Dell Stuido XPS 16 Question

I was wondering how new this laptop is as it seems to be from 2009 but is still mentioned currently as a top laptop. Is there a new model or something? Or is it just so good it's still at the top? Or is my information just Wrong?

I was wondering because I was thinking of buying one but if there is a newer version or its old that would be better.

 

Might be hard pressed to find one new now, definitely is in UK.
XPS 15 has replaced it. Very similar specs, better build quality.
TBH its down to personal preference, I replaced my SXPS with the XPS 15 and believe it was the best decision. There is lots of info on this forum.

 

To start off with keep in mind that I'm new to system specs, and the nitty gritty details of computers. Also keep in mind that. I'm mainly looking for a laptop with preferably great gaming capabiilities.


General Questions

1) What is your budget?
About $1,000, $1,500 is Pretty much max, but it's under $2,000 still mention it because I might be able to reduce it with deals, or raise my budget.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
This is not definate though, I would definitely go bigger if affordable but the size is not hugely important as long as the laptop is good quality.

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
U.S.A. More specifically New York State, more specifically near NY city and a bit to the North.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
No, if it's a good, quality laptop I like it.

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
I'd really rather not, I guess if I could get some really amazing deal I would consider redistributed.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
I would be playing games on it, surfing the Internet, and doing school work (which consists of typing and maybe a powerepointt here or there)

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Both

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Yes, it should be able to run MMO's well (I play WoW), also I look forward to playing new games like Civilization 5, and Shogun: Total War 2, and hope it will be able to support new games(not necessarily at ultra high settings), but gaming will be my main focus so yeah.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
I don't NEED anything but at least about 2 hours would be something, but the more it has the better.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I think I'm probably going to end up buying it in a store soo.... I'd want to see it first, but don't not recommend something because you think I wouldn't be able to find it in stores.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows, Windows 7 would be nice.

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. If you are unsure of what to purchase, we would highly recommend you check some notebook screens before you buy to see what you like. You may also wish to take a look at the notebook screen guide for more information.

I don't reall know about this one, I suppose I would need decent to good resolution for gaming, but as stated, when it comes to the technical details of computers I'm a novice.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
I would like a glossy screen, but if there is a better laptop with a non-glassy screen that doesn't bother me.

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
There not important enough where I will pick one over another because of looks, but if it looks nice that's good, but if there's a great computer that looks like @&$!, then I'm buying that regardless of looks.

15) When are you buying this laptop?
Around December 1, 2010

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
I want it to last a while, at least 2 years.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
I don't really know how much I would I would need, I see most gaming laptops starting at about 250GB but I really don't know.
An SSD drive would be good, but I don't want it if it will really impact the price.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
I don't need Blu-Ray or a DVD Burner, I just need to be able to put a game disk in, download it, and play it. I don't know if that's a CDRW/DVD-ROM but I think it is.


Other things to know:

I plan on using this primarily for playing games, I know Alienware reins supreme and they are awesome but it seems they are all very expensive.
Soo... Pretty much it just has to have good gaming capabilities, I've heard the Dell XPS is good for this put I'm not sure if that's true.

Thank You in advance for taking the time to help me.

 

I forgot to add that size doesn't matter, it could be 20 pounds for all I care, for example I know some Alienware computers are like 13 pounds and that really doesn't matter to me.

 

Asus G53JW at XoticPc.com fits the bill nicely. Theres also another version on amazon that does not come with bluray, mice, and bag.

Amazon:$1299
XoticPC:$1499 (really based on if you need Blu-Ray and a mice/bag)

 

True. The SXPS16 just isn't being replaced, and none of the current Dell offerings are quite as good, at least in my opinion.

The reason the SXPS16 has been on the market so long is that there are several different versions. Back when they were released in 2009, they came with Core2Duos and ATI 3670s (the SXPS 1640), to which they later added the 1645, which is quad-core i7 and 4670 or 5730 GPUs, and the 1647 with dual-core i5/i7 and the 4670 (they started offering 5730s right before they stopped selling them). So the ones that were for sale until a few weeks ago are not the same as the ones they sold back in 2009.

As far as I know, they aren't being produced any more, and they are no longer for sale, at least in the US. Some other counties may still be selling them, but likely just to clear out remaining inventory.

 

I was going to buy this laptop and was looking through the forums here, but I noticed many threads on performance issues or bugs, or things you have to watch out for.

What is the general consensus on the performance of the Alienware M15x (especially after a while) assuming you don't do something dumb and mess it up?

 

The M15x is a really good laptop. It used to have throttling issues with the i7 extreme processors when paired with the GTX 260M. But this issue has been resolved after the A08 BIOS update.

If you get the M15x with GTX 460m or the ATI Mobility 5850, you will have a pretty decent gaming experience with graphic options maxed in quite a lot of games (except crysis).

 

For sure check out the various Asus G computers. Hard to go wrong with them.

 

So I'm going to get the M15x and have some questions about it, I know there have been some problems with stuff (I don't know what) but in the forums I'm having trouble figuring out what's dated and what's not so on we go to the first question.

1) I've heard a lot of grief about poor battery life, I plan on getting the 9 cell, so how long would it last while gaming, or just browsing the Internet.

2) I've heard about stealth mode and am confused, what does it do (not in computer terms please)? How does it affect games or just performance in general.

3) I am not getting the antivirus or whatever that comes with the computer, so should the first thing I do be to download Microsoft Security Essentials (which I plan on using always for this computer) please take question #4 into consideration when answering this question.

4) And last but probably the question I should have asked first is what do I need to do when I first open the computer and turn it on. This will be my first computer so I don't know what to do. I've heard all this stuff about uninstall this, reinstall that, don't use the disc, and this all really confuses me. I've also heard of using CCleaner at start and I do know what CCleaner is but what do I do when the computer is brand new?

 

1- with a 9 cell battery you should get abit over 2hours on battery, with 6 cell about 1hr and 39-40mins? or so

2-Stealth mode becomes active when you unplug the machine and decreases the power of the CPU and Graphics card so you arent wasting extra CPU and Graphics card power on just nothing, you get more battery life out of it, but this also means your gaming is really affected since its not running at full speeds.

3-I never use the supplied Anti Virus on machines either , if you have one of your preferred choice thats great, however there are several excellent free Anti Virus programs like nod32 and AVG, and I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials as well, I actually have it installed on 2 of my computers and its running great

4-First download the latest BIOS and update your bios.
maybe other members can help you with specific softwares to uninstall and install, but usually you have to uninstall bloatware(extra un-needed softwares that can potentially slow down your computer when starting up and while using your laptop. Things like extra website shortcuts from companies are put on the desktop along with, softwares for DVD burning and stuff like that, anything you dont NEED its better to delete them off to help run your computer at optimal performance. My own M15x is arriving (hopefully) Tuesday so I dont know if Alienware has these type of extra softwares already installed or keeps it at a minimal level. Anything that has to do with driver and their softwares are things you shouldnt delete.

Now, with the disc problem...this only applies when you want to re-install fresh windows for whatever reason, always download drivers and software from the WEBSITE rather than using the disc.

Now the software that helps with the lights is out-dated on the DISC, this is the reason why people say dont use the disc. It doesnt play nice with the new BIOS and can ruin a part on the motherboard that controls the lights, so using the software on the disc will screw up your lights and they wont work afterwards which results into calling DELL up for a Motherboard replacement.

If you didnt understand anything or if you need anything else then just let us know

 

So what I want to do when I first power up is to do the stup, then download antivirus, and then download the new drivers and software from Alienwares website. Then delete un-needed stuff.

The only question I have is what is BIOS and how do I get to it?

 

Also what about Comand Center, does it come installed or install with the updates or what.

 

Wow, this post was meant for another thread and somehow ended up here O_O

 

I'm sure you'll find problems with EVERY laptop if you go on their forums.

In all honesty, This laptop is great. It has little quirks here and there but most are fixed. The only big ones i've noticed that aren't isolated but not in EVERY machine is the audio crackling and throttling. They lowered the occurrence of throttling in a lot of systems but i know some still throttle.

This is mostly with the GTX260m. I haven't really seen throttling with the 5850 though. I personally don't have audio crackling so i can't really say much on the subject.

On a personal note, i'm extremely happy with my purchase. It'll be a year in January and i feel it was worth every penny.

 

Extremly happy with mine.

No issues what so ever.

Every model no matter brand or price has problems, period. Some are fixed as the line ages, others are more isolated and rare one off occurrences.

Regardless, Dell will make it right.

 

No issues with mine besides the full blast fan issue which is annoying but a easy fix till dell fixes it. Great machines.

 

I'm trying to decide between these two laptops... Things that are important to me are good gaming quality (which I know both deliver)

Battery power, I know they're supposed to be desktop replacers but longer battery is good, and by this I mean playing casual games or just surfing the web, not attempting to play Crysis maxed out. Also I don't know much about the Asus battery so information on that would be great, I know some about the M15x.

Also something that would be nice but not necessary would be if they had built in microphones/camera.

EDIT*
Another thing I was wondering about is the fan, apparently the fan for the G73 is amazing while the M15x is average, so how loud is it? Is it noticeable when just typing or surfing the web? Also how loud does it get while playing games because I've heard examples of it getting REALLY loud.

Also price differences for the same quality would be nice to include.

 

Take G73JH. I like mine. Just the screen is a bit too big for me.

 

Hmm well, I've yet to carry my m15x around, so I can't attest to its battery life, but it looks exceptionally sexy, runs quite cool, doesnt make any noticable noise when under load (or well, I don't notice it, probably because of all the shooting sounds )

the m15x is somewhat more expensive than the asus g73, you get more "bang for buck" with the asus strictly speaking, however:

the G73 is known to come with quite a few faults "out of the box". This is of course not always, only in some cases, but BSOD and other issues are relatively common.

the m15x runs cooler than the G73; makes it a great overclocker when paired with the 5850;

you can buy a refurb m15x in "like new" condition from an outlet store at prices below that of a G73; several NBR members have gotten theirs with specs like my lappy at a price of about 900-1000 usd.

So I'd go for the m15x. But of course I'm biased so, make your own mind up

 

I also vote g73. My friend has an m15x, and it weighs just as much but doesnt utilize the mass as well (smaller screen). I get with power saver on and screen brightness at around 1/2 (kb backlight off) around 1.5-1.75 hours if I'm in a class with no outlet near me. Its manageable.

The webcam for the g73 is also LEGIT, like 2mp if I recall correctly, and shows colors pretty well. Not great in low light, but hey, its a webcam. The mic is only single array, but picks up sound just fine and none of my friends complain even though they all have gaming headsets with built in mics and I just use Sennheiser stereo headsets+the laptop mic for gaming.

I can't speak for the M15x webcam/mic/battery (although I have a suspicion that the 460m is a more power-hungry card than the 5870)

Upon research, the 5870 uses 50 watts while the 460 seems to use 72 watts ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M - Notebookcheck.net Tech) so I suspect you may get better battery life with the asus, especially if you make use of the power4gear utility. Again, solid battery figures would be better.




@Audiophil92
About the cooling, the M15x with the GTX260 and the G73 with the 5870 have very similar temps both at idle and under load. I think the 460 will make significantly more heat than the current 260 however. The new nvidia Fermi cards are remarkably power hungry and put out loads of heat (hence the high TDP mentioned earlier)


EDIT 2:
With the M15x you will get a sturdier chassis (although the g73 is far from flimsy), really honking cool lights, and some awesome branding.
With the Asus you will get a larger screen (and dedicated numpad), if you get the G73Jh-A1, you get a great default warranty: 3 year+1 year accidental and generally more bang for your buck (8gb ram, 1tb hdd, 1080p default screen, the list goes on).

PS. I was struggling with the same choice as you are, and my only regret with the G73 is the vbios firmware issue, but that and just about all of the other G73 issues have been fixed now.

PPS.They will have near identical performance as long as you get the GTX 460, not the 260 or 5850.

 

your post seems to imply that the m15x uses the 460...the m15x only has the gtx 240, 260, and the 5850MR as gfx cards

I was talking about the m15x temps with a 5850, not with a gtx 260

 

I don't think anyone was able to figure out how to play games on the G73JW on battery. They cannot override the downclocking on battery. I suspect the G73JH is the same. In any case, gaming on battery will probably give you less than 30 min with any gaming laptop. The 460m by the way runs much cooler than the 5870m. I also doubt battery can go over 2 hrs in either the G73 or m15x.

 

That's not true. It uses the 460m too.

 

rly? I haven't checked since I got mine, guess its pheasible :> I'd still say get the 5850 tho, if one is willing to OC... One can easily clock the 5850 to 5870 levels, or even a bit higher... Don't know the exact temps on the 460 but as far as I'm aware it has less OC'ing headroom/runs hotter than the 5850..

 

M15x. Build quality alone wins.

Got mine from the outlet for around 1000 so deals are out there.

 

The G73 battery throttle issues are based in software and can be easily fixed.

Yes, the M15x just recently got the GTX460, and I don't know about the OP but I would always take the highest power card available to any system I buy. Its easier and safer to downclock/undervolt than to overclock

@Jwolf
that's a bit of a two-dimensional comment, and having handled both machines extensively, it's safe to say that there is NOTHING wrong with the BQ of either machine. The M15x is more solid, but its like comparing oak wood to hickory, both are pretty dang hard.

 

LOL, all the people that have replied have either owned or owns both of the laptops specified.

M15x
-Metal Chassis(not saying better BQ but feels better than plastic)
-Alien FX lighting
-Being Alienware
-Very easy to change parts and overclock
-Better warranty(yes ASUS has ADW but their actual quality of reps is lacking compared to dell's)

ASUS
-Better GPU
-Looks less flashy
-Better webcam
-Better value for the money

I would go for the M15x with the GTX460m if money was no object. If money does come into play then I will definately suggest the ASUS over the Alienware. If you like all of the flashy colors and the pride of owning an Alienware go for it!
-

 

both computers will scare the heck out of your teachers if you're a student. My m15x buddy and I compete for awkward looks from our teachers, but he usually wins when he starts changing the colors of the alien head... that really bothers them lol

 

I want to check this laptop out before I buy it so I was wondering where I could find it in retail, whether it's better to buy at retail or online (generally because there might be a great deal or something).
I live north of New York City (zipcode: 10520 if it helps).


The second part of the question is that since the laptop is premade I was wondering where I could find all the options so I know what I'm looking at. I think the Asus site is sort of bad because I can't finde prices or The different options or anything, so help would be appreciated.

 

Another thing I was wondering about is the fan, apparently the fan for the G73 is amazing while the M15x is average, so how loud is it? Is it noticeable when just typing or surfing the web? Also how loud does it get while playing games because I've heard examples of it getting REALLY loud.

 

Have you looked at the ASUS G53JW? Should be essentially a 15.6" version of the G73.

 

the G53 DOES have thermal issues, or so I've heard, but the sheer quantity of calc homework I have to do is making me reluctant to investigate further. The fan on the g73 will kick up when gaming (if a room is silent or very quiet eg a small classroom, it will probably be audible). Hard to say about the m15x as i'm not typing on one in a quiet room right now

 

The M15x is audible, but not bothersome when internet browsing. Mine is also louder than most because my Clevo MR5870 doesn't downclock in this machine.

Unless noise really bothers you it shouldn't be an issue. The fans can get loud at when the GPU temperature reaches 74+ Celsius when gaming, but conveniently mine seem to stabilize at 73 Celsius and only occasionally spin fast (which I very much prefer to fried components).

 

You can get it from Best Buy.

That's where I got it from.

It has a worse screen though.

 

Microcenter and bestbuy have retail versions. The microcenter model has the 1080p screen, Bluetooth and both hard drives.

The custom options are only available at places like gentechpc xoticpc powernotebooks etc.

Cheers

 

G73JH for sure... less flashy , 2 hard drives.. runs quieter and best of all, cheaper

 

Eeek! Mine shipped today! I hope there's no throttling (Geforce GTX 460 + 1.86GHz i7) and there'd better not be any audio crackling either (obviously a complete deal killer for me) but if it's just a nice solid stable system I'll be super happy

So nervous and excited

 

1) I was going to buy from xoticpc and was wondering if this is a good, reliable place to get my new laptop from?

2) I'm trying to decide between the A2 and B1 models.
A2: ASUS G73JH-A2 - XOTIC PC - ASUS Republic of Gamers G73JH Laptop
B1: ASUS G73JH-B1 - REPULIC OF GAMERS (ROG) Laptop

Can somebody tell the differences between those models and whether or not one is better than the other or if the differences are to small.

3) When looking at customization options I noticed not only the Li-Ion 8 cell battery which I though was the only option but also a Smart Li-Ion 8 cell battery and was wondering what the difference is as they're both the same size. (sorry if I got the battery names wrong but it was something like that).

 

Newegg has it also, if you buy it on line then you won't have to pay tax. The best buy version is only a good deal if you pay $1199 or less because after you add $100 of tax, you might as well get the better A1 or Bx1, assuming you have a best buy in your state. Amazon and newegg have excellent prices if you want it stock. Gentech, exoticpc, or btotech are you best bet if you want it customized. I'd look at the G73JW, almost identical power with more reliability.

 

\\

now im a bit confused after reading this i thout steath mode doesnt work when the batter is used and no power cord and unpluged

does it go into steath automaticly when the cord is unpluged

if so how come it says steath mode not suported on on batter power

 

while unplug the system automatically downclocks to save power, thats why stealth mode can not be used at the same time.

 

I'm hoping to totally ignore the weird colors (white backlight for the keyboard please? No extra lights?) and stealth mode, and just set it like my current system-maximum performance but with the ability for the OS to downclock the CPu.

 

XoticPC is a vendor used by a lot of people on this forum and people usually have very good comments about them

G73JH-B1 has a blueray drive and an Intel i7 740 CPU
G73JH-A2 has a DVD-ROM and an intel i7 720 CPU

The 110$ battery option is for a spare battery.

 

XoticPC is a fine laptop reseller, so are others that you can check in the NBR Reseller thread, i havent personally order from them but some friends have and have nothing but good experience with them.

The B1 is the latest and probably the last version that carries the 5870, it suppose to have most of the issues already worked out, like bios, vbios, etc. So i would pick the B1 over the A1/A2.

Batteries should be the same size n capacity.

 

i'd get the B1 to be frank... you get blu ray etc...and i7-740qm.. i would buy from gentech instead as thei service is faster and way better IMO... Mine shipped in 24hrs from when stock came with a lot of upgrades.... so really i would get from them.. xotic has too much backlog and usually takes longer to ship..

 

Im trying to decide which one of these laptops I want. I realize that the most important factor is screen size but that is not a huge concern for ...

What is important to me is the battery life because I will also be using this laptop for school. So which has a longer battery life? Also which one has better cooling and softer fans (not hugely important but I want to know as it may impact my choice.

Lastly dother than manually turning down brightness etc... Is there a power saving feature on either of these? Or something like it?

 

I'm sorry to be so blunt but if you are looking for a laptop with battery life these are not it. Even under the best of circumstances you will be lucky to get 1.5 hours out of them. Any kind of comparison would probably come down to minutes if not seconds of battery life.

They both share a very similar (and excellent) cooling system and temps look similar between both models from what I have read here.

 

both have pretty much same battery life from what I gather. The G73 has a bigger screen to power but runs cooler. The G53 has smaller screen, but runs hotter, the power probably went to the fans.

I could get 2hour 30mins for just light browsing (no flash) with everything set to power savings mode.

 

from a gaming laptop standpoint, both these models are one of the best whn it comes to battery life. my friend says he can use his g73 for a little more than 3 hours on light browsing and around 2 1/2 hours when watching movies using the odd.
if you need more battery life, youll have to look towards a nongaming laptop.