Studio XPS 13

For those who own it, do you guys actually like this system? Would you recommend me going to another 13"? I don't plan on gaming but will watch a heavy dose of 720p/1080p movies so I was thinking of going with the 9400 gfx card instead of the 9500. I'm also interested in getting the LED screen as opposed to the CCFL screen. Does your XPS run hot?

IS there a big difference between the 9400 and the 9500 gfx card?

 

Hi. Unfortunately I don't own an XPS13, I'm sort of in the same boat as you and about to pull the trigger on an XPS13. I'm wondering if I should wait until after Windows7 is released.

You can see a comparison between the 9400 and 9500 here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9400M-G.11949.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-GS.8167.0.html

I personally will be going with the 9500. For $100 it's always better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I'm also springing for the WLED as I've been told that it's easier on power and produces a better image.

As for the heat...after reseaarching for the last couple of weeks I've concluded that pretty much any laptop with dedicated graphics and decent CPU lots of heat is generated when that power is tapped into. I'm expecting this thing to be hot at times. My current Inspiron e1505/6400 makes my lap pretty toasty.

NB Review XPS13 Review, scroll down for some temperature measurements: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4974&p=2

Hopefully some actual owners will chime in.

 

Get the LED if nothing more than CCFL change colors and dim over time and burn out. LEDs stay bright white and last longer than you'll keep you laptop. I haven't been impressed with the hybrid sli in gaming and the integrated card can handle HD video decoding. I rarely run it with both video cards. If I could do it over again I'd save the $100 and stick with just the integrated card. Also, it only tends to get hot with both GPUs running, gaming with just the integrated card it gets warm, but not near as hot.

This is the correct link for the 9500m GE that is offered:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9500M-GE-Hybrid-SLI.14029.0.html

 

Ahh... thank you for correcting me. I get bug eyed every time I look at the list.

 

I'm just scared that it might be too heavy for my liking... It's even heavier than the XPS m1330 @ 3.97 lbs w/ 4-cell and 4.3lbs w/ 6-cell... The studio XPS 13 is at 4.85 lbs? That's got to be one of the heavier 13" notebooks...

 

Heh...I wish the 9 cell battery were an option instead of available as a secondary battery.

 

If you don't plan on doing anything more graphically intensive (and don't care for "bragging rights" ) or need to strongly conserve all RAM possible, then I suggest going with the 9400M G. Though an integrated GPU, it is more than powerful enough. Remember that the 9500M GE isn't an individual card but rather Hybrid SLI between a 9400M G and a 9200M GS w/ 256MB GDDR3 RAM. The SXPS 13 does certainly run warm (and hot when the 9200M GS is enabled) but that has been my experience with many other 12.1/13.3" notebooks (that don't use Atom CPUs).

I definitely enjoy my LED monitor and prefer it by quite a bit to the CCFL monitors on the SXPS that I've seen at Bestbuy (not to mention the battery life it conserves).

 

How long is "over time"? I've had my desktop LCD monitor since 2005 and it still has yet to burn out. I've already replaced the computer that I got along with the monitor, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be replacing my computer again before I'm forced to replace the monitor.

I'm kinda hoping that it burns out soon actually, so that I have an excuse to get a new one

 

Get the 9500m. However, unlike the above link the 9500m is actually the 9400 and 9200. Some games it makes a big difference and others it doesnt. It is very easy to disable and will just use the 9400 if you want. The only problem I have had with mine is audio crackling which will probably be fixed with Win 7 is officially released and there are some updated drivers.