Studio XPS 1645 or Studio 1557?

HI, Gonna order my Dell notebook this week after months of waiting and I noticed that the Studio 15 is pretty much the same as the Studio XPS 16 minus the RGBLED screen. I really don't know which to choose and really need some guidance from some expert people. Here's what I have in mind:

Studio XPS 1645:

*SYSTEM COLOR Intel ® Core ™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
*OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows 7® Home Premium Edition, 64-bit
*WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
*HD DISPLAY Full HD Widescreen 16.0 inch RGBLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP
*MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
*HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
*INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
*SOUND OPTIONS Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi MB
*VIDEO CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB

PRICE BEFORE TAX with EPP discount -$1,673.07


Studio 1557:

*COLORS NorvusOrdo - Cobaltika by Tweeqim
*PROCESSORS Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB Cache, Turbo Boost)
*OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows 7® Home Premium Edition, 64-Bit
*WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
*HD DISPLAY 15.6” Full High Definition (1080p) High Brightness LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera
*MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
*HARD DRIVE 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
*OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
*BATTERY OPTIONS 85 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
*WIRELESS CARDS Intel 5300 Ultimate-N Half Mini Card (3x3) with MyWiFi
*SOUND OPTIONS Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB
*KEYBOARD Back-lit Keyboard
*VIDEO CARD 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

PRICE BEFORE TAX with EPP discount -$1,607.97

Both are pretty much the same, I kinda am leaning more towards the Studio 15 now because I can get everything the SXPS has to offer minus the RGBLED screen. The Studio XPS seems great but I'm not a fan of the heat and too many people have convinced me thats its not bad but still an issue. PLEASE HELP Thanks

Wasn't sure to post this under the Notebook Buying section as I already know what I want.

 

For those 70$ bucks you could get an awesome screen. Plus, there are ways of reducing heat, such as undervolting or applying thermal paste. Both have good design, though I don't know how much worse or better could it get with i7 cores. It might make the heat problem less concurrent.

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking, it just worries me a little that a notebook just sitting there idle can get pretty warm ya know?

 

$70 for a 1337 screen and better GPU (not to mention a laptop of a higher class)? Why not?!?!?

Just thought I'd point out, the SXPS 16 should also have a Intel 5300 and a 9 cell battery.

 

It doesn't get hot sitting there idling it's barely warm. Repeating baloney from people who don't even own one.

 

+ SXPS
------------
better buildquality
better gaming
RGBLED 1080p

+ Studio
-----------
cheaper


with other words, if you have the money go for the SXPS

ps... are you aware that Studio 17" use Ati 4650.....really good card.

 

All right you guys have convinced me, hopefully with the new i7 Core processor in the Studio xps 1645 heat won't be an issue as I'm sure dell has heard about all the heat issues.

 

Do you have any specific uses that would benefit from the RGB LED screen(graphics work or design) or the higher class GPU(games or rendering)?

Components/Power wise, those would be the main things that the Studio XPS has over the Studio.

Mind you, if there's only a 70$ different, I'd also go for the higher end machine. I wonder why the Studio is so high though

 

I thought that too, but you're right I'd rather have the higher end machine if I'm only $70 away from it. Someone mentioned the build quality, anyone know how that differs from the Studio 15?

 

Drop the RGBLED and it comes even cheaper...lol

But the SXPS16 is a better choice IMHO, better GPU, better screen, higher BQ, though larger and heavier with a not-so-good battery life, with 9 cell I think it does 4 max...

 

I have both a 1555 and 1640.

Buld quality is 10x better on the sxps. The 1555 is made of cheaper plastics which makes it lighter but a bit flimsy.

Also it is not designed to be easily serviced. And requires the entire laptop to be taken apart to get to the cpu or gpu whereas on the sxps removing the base plate give you access to all components.

The sxps does run hotter than the 1555 though but it has a much more powerful gfx card. In idle both laptops run cool its only when gaming they really heat up and the sxps does get quite toasty so recommend undevolting or notebook cooler

 

I am stuck in the same position, for an extra $100AU I can have the Studio XPS 1645 over the Studio 15, however the SXPS16 would only have the 6 cell and the Studio 15 with the 9 cell (AU *STILL* Has no 9 Cell battery option for the SXPS) and both with 15.6, 1080p screens.

Battery life is important to me (however can always purchase the 9 cell at later date) and screen visibility is also very important, is the SXPS screen much harder to see in say an outdoor situation than just the standard glassy trulife'? Is the edge to edge display that easy to scratch up?! (XPS Owners out there) ?

Lappy used for personal (a little gaming) and business / work, will be seen by clients and used for website design and document creation....

What do you guys think I should get?

+SXPS
---------------
Build quality + design looks
1gb graphics vs 512
Premium support

+S 1557
---------------
9 cell battery
Screen not edge to edge (is this a plus? i don't know...)

As the two laptops have pretty much the same on the inside, I can only presume the power consumption would be identical (?) which would bring the deciding factor to the screen... AGHH!!

 

Hi there zarr. Next time, dont hijack a thread lol
But no biggy.

As for your problem, the SXPS16 gets less life, but it has a lot better hardware inside (the GPU most noticeably) and BQ is far superior. I have toyed with a Studio 1535 (yes the older models) and it felt ok, but not as good as the SXPS16.

I decided to get the SXPS16 due to the GPU. And I dont regret it, now I am waiting for it...lol

At OP, you do know you can get the HP Envy 15 with the battery slice and the OD bay for 2000-25% Bing cashback? $1500 total with Free 2 day business shipping?

 

I went from A studio 15 to an XPS 16 best thing i have ever done Solid build awesome performance(gaming) in all honesty for the screen glare you can always get a 3m antiglare filter thing and the 9 cell for battery and you will still be ten times happier than if you had the Studio 15

 

Anyone know if its possible to get the $100 Gift Card and use that with Instant Savings and EPP?

Also where do you get the Gift Card?

 

To my understanding that promotion is only available if you upgrade your RAM to any of it's 6GB or 8GB variant.

 

I works with instant savings and the 100 gift card, but no EPP, there is a 1250 model in the Notebook and Tech bargains Forum

 

I don't mean to thread-hijack but does anyone know the battery life on this thing? A Dell representative scared me a bit by saying it would be about 50 minutes (though I'm guessing he has no idea what he's talking about) versus the 3-4 hours I would be able to easily get on a Core 2 Duo (which doesn't make sense based on TDP's).

 

The Dell rep is an idiot. Most people won't be stressing out their CPU to 100% load on battery. The new i7s are very power efficient and will get you roughly the same battery life as the current C2Ds at idle and lower usage.

 

I have been playing with the 1645 for several days now and LOVE it! It has it's drawbacks, as any tech enthusiast will tell you that there is NO perfect gadget! The i7 is the fastest and really shines when under heavy application loads.

VOTE: 1645!

 

Thanks, that's what I thought XD. It seems like he just wanted me to purchase a Core 2 Duo for some reason.

Good to see some have received theirs already . Just wondering, what is the approximate battery life on it? Also, do you know how the heat output compares to the Core 2 Duo model?

 

Thank you Sephoroth!

The battery life really depends on which power profile you select. The Dell Recommended lasts me about 3 hours, and Maximum Performance lasts about an hour and 15 minutes.

This laptop doesn't break any trends in that sense, but you may want to check out this article:

http://www.livedigitally.com/2006/08...ry-performance

As you may have guessed, heat is an issue which is also based on use. I have noticed the laptop gets hot if I am doing anything more than just browsing, downloading and listening to music all at once. The touchpad get's hot the quickest and then the front-bottom of the laptop where the light indicators are for wifi, hd activity, and bluetooth. I find it odd that area gets extremely hot, but it does so what can you do?

 

what is an EPP discount?

 

Employee Purchase Program.

If you work for a company that has an account with Dell you are entitled to a discount. When purchasing you use the EPP version of the Dell website which when you have added your purchase to the basket it will tell you how much you have saved.

In the UK it is 3%, 6% & 10% dependant on the overall cost of the item.