Solved! Current XPS 15, good or bad idea?

[Salt-City_Slasher]

I own a XPS M1210 and it was very nice back in its time, but it had terrible problems with battery and same with the wifi.

From what I have gathered the new XPS 15's used the same idea from the old ones like mine, but amped them to compete with ENVY and LacBook Pro's. Then Dell's chat team told me that they have fixed all issues that were a problem in the past.

So all my research says for the price, I should take it. But all the researching and reading doesn't compare to real time experience. So I was wondering if anyone has anything good or bad to say about the Dell XPS 15 or Dell laptops in general.

For 904$ out the door with my College Student Discount I get:
15.6" 720p w/ 2.0 webcam
i5 460M
GT 420M
4gb DDR3
500gb 7200rpm
9 cell Battery(the bigger one)
Basic DVD
Basic Wi-Fi
Backlit keys
JBL 2.1 speakers

Plus all the other features including USB 3.0 and so on.

So tell me if you think I this is a good idea, or if I should be considering some one else???
I chose to go with a manufacture because I get student discount, so I have been back n forth between Dell and HP.
But I wouldn't mind getting an Asus or Toshiba from Newegg.com

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

I forgot to add what I could get at HP instead of this.

For $924 out the door I could get the dv6t select edition:

i5 460M
HD 5650
8gb DDR3
640gb 7200rpm
6 cell battery
15.6" HD LED Brightview
Basic DVD
Basic Wi-Fi
Backlit keyboard and Finger reader

Plus the regular stuff.

So pretty much for the same price, I could get a stronger GPU, more memory, more HD space, vga port and finger reader.

Then if I get HP then I would lose longer battery(I could just upgrade), USB 3, and JBL speakers.

 

[dEAne]

Base on your specs I would take HP - This one is for editing video, photo, audio, more space on HDD apps, you need to be on a room where you can plug in on AC line.

But Dell is quite ok for a student - 4Gb of RAM is more than enough. For $904 Dell compare to $924 HP.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well I spent forever picking out my desktop when I built it.
So for the laptop I wanted to do the same thing and customizing on HP or Dell is pretty much
the closet I will get. Not to mention the student discount works out well.

I looked through them both, and honestly if I wasn't in need of a laptop, I would wait till the stuff at
CES 2011 comes out. I heard of standard USB 3, SSD and Fusion or Sandy CPUs.

Obviously things will change no matter what. But the Dell seems to have more "flare' but lacks
some internals. The dv7t or 17" one, is pretty much the exact same as the 15" but w/ blu ray, and damn there the same price.

So right now its going to come down to who offers the best deal when I buy. But I need to focus down on something so when the time comes I an ready.
I have just over 900$, and I will get another 1000$ or so after FA pays tuition, so I will have
the cash by Jan 10th and hopefully CES has something so amazing that I will wait!!

I originally wanted the TM2t but it kinda lacks in the CPU department especially for that price range.
I am actually going to get the T91 from Asus for a toy/ereader also.

 

[ko888]

You go with HP if you don't care about reliability. I recommend that people stay away from HP for this fact alone.

Dell is slightly better in terms of reliability.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well my Mom always gets her HP desktops, and they always seem to be ok, but then she has me and my uncle always making sure its ok. But I would rate my self higher than an average user, maybe not professional, but amateur for sure.
So needing tech help beyond straght up DOA, I shouldn't need help as long as the laptop is full working condition when I get it.

Then as far as reliable goes according to how long the laptop will last, well my XPS was given to me by my sister, and she got it about 07 I think, its the XPS M1210, and it is still a champ. The only thing wrong with it is the BATTERY died over a year ago, so I have been stuck to wall keeping it on.

Since Dell says there newer models won't do this, then I would expect more from the XPS line, than I already do.
I would expect a battery to still do at least 50% of its intial time after 2 years, but to be fully dead after 2 then thats kinda of
bad, cuz you end up spending 100-150 every year, which could be used for a new one.

At first glance the XPS does have far better features, like the soon to be standard USB 3, and the very nice JBL speakers. Not to mention if i get the blu ray, i could plug this bad boy up and do 3D.
Since the only thing really going for the HP's is a current deal of 8gb's memory, well, I have been plotting on find something with just 4 or lower, cause I plan on getting a new 2x4gb set from Newegg. I mean it would cost me the same to upgrade on Dell to 6gb, then it would to buy a 8gb set on newegg.

Anyways, the intel and nvidia setup are awesome, but overall I don't think the HP would be worth it, cause I would lose out on some really nice features.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Ok I have narrowed it down to two possible outcomes:

First the XPS 17 and second the XPS 15

For pretty much the same price, the XPS is $994 while the XPS 15 is $945, before tax, and this is what I could get:

If I were to get XPS 17 I would get:

Double HD Bay for upgrades later and I would get the GT 435M. Then 2" bigger screen.

If I were to get the XPS 15 I would get:

Blu-Ray for 3D viewing in the future, but would only have the GT 420m.

Then everything else is the same:

9 cell battery
4gb ddr3 1066
500gb 7200rpm
Backlit keys
1 year basic Warranty
i5 460m
Silver Frame

However I could sacrifice the 1 year basic Warranty, to 1 year limited, downgrade to the 6 cell battery and lose the backlit keys so I could get the blu-ray on the 17".

So tell me which of these versions would be the best!

 

[Maziar]

Depends,if you want to play games,then go with XPS 17,GT 435M is significantly faster than GT 420M;otherwise,go with XPS 15(But definitely get the Full HD display)

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well I went to walmart and I tried out some of the laptops, and the HP G series and dv7's suck so bad.
They had an Inspiron 15 for 789$ but it felt way better than than the Hp's, I even thought about
getting an Inspiron.
Anyways what I figured was the 17" screens are a lot bigger than I thought and would take up more space than
I would want it to. But the only reason I like the 17" xps is cause of the 2nd HD bay, which isn't worth it to me.
I rather buy a SSD for my desktop than my laptop.

So I am set on the XPS 15 with i5 460M, GT 420M, 4gb 1066, 500gb 7200rpm, 9 cell battery, DVD writer, and backlit keys.
Then the long list of cool features that come with it from USB 3 to JBL 2.1 speakers!

From what I gathered on reviews the XPS our performed the Envy 14 and other comparables, in the overall attack, the only thing it didn't "win" on was the battery life of continous use. But since I am getting the 9 cell I think I should be ok!

For the laptops use, I wanted to be able to sit through class and study after without being stuck to a wall. Even though I would have plugs at my disposal, I just would like that option.
As for gaming on it, it would be nice to be able to, but playing games on this would kill the battery, so there will be minimal times that I would play games at school, like my Steam Games aka Half life, BF2 or Laura Croft.

So overall the XPS should be more than plenty to cover my needs. I just built a desktop, not long ago and the college is only 5-10 minutes away, so the Laptop at this point is more of a luxury so I can study at school.
So no its not replacing my desktop(even though it could), Video games would be not mandatory, long use would be often but basic internet and word processing.

 

[Maziar]

Envy 14 is better than XPS 15 in terms of gaming because having a better VGA.But HP did a bad job by removing the radiance display from it.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Keep in mind that neither Dell nor HP actually make laptops. In fact they have many common suppliers.

The vast majority of laptops on the market are manufactured by a small handful of Original Design Manufacturers (ODM). Major relationships include:

* Quanta sells to (among others) HP/Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer, NEC, Gateway and Lenovo/IBM - note that Quanta is currently (as of August, 2007) the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world.
* Compal sells to Toshiba, HP/Compaq, Acer, and Dell.
* Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to HP/Compaq, Dell, IBM, NEC, Acer, and Lenovo/IBM.
* Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP/Compaq, NEC, and Dell.
* ECS sells to IBM, Fujitsu, and Dell.
* Asus sells to Apple (iBook), Sony, and Samsung.
* Inventec sells to HP/Compaq, Toshiba, and BenQ.
* Uniwill sells to Lenovo/IBM and Fujitsu & PC World UK own brand Advent.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

Well even if they are from the same warehouse, doesn't each company take it and model it to their liking?
Like the XPS and its speakers and stuff.

I went to the store to compare, and my overall opinion of the dv7 and the G7 and G6 series, was kinda of bad. I mean, the mouse pad was extremely hard to use, and the buttons were very flimsy and several were actually broken.

The Inspirion they had was a 15.6 i5, and it had a way better feel than any of the others including a Toshiba Sat.

Obviously everyone has there own feel to it, and then obviously they are using a bunch of the same parts from the i5's to
whatever.
But its just like a graphics in a way, each dealer is sent a stock card, and Asus MSI and so one, all take it and revamp it to be unique. But I think that the laptops are a lot different from each other, than the graphics cards would be, cuz on graphic cards, they are pretty much all the same, minus the warr. and fans.

Anyways, since i have chosen the XPS, i started finding information about the temporarily unavailable 1080p screeen, then came across speculation that the XPS line is being tested with the new code named Sandy.
I made a Poll in the laptop forum, so please go and vote and state your opinion.

I think it would be ashame to buy a xps the first week of Jan, and then the 1080p w/ sandy to come out in February, but I would rather wait 1-3 months for the 1080p screen that I hear all about.

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

I have taken the HP in consideration, and the dv6/7se "select editions" aren't that bad.
The dv6tse is actually more powerful than the XPS 15, currently free 8gb upgrade and 649gb HD, plus its 5650.

From what I have seen, the mouse setup on the dv series sucks, and it doesn't really come with extra cool features.
dv6tse, is a little bit more money than the xps 15, but the price difference is worth especially with the 8gb's.

The only reason I stopped considering it was because at walwart they had the dv6 and dv7, I don't know if they were Select Edition or not, but the outside was just as cheap as the G series, and the mouse pad was terrible to use. I could always just use a wireless mouse instead, but my main concern with getting it is the Monitor and the Sound and losing some features.

Because the XPS 15 has Superior sound and video, and comes with usb 3.0, hdmi output, and a way more stylish body, which comes with an awesome mouse and key. Since I wanted to get a 2x4gb from newegg anyway, i wouldn't care much for it coming stock 4gb.

Then when comparing the dv6/7se against the XPS 17, well the XPS 17 would win hands down, especially when the
XPS 17 L702x comes out, which should offer the 1080p and hopefully Sandy from intel.

So I think depending on what features you want, and what internals you want, HP and Dell both offer pretty decent setups.
I personally rather take advantage of the XPS has to offer, for several reasons.

1. Best sound and video
2. W/out usb 3, soon 2.0 will come old news a lot quick, hell I already sport usb 3 on desktop.
3. HDMI out, and possible 3D, can become rather useful
4. Personally have had an XPS, and have built some trust.
5. 95% of reviews I have read say the XPS 15/17 is one touch cookie, and super awesome, and thats coming from people who mess with laptops and rate, test and evaluate them all the time.
6. Body of the XPS has way good style, and on its outer ring, comes with everything under the sun!
7. I just think its a better bang for my buck!

 

[Salt-City_Slasher]

I just came across something, if I wanted the HP dv6tse, to match the same price as the XPS 15, the HP dv6 would
come with the 512gb 5470, with backlit keys it would equal the exact amount out the door as the
XPS 15 with all its upgrades.
So technically to keep it at 900$ the xps would be a way better deal, and if I were to spend 1000$, well the XPS 17 would also win either way!