Dell's XPS M1710 gaming laptop

Today Dell dropped a new XPS gaming laptop in the form of the M1710. This rig hauls up to a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo T2600, 17-inch widescreen display, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB SATA disk, dual-layer DVD combo drive, and an array of ports including Firewire, 6 x USB 2.0, DVI and component video, S/PDIF digital audio out, hi-def sound with integrated sub, and 5-in-1 memory card reader. But this type of performance ain't cheap. A fully specced slab in Special Edition Formula Red "armor" will set you back right around $5,000. Look out Velocity, game's on cuz.

[Thanks, Micum M]

[ChuChu @ Apr 18th 2006 9:37AM]

Those are some serious specs although I have to wonder... is that really a "laptop" or is it more of a DTR?

I'm impressed with what they have been able to achive in laptop GPUs over the past year or so.

[ryan @ Apr 18th 2006 9:46AM]

I'm pretty sure it tops out at 2 Gigs of RAM...

[Leomar @ Apr 18th 2006 9:49AM]

I got the e-mail this morning. It was delltastic. Anyways Ryan it does go up to 4GB RAM.

[Tom @ Apr 18th 2006 9:53AM]

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you are talking about. 32-bit processors can access up to 2 gigs of ram for the kernel and 2 gigs of ram for applications.

Hang with me now, 2 + 2 = 4

[Thomas Ricker @ Apr 18th 2006 10:01AM]

Ryan and Leomar, You both seem to be right. That special edition red version maxes out at 2GB on the custom config page although the specs call for a full 4GB.

Thomas

[Tim Jordan @ Apr 18th 2006 10:12AM]

Windows 32-bit can only address

[MonkeyHood @ Apr 18th 2006 10:26AM]

I wonder how much heat this will generate if you push it to the max?

[Uno @ Apr 18th 2006 10:48AM]

Dell sucks.

[Jarod @ Apr 18th 2006 10:49AM]

If only there was a way to REALLY how many of those Dull has actually sold OUTSIDE its executives LOL.

5G on a Dell?? Gimme a break. Wouldn't take it for Free personally

[Jared @ Apr 18th 2006 10:57AM]

Yes, Windows 32-bit (or any 32-bit system) can only address up to 2GB of RAM for a single process (try writing a program to address more!) It turns out that Photoshop, 3DSMax and certain other programs can use all of your RAM (I'm not sure if this requires more than processor) because they figured out how to fork another process but in general having more than 2GB on a 32bit system is not helpful; just a waste of money. If you plan on needing more than 2GB of RAM for anything make sure and get a 64bit system and software compiled for it.

[Bad Boy @ Apr 18th 2006 11:21AM]

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2887&review=Dell+XPS+M1710

[Hug_It @ Apr 18th 2006 11:51AM]

Not sure where you learned your binary math from but 32 bit equates to 4294967295 total address space or 4GB if you prefer. Windows does reserve a certain amout for kernel operations and applications but that doesn't mean that 4GB of RAM on a XP machine is a waste.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

[jammer @ Apr 18th 2006 1:03PM]

You think with the extra two inches on each side, they could have spaced out the keybord a little bit. Maybe a dedicated number pad, or at least distance the arrow keys.

[Cry Havoc @ Apr 18th 2006 1:13PM]

It's a great machine. I have the slightly older XPS Gen 2, with a 6800 Ultra, and the machine is a beast! It doesn't generate a lot of heat (except while playing Oblivion) and will run ANY game out there! I couldn't be happier with this laptop.

[Zack @ Apr 18th 2006 1:15PM]

$5,000 for a dell? gimme a break. Not on a cold day in hell.

[js @ Apr 18th 2006 1:37PM]

To Jarod: I personally will take the machine and then sell it on eBay. You should too.

To Jammer: The keyboard I believe is a universal one, used by a vast array of Dell models. Since Dell is lazy and wants to maximize profit, they refuse to redesign the keyboard. The only difference is the colour but everything else (including the layout, texture, feel, etc.) is the same.

[Bill Grove @ Apr 18th 2006 2:43PM]

Gosh, at that price, I'll take TWO! :)

[slow news day @ Apr 18th 2006 3:11PM]

Check out the stop lights

[bob spencer @ Apr 18th 2006 9:55PM]

That is quite an impressive unit (after reading bad boys link)!!

I don't like laptops but if I did and had a spare 2-4K I'd certainly pick this one. Once again Dell proves they can compete and outperform in all market sgements.

[Lee Gibson @ Apr 19th 2006 3:03AM]

I like the red "Dork Alert" lights.

[Lcd @ Apr 19th 2006 3:45AM]

Perfect! The cutting-edge design features brushed metal accents with your choice of Special Edition Formula Red or Metallic Black armor.

[Qwan @ Apr 19th 2006 8:50AM]

Dell sucks as usual.
This may seem too much for the average dell user
But you have to check this out
I got the maximum configurations and will all the accesories possible and i could get a laptop which was atleast 10 times powerful than the dell for 6200$
I even opted for the external coolers.
Can you believe it starts at $2,149
here is the link
http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/aurora_m7700.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AURORA-M-7700&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
Their service is out of this planet is what i have heard.

[eagle601 @ Apr 8th 2007 7:29AM]

Just so you know I purchased an Alienware system,one that you mentioned, 1st it arrived with a dead pixel on the LCD screen and because where the location was, it wasn't in the dead center of the screen they would not replace it. It actually pass QC. Plus it runs really hot, the difference with dell they separated the video card from the cpu plus with excellent venting. Also the Aurora only comes with AMD processor which now is 2nd to the new INTEL core 2 duo. Well I sent the Alienware crap back and purchased the XPS M1710. I bought a Dell back in 97 I think and had it 5 or 6 years without any problem what so ever. It finally went when a power surge zapped it, that was with a surge protector.First time every seen or heard of but it happened.

[Czo @ Apr 19th 2006 1:16PM]

I don't know, I tried to configure the alienware with roughly equivalent options, and came up with two pretty similar setups, in terms of HD size, RAM, DVD, etc. Both with the top offered processors, screens, and graphics. The dell was just under $4k, and the alienware was about $4500. Looking at the review link posted about, it looks like the dell spanked the alienware in most of the benchmarks and tests they ran. Granted, you can get RAID and dual optical drives on the alienware, options not available on the dell, but you'll pay for those too. Nice if you really need them, but otherwise, the dell probably comes in lighter and smaller in size.
I'm not really a dell fan, and I don't know how their 'special xps service' compares to alienwares reportedly good service, but I tend to find if price is an really important criteria, and you can find a setup that suits your needs, its often hard to beat dell's prices.
-Czo

[mini @ Apr 19th 2006 2:49PM]

Also, the Dell is actually built with mobile component, unlike the Alienware which is mostly desktop parts. That makes a HUGE difference in battery life, heat, noise etc (not that the 2.5 hours of battery on the M1710 is that great, but still more than any alienware)

[Vince @ Apr 19th 2006 4:38PM]

Dell owns Alienware now, so if you buy from them, you are buying from DELL! Just watch, eventually the support for Alienware will be outsourced to India, so you will get useless and incomprehensible support.

[kenjinx @ Apr 20th 2006 7:11AM]

That is one beautiful looking device (in terms of hardware... the case itself is questionable). Too bad gaming laptops like this one tend to heat up tremendously, which wears down the system's components in the long run. Sure you could get an additional fan, but wouldnt that just render a mobile machine like this meaningless? The fact that you need to lug around a lapsized fan?

[Daniel @ Apr 20th 2006 10:58AM]

This machine is designed to dissipate heat very quickly, ti does heat up very much at all.

[David @ Apr 20th 2006 8:44PM]

I have a year old xps and recently needed to use the warranty. I called them on a Friday night and by monday afternoon they had a tech with a new screen at my house. He was even willing to work around my schedule. Pretty good i would think by anyones standards. The people I talked to on the xps dedicated line either were american or had english so good i couldnt tell the difference. Hard to find that now days.

[Akilae @ Apr 21st 2006 11:27AM]

@ Qwan:
The alienware maxes out at 2gb of ram, and at a slower speed, vs the dell's 4 at 667.
The dell gets better battery life solely because its built with mobile parts.
The alienware maxes out at a 7800gtx, the dell a 7900gtx.
The dell can have an internal soundcard.
According to anandtech, the dell outdoes an AMD desktop system with an x2-3800+.
The dell will heat up less because of its mobile parts.
The dell simply looks better than the rectangular brick shape of the alienware one, albeit the dork alert lights dont add much.
You can pull equivalent or better framerates from the dell than the alienware, strictly because of the gfx card limits.
And, to sum it up, the dell is dimensionally smaller and lighter.

Finally, the alienware maxes out at everything being sub-par (except the processor, which isnt even mobile) to the dell. and does it for more money.
A maxed out Dell M1710 is 4,062
The alienware, you say, is 6,200

2,200 more for less performance? eh?

Far as I'm concerned, the Dell's got the corner on dual core gaming laptops right now... all thats left is for the competitors like Voodoo, FalconNW, Hypersonic, Rock, and a few others to catch up.

[William A Moore @ Apr 22nd 2006 1:49PM]

I think you are all bellends if you like ailienware and not dell, and also say ones better than the other. you do realise that ailienware is owned by Dell? so all you people who think you know your stuff and make banal statements like that keep mum. P.S I'm contimplating buying the above in a couple of months i'm also considering an evesham laptop. I'm really unsure, I know I cba to wait for a hypersonic one.
And also am not stupid enough to buy a Voodoo. You think dork lights are bad how about tattoos? no no no my friend. Qwan seems to know what he's talking about however the rest of you, It's back to the zoo for you and don't bring any sweets back with you, You'll be checked at the gate.



Will xxx

[zinedine @ Apr 23rd 2006 8:22AM]

Impressive specs! Except for the price, though. Laptop prices are going down, but sometimes so are the specs. This new Dell model could definitely put to shame most latest desktops! It's like a laptop on steroids. 4GB or DDR2 and a Duo Core processor. Whew!

[Will @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:39AM]

I am interested in buying a new laptop, I am a gamer (obv) but I been outta the loop for a while now since I sold my "Custom Built" rig last year, It was 2ghz with 256mb ram, GeForce 2 MX440 and not much else, 80gb HDD, This will obviously be a SIGNIFICANT upgrade for me, and I will see a lot of improvements, is it worth going for the XPS? I have a Budget around �2700 ( Thankyou dead aunt i never met ) after giving my gf the �200 I owed her for around 9months now. It's around $6k anyway, should I go Extreme and spend it all or settle for some smaller less grande piece of equipment. I am a heavy user and will be playing demanding online games. I would apprechiate some advice from the people. I don't wanna buy hypersonic or falcon etc cause' they are too expensive. It must be a laptop since I'm going in the army soon. so as far as "bang for buck" are conserned where do I stand? I have been checking out Evesham Laptops aswell but I don't think they have wireless cards in them. they come with a free vodaphone 3g card but who needs one of them? anyways I would apprechiate some responses from people who know what they are talking about.

Thankyou Will

[Wade @ Apr 28th 2006 6:25PM]

This dell is awsome, and you guys are wrong it has a Intel Core Duo processor with 64 bit so you all might want to stop saying 32 bit

[Clyde @ May 10th 2006 8:08AM]

got one on order arriving on 23/05 Just check out the 3dmark scores awsome more powerfull (only just) than my xps gen 4 3.46 1066 (single-core)extreme edition with an ati xtx 512 gpu i got 18230 3dmark03 8206 3dmark 05 4401 in 3dmark06 the new m1710 beats all of my scores.

C

[Clyde Clarke @ May 10th 2006 8:30AM]

Hi
I read the review too http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2887&review=Dell+XPS+M1710

Any I decided to purchase one its Bad Boys its arriving on the 23rd of may by the way my home system is the much respected xps gen 4 desktop with the extreme edition single core 3.46 1066 version 2gb 533 ddr2 512 with the much respected ati 1900 xtx version but the fully loaded M1710 beats it by about 2% on all 3dmark scores my desktop scores are as follows all at default 3DMARK 03 = 18230 05 = 8284 06 = 4446

[Akilae @ May 17th 2006 3:38PM]

yes, I relaize that dell owns alienware, and that alienware just came out with its AMD SLI notebook just a day or two ago, so now everyone's gonna flock to that as the best thing since sliced bread out there. The wonderful progression of technology, eh?
Still though, nobody is coming close to either OEM in the performance/gaming sector besides maybe Rock or Evesham.
Voodoo and FalconNW laptops are a joke, more for the label than for having a laptop, unfortuneately.

[Nick @ May 22nd 2006 8:12PM]

Well, I've just placed my order in for one of these M1710's. I went for the T2500 instead of T2600 and 2GB of the Ram instead of 4GB (which saved me about $3800 off the price). I was comparing this notebook to the alienware new SLI notebooks which look pretty awesome... but they are quite a bit more expensive.

I look forward to benchmarking this new laptop. But whatever the case, it is a major upgrade for me. Right now I have a 850Mhz AMD Athlon with 448 of Ram. Its not quite cutting it for me anymore ;)

[pixelator @ May 23rd 2006 4:16PM]

You don't have to spring for every bleeding option on this thing, naturally that will drive the price up.

Mine, with 1GB (you can get 512 and save money by buying your RAM online elsewhere), T2500 CPU, 512MB GTX, 80GB SATA and WUXGA with the black top (red is a bit silly, plus black goes better with the colored lights) was a fairly hefty $3400 but certainly nowhere near $5K.

Got me a Wenger Swiss Army Yukon case and hey, I'm as stylin' as the Mac fanboys with their Macbook Pro - and packing a fair bit more graphics firepower, to boot. Oh, wait - 'fire' and MacBook shouldn't be used in the same sentence. Er, the Apple is still a hot buy? Oops, no. Um - The Dell is cooler? Ack! The puns abound.

[Chris @ May 23rd 2006 7:14PM]

I personally like the machine, performance-wise you can't complain. However the price is a little steep. The only real "cool" things are the media center button and the 16 user-configurable XPS lights. But I'd take it over an AlienWare any day. I was gonna buy the new mALX, but the word on the street is that alienware employees are not too thrilled about being bought out by dell. Therefore, do expect to find pieces of your 6 grand computer missing or damaged with little to no options for reimbursement. In the past 4 months alienware complaints have increased almost 10 fold. I wouldn't touch their systems with a 10' pole.

[David Rodriguez @ May 29th 2006 11:12PM]

New XPS700!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3640638756535245756

[seo @ Jul 2nd 2006 1:12PM]

You dells haters need a mental check up... The fps on this xps is just unreal....

What I do mostly are complex 3d work and to be right to the point the xps makes my desktop look pathetic..

and no its not over priced... I paid 1415 sterling for it

t2500 2ghz dual core 512mb gtx 80 gig drive 1 gig of ram (1900 x 1200 res) PERFECT!!!!

(the hardrive upgrades are a rip off and the extra ram) buy them else where and upgrade it to 4 gig (2x2) when the time comes

but other then that it beats the living crap out of my desktop and its soooooo quiet .... heat... pffftt only a slight amount - its not a ice cube maker you know!!

now 18200 3d marks 03 is not to shabby and round 8000 for 05

working the price/3d/3dmark its decent value compared to other laptops 200 pound cheaper (twice the performance for an extra 200 pounds well worth it)

so anyone want decent spec you got to pay folks... and the xps M1710 just rocks!!!! also in terms of the x1900 in most cases the gtx is way faster ... funny that the desktop version is 300 quid just for that card

haggle with dell and who knows what can happen

Ive saved a physcological 240 quid

im sorry but ive looked around and no other lappy comes close for the CASH equiv so boo sucks to all limp ones who said they suck. I havent had any problems with their support

anyways thats my 2 cents

(if you dont like indian accents ask for someone who can speak fluiet english ... its as easy as that all you got to do is compromise ... you muppets!!!

[pcread @ Aug 10th 2006 6:45AM]

Sorry I'm a bit late, but I've been on holiday. Took my XPS M1710 with me. It's the best computer I've ever owned. Play HL-2 Episode 1 with all the graphics options cranked up to max and it doesn't even flinch. The massive screen is bright, sharp and vivid, heat...OK you wouldn't want to rest it on your bare legs when playing an FPS, but it's not too bad. Even battery life is surprisingly good for such a high-powered beast.

I got double memory (to 2GB) and external speakers (2.1) for my cash. OK it was expensive, but way cheaper than anything that even came close.

BTW, I got a Samsonite back-pack to carry it around in. Highly recommended.

[CTSxViper @ Aug 16th 2006 12:03AM]

I have the M1710. It is a great computer. It does take up to 4 gig DDR2 as it is Vista Ready which will address the 4 gig. Mine's fully loaded, and with the 100 gig 7200 drive, and 7900 GTX 512 Meg, it is fantastic in gaming. I am very happy..

[Otherwhen @ Aug 29th 2006 12:00AM]

I finally got one myself, with the new T2700 Core Duo (2.33 Ghz)

Along with the Go 7900 GTX 512 and all the rest of the goodies, what can I say.... it's obscene.

Every game or 3D app I've tried just flows like quick-silver.

Way cool!

[Tabukaster @ Sep 2nd 2006 12:49AM]

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/media/en/product_vlog?c=us&l=en&s=corp

Check this out. Dell has posted a Vlog from the guy who designed this beast!

[Vince @ Nov 4th 2006 3:59PM]

Man this is not a Laptop! this is a TANK!!

This is the fastest laptop I have ever used.

NVIDIA 7900GTX has given it a cutting edge over all others.
The 17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA is crystal clear!!
XPS M1710 simply rocks!!

[Rezn @ Nov 18th 2006 5:24AM]

I bought an M1710 just 2 weeks ago for 4800, just some extra cash that I had. It was TOTALLY worth it. Intel T2700G, 2Gb, 100GB 7200rpm, 7950GTX. I cannot keep up with the machine. I did my own benchmark test with my Biggest programs open. 11 programs open, 2 of them being the Sims 2, and Battlefield 2142, along with Limewire, Adobe CS2, Office applications, etc. And it was running no problem! Still haven't been able to utilize the 2GB of RAM, if you buy the 4GB your wasting your money. I think the system looks better with a previous version of the black keyboard, when you have the black lid cover. And it is definitely a head turner.

[Den @ Jan 17th 2007 4:24PM]

How they can call this a 'gaming' laptop when it doesn't even support their own 30" display is beyond me. Dell doesn't appear to be smart enough to go "um, shouldn't we have one of our 'top of the line laptops' support our own top of the line display?". Apparently they'd rather push that business to other vendors...

[David @ Apr 27th 2007 12:45AM]

hay send me lots of pictures o this laptop please!!!!!!!!!