Dell XPS 17 - Comments on price welcome

Zab

So the basic model I'm looking at is:

2GHz i7 2630QM
Win 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
17.3" HD+ WLED True-Life (1600x900)
6GB2 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
500GB3 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
3072MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT555M

This is €1049 from Dell

I'm probably going to change to the 2.2GHz i7-2720QM for €1229

I'm also looking at the 17.3 FHD 3D WLED TL (1920x1080) for an extra €234+€38 but this would be pretty much for the resolution only rather than the 3D. I have to go and have a look at 1080 on a 17.3 inch screen though because that sounds pretty small.

Anyway, I haven't been paying attention to the market in years so I was wondering if anybody has investigated laptops in this ballpark lately. I saw people recommending http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk and the above seems to compare reasonably well to what they're offering (they have older and slower CPUs, more RAM, HD and 18" screen but usually only a 1GB 5850 graphics card, typified by http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_Ethos_8943G_1005701.html ).

I've been using http://www.notebookcheck.net/ for most of the comparisons. The 2630QM seems to pretty much kill the 740QM in the Acer. The 555M generally has the edge on the 5850 as seen http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-555M.41933.0.html (the 555M benchmarks are in the Dell XPS 17 as it happens)

Any comments?

edit: Also, is there anywhere in Dublin where I can actually see one of these machines? Do Dell ever sell in shops?

Spazdarn

That's a deadly machine, I'd seen similar machines by Asus for cheaper on Komplett... if that's any help.

EGriff

The build quality on these new XPS laptops is not the best. I've got the XPS 15 and the lid is really loose when closed and the whole thing feels real plastic, keyboard is pretty crappy. It works great and the price I paid for mine was a bargain but if I was spending the kind of money you are I'd expect something a bit more solid.

Try and see one of the 17 inch models in the flesh before you buy would be my advice.

Zab

EGriff wrote: »

The build quality on these new XPS laptops is not the best. I've got the XPS 15 and the lid is really loose when closed and the whole thing feels real plastic, keyboard is pretty crappy. It works great and the price I paid for mine was a bargain but if I was spending the kind of money you are I'd expect something a bit more solid.

These are the ones with the sandy bridge core. Is that what you have?

Try and see one of the 17 inch models in the flesh before you buy would be my advice.

I'd certainly like to. Does anybody know of any shops that carry Dells?

Zab

ToiletFusion wrote: »

That's a deadly machine, I'd seen similar machines by Asus for cheaper on Komplett... if that's any help.

This looks like a good deal, although they could do with filling out the specs section. It's a lesser machine but looks better value-wise.