Dell XPS 1710 Total Domination

[mattpegher]

I'm looking for a portable gaming machine, I have dell at home and at work and haven't had any problems with them but of course I don't wont to be wastefull of 5G's. Any suggestions.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
XPS M1710 Total Domination Qty 1
Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7600G (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB), Genuine Windows Vista? Ultimate Unit Price $5,109.00
Catalog Number: 29 DYCWUS1
Module Description Show Details
XPS M1710 Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7600G (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows Vista? Ultimate
Choose Your Red or Black LCD 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife?,Red
Memory 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
Video Card 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce? 7950 GTX
Hard Drive Speed: 200GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Optical Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy?HD Software Edition
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
Office Software (not included with Windows Vista)( No Productivity software pre-installed
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 15-months
Primary Battery 9-cell Primary Battery and 9-cell additional Lithium Ion Battery
Warranty and Service 1 Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day
Accident and Theft Protection 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately)
Dial-Up Internet Access No ISP Requested
Bluetooth Options Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)
Bluetooth Options Dell Bluetooth 2.0 EDR Stereo Headset (w/built-in Mic)
Dell Digital Entertainment No Entertainment software pre-installed
Datasafe DataSafe Online Backup 10GB for 1 year
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Labels Windows Vista? Premium

ACCESSORIES
Kensington PocketMouse Pro USB Wireless Laser Mouse Qty 1
Dell Part# A0625678 Unit Price $39.00
Manufacturer Part# 72268
Dell Part# A0625678

SOFTWARE FOR YOUR DELL
Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for PC Qty 1
Dell Part# A0616301 Unit Price $40.00
Manufacturer Part# C8G-00004
Dell Part# A0616301

 

[TheStu]

I would first recommend that you actually go for one of the lower specced 1710s, I have found in the past that if you choose the lowest priced base model and then upgrade it, it is generally cheaper than starting high and messing with the specs on that one.

Also, by going with the cheapest one, you can save about $750 by getting the 4GB of RAM off newegg or somewhere similiar. 1 2GB stick of DDR2-667 on the egg is just over $100, Dell is charging you $1000 to go from 1GB-4GB, so $750-800 savings.

So, I priced them out, the screen is the exact same between the two, and by going with the lower priced model, you can save about $400-500 maybe even after bringing the specs up to match. Also, unless you really want the Bluetooth headset, then just get rid of that, based on my experiences a decent $50 pair of headphones will outdo pretty much every set of wireless headphones, bluetooth or otherwise. I was also going to suggest that you could get the hard drive for cheaper, but it doesn't look that way.

 

[mattpegher]

After reading the other posts I saw the SagerNP9260 on powernotebook.com for 3.5G. Any thoughts?

 

[TheStu]

Well some of the people here really seem to like Sager, and so long as you buy it from a reputable source (which is seems like PowerNotebooks.com is) then you should be fine. Plus SLI is a nice bonus, as is the possibility for 3 HDDs, almost a TB of storage space on a laptop.

 

[Wolfpup]

That notebook configuration seems at LEAST $1000 overpriced-maybe $3500. What section are you buying it through? I've configured those systems, and with a 3 year warranty and a Blu Ray drive they're not that expensive.

Remember you may be able to get cheaper RAM or hard drive after market, and you might not want the 'G' CPU. It's unlocked, and can be overclocked a notch or two, but personally I'd just go for the 2.33 or even 2.16Ghz.

Also, the 1730 with a Geforce 8800 SHOULD be out sometime in the next few months, which would be well worth waiting for, if you can.

Otherwise the 1710 is pretty much as good as you can do right now. You'll note in game previews at trade shows developers are always using the 1710 to show off games

EDIT: Oh yeah, and do you need Vista Ultimate? Unless you need both the DVR software, AND the ability to log in to a Windows domain, I would notch that down. Note that you can still access domain resources on the "Home" versions, you just can't log on (frankly I've never been entirely sure what the benefit is to *me* for logging on to a domain, so don't, even at work).

 

[Isura]

I'm looking at a 1710. I'm not a gamer, so is the 128mb Geforce 8400 model a good enough graphics card to run vista smoothly? I can upgrade to the 8600 256mb card for $100 more. Mine comes out to about $1500.. and I think its good value for price.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7300 (4MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), English edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista? Home Premium Edition, English edit
SYSTEM COLOUR Midnight Blue Color with Microsatin Finish edit
LCD DISPLAY High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200) edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM NO WEBCAM OPTION edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm edit
HARD DRIVE 120G 5400RPM SATA HDD edit
GRAPHICS CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce? 8400M GS edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit

 

[TheStu]

My intel integrated runs Vista smoothly, so you should have nothing to worry about

 

[Isura]

Thanks Stu. That'll save me a few hundred

 

[Fraggable]

Originally posted by: Isura
I'm looking at a 1710. I'm not a gamer, so is the 128mb Geforce 8400 model a good enough graphics card to run vista smoothly? I can upgrade to the 8600 256mb card for $100 more. Mine comes out to about $1500.. and I think its good value for price.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7300 (4MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), English edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista? Home Premium Edition, English edit
SYSTEM COLOUR Midnight Blue Color with Microsatin Finish edit
LCD DISPLAY High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200) edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM NO WEBCAM OPTION edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm edit
HARD DRIVE 120G 5400RPM SATA HDD edit
GRAPHICS CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce? 8400M GS edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit

How are you getting a 8400M GS in the XPS 1710??? All it has as options are the 7900GS and 7950GTX.

 

[TheStu]

I think he means the Inspiron 1720, because the XPS1710 is also not Santa Rosa whereas his quoted specs include a santa rosa chip.