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Dell's Gaming Monster
Carpoolio writes "TechTV has a good first look at the new Dell Inspiron XPS -- the company's first foray into portable gaming systems. The notebook -- a beast at 9 pounds -- puts the company squarely against the likes of Alienware. The price tag is steep, too, at $3,350. Are you buying?"
I'm no mac lover, but I do know that the 17" Powerbook Mac starts at $2999, which is less than $3350 in most ideas of "less than" out in the world.
Check out the Dell 2001FP. With a 16ms response, it's more than adequate for gaming.
Yeah, but add some memory to that since the powerbook only ships with 512. The Dell has a 60G 7200rpm hd compared to the powerbooks 80G 4200rpm as well. I'd say they're pretty comparable.
Except for SPEED BABY! Wooooooooooo!
I have a friend that plays exclusively on his Sager 4080. Hes far better at using a touchpad in FPS's than a mouse, and is one of the better gamers I know. Just because you can't beat Half Life on hardest difficulty in the back of your physics class doesn't mean that everyone can't.
There is a market out there for these notebooks, but I would rather have a clevo of some sort (sagers appear to be the best), but I guess some people would want to pay more for Dell...
PS. LCDs are pretty good for gaming these days, the LCD gaming problems were with the older ones.
cheaper than which powerbook?
12" Combo Drive - $1,599
12" SuperDrive - $1,799
15" Combo Drive - $1,999
15" SuperDrive - $2,599
17" SuperDrive - $2,999
the 17" specs are:
Mac OS 10.3
iLife '04
17-inch TFT Display
1440x900 resolution
1.33GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA/100
ATI Mobility Radeon
9600 (64MB DDR)
Backlit Keyboard
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 400 & 800
AirPort Extreme built-in
DVI & S-Video out
this from a machine 5 months old, yes... but a powerbook update is expected soon and usually stays at the same price range.
*sigh* i shouldn't feed the trolls...
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
i can't seem to find where poster got the 3,300 price tag. From dell.com:
New Inspiron XPS Starting at $2599 After $250 Mail-in Rebate
Pentium(R)4 w/HT Technology 3.4GHz,15.4 WUXGA
512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
60GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA Hard Drive
4X CD/DVD burner(DVD+RW/+R) including Sonic RecordNow and MyDVD LE
$2,849
2600 bucks is actually fairly well inline, and a huge difference from 3,300 in the makes-the-eyeballs-bulge dep't.
If I could make this sig kill you, I would.
I recently purchased the following system:
Athlon64 3200+
1G RAM
200G Maxtor HD
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
DVD ROM, 1 Gigabit Ethernet
The total was $1,280 (including shipping)
So why would I want to pay almost 3x to get a 9 pound monster? The 2K+ premium for (semi)portability is simply too high...
"You mortals are so obtuse." -Q
The Dell: (from the TechTV article)
* Intel Pentium 4 3.4-GHz processor
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128MB DDR Memory
* 1GB DDR 400-MHz dual-channel memory
* 60GB 7,200-rpm hard drive
* Swappable DVD+RW optical drive
* 15.4-inch WUXGA display (1920x1200) with 16:10 aspect ratio
* DVI output
* Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
* Gigabit Ethernet
* Subwoofer integrated into battery
* 4-pin IEEE 1394
* Interchangeable covers for a custom look
For $3350
The 17" Powerbook: (from Apple's store)
17-inch TFT Display
1440x900 resolution
1.33GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA/100
ATI Mobility Radeon
9600 (64MB DDR)
Backlit Keyboard
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 400 & 800
AirPort Extreme built-in
DVI & S-Video out
For 3 grand.
The dell has a (much) faster video system, faster CPU, twice as much (faster) ram. The Apple has a bigger screen (frankly I find the 17" powerbooks too blurry for gaming, but thats just me and I haven't seen the Dell), and a slightly bigger HDD..
Of course, if you were to buy it for gaming, PC does have the edge so far as game selection. I know Apple's selection isnt as awful as say, linux, but noone can deny the PC library is much bigger.
The Apple is about 2 lbs lighter, but then the Dell has interchangable chassis plates to customize it to impress your friends.
Of course, one should realize that the Dell's price is likely to keep falling as competition increases and production costs drop. I've never seen Apple's prices drop (not counting second hand units).
To me, both are a waste of cash. But then, I hate laptops.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I read an article from PC-World (I'm not sure where the slashdot article pointed because I had already read a story on it) and they said it gets an hour to an hour and a half, aka it's worthless.
a little trick you can do is choose the superdrive 15 inch model, then choose the combo over the super, and the smaller hardrive over the 80gb, and you get an extra RAM than the combo 15 inch, a backlit keyboard and 1.25 over 1.0 Ghz. factor in a student discount and you've saved a couple hundred dollars.
If you want raw power as well as luggability, big hulking laptops like this aren't your only choice. The current generation of ultra small form factor pcs from Shuttle et al can fit this much power into a tiny case that comes with a cool carry bag. Add in a really nice 17" 12x10 lightweight lcd monitor and you're set with a lot more dosh left in your pocket - you can even splash on a dell 2001fp 16x12 lcd for $750 and still be way under budget. You pay a large premium to pack it all into a "portable" space and then it's difficult to upgrade.
"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion." - Democritus
I forgot to mention, the Sager was around $600US less than the Alienware.
Apple announces price drops twice a year at MacWorld. Not every product gets a reduction every MacWorld, but it happens fairly regularly. For instance, announcements about higher capacity iPods often preceed announcements about the old ones being cheaper.
I just bought one of these:
:)
Sager np5680
And for under $2000, you get almost exactly the same machine. Its a highly respected brand, also, they just don't have the marketing fluff of Dell or the other big guys.
The only difference I see, is the video card (9600 vs. 9700), and no DVI out on the Sager. For $1K, you can keep your DVI
Add in Win XP as an os, to add $250, and you are still $1k cheaper. Or go free, with Linux, your choice.
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson
"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion." - Democritus
And I agree gaming on a laptop blows goats, squishy keyboard feel, odd layouts So attach a good USB keyboard and mouse.
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Then let's go to the Apple store and do a comparison. The new dell has a 15.4 inch display, so it's going up against a 15 inch Powerbook.
Dell: 9 motherfucking pounds. Mac: 5.6 pounds. That's an enormous difference, many people would simply be unable to carry the Dell with them wherever they go. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to pretend to be macho. Why don't you drag around a destop with you if you don't care about weight?
Dell: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB Mac: ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 64 MB. The Dell has a better card, but only incrementally better-it's still a Mobility, and it's only 9700 vs 9600, with more ram. Any game you can play on the Dell will work on the Mac too, and almost as well.
Dell: 60GB 7200 drive Mac: 80GB 4200 rpm.
The dell has a much faster drive, but the Mac's is bigger. And a 60 gig 7200rpm usb 2.0 drive can be had for $80 on pricewatch. The Mac has two 480 Mbps USB 2.0 ports, the article doesn't say what the dell has.
Dell: 1GB DDR400 ram Mac: 1GB DDR333 ram
Slight performance advantage to the Dell.
Dell: DVD+RW drive Mac: Apple SuperDrive, same capabilities.
Dell: DVI output, a first in windows notebooks. Mac: DVI output, standard in powerbooks for some time.
Both have integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and gigabit ethernet, and IEEE1394.
Dell: Subwoofer integrated into battery. Mac: Uses standard batteries interchangeable with any normal battery. Which one is a win here? How many people need a subwoofer while they're on the road, which usually means being in public places where you have to use headphones anyway? Anyone that cares about audio will use external speakers while at home anyway. And the Mac uses standard batteries, not some weird model-specific thing you won't find in most stores.
Dell: Interchangeable covers for a custom look. Mac: Brushed metal Titanium style only. That's right people-now if you want to spend more money just for looks and style, Dell is the way to go. How did that happen? Assuming the interchangeable covers don't suck, we haven't seen pictures yet.
Dell: Read about it in an article. When will you actually be able to get your hands on one? This is Dell's next-generation notebook.
Mac: Been out for a while, using current-generation technology. The matchup will look a little different if we compare them the day Apple releases the specs to the next new powerbook model.
Dell: $3350
Mac: $2999
The Mac is substantially cheaper than the Dell.
In conclusion: with Dell you pay hundreds more for incremental performance improvements (slight video card upgrade, DDR400, faster but smaller drive)
The Dell weighs nearly twice as much, but has interchangeable covers.
And remember, this is a newly announced Dell vs a Mac that's been on the market for some time.
Best bang for your buck: The Powerbook.
Best bang for people who like paying too much just because they read about it on Slashdot and it has interchangeable covers: The Dell.
Apple Store and specs. Dell and specs.
But the parent post does have one good point-As a mac lover, when I read what he said I fell over laughing and bumped into the side of the desk, so it *does* sting.
Yeah... I'm a gamer and I laugh when i see people with alienware laptops. Knowing that alienware's best laptops are just rebadged sagers for a higher cost.
Hmmm... Pie...
Besides for that much, I'd go for something with better ruggedness, like a thinkpad, or a powerbook.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
...or you get something that's nearly identical to an Alienware for far less...
check out Sager notebooks, a good site for them is Pc Torque. This particular company even allows you to order it without an operating system.
You'll notice that the cases are completely identical (Sager and Alienware). A lot of them seem to buy the base components from one company. If you remember Liebermann Computers (a lot of people thought they might be a hoax with some of their products), even their laptops look the same.
You'll get the same specs, and probably practically the same system for far cheaper. Bottom line: Alienware is not a good price/performance ratio, especially for notebooks.
I know, I had trouble getting a confirmed ship date for my Area-51 too. But it did actually arrive. Since then the machine just screams along, despite the weekly need to clean cat hair out of the vents.
Now with my wife's Dell laptop, what arrived was not what we ordered, and it took almost 3 months of constant phone calls, 3 shipments from Dell of the wrong replacement parts (including a desktop DVD drive that they expected me to hack onto the laptop I guess), before the DVD drive that should have been on the laptop from the beginning arrived. Then after 14 months of mostly okay service, the darn thing turned it's screen off and died.
My son has a Dell desktop, which is still running, but he also got to go the rounds with Dell's "award winning" customer service. They eventually told him that his bundled Windows recovery CD they customized and sent along with the computer being in reality a blank unburned CD wasn't their problem and they weren't gonna replace it. On a lark, he called that company we all love to hate/dislike here, and a couple days later an XP CD showed up on our doorstep.
Anyone who is thinking of buying a Dell should remember that Dell's service is capable of making Microsoft look good.
You can upgrade the graphics chipset on Dell laptops.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
All valid points but the article indicates that they are at least trying to address the laptop vid card issue. "Dell also takes the step, for the first time in its notebook line, of offering upgradeable graphics for people who need the latest and greatest." My job forces me to spend way too much time in airplanes and hotel rooms - I would love to have the option of replacing the Radeon 7500 I have in my current laptop.
If you're going to quote them, quote the whole sentence.
"Wide-Aspect 15.4" UltraSharpTM WUXGA LCD, the largest available notebook display size and highest possible resolution offered by Dell"
[emphasis mine]
It's the largest display you can get on a Dell notebook, not the largest display you can get on any notebook.
Carpe Cerevisi - Seize the Beer
7,200 RPM is fast for a laptop hard drive. Keep in mind, most laptops are still shipping with 4200 RPM drives with 5400 as an option. 7200 RPM drives have only recently been available on laptops.
Alienware's new line of mobile computers have a do-it-yourself upgradeable graphics module. Take out a few screws, remove card, insert new card, replace cover. It's supposed to take about 10 minutes. There's a demo at www.alienware.com
Wrong.
The old alienware 51-m were Sager-based.
The current (upgradeable) alienware 51-m is a clevo-based laptop.
The cost is... Absurd. Even for a top-end gaming laptop.
Let's see. For $2,500, I can get an Athlon64 laptop which:
1) Dominates gaming performance (games, you know, the point of the Dell laptop's existance)
2) Will run for more than 45 minutes on battery, becaues of Cool'n'Quiet technology. Mine runs for about 3 hours on battery. Honestly, a high end Pentium IV in a laptop? While we live in infinite battery land, why not add a 21" CRT monitor?
3) Isn't a Dell laptop.
Or, if I still like Dell (they aren't bad for the price sometimes), and am not one of the 95% of the world's clueless that still believes the CPU clockspeed = performance, I can buy a Dell Inspiron 8600 with a 1.7GHz Pentium M (which is very close or equal in performance to a 3GHz Pentium IV in most tasks), with an ATI Radeon 9600 Mobile and 1GB of memory, for about $2,600.
I have to say, this new Dell laptop is clearly targetted towards complete idiots with too much money on their hands. It isn't even a "just for rich folks which can afford the finest things in life" unit, because those "rich folks" can get a hell of a lot more laptop for the price, and not have the cheap stigma that is attached to every Dell laptop (except the admittedly very good Dell Precision series (which is made by the same ODM that builds some of IBM's laptops).
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
I bought an alienware 3 yrs ago. I don't remember the model name, but it was the best system they had at the time. Two of my friends also bought the same system.
I have to say that alienware is one of the worst companies I have ever had the misfortune to be a customer of. EVERYTHING on that system broke multiple times (Poor ESD control in their mfcting?). But beyond that - they absolutely hands down have the worst support of all time in the whole universe. I think they kept changing who they outsource their support to, so stuff would be in mid fix, and then some whole new set of clowns would get involved.
These were all big things, like (multiple) motherboards burning out, cpus dying, video cards dying, everthing.
Last year I bought a Dell, and have had 0 issues.
I sincerely hope you are happy with your system and won't have problems, if you do start having issues, make sure you write down exectly who you talked to in support, and how you got to them (you will usually be bounced all over the place, and won't end up in the same place twice). If they do wind up shipping you new motherboard and cpu, make sure you take pictures of what you ship back to them. On one occasion their own tech shipped a motherboard/cpu back to them in the motherboard box. They claimed that there was no CPU when it arrived, and wound up charging me for it (never mind that their own tech packed it and shipped it, and declared it dead before it left).
Good luck.
To everybody else - don't buy aw. They suck.
For price/perfomrmance ratio Sager(Clevo reseller) http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/professional_sy stems.html
considerably better. It was discussed at length at talknotebooks.com
It's funny that Dell gets all this publicity over their new gaming laptop, they are just to expensive for what they offer. Look at prostar laptops, www.pro-star.com, they offer a much better price with a lot more features. I don't understand why someone would pay so much more for a dell, who I would wager can not out performa prostar or alienware laptop.
**It runs through my veins like radioactive rubber pants! Do not deny my veins!**
I just bought the M6807 about a month back, and I was very impressed with the raw speed and quality of the display for the price.
They've completely fixed up their support, too. I called once about a minor issue (turned out to be a weird power management setting) and the hold time was about 5 seconds--I was extremely impressed. I heard they just got bought by Gateway, though, so who knows how long the good times will last :(
I'd suggest you don't use Slashdot as your only news source, or you will suffer permanent brain damage.