Rate my Dell build

shanefitz360

Finallllllly getting a new laptop, and splashing out too. Want this to last me at least 3 years and possibly further.

Dell XPS 15

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB HDD 7200rpm
15.6'' Display with 1920x1080 res
Blu-ray player
9 cell battery

Price - €1,150

Few little extras like improved speakers, better wireless/bluetooth and back lit keyboard. No numberpad on keyboard, which is key since I hate them!

Questions:

1. Would it be worth an extra €370 to swap the HDD for a 256GB SSD ?
2. Do people really recommend staying away from Dell's higher range models such as the XPS?? I know the newer inspiron range has been tempermental but I've my old Dell 4 years with no problems so it's hard not to be a fan...
3. Any other thoughts ? Getting a good price or should I look elsewhere ?

Alanstrainor

It seems like a great spec to me. It'll last you a good few years. I'm not too familiar with the latest XPS line. It might be worth researching what the failure rate is on them, especially with that amount of processing power. It's heat i'd be concerned with.

Are you going to be getting any kind of warranty with it?

Nwm2

shanefitz360 wrote: »

Finallllllly getting a new laptop, and splashing out too. Want this to last me at least 3 years and possibly further.

Dell XPS 15

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB HDD 7200rpm
15.6'' Display with 1920x1080 res
Blu-ray player
9 cell battery

Price - €1,150

Few little extras like improved speakers, better wireless/bluetooth and back lit keyboard. No numberpad on keyboard, which is key since I hate them!

Questions:

1. Would it be worth an extra €370 to swap the HDD for a 256GB SSD ?
2. Do people really recommend staying away from Dell's higher range models such as the XPS?? I know the newer inspiron range has been tempermental but I've my old Dell 4 years with no problems so it's hard not to be a fan...
3. Any other thoughts ? Getting a good price or should I look elsewhere ?

I have a work Dell E6410 that is so awful I make it my mission to tell people not to get a Dell laptop.

cookie1977

Just to add balance I've always had dell since 2002 and only ever had an issue with one laptop. A dell inspiron 5150 (overheating due to it having a desktop processor inside).

That machine is a great spec for that price. I'd snap it up.

shanefitz360

Thanks to all

@Nwm2 - I hear ye, so many people slate Dell but I'm willing to stick with them until I've had a bad experience. I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 now that is roughly 3-4 years old and is working excellently

An Ghaeilge cac

Unless the 8 gb of ram comes as standard, I'd be tempted to stick with the default amount of memory and upgrade it myself -- crucial.com is good for this -- and no doubt save a package. Dell can be extortionate for adding on the extras.

tman

shanefitz360 wrote: »

[*]Would it be worth an extra €370 to swap the HDD for a 256GB SSD ?

Not really... God only knows what kind of ****e SSD Dell would stick in there. You could just buy a SSD separately for less than that and then also have a spare 750GB hd that you could chuck in an enclosure for a makeshift usb powered external drive...

If I was buying a laptop now, I'd go for something top of the range like the 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 and use an external USB powered drive for music and videos.

5uspect

Personally I think Dells are appallingly bad machines.

I have heard, on other threads, that you're best to call them up and haggle for upgrades rather than pick a high spec. Tell them what you want and how much you're willing to spend.

w0bbles

I cant see why people slate Dell,,, im currently using a 6400 (6yrs old) its as fast as the day it was bought, I did however install a new HD 3 yrs ago as the old one fried due to my own negligence. I have had a couple of buttons stick (which is an easy fix) but apart from this id swear by Dell... Iv seen too many different brands (newer models) give lots more trouble to change from Dell in the future. As for the model you have posted,, looks top notch

5uspect

It's a problem with OEMs like Dell and HP in general.

They stuff your new machine with huge amounts of destructive bloatware.
They use subpar parts in terms of both performance and quality.
They use proprietary parts making them expensive/difficult to upgrade.

And when something inevitably goes wrong, such as their bad mobo caps, customer support just tells you to format windows and lies you about what is actually wrong until they're dragged kicking and screaming to court.

shanefitz360

An Ghaeilge cac wrote: »

Unless the 8 gb of ram comes as standard, I'd be tempted to stick with the default amount of memory and upgrade it myself -- crucial.com is good for this -- and no doubt save a package. Dell can be extortionate for adding on the extras.

The standard is 6gb and it's €45 to upgrade to 8gb

tman wrote: »

Not really... God only knows what kind of ****e SSD Dell would stick in there. You could just buy a SSD separately for less than that and then also have a spare 750GB hd that you could chuck in an enclosure for a makeshift usb powered external drive...

If I was buying a laptop now, I'd go for something top of the range like the 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 and use an external USB powered drive for music and videos.

Ye I considered this, but how difficult is it to find a SSD that will fit the laptop case?

I'll have a look at other options given peoples opinion of Dell, but looking at that price and spec, I can't imagine getting much better

cookie1977

Very easy to find ssd to fit casing. They're all standard and then you just add the dell cover on to the drive

Donerkebab

Have you added the 10% off coupon?? You can get it at dmxdimension.com.

shanefitz360

A challenger appears

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20065205-64.html?tag=mncol;posts

Will be interesting to see what kind of spec this offers, since the pretty shiny design won't be enough to sway me

FrozenUp

Dell XPS 15

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB HDD 7200rpm
15.6'' Display with 1920x1080 res
Blu-ray player
9 cell battery

Price - €1,150

Could you provide a link to the summary of this build? I customised the XPS 15 to these specs and it always comes out around €1,600, which is 500 more then your figure, how'd you get it so low?

EGriff

The build quality on these is not great. I only paid about €800 for mine and I'm kinda disappointed with it in that department. The lid does not fit securely, it bounces off the lower part if you carry it closed. The keyboard isn't great, the headphone socket is dodgy it seems to think I'm plugging things in and out when I'm not. Plus you can hear the fan all the time even when just browsing with the graphics card off.

If I was spending over €1000 I'd want a bit more quality. All that said I've had it since christmas and had no real problems, it's been working great. My last Dell (inspiron 6400) never broke down once in the 3 years I had it either.

shanefitz360

FrozenUp wrote: »

Could you provide a link to the summary of this build? I customised the XPS 15 to these specs and it always comes out around €1,600, which is 500 more then your figure, how'd you get it so low?

I'm going to be buying it in the states so that's why it's far cheaper. Won't be paying customs either, before it's mentioned

FrozenUp

shanefitz360 wrote: »

I'm going to be buying it in the states so that's why it's far cheaper. Won't be paying customs either, before it's mentioned

Ahh lucky you! My friend and I both want shiny macbook pros and we keep encouraging all our family to take a random visit to the US and bring us back one lol