8%)

With SLI enabled
X7900 @2.8 Ghz 12.196
X9000 @3.0 Ghz 12.717 (+4.3%)

X7900 @3.4 Ghz 13.787
X9000 @3.4 Ghz around 15.000 (estimate)


Crysis @ 1680x1050 using DX10
X7900 @2.8 Ghz ?? FPS
X9000 @2.8 Ghz 32 FPS

Crysis @ 1920x1200 using DX10
X7900 @2.8 Ghz 15 FPS
X9000 @2.8 Ghz 26 FPS (+73%)

Conclusion: although the 3DMark06 score does not increase much, the X9000 seems to offer some real improvements in terms of real game performance in Crysis. More data on overclocked performance (which is supposed to be the real advantage of the X9000) would be very interesting!

If you have additional Crysis benchmarks for the X7900 @ 1680x1050, please post.

 

All 32bit Operating Systems, whether its Vista or XP, see around 3.25GB out of the 4GB - so you'll get more then the 2GB anyways

Yeh true.
WOW, So you think I can run Doom3 at full spec??
lol jus kiddin

Not sure if many people go for this - its just added software, nothing is added to the system hardware-wise....

If you really want maxed-out sound, go for this (link thanks to Sergiop)...

http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16642

with this

http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=677&product=16779

 

Yeah true that, but it was only an extra $15 so I went for it. Whats the harm?

Plus I got the accident coverage which was only $58 more.

I went with XP over Vista because im not keen on upgrading just yet. I know XP fairly well, and I believe its rock solid. Also I've been hearing performance is better in XP. And compatibility is heaps better for XP.

Am I shooting myself in the foot on this one? Should I bite the bullet and just go with Vista? Your input guys would be heaps appreciated!

Im hoping they don't come back tomorrow and say they made a mistake with the config pricing they gave me today and I can't get it!

 

I'll take that +73% over the x7900 in Crysis with a pinch of salt

 

Yeah, it makes no sense that it only gets 15fps on high... I mean come on, even the 8700GT sli will get like 10fps at 1920x1200 high... That would mean that crysis is only cpu based...

 

Well - my LG panel came this morning....

I ordered it from these guys http://stores.ebay.com/Smart-Micro-USA because in the UK it's still "NONORDERABLE". I've got no affiliation with those guys btw - it's just the only place on the web I could find the panel, the DELL internal part number for the LG panel btw is YU828.

Is there a difference in quality? Yes, an awfully large difference.

First of all the light leakage is gone, none on boot, or startup, or during use.

Next the colour quality - the Sharp panel colours were pastel compared to this, its like looking at a slightly dull pastel painting, and then seeing the same thing done using spray paint, far more crisp and vivid.

Brightness is very much improved, in a blackened room the screen leaps out at me instead of mumbling in the corner.

I havent played any games on it yet, but im expecting good results as its 5ms instead of 7ms, and i'll do enough of that later on today for work.

Altogether - when I booted it up and saw it for the first time, my initial reaction was - "Now THATS what I should have gotten in the first place".


I was quite complacent about the screen at first - the same as some of you "it doesnt bother me that much", "its ok I guess", I'm glad I didnt settle for the Sharp, changing the panel really has changed the machine.

It made me angry that I had to go out and spend 200 quid to get a decent screen, DELL should replace all these for free.....but the end result was well worth it.

Pommie - whichever OS you go for will be fine mate, the only difference for Vista is DX10, but I rebuilt mine for dual boot with XP and Vista - it's a piece of piss mate - so I wouldnt worry about it too much.

 

What? you had to pay???

I got a samsung screen, I called and they replaced it for an LG, it came with a dead pixel, so I called again and they replaced it with anohter LG, the one im using now, with no dead pixels... All this under warranty...

Im sure that the replacement computer will come with samsung again, so i will just swap them myself xDDD

 

Blinder thanks for that mate, I've decided to go with XP, if needed, I'll get Vista later.

The LCD subject is interesting. Out here in Australia, we only get the Samsung panel, no LG or Sharp option, which annoyes me. But I didn't actually mind the Samsung panel back when I had my original 1730. I thought the LCD looked good, only major gripe being the light leakage from the bottom...

Might have a word with Dell tomorrow when they call back about my order and see what they say about the panels. I complained last time about it before I sent it back, maybe they've caught on and are getting some LG's in? Or more likely they'll put a sharp panel in... :S

 

I have owned the 3 of them, and i can assure you that the samsung is better than the sharp... The sharp one was just a bit brighter but the colors where all pastel like... If I was to choose between the sharp and samsung, I would probably not buy a dell... XD

 

Hehehe, fair enough

 

Are you in the UK Sergiop?

The engineer told me that if I rejected another non LG panel he would not book any more replacements - that was after two engineers turned up with refurbished Samsung panels.....so I didnt have much choice really - I think maybe im too nice and give in too easily - I just didnt want the hassle.

 

In in nl, but i go through the same technical support as you, In total I can count around 4 screens on the XPS and 3 on the M90. I dont know what warranty you have, but if I was in ur situation I would have complained a lot more...


Im gonna look for pics i made of the screens... brb XD






So...

Samsung:





LG:





Sharp Vs LG Vs Samsung




Sharp




LG




Samsung









Samsung Common light leakage:

 

Ouch, I wish I'd never seen that now! I would have been perfectly content with the Samsung...

 

Sergiop, I just realised, you have 2 XPS M1730's?!!!

 

Well, no, bc they picked it up, that was the first computer they sent with the wobly base... I had to make like 10 different calls so they would come to pick it up... now I only have 1 XPS...

 

Cheers for the post Sergiop, maybe your parts warehouse comes from somewhere else because you are in NL, because if you talk to the engineers that I spoke to (about 4 different ones I think) they will tell you that YU828 is non orderable and has been since the machine was released, so i dont know how some people in the UK got replacement LG panels *shrug*. But i'm chuffed to bits with the one I got - even though I had to pay for it - I just need the 8800s now and i'm sure i'll be astounded by this thing...

 

They will issue whatever is in stock at the time of the system build.

I don't think there's anyways for a tech to know this since the systems are build in Malaysia or something.

 

In europe they are built in Ireland...

 

I see. I wouldn't have known that .

Anyways, I got an LG on my M1730 which will be replaced with a brand new. I don't think I'll swap the LCD even if it comes with a samsung since I use 3007wfp on it.

Fact is, you would only care about the LCD during first couple of month after the purchase, atleast that's how I am. I would just keep whatever it is, just make sure to have good warranty since there's a high chance of getting a replacement system with dell down the years. I just hate to trust premium machine on a hand of crappy field techs.

 

Yeah... thats why i would do my own exchange... XDDD

I used to be able to disamble the whole m90 with closed eyes xD

 

Same here! That LG does look damn nice though......

Took the words right out of my mouth

 

Anyone who have the world of warcraft edition of this machine? Would you say it is worth it? How serious of a fan would one have to be to like the offer? it seems like its twice the price of the normal m1730 but damn some of does things they include...

i saw does videos on youtube. the gold ticket to figureprints*geek growl*

 

Gold ticket to fingerprints???? explain.....

It does look nice though, even if Ive never played the game! lol

 

The World of Warcraft Edition is incredibly overpriced, IMO. The machine is identical to the entry level ($2399 USD) model. The only real differences is you can add an actual Sound Blaster card to it vs the HD software garbage option you get on all the other ones.

The Figureprints ticket is nice I guess, but is it worth $1600? Nope. Are the World of Warcraft extras (Strategy guides, fiction, custom wallpapers, game itself, collectible card game, backpack, collector's edition stuff) worth $1600? Doubt it. You also get a voucher that lets you into the World of Warcraft beta testing for an upcoming game (could be the next WoW expansion, Starcraft II, who knows). I don't know if I'd be comfortable paying $1600 extra for all that stuff. If you were a hardcore fanboy, you might be able to justify it. I never could.

Also, the fact that they just reduced the price (I think it was $4499 or something like that a few weeks ago) is an indication that it's not selling as well as they'd hoped. Who knows, wait another two months and watch it drop down to $3499. Then, it might be worth it.

 

To Ifti:

www.figureprints.com

The company just started up a few months ago, and are so backlogged, they aren't taking new orders (you have to win a drawing in order to place an order). The Golden Ticket is a guarantee that you get one, regardless of the backlogging. FigurePrints made an agreement w/ the WoW folks and Dell to give the people who bought the WoW edition "first dibs" so to speak.

What they are, essentially, are statues of your World of Warcraft characters, down to your specific hairstyle, face, gear, etc. You get to pick the pose they're in and what not. They're actually pretty cool. Not $1600 cool, but still pretty cool

 

I dont know what people see in all this WoW stuff TBH.

Anyways, just installed my XBox 360 wireless controller with the receiver, installed in literally 30 secs and works perfect. Cant wait to get the 8800 in and install Gears

Ive got Gears, but I dont wanna install it until I got the 8800 in.

I also make a clean image of my system after a fresh build. So as soon as I got it, I reinstalled it all, install the drivers and my programs etc, then I create an image of that partition. Hence if my system ever messes up, Ive got that image to reinstall from my external drive, and Im back up and running with a freshly installed system within 30 mins.

Tomorrow Im gonna put that image back on, stick the 8800 card in, install the drivers etc and get the card working, and then I'll create a new image after that so my image is up to date.

Then its time to play and install games, since I know I can do whatever I want with my system, since if it messes up I just stick my image back on!

All other data is in its own partitions - Documents, Multimedia, and Games - which are not included in the image. The image only has the OS partition and thats it. The other partitions that have my data are backed up onto my external HDD anyways.

Its the safest way to protect all your data IMO.

 

Good luck Ifti!

Actually, I did have a quick question. I've never ordered a computer (laptop or otherwise) from a company. I've always built desktops myself. Do I get a full copy of Windows from Dell the same as I would have gotten if I went and bought Windows from an electronics store? Or will it be a Dell reproduced CD with all the drivers and what not on it? And if they're separate, are all drivers on a single CD?

 

No, you get the full Windows (Not boxed, but a Dell OEM version, but still the full product), with a seperate driver CD....

 

It doesnt work on other PC though, if that was the guy was asking.

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I was asking.

Not a big deal, just trying to get an idea on what to expect. Thanks though!

Would there be anything stopping me from loading a copy of XP I have lying around on it? Or would it have to come from Dell in order for it to work?