Why no XPS 17 revision? Did Dell ever give a reason for the lack of an upgrade?

The XPS 17 (L702x) has been my favorite laptop of all time. Not perfect, but an excellent laptop. I need to upgrade and its a painful process finding anything remotely close in same areas which are important to me. The form factor is great, smaller than the larger, heavier gaming notebooks. The ergonomics of the Keyboard and Touchpad are fantastic for a Windows laptop. It's sturdy aluminum frame has withstood the test of time. The monitor and sound are great. So what gives, Dell? I want to give them my $$ for a worthy upgrade, but nothing! I get that many don't want/need a larger monitor. Yet I do. So, no, I don't care about the 15 XPS. I've already got two 15" laptops for work and my wife has the XPS 15. Their smallish displays simply don't cut it for photo / video editing and other things I enjoy doing. And the Alienware line is just too ridiculously huge. Inspiron is too flimsy, under powered and overpriced. XPS is the sweet spot.

Although not happy about it, I've come to accept the reality of Dell's XPS decision. So here's what I 'attempted' to replace my XPS 17 with:
1. HP Envy Touchscreen 17"
2. Asus - ROG G752VL 17"
3. MSI GL72 17"

I purchased each of these with the goal of retiring the XPS and moving on to newer, faster tech. However in each case I was disappointed enough to return the laptop rather than settle for significantly less in a number of areas - mainly ergonomics, form factor and build quality.The fact that small screened notebooks are the current rage seems to be limiting the field. So, I've decided to accept certain inferior aspects to gain the performance boost of new hardware. As such, I somewhat reluctantly ordered a new MSI GE72 Apache Pro 17" from Best Buy today. I love their hassle free return policy. However I really don't want to return another laptop. Of the three I returned so far, MSI was the closest to being almost good enough. Heck, if Apple still made a 17" MacBook Pro, I may just switch over from Windows. Their touchpad is by far the best in any laptop I've tested recently. But they followed the same lack of 17" upgrade path as Dell did with their XPS 17" line. So, I guess this is it for new Dells for me for a while. I'll pass the L702 on to my son. It will surely be better in a number of ways than my newer upgrade.

 

You won't be disappointed with the GE72. It's a LOT better than the low end GL72: The screen is a crispier IPS panel, and the build quality cuts a lot less corners (since it's few hundreds more pricey).

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That's great to hear, SkidrowSKT. The online research I did seemed to indicate that. However, there are certain things that are hard to determine util you actually have the laptop and begin using it. I should know in about a week's time. BTW, B&H was selling for $300 less than BB and so BB gave me their lower price. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1213133-REG/msi_17_3_ge72_apache_pro_070.html

 

The only "real" handicap I see in this laptop (and pretty much most gaming laptops) is the battery life. You'd be lucky if you're able to shave 4 hours through normal usage and low brightness nits.

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Yeah, I can live with lower battery life to gain other benefits such as the larger screen. For me that's a lower priority since It's plugged in most of the time anyway.

 

Then you're good to go.
As a matter of fact, why don't you look for the newer MSI GE72? For almost the same price (1200$) you can have the the i7-7700HQ and the GTX 1050Ti, which beats the 970M by a little margin and runs cooler. The cooling in the newer MSI Pascal laptops has also improved.

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Yeah, I checked those out and almost bought one from Xoticpc. I eventually decided to go with last year model simply to get it from BB mainly for their excellent, no hassle return policy. I've had so many that didn't work out for one reason or the other. But I agree in terms of pure performance. The newer ones look really nice. Do you have an MSI? You seem very knowledgeable about their product line. I honestly knew very little about the company until recently.

 

Surprisingly enough, I have never owned one (yet)! But my friends did own all sorts of MSI laptops (ranging from GL to GT), and I've had all the chances to test the machines up close, and even open them up for simple upgrades.
The next upgrade from my 6YO Sandy Bridge Acer laptop will definitely be an MSI laptop.

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I want you to check this post I made myself, just so you can get my point and understand how MSI really improves their products (and how you SHOULD go for the latest model, do whatever it takes and ask BB to bring it on sale, I highly encourage it).
http://imgur.com/a/7rUtA

Small EDIT: Before you ask... Yes, the internals in the 15" models are exactly the same as 17", with probably very minor modifications, but not in the cooling solution. Everything I said about the GE62 applies to GE72.

 

Yeah, that does look like an improvement. I may have to consider getting that newer model after all. If so, BB is going to hate me for cancel/returning another laptop order! I don't see the newer model on their site yet. They've only got a VR version so far which I really don't want or need. If I cancel, I may have to order through XoticPC. They seem to get the newer models before any of the larger stores do.

 

I'm actually looking at the new MSI GS73 as an upgrade from the XPS 15 9550. There is a new revision this year that comes with 1070 graphics.

 

Well, it's really up to you. Last year's MSI GE72 is exactly the same, so you are not missing anything except the internal upgrades.

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The main problem with the MSIs are the awkward keyboard (especially for us Europeans who are used to a 2 row return key), that they have some crazy PSU connectors for some laptops and that the are usually keen on including a lot of bloatware. Would imagine that for a US user used to single height return key, the transition might be easier, but the non standard location of the AltGr drives me crazy every time.

 

In Spain, I can easily buy MSI laptops with no OS installed (FreeDos). The layout is really something you can get used to pretty quick. What really matters is the quality, and it is top notch!

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Well, not as easy if you frequently use external keyboards or more than one laptop, then it is a pain in the...you know. At least for me, others might have better luck.

 

Anyone interested in a "17" XPS" should probably have a look at the Aorus line also. Unfortunately they are not available in Sweden without GSync/120hz (aka no Optimus), if not, I would have gotten one already.

 

I did purchase a lower end MSI with the same keyboard configuration and found I liked certain aspect more and others less. Overall, I find I can live with it and get used to the differences. The main thing I really didn't like was the touchpad which is typically inferior in almost every laptop I've tried compared to the XPS 17. The touchpad on this older laptop is smooth, accurate and very natural to use. In addition the mouse buttons are the best. Many of the newer laptops suck in this regard and most ppl just go straight to an external mouse to compensate. Apple kills most PC notebooks in this area except for a few including XPS. The MacBook Pro's touchpad is one of the best out there. I've thought about getting an Apple Magic Trackpad 2 and adapting it to my new Windows laptop.

 

Well, I decided to go with the newer MSI GE72 Apache Pro from XoticPC. The updates looked worth moving to the newer model. I also upgraded to an SSD drive. We'll see in ~ week how it performs.

Maybe Dell will develop a 17 XPS again some day. But until then I'm not holding my breath. They've decided my market segment isn't worth targeting anymore for whatever reason. We had a lot of users on this board for quite so time.