Dell XPS 15 Buying Advice

I was originally debating between the Sager NP5160 and the Dell XPS 15. I was going to go with the Sager, but it seems like the Dell is better constructed, with an all aluminum body, no keyboard flex, better speakers, etc.

So as far as picking specs for the Dell, obviously I'd get the 1080p screen. However, I have questions about the processor, wireless card, and graphics card.

I wont be playing games, but I want to watch a lot of 1080p movies without any hiccups. Also, this is mostly for business purposes, when I can have around 4 browsers open with lots of tabs, music playing, excel open, skype, etc. I don't play many games. But I don't want any hiccups when working or watching movies, either.

For my purposes, is it worth upgrading the GPU from the GT 525M 1GB to the GT 540M 2GB? Or is the GT 525M sufficient for my needs?

What is a good processor for my situation? There are these options:

i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz [Included in Price]
i5-2520M processor 2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.20 GHz [Add $90.00 or $3.00/month1]
i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz [Add $175.00 or $5.00/month1]
i7-2620M processor 2.70 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz [Add $270.00 or $8.00/month1]
i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz [Add $300.00 or $9.00/month1]
Smart Performance

Will I see a big difference getting an i7 instead of an i5? Or is that negligible if I'm not doing heavy design work? Also, I've heard the i7-2630QM is a crippled version of the i7 (lacking an IGP or something), so is that even worth considering?

Lastly, the wireless card:
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000 [Included in Price]
Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6150 [Add $60.00 or $2.00/month1]
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030 & Bluetooth 3.0 [Add $20.00 or $1.00/month1]
Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0 [Add $35.00 or $1.00/month1]

I've heard that the Advanced models have 2 antennae, and so have better signal strength, are there any benchmarks on this? Is it worth getting the 6230?

Price isn't really an issue, but I plan to buy a new Intel SSD to throw in the laptop when they release the Postville refresh, so if the performance increase is negligible, I'd rather save the money and use it on the SSD. Thanks for any help and input on this!

 

If it comes to the GPU, just take the lower one.
gt 420m/435m/525m/540m are all the same cards. They differ just in frequency they run on (not much of a difference if you ask me), and it's something you can adjust using official nvidia tool, also 2gb of ram is just too much, more of a marketing scam. Unless you do some heavy GPU computing (cuda/opencl) with a lot of data processed, then there is no point in 2gb of ram in there. Many cards with 512mb are faster, so the ammount of ram doesn't seem to be a bottleneck.

 

get something OTHER than the 540m....Nvidia doesn't even support their own card...it's a joke.

 

While the XPS is a solid built notebook, it isnt aluminum, it is a plastic body. No magnesium inner frame either, solid plastic through and through.
What business purposes? If it is your sole business computer I would consider their business line of Latitudes.
I second the GPU thing, all of them are the same card, the low end cards can OC to the high end card spees with no prob.
If you dont need the power of an i7, the new i5s are fast processors sufficient for pretty much everything but intense video editing and CAD.

 

Huh, I'm pretty sure the lid cover, palmrest and the chassis are all aluminum.

 

Literally a month after I got my XPS15, work handed me a Latitude E6510. The differences between the two chassis are spot on to what sprtnbsblplya says. The Latitude is a painted black matte alloy with a super easy access chassis. No shiny surfaces once opened up & smudging is kept to a minimum fwiw. There is absolutely no plastic, none. It is extremely well built, not that the XPS is not, but really like the Latitude chassis feel over my XPS. It is solid and made me second guess my purchase alas too late, but it is a work machine. Overall, I am happy with my XPS but if I had to pick the nicer chassis, it would be Latitude for sure.

 

Then revise your "sure", man, because the only aluminium thing is the top cover. Rest is just plastic.

 

For real??? These must be some really good plastic then, the lid cover and the chassis are exactly identical in tern of texture and look, and the patterns on the palmrest looks and feels real. And I remember reading multiple reviews saying the palmrest is brushed aluminum, apparently they are brushed plastic now, lol.

 

Mine is all plastic, there is no aluminum about it

 

The palmrest is aluminum as well. The sides and bottom of the laptop are plastic however. Not sure what's going on inside. The laptop is definitely not as solid feeling as let's say a Macbook Pro, but it's still pretty rigid for something that's mostly plastic.

 

I don't know about you guys but I believe my palmrest is made of aluminum, the chassis, not too sure, and the lid cover, in my online invoice it's actually listed as "Metalloid Anodized Aluminum (WWAN) L401X", what is metalloid aluminum supposed to mean?

 

The palmrest is the thinnest piece of aluminum in the world laid onto plastic for aesthetics. It does not contribute to the overall build quality/strength of the laptop frame, it is for looks.
There is no metal, at all, in the chassis. It is purely plastic.

 

Thanks for all your input guys! I took a look at the Latitude, the only thing that bothers me about it is the lack of the B+RGLED screen, otherwise I'd take your advice and go with it. I've heard the B+RGLED is amazing and I was kinda set on getting that.

Are you guys that have the XPS 15 and the B+RGLED happy with it, or if you could go back in time, would you get another laptop?

Also, any input on the choice of a wireless card? And do you think it's worth paying $90 for the slightly faster i5?

 

If I could go back in time I would never have considered this laptop. Its been dead for going on 4 weeks by the time the tech gets here next week.
Next day on site repair isnt next day either, each time the guy from India states "he will be there within the next 2-3 business days". I think they get a kick out of this over there in India.
Once my computer is repaired back to functionality I'm buying a Thinkpad or Latitude with American based support.

On your choice of wireless card, I have the Intel 6200 series, its great, never drops a signal and never a problem connecting to anything. However with our Netgear 802.11g router at home, my wife's laptop with the Dell basic wifi card works just as well, no discernible difference.

 

Hey sprtnbsblplya, I'm sorry to hear about your laptop dying, and it sounds like support sucks too. Do you know what exactly failed on the laptop? And was the B+RGLED screen at least really good looking while it worked? That's really disheartening that it died so quickly, maybe it does make sense to get a Latitude even tho the 1080p screen is not B+RGLED.

 

I've only had it a few days now, but so far it has exceeded all of my expectations (which were, admittedly, rather moderate).

Want Bluetooth? Might as well upgrade to dual-band for almost the same price.

Don't want Bluetooth? I have a longer answer elsewhere, but my general advice is to not worry about it.

The upgraded i5 probably contains additional virtualization and AES support. In general, it won't be worth $90, but if you are going to be running a lot of virtualized systems, then go for it.

 

I'm quite happy with my L502X overall. The only thing that bugged me at first was its size (I wasn't expecting it to be as bulky) and the fact that some of the plastic, such as around the bezel, feels kind of cheap. The B+RGLED screen is amazing as far as I'm concerned. I also have a Macbook Pro with a glossy 1440x900 screen that was given to me at work and the B+RGLED screen blows that away hands down. The Macbook Pro is much more solid feeling however. Also, the speakers on the XPS 15 are simply phenomenal for a laptop. Considering that a Macbook Pro with similar specs would be around $2400, I can forgive the XPS 15's size and cheaper materials.

 

The matte display that comes on my work's Latitude E6510 is pretty sharp.
Would I buy one over my XPS15?
Probably not seeing how I got a pretty good deal on my 501x prior to the new processors release through AAFES/Dell EPP Online Sales & have no complaints whatsoever on its performance.
The durability, warranty & comparable performance that comes with a business class configuration like the Latitude does not come cheaply. I wouldn't want to pay it to use as a personal system.

 

Heck yeah, the screen was awesome. I compared it to my Santa Rosa MBP and it was much nicer (not totally fair considering one was 900p and one was 1080p), games looked sweet, 1080p movies were awesome, you name it.
The first part that failed was the screen electronics, but they replaced everything but that at first, then sent it to Houston's facility, replaced the screen and got it "working", sent it back to me, and now all signs point to a system board failure (its on its second one, the third one is coming on Monday).
The support has been horrible, Dell India is as bad as people have warned about, at least in my experience.

 

Which resolution does the E6510 have? The E6510 has options for all the HD resolutions: 1366x768, 1600x900, and 1920x1080. I used to have a 1920x1080 E6510 and it was a nice laptop, but I returned it to get the M4400 in my sig. I was actually considering returning the E6510 to buy a Dell XPS 15 at one time.

 

I know how you feel man, I got my xps 15 middle of february but after 3 days it just dies on me, I was just trying to turn it on and it puffed smoke and died, so I ask them for a full refund, and until now a month later I still don't have my money, Dell support is terrible nowadays

 

Look at the bright side, at least the screen was nice! Fast as heck when it was working too.

I actually am speaking to Lenovo right now, just confirmed T-series support is based in Atlanta and their techs are truly one business day turnaround, not "2-3 business days" like Dell XPS "next day".

 

I will let you know on Tues. I am off for 3 days & left it on its dock at work. Gonna do a pic side by side

 

Are you guys sure? I opened up my studio xps 16 and the interior is made out of a magnenium alloy. Are you saying that Dell cheapened the 501/502x?

 

Yes. I took mine apart and it was molded plastic.

 

haha yeah it was so fast it burned up its board in the span of 3 days, no bright side for me from dell man am already pre-ordered on a sandy bridge sager, better specs at a fraction of the price and I hear support is a heckuva lot better

 

Oh, that sucks if you are correct. Why do the L501x reviews still mention magnesium alloy? Are they mistaken?

 

Just got off a chat with Dell. It has a hardened aluminum chassis. They said the inspiron is plastic.

 

I wish we could trust chat, but they have huge error bars on what they say.

However, is it possible that it is plastic-coated aluminum?

 

Well, I will open it up once it arrives and if it's plastic it's going back.....I keep the chat logs