Dell XPS 17 3D (L702x) VS HP ENVY 17 3D Sandy Bridge

Hello,

I have started this thread because i want to hear your opinion on this comparison, because I am hesitant to pick between the two models

your notes, opinion, and small reviews are highly appreciated

Thanks in advance

 

I have customized both systems with these spec at the following prices:

HP ENVY 17 3D Sandy Bridge @$1,838.99 - no Service Plan

• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• $20 OFF!! Microsoft(R) Office Home and Business 2010
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of battery life
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses


Dell XPS 17 3D (L702x) @ $1,699.99 -1 Year Basic Service Plan
• Genuine Windows® Home Premium, 64-Bit, English
• 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
• 17.3" FHD (1080p) 3D Display with 2.0MP HD Webcam & Facial Recognition
• NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses (1 pair)
• 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics
• 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
• 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 1 Year Basic Service Plan
• Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
• McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial
Software & Services:
• Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
• Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030 and Bluetooth 3.0
• Backlit Keyboard - English
• JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2
Personalize:
• DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
My Accessories:
• Elemental Silver Aluminum
• Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9
• No Mobile Broad Band Selected

Obviously Dell beat HP with better spec and with less money!

Dell has:
1- GeForce® GT 555M 3GB which is better than 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5
2- 500GB 7200 RPM which is better than 1TB 5400RPM in terms of speed
3- 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium which is better 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
4- Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2
5- Facial Recognition
6- 2 USB 3.0 while only 1 USB 3.0
7- Memory expandable to 12G while only 8G

The Optimus feature i think in Dell it is disabled but i am not sure about HP

 

It appears you have answered your own question. It appears you get more bank for your buck with the Dell.

Optimus is definitely an advertised feature on the Dell. It better not be disabled.

 

Optimus is unavailable on the XPS 17 w/ 1080p screen because it's incompatible with the physical setup for the 3D (and it's not advertised if you select that configuration).

It's available on the XPS 17 if you skip the FD Display, and it's available on the XPS 15 regardless of display (because the XPS-15 with 1080p doesn't have 3D).

 

Don't buy HP whatsoever. Envy are terrible to service. Stick with the XPS 17.

 

What if I tell you. you can get this for 400 less??? Right from Dell.

 

dell should be ashamed of themselves for not offering FHD 17" w/ optimus.

 

Ok delete my former post. It was nice while it lasted. They killed the discount.

 

Same config as OP, but with 2year service plan and only 6GB ram (cheaper to upgarde yourself), and no 3D glasses (not into it) I am getting $1,415.59 tax, shipping and CA recycling fee included. $1,289.99 before tax (daily deal)

 

The Envy has better gpu and it will be considerably faster then GT 555 thanks to gddr5 memory.But for the envy as a system i hear not good thing.

 

According to NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
GT 555 can be configured to use GDDR5, then why Dell choose to use DDR3 with 3G?

I guess the integrated graphics in SB chip is useless in the 3D model, we only benefits from the high frequency of SB, which is much better than the previous generation.

 

I will take your advice

 

BTW Does XPS has sata iii or ii?

 

Have you taken a look at the Sager NP5170?
Sager NP5170 Custom Laptop (Built on the Clevo W170HN)
Graphics card isn't quite as good as the one in the XPS 17 or the HP though, but it does have optimus support, a 1920x1080 display, and better customer service than HP (when ordered through XoticPC)

 

According to this page Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech these GPUs are nearly identical for gaming performance.

 

But the main question I would like to know the answer to is:

How does the image quality of the XPS's full HD "3D" screen compare, when used for ordinary 2D stuff .. to other recent 17" 1920 x 1080 screens?

 

Yea ports 0 and 1 are SATA III

 

I know this thread hasn't been posted to in a while, but I thought you guys might like to know that there is a non-3D XPS 17 with a 1080p screen available and it supports Optimus! When you click on the 17" screen on Dell's site it will still mention 3D in the description, but when you go to configure it will give you the option for the non-3D version as well. I was set on the Sager NP5170, but now that there is an Optimus FHD screen on the XPS I have some thinking to do.

Here's the thread about it. Make sure to use the coupon codes on page 2, $400 off is a good deal.

For what it's worth I've heard of a lot of heat issues with the Envy. I was considering it too, but that kind of put me off of it. Plus with the coupon codes on the Dell, they aren't even in the same price range.