No XPS17 - What else is there similar?

Hi all.

My trusty old 17 inch Dell XPS L702X is on its last legs but has worked really well up to now so I'm looking to replace and upgrade at the same time. I do have a newer XPS 15 9550 but don't like the screen - no matter what I try (flux etc) it makes my eyes tired after 30 mins where the 17 inch doesn't (both 1080 resolution) and much prefer that size so its got to be a 17" model. There's something about the 9550 screen and the wife also has noticed it so it doesn't get much use.

I tried Dell first but they don't do an XPS in 17, that would have been ideal but the only thing they could offer was an Inspiron - but that only has a dual core processor (my XPS17 has an i7 2670QM) and meagre GPU. I'd really like a quad core i7 again as I'd like to be able to do a bit of video processing with Davinci Resolve - (DJI Phantom footage). I don't like the look of the Alienware, and won't be doing any gaming on this machine and they aren't cheap so I ruled them out. The Precision is way to expensive as well! I feel Dell have a big gap in their range by not making an XPS 17 at the moment.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent made laptop in 17 inch at all, it would have to be available in the UK, I'd be able to upgrade the Ram and SSD's and have a reasonable spec GPU to edit video. I've a budget of around a grand but could stretch a bit higher if I shredded the credit card statement before wifey got to see it!

Appreciate any advice, cheers everyone

 

Hi, I agree that it's a shame there's no XPS 17. One option that comes to mind based on your needs is the Lenovo IdeaPad Y700:

http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/y700-series/y700-17/

It's quite pricey in the UK though, prices here in the U.S. start far cheaper:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y700-series/y700-17-inch/

Also note that with the Y700 it's using the 6th generation Intel so it may be due for a refresh to the 7th generation (Kaby Lake) soon.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Andrew thats good of you to recommend that model.

I think you are right about the next generation of processor coming soon, perhaps I can hang on a bit and get a next generation 'upgrade' as I'd like this laptop to last as long as possible.

We are getting hammered on price in the UK at the moment with Sterling losing ground to the Dollar and Euro, U.S. prices are so much more reasonable.

Cheers!

 

If you are price sensitive, I would consider discounted Skylake products as the Kaby Lake provides little in terms of performance boost and frankly not much extra in battery life...

 

Kably Lake might not be much improvement over Skylake.
But next generation of nvidia GPUs are beast compared to 900 series.
Even though GTX 960M is a decent perfomer but GTX 1060 is miles ahead if it will be offered in next gen update.

 

Good point, and the 1060 should make the laptop last a bit longer with its extra performance and hopefully battery life due to less power draw as its more efficient.

 

Not to rain on anyone's parade but I highly doubt the GTX 1060 will be offered in the XPS series as it is.

Also, while it's true that the GTX 1060 is a great improvement in performance over the 960M, I think the comparison should be againt the 970M (which is not available in the XPS series). Maybe a card with similar power and thermal requirements as the 960M will be offered that offers a considerable performance upgrade (name it 1050 or whatever).

 

agreed.
high chance that GTX 1060 will be offered in gaming laptops only.

High end Multimedia laptops like XPS 17 will be limited to GTX 1050 at best.

 

All we have to do now is persuade Dell to add 17 inch models to the XPS range!