HardOCP Inspiron XPS Review

"Ive seen a few mentions of sager in this thread, but i really cant sing their praise enough. The dell unit has better battery life by a bit, but as far as desktop replacements go, in my opinion, Sager is without a doubt the best."

I would have to agree. Just doing some ground level specs, the Sager/Pro-star (all clevos btw) would most likely (IMO) brute the XPS on its knee's....However...after doing much consideration, I kept asking myself the same question when tempted to click on the "Proceed with Order" on sager's website. What kind of support would I prefer? On-site or mail-only. Now if something major is broken (LCD....etc.) then obviously both Dell and the Clevo resellers would be on par....but, by comparing the longevity of a $3k+ laptop, support is the most important, especially if considered for more than just gaming. I recently ordered (July 1st) the XPS for just a bit more than 3k. The specs are as follows: 3.2ghz Extreme edition, 1gb 400mhz ram, 60gb 7200rpm hd, wireless-g, an extra 132watt battery, dvd burner (4x), and an extended 2yr warrenty w/ complete care (i drop it and breaks, dell replaces) Total price was 3,158.74 :eek: . Plus the sales rep gave me a $150 rebate, so it just breaks 3k. :D

IMO, if your going to just game, get a sager/clevo for some insane performace, but keep in mind that
1. you will have to buy another HD (matching preferably) to take advantage of the Raid 0/1 . (basically dropping another $200 for another 7200rpm hitachi)
2. 17in LCD is nice, but how difficult would it be to use a monitor outside of travelling?
3. Battery life? they both will stink, these are DTR's not centrino's with half the brute strength.
4. Why Extreme edition? When i priced the regular 3.4p4, and the 3.2EE, the sales rep basically brought the difference down to just under $300. For me, that extra 2mb L3 cache makes a world of difference. and finally 5. the fact that i can pay a few c-bills for video upgrades instead of buying another moster machine is a better option than pure HD horsepower of Raid 0/1.

I hope this helps! kind regards to all! :)
 
Hey Kyle,

Here's a big problem that most people probably haven't thought of...

Car power adapters

I just tried 2 different 300 Watt power inverters from CompUSA and neither of them worked. The one from Belkin (Linky) was rated at 300W of continuous power. The AC Adaptor for the XPS said it pulled 150W at 60Hz. This should've worked fine with the Belkin, but it didn't.

Kyle, could you possibly do an 'addon' or 'follow-up' to your review to include this? I'm afraid that I'm going to have to do some hotwiring directly from the battery to get this to work :(
 
Yes there is no current auto/air adapter for the XPS line. Even using a power inverter is a risky proposition unless it is of the correct type and wattage. (Those sold at CompUSA ARE NOT the correct type). See this thread on the notebook forums to see what I am talking about...

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=30223

Apparently the jury is still out for this part...
 
fubak said:
Hey Kyle,

Here's a big problem that most people probably haven't thought of...

Car power adapters

I just tried 2 different 300 Watt power inverters from CompUSA and neither of them worked. The one from Belkin (Linky) was rated at 300W of continuous power. The AC Adaptor for the XPS said it pulled 150W at 60Hz. This should've worked fine with the Belkin, but it didn't.

Kyle, could you possibly do an 'addon' or 'follow-up' to your review to include this? I'm afraid that I'm going to have to do some hotwiring directly from the battery to get this to work :(
Click to expand...

Follow-up on my post:

I did some research on my car's cigarette lighter. I found out that the radio and lighter are on the same fuse, and it is a 15 amp fuse. The laptop requires 150W which requires 15 amps. So...I bought the Belkin inverter again and tried it with the radio off and WALLA! It works and charges! I even fired up WC3 too :)
 
Great Article. My friend uses one. It's similar to my Toshiba and we both carry it around to school and back. But it's definantly not ment to be transported. Intresting to see the line graph of the frame rates.

Great Article though, very thourogh.
 
I did'nt read the article but I just wanted to throw this in. The Dell Inspiron 9100 is the same thing as the XPS. It is just configurable with lower end options, if you want a lower price.

www.gotapex.com has the coupon codes for these every week. They go for about $1150 and you can configure from there.

I have one and am loving it. Can handle any game I throw at it.
 
Archer75 said:
I did'nt read the article but I just wanted to throw this in. The Dell Inspiron 9100 is the same thing as the XPS. It is just configurable with lower end options, if you want a lower price.

www.gotapex.com has the coupon codes for these every week. They go for about $1150 and you can configure from there.

I have one and am loving it. Can handle any game I throw at it.
Click to expand...

Actually, the XPS is faster with the same basic specs (cpu, ram, hd, etc). There was a $200 dif for me between the 9100 and the XPS with the same specs so I figured it was worth it.
 
Neb said:
how did you manage that? I have an inspiron 8100 with a gf2go and wouldn't mind upgrading the video and processor!
Click to expand...

I have an 8100 with gf2go (32mb DDR) and while upgrading the video would be nice, I'd rather have the option of putting in more than 512mb of RAM, unfortunately the mainboard doesn't support it from what I remember.

1.13ghz is fine, and I don't need better video, but more RAM would be fantabulous. Solid laptop though, it's a tank.
 
fubak said:
Actually, the XPS is faster with the same basic specs (cpu, ram, hd, etc). There was a $200 dif for me between the 9100 and the XPS with the same specs so I figured it was worth it.
Click to expand...

From the numbers I have seen it is the exact same speed with the same specs. They both use the same motherboard so there is no reason for one to be faster than the other.
 
Here are the precise differences between the two...

Well here are some features that XPS owners enjoy that i9100 owners cannot:
(i) Choice to order the Pentium4 EE CPU, at 3.2GHz or 3.4GHz.
(ii) 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet.
(iii) Silver Accents (instead of Blue) and XPS specific LCD backing
(iv) 3 XPS specific Quicksnap covers for the back of the LCD.
(v) Exclusive XPS backpack with every Inspiron XPS.
(vi) Onsite Graphics Upgrade option.
(vii) Dedicated XPS tech support phone queue.

A couple of good options the i9100 owners can claim over XPS users:
(i) Can choose 64MB video instead of 128MB if so desire.
(ii) Have choice of "lower" processors in the 2.8GHz up to 3.2GHz P4.
(iii) Can choose the WXGA or WSXGA LCD display in addition the the WUXGA.
(iv) Obviously, for the most part it is cheaper.
 
So the only real different is the choice of an EE processor on the XPS and gigabit ethernet. The rest is cosmetic. No big deal there.

So if you don't want an EE processor it's just better to get the 9100 and save a few bucks.
 
Hi,

Just got my new i9100. Was wondering, would the XPS back covers fit the i9100? Does anyone know where i can get either i9100 or xps back covers to buy? :cool:
 
Hello b2386,

do you happen to know where i can buy the Skull cover retail to use on my i900?

Thanks
 
So a few questions after reading the review... (sorry if any of these are repeats.. I'm too lazy to read the thread lol)

1) I'm getting a 2.8Ghz w/ 1gig 9100 pretty soon. I was wondering if comparably, a desktop with those specs could run, oh say, Farcry with everything turned up, where the bottleneck is on the laptop that is causing the problems. It seems to me that something with the specs stated in the review in desktop form would obliterate anything in its path. I'm not familiar with laptops all that well so don't rail me too bad.

2) How was the sound quality with the stock setup? I know the 9100 has a sub in the primary battery (don't know about secondary) but how good/bad is it?
 
fufi said:
Hello b2386,

do you happen to know where i can buy the Skull cover retail to use on my i900?

Thanks
Click to expand...
dell only sells them with the xps so you would have to check ebay or ask dell nicely if they will sell you one i know there are some more plain covers for the 9100 maybe you could get one airbrushed to be even cooler than the skulls
 
I just pulled the trigger on a XPS this morning. I have been checking the refurbs for weeks now and always hesitate, but I finally did it. I really hate the huge size of the XPS and the resolution (I didn't want more than WXGA), but I got a machine that would be $3200 if configured new for $1575 after coupons. The only thing it is really missing is the wireless adapter, but I'm going to try and find one on ebay and just use my PCCard until. I'm really concerned about being able to see the text on this thing as I've been running 1024x768 on my 21" CRT for years, anything higher just becomes too small. Anyone know what the lower resolutions would be for this thing that would allow you to keep the same aspect? 1920x1200... what else can it run without looking really ugly.. Oh yes, I was lucky enough that it happened to have the Skulls skin *drool*
 
can some one tell me if both memory modules are accessable with out taking the keyboard off or just 1 or neither
 
if some one with a 9100 or xps feels gutsy and only if it wont void thier warentee could you verify both memory modules are easily accessable


i would prefer pictures if you can
 
I have noticed that most 15.4 inch LCD's on laptops today are only the 1280X800 version or WXGA. It doesn't seem to matter if you look at the Alienware, Voodoo or Prostar's and many other makes. Only Dell seems to offer the WSXGA at 1680X1050 and the impressive WXUGA at 1920X1200. I can't figure out why this is. Dell does not deal with AMD and I was interested in an AMD 64 Laptop with much higher resolution than 1280X800. Anybody know of any other manufactors that give you more options or why this may be?

This also brings up another interesting fact. If you want to buy a LCD monitor for your desktop you can't seem to get a 15" that will do more than 1024X768 and the 17" and 19" only do 1280X1024 while the 20", and 21" do 1600X1200. Seems like they could up that resolution considerably. Probably milking the market as usual.

Thanks,
wishbringer15
 
wishbringer15 said:
This also brings up another interesting fact. If you want to buy a LCD monitor for your desktop you can't seem to get a 15" that will do more than 1024X768 and the 17" and 19" only do 1280X1024 while the 20", and 21" do 1600X1200. Seems like they could up that resolution considerably. Probably milking the market as usual.
Click to expand...


I think it may be a case where no one would want to spend the cash for that kind of resolution on a 15" LCD, because those screens Im sure are considerably more expensive that a run of the mill 1024x768 screen.
 
robzilla said:
I think it may be a case where no one would want to spend the cash for that kind of resolution on a 15" LCD, because those screens Im sure are considerably more expensive that a run of the mill 1024x768 screen.
Click to expand...
Look at the price of upgrades to 15" 1600x1200 laptop LCDs. I got reamed on my UXGA 15" screen 3 years ago.
 
I just ordered an inspiron XPS 3.4, 1gig, 256 MB 9800!

Was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the 256MB 9800. I would be curious to see a follow up review on the new gfx card. :) :D
 
LiquidEnforcer said:
I just ordered an inspiron XPS 2.4, 1gig, 256 MB 9800!

Was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the 256MB 9800. I would be curious to see a follow up review on the new gfx card. :) :D
Click to expand...
They have 256 mb 9800s in laptops now?
 
Yeah, from what I have seen, only dell has it. Doesn't even look like Alienware is planning on offering it with their Auora-m64. If the XPS gets such great reviews with the 128MB/128bit 9700, I cant wait to see how my 256MB/256bit Mobility Radeon 9800 will do :D :D :D
 
LiquidEnforcer said:
Yeah, from what I have seen, only dell has it. Doesn't even look like Alienware is planning on offering it with their Auora-m64. If the XPS gets such great reviews with the 128MB/128bit 9700, I cant wait to see how my 256MB/256bit Mobility Radeon 9800 will do :D :D :D
Click to expand...
You paid for all that and only got a 2.4 processor? lol
 
Even though the new 9800 is a significant upgrade from the 9700, Im going to wait closer til the end of my one year before I decide to do the upgrade as there may be something better by then. The upgradablility of the XPS is one of the primary reasons I bought it, along with the smoking deal I got on it...
 
Something cool I learned yesterday is that the Mobility Radeon 9800 is actually based on the X800 instead of the 9800 like the Mobility 9700 being based on the 9700. They just called it the 9800 because supposedly the X800 title is reserved for PCI Express cards and the MR9800 is AGP8x.
 
LiquidEnforcer said:
Something cool I learned yesterday is that the Mobility Radeon 9800 is actually based on the X800 instead of the 9800 like the Mobility 9700 being based on the 9700. They just called it the 9800 because supposedly the X800 title is reserved for PCI Express cards and the MR9800 is AGP8x.
Click to expand...
that makes no sense because they have AGP8x X800s. Perhaps they just don't want to jump over the 9800 name, or it is based off the 9800 and not the X800. Given how the mobile chipsets are usually a generation behind, being based off the X800 would be unusual..
 
emorphien said:
that makes no sense because they have AGP8x X800s. Perhaps they just don't want to jump over the 9800 name, or it is based off the 9800 and not the X800. Given how the mobile chipsets are usually a generation behind, being based off the X800 would be unusual..
Click to expand...
it may be unusal but it is the mobility 9800 is based off the x800.
 
I could not wait for this release :)

So far there are no driver updates available from Ati regarding the 9700 mobile platform; the redirect says to check with Dell - for which none are available as yet.

Has anybody on the forum made it into Doom3 any longer than a few minuets?

Regards, Jack
 
try using the omega drivers, they have been modified to allow you to use them on the XPS.
 
emorphien said:
that makes no sense because they have AGP8x X800s. Perhaps they just don't want to jump over the 9800 name, or it is based off the 9800 and not the X800. Given how the mobile chipsets are usually a generation behind, being based off the X800 would be unusual..
Click to expand...

Or, you know, we're talking laptops here. ;)
The naming scheme is probably being set up as such until PCI-E lappies. :)
 
Jack Mitchell said:
I could not wait for this release :)

So far there are no driver updates available from Ati regarding the 9700 mobile platform; the redirect says to check with Dell - for which none are available as yet.

Has anybody on the forum made it into Doom3 any longer than a few minuets?

Regards, Jack
Click to expand...

You can use normal Catalyst drivers on Mobility GPUs, ATI just leaves out the strings to make it possible to install them. There's several programs that add them in, the best of which is located here: http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/

The Omega drivers work as well, and he sometimes fixes problems the Catalysts have, and also improves Image Quality, most of the time. http://www.omegadrivers.net/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top