Dell Studio XPS 13 and 16 - Coming Soon?

Having the option for XP downgrade would be awesome for most consumers, but knowing Dell... probably not. :S

I'm actually fine with Vista... though... Windows 7 looks promising. (...I can't believe I just said that... )

 

So, it's a possible 11/15?? If so, that's less than 2 weeks away


Cin

 

not possible.. im sure.
but hopefully news will leak before.. if so it will be posted on engadget probably.

 

If even the Studio series got an announcement one or two weeks before launch, you'd think that the Studio XPS series (which is way more than just a refresh of the XPS series with just other internals) would also be treated the same way. Only difference is that the Studio series didn't replace other notebook models, that may be the problem...

Either way, I'd be surprised if Dell didn't announce anything at the start of next week.

 

-_-

...I wouldn't be surprised if they totally forgot to sell these units to Canadians. >_>

We STILL don't have Montevina on Studio 15s. -_-

 

Actually Ultimus if you read up on an economics book the best tactic is to not give any notice at all. Giving notice drives down current sales as consumers anticipate a new product. If Dell still has all of these parts lying around that would be stupid for them to announce montevina products when they still have some santa rosa to sell and no one knows the difference.

 

I hope we dont have to wait much longer I made a deal with dell that they will give me the the "nextgen" laptop as replacement for my XPS M1330. Hope they remember their promise which they gave me about 3-4 months ago ^^

 

Yes.. i shouldnt have said this in august.. spoilt alot of sales for dell? hehe.. we could of had the new xps-s by now.. boo!

 

You bast*rd!!!

 

...or we could hope that we discouraged sales so badly that the Studio XPS becomes an incredible and very aggressively priced product in an attempt to recapture their lost market share due to them being last to the markets with new laptops. I hope they think this rather than the former.

 

Plus with the economy down, they would be cheaper right?

 

...If they were smart and not overly greedy, yes.

How Dell should be selling this unit in the current market:
- Take a hit on Laptop production/sales profits to more aggressively price it.
- Get their customer service back up to those standards they're supposed to be known for.
- Bundle 3 year support plans with everything, while keeping the Studio XPS flawless.

Why consumers would buy into this:
1. Cheaper laptops.
2. Dell's reputable customer service should help sell warranties.
3. If you have a high quality product for a good price, more people will buy in. If you can sell 3 year plans, people get that "safe and secure" feeling with their purchase, and Dell wastes less money replacing/repairing products, and makes profits off warranty plans to cover for any losses by aggressively pricing laptops.

 

i totally disagree with you.. i think 3 year plans should be on the side.. they make the product more expensive as we know.. give it as an option as they do.. dont hastle about it.. its there u want it u pay for it.. hey i dont want my laptop to keep for 3 years.. do u? hehe

 

...hmmm... I guess I wasn't quite clear.

Dell should be trying to make profits by selling their customer service is what I said.

This benefits us who don't care about customer service, because by the plan I posted previously, Dell would sell laptops alone for cheaper than they usually do (basically reduce the premium we have to pay as consumers, and make it up in consumer support plans), and convince more other people to buy into them by offering great, but totally unecessary service (by making a very high quality product, given that Dell's rep for product failure lately has been increasing).

People afraid to lose their product quickly, given some bad rumors about previous generation (XPS overheating anyone?) product failure would quickly buy into these plans if they knew Dell's service was top notch (profit for Dell). Other users who don't care about service can then buy their laptops cheaper than they used to be (increasing Dell's market share). Keep this up for half a year until consumer confidence is restored in Dell, and then they can go back to overcharging with declining service like they are right now. XD

Thus the group of us buying laptops now buy in at a perfectly opportune time. (If only...)

 

But, bundle atleast a one year warranty.

 

...Yea... basically... it's more like a suggestion of how Dell's marketing strategy should be... taking advantage of the declining economy and shaken consumer confidence with all those battery recalls, and other factors as well.

Point being, those Studio XPS' still have to be amazing. -_-
I'm expecting them to be way overpriced on launch like the E4300s were and as such, my standards for the Studio XPS 13 are basically totally based on price vs performance compared to the Vaio Z. -_-

 

If you think that is honestly a smart idea then you would never stay in business. The point is to sell things at the highest price point they possibly can while spending the least they can to do it. Right now Dell is accomplishing that. They are selling year old products at the same rate other manufacturers are selling brand new products for and guess what? It's working.

 

They won't be as overpriced as Apple right

 

They better not be as pricey as Apples. That's really the only thing PCs have going for them right now as they have to deal with the false Vista stigma. They seem to believe that OS X is the OS of the gods or something, but it isn't. It's nice but it could never be my main OS.

 

ofcourse they wont be as pricey as apples.. probably u can get them for bananas.. =)

 

The two things I hoped for in the last few days have come true (Lewis Hamilton WDC 2008, Obama 44th President). I hope my final wish comes true with the Studio XPS getting an Nvidia card.

 

News? Anything?

 

any followups?

 

You make a valid point, but continuing to operate in such a manner will only serve to further erode Dell's brand image. If consumers associate DELL with "old tech", that's a problem. This strategy may be generating cash flow right now (at lower profit margins), but it can't be sustained indefiintely.

What's happening with previous DELL customers who want the newest technology (nVIDIA 9000-series graphics, for instance) and need/want to purchase a new laptop NOW? They're left with no option but to go to one of
Dell's competitors.

The Centrino 2 (or Montevina) transition/upgrade, or lack thereof, doesn't look for Dell, either. Every other competitor has done this (HP, Toshiba, ASUS, Lenovo, just off the cuff) but DELL has only partially implemented the new hardware on the Studio 15....that's it on the consumer side! The Latitude E-seroies and Precision M2400/4400/6400 were all introduced based on the Centrino 2 platform, so the Business side is pretty solid.

 

Oh man, you have really low expectations. Your third and final wish is definitely easy enough. I'm still waiting for Jessica Alba to unmarried herself and walk into my house.

 

What do you think, is there a chance that the new XPS 13 will sport a resolution higher than 1280x800? (Have you ever seen one on a 13 " laptop?) I'd sure love a more portable machine than my recent 15,4", but I just can't survive on 1.02 million pixels...

 

No I dont think it will.

Sony Z (1600*900) and Lenovo X300 (1440*900) do offer higher res.

 

If it is 16:9 it might have 1366x768 or even 1600x900.

 

The problem is Centrino 2 didn't get that much talk at all when it came out. It came out with such little fanfare that people who are decent with computers that I know don't know about it. For the most part it's only techies who know what Centrino 2 is and I bet you if intel had a ton of commercials saying Centrino 2 or something Dell would have moved already. I mean Dell knows it can get away without Centrino 2 but I bet you if lenovo, sony, and other manufacturers started using Centrino 2 logos a TON in their ads Dell would be forced to upgrade.

Dell's previous customers are extremely happy with the CURRENT XPS. I go to Penn State and my first week here I have seen over 50 NEW xps. Each person I have talked to with an XPS is so happy and thinks they have some of the fastest tech on the market. Even if I tell them that they could have gotten more for less from any other manufacturer they don't understand. In all honesty we have another 10-20 years before PC makers will have trouble marketing cheap products at expensive prices.

 

well.. its relative.. tential.. look at the business models.. they came out right away.. dont forget dell is big in business.. their consumer line is still picking up..

 

I remember seeing on one of the slides the 13" would stay 16:10 while the 16" would be 16:9.

Don't know if those slides were accurate though.

I hope it will be 16:10, I've had the Z for a while. Great laptop but I don't like the aspect ratio.

 

well the slides dont say they will stay 16:10... but probably yes..

 

The processors introduced with Centrino 2 only offer marginal performance increases over the original Penryn models. By far the BEST part of Centrino 2 is the Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics that offers more than double the performance capabilities of the Intel GMA X3100. The 4500MHD is the first Intel IGP that is actually a viable option for a lot of folks who need more than the X3100 but don't want a battery-draining discrete card either.

I don't dispute the fact that the XPS models still sell, but I have seen more than a few NBR members who bought an HP, ASUS or other notebook because they wanted an nVIDIA 9500 or 9600 graphics card.

Dell also had the distinction of being the only vendor still offering the nVIDIA 8600M GT when the news hit about the nVIDIA cards failing prematurely- and the card most likely to fai....drum roll.....the 8600M GT!!!

Several news items, including a few on Engadget, said that the separate XPS line was being discontinued. It was posted in late August or early September, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe there are new Studio XPS models that will hit between now and Thanksgiving. The XPS M1530 just hanging out as long as people keep buying it, perhaps?

 

Quick question regarding one of the pics. It looks like the finish of the laptop is more plasticy (similar to HP, Asus) than the previous xps. Is this a fairly accurate description? or is the picture just bad

 

I just PRAY that Dell can continue to resist the urge to make the LCD/lid glossy black or some variation. The Toshiba Satellite's "Fusion" finish and the HP "Onyx" trim look awesome....but they don't stay that way unless you wear microfiber gloves at all times! A few hours into using a dv7t and it the onyx lid is one HUGE smudge and the keyboard, touchpad and chrome trim looks like a toddler holding a FudgeSicle has been at the helm!

 

Again allfiredup those are valid points but NBR readers can't be the average consumer. I wouldn't consider NBR readers to be highly technically advanced but they do keep up with PC news. Meanwhile the average consumer does not read a forum online, does not read much maybe than a review, and certainly doesn't read engadget who post anything under the sun so they can have news. At best they lost 5% of people who would be buying laptops but make all of that back up and more by selling weaker products. What would be better is if a major article was posted somewhere if this becomes a continuing trend. Dell is just preying off the fact that most people don't know much about the innards of computers which is understandable considering most people only want to check email anyway and don't need to know how fast their PC is or what a terrabyte is.

I definitely wish all new devices made now adays weren't so smudge attractive but lets face it allfiredup. You see something shiny vs something dull and something shiny looks better 120% of the time. The only problem is keeping it shiny but you aren't buying a used product. I mean the gloss is fine to me as long as they at LEAST add in a cloth to clean the screen and laptop along with a cleaner. I think it's stupid that they ship these things and let them get ruined and then we have to go and find products to keep it clean. Either that or they could just make sure that the problems never existed in the first place because I hate smudges it pisses me off and makes it so hard to use this iphone.

 

Of the people I know who purchased the XPS 1530 after the whole nVidia fiasco, I haven't heard of any more problems w/ the 8600M GT. As long as Dell can sell them, they might as well clear out their stock of 8600M GTs lol.

 

Most NBR regulars are not the average user, agreed. But plenty of users come and go to get advice and research laptops they're intersted in purchasing...once they make the purchase, that's often the end of their interest in NBR.

The average XPS owner is very likely to keep up with what's going on in the tech world. Most are gamers and the vast majority are know that there are newer, more power nVIDIA 9000-series graphics cards avaiable but Dell isn't offering them! These same gamers are also well versed on what other gaming models have the superior 9700M GT and GTS, et al.

I know for an absolute fact that Dell has lost customers who had an XPS M1530 with the 8600M GT and there was no upgrade path for them in a Dell model! I've been hearing this same story over and over for almost a year now!

There are countless postings from users trying to decide between the HP dv5t and Dell Studio 15. Until the Studio 15 finally got the Centrino 2 upgrade on one configuration, that was one of the two reasons for many to choose the HP over the Dell. The other main reason was the Studio 15's relatively weak ATI HD 3450 graphics card. The HP has the option of the nVIDIA 9600M GT!

Actually, DELL almost didn't get me as a customer! I debated between the dv5t, dv7t and Studio 15. I finally decided on the HP dv7t, placed my order and, after four days, couldn't stand the fan noise or the the constantly smudged glossy black lid! I sent it back to HP for a refund and ordered my Studio 15 after that. If the HP's fan had ran as quietly as the one on my Studio 15, I wouldn't be in his forum having these discussions!

 

The only reason I'm here is because the Sony Z series is too expensive, I don't feel like ordering a T400 because I want a 13 inch laptop, the asus u6v has too little batterylife, and the macbook is an apple which means that I gotta deal with that crap. Dell is my last shot at a Sony Z competitor pretty much and then I gotta decide what I want.

 

They were removing the the line itself but will instead have laptops like the studio XPS, Inspiron XPS, etc.. etc..

 

what about the Lenovo U330 or one of the new Samsungs thats now out in the US?

 

I suspect Dell have calculated the amount of business lost due to not releasing the new chips immediately (since there's no urgency to the release, nor have they attempted to advertise the upcoming introduction of the new Centrino chips - if they had it may have suggested they'd made a mistake and were trying to hang on to customers).

Personally I'm pretty indifferent to having the latest technology in the laptop (the current Dell XPS's cater for my needs easily and appear to be priced accordingly). Consider that the current Montevina platform Dell are rolling out will be replaced by the Calpella platform this time next year and that even the Montevina platform is likely to be refreshed between now and then (so you rarely get the latest technology, and even if you do it wont be the latest for long).

It is bad that you have to pay a high price for outdated hardware, however this doesn't appear to be the case for the XPS line (at least in the UK). The XPS pricing is comparable with similar hardware in other big companies (Acer being the main competitor carried by UK computer retailers).

In terms of delyay of the Montevina release by Dell, Acer are just beginning to roll out their Montevina laptops (as the 6935G) which suggests that Dell aren't that late to the game. These, which offer 4GB DDR3 RAM a P8400 CPU and a NVidia 9600M GT graphics card) are a good few hundred pounds more than the current Dell XPS's.

 

Goren, how about the Vaio SR?

 

i would say the Vaio SR is pretty cheap.. quality wise.. and not a stunner.. good for business though

 

So what would be the price range for these new XPS'? I am trying to decide between an Asus and a Toshiba in the $1000 dollar range.

 

got to wait and see.. but in at a limit of 1k usd i would say u go for a studio.. hmm

 

They can't be as pricey as the Macbooks...Or I might as well spend a bit more and get the m15x.

 

i purchased my xps m1530 last july with nvidia 8600gt and i dont have any problems or whatsoever in my graphics card. i can play crysis and dmc4 at descent speed.

 

OK GUYS.. Studio 17 has been updated.. but one thing i want to note is the Screen options.. ones u will see in the XPS version

Bright, Hi Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch RGB LED display (1920x1200) [add $250 or $8/month1]

NICE.. and cheap.

 

The price for the RGB LED is a bit surprised. I'd definitely like to see one in person.