XPS premium hardware support - a little info plz!

Hi peeps - well after a bowt in the Sager/Clevo forums regarding my dissapointment with the Delays on the 9262 with 8800SLi, I decided to cancel my order with XoticPC and I should be receiving my refund within a few days.

Now I'm going to do a little more research this time before I jump in the deep end once again!

I have my heart almost set on a XPS M1730 (over a m17x) but I need a few things clarifying, and I think the best way to find out is to ask Dell XPS owners, so here goes......

When I customize a XPS on Dell's website, it gives me up to 4 years premium XPS support - can you please clarify what this is i.e.

is it one of those 'collect & return' warranties that others offer, or do they repair your Dell on-site?

is this warranty also the one that I have read about on here whereas if the machine breaks down beyond repair - they will replace it with same or newer hardware?

I see that the top CPU in the UK is the X7900 - will the 1730 support the X9000+ chips without modification - if say, I ordered one now?

Also, what colour does the backlit keyboard light up? is it white or blue? and can the colour be changed?

I see the speaker grilles are lit up and the screen lid and the heatsinks areas (I think!) - can those colours be changed also?

How many speakers does it have - do you know the make of the speakers? for example are they Harmon/Kardon or some other specialised audio manufacturer?

Is the sound quality good? does it have a subwoofer?

I don't think that's a bad batch of questions to ask - hopefully you'll be able to answer them all.........and finally, are you happy with your purchase? or would you have preferred to wait the the m17x?

Thanks in advance. Andy

 

Well, I found out some info on Dell's website - and XPS premium support sounds awesome - better than Alienware's so it's definitely looking like the Dell is in front at the moment.

now I just need some of the other questions answered.

TIA Andy

 

Well I'll try to answer a couple:

It's on-site according to Dell:
"Enjoy the convenience of 24/7 phone and online support and even service in your home (if needed). In-Home, Parts and Labor, Next Business Day Service* – Provided via third party contract with customer. Technician will be dispatched if necessary following phone-based troubleshooting, usually the next business day or next day as indicated below. Availability varies. Other conditions apply."

Most companies would do that, but I know that on the more budget-conscience Inspiron models Dell replaces individual parts with refurbished parts. (Thats if one specific part breaks down) But considering you are going to buy a highly overpriced model I'd say yes, they will replace it with the same or equal value newer model.

I believe that has not been released YET. . .but if penryn has entered let the penryn extreme enter. . .

Any color you like

Anywhere a color is emitted it can be changed.

According to Dell:

"5.1 channel output with for true surround sound experience with no external decoder required.
2 speakers with 2 18mm transducers per speaker enclosure providing 10 watt output power.
Premium Digital Array microphones for enhanced voice and communication applications."

As for what company it won't matter the sound quality is going to be good.

Subwoofer - NO

From: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4085
"Speakers

The M1730's stereo speakers are located at the front of the notebook below the palmrest area. Two small speaker cones can be seen through the speaker grills; they visibly pulse when playing music at elevated levels. For notebook speakers, the M1730's are wonderful. Treble is respectable and while bass is a bit lacking, it is still noticeable which is not something that can be said about many notebook speakers. Sound is detailed; I could hear bullet shells hitting the ground in games and picks hitting guitar strings in acoustic music. Overall, Dell has equipped the M1730 with two competent stereo speakers which suffice for playing music and games.

The M1730 has two headphone jacks located on the left side, which allows two people to tune into a movie or other audio."

Lol, next time search the forums of even go to Dell's website because all of these question answers were 5 clicks away from your mouse!

 

G'day Andy!

xtyfyb did a pretty damn good job of answering your questions there!

Firstly, about the support. I originally purchased a XPS M1730 over Christmas. Ended up returning because I wanted the 8800gtx SLI. The 8700 SLI setup was great, just needed a bit more power. The actual machine was perfect, couldn't really fault it. The service and delivery was top notch as well.

If you have a problem with the machine, they'll send a tech out, usually next business day. If he can't fix the problem, then they'll send you another machine. They have good service, yes you're dealing with people from India, but its not too bad.

I am getting a Penryn processor on my machine, im pretty sure you could upgrade the chip to the X9000 when it comes out.

The lights are nice, and fully customizable. Have a look at some video's on Youtube.

Its a solidly built, well supported machine. The Alienware M17x will be a little slimmer, and IMO better looking than the M1730. But I don't like Alienwares warranty or support. Plus I reckon it will initially be more expensive than the M1730.

Hope this helps somewhat!

 

Oh, forgot to mention there is no subwoofer on the XPS M1730, but the actual speakers are excellent. Very loud, clear sound. I rate them. Of course, as most people do, you should really go out and pickup a decent external sound system to use with this machine.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

I owned a Toshiba Qosmio G30 and the sound system on that machine was something else! - you had to hear one to believe it!

That is very interesting about the keyboard, because all the video's I've seen show the keys lit up in one colour - white.

But if you can set them to whatever colour you want = fab!

and you say the same goes for the screen lid? I thought they'd be white LED's on the screen lid.

 

Hang on, sorry, the key's and the lid light's aren't changable... Sorry. Its been a couple of months since I had one. My new one arrives sometime this arvo. Someone else with one can answer this?

 

And yeah, coming from a Toshiba Qosimo, you're going to be disappointed with the speaker sound on the M1730. But not with the performance!

 

I'm sorry Pommie is correct the lid and keyboard only light up in white. I was thinking of the touch pad

 

Well, ya can't win 'em all!

But considering I'm making do with a Clevo D900T and that don't sound as good as my old Qosmio did I don't think I will lose any sleep over the sound quality of the Dell, as I have some Creative T7900's which I can use at home with it.

Yeah, I know the performance will be good, probably not quite as good as the m17x when it comes out - but it's the Dell that I will probably end up with.

All i'm waiting for now is my refund to come through from XoticPC.

The only real bummer is - that the special offer that Dell was running has run out - they were offering £100 off the 1730 and 25% cheaper 4-year premium support - which unfortunately I've missed out on.