Dell XPS M170 review at laptopmag
Laptopmag recently posted its outlook on Dell’s new XPS M170, which is basically a refreshed XPS Gen 2 laptop. If I were considering a desktop replacement notebook, I’d probably end up buying one of these bad boys. They offer the best and fastest in laptop technology in one of the lightest packages in its class at around 9 pounds. Most competing laptops weigh in at 3-4 pounds more! Laptop says:
“Previously known as the XPS Gen 2, if the M170 looks similar to its predecessor, that’s because they’re identical. Dell decided not to mess with a good thing, especially when it comes to weight. At 8.6 pounds, the XPS is one of the lightest desktop replacement units available. That may be too heavy to lug through airports or take it to coffee shops, but it’s a huge achievement compared to the 13-pound monsters that usually dominate this space. The light load is possible largely because Dell has custom built the motherboard and not relied on the stock factory design that virtually all other 15-inch gaming notebooks use, making it easier to slim the system down.”
If you are familiar with the Inspiron 9300 17″ notebook, then this one will look familiar to you. They appear to be built off the same barebones kit. The biggest change from XPS Gen 2 to the M170 is the availability of the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX, which is easily the best laptop graphics solution available when it comes to gaming. This sucker performs very closely to its desktop brother.
The review goes on to say:
“The only major upgrade in this version of the XPS is the graphics hardware. The M170 uses Nvidia’s GeForce Go 7800 GTX, the 110-nanometer version of Nvidia’s top graphics solution released this summer that is finally appearing in notebooks. The 7800 has a 24-pixel pipeline, support for Direct X 9 Shader Model 3.0, and around 300 million transistors (all of which are good things). Its benchmark scores are nothing short of extraordinary: at 14,749 in 3DMark03, it shattered our previous record held by the old XPS by 24 percent. It’s hands down the fastest mobile graphics processor out there.”
Dell’s XPS line also offers improved support, which is definitely reflected in the price of the M170. If you are considering purchasing an M170, be ready to spend $2,700-4,000. Don’t skimp on stuff either just to save a little money; you will probably regret it later. Max out what you can and expect this laptop to last you several years. Now, when I say max out, I mean get 2GB of memory and at least the 2GHz processor and at least an 80GB HDD. Don’t go crazy if you don’t think you’ll ever need the extra headroom.
Besides the price, the other downside of big laptops like this is usually battery life, and the XPS M170 is no exception. If running without being plugged in is very important to you, you might want to consider picking up an extra battery.