The Updated Dell XPS Coming February 1st

Dell refreshes Alienware M17x, Dell XPS 17 with 120Hz 3D HD screens, Sandy Bridge CPUs -- Engadget

Is this exactly what people had expected or are there any surprises? No word yet on cost of some of the upgrades, but good to see 1080p finally coming to the XPS 17.

Upgraded Nvidia (NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M for the XPS 17) and 3D options will be available. Is 3D something many people would pay a premium for or is the demand low?

February 1st seems to fit in line with most peoples estimates although I was personally hoping it'd be sooner (like the alienware upgrade).

 

I'm actually more excited about the alienware price point than anything about the XPS

 

Thanks for the link
Looking forward to more information!
I don't think I would want 3D on my lappy. I would rather watch that on my TV..but that's my own opinion.

Cin...

 

Is the 3D just the sort where you have to wear glasses, or one of the silly ones where you have to sit in a particular position and doesn't work if you're on a slight angle?

Personally I couldn't give a damn about 3D (I wouldn't say it increases viewing pleasure much, if at all), I'd be much more happy if it just had a 120hz screen with glasses than one where you need to sit in a particular place (My theory being that standard 120hz screen would probably be a nicer screen overall).

That said, I'm in no particular hurry to upgrade.

 

I don't think I will be upgrading to a 3D laptop, the technology is not that good for 3D at the moment.

 

So are they keeping the chassis the same as it was? No little changes? I cant tell from the pics

 

It didn't really specify but stated: "Dell's press release doesn't specify if a set of 3D glasses will come with the new laptops".

Just showed them in several pics...so wait and see.


Cin...

 

I wonder if you currently have an XPS 17 if you could just replace the screen. I hope so.

 

This is very good news. I'm glad 3d is coming.

 

Sandy Bridge also provides SATA III (6 gb/s). I'm definitely going to throw a Micron C400/Crucial M4 or OCZ Vertex 3 Pro into the new XPS 17 I buy.

 

Yeah I don't think the new XPS 17 is going to do very well, there aren't that many changes to make the change in price going from $949 to $1449 worth it, especially when the M17x will have a starting point of $1499 with much higher performance and about the same size/weight.

 

I doubt Dell will provide sata III on xps boards.

 

Only for desktops sorry, mobile boards will still be SATA II

 

You may wanna check this topic on changing the standard panel to a FHD one.

Don't forget is does have FHD, a faster GPU and almost double the CPU speed (in some apps, like rendering). It will be sufficient for a longer period, thus may be a better investment.

 

Their starting price point is too high for this economy. Maybe they have it priced initially so high because they don't have any inventory yet. It might take them some time to ramp up production. They probably want to get rid of old inventory too. So they can't price the new machines too closely with the older models because people will just wait to buy the new machines. I expect the new machines to drop in price fairly quickly. Companies just don't have much pricing power due to the economy and strong competition.

 

Early adopters always pay more. I'm sure the prices will come down over several months.
Also, I doubt they will change the physical appearance of the XPS's, they've only been out for a couple months. Talk about a waste of R&D investment if they actually do change it.

 

'inventory' will just get moved into Inspiron

 

definitely true. i think it's more just wishful thinking because a lot of people are a bit disappointed with the look of the new line. it is pretty clunky and ugly albeit a solid laptop.

 

Dell has the money to waste on R&D if it means more people will like it! I wish.

 

was that press release IT for dell at CES? Don't they have an exhibit or any live announcements or anything beyond a outdated picture of an XPS with some specs? Or am I wrong, and they aren't even at CES?

CES closing. Was there no hands on Dell stuff?

 

has there been any reviews or photos/videos of the updated line or is it identical with better specs?

 

Dell announcement.... YouTube - Conferenza Dell al CES 2011

It is identical:

(Source: http://notebookitalia.it/dell-alienware-m17x-e-dell-xps-17-15-con-huron-river-10336)

 

Is just the XPS 17 getting a refresh? What about the 14 and 15?

 

I've seen 17 and 15 so I can only assume there will be a 14 update with SB too

 

The new mobile Sandy Bridge chipsets are QS67, QM67, HM67, HM65, and UM67. Each of these is capable of two SATA III ports. Resource: List of Intel chipsets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There's no reason for Dell not to utilize SATA III, it won't cost anything. Even if we're stuck with SATA II, you'll still see a large performance increase with the next-gen SSD's.

 

You don't know that if it will cost anything or not. The board will have to be redesigned to support the new SATA III ports. It could be a minor cost or a major cost; unless you work for Dell's R&D division, I'm not sure how any of us really knows how much it will cost internally.

I've been managing enough IT/infrastructure type projects that I know that something that appears as if it has little cost on the surface usually explodes into a much greater cost due to tons of ripple effect issues.

 

Hmm, don't know how i got that wrong. I think I got confused with the Intel G3 SSDs staying at SATAII.
Well i guess c300/400 it is then

 

it's feb 1, and no sign of it. how can they release a press release so close to the date and then get it wrong?

 

It's Jan 31 in the US, and maybe you missed this:

Intel Identifies Chipset Design Error, Implementing Solution

 

I wonder if SB will be worth it for the XPS 15 given the price point. Especially if the L501x already has the best screen. And I don't think the battery life would be any better with a faster GPU.

 

I wonder if they would still announce and offer the XPS 17 for sale tomorrow as planned, but push off the ship dates for a few weeks. You'd think Intel would try to give Dell priority service for a well-advertised launch like this, so it may not take very long for Dell to get the new motherboards. I guess we'll see.

 

Well, maybe not.

Intel reveals design flaw in Sandy Bridge chipset | Business Tech - CNET News