Hoping to treat myself..

kleefarr

My Selections All Options
XPS 15


Date 28/04/2012 13:58:16 Central Standard Time
Catalog Number 510295 Retail iedhs1
Catalog Number / Description Product Code Qty SKU Id
Color Choice:
Metalloid Aluminum Cover 548673 1 [320-11684] 380
Base:
2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM processor (2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.60 GHz) 621680 1 [210-37710] 1
Microsoft Operating System:
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) 576501 1 [619-32209][640-12352][640-12381][640-12423][640-12633][640-12635][640-12639] 11
Memory:
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096] 455587 1 [370-18917] 3
Hard Drive:
750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive 455480 1 [400-21831] 8
Video Card:
2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M Graphics Card 548671 1 [490-12743] 6
Optical Devices:
8x DVD+/-RW, & Blu-ray Disc™ combo drive (reads Blu-ray Disc™ & writes to CD/DVD 459258 1 [429-15549] 16
LCD:
15.6"(40 cm) FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) 1080p with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera 455481 1 [230-11716] 760
Primary Battery:
9-cell 90Whr Lithium Ion battery 455486 1 [451-11543] 112
Wireless Networking:
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 (2x2 b/g/n+ Bluetooth Combo Card) 548556 1 [555-13697] 19
Keyboard:
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard 548668 1 [583-14898] 4
Order Information:
XPS L502x Order - Ireland 548303 1 [799-17184] 111
DataSafe:
Datasafe Local 2.3 Basic 283317 1 [640-11630] 813
Shipping Documents:
English Documentation 548618 1 [340-25045] 21
Bundle:
N02X5M05 664001 1 [203-10605] 22
Standard Warranty:
Standard Service - 1 year of Collect & Return 10 day coverage included with your PC 598857 1 [754-81759] 29
Dell System Media Kit:
XPS L502x Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers) 548678 1 [340-25070] 319
Power Supply:
130W AC Adaptor 455484 1 [450-16093] 1015
Cables:
UK 250V Power Cord 394672 1 [450-15039] 20
Enhanced Service Packs:
1Yr Next Day Hardware Support 425701 1 [754-62801] 30
Accidental Damage Support:
No Accidental Damage Protection 475603 1 [755-10595] 463
Operating System Recovery Options:
OS Windows® Recovery Media Not included 414448 1 [620-12408] 200013
Online Backup:
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB - 1 year licence 469128 1 [759-11208][764-10303] 467
Microsoft Application Software:
Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook 422249 1 [630-13325] 1002
Protect your new PC:
McAfee® SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription 406265 1 [650-13904] 1014
Digital Photography:
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements + Premiere® Elements Bundle 603922 1 [640-12620] 87
TV Tuner:
Internal DVB-T TvTuner 459259 1 [506-10189] 636
Integrated Mobile Broadband:
Mobile Broadband Not Included 480660 1 [556-10997] 58
Carrying Cases:
No Carrying Case

Have gone for best in Screen, Graphics card, TV Tuner and connectivity.
Would there be anything else I should opt for to get one of the best machines around?

Keith186

Back-lit keyboard perhaps?

GreenWolfe

Larger HDD or SSD?

kleefarr

Keith186 wrote: »

Back-lit keyboard perhaps?

Yep, I think you could be right. €40.
There haven't been too many times that the light has been insufficient for my typing requirements, but when the light was insufficient it was a pain.

EarthlyPangaea wrote: »

Larger HDD or SSD?

Nope, happy enough with the 750GB 7200RPM drive. The Extra €300 odd would not be worth it for the SDD in my opinion and the 1TB drive is only 5400RPM. Not that I would probably notice that much.

Torqay

kleefarr wrote: »

Have gone for best in... Graphics card

It's a shame that a GT 540M is the "best" Dell has to offer with their XPS laptop. Certainly no gaming GPU, with PassMark score of 723, it's still entry level.

kleefarr

Torqay wrote: »

It's a shame that a GT 540M is the "best" Dell has to offer with their XPS laptop. Certainly no gaming GPU, with PassMark score of 723, it's still entry level.

I suppose I should have said... "Have gone for the best Options in Screen, Graphics card, TV Tuner and connectivity.

Won't be doing too much gaming on it, more video etc.

kleefarr

Been checking the options for that XPS15 and it looks like they have stopped the 1080p screen.

15.6"(40 cm) HD WLED TL (1366x768) 720p with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera [Included in Price]

Only option I see now.

kleefarr

Looks like it'll be back in a couple of days..

Agent : "Yes, unfortunately the full HD screen is not available at the moment"
Agent : "I will email you in a day or 2 with the update on the screen"
Agent : "will that be fine ?"
Me: "That would be great. Thanks."

drunkmonkey

Can't you spec the Alienware higher than that?

Mac book pro should get a look in if your spending that kind of money, it's hard to beat the build quality and you can always have windows on bootcamp.

kleefarr

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Can't you spec the Alienware higher than that?

Mac book pro should get a look in if your spending that kind of money, it's hard to beat the build quality and you can always have windows on bootcamp.

Had a look at Alienware, no 15" option which I particularly want.
Not interested in a Mac.
Build quality and airflow on the XPS 15 is reportedly good in general.

Dannysaurus

You could try going for the 15"s in deviltech.de 's Fire series
They're rather prettyful Plus, for around similar pricing of a tricked out XPS 15, you'd get better performance out of it e.g; the Nvidia GT 650m which outperforms the 540m, along with a 1080p screen and those laptops also have the ability to opt for the new gen Ivy Bridge processors. It looks nom too. Or you could try others like Schenker and shtuff.

Darren 83

kleefarr wrote: »

My Selections All Options
XPS 15


Date 28/04/2012 13:58:16 Central Standard Time
Catalog Number 510295 Retail iedhs1
Catalog Number / Description Product Code Qty SKU Id
Color Choice:
Metalloid Aluminum Cover 548673 1 [320-11684] 380
Base:
2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM processor (2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.60 GHz) 621680 1 [210-37710] 1
Microsoft Operating System:
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) 576501 1 [619-32209][640-12352][640-12381][640-12423][640-12633][640-12635][640-12639] 11
Memory:
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096] 455587 1 [370-18917] 3
Hard Drive:
750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive 455480 1 [400-21831] 8
Video Card:
2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M Graphics Card 548671 1 [490-12743] 6
Optical Devices:
8x DVD+/-RW, & Blu-ray Disc™ combo drive (reads Blu-ray Disc™ & writes to CD/DVD 459258 1 [429-15549] 16
LCD:
15.6"(40 cm) FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) 1080p with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera 455481 1 [230-11716] 760
Primary Battery:
9-cell 90Whr Lithium Ion battery 455486 1 [451-11543] 112
Wireless Networking:
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 (2x2 b/g/n+ Bluetooth Combo Card) 548556 1 [555-13697] 19
Keyboard:
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard 548668 1 [583-14898] 4
Order Information:
XPS L502x Order - Ireland 548303 1 [799-17184] 111
DataSafe:
Datasafe Local 2.3 Basic 283317 1 [640-11630] 813
Shipping Documents:
English Documentation 548618 1 [340-25045] 21
Bundle:
N02X5M05 664001 1 [203-10605] 22
Standard Warranty:
Standard Service - 1 year of Collect & Return 10 day coverage included with your PC 598857 1 [754-81759] 29
Dell System Media Kit:
XPS L502x Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers) 548678 1 [340-25070] 319
Power Supply:
130W AC Adaptor 455484 1 [450-16093] 1015
Cables:
UK 250V Power Cord 394672 1 [450-15039] 20
Enhanced Service Packs:
1Yr Next Day Hardware Support 425701 1 [754-62801] 30
Accidental Damage Support:
No Accidental Damage Protection 475603 1 [755-10595] 463
Operating System Recovery Options:
OS Windows® Recovery Media Not included 414448 1 [620-12408] 200013
Online Backup:
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB - 1 year licence 469128 1 [759-11208][764-10303] 467
Microsoft Application Software:
Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook 422249 1 [630-13325] 1002
Protect your new PC:
McAfee® SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription 406265 1 [650-13904] 1014
Digital Photography:
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements + Premiere® Elements Bundle 603922 1 [640-12620] 87
TV Tuner:
Internal DVB-T TvTuner 459259 1 [506-10189] 636
Integrated Mobile Broadband:
Mobile Broadband Not Included 480660 1 [556-10997] 58
Carrying Cases:
No Carrying Case

Have gone for best in Screen, Graphics card, TV Tuner and connectivity.
Would there be anything else I should opt for to get one of the best machines around?

I would'nt go over 320gb hdd, constantly fail the amount of laptops I had to fix because of faulty hdds over 320gb

kleefarr

Dannysaurus wrote: »

You could try going for the 15"s in deviltech.de 's Fire series
They're rather prettyful Plus, for around similar pricing of a tricked out XPS 15, you'd get better performance out of it e.g; the Nvidia GT 650m which outperforms the 540m, along with a 1080p screen and those laptops also have the ability to opt for the new gen Ivy Bridge processors. It looks nom too. Or you could try others like Schenker and shtuff.

Don't like the idea of having to send it overseas if something goes wrong.

Darren 83 wrote: »

I would'nt go over 320gb hdd, constantly fail the amount of laptops I had to fix because of faulty hdds over 320gb

Um, worth considering.

Dannysaurus

Well, that's fair, but as lovely as the L502X sounds right now, I'd recommend looking elsewhere and waiting a teency bit if you want your money's worth.

Otherwise, the current configuration is ideal for the laptop

kleefarr

Do you think prices will come some in the next few weeks then?
I was thinking of getting it next week.

But still no 1080p screen option.

Jarren

This should help to relieve a pain

http://buy-ireland.com/dell-discount-coupons.php

Out of curiosity,how much will that Dell lappy cost you?

kleefarr

Jarren wrote: »

This should help to relieve a pain

http://buy-ireland.com/dell-discount-coupons.php

Out of curiosity,how much will that Dell lappy cost you?

Thanks for that.

Well, with the smaller HDD and the 720p screen it's says €1773.
With the coupon that you kindly notified me of... €1506.

But I really would like that 1080p screen, so guess by the time that is back as an option the coupon will be out of date. Will check again before buying anyway.

Jarren

Does it have to be Dell xps?

Surely you'd get same specs or better if you decided to go with another brand name.

Will you need your lappy for gaming or entertainment?

Let us know anyway

EGriff

Whoa, I would not spend €1500 on one of these if I was you. Have you seen one in the flesh and used it? I've had one for about a year and the build quality is not that great. Mine was only €900 and still I feel let down by the general feel of it. The lid flaps around when you carry it (closed), the keyboard is not that nice and the CD tray is loose even though I've only opened it about twice.
The fan can be really loud at times too and it still gets quite hot.

It hasn't broken on me yet though and i did play Mass Effect 3 on it recently and it worked great (mine only has a GT 420M).

I just think you could get a much nicer machine for the kind of money you are spending.

/2c

Edit: Forgot to mention its pretty bulky and heavy too.

Dannysaurus

1500 on the XPS? To answer your question, doubtful. You'd expect it to come down after IB's release but they'll probably refresh it, or at least I'm hoping they do, then perhaps I'll get it myself

As other users have said, go for something else instead. I understand that if **** goes wrong with the laptop, Dell might be easier when dealing with that, but I don't think that's rather substantial.

Oh, if you're treating yourself, don't get the 720p screen, especially on anything larger than 13", it's just so much better at higher resolutions. Try at least 1440x900. If you're gonna use it for gaming, I'd suggest looking into the Asus G5 series laptops for the 15" ones. Still, try considering laptops bought overseas, because you'll be going to send your laptop away either way if something happens to it that is hardware based :<

Have you used a 1080p laptop screen? I've yet to come across one that was noticeably better in any way over a 1366X768 screen. Things have to upscaled constantly and HD stuff looks like crap on any I've come across. In terms of usability, 10 of constantly zooming in and out is more than I can take. :P

Dannysaurus

Yeah, hence my aversion to 1366X768 on anything larger than 13". This is coming from having used a 16 incher with that resolution. It didn't bother me as much till I borrowed a friend's laptop with a 1080p screen for a week while mine was sent away.

Ideally a 1440x900 would be great for a 15" screen. Don't know about you, but perhaps le eyesight? Because those resolutions are rather nice for me without needing to zoom in/out/upscale.

kleefarr

Ok, I'm in a postion to buy now and Dell still haven't come back with any date for the 1080p screen.

Having seen the reliability graph, I thought I would look at Asus..

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Asus_VX7-SZ058Z_Windows_7_Gaming_Laptop__VX7-SZ058Z/version.asp#maindesc

Looks a bit chunky.

HDD very big.

kleefarr

Jarren wrote: »

Does it have to be Dell xps?

Surely you'd get same specs or better if you decided to go with another brand name.

Will you need your lappy for gaming or entertainment?

Let us know anyway

More entertainment than gaming. Watching movies when away and music, bit of video/photo editing etc. Some games, but nothing too strenuous.
Keen on a good 1080p screen, 15" with good sound. HDMI out and TV tuner.

Jarren

This is not bad price for that Asus lamborghini lappy but the main purpose would be gaming and it looks like a stealth fighter jet.


http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/asus-lamborghini-vx7.aspx

Based on your requirements I'd go for something this instead.


http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/15_16_inch/80004879/asus_15_6_n53sm_s1053v_i7_2670qm_12gb_750gb/details.aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-N55SL-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B007JBBGD8/ref=sr_1_19?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1338014304&sr=1-19

http://www.amazon.co.uk/F750-12P-Glasses-Free-i7-2670QM-Bluetooth-Speakers/dp/B006Z6MHBI/ref=sr_1_29?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1338014571&sr=1-29

kleefarr

That Asus from Komplett looks more like my style. Is it HD screen and TV out? Good cooling?
Backlit keyboard?
Can't find any online reviews in English.
Shame it's not customisable.

Dannysaurus

For one, I'd recommend against going with the Lamborghini model. It's WAY overpriced and it's carrying a GPU (GTX460m) that's a generation or two ago, though in it's time, is one of the higher end ones for mobile gaming, but it's now on par with the current gen's upper mid-ranged GT 650M.

As for both Asus models, they're rather good, but unfortunately they don't come with a backlit keyboard, which I myself look for often in a laptop and that usually ends up lengthening my search :L

Check the Asus G55VW out, it costs about 200 less than your current config (excluding the coupon). Here's the review
- Ivy Bridge i7, so, future proofing?
- 1080p screen (not sure if it's matte or not)
- backlit keyboard
- Nvidia GTX660m, which outperforms the GT540m
- And a blu-ray drive if that floats your boat.

The only downside to that is that it doesn't have a TV tuner as far as I know, but I'm pretty sure you could get one separately?

kleefarr

Shame those higher end Asus machines are a bit ugly.
Checking out Toshiiba now.

kleefarr

Dang..

This is so close, but no backlit keyboard.

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/1118694/tab/0

I am contacting them to see if they can put one in.

kleefarr

Or..

Sony VPCF24C5E

Processor: Intel®Core(TM)i7-2640M,2.80GHz
Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Hard drive: 500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
Memory: 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Optical Drive: Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
Display: 41.6 cm LCD, 1920x1080 Plus
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB
Microsoft® Office 2010: Office 2010 Starter
Antivirus software: No protection
McAfee® Online Backup: McAfee Online Backup trial
Adobe® Creation: Premiere + Photoshop® Elements
Adobe® Lightroom®: No Adobe® Lightroom
Sony Creative software: No Imagination Studio Suite
Also Included
Language and keyboard: English (QWERTY)
Keyboard Style: Backlight keyboard
Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11bgn)
HDMI(TM) output: HDMI(TM) output
Battery: Battery life up to 5 hours
AC Adapter: AC Adapter
Bluetooth®: Bluetooth® 4.0

Total €1,474.00

Dannysaurus

kleefarr wrote: »

Or..

Sony VPCF24C5E

Processor: Intel®Core(TM)i7-2640M,2.80GHz
Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Hard drive: 500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
Memory: 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3-SDRAM
Optical Drive: Blu-ray Disc(TM) player
Display: 41.6 cm LCD, 1920x1080 Plus
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB
Microsoft® Office 2010: Office 2010 Starter
Antivirus software: No protection
McAfee® Online Backup: McAfee Online Backup trial
Adobe® Creation: Premiere + Photoshop® Elements
Adobe® Lightroom®: No Adobe® Lightroom
Sony Creative software: No Imagination Studio Suite
Also Included
Language and keyboard: English (QWERTY)
Keyboard Style: Backlight keyboard
Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11bgn)
HDMI(TM) output: HDMI(TM) output
Battery: Battery life up to 5 hours
AC Adapter: AC Adapter
Bluetooth®: Bluetooth® 4.0

Total €1,474.00

Pity about the Asus, I suppose it's subjective on how they look. Vaio does have aesthetics going well for them, along with the backlit keyboard. Go for it

Though curiosity beckons, if you're gonna game, what titles and perhaps what settings would you mind playing it on?

kleefarr

No gaming really, some online stuff, Evony, MSN Zone etc. I'm a console gamer really.

It seems that if I want all the things I listed originally, it will have to be the 16" Sony. Higher up the reliability list than Dell so can't be too bad.
They are quoting a 2-3 delivery time though.
Will order next week, now I have decided.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help guys. I'll let you know what it's like when I have played with it a bit.

JohnBDL

http://tweakers.net/nieuws/80988/foto-en-details-dunne-dell-xps-15-met-gorilla-glass-verschenen.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/650572-new-dell-xps-l521x-ivy-bridge-50.html

New Dell XPS on the way in the next couple of weeks! That's why the 1080p screens gone. It's gonna be thinner and no longer have the sub woofer but it's supposedly gonna be a very design-focused laptop! I've been following that thread for weeks and it looks like we'll definitely see it in the next month if not sooner! I've been trying to decide whether or not to get the current XPS or the new one for a long time but now since the 1080p screen's gone I think I'm going to wait! Only thing that worries me is what the price will be.

kleefarr

Um, thin and more flimsy is the way I would look at it. Thanks for the update anyway.
Think I'll stick with the Vaio F Series.

kleefarr

Just ordered the Vaio. Now have to wait 2-3 weeks.

kleefarr

Just had notification that the Vaio should arrive 9th - 16th June.

My last problem that needs solving is the addition of a TV Tunner.

Which one?

I have read that the Hauppauge Win Tv HVR-2250 works well on Win 7 and lots of other makes don't. Is this the one I should try for?


Edit 1. Scrap the 2250, looks like it's a card for a desktop. 8(
Edit 2. HD preferably and only required for outside of Ireland mainly.
Edit 3. Could be the best I've found so far Sabrent

kleefarr

Have had the Vaio since Friday afternoon and I must say I love it.