Considering going from Ideapad to Studio XPS 13

Alright, here's the deal. I may have the opportunity in the near future (Oct. 22, you can guess why) to get a Dell Studio XPS 13 for cheaper than what's listed at Best Buy. I'm not sure how much just yet, but I should be finding out soon, I've already seen a ballpark at about $1099.99 CAD, but after Win7 is released I'm guessing it will go even farther.

I currently own a Lenovo Ideapad Y530 40512YU. It's great, good performance, build quality, etc. At the moment I'm somewhat irritated at the lack of Hardware Virtualization, as one of the main reasons why I ordered Win7 Professional was for XP mode, and apparently no Ideapads support this. The XPS has slightly better specs (faster processor, better battery life with 9-cell, hybrid GPU, eSATA, DisplayPort [which I admittedly doubt I will ever use], backlit keyboard, it would also have a bigger HDD but I upgraded the one in my Ideapad to 500GB) and it's smaller and lighter.

I would like to hear some personal opinions on the matter, why I should get it or shouldn't bother and stay with Lenovo. Also, what do you think I could sell my Ideapad for if I do decide to go with the XPS? The screen has a noticeable line of scratches on the bottom and the media bar is also fairly scratched. (personally I think it was a design flaw, the media bar rubs against the screen and scratches the screen and it's self). It's MSRP is $1199.99 USD.

 

Be aware (if any) overheating issues with the new studio XPS. I'm gonna get rid of mine since it proved too unreliable. Do a search on the vertical lines issue on the Dell XPS forum. Make sure the new lineup doesn't have the same problem or else you're going to be pissed like I am.

 

From what I can see, the 1340s seem to not have as many issues as the 1330s, not only that but I'll probably be getting a Service Plan (don't shoot me, I'm an employee, and it's worth it on laptops) so things going faulty would be a pain in the , but I would be fine. The only thing that is somewhat concerning is the heat issues, my Lenovo however gets extremely hot as well if I play games, so I doubt there will be that much of a difference.

EDIT: One other thing, I want to confirm, does this laptop support Hardware Virtualization for Windows XP Mode? I know the processor does, I just want to make sure that it's enabled, or can be enabled.

 

Personally, I would go for it. The new 1340 like you said has shown not to have the over heating issues the past generation had with the faulty nvidia 8400 chipset. Also the XPS is a sleek looking, thin machine, should be a very good performer.

As far as hardware visualization you could check your CPU here and see if it has support. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=376848

 

Ya, I know the CPU is supported, it's just a matter of making sure that it's either enabled by default or the BIOS lets you enable it, the Ideapad BIOS doesn't let you change the setting.

And anyone have a ballpark of how much I should be able to sell my laptop for? I'm guessing maybe if I'm lucky $800 CAD.

 

Fair warning:

I have the XPS M1330 right now.
- Build quality is flimsy
- battery is dead barely a year after I bought it.

I dont mean shorter life on the battery, I mean dead. Meanwhile my 2.5 yr old Panasonic laptop at home, I can still get 3.5 hours out if it from the 7 hrs capability when new.

On the latter point, I'm not the only one finding out that Dell has used cheap low-grade batteries that become a revenue opportunity after a year.

I'd be careful on that XPS.

 

XPS and Ideapads are not the most ideal laptops.... i would rather go with Dell Latitude and IBM thinkpads or even HP elitebook of some descriptions......... i will avoid the whole consumer laptop segments.... they are more about looks, and nothing about quality.

 

It's a M1340, not a M1330, and from what I've heard the 1430s were better made.

Ya, I'd love to get a Thinkpad, but, a T400 is ~$1823 CAD right now on sale (granted, weaker GPU, but better screen and fingerprinter, 9-cell included, Dual-band Wifi, but I figure might as well go all out), Latitude is $2537, EliteBook 6930p is $1849. I'd really love to get a ThinkPad, but this is more just taking advantage of the situation.

 

That expensive??? In USA the T400 is offered for 800 USD.

 

Gd luck with the purchase. Personally I would never touch a Dell again.

 

Interesting about the batteries. All my friend's Dells batteries have gone to basically dead after a year (5 minute charge or less). All my Thinkpads have of course lost alot of capacity but still last for 45 minutes to an hour or more.

I always thought it was just a coincidence. Didn't even think that it could be a case of Dell using cheap stuff.

 

That's the base cost. If I want one with discrete graphics, it bumps up to $879 US. I already ordered a copy of Win7 Pro, so I'll leave Vista as basic. LED WSXGA+ screen and Webcam is $80, 4 GB of RAM is $65, Fingerprint Reader is $20, 320GB HDD is $60, DVD Drive is $70, Card Reader is $10, Bluetooth is $20, Dual-band N Wifi is $40, 9-cell batter is $90, adds up to: $1334.00 USD with current savings. Better than in Canada, even with conversion, but still, fairly pricey. Although, I am curious to know if there are any resellers out there selling similar configurations for cheaper.

I suppose I should maybe just wait a bit longer, maybe save a bit more money and think more on it.

But seriously, how much do you think I could sell my current laptop for?

EDIT: Found a Thinkpad T400 with good overall specs for $1199.99 USD, if I get anything I'll probably get that. Now I'm just curious as to how much I might be able to sell my Ideapad for.

 

you can buy a new 320 gig hdd for around 60 USD after market. and one single 2 gig of DDR3 ram module for around 40 USD. These are aftermarket upgradable and won't void your warranty.

 

Well, that is true. I already have a 500GB 7200 HDD I would put in it, getting a 2GB piece of RAM wouldn't be too difficult. With a coupon code, straight from manufacturer would be about $1036, which would be pretty good actually.

 

suddenly the price looks very attractive...

 

Haha, ya, only issue would be that I would need to do what I did with my Ideapad, send it to my relatives and have them send it to me. That, and it's on sale right now and I used another coupon code to get it even lower. Otherwise here in Canada it would be $1273.30, so it's about $200 more after conversion, shipping, and GST.

 

Hum this is a hard choice..... given the end result. Also you should check the US model to see whether your warranty is covered. You can sell your ideapad and recuperate part of your costs toward T400.

 

Well I've been thinking about it and just to preface what I'm about to say, I've always very indecisive about stuff like this. I'm going to post-secondary Fall 2010. I will most likely going to focus on 3D Animation...the W500 has a FireGL...

Basically, I'm thinking I'm going to wait. When Fall 2010 rolls around, I'll get a W500, a beastly one at that, and use it for school. Yes, I'm a very indecisive person, but at least I'm pretty sure on what I'm going to do now.

 

The W500, T400, T500 are going to be phased by a new model, so waiting a bit may not be a bad idea.

 

New model isnt going to be a game changer or a huge leap in real life performance - if any at all actually.

What it WILL be is more expensive that what they are selling today. And that price wont come down to todays level for months. So it could be a 6-9 months before you can compare that future model to what they have now.

IN otther words if you need it today, buy it today. If you dont, well whenever you want to buy there will be other additonal models in the consideration set from other companies anyway.

So there isnt anything to "wait" for. Buy todays model, stick an SSD in and you are better off.

 

What he said.

Btw, I'm curious: Why the choice of a broomhandle Mauser as an avatar?

 

i just like the mauser design.... probably could have chosen a better avatar, but can't think of any..... so this box cannon avatar will do for now... and also i guess this is somewhat different.....