S XPS 16 - Should I avoid it?

I've been actively hunting the Dell Outlet for a 1645 i7-820 16" RGB LED over the last few weeks. (just missed one this morning, new outlet store is buggy) I mentioned it to a coworker earlier today who pointed me to this forum. Needless to say after reading about everyone's experience with this machine I am pretty concerned that this may not be the system for me.

If you were going to drop $2,000 on a laptop right now would you bother with one of these or is it more headache than its worth? My main attraction to the system is the high resolution screen to be honest, but if I cannot play games on it (Wow, Eve, TF2, eventually D3) without it throttling or overheating then maybe its not for me.

Last notebook I bought was an Area 51m that was complete waste of 4k. I don't want to hate my laptop again.

 

It is hard to say. I personally have had great experience with my S-XPS 16 and love it! Plays games for hours and hours (checking my steam games list shows that I played almost 30 hours of L4D2 over this past weekend) with zero problems. On the other hand, I know the system has caused problems for other people and it's hard to highly recommend a system that might cause problems. Based on the specs you mentioned that you are looking for, it seems more likely that you will run into throttling issues because of heat/power problems. Any particular reason you are going for those specs? I know the love of trying to get the fastest/best/latest system there is, but I have the i7-720 cpu in my system, and it is more than enough for everything... something I think I should have even saved some money and gone for an i5 cpu. Though I suppose I am a bit more of a saver than a spender, because I spend $1500 on my laptop, which was definitely the max I'd ever pay for a computer. If I was willing to spend in the $2000+ range for a laptop, I might have gotten something else, but the S-XPS16 has incredible bang-for-you-buck, assuming you are fortunate like I was to get one that doesn't throttle.

 

Firstly, thanks for the reply RacingGun.

As for the CPU choice its more coincidence than personal preference, as I mentioned its more about the screen than anything else. Unfortunately with the outlet I'm limited to what is available daily vs. making a selection and of the systems I've seen thus far the nice 16" RGB LED screens are usually paired with the 820s. If I could get one with an i5 I'd jump on it, but no such luck so far.

 

Sounds good. Also, any particular reason you are aiming for the RGB? I have heard they are amazing, have fantastic colours, etc etc, but I have to say I am really blown away by the 1920x1080 WLED screen. Granted I haven't compared them side by side, but it is a pretty fantastic screen.

 

I'm also tempting to seal the deal at SXPS, but do not want to put my my money in risk for a laptop which has heat and throttling issues and yet Dell has not fixed them. Better to avoid it and wait for complete refresh of SXPS.

 

If anyone can manage to get their hands on a model with i5 and a 5730, I have to assume that model would NOT throttle and would probably run a bit cooler too.

 

I believe Dell is not offering ATI 5xxx series GPUs with i5, and one can only configure these cards with quad core i7 processors.

 

Sorry, I was the one who got the one RGBLED with the 820 and Blu-Ray. Couldn't say no anymore with the coupon (again). It's coming in the morning, yay!

I am aware of the issues with the XPS 16, been following them for quite a long time, but decided that it's worth it to me to give it a shot, can always return it. I've had excellent luck with Dell Outlet machines so no reason not to risk it.

 

Dell Coupons, Dell Coupon Code, Dell XPS Coupons, Deals

Consider using the coupons on this page (the 300 some off special deal and the 90 off studio deal) for a studio 17 you can get a computer that is quite similar if not better than the studio xps for about 1000.00. There are also some good coupons there for the studio xps if you still want one. Tested them they work (though the 90 is expiring today according to dell).

 

I would say get it. I have been nothing but happy with mine. I would avoid a RGB + ati4670 unit as those at full tilt will go over the 130watt ac adapter (hopefully there will be a 150watt adapter that works with the SXPS). But a WLED unit should be OK. Plus you wouldn't believe the screen quality my SXPS has with WLED. Bright and beautiful and I dont particularly miss the RGBLED that was in my alienware.

 

Well I decided to bite the bullet and make a run for it, I think it was the 15% off outlet coupon I got this morning. So for $1100 before tax and extra warranty (I travel so CC is a must imo) I got a pretty sweet machine. Best part is its a scratch and dent, and for the most part ones I have seen are pretty minor cosmetic issues.

TMJ06 Studio XPS 16 - 1645 Laptop
14VXC Processor: Intel Core i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
0VCRJ 16.0 inch Premium Edge-to-edge Glossy Full HD RGB-LED LCD display (1920x1080p)
Y515R 1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
W795M 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
D113N 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
PPY3H Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
8J1GH 8X DVD+/- RW(DVD/CD read/write) Slot Load Drive
MJF4V Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
X445C 9 Cell, 85 WHr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
VKC3D 90W AC Adapter
VR08H Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium


So only issues are the AC Adapter, OS, and HDD. So went shopping afterwords and got a 130W AC Adapter on ebay (genuine not fake crap), a SSD from newegg, a Bluray + DVDR off of ebay as well, and I may or may not swap out the OS for Win7 Pro after I get it. I may end up needing the Pro version for connecting to office networks, we'll see.


Anyways big thanks to all who chimed in, hopefully I can share my experiences with you all once I get it all put together.

 

Actually they do offer. I am in Singapore, and Dell Singapore offers 5730 with all i5 cores.

Mine will be delivered tonight.
Hope it will be good.

 

I'm talking about Dell, USA.

 

lucky singapore people! the i5 is what i needed. the i5 is fast enough. though it doesnt have as many cores, each core is faster, is that i believe from researching. Not much makes use of the quadcore.

 

The new 1647 BIOS has support for the new graphics card. So it is coming to the i5, just not yet.