General Questions

A lot of these questions are best guess at best but what do you think?

1. I'd like to get a 15.4" laptop after a few more months and I was looking at the xps m1530 but if they retire the line then I'll have to go to studio xps. The slides (showing xps studio), if their real, show a 16" model but will they keep their current 15.4" model and add the sub name xps to it?

2. If you think that dell is retiring the xps because of competition with alienware, do you think that they will keep the same hardware options as their current xps line? I'd like to get the 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT and the 128gb ssd but if they aren't going to put that on the studio maybe I should look at getting the xps 1530 now. (I'd really like to wait for a backlit keyboard and the ability to switch from integrated to dedicated gpu)

3. Is there a difference between a WLED screen and a LED LCD screen?

4. What is the build quality difference from studio to the xps line? Do you think it will improve with studio xps?

Thanks!!

(I hope (and doubt) they keep the XPS line)

 

1. There is a 16 inch model coming out (like sony's - its great for 16:9 viewing. Sony peddles theirs as a movie machine, have to see what Dell's take will be).

2. I have a hard time believing that Dell doesn't want to 'compete' with Alienware . . . while they constantly position and reposition their products, they will always try to maintain higher margin 'premium' lines. If we start to see Alienware products on Dell's site, we'll know what Dell had in mind. Just keep your eye on the 'premium line' - you will find your better GPUs there. Case in point, a lot of people have inspirons and even some studios with better GPUs than is currently offered - Dell wanted to offer those on what it positioned as its 'gamer' laptops.

3. The 'W' indicated wide screen - typically the mainstream offering at the moment.

4. They share some parts. The chassis is different, but I do not think that the hardware is significantly different moving from one computer to the next. Typically, I do bank on newer models being built better than the previous generation, but you should NOT assume this is always true. In the case of Dell PCs, XPS would typically be the good stuff.

 

1. The 16 inch model will be 16:9 AR. So it'll be a similar size, just about an inch wider.

2. Dell is retiring the XPS due to Alienware. They have consolidated the design teams. They will still have higher end specs with midrange video cards and a selection of higher priced components. They just won't be flashy gaming computers.

3. WLED refers to it being a white LED. Dell will start to offer RGBLEDs on the higher end notebooks.

4. Build is roughly the same. The XPS is slimmer and lighter. At the moment Studios have ATI graphics while XPS use nVidia.