13. Conclusions

So, bottom line, is the Dell XPS M1710 the fastest graphics notebook ever? It's certainly the fastest we've tested, but, we don't think it's the fastest ever. We're anxious to test notebooks with SLI-based graphics solutions, such as those from Widow PC and Eurocom. Based on our findings with desktop SLI cards, we would expect that SLI will add 30% to gaming performance and 60% higher resolutions, but that remains to be seen.

The good news is that our rant about gaming notebook vendors resulted in a great reaction from a few vendors. We'll soon be receiving evaluation models of some of their high end notebooks with dual core AMD processors and SLI capability. We can't wait.

Let's get back to the Dell XPS M1710. We still like this notebook a lot. Consider its cool design points including a red or black top, a lighted mouse touchpad and changeable lights at various places around the notebook. There's more, such as up to a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, Nvidia's GeForce Go 7900 GTX or GS graphics processor and up to 4 GB of memory.

At this writing, you can buy an XPS M1710 configured like our evaluation unit for around $4,200. The starting price for metallic red models is $3,400. The starting price for metallic black systems is in the neighborhood of $2,600. The metallic red models have a higher minimum configuration than the metallic black ones.

Over $4,200 is a good deal of money to spend for any computer. You'll have to decide if the Dell is right for you. Cautious buyers will wait for our evaluations of AMD- and SLI-based notebooks. What does the future look like at Dell regarding graphics notebooks. When we talked to Dell at the Game Developers Conference, their answer to our question about SLI was that they were waiting for consumer demand. And, of course, Dell's acquisition of Alienware can only help the company move even more strongly in the direction of high end graphics computing.

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