Will the XPS refresh look different

Is dell planning to change the looks of the XPS on the refresh?? I am not sure if I can wait until the refresh comes out, but if the looks are changing, I might have too. Its like buying a new bmw just to have the model change the year after

 

Most Likely not.

 

maybe, to accomadate new cooling apps and such but i think the current one is as close to perfection as it can get.

 

Nah, they will make it better. Who wouldve thought the M1530 would look so sleek when it came out? Designers come up with new designs all the time. Take the iPod, you think its the best design one year, but then a new slicker and thinner one is even greater.

In terms of the M1530, if they actually come out with a refresh notebook to replace the M1530, YES it will be a better design. Why? Montevina is physically 25% smaller than current Santa Rosa on top of all the power saving, etc. So you can be sure that laptops from Montevina onwards will have a sleeker profile than the laptops currently out in the market provided that the designers take advantage of it, which the Dell XPS line most likely will. Of course they could make it slightly thinner and add more cooling, which is still a plus for overclocking and stuff.

 

Aesthetically no, mechanically yes.

Essentially it's most likely to change where the flaws were. An evolution over a revolution if you like. In appearance it shouldn't differ greatly, the current look has sold extremely well in both thirteen and fifteen inch jackets. However if this generation is anything to go by, the next M1330 (due sooner) will give you an outline of what you might expect to see from the next M1530.

 

Come on, the iPod has constantly improved with thinner and thinner designs. M1530 is the same, except Montevina is 25% smaller in form factor compared to current Santa Rosa platforms. What it means is a smaller motherboard, meaning it takes up less space. Designers have more freedom once it arrives. Im sure the M1530 is not the be all end all design. Though Im sure they can keep it up if they stuck with the same design and added backlit keyboard and higher res LED displays.

Its more of a matter of whether Dell wants to or not. At this point, they dont really have to since they top notebook sales already with the M1530. Maybe once sales slow, they will unleash something new.

 

Maybe it will look different and get a new name, ie, Studio instead of XPS:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/03/dell-studio-line-details-leak-out/

 

No... Studio is not an XPS replacement. The only thing designwise that the Studio has is backlit keyboards and the eSATA port. Seeing how Studio looks that sleek... the next gen of M1530 must look... wow.

 

Odd that there is speculation that the Studio line could be between the Inspiron and XPS. I mean, how much room is there between those to stick an entire new line of systems?

It's either got to be an XPS replacement, or the gap between Inspiron and XPS is going to have to widen...either with the next XPS being even higher end, or the next Inspiron going even more budget. Otherwise, there's simply no room for a Studio line between them.

 

Yeah, there is. Like I said long before the rumor, I have a hitch that the Studio line will be mainly towards graphics artists and such where they have pretty good variety of options except for graphics card will be lower end or, not suitable for gaming. However its design will counterbalance that. There is always room for everything.

 

I hope it's not really geard towards graphic artists...because they're not leaving their MBP's for a Dell.

I dunno...just seems a little crowded to me. It'd be like paying a premium for an Inspiron in a cool case. Guess I don't see the need for three lines. Keep two and widen the options within each.

I guess we'll all find out together. Apparently your M1530 hasn't come yet, or you'd not be hanging out here discussing the Studio series.

 

Supposed to come today, but no tracking information whatsoever. And why are you hanging around here discussing the Studio series since you've received your fully working no-flaw-cept-for-the-optiarc notebook?

 

i believe he is talking about the one coming in october, the full refresh of the xps line not the inspiron refresh.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Thirded.

There simply isn't enough room in between the two lines, or one is going to drastically change. If that does happen, then the Studio line would probably still even replace one of the lines because it'd have to fit the space left by the change.

I expect this will be the 'new' XPS -- as in, what replaces the current XPS laptop line. I'm sure the actual XPS line will be higher-end, with the Alienware consolidation.

 

Good point about Alienware. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago there were rumors that the XPS line might be discontinued altogether.

After reading these follow-ups, this is what I think...

The Inspiron (refresh or not) will remain positioned just where it is. The "Studio" line will be positioned essentially where the XPS is currently, with one exception. It'll have the nicer form-factor, higher-end CPU choices, and better dsiplay options. But it'll lack the gaming graphics cards that the current XPS line has. That'll be shifted upwards into what is now Alienware, but maybe will become Alien XPS, or XPS Alien.

That makes sense. But Inspiron --> Studio --> XPS --> Alienware is too much.

 

I personally hope they wouldn't change the graphics options on the studio to be different from the current XPS simply because that's what everyone is offering -- it wouldn't make them too much different from the Inspirion, and it'd put them behind their competitors who all use similar graphics packages.

 

One of the popular electronics news site (forgot which one), viewed that the new line up will be this

Inspiron -> Studio -> Alienware, with the XPS being taken out.. i.e those who want gaming power will have to look at alienware, those who want style will look at Studio.

 

Hmm it'd be interesting to see, originally I thought Dell decided on keeping the XPs line but making them more Multimedia geared then set up for gaming but it seems the Studio line is more multimedia..

I'm not sure Dell would be ready to pull the XPS line especially with the success of the M1530 and Alienware's lack of a real strong flagship laptop with all of the M15x issues and the M17x's not even being shipped yet. They would probably have to wait until the next Alienware laptop lineup or Alienware straightens out the M15 x issues.

 

As of right now, there will probably just be a refresh. No new models. At least there aren't any new rumors about new models.