XPS or Studio 1535

Simple question... I've been presented with an offer to keep my current 1535 order, or if I spend about £10-£20 more I can get the same spec (minus the fingerprint reader but plus the Nvidia GFX card) laptop in the XPS range rather than the Studio range. Other than the GFX card, what advantage, performance wise, is there in getting the XPS over the Studio?

Thanks.

 

m8,dont pay attention to this spam above!btw,

1.it is studio 15,not 1535
2.have you heard of frying nvidia video cards?

 

I have heard of that, can you explain in a bit more detail?

 

^ Studio 15 it is, but it's also known as 1535.

Well.... My order's revised EDD was the 16th, and was in pre-production at 9am today... Now it's been dispatched. Who's to say the XPS wont be delayed? If it's a proc/glass shortage (like last year) the XPS won't be much faster.
The NVIDIA cards are liable to fry, so if you can do without the extra power I would (it's why I chose the Studio.)
The other differences are aesthetic really, so make your mind up there yourself.


More detail about the GPU failure?
Think Xbox 360 RRoD. They overheat and essentially sever the contacts between them and the motherboard.

 

Hmmm right... Is that with intense gaming, or can it also happen if I'm say, processing a few hundred raw files from my digital camera? I'm not a heavy gamer, in fact I'm not much of a gamer at all, but I don't want to find my gfx card has problems with normal use (normal use being relatively heavy photoshop editing with several 300-400mb images loaded, video editing, shooting images with my camera attached to the laptop etc).

The guy's actually saying £50 more for an XPS and I'm very much interested! But if the biggest difference is aesthetic then I'm not interested at all.

 

The biggest difference is the GPU, but I'd be wary myself, I don't want an €800 investment destroyed because of a bad card.
Apart from that, aesthetic includes build quality. The XPSes have brushed metal panels - wristpad, edges of screen etc. Also, you won't be getting a backlit keyboard.
Now that the search is back online, it'd be worth your while to search "studio vs xps" (keep it vague like that to allow more threads appear, ie leave the full stop out of the "vs")

EDIT: Engadget coverage of card failure's announcement:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/10/all-nvidia-8400m-8600m-chips-faulty/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/26/dell-explains-nvidia-gpu-issues-throws-out-bios-updates-to-help/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/dell-offers-1-year-limited-warranty-enhancement-for-nvidia-gpu-i/

 

Ah, here's the thing; I'm reading that the 8400 nvidia card having inadequate cooling, however the card they're offering me is the 8600M GT... Is this an updated (fixed) model of the card, with good cooling? If so, I think I'll take the XPS.

 

Nope, the 8400 is in the XPS M1330 whilst the 8600 is in the M1530.
The M1330 is worse naturally 'cos there's less room in the smaller chassis for more cooling, either passive or active.
If you don't game.... it might be ok, but do you want to take the chance? Upgrading to the XPS gives you better customer support (dedicated XPS support, and (AFAIK, not sure about England) it's local, not outsourced in India or something).
Also, there's an extra years warranty covering GPU failure thrown in for free. If two years (or slightly more) is all you need it to last for then go and order it now.

Even then, you might decide to order it anyway and take a chance - I personally don't like chance though (a double headed coin would land on tails or me ).

 

Looks like a no brainer to me..the cost difference appear too little not to go for XPS....I mean the whole point of Studio was to be a "cheaper and yet good enough for many" option ...

 

Yes, very good point! But I am very worried about the 8600M GT problem people are having with the XPS. For sure I don't really play games, but if I do decide to play some CSS or something, am I going to end up with with a broken laptop because I played a couple of rounds of it or something? That would tick me off even more than if I were a regular gamer!

One thing that really attracts me to the XPS is the tech support being UK based rather than India; I've called Indian based tech support people before and most what they do is read from a script and go through step-by-step from a screen, rather than having actual knowledge of computers.

So anyway, the only thing holding me back is the GFX card issue; no I don't really play games, but I don't want a broken laptop just because I decided to play a game or two!

 

Well, I just cancelled my Studio 1535 order for an XPS 1530! Ended up being an extra £63... I feel happy about it and they've said there's no lead time at all on any of the parts and that the battery delay I experienced with the Studio will not be experienced with the XPS since it's an entirely different battery.

 

Battery delay?
Seems weird, I assume yours would've been built in the same place as mine, and mine was built today with a 9-cell

Good luck with your laptop anyway

 

Yeah, I believe the delay is now over. But I was so annoyed with it and being offered an XPS at well, uhm, much a lower price than it, errr... Should be, lol.

I think I effectively robbed Dell, lol.

 

Well, that's that; my Studio 1535 order is officially cancelled. I feel a bit bad for the sales rep who I placed the order with, though; she's been off ill for a while apparently so when she gets back she'll find out that she won't get that commission afterall.

Oh well, I have been waiting for a month on that order; enough is enough.

 

Got mine yesterday, hope you have the same sort of luck with your system. From now on, I order from outlet - no delays there!