XPS 15 - Buy now or wait?

I plan on ordering a XPS 15 with a Intel core i5 and 1080 screen. Does it make sense to wait until Sandy Bridge processors come out, or should I just purchase now?

Also should I upgrade to a Blu-Ray drive since i'm getting the 1080 screen or does it not really matter? I don't really watch Blu-Ray movies to often, especially on my computer.

 

With the fact that SB was not announced at CES for the 14/15 lines it may very well be quite a while before they are updated. An update was announced for the 17 but isn't available until February, so you do the math on when SB will actually see the 14/15 line. Bluray on the 15 at only $100 is worth it IMO but if you don't use it then it's a waste of $100. I personally would not wait, but I also wouldn't purchase brand new either, with the outlet availability + the coupons you can save a lot of money on them right now.

 

I have mine already configured and saved on the Dell site.. just unsure on whether I should buy yet. Not so much for the SB as I don't think they'll be in 15s yet and if they are I should think there will be an extra cost to pay, a cost I don't think I really want to pay considering I'm getting an i7 already and that should be more than fast enough for anything I need.

I'm just wondering whether I should hold out for if they offer the new chicklet keyboard on it and whether it'll have a backlight in europe

 

I would just order it, if you're worried about price then I would definitely order the available model now. The price jump for starting point on the i7 XPS -vs- SB XPS jumped by $500 usd. Base current model in the 17 starts at $949 usd and the SB model starts at $1449 even without the bells and whistles like 3d or an i7.

 

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
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Intel® Core™ i5-460M (2.53GHz, 4 threads, turbo boost up to 2.8GHz, 3M cache)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M 1GB graphics with Optimus
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XPS 15
JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3

How do my specs look? Should I upgrade to the 2g video card or i5 560M processor?

I'm not a gamer... I mainly use my computer for surfing the web, watching movies, photo and video editing.

 

Wow I just got this same one from the outlet but I don't have bluetooth. I've never used it before so it wasn't a big deal for me. Sorry this is no help to yeah but I would also like to know if this is a good set up

 

If you're not doing any gaming then it should suit you just fine. On the 15 you don't get any additional sp's or anything that would benefit you in photo or video editing so it should be just fine. Now if you're going to be doing any medium-heavy duty gaming the 2gb 435m is definitely worth it. Just an FYI for some reason Dell has it set so you have to get an i7 to get the 435m, you can't have an i5.

 

Frankly, you'd be a fool for buying now when a refresh is right around the corner. The refreshed XPS 17 will be available early next month; I imagine the refreshed XPS 15 will follow shortly afterwards.

 

^^^LOL, to each their own I guess. I stand on the side of: even if it does get refreshed it's not going to be enough of a real world difference to warrant a price jump of $500. If I was going to spend that kind of money on a laptop I would definitely ante up an extra $50 for an M17xR3 or a very well spec'd outlet R2 than an XPS with gimicky 3d and a few other tiny changes. The biggest feature about SB is power efficiency and integrated gpu that is a decent gpu neither of which really matter in a desktop replacement or even 15" class lol.

Edit: Play the waiting game of "there's something shinier right around the corner" and you will never have a computer.

 

I was originally waiting for the 1080 screens to come back in stock which they just did yesterday. About a month ago I was going to purchase the HP ENVY 14 and found out they did away with the Radiance screens. That was when I decided to purchase the XPS 15, but when I went to purchase last month, the 1080 screens were no longer an option! lol

 

I don't see the point of buying a notebook when you know a new model is coming out very shortly UNLESS you absolutely need a notebook. With the arrival of the refresh it will drop the lower models like a ton of bricks as now they are old tech.

 

I was originally going to upgrade to the i7-740QM processor. Just like you said, someone also told me that the i7's are really not necessary unless your a gamer, which I'm not.

Should I upgrade to the i5-560M at least?

 

Ehhh, it's entirely dependant on what you're going to do. The downside about the XPS line is it's kind of a top GPU -and- CPU or not type of a system right now. The only configurations they let you do from the factory is the i7 with the 2gb 435m, or the i5 with the 1gb 420m you can't mix and match the cpu/gpu unfortunately. I think I'm going to try to get my hands on an i5 soon and see if it will work with my GPU or not.

 

Okay, well thanks for your input.