it was nice while it lasted...

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/13/dell_notebook_plans/

If I understand it correctly, this spells the end of the smaller XPS laptops, which have indeed been phased out by the mucho plastico Studio line...

Thoughts?

 

They are getting a bit carried away and hard for an average joe to understand

 

I had originally speculated that this would be the way Dell was going to go. I could not see them having Inspiron, Studio, XPS and Alienware. However, when the Studio released, the offerings were very lackluster, so I figured maybe there is a niche for Studio between Inspiron and XPS.

My only question is when are we going to see these Studio XPS notebooks? There were model numbers for the 1537 and 1737 which were supposedly the 'Montevina Studio' notebooks. Will these now be the Studio XPS with Centrino 2? WHEN THE HELL ARE THEY COMING OUT?

 

Atbnet: I so agree with what you said above! ^^^ This waiting game that Dell is playing is getting...ridiculous.

From the linked article:

Mark Jarvis, head of Dell's worldwide marketing, said: "You'll soon see high-end Inspiron XPS [laptops] and high-end Studio XPS machines."​

When?? We've been waiting...and waiting..

"In the next 12 months, we'll launch 50 per cent more notebook products that we did in the previous 12 months," Jarvis promised.​

What about for the past month + of the wait???



rawrrrrr. and lulz.

Cin

 

i still think dell should have released the studio line with montevina, i mean, for mainstream notebooks, people will be looking for the new chipset, even if they don't know exactly what it is. CENTRINO 2, OMG! lol i have to get IT!!

 

ya, but then most of those people above buy pre-configed(and usually not-a-good-deal-priced) models from BB/Staples, or dont take the time to browse thru dell.com to see all the available configs and choose the best deals..... i wonder how dell makes its money

 

I am just wondering when are the 'coming weeks'. Will that be by September? 6 weeks from now? Never? Also, they just released new Vostros this previous spring. Why is there a need for new ones already? At one point they had three 15 in models, the Vostro 1000, 1500, and 1510. Talk about market saturation.

 

Well, this is a little worrying, since I was hoping to have a new 13 inch XPS Centrino 2 with all the bells and whistles by End October...

Maybe there won't be a new 13 inch XPS, but just a 12, 13 or 14 inch high end Studio, called the Studio XPS ?

I wouldn't mind something like that, if they were less plasticy... who needs a seperate brand or line, just give us a high end Studio that looks beautiful and runs like a beast without setting fire to our laps!

But whatever they're gonna do, I wish they'd hurry up and get on with it... I just want to buy my new 13 or 14 inch Centrino 2 laptop!

Maybe I'd b better off buying the highest end XPS I can get now and waiting a year?

Philip

 

Good thing I pushed myself to order now instead of wait a year for college - the Studio is not a great gaming computer and Alienware is way overpriced. The XPS has a great niche for gamers that don't want to spend $3000 for the entertainment package on a new alienware. I bet this will turn people away from dell because the most attractive part was the price - now people can probably get a mac for the same price as an alienware with equal specs.

 

They aren't getting rid of the higher specs the XPS offers, they are just making it a sub category. So eventually they'll roll out the Studio XPS notebooks with the better GPUs, SSDs, etc. Probably nothing in terms of SLI graphics though, that will be reserved for Alienware. Hopefully they will lower the cost of Alienware too.

 

I just saw the Studio 15 and Studio 17 laptops in Staples yesterday. I can't say that I was impressed. They felt a little cheap compared to my XPS, but where mostly solid. They reminded me very much of HP laptops, with semi-shiny plastics that almost look like metal at first glance. I think the Studio laptops are good, but they aren't for me. The Studio 15's graphics chip is way to weak for me (the XPS M1530's is weak as it is). Glad I got the XPS M1530, but I would have really liked the exact same laptop but with Centrino 2.

 

Me too..however I am learning that with Dell the *coming weeks* are when they want it to be...Sorry, have a *sense of frustration* a tad bit

Hey, cool Mr. Dell...ok...concentrate on the business side of notebooks.. but how about releasing the ones we are, and have been waiting for???? And, yes...market saturation!

I was hoping to have an order placed by 9/1...doesnt look like that now

*sigh*

Cin

 

Sure sounds to me like the death of the XPS. Sure they may tag "XPS" on the end of the better spec'd Inspirons or Studios...but that's not the XPS refresh that people are expecting. It's going to be the Inspiron, Studio, and Alienware.

 

Well, isn't that fan-frakking-tastic. We wait and we wait and we wait, and now we find out that there is no M1340 or M1640. But I'd like to see some sources back this up before I completely believe that no new XPS laptops are forthcoming.

I really don't understand Dell's logic behind this. If anything, they should've NOT launched the Studio if they felt that they were crowding up the consumer segment. From my understanding, the XPS laptops have been very popular and feature a design that most people seem to like. The materials used also feel solid, rather than plasticky as on the Studios.

Oh well, I guess we'll see what they mean by "soon."

 

Now it really doesn't change anything really. XPS never took out any chunk from Alienware at all with the exception of the M1730. The M1530 and M1330 really didn't do any damage to the Alienware line at all. XPS has a great mid-range card, but long battery life and lighter weight, whereas the Alienware line was heavier, bulkier, but have top of the line graphics.

I don't see how they can possibly make it "sub-par" when it already is.

 

Yeah they could have just pushed down the XPS line and just had Inspiron, XPS, Alienware. The only XPS that doesn't really fit is the M1730. The could have just made a 17 inch notebook with the same style as the other XPS models and have saved themselves a ton of headache. I am sure the Studio XPS will have the same midrange specs, just with a different name and case. I wait with you or snag the M1730... hmm.

 

****....my xps m1530 is a dinosaur (i.e. extinct) and I haven't even received it yet.....

crap.

 

On the contrary. You're getting what will probably be the last "real" XPS, before the brand is degraded to the status of the iPod "U2 Edition."

 

Interestingly, if you spec up an XPS on the Uk Dell web site it says in the order spec
"Order Information Inspiron Order - UK "

Oh, and on the Dell outlket page the XPS M1530 is in the Inspiron range of notebooks!

 

As much as I have come to like Dell over the past 10 months, I really do think they have too many laptops. Dell's price cant really be beat, but there are a lot.

Latitude(business), Inspiron(home) and XPS(premium home) would be good.

 

A sad sad day, but it had to happen. Dell has so many different lines of notebooks its crazy. I mean come on now inspiron, Studio, vostro, XPS, latittude, ect... It does get a little crazy, although I liked the XPS as its own line they are competing with alienware which is not good. You want to compete with other brands and not your own. Lets just hope that a nice gaming rig can be had from dell and not having to resort to alienware(not a huge fan of thier rigs tbh).

 

thats just s*it.
i was wanting a nice aluminium 16.4"(16x9) xps, but they are trying to sell a 17" plastic lump and try to brand it a half-breed studio-xps but putting a 9600m gt in probably?

people who buy a m130/m1530 are not looking for extreme graphics and so it dosent compete with alienware, its got a simple 8600m gt at the moment. they are looking for at performance/portability laptop that looks good and the studio is plastic and not good looking.

i had my eyes on a sony vaio FW laptop, i guess i will get it now.
I really liked dell's non-gaming xps line, like the xps m1330/1530 and xps 420 but i guess dell has no brains giving up its best laptop. i would never buy a vostro or inspiron, and a studio is not good either

 

I guess I'm going to be buying one of the last "real" XPS's. Lucky me.

 

i would have bought(i had one and returned it, ) one but im not going to pick an model model when the new centrino2 is already out.

 

It's kind of funny to see people denounce a notebook before it has even arrived. You have no idea what Dell is going to put out in the coming weeks or months, whenever.

 

it would have been nice if they put out a good line for the coming school year.
let's hope we'll see some soon with the new cpu's
and maybe some ati gfx cards..especially with all of nvidia's problems we have been hearing about

don't know how long it takes to put their systems together and get them ready but I am hopin they will come out with a great sturdy realiable lappy!

 

but if they say its going to be a studio with xps parts, i would rather have a xps with studio parts as the only difference is the graphics card plus the studio looks like a brick.

im pretty sure they are not going to make a new laptop thats a different looking studio and only change the insides to make it like M1530 level.

IF they did change the look they they would have the same problem that they had before, that its competeing with alienware or they have too many laptops and they might as well have kept the m1530.

anyway, for people want a m1330, it sucks as theres no studio 13" and a inspiron 13" is/will be horrid.

the 15" studio looked "big" compared to the m1530 and had less things, and i think its made of plastic?

 

An overhauled m1330-replacement with a decent cooling system and alternative GPU (like the 9300m, or HD3450) would be the best thing ever. For all the flaws and annoyances with my m1330, I do love it... it's great to have an adiquate PC game machine in such a small device. As of yet, there's no announced equivelent, the nearest being the new 14" Latitude, which from what I can see are bricks compared to the XPS range.

 

at least u can kinda abuse the latitude a bit

technically XPS M1330/M1530 is called INSPIRON XPS M1330/M1530

 

And you won't be the only one. I'm guessing Dell will lose at least a few sales to Sony.

 

Aren't the Sony machines really over priced? Especially the Vaio?

 

Not the FW.

 

Agreed, I personaly think the M1340 and M1640 (no matter what they brand them) will be a couple of really sweet systems.

 

As soon as the XPS 13" disappears from the US Site and is replaced by something I don't prefer, I'll still be able to buy from the UK site due to the 1 week lag between releases in the US and Europe...

But we might all be worrying over nothing, although the wait is killing us, what's released as the Studio XPS 13 or 14" might be incredible...

I expect that we'll see a launch within a month, before the end of September then we'll know for sure.

Philip

 

at the moment, there home section only has one 13", the m1330. there will probably be that lattitude e laptop that overtakes the m1330 and i dont really like that.
they wont give you a precision or latttude as its business only, so those 2 wont replace it.
but i might buy a lattitude, the new aluminium look is quite nice, they are cheap, have 19 hour battery lifes and are powerfull

 

but latitudes are business and xps's aren't...so they can't really replace the m1330 with a latitude

 

They won't remove the 13 inch model completely. There is still the Inspiron 1318 and I'm sure there will be a Studio XPS 13XX whenever they arrive.

 

How do you know that the Studio XPS 16 won't be aluminum ? I saw the Studio 15/17 models and they're pretty solid, despite the plastic. How do you know that Dell won't use aluminum or magnesium alloy (like Sony) on these high-end versions ? Dell is well-aware that a lot of people don't want a alien head on their high-end notebook lids.

Do you know that the Sony FW is only available with a crappy ATI HD 3450 video card while Europeans can get a HD 3650 (if you're in Europe, ignore that last sentence). I would consider it as well if the HD 3650/70 was available as an option here in the US.

 

The video card options definitely pushed me away from the Sony FW.

 

For many people, it's not so bad at all. Not everyone on earth is a gamer.

 

No, but I expect for a MULTIMEDIA laptop to have the choice of a better dedicated video card. I can't believe Sony even thought of putting an integrated Intel chip in the lower-end models.

The options for the FW should have been like in Europe:
Low-end: HD3470
High-end: HD3650

I'm still debating between the XPS and FW. I'm actually waiting to see what Dell will do with their updated XPS line. I'm also kind of reluctant to get a laptop with the defective nVidia chip, especially since I will be doing quite some gaming.

 

how are they going to compensate for the gamers who want a well built, good gaming system? not everyone wants an alienware, and not everyone can afford it. alienware is overpriced anyways.

i think their wide variety of models is good. having systems that pertain to gamers and systems that don't.
i'm sure we should be seeing some systems with the new cpu's and gpu's.

 

The point is why is the HD 3650 only available in Europe (unless for some reason Sony is waiting to make it available in the US).

 

well my brother just got a sony vaio fw11e and he got a ATI 3470 so its not just americans who are not getting that card (im in England). so what if the high end model has 3650, its £1300/$2340. your laptops start at like £580 worth in the uk, we pay £800....

plus we dont get to customize any options in the uk, you get whats in the package

plus, i never play games on my laptop, so i dont care if if graphics card is no good, i only watch hd and for which its ok.