New Dell XPS L521X (Ivy Bridge)

Sorry Guys, the article says:
"Het trackpad zou van glas zijn en over geïntegreerde muisknoppen beschikken"
It will be a glass trackpad, with intergrated buttons...

 

So they're going aesthetics over usability? If that's the case, maybe it's time to look elsewhere for a similarly spec'ed laptop. Hey Dell can even remove the keyboard altogether and have it touch based too. Then we can play the did-you-really-press the button game every time we use the laptop.

 

Wow, that is disappointing to say the least. Not surprising, though, as thin laptops with clickpads (a.k.a. Macs) sell, and the other companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Samsung uses them, Toshiba will use them in the new Satellites, Asus has one in the ultrabook, HP uses them in the Envy line, and I thought I saw one on the Sony ultrabook prototype...

 

Another thing I hate is the ultra small arrow keys. Those really annoy me. Too bad for most people it doesn't matter and Dell is probably moving with the trend.

 

I wonder if the new Xps 17 will also be a Mac clone. Probably, I guess.

 

I actually prefer the design of the XPS L502x, it is much more unique even if it does have it's "rough edges". (ie stupid idea of the HDD activity light behind the screen)

 

Well I'm hoping Dell xps l521x have numpad and the location of speaker changed to the top of keyboard instead side by side. And the nvidia should be using gtx series if possible and also the speaker should keep up. since it really performs well and for the port include the vga port and 2 usb 3.0 and 2 usb 2.0 for better performance. thx

 

Merged the "New XPS 15" and "XPS L521x" threads as we had a lot of parallel discussion going that'd be more efficient in one thread.

 

Well glad I snatched a 1080p/2670QM L702x for 950$ last week,

 

Mistake on Dell site, I snatched a xps17 with 2x 512 GB SSD for 930 euro. The article indicates it would get integrated trackpadbuttons indeed..

 

There is no hp envy spectre 15 (otherwise I would jump on it ) its just the regular envy 15.

the gpu is already = to gt 555m compared to the gt 540m in the xps. The screen is actually very good compared to regular laptopscreens besides the red-orange issue. If you are able to ignore it you get a good screen.

 

Ignore such issue with the screen on a 1000€ notebook, good joke
By the way, let's hope Dell retains the current FHD screen for the next gen XPS. Its essentially one of the best screens on the market, beside the IPS screen in the Elitenbooks and Precisions.
Oh, and this one gets the colors right.

 

lol thats true i forgot that the dell screens r good too . is the current one ips? but yeah they should keep the same one

 

It's not IPS, but it's a high-quality TN screen with B+RGLED backlighting as opposed to WLED backlighting.

 

ah ok. gotta c what to do after we get more info

 

Would be awesome though, to have the precision's LCD in the next XPS

 

I've not tested the IPS screens, but the WLED one in Precision M4600 models are nothing special. Quite grainy I would say. I'm planning to replace it by the B+RGLED one the XPS uses.

 

Is it matte? If it is, then you're probably seeing the crystallization.

 

Yes it is matte, but my previous Precision M4400 had a matte screen too yet did not exhibit any graininess at all. I prefer matte screens anyways even if they are grainy over the glossy ones . Apparently the AUO panel the XPS uses has its matte counterpart with same viewing angles and 95% NTSC color space coverage.

 

It does, it's featured on Clevo's, the P150/W150 models. My 1680x1050 panel i removed from a D830 is very grainy but I don't notice it unless I'm looking for it.

 

wait the screen xps and clevo use is the same? the 95% one?

 

Yes, XPS 15 uses the Glossy version, and Clevo offers both the glossy and the matte versions.

 

ah ok. props to dell for the lcd

 

Just curious...
What are usually the prices of new Dell XPS 15 laptops? When they just came out?

 

The base price before any configuration "upgrades" worthy of an XPS 15 would be around $900. Consider a budget of $1200~1400.

 

are there already any guesses for the release date?

 

Not really, but some say when the Ivy Bridge CPU's come out... For the mobile Ivy Bridge CPU's that means June 3rd? (a couple of them also release end of april, but the mobile i5's release in June...)

So begin of June I think, but nothing is sure yet of course...

 

Any idea on the new xps 17 specs??

 

Unlikely to hear any release date until just before launch. If there was, then sales of the current XPS15 would tank while everyone waits for the update.

 

/bump

any more rumors on this?

 

There's a 30% off promotion on current XPS15 on Dell's site ( 3 Ways to Save | Dell). It ends Apr 19, so I have a big problem now. To buy the old one with the off, or to wait for the new Ivy, hoping it won't be much more expensive with similar power.

What would you recommend? Is there any reason to wait for the Ivy? Is it worth time? Do you think it'll be much more expensive? The one I built on Dell's site is ~$1500 AFTER 30% off.

Thanks for the advice.
Kelnerrr

 

It will be worth it if you want better gaming performance and like the sleeker look of the new XPS, the battery life should be similar or better too while cpu will be 15 - 20 % better across the board (wild guess), What spec are you getting for $1500 ?

 

There are some bad news floating around the web , it seems that there are some issues with the 22nm proces , ( reason for the delay ) , the first tests show only about 5% performance increase over the SB , the expected TDP on some cpus have been increased from 75W to 95 W ( 3770 desktop ) and the latest rumor states that intel had lowered the expected release prices a litle .
Well i hope its not true , but if it is right then i am keeping the SB .

 

I chose options like that:
processor: 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM processor (2.40 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz)
memory: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz
HDD: 1TB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
video card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus and TV Tuner
display: 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) Truelife B+RGLED Display and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam
optical drive: Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
sound: JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2

Market Value: $1,987.99
Total Savings: $596.40
Dell Price: $1,391.59

+ Win 7 Pro and maybe sth more. I remember it was around $100 more.

What I hate is the 5400 rpms disk, but with this promotion only this one and $245 more 256 GB SSD are available. Neither is good for me. I need a lot of space and the speed is also quite important.

This doesn't look very promising. I hope it's just a rumor.

I found some leaks about ( http://www.laptopreviews.com/dell-xps-15-l521x-with-intels-ivy-bridge-specs-and-pictures-emerge-2012-04). But I see that there'll be only such processor options:

Intel Core i5-3210M dual-core
Intel Core i7-3612QM quad-core

And from just specs i7-3612QM seems to be slower than i7-2760QM I have in the above setup. It looks rather like younger brother of i7-2670QM.

Thank you for your opinions.
Kelnerrr

 

It's only slightly faster.

More importantly, it's 35W, rather than 45W TDP for the i7-26xxQM processors. I believe that what we have seen is the successor to the XPS 15z. The XPS 15 will stay the way is it, with a a spec bump to ivy bridge. I think.

 

Yep, it seems like the XPS L521X is more of a refresh to the XPS 15z than to the XPS 15. As a .95" thick laptop (vs. 1.3"-1.5" on current XPS 15 and .97" on XPS 15z), the XPS L521X probably won't come with any 45w CPU options.

GPU performance is probably the largest difference in the XPS 15 refresh. The GT 640m w/ GDDR5 should be some 30% faster than the GT 540m w/ DDR3.

If sheer CPU performance is important to you, there will be other laptops with the 45w Ivy Bridge quadcore i7's with higher frequencies than current Sandy Bridge CPU's, but the performance difference should be fairly modest. (5~10% increase in IPC plus a frequency bump, so maybe a 10~20% performance increase overall)

edit: According to this page, there appears to be leaked Cinebench scores of the i7-3720QM, the sucessor to the i7-2760QM. Its multithreaded performance is about 20% faster than the i7-2760QM and 4% faster than the i7-2960XM. Worth the wait, IMO.

According to these benchmarks, the i7-3612qm is marginally faster than the i7-2670qm.

 

I'd say if you have that kind of spare money to waste on pointless upgrades like the i7-2760qm you could as well wait for the new one.

What kind of warranty did you take ? I'm experimenting with the specs on dell (european so also more expensive by default) and I'm almost struggling to get a price tag as high as yours. Also not to be a troll but there are many nicer notebooks (already available or to be released soon) that can be bought for $1400 I think.

It's rather unlikely since the XPS 15 is the one with an outdated design and the specs also seem to be pointing at an XPS 15 replacement (sleeker yet still quite heavy & capable discrete GPU).

Also does it matter ? An upgraded XPS 15 with the same case couldn't have much better specs CPU/GPU-wise. Maybe 45W quad-cores and a GT 650M. Not enough to convince potential buyers to go with an ugly piece of slab instead of something that smells novelty.

There's always the possibility that Dell has a true successor to the XPS 15 with a new case. But if the L521's leaked specs are correct that would mean Dell would be willing to release, aside from it, a whole new 15" multimedia notebook heavier than 2.6kg/5.7lbs, which makes absolutely no f***ing sense in the current mobile devices context circa 2012.

I personnally think it's possible that the new L521 replaces both XPS 15 & XPS 15z. The XPS 15z doesn't fit in the ultrabooks craze while somewhat lacking in horsepower.
The XPS 15 needs a complete overhaul design-wise as well as a slimmer and lighter case. So yep that would make sense imho. If I want mobility I'll go for an ultrabook (like the XPS 13), if I want some horsepower in a modern case I'll go for the new L521. Why would I get something that both lacks in power and mobility relatively to these ?

 

I was thinking it replaced both, just based on the numbering. First it goes 501 to 502 for the XPS 15. So the next should be 503. And the 15z was 511, so the next should be 512. But since they have an entirely new line beginning with 52x instead of 50x or 51x, it seems to be a computer separate from the other two, designed to replace them both.

 

I would be glad if you could recommend some models. Dell XPS 15 is just one which caught my eye. Especially because of the 30% promo.

Any ideas of something better with comparable price tag? Don't hesitate to let me know : )

 

any info for dell xps l721x. hmm

 

Sorry, forgot to answer that question. I have 2-year accidental damage warranty chosen. +$60 for 3-year.

 

The 3612QM being marginally faster than a 2760QM is still a pretty large feat, as the 2760 is 45w and the 3612 is 35w, that's a pretty awesome leap.

 

The new ones will always be more expensive. However the graphics is going to be a substantial jump for nVidia. I personally would try and wait it out. I am similar in that I want to ugprade to 1080P screen, but am going to wait and see what L521X offers.

 

Would the current XPS15 still be available when the new version comes out - the L521x? I am debating purchasing the XPS15 now as there is an offer on it. I would like to wait to see if the new one is good & not outside my budget. But if it is too expensive - I dont want to have missed out on the current one! Any advice??? Also, if going for the current XPS, would you guys recommend 1gb or 2gb video card? Will the 2GB over the 1GB make much of a difference in watching movies (I am getting the 1080p) screen or in using Photoshop? Thanks!

 

dont get 2 gb its pointless. i forgot the actual technicallity of it but the card will basically bottle neck b4 the memory does cause its a low end card

 

Great to know - Thanks PaKii94

 

no problem. any new info on the new xps?

 

From what I recall the higher the GPU's ram the better it'll perform on higher resolutions

 

yeah but it depends on the card. the lower cards dont benefit from it because they arent powerfull enough. the gtx 680m will have 4 gb memory and they will actually be using it all

 

680m won't have 4GB VRAM, it'll be 2GB like the desktop version.