Dell XPS Laptops: Back to the Future
by Jarred Walton on October 21, 2010 1:24 AM ESTDell XPS Laptops: Back to the Future
Originally launched as the Dell Xtreme Performance System way back in 1993, the acquisition of Alienware in 2006 and corporate restructuring eventually led to the XPS brand fading away. The Studio XPS line continued the legacy in part, with a higher emphasis on multimedia capabilities and mainstream gaming, but XPS has a strong legacy that many customers still remember fondly, and thus Dell is going back to the XPS brand and will let the Studio and Studio XPS brands now fade out of the limelight. (Note that current Studio products will continue to ship, but future products will now switch to either the Inspiron or XPS lines.)
The primary reason for the relaunch appears to be branding: in the minds of many people, XPS stands for performance, and that's what Dell wants. What started out as a gaming brand eventually branched into other areas, and the focus is going to be less on enthusiast gaming—Alienware will continue to serve that market—and more on A/V enthusiasts and power users, as well as anyone else that values build quality, performance, and style over saving a buck. Dell states that the primary target is the A/V Enthusiast who has the latest and greatest home theater equipment and places a high value on multimedia, but mainstream gaming and content creation users will also find a lot of value here.
To coincide with the return of the XPS brand, Dell is shipping three new laptops as of today. In a sense, these three laptops replace the old Studio XPS offerings with updated features and performance, and they all look very nice. The three new models all have the same basic features, with size being a major differentiator; you can choose between 14", 15.6", or 17.3" (L401x, L501x, or L701x respectively), and in all cases you should get a high quality, good performance laptop.
The basic model for each size is similar: Core i5-460M (dual-core 2.53GHz, 2.80GHz Turbo), an NVIDIA 400M GPU with 1GB VRAM, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, 4GB DDR3 RAM, JBL + WAVES Audio, and a 2.0MP webcam with support for HD video conferencing. Some of the specifics differ, of course, like the LCD panels, speakers, and the specific GPUs. Beyond the basics, however, there are also plenty of upgrades, including support for quad-core processors, SSDs, more memory, upgraded GPUs, larger batteries, and different size power bricks. Worth note is that the 14" model lacks USB 3.0 ports while the other two include two ports; Dell informed us that it was a matter of not having enough room to fit another chip into the cramped 14" chassis—at least not without sacrificing something else. Below is the slide for configuration options.
The 14" and 15.6" models both come with a standard 1366x768 resolution LCD, though we have no idea whether these are high contrast displays or run of the mill offerings. Considering the pricing and XPS brand, we're hoping for the latter, but we'll have to wait for our review samples before we can say more. The two smaller models also ship with a GT 420M standard, but the 14" offers a 425M upgrade while the 15.6" has a 435M upgrade. As for the 17" L701x, it comes with a 1GB GT 435M standard and has the option for a 3GB GT 445M—quite a bit of memory for a midrange GPU, but the 192-bit memory interface will at least be put to good use.
Video output options are the same across the XPS range, with all three supporting HDMI 1.4, mini DisplayPort, and capable of driving 3D HDTVs and external displays—note than none of the laptop panels are 120Hz, so 3D support comes strictly from external displays. Honestly, the 3D aspect just isn't a major deal for us, but HDMI 1.4 is a nice addition and the combination of 400M with HDMI 1.4 means 3D is a buzzword that marketing can throw around. If our experience with the GTS 350M is any indication, though, 3D gaming even on the GT 445M may be a stretch. Going along with the GPUs, all of the models support NVIDIA's Optimus Technology—at least if you use a dual-core CPU. That means you can get the best of both worlds when it comes to graphics performance and battery life, as long as you're not trying for both simultaneously. With no integrated graphics, the quad-core CPUs trade more powerful CPUs for battery life.
Dell also made a point of emphasizing the quality of the speakers in the new XPS laptops. Dustin was quite impressed with the speakers in the Studio 17, and the new models look to build on that legacy and improve audio output even further. The speakers are JBL certified and are capable of pushing out enough sound to fill a room without distorting. They use Waves MaxxAudio 3 to enhance the audio quality, and while most of us probably haven't heard of Waves, it's apparently used by quite a few audio professionals. The goal here appears to be kicking HP's Beats Audio solution down a notch, and there's no upsell necessary—every XPS laptop will include the high quality speakers and Waves. We'll be testing this in the near future, obviously, and it's certainly an intriguing feature; hopefully we can get an Envy for comparison as well….
Rounding out the features is a 720p capable webcam that makes these the first Skype-certified laptops ever. Skype has put the laptop/webcam through rigorous testing to verify it provides a premium experience, and the combination of a high quality webcam and the premium speakers got their stamp of approval. We're still not sure what exactly differentiates this 2.0MP webcam from other 2.0MP and 3.0MP cameras, but having done enough blurry/pixelated chats over the past few years I'm really looking forward to seeing what the XPS webcam can do for video conferencing.
With all the premium components selected for the XPS line, it's also nice to see that the build quality received its share of attention. Anodized aluminum panels are used on the display back, palm rest, and speaker grilles. That's not so far out of the ordinary, but Dell is also using a magnesium alloy frame for the main structure—something typically associated with ThinkPad and other sturdy business laptops. The bottom of the laptop will be plastic (color matched to the rest of the exterior), but everything else should be a big step up from the cheap plastic so prevalent in the consumer space.
So welcome back, XPS—we've missed you! The changes and improvements Dell is making come from customer feedback, and they've tried to exceed users' expectations. One area we know caused some problems with the Studio XPS 16 was the power adapter, and Dell appears to have addressed that with larger adapters coming standard with graphics upgrades, so that peak power draw will still be well below the rated output. With build quality, performance, style, and battery life all on tap, the new XPS laptops ought to be able to shake up the laptop world and provide some real competition to the MacBook Pro, HP Envy, and Sony VAIO offerings.
You can see additional images of the various XPS laptops in the above gallery. Availability starts today, with pricing starting at $899 for the L401x, $849 for the L501x, and $949 for the L701x. Battery life is specced at 4.5 (17") and 5.25 hours (14"/15") with the 6-cell battery, or 7.5 hours to as much as 9 hours with the 9-cell battery. We should have our first XPS 15 laptop in hand Friday for some concrete benchmark results, and we're looking forward to putting it through its paces. Stay tuned!
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JonnyDough - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
Then the obvious thing to do would be to redesign the standard chipset to include 3.0 as well as 2.0? Surely they could share some of the same resources.cashkennedy - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
What is this moron day?The USB 2.0 is intergrated into a part Intel makes called the southbridge, without it the computer cant work, cause it also handles the SATA hard drives.
Intel designs southbridges 1-2 years in advance, the next intel southbridge with USB 3.0 support is expected to come out sometime next year. Dell can not design / or create its own southbridge.
Aftermarket USB 3.0 chips are available for motherboard makers to add (how all usb 3.0 on intel platforms is accomplished right now) , but it requires space on the board to place the chip. All USB 3.0 chips have USB 2.0 specifications built in because the 3.0 ports work with 2.0 and 3.0 devices.
SteelCity1981 - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
Yes and intel knew about USB 3.0 back in 2008 and yet didn't see a need to put it on its Nahelem based platform. So the fault is intels. Just like with the upcoming Sandy Bridge platform, intel still didn't see a need to design a capable USB 3.0 southbridge.StormFox - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
yes... its moron day... people who think they know but they don't actually know.USB3.0 will still take 2-3 years to really take off... by that time 95% XPS users will be upgrading yet again... not too big of a deal.
i saw some Sony 14" with 1080p screens... pretty sweet. I kinda hate all the 768 screens that comes 'standard' nowadays... there is just too LITTLE vertical real estate space to do real work. 768 vertical space is soooo 2001.
synaesthetic - Monday, October 25, 2010 - link
It's actually 1920x1080 on a 13.1" display, and yes, it is incredibly awesome.I really miss the days when a 1440x900 display was always an option on 14" machines and when 15-inchers rarely came with less than 1680x1050.
1366x768 is horrible.
assemblage - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
I want a laptop with 1080p 17" screen with mid range Core i5, mid range discrete graphics card and USB 3. It seems Asus is the only company that gets it but only at the high end (and that doesn't have usb 3). It's Intel's fault there isn't widespread USB 3 in notebooks because they didn't include it in the southbridge. They'll be pushing for their optical link instead of USB 3 i'm sure.Thanks for the Spec Sheet Jared. After reading that I didn't even have to read the article. No 17" 1080p, no Dell!!!!! ... as if their driver shenanigans isn't reason enough not to go with Dell. Dell will make sure your notebook becomes obsolete for gaming through their driver updates. Dell's prices aren't all that good. The only thing they got going for them is their at home warranty service.
Hooking it up to an external monitor to have better resolution is idiotic. I might as well have a desktop for a lot less money.
rwei - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
Sounds like you want an HP Envy 17. Though you may be displeased to find that the graphics card is a little more than mid-range =P.JarredWalton - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
Which "driver shenanigans"? NVIDIA now provides Verde drivers for just about every notebook out there with an NVIDIA GPU -- including some older Dell XPS units if I'm not mistaken. The initial release of the 260.89 driver set didn't include the new XPS laptops, but apparently NVIDIA has released a "hotfix" 260.89 driver that adds the necessary support.But as far as the LCD goes, yeah, no 1080p on 17" right now. I suspect they can fix that at any time, as there are several 1080p 17.3" panels on the market. Hopefully there will be a decent B+RG option (or dare I even ask, RGB LED).
Tros - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
I imagine it's either size-constraints on the actual headers, and keeping within specification. Or it's the included eSATA port, which makes a USB 3.0 superfluous, given the current uses for high speed peripherals.And don't whine about eSATA only allowing one port, upgrade to FW800 in that case. DMA and daisy-chaining.