My decision 1747 vs 1749 vs XPS 16

Just ordered my Studio 17 i7-720QM with the misleading 560v (original name: 4650) and the full HD display.

My decision was based on 4 factors:
I needed a machine that can handle multiple processes at the same time, handle photo editing/manipulation video editing with CS5 and provide a big screen to be able to give me better visual help with CS5 at the same time giving me the possibility to play some games once in a while and allow me to view countless hours of media on a larger screen.

The option i had listed were;


The Studio XPS 16
The Studio 1749
The Studio 1747


Now for me the Studio XPS 16;
as much as i have enjoyed the XPS line, (im writing on my ancient 1710 XPS =P) it seems the xps line will be coming to an end in the near future.

For me that gives the laptop a negative point, because whenever i buy a dell, i don't buy it only for the specs and the somewhat better design, but for the service of replacements and fixing eventual hardware issues that arise out of nowhere later down the road.
I have been blessed with getting a brand new laptop, replace with better display, small bonuses etc etc on several occasions so when i read that dell might be losing the xps all together i was less interested in buying one,(only a little).

Another big factor with the XPS is the heating issue, although your bound to have heating issues with any dell, the XPS has severe heating issues. I have already gone through heating issues once before with my 1710 and it was not a pretty sight, i would rather get a laptop with a stable heating issue rather than one that is over the line.



Thus it came down to studio 1749 VS 1747. Now these two are fairly similar, as one would assume, but the difference lies within three factors that i had to consider. The CPU, the GPU and THE HEATING(da da daaaa).

*cough* sorry.

While the 1749 has reduced the heating issue far more than the 1747, and having a better GPU (HD 5650) than the 1747 (HD 4650), its lack of quad processor puts it in the losing box for me. Now this wasn't a easy decision i spent probably 2 days arguing with my alter self (i call him Alphonso) on which way to go.

One the one side we have this machine that will be great for day to day work, media viewing, reduced overheating and above good gaming, while being suitable for some hard work as well (photo/video editing). The 1749.

And in the other corner we have this machine that will be awesome for multiple processes, Adobe CS5, media viewing and good gaming, but more heating issue and a fan issue(that might have been fixed with the bios update) the 1747.

I had to choose either my work or my gaming.
With so many things going against the 1747 and some better things in the 1749 i had to make the responsible choice.

Eventually i decided on my work based on the simple fact, most gaming i will do will probably be SC2 or some older games, for hardcore games i will always have a PS3 lying around so laptop gaming wont be my priority for leisure.
I also need the laptop primarily for my work and business and secondarily for my leisure (even if Alphonso tries to lure me into temptation for leisure).

Although the 1749 has reduced the heating issue, i still opted to go with the 1747, if there would be any problem i feel secure that dell will provide the service needed to fix or replace the issue( 2 year next day premium warrenty). that and the fact that down the line they will be creating new studio laptops rather than XPS giving me more options to better upgrade the laptop if needed.


so here are the specs to my new bride, i will be raping her in little over two weeks or less =P;

Studio 1747 : Intel i7-720QM(1.6GHz) Mobile CPU
Display : 17.3in Full High Definition (1920X1080) LED with TrueLife
Palmrest : Silver Chainlink with Black Chainlink Cover only
Camera : Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera
LCD Back Cover : Black Chainlink
Resource DVD : Studio 1747 Diagnostics and Drivers
Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (gonna see if i can get the 1333mhz)
Hard Drive : 500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software (Win 7 Only)
Power Cord : European 1M
Power Supply : Inspiron 90W AC Adapter
Battery : Primary 9-cell 85W/HR LI-ION
Graphics : 1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 560v
Wireless : Dell Wireless 1520 (802.11n) Half Mini Card
Wireless : Wireless Label CI7
Keyboard : Internal Nordic Multi-Language Keyboard


I opted for the 4b memory as you can just buy a cheaper 8gb somewhere else rather than spending too much with dell.
500gb HDD - you can buy a separate 500gb or 1tb as i plan to and install it yourself than paying or over priced 2x 500gb.
Black Chainlink - hey normal black ain't bad, i was thinking about buying one of those custom displays but then i remembered i can design one myself and just get that made for it if really needed.
Optical drive - blue ray well , if i want to watch a blue ray movies il use the big screen at home, i just want to watch the daily shows like tru blood and blue mountain state(seriously check it out) breaking bad etc on it on a daily basis in-between work.
keyboard - unfortunately they didnt have backlit keyboards where i am, so i will be acquiring one myself later on.

 

Almost the same spec as my baby Morphiex. I went through a similar decision process as yourself - originally looking at the XPS but discounting it 'cos I didn't trust the heating issues. True, the 1747 had some bad press for this too, but not so severe. The 1749 has less of a heat issue just because it uses less wattage.

Shame you couldn't get the backlit keyboard, it's sweet. Do yourself a favour and get the 130W adapter (free) from Dell support so you can max the potential of the GPU, CPU, esp also if like me you fit another HDD. You're right, I saved myself some coin (and had some fun!) fitting one myself.

No Blu-ray drive, man, how you gonna rip blu-rays (if you were so inclined, that is, perish the thought) without one.

Enjoy your baby when it arrives.

ps - If you don't mind and remember, run the 3DMark06 benchmark test on it and let us know what you get.

 

Hey Coruja, thanks for reminding me of the 130W i sent them a email askign them to send me the 130W instead of the 90W. Yea im looking forward to when it arrives hopefully they can get it done and shipped here within 10 days rather than 14.

Il do a 3DMark benchmark test on it of course. once ive reformatted the hdd and gotten rid of the 1gb memory hog apps that comes with dell =P
Maby il do a little review as well.

 

You would have to receive the system first before you can get them to ship you the 130w. This could be a painful process, but I'm sure you'd get it. The stock(90w) is not enough to power these.

 

Cool on the benchmark.

Like anodize says, they won't send you the 130WPSU just 'cos you ask em via email. That'd be too easy - they want you to jump through some tougher hoops than that! Took me a couple of 1hr-long support calls (since they just sent me another 90WPSU first time) but I got it eventually.

 

ell i did the becnhmarks ;

compleatly new laptop with dell crap still installed i recieved a 3dmark06 score of 6212.

fresh installed win 7 ultimate 64 bit i recieved a 3dmar06 score of 6224.

and a 3dmark vintage score of p2160.

just to let you guys know i have the 90w adapter so that might be why its not that good.

 

Morph, no problem with your scores. I get the same on my 1747.

 

Oh ok, i thought it should have been around 7k at least according to the reviews online. but anyways i installed SC2 and played for a couple of hours and i have no regrets the game runs awesome and no lags no hiccups , great graphics and I AM COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY THE SCREEEN!! seriously i never seen colors like this on a laptop, My eyes went O..O.

The laptop is really fast and sooo smooth, i like the size of it and the little extended battery in the back i don't mind it on ,my lap at all, it actually is helpful to the airflow i think its great they made it like that.

The heat issue is not even that much, yes it gets a littel warm right under the touchpad but it is in nooo way that hot as some memebrs kept complaining about , you would have thought they expected it to catch on fire lol.

the only two drawbacks for me is the touch-pad first, i find it too big, when i use it i unintentionally put my hand in such a position that my ring finger accidentally touches a little of the corner without me noticing some times and that creates the zoom in zoom out functions which is slightly annoying.

the second is a dell assembly fault, its only a minor issue but it still slightly bugges me. they didnt properly align the plastic above the media buttons ( ie play stop volume) its such that the platic is slightly risen above the play and rewind button but you can push it in position but it wont stay there it will pop up again- but were talking about 1 mm here though. its not that big of a deal but i would have rather not have it like that.


all in all the machine is awesome i don't regret getting it at all. the keyboard is actually amazing to type with i would prob have liked the arrow keys to be a little bigger but its just that im used to them being bigger so no big deal. the sound is amazing the screeen is beyond amazing and im gonna enjoy this one for many years =) i recommend it to anyone.

 

Thanks for posting your 3Dmark06 score Morphiex - same as I get. According to notebookcheck the average is 6394 so I guess our scores are reasonable, though the highest is 7500

AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I suppose there are lots of variables that effect the score - and it's a synthetic benchmark at the end of the day. Maybe Anodize's reduction is due to ATI video driver updates?

Anyhow, sounds like you're very happy with your purchase Morphiex - the 1747's a beaut' eh! Especially that screen...And the sound too - a couple of times A couple of times I've mis-connected my external speakers and not realized it because the laptop's own speakers are so good.

Regarding the heat, I'm keeping an eye on it but so far no problems. Recently I've been using Handbrake to reduce a bunch of 1080p MKV's to 720p and I ran a batch job the other night that took 10hrs. Handbrake has the CPU running at max on all cores so the fan was on high the wholetime. The laptop didn't feel crazy hot after 10hrs and the hightest temp hit by the CPU was 80 degs C, with the average around 75 degs C.

I agree also the build quality is so-so, but no deal breaker - after all these things are built down to a price. If you think about your bang for the buck these days it's amazing (this would've been a $2500+ laptop a couple of years back).

 

no problem.

Can anyone recommend any apps that can be used to manage or just view fan control or laptop-heat.

I always had ik8gni or however its pronounced on my 1710 but im guessing it wont work for these models.

also any other apps that might be helpful for a fellow 1747 owner =)

thanks.

 

Coretemp, along with the AllCPUMeter gadget.