DELL XPS M1730 vs. TOSHIBA SATELLITE X205-SLi3

OM******G! ITS OUT!!!!!! DUAL- 8600M AND 8700M- CARDS!!!!!
___________________________________________________________________

The DELL M1730, HAS THE FOLLOWING SPECS:

Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 (2.8GHz/800MHz FSB, 4MB Cache)
2GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 667MHz (up to 4GB available)
RAID 2 performance 2 x 200GB 7200RPM disks (64GB SSD available)
Blu-ray with DVD Burner
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8700M GT cards with 512MB GDDR3 Memory
Intel 802.11n wireless
___________________________________________________________________

The Toshiba Satellite X205-SLi3, has the Following Specs:

Intel Core 2 T7500 (2.2GHz/800MHz FSB, 4MB Cache)
2GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 667MHz (up to 4GB)
2 X 160 GB 5400RPM disks = 320 GB 5400RPM
HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti drive, supports 12 formats
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT cards with 512MB GDDR3 Memory
Intel 802.11n wireless
___________________________________________________________________

Which one do u like better?
Also, eventhough Dell took down their XPS M1730 site, I have this: http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs
------Yes I know you cant customize it but, I just wanted to give the people who didnt check the XPS this morning a chance to have some time alone with the system, LOL!

 

that 1730 is just ugly..

 

The dell is more powefull, also more expensive

 

The 1730 may be ugly, but it would mop the floor with that Toshiba

 

Isn't the 1730 configuration above twice the price of the Toshiba?
Anyone can confirm?

 

I think that particular version of the M1730 is $4999. $2499. So... yup twice as expensive!

 

$4,999 !!!! Ouch, I'll stick with my plans to buy a Quad core, 8700 SLi, 2 x HDD Clevo D901C with a Blu-Ray burner for about 300 bucks less.

I am really interested in seeing how well the Toshiba SLi3 performs with the dual 8600's.

 

From what I've been able to find out the Toshiba gives you a lot for a whole lot less. I for one can't drop 5k on a laptop, but 2.5k is doable. I wanna see benchmarks of the SLi 8600s before I buy one though.

 

I should believe that this x205 refresh works better than the previous one. I prefer toshiba because its powerful and A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE, we re talking about $1999 against $2999! at base prices, plus the 1730 no: subwoofer, hdmi, HD HDTV, more usb ports..thosiba compensates the lower perfomance (not much really, its still powerful for gaming) with its capabilities for entertainment.

 

For gaming then I would rather go with a Sager 7950GTX SLI... I thought the Toshiba had 8700s...

 

looks even so far

 

Another strong competitor : Clevo D900C/ D901C

 

The competition is totally unfair... it's like comparing a $100,000 Mercedes to a Honda Civic.

 

I think the Clevo is a little more powerful than the Dell. The Clevo has 2 7950 cards which are a bit faster than the single dual 8700 card, but Dell has the physics card. What Doesn't have is the quadcore that Clevo just put on pre-sale. Clevo is half a step ahead. The reason for me to go with dell is the warrenty and in home service that a botique notebook can't provide.

I wonder if dell is going to be able to put two 8800s on a single card as well? Would be a nice upgrade.

 

Really the Clevo, Alienware and the 1730 are the laptops to compare. Is there one I haven't mentioned? Voodoo maybe? I don't know.

 

Since Voodoo, Alienware, Hypersonic, FalconNW, and every other big-name vendor not named Dell, Toshiba, Sony, and Asus all use re-badged clevos, you can pretty much just say Clevo and cover yourself in one shot.

That's the main reason I wouldn't buy from any of them -- they are all the same. Not very unique, IMO....

 

Alienware isn't unique? :O I don't really care about unique, it's the benchmark that counts.

 

I think the current top model for Alienware is not a Clevo. I forget the name of the company they rebadged this time. But your point holds.

 

Nope. Not to me, at least.

If you are going to drop significant money on a laptop, you might as well get one that is different. Not just some OEM whitebox notebook that everyone uses. I guess it makes it easy on them because all they have to do is slap their badge on it and it becomes an AW

 

So what do you define "unique" as?

Also, how to you directly buy a Clevo from their web? I want one...

 

Exoticpc.com or sager.com or...go to the clevo board...they'll have list of companies that will sell it.

 

In the Notebook Manufactures section of the forum is "Sager and Clevo", here is the link to the page with all the resellers

Clevo Guide-FAQ and Reseller Info

 

Thanks a lot!

 

asus wins for style

 

completely and utterly

 

I'm interested to see how the sli 8600's preform as well. I'm also interested to see what the battery life and weight is on the sli3. The battery life on the single card x205 according to Chaz's review was two and a half hours, and I'd have to think unless better power management is in place the sli models would have weaker battery life. The weight is listed at 9.35 lbs, which would make it a couple lbs less than the d901c, which I find hard to believe.

The M1730 definitely seems overpriced. Yes, you get a PhysX, a lighted keyboard, and lights that may be able to change depending on what is happening in your game (which is cool), but to me that doesn't justify the huge price tag compared to the sli d901c and x205.

While the m1730 will out preform the x205 in games due to the 8700's and PhysX accelerator - the cheaper price, (apparently) lighter weight, and dual function touch pad are a few of the things that appear to make the x205 a better price/performance system.

 

The 1730 is WAAAY overpriced.
The Alienware m9750 is unique, (Arima W835-DI and exclusive to AW) and is getting 8700's in October. It'll be interesting to see if the Dell will sell at all once the AW gets the DX10 GPUs (prediction of AW price is $1799 (base)+$300(wuxga screen)+$150(2.0 processor)+$500(2nd 8700M-GT)=$2749 + RAM (buy @ newegg) and HDDs (buy your own of course)) The Clevo would be around the same price as well...

Oh and the Alienware is thinner (1.5") and lighter (8.5lbs)

~5 games = PhysX

 

there is a lack of variety of PhysX games to warrant the high price of the XPS M1730s.....but I'm wondering who's crazy enough to plump down the money for these laptops.....

 

You.




You (I'm guessin here so no offence) payed 1300+ for a Core 2 Duo and an 8400MGS. You can get a Vostro with specs just as good for 1/2 the price.

 

Since the Physics card takes the same type of slot as the video card, I wonder if you could buy a 2nd dual card and plug it in there? Quad processor Video cards? hmmm... Probably not, but it's kinda fun to think about.

 

Like the 7950GX2 in SLi? A waste of money, notebook processors can't hope to keep up with that kind of GPU power and I don't think that the 1730 power brick is powerful enough, afaik it's rated for 140W, I think the Clevo's is 250W and mine is rated for 200W

 

I think I read somewhere that it is 230w.

 

Yes, according to the M1730 service manual the adapter is 230 Watts.

 

Worth it?

XPS M1730 Price as configured: $4,258

System Color: Smoke Grey

Base: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7700 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition

LCD Panel: 17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA

Memory: 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

Hard Drive: RAID Performance: 400GB (2x200GB) 7200RPM

Combo or DVD+RW Drive: Blu-ray / DVD / CD Burner (Blu-ray Disc Drive)

Video Card: NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3

Wireless Networking: Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card

Bluetooth Options: Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

Primary Battery: 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary

Sound Options: Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition

Physics Game Accelerator: AGEIA PhysX™ 100M Processor

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed): McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 36-months.

Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed): No Productivity software pre-installed.

Warranty & Service: 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor,24x7 Phone Support.

Accident and Theft Protection: 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately).

 

Is it worth it? I would say yes only if the AgeiaPhysX card makes a huge difference in it's gaming ability. So for the mean time, I would have to say no. Considering with the D901C you have the option of 3 HDDs, the potential to upgrade the video cards yourself and Quad Core processors.....for equal to or less depending on how you configure it. Not worth it at all.

Also another thing to consider on the X205-Sli3 is the HD Dvd drive as well. I have already started a small HD Dvd collection and that drive nearly tipped the scales towards me buying one. Finally decided I could upgrade the drive in my D901C myself when they become more available. (currently using the Xbox 360 HD Dvd drive along my Asus G1 to play HD movies)

 

I'm beginning to notice the quality of regular DVD movies........

 

The name is "Arima" in wich the m9750 is base on. Thats the name of the company...