The Dell XPS 17 3D with Sandy Bridge Has Arrived! Recommended Specs?

Just got off a chat session with a Del rep (or a computer, who knows) and they said that optimus will be disabled due to the 3D screen. Looks like I will be getting the XPS 15 and it's non 3D 1080p LED screen.

Also, it look like the words "with optimus" have been removed from the video card section on the 17 3D. Guess that confirms it

 

It does there but it doesn't say it here: XPS 17 Laptop Details | Dell which is where it should say it IMO.

 

I can't believe they are only offering the 15" screen without 3D. That really sucks big time for those who plan on buying the larger screen.

 

I can get the 900p XPS 17 for $1,220 and an equally spec'd 1080p XPS 17 3D for $1438. That includes one pair of 3D glasses. If 3D doesn't float my boat I could probably eBay the glasses for ~$100. That makes the 3D 1080p upgrade around $100. Unfortunately no Optimus which is a bummer. One of my biggest complaints is a laptop that gets warm when just surfing the web, doing e-mail, etc. I assume Optimus would really help with this.

 

The other huge unknown is what will this lapwarmer looks like in terms of the screen quality for normal 2D viewing. That's what most prospective buyers care about. If its only claim to fame is 3D, then I'm not really interested. I would really like someone such as notebookcheck.net to get a hold of this new screen and review its performance. From their December review of the last XPS 17 they stated Display contrast, black value and viewing angles are disappointing. This really begs the question if these new screens have improved at all in terms of overall performance, 3D tricks aside.

Derek

 

That unknown is what I'm concerned about, and for that very reason is why I declined to upgrade to the dell xps 17 to wait for the Sandy Bridge. Some may say it's fussy, I just wish laptop manufacturers would stop intentionally f...mucking up their otherwise great products with the proverbial doh factor... and usually it's the screen. I want a nice 900p or 1080p screen that has at least srgb gamut (and good colour accuracy) good contrast ratios and good viewing angles without having to go all the way to the highest end models. I'm willing to overlook the Optimus/3D screw up if the screen fits my requirements.. but it will be a sore point.

 

do you guys think they could add a non 3D 1080p screen for the 17" in a reasonable amount of time or do you think they are just going to ride out this F#@$ up for a while?

i am so pissed off at dell...it's actually quite shocking the stupidity of some decisions they make. how can they not see that 3D is a gimmick. that people would get more use out of WiDi than 3D? will some use and enjoy 3D? sure, but let them CHOOSE it with a special upgrade, the vast majority of people dont want that BS.

 

You could always buy the 900p version then swap the screen. I know it's not preferred but at least you would have FHD and Optimus.

 

Any idea of the cost of doing someting like that? Since Optimus is turned off with the 3D screen, it would seem that would have to be reset to work properly. And wouldn't doing a mod of this kind pretty much void your warranty when something else does wrong? I was actually planning on purchasing an extended warranty this time since I've had things go wrong with other Dell laptops just after the warranty runs out.

The other larger question this begs is why would someone go through all that hassle when there are other companies building it correctly with their new SB notebooks like these two for example:

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=ZpdgdjiZ43Hy8Jx0

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP5170

I'm just saying that although I am a Dell customer, the competition is looking pretty darn good after CES 2011.

Derek

 

it's just such an undesirable approach and it is totally absurd that dell is forcing people into this..

 

Yeah, that's just going too far. I can't see myself spending $1200+ on a new notebook. Then turning right around and replacing the screen while try to get Optimus working properly again, as it was designed to work in the first place. So you end up with an overpriced Dell with no warranty if/when something does go wrong.

The bottom line for me is that Dell needs to pick up their game or get out of the way. The competition is heating up and they will get left in the dust if they keep these BS marketing gimmicks up.

 

do people here think bitc*ing and moaning to dell from a bunch of people here gets them to change anything or are they deaf ears?


also, can anyone explain WHY a 3D laptop HAS to use discrete graphics and can use optimus when it isnt doing 3D stuff?

 

i talk a little of chat peaope on Dell webpage and i get some info of Grapic card GT 555M and 17.3 Fhd 3D screen and HDD.

HDD is with dual slots like the old xps 17 version.
GT555M has DDR3 memory type ( Would be greate if had GDDR5).

And about screen.

Agent - LED Versus B+RG LED White LED (WLED) is the standard for most screens. It means that a white-colored light diode is providing the illumination for your screen. Blue, red and green LED (B+RG LED), on the other hand, means that there are three light diodes — one red, one blue and one green — providing the lighting for your screen. This provides a richer color experience.

Agent -
New Stunning Displays!!

Aspect ratio of displays for your new Dell™ XPS™ laptop is 16:9 HD, which provides more content viewing versus 16:10 aspect ratio panels. Full HD 16:9 panels display full HD content without the black bars of a standard panel.

That info i get from them, i hope it was helpfull for someone.

 

That's wrong. He is talking about the RGBLED.

 

The agent that told you this is a moron. You get more content by cutting off the bottom and top of your screen? Idiot.

 

Yeah, pretty much. This is just a dumb move all around for them. I understand why Sager and maybe ASUS would disable Optimus. They are building gaming laptops where the graphics card is a huge selling point. It is very likely that those buyers will be using their graphics card most of the time, so I understand. However, that's what Dell has Alienware for. There is really no reason to not offer a non 3D screen on the XPS 17. Make it an option, NOT a requirement. And I do wish that the XPS 15 offered 16GB of RAM like the XPS 17 does, but I know that won't be near as important to people as the 3D screen decision.

 

Does this laptop include Windows 7 SP1 or just Windows 7 with no service pack?

 

Hmm, the whole 3D thing costs about $150,- extra, that will buy a nice FHD panel, glossy or matte (you can choose!)

In Europe prices differ slightly to the US:
€ 235,- for the FHD panel and € 40,- for 3D capability on the GPU part.
That's $375,- USD. (a Notion Ink Adam!): a lot of money to spend on a gimmick I'll never use. O yeah, a pair of 3D glasses (€ 110,-) is NOT included with our XPS 17.
I just want a fast cpu and gpu paired to a good FHD panel, period. Preferably 17" with a numlock in the typo section.

Wonder if the L1701x swapping panel threat wil bring a solution to this question.

 

I'm gutted about this. My old XPS M1530 died in January when the GPU finally decided to melt

I ordered the XPS L702 on Thursday from Dell UK. I selected the 3D screen only to get the 1080p screen. Now i've found out no Optimus or WiDi i'm going to to phone and cancel tomorrow morning. Does anybody have any recommendations for an alternative (around £1000) or does anybody know if a non 3D 1080p screen option will become available in the near future?

 

Ok. So if I ordered the XPS 17 with the 3D screen (which I did before reading this thread) can I just replace the screen with a non 3D one like you can get on ebay like this one:

AUO B173HW01 V.4 V4 17.3 FULL HD LAPTOP SCREEN LED LEFT - eBay (item 260721314980 end time Mar-14-11 07:19:15 PDT)

If I do will optimus be enabled and can I use widi? Or are there other hardware changes that would be needed?

 

Hi guys,

at first I really liked the laptop and it's specs (quad core etc...), but this discussion makes me confused. Is it really that bad if you don't have a 1080p screen?... I just want the non 3D-version...

Thanks

 

I think Optimus being disabled has more to do with the 555m graphics card having to drive the 3D display. I know that WiDi is disabled due to the 3D display only. But I think that Optimus can only be enabled by the manufacturer so if you switch the display out, it would still be disabled. At least that's what Notebookcheck.net says here.

 

This is a very good question since Optimus is a new technology. Will simply replacing the screen automagically fix everything else - Optimus and widi? Then all of a sudden they all start working together happily? That sounds a little too magical to me, but I could be wrong. Or maybe getting them to work again isn't too difficult once the screen change part is done?

Either way I'm sure someone will be hacking it soon enough and there will be a long thread on the changes along with possible side effects.

Also what about any warranty with this sort of mod? Is that completely out of the picture due to the scope of the changes - screen swap out plus potential Optimus & widi changes?

Derek

 

The more workspace, the merriër it makes me.
My fav. apps have lots of toolbars and screens (how about comparing 2 browser views side-by-side?) so 1600 px is not enough for some people.

That being said: the full hd screen will be a step down for me, as my sturdy Inspiron 9300 has given me a 1920x1200px workspace for years. I'm gonna miss those 120 pixels (10%!).

On the Optimus and WIDI part: something seems to be different with the 3D enabled GPU's

 

I don't think so. From what i understand, it's a hardware issue. In general terms, for the 3D screen version the dGPU (i.e the Nvidia chip) has to be directly connected to the display. This has the knock on effect that the iGPU (the integrated Intel chip) is completely bypassed. It cannot be enabled. Therefore you lose Optimus and WiDi as they both require using the iGPU.

Sean Pelletier (Senior Technical Marketing Manager) at Nvidia has a very useful post in the Alienware M17x forum which goes into the detail. Have a read through it and the next few pages for more info HERE.

 

Useful post. Thanks! Relevant text:

"Why can't I use Optimus technology with 3D Vision?
-One of the key aspects of NVIDIA's Optimus technology is that the LVDS display is routed directly to the IGP. This is due to the fact that Optimus always uses the IGP's display controller. When Optimus turns the dGPU is off (100% electrically off, 0W), the IGP is 100% on and enabled. Once Optimus enables the dGPU, every part of the IGP besides the display controller is either shut down or sent to the lowest power state. In each case, the IGP display controller is always used to send to the LCD.

With 3D Vision, the 120Hz 3D LCD needs to be attached directly to the GPU and cannot be routed through the IGP's display controller. "

So, our only hope is for Dell to release a regular display with this machine or to buy a 1600x900 and replace it without our own 1920x1080 display.

 

Here are a few alternative notebooks I am seriously considering. I am sure there are other competitors in this range as well depending on what you are looking for:

Sager 5170 Laptop, Gaming Notebook, Best Gaming Laptop - PC Torque

Sager NP8170 (Built on Clevo P170HM) Custom Gaming Laptop

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks - ASUS N73SV

UK Version: ASUS N73SV N73SV-TZ040V - Laptops - Buying guide: compare prices, technical details, tests, reviews - Twenga.co.uk

Derek

 

So basically switching out the screen on the XPS17 3D is a waste of both time and money. Buying the lower end screen is probably the best option to perform the swap out. Does anyone know if that change alone that voids the Dell warranty?

 

I think just opening up your laptop voids the warranty. I'm pretty confident that opening it up and sticking a new screen in will void the warranty.

Just ridiculous we're having to contemplate this at all. No idea what Dell are playing at with their so called high end laptop line.

 

I agree. Makes me glad I went with Sager.

 

Yep, I'm pretty much deciding on Sager now as I type this on my older Inspiron 1720. Its been a decent laptop overall. But the screen/graphics have been somewhat lacking. So I'm exploring all options. I was hopeful for the new SB XPS 17 line.

But I personally don't want to buy a new Dell noteback just to turn around, swap out the screen, then void the warranty. Even Dell would probably say just buy something else at that point.

I know ppl will still do it with this latest XPS 17 just like they did with the previous model. But is it really worth it or even necessary? What's the incentive? Maybe finding it really cheap with multiple discounts or on ebay or something?

Derek

 

i donjt understand what is realy bad with this new dell and with 3d screen? if you dont want 3d you can just switch of and use normal 2D

 

The bad news is that the 3D screen doesn't support Optimus Tech, which means the power hungry graphics card will always be running, which means you will get a much lower battery life than you would with Optimus running. That's important to a lot of people, myself included (which is why I went for the XPS 15).

The other reason it's bad is because the 3D screen also doesn't support WiDi, which means you will not be able to send your video signal wirelessly to an HDTV source, which is important to me and a lot of other people.

 

Just cancelled after trying to explain all this to the Dell Sales guy. Not convinced he believed me but I got him to cancel anyway

Interestingly the UK site has removed the new XPS from the XPS section? You have to either click on a banner ad. or specifically select the XPS 17 to be able to get to it. Either way you no longer get the the landing page where it had all the tech specs, offers, sandy bridge features and marketing for the new XPS 17. It wasn't like that on Thursday.

 

for me this new dell xps is perfect, i realy dont need option like WIDI, yeah that optimus technology sounds greate, but with that i can live to.

 

I'm sad there is no Sager reseller in Italy

 

that is the most ridiculous statement i have heart for a while

You get more content when you get 10% less pixels??

1920x1200 = 2304000 pixels
1920x1080 = 2073600 pixels


2073600 / 2304000 * 100 = 90% of the pixels you left with..

and thats more content..

Also the quote here really makes me sick, why are they telling that it is important for playing movies? Yes then you don't have black bars, but i don't play movies on my 17" laptop, i work and browse on my laptop.. For playing movies i have a 58" tv screen.. Why on earth should i use a laptop for that..

It seems to me that for a thing that some people use some times in there complete usage of the laptop they are moving to a "Full HD" resolution..

Can i ask around here to all the readers here, how much time do you spend behind your laptop viewing full screen movies compared with the time you do something else?

 

i'd echo that sentiment, though with a little bit of caution - i'll wait to see what the screen is like for 2d apps... for that i'll wait for anandtech to do an indepth review. I'll be looking specifically at color gamut, contrast ratios, color accuracy and viewing angles.

 

very little time. Probably 0.5%?

I'm a heavy user of an 18.6" fhd laptop screen - browsing, photography work, and writing most of the time. Watch the occassionaly video in a window, cuz they're not fhd anyway.

 

Sager uses Clevo's barebones, isn't it ? So there is at least one Clevo reseller in Italy : SANTECH Notebook

 

The problem with the Sager solution for me is that, similarly configured, it's $450 more expensive. Since I'm buying two of these machines, that's $900. And if Dell would sell us a regular FHD screen, it would probably be around $100 less than the 3D version since it doesn't have to come with those expensive glasses.

 

This release has also hit my radar as I an get a pretty capable machine for $1400 not including taxes. I think it is necessary to upgrade to the Blu-ray drive along with backlight keyboard, that would be it for me. The stock 500GB hard drive, 6GB of RAM, 2GHz Core i7 processor, single pair of 3D glasses, and 6-cell battery would all be more than enough for me. No need for me to add bluetooth, a larger hard drive (all of my media is on a USB 3.0/eSATA external anyways), upgrade the RAM (I can always upgrade that later down the line for a much lower price), extended warranty (I never use them), or anything else like that.

The Core i5 version actually tempted me at $1000 but they don't include a pair of the 3D glasses (which are $150) which is absolutely dumb. I know why they are doing it, they want to push people to the more expensive Core i7 option that only costs $200 more.

 

Yeah, but some days ago I asked them if they were planning to release a 17 inch laptop and the answer was negative...

 

Actually there are some threads on this. You can buy from a Clevo reseller which Sager is built upon. Here are a few of threads about this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/264311-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info-read-before-posting.html#europe

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/514676-where-buy-clevo-europe.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/556850-sager-warranty-europe-help-understanding.html

 

I'm going with the Sager 5170 which uses a 17" FHD screen and SB i7 Processor. It starts at $899. With upgrades to RAM and HD its still pretty reasonable. Sager NP5170 Custom Laptop (Built on the Clevo W170HN)

The 8170 is more pricey, but a very nice system for the money. Sager NP8170 (Built on Clevo P170HM) Custom Gaming Laptop.

The Dell alternative is to buy the lower end XPS 17 screen then swap it out. That takes both time and extra money. Plus the warranty is lost.

I'd rather go with something like Sager or ASUS which don't require such mods. I also looked at Acer and HP along with a few other brands. But I didn't find anything comparable. Although I'm sure there will be more competition entering into this market segment. Before Dell I used to used IBM (lenovo) Thinkpads which were pretty good. But they don't really have comparable 17" models.

Derek

 

The problem with it is it has two RAM slots and one hard drive slot versus four and two on the L702x.

 

Yeah, that's all I really need. But they do have an Optical Drive Bay for a second HDD if one was needed.

The next model up offers more of course - Sager NP8170 (Built on Clevo P170HM) Custom Gaming Laptop.

By comparison how much would you estimate the L702x would cost after the screen mod?

Derek

 

I need three HD bays, hence the two + optical.

I think the Dell+mod would still be around $400 less, depending on config chosen, of course.

 

Interesting, I didn't find Dells that much less when I started upgrading RAM, HD, processor, etc... But the funny thing now is you can't even get to their new SB XPS 17 with lower end screen (900p). It seems like it was removed. Ok, found it. It's just harder to get to. The non 3D version seems to have fewer RAM slots BTW.

Just for comparison sake I went back to the XPS 17 3D, upgraded the processor, RAM & HD to acceptable levels and it ends up at $1435. Then add in a new FHD screen and its closer to $1600. That's pretty steep, especially with no warranty. Of course if someone finds the Dell discounts that will lower the overall price.

The best option with Dell I think will be to wait and see if/when they offer a non 3D FHD 17" option. But that could be a long wait. I don't think that option matches their marketing plan/strategy unfortunately.

Derek

 

So you've received an XPS 17 3D already?