Dell XPS M1710 is it worth the $$$$??

Sup guys I just watched a review of this system and I am absolutely blown away by the specs and by the price and thats not a good thing. The thing is I can build a similar system on cyberpowerpc for a half the price. The only reason im even debating it in my mind is because of love notebooks. So what do you guys think? Should I build my own power desktop or should I take the plunge and get the xps or should I just wait until it drops in price? Thx in advance.

 

I guess the final decision will be yours but if you want portability than go with the laptop, if you don't then spend half the amount of money and get the desktop, I bought the XPS M1710 because I love having a notebook and wanted to get one that I could have for gaming as well as all the usual email, internet, etc. I also wanted to get something that I could have for a few years so I invested in the dell. I got my on Friday and so far it is everything I needed and wanted in a laptop.

 

How is the screen? Does it have that glossy finish to it?

 

I started looking into buying an M1710 back in July, but didn't buy one until around October. I was trying to get the best deal I could, and eventually got the one I wanted off e-bay for about $2650 (of course I sold my old 9100 for $950, so out-of-pocket it cost me much less). I considered getting an E1705, (since they're almost identical), but really wanted the Geforce Go 7900 GTX graphics card, which wasn't available on the E1705. If you could build a notebook with quality parts for cheaper, it'd probably be worth it. Sometimes it seems like I spent more money just for some flashing LEDs . Overall, it's probably best to go with the best deal, so long as your comparing equal specs. If you trust the site you mentioned, I'd say go with them if it's cheaper for what you want. Hope that helps.

 

if you don't need portability

then screw the xps and get a rig with an 8800 series card

that thing will smoke the xps in gaming and give you some future proofing as it's dx10 unlike the 7900gtx.

imo, if i don't need portability (if you can consider the 17 inch xps portable), then go with a desktop, it's specs at equal price will be much greater, and nvidia 8800gts/gtx will ensure you can turn on all the new eye candy in games like gears of war and cysis

 

The screen is great and yes it does have a glossy screan

 

I got mine a few weeks ago, So far i love it, it does have some wierd quirkes but i've been working them out, most of them stem from the fact that i completely whiped my machine and started from scratch.

yes on the glossy screen, and it is great, very bright, and i dont know what people where talking abou when they said it was dim, flashing, or stars? I bought mine from dell's outlet.

M1710
t7600 2.33ghz
2gb ram
100gb hard drive
bluetooth
802.11n
dvd+/-rw
2 power cords

around 2900 shipped it is an expensive machine, but if you want portablity and speed, it cant be beaten.

 

I love mine. I used to have the XPS Gen1 lappy and there is no comparison. With the new cpu's and current graphics, it can tackle just about anything you can throw at it. If you want to save some $$$ you can go with the 7900GS video and o'c it up to almost GTX speeds very safely. For example, I can play BF2142 at full rez nicely. The laptop is large, but not too large IMO coming from the Gen1 "tank". If you get the right screen (LG), you will be very happy. It comes with a SD slot which is great, but the lack of Expresscard options is disturbing. PCMCIA would have been nice too.

My marketing predictions for Dell have always been right-on, and I predict a DX10 Video Card release for the M1710. After all of the trouble to upgrade and prepare our platforms to support Vista, Merom, overclocking, and blu-ray, It would be ludicrous to not offer one. Then you save your new XPS model for when Santa Rosa chipset releases. The only thing that would negate this is if Santa Rosa releases at the same time as the mobile 8800.

If you can afford it, get a setup like in my sig (you can find a lot of the parts really cheap, and get the better video if you wish!) and you will drool. constantly. even without the big screen. I am upgrading my X-Fi with the Pro version breakout box to give me all the audio inputs/outputs I could ever need.

Now my M1710 is a different case. Dell sent me a replacement M1710 because of a buzzing noise coming from the bottom (??? dont ask me). And it had merom but many lousy parts. I, with the approval of a really cool dell tech, took both and made 1 excellent example and sent the crap back. My only problems come from my tuning experiments.

Oh did I mention the red one drops jaws in public.....

 

ABsolutely avoid CyberPower Inc. and IBUYPOWER. I had a terrible experience when I order from them a while back, and I've read countless horror stories from both companies. You might get lucky and get something well-built, but most likely you won't.

My PC I purchased from them came to me with a RAM module sliding on the bottom of the case because they didn't lock it in. I tried to get them to replace it, but because I opened the case to retrieve the fallen RAM stick, my warrantee was voided. Mind you, the case had a window and door on it. It was made for easy access into it and taking the RAM out involved no manipulation of anything on the unit.

other stories are much worse. Stay away from both companies. Just look up their ratings.

I wouldn't get an XPS because you can configure an Inspiron with everything but the GF 7950GTX and spend a lot less. The Inspiron only goes as high as the 7900GS with the videocard options. But everything else can be set up about the same, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. But if you need the 7950GTX, then I guess the Inspiron isn't an option.

 

I feel the same way... also the lights and the exterior design are huge turn-offs for me.

 

Well I ordered the Dell. The deal could not be matched by any Asus,HP (which indicated a build date of DEC 11!!) or Compal as listed below.

I don't see the "value" in the M1710 series at all except for the VC, it seems the same. There is no way you can get the following list of goodies even at cyberpower (ugh) for less then the $1500 I'm paying.....

2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo
2 gig DDR2 Ram@ 667mhz
100 GB SATA @7200 rpm
17" SXGA+ (UXGA fonts are far too small for me and don't want glossy screen)
GeForce Go 7900GS 256MB
8 x DVD +/- RW

Windows MCS w FREE Vista UG
Restore Disks
1 year warranty

$1498.50 shipped. This is a killer deal from what I have seen with the ASUS product and COMPAL HEL80

 

Hehe with "2.0 mhz" you're not getting very far... I suggest an upgrade to at least 2.0 Ghz.

 

How did you get that deal so cheap?

 

easy. dream of having the deal

 

Hmm, the Original Poster hasn't posted in this thread for about 2 weeks.

I was going to ask him about his price range and suggest getting a a portable notebook for around $1000-1500 and building a decent desktop for $1000-1500.