Studio XPS 13 vs Latitude E4300

Hi All,

I am in the market for a new laptop. I have been tossing up wether to get the Dell XPS 13 or the Dell Latitude 4300 (13"). I am particulary looking for a laptop to use on the train as I commute to work and so am looking for something small, with a battery life that can handle up-to 2 hours with maybe 30% of the time high CPU usage (1 hour each way).

I am a software developer and will want to dual boot Windows and Linux, and will want something with a bit of grunt. I am looking at the following specs:

Core 2 Duo (1066MHz FSB, preferrably 6M Cache, CPU speed not as important but 2GHz or higher)
4 GB RAM (2x 2GB DD3)
320GB HDD 7200RPM
Wifi (802.11g is enough)
Ethernet: 100Mb is enough
13" WLED backlit display (thinner and uses less power apparently)

Now, both the above systems can meet these specs. The big issues I am having in choosing between the Studio XPS 13 and the Latitude 4300 are the graphics card, build quality, heat generation and Linux compatibility, and price (I can get the Latitude for almost $500 AU cheaper).


As I understand it (let me know if I am wrong):

* XPS 13 has much better video card (was looking at the Geforce 9500M GE Hybrid) than the Latitude (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD).

Does anyone know if the video card in the XPS 13 is integrated into the motherboard?

I know it combines a low power on-board chip and a more beasty chip using SLI (Hybrid). Can the more beasty chip be upgraded possibly in the future? I.e. Is it using some kind of mini PCIe slot?

Is there ANY way of upgrading the video card on the Latitude (Dell dont seem to offer any upgrades) or using say an express slot (I read they are only PCIe 1x) with an external video card? How would this perform?

This is the main problem I have with the Latitude. I will likely need to use it for games (At work we are developing voice communications software for multiplayer games) and I dont think this will be able to do what i need. It wont be for serious gaming, just testing games. My desktop will be used for serious games.

* The build quality of the Latitude sounds very good (strong/long lasting) and the XPS 13 is so/so from what I have read.

Any thoughts on this? Would the XPS 13 stand up to small knocks it might recieve while being used on a train?

* From what I have read, both emit a lot of heat.
Some say that the XPS 13 is too hot to use on your lap. Where as the latitude seems to be a moderate temperature.

Ignoring games (I wont play games with it on my lap), is the operating temperature for CPU intensive tasks (but not graphics intensive tasks) like compiling software ok for using the XPS 13 on your lap? How about the latitude?

XPS 13: 48.8 deg C
Latitude: 42.0 deg C

I assume, that it would be fine if i took a book with me I could sit it on, but that starts to limit the portability of the machine.

Is there some way of adjusting the temp that the fan turns on in the XPS 13 (say in the BIOS) in order to enforce a cooler running temp?

Also does anyone know any statistics or are familiar with any cases where hotter running laptops generally had hardware failures more/died earlier?


* Linux compatibility

I read that NVidia do NOT support the Hybrid SLI graphics cards on Linux (XPS 13 9500M GE video card).

Does this mean they do not run at all?
or
That I cant choose between the fast or slow chips?
or
That they do not support 3D acceleration but are fine for general operating system usage?

I assume that the Latitude works fine under Linux. Anyone with experience with eithre of these two under native Linux?




Most of my information has been gathered from looking at the following reviews:

Studio XPS 13
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Notebook.14081.0.html

Latitude E4300
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E4300-Laptop.13236.0.html

 

Does your gaming include demanding 3D graphics? If so, the nVidia graphics would be the better option, albeit with some penalty of more heat and less battery time.

If the graphics are not so demanding then the Intel graphics may be up to the task. Can you do a test run of the development environment on a notebook with integrated graphics or throttle back a dedicated GPU to have equivalent performance.

The Latitude's build should make it more suitable for daily travel and use on a train. It would be my recommendation if the graphics performance is OK.

John

 

I'm receiving my SXPS 13 in 1.5-2.5 weeks. Thus far it is my understanding that either GPU will work individually (after a bit of configuring) but one cannot switch from the 9200 GS to the 9400 G or vice-versa while the machine is booted as one can on Windows.. Therefore, "hybrid SLI" is somewhat of a waste at the moment if you don't have Windows. That said, Nvidia's integrated 9400 G alone is better than Intel's integrated 4500MHD. The Latitude should work better out of the box but the SXPS should be able to work properly.

 

Any other comments?