System Recommendation (please help me decide)

Hey all, I've been reading threads on this section and in the SXPS 1645 owners lounge for a few months while I was trying to buy a new SXPS 16 with an i7 processor. You all have been very helpful with your threads in making that decision and informing me on the technical flaws and fixes of this and other systems.

But I've come to a crossroads. I have spent 2 months and countless hours on the phone with Dell reps trying to convince them to find me an RGB-LED screen since they no longer have it in the customize section for the Studio XPS 16 (even though they advertise it all over they website). But I give up. A marketing person has seemed to indicate that it definitely can't be put on a new laptop and since I can't talk to anyone in power directly, I'm stuck trying to convince sales people or customer service to no avail. Even the managers there seem powerless to Marketing's whims.

I'm so utterly pissed at Dell for the way they have hadled my interest in the RGB screen (never returning calls, jerking me around, not being able to find answers, etc., etc.) that I'm not very keen to give Dell my money.

But I did choose the XPS 16 for a reason back when I was researching laptops. Part of that reason was the RGB screen, but it is also a great laptop for my money even without the screen.

So here's my dilemma. Do you all recommend just sucking it up and buying the SXPS 16 laptop from Dell with a WLED (I haven't decided in 1080p is worth it or not), or should I go with some other company and get a non-Dell laptop. If, you recommend sticking it to Dell, and going elsewhere, what laptops do you recommend instead (please keep the price under 1500)? If you recommend staying with the SXPS 16, is the WLED good enough that I won't feel shafted by not having the RGBLED? Feel free to offer any other advice you might have(such as a Studio 17 with the B+RG screen, if you think the screen is that important).

In advance, thank you all very much for any help you can give me. I plan to make this purchase tomorrow afternoon once I've looked around at other laptops a bit.


Sincerely,
Sean

 

I have the WLED and it is already a gorgeous display. its 1080p so everything is sharp. though on a 15.6" i think 900p is good enough but it was only $75 more. I have not seen the Studio 17 B+RG so i cannot comment on that. The only problem I have with my XPS 16 is it gets really hot.

 

Thanks for the reply; that is encouraging to hear. I'm also unsure whether the 1080p is really even worth it over the 900p on a 15.6" screen, but for 75 bucks, I probably will go for it.

As for the heat issue, at least I'm prepared for it thanks to your warning and the numerous threads about it. And I don't have it in my lap too often. I'll find some way to mitigate that issue if necessary, like arctic silver or a cooling pad (or both). Hopefully the new graphics card will help with that a little bit.

 

I believe the Studio series is not so good. This is just in terms of build quality (casing, internal speakers, keyboard and the like). The XPS is supposedly a much better build quality in terms of finishing.

On a side; you can build both up to nearly the exactly the same specs. The only difference being with the XPS you can configure the better screen, the HD5730 video card, the Intel Wireless mini-card and the 8GB of DDR3 RAM.

Bear in mind that the more expensive screen will drain the battery faster. Also most XPS configs which come with the i7 will also come with the 130W AC power adaptor. This is supplied to overcome the throttling issues when the laptop is under stress.

The base XPS model can be configured with the i5 processor, a 90W adaptor and either the 4670 or the 5730 GPU. I am not aware if these configurations also suffer from the same throttling issues considering they come with the smaller supply.

If you have the Dell eCoupon, you can get discounts off both the studio and xps series. After these discounts, they pretty much come down to the same price.

I also believe the XPS comes with internal microphones, which the studio does not. Better for applications such as skype and the like.

If the same price, I would go for the XPS, ensuring you get the 9 cell battery.

I myself am leaning towards the i5 config with the HD5730 but keeping the WLED monitor. The only thing I dont like is the fact that I cant upgrade the wireless to the intel option. This would be highly beneficial in my line of work (but still worried about throttling and heat with the GPU under load)

 

I have the 900p WLED xps 16...the difference is not noticable with 1080p screen except when playing high def movies. My friend has the same laptop as me but with the 1080p screena nd we ran the same blue ray movie and it looked slightly sharper on his than it did on mine, but when I went home and looked at the movie again-it looked just as his did in my memory-ie the difference is really really slight. Slight enough to warrant saving 75$? Thats your call. My opinion: go with 1080p you're already spending lots of money on the laptop why not max it out a little more.