Find tech advice for business here
Entered CNET Catalog: 09/28/2005
SKU: IMX170S2
Manufacturer: Dell, Inc.
Content [Hide]
Manufacturer description
Dell XPS M170 is a powerful and bold desktop replacement notebook. The XPS M170 takes advantage of Intel's Pentium M high performance and energy efficient processors to offer the best combination of processing power, weight and battery endurance. The 17" Wide Screen UXGA with TrueLife provides a vivid, high resolution viewing experience whether you are surfing, watching a DVD or dominating your gaming opponents. Created for the power user who demands uncompromising performance, the XPS M170 brings notebook computing to a whole new level.Product summary
The good: Excellent game performance; top-shelf processor and graphics engine; illuminated case; lightweight for a gaming machine; good multimedia features; full assortment of ports and connections.
The bad: It's not cheap.
The bottom line: Powered by a top-shelf processor and graphics engine, the Dell XPS M170 is one of the fastest and slimmest gaming machines we've ever seen.
Average user rating: from 69 users
3.5 stars
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 User Rating: 
7/10
Too hot to handle
Pros: Great gaming computer
Cons: Freezes due to heat
Review: I've had the XPS 170, and though it's not a Dual-Core, it's much faster than my Dual-Core HP desktop. The graphics are stunning.
However, the XPS 170 runs so hot that if I don't run a chill pad, it'll freeze. That's a pain when you are about to kill the enemy or protect a galaxy.
However, the XPS 170 runs so hot that if I don't run a chill pad, it'll freeze. That's a pain when you are about to kill the enemy or protect a galaxy.
User Rating: 
3/10
Overweight, badly engineered paperweight
Pros: It looks nice, kinda
Cons: Compatibility issues, major heating issues, bulky, expensive, scratches easily
Review: When I received my xps m170, I was the happiest person on heart, heart full of hopes and dreams and all that. But honestly, once you get past the whole disco led laptop, you open your eyes and realize you've paid 3000$ for a slow desktop computer with built in monitor. The xps m170 is heavy, could not handle even running warcraft 3 smoothly, and has major overheating issues, I'm not kidding on this, if you sit it on any kind of fabric (eg, a bed) I believe it's actually a fire hazard. My battery died 2 months within reception of the laptop, 3 months later, my motherboard died and dell won't sell me a motherboard without having me send them the laptop. Fortunatly, I was able to get one from a third party. It comes with this nice little backpack that has XPS written all over it, that's slang for 'There is an expensive machine in this bag, please mug me'. The only good review I could possibly think of is the built in wireless card, I was impressed, it has very good reception, but that's honestly just... it. Bottomline, get the XPS M170 if you have so much money you don't know how to waste it and impressing the local net cafe geeks is important to you.
User Rating: 
10/10
Excellent, rugged and durable
Pros: Dropped several times still works fine
Cons: Heat need lap cooler
Review: Use it for business and never had a problem with it. Upgraded to Vista Ultimate and aside from some vista splash screens with lines works like a charm. This this a 10+.
Worth the money.
Worth the money.
User Rating: 
8/10
XPS Isn't a laptop
Pros: Awsome Performance, Ubuntu supports it out of the box
Cons: Not great for working on your lap, it gets DANGEROUSLY hot
Review: Dont get me wrong this is a good desktop replacement, I've been enjoying mine for 8 months or so. There are a few things i would have wanted to know before buying mine.
A thick sticky back plate of metal on the top of the lid does not constitute "Snap on", the cover on the top is a pain in the arse to remove and you wont be able to use it again, unless you are some sort of surgeon.
This laptop gets very hot, so hot i removed my finger prints picking it up the first time, and because of this it's very uncomfortable to have on your lap, the fans are in a position so that if you hold it between your knees you block them off.
The battery life is understandably short, at first it's about 4 hours, but these days with battery wear it's down to maybe an hour before i need the brick of a power adapter.
I had a problem that resolved it's self in the end, the DVD drive catch sometimes fails to release when you hit the open button or Fn+F10
I wouldn't change mine for the world though, it's good (just want people to know the facts before buying). On the up side, the touch pad is the best i have used or seen, the screen is large and clear (apart from in the sun of course), the lights are good fun (get the winamp plugin) and the sound from the on-board sub and speakers are definitely best in class.
A thick sticky back plate of metal on the top of the lid does not constitute "Snap on", the cover on the top is a pain in the arse to remove and you wont be able to use it again, unless you are some sort of surgeon.
This laptop gets very hot, so hot i removed my finger prints picking it up the first time, and because of this it's very uncomfortable to have on your lap, the fans are in a position so that if you hold it between your knees you block them off.
The battery life is understandably short, at first it's about 4 hours, but these days with battery wear it's down to maybe an hour before i need the brick of a power adapter.
I had a problem that resolved it's self in the end, the DVD drive catch sometimes fails to release when you hit the open button or Fn+F10
I wouldn't change mine for the world though, it's good (just want people to know the facts before buying). On the up side, the touch pad is the best i have used or seen, the screen is large and clear (apart from in the sun of course), the lights are good fun (get the winamp plugin) and the sound from the on-board sub and speakers are definitely best in class.
User Rating: 
9/10
Easily the best gaming machine on the market
Pros: Intense speed, terrific multitasking capabillities, eye candy
Cons: decent not good battery life
Review: First of all I have owned this laptop for approximately 6 weeks now, and for those of you who give this PC a rating of a 3 because Dell doesn't have carrying cases in pretty colors like alienware, you are too dumb to own this machine. First be informed that Alienware is owned by Dell so praising them and scoffing Dell makes no sense at all.
I have the T7600G with 2 GB DDR2 667 Ram, 7950 GTX Videocard, and the 100 GB 7200 RPM. THIS PC FLIES! With a few tweaks I have consistently been getting 3D benchmark scores of over 7,000. Performace with this PC is amazing and for all that it can accomplish I am quite pleased with the portability. 9 Lbs. is is amazing considering my desktop PC probably weighs over 30 and that's without the monitor. It is also very nice to look at and turns heads like a "cute chick in a ferrari". The only reason I give this PC a 9 is because of battery life. Although it does have decent battery life for what it does I have not seen any extended life batteries available for this particular PC. The only other option is buying a spare battery.
I have the T7600G with 2 GB DDR2 667 Ram, 7950 GTX Videocard, and the 100 GB 7200 RPM. THIS PC FLIES! With a few tweaks I have consistently been getting 3D benchmark scores of over 7,000. Performace with this PC is amazing and for all that it can accomplish I am quite pleased with the portability. 9 Lbs. is is amazing considering my desktop PC probably weighs over 30 and that's without the monitor. It is also very nice to look at and turns heads like a "cute chick in a ferrari". The only reason I give this PC a 9 is because of battery life. Although it does have decent battery life for what it does I have not seen any extended life batteries available for this particular PC. The only other option is buying a spare battery.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Laptop
Pros: Resolution and Speed
Cons: Size and weight
Review: I had mine since the end of May and I love it. I was fortunate to get one before the new model was released which entitled me to a sweet deal. I am using it for college work and occasional gaming when I don't feel like paying attention in class. I am an electrical engineering major and work in a computer lab full of Dells. However I spent a week resarching laptops and chose this one mainly because of it's price compared to similar laptops.
Upon arrival, I of course removed all of the software that was installed. Anyone that works with PC's knows that they're going to load on all the useless software so they can give the novice users all they software they "need" and try to get them to sign up for the trial software that was installed. Reformating was relatively simple. If you've never done it I would recomend taking a screen shot of your hardware profile so that you know what was installed before you wipe it clean. Of course your not going to put all of it back on but if you do forget something you can read through the list and weed out what you know you don't need (there are also plenty of threads about what software is necesary). After having a "clean" PC she ran flawlessly. Use the Dell website to install the latest drivers and utilities and your on your way.
The screen is rather glossy but it is not too bad. If there is a window to your back then move. It's simple. It is big and it is heavy but I knew that before I bought it. If you think your going to get a small, lightweight pc with a long battery life and a 17 inch screen, your on some good drugs and you should share them with the rest of us.
Video editing? I won't even go there. Their service is better than most. I have had to call in numerous times for PC's I've needed to repair (probably around 20 different PC's ranging in age from 2 months to 3 years). In order for them to send replacement parts they have to diagnose the problem first even though I knew what it was already (most of the time). Sadly it depends greatly on who you happen talk to that day. I did not need to call them once for the XPS. I have run some games and some math software and am not surprised by how fast it is. Thats why I bought it. It woeks as advertised.
If you take advise from someone about how to fix it if you have problems make sure your getting your advice from a reliable source.
Overall a great laptop, would recomend it to my friends. Fast, reliable, excellent screen, a lot of functions and good battery life considering it's size. I could go on but there are many other reviews that are written better than this.
Upon arrival, I of course removed all of the software that was installed. Anyone that works with PC's knows that they're going to load on all the useless software so they can give the novice users all they software they "need" and try to get them to sign up for the trial software that was installed. Reformating was relatively simple. If you've never done it I would recomend taking a screen shot of your hardware profile so that you know what was installed before you wipe it clean. Of course your not going to put all of it back on but if you do forget something you can read through the list and weed out what you know you don't need (there are also plenty of threads about what software is necesary). After having a "clean" PC she ran flawlessly. Use the Dell website to install the latest drivers and utilities and your on your way.
The screen is rather glossy but it is not too bad. If there is a window to your back then move. It's simple. It is big and it is heavy but I knew that before I bought it. If you think your going to get a small, lightweight pc with a long battery life and a 17 inch screen, your on some good drugs and you should share them with the rest of us.
Video editing? I won't even go there. Their service is better than most. I have had to call in numerous times for PC's I've needed to repair (probably around 20 different PC's ranging in age from 2 months to 3 years). In order for them to send replacement parts they have to diagnose the problem first even though I knew what it was already (most of the time). Sadly it depends greatly on who you happen talk to that day. I did not need to call them once for the XPS. I have run some games and some math software and am not surprised by how fast it is. Thats why I bought it. It woeks as advertised.
If you take advise from someone about how to fix it if you have problems make sure your getting your advice from a reliable source.
Overall a great laptop, would recomend it to my friends. Fast, reliable, excellent screen, a lot of functions and good battery life considering it's size. I could go on but there are many other reviews that are written better than this.
User Rating: 
2/10
Some issues, Bad customer service, very long...
Pros: Fast for a notebook when works, very nice screen
Cons: Reliability, warranty, customer service and tech support
Review: I purchased a new XPS M170 from Dell in April of this year, 2006, right before they released the new M1710 and had almost all of the high end options installed. I had purchased this notebook as a game machine. I choose this particular model because I was going to Japan for 6 months for work starting the end of May and I wanted something that was decent and that I could take with me. I realized this was not going to be the best performance as it was a notebook but it seemed like the best alternative that I had at the time.
When I received the computer things seemed to be good except for the standard software bundle that Dell loads onto their machines. However, after I loaded on the first game, my problems started. After about 10-20 mins my screen would show some graphical glitches and then my computer would completely lock up. A hard reset would be required to restart the machine. If I turned off all anti aliasing and turned my graphic settings to bare minimum I could get some games to run about 1 hour before locking up. This is with the nVidia 7800 GTX go video card as well. Talking with Dell support they had me do a bunch of diagnostics (which I had already done plus more prior to calling them) and then tell me that it must be a software issue. I kept telling them it seemed to be hardware related.
After several reinstalls of the operating system, several different programs, and many, many calls back to Dell (over 4 weeks I had logged 27 calls with Dell) they finally agreed that it might be a hardware issue. However, at this time I only had 4 days left before I needed to leave to Japan and my standard 1 year hardware service warranty said it would take 1 to 2 weeks to fix my notebook and send back to me. They also could not send it to me in Japan, but would have to send it to an address in the US and from there I could have a friend forward it on to me. I asked if I could have my roommate replace the video card instead of having to send it back to the Dell Depot since he is a Certified Dell Replacement Parts Technician for his company but was told no as he is not a Dell Warranty Service Technician (he is basically more qualified, but isn?t a direct employee of Dell). They said they would send me the video card but my warranty would be void after that if he replaced it. I was not going to do that as I was already having troubles with the machine and did not want to have other things fail later and have no recourse.
I asked what else I could do and was told I could pay $450 for a Gold warranty and get next day service which also included international warranty service. I said fine as I had no choice as per timing and the international warranty would be a good option. Sure enough, Dell sent out a technician the day before I left, replaced the video card and everything worked wonderfully. Until 1.5 months later...
My video card has died again. Any semi graphic intensive program (And by semi I mean even Starcraft which was designed for video capabilities back in 1997) again freezes and locks up the machine. I once again called the main Dell Tech Support line as I have the international warranty and was told they can not help but instead was given 2 other numbers. One for international warranties and the other for Japanese Dell customer support. Well, the international warranties number I was supplied with is only for Government and large corporate accounts, and the Japanese support line was for sales only, no tech support.
I called back to the main Dell Tech Support in the US and asked why they gave me those numbers and what we needed to do now. After many diagnostics again (repeat of the exact same they had me do back in May and same results) they once again told me it may be software related or maybe a bad fan on the CPU. It is hard for them to grasp the concept that I on a technical stand point I am above the average user and that I have already the troubleshot the main issue back to the video card again. The CPU is fine as extensive mathematical computations do not hinder it, only anything that uses moderate graphics. Granted, their may be some other problem that is causing the video cards to blow, but it is definitely hardware related and not software. Finally I have re-convinced them that yes, it appears my video card is again bad. However, they said they can not send me a replacement as I am overseas even though I have a international warranty and that they will get back in contact with me in 1 to 2 weeks via email. Thus far I have paid over $3000 for a computer that I have been able to use 6 weeks of 13 and counting for its intended use, and am once again left hanging with frustration due to Dell's customer service. I have decided at this point to never again buy Dell and not let any of the groups under my direction purchase Dell equipment again. My friend that tried to help me before, who is also an IT manager for one of the Emerson subsidiaries has also been put off by Dell from this whole episode as well.
When I received the computer things seemed to be good except for the standard software bundle that Dell loads onto their machines. However, after I loaded on the first game, my problems started. After about 10-20 mins my screen would show some graphical glitches and then my computer would completely lock up. A hard reset would be required to restart the machine. If I turned off all anti aliasing and turned my graphic settings to bare minimum I could get some games to run about 1 hour before locking up. This is with the nVidia 7800 GTX go video card as well. Talking with Dell support they had me do a bunch of diagnostics (which I had already done plus more prior to calling them) and then tell me that it must be a software issue. I kept telling them it seemed to be hardware related.
After several reinstalls of the operating system, several different programs, and many, many calls back to Dell (over 4 weeks I had logged 27 calls with Dell) they finally agreed that it might be a hardware issue. However, at this time I only had 4 days left before I needed to leave to Japan and my standard 1 year hardware service warranty said it would take 1 to 2 weeks to fix my notebook and send back to me. They also could not send it to me in Japan, but would have to send it to an address in the US and from there I could have a friend forward it on to me. I asked if I could have my roommate replace the video card instead of having to send it back to the Dell Depot since he is a Certified Dell Replacement Parts Technician for his company but was told no as he is not a Dell Warranty Service Technician (he is basically more qualified, but isn?t a direct employee of Dell). They said they would send me the video card but my warranty would be void after that if he replaced it. I was not going to do that as I was already having troubles with the machine and did not want to have other things fail later and have no recourse.
I asked what else I could do and was told I could pay $450 for a Gold warranty and get next day service which also included international warranty service. I said fine as I had no choice as per timing and the international warranty would be a good option. Sure enough, Dell sent out a technician the day before I left, replaced the video card and everything worked wonderfully. Until 1.5 months later...
My video card has died again. Any semi graphic intensive program (And by semi I mean even Starcraft which was designed for video capabilities back in 1997) again freezes and locks up the machine. I once again called the main Dell Tech Support line as I have the international warranty and was told they can not help but instead was given 2 other numbers. One for international warranties and the other for Japanese Dell customer support. Well, the international warranties number I was supplied with is only for Government and large corporate accounts, and the Japanese support line was for sales only, no tech support.
I called back to the main Dell Tech Support in the US and asked why they gave me those numbers and what we needed to do now. After many diagnostics again (repeat of the exact same they had me do back in May and same results) they once again told me it may be software related or maybe a bad fan on the CPU. It is hard for them to grasp the concept that I on a technical stand point I am above the average user and that I have already the troubleshot the main issue back to the video card again. The CPU is fine as extensive mathematical computations do not hinder it, only anything that uses moderate graphics. Granted, their may be some other problem that is causing the video cards to blow, but it is definitely hardware related and not software. Finally I have re-convinced them that yes, it appears my video card is again bad. However, they said they can not send me a replacement as I am overseas even though I have a international warranty and that they will get back in contact with me in 1 to 2 weeks via email. Thus far I have paid over $3000 for a computer that I have been able to use 6 weeks of 13 and counting for its intended use, and am once again left hanging with frustration due to Dell's customer service. I have decided at this point to never again buy Dell and not let any of the groups under my direction purchase Dell equipment again. My friend that tried to help me before, who is also an IT manager for one of the Emerson subsidiaries has also been put off by Dell from this whole episode as well.
User Rating: 9/10
Awesome machine
Pros: Excellent gaming machine in a mobile skin
Cons: Somewhat heavy, and a bit pricy... but well worth the price!
Review: This is a great laptop for anyone who plays the latest games, need a huge screen (or at least wants one), and needs the power to play and work. This is a beautiful machine with color LEDs in the speakers, vents, and on the lid. (Did I mention you can even change the colors of the LEDs?) 
Overall this is the ultimate machine for the hardcore user!
Overall this is the ultimate machine for the hardcore user! User Rating: 9/10
A great laptop!
Pros: Fast, crystal clear sreen, cool lights
Cons: Expensive, back scratches too easy
Review: After going back and forth between this laptop and the Toshiba Quasmio, I finally chose this one. I chose it when I saw that Dell had dropped the base price to $1699, however, now I know why they did - to make way for the M1710 that came out two days later!
However, I love this laptop. I wanted a true desktop replacement and this is it! I finally now have a portable office and is sleek and refined.
I am a programmer so I really have not had a chance to play games on this laptop, but I have to agree with others that say this laptop is worth the price.
I would give this laptop a 10 except for the high price (I probably could have gotten another model at half the price that would have served my needs), the silver back scratches too easy in my opinion, and finally I wish I was told that DELL was discontinuing the M170.
However, I love this laptop. I wanted a true desktop replacement and this is it! I finally now have a portable office and is sleek and refined.
I am a programmer so I really have not had a chance to play games on this laptop, but I have to agree with others that say this laptop is worth the price.
I would give this laptop a 10 except for the high price (I probably could have gotten another model at half the price that would have served my needs), the silver back scratches too easy in my opinion, and finally I wish I was told that DELL was discontinuing the M170.
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent power, yet quiet and efficient
Pros: Exceptional Display, processor speed, and sound
Cons: Expensive and comes with too much pre-loaded software
Review: We purchased this laptop to replace a dying Sony Vaio we bought in 2002. We used CNET to shop around the best desktop replacement laptops at the time and the choice was between the Dell XPS and Toshiba's Qosmio.
After reading the reviews and performing our own customizations on each website, we went with the Dell because we were able to get more bang for our buck. The Qosmio was going for 3K out of the box, while we were able to upgrade our Dell to 2 GB RAM, 7800 GTX video card, 2.13 GHz processor, and all the bells and whistles for just under $2900. The same on Toshiba's website put us well into the 3500 range.
Now that we have been using it for a few months, we still can't believe how powerful the graphics and sound are on this laptop. We keep it close the to TV so we can record wanted shows on through MS's media center or use our bigscreen TV as our monitor.
What amazed me the most was the durability in style, the comfort of the keystroke from it's keyboard, and how cool it stays after hours of use. The family is into playing Oblivion so we either hook it to our bigscreen for everyone to watch or play standalone. Either view offers great graphics and sound without needing to connect the laptop to our media speakers.
The one bad I see with this system is that it comes pre-bundled with a great deal of software for the Media center. If you are not careful cleaning it out, you can uninstall the DVD decoder which is what I did after a month. Luckily, the backup disks enable quick replacement.
The ease in multimedia creation is not a strong as Apple's Powerbooks; however, I believe the limitations stem from the PC software and platform rather than the actual machine.
All in all, this has been the best investment we have made to handle all our family's gaming, multimedia, and PC needs.
After reading the reviews and performing our own customizations on each website, we went with the Dell because we were able to get more bang for our buck. The Qosmio was going for 3K out of the box, while we were able to upgrade our Dell to 2 GB RAM, 7800 GTX video card, 2.13 GHz processor, and all the bells and whistles for just under $2900. The same on Toshiba's website put us well into the 3500 range.
Now that we have been using it for a few months, we still can't believe how powerful the graphics and sound are on this laptop. We keep it close the to TV so we can record wanted shows on through MS's media center or use our bigscreen TV as our monitor.
What amazed me the most was the durability in style, the comfort of the keystroke from it's keyboard, and how cool it stays after hours of use. The family is into playing Oblivion so we either hook it to our bigscreen for everyone to watch or play standalone. Either view offers great graphics and sound without needing to connect the laptop to our media speakers.
The one bad I see with this system is that it comes pre-bundled with a great deal of software for the Media center. If you are not careful cleaning it out, you can uninstall the DVD decoder which is what I did after a month. Luckily, the backup disks enable quick replacement.
The ease in multimedia creation is not a strong as Apple's Powerbooks; however, I believe the limitations stem from the PC software and platform rather than the actual machine.
All in all, this has been the best investment we have made to handle all our family's gaming, multimedia, and PC needs.
User Rating: 
1/10
BUYER BEWARE!!! DELL = Lemon!
Pros: display, speed
Cons: HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!! Unstable hard drive.
Review: Jan. 20, 2006: I couldn't wait for my new machine to arrive.
Feb 11: I hated it and Dell's "customer service" so bad I couldn't wait to get it packed and returned!
March 20: I was STILL WAITING for my $5000 credit. (Can you stand to have that much money tied up while Dell fiddles around??)March 31: I finally got credited less nearly $300 for DELL's "restocking" on THEIR crappy machine!!!!
April 14: I get hassled with call UPS call slips on the machine I returned in Feb. Spend 3 hours on the phone with DELL and cannot get the point across that they once again made a mistake. Thankfully United Parcel is a well run company and I got the situation resolved.
April 17 thru 20: I get several with phone calls from "customer service supervisors" asking how they can assist me with my return - HA!.
MORAL OF THIS STORY:
Dell shipped a lemon - it had intermittent serious issues right out of the box. It cost me days of time on the phone with Tech support (nearly 20 hours logged with them not to mention the additional hours I had an inoperable computer) their answer: reload the operating system! On a Machine less than 9 days old????? NO WAY!
Dell further held my money for another 34 days before my credit card company went after them and forced a credit. They still held nearly $300 which I'll never see again. Their customer service is anything but!! Platitudes and repeating your statements as a question back may be standard training for DELL's CS reps. but it accomplishes NOTHING.
Unless you are prepared for days of lost productivity, Weeks of having your invested money withheld from being returned, hundreds of dollars wasted on a poorly built product and "customer service" that resolves NOTHING - DON'T BUY A DELL!!!!
Feb 11: I hated it and Dell's "customer service" so bad I couldn't wait to get it packed and returned!
March 20: I was STILL WAITING for my $5000 credit. (Can you stand to have that much money tied up while Dell fiddles around??)March 31: I finally got credited less nearly $300 for DELL's "restocking" on THEIR crappy machine!!!!
April 14: I get hassled with call UPS call slips on the machine I returned in Feb. Spend 3 hours on the phone with DELL and cannot get the point across that they once again made a mistake. Thankfully United Parcel is a well run company and I got the situation resolved.
April 17 thru 20: I get several with phone calls from "customer service supervisors" asking how they can assist me with my return - HA!.
MORAL OF THIS STORY:
Dell shipped a lemon - it had intermittent serious issues right out of the box. It cost me days of time on the phone with Tech support (nearly 20 hours logged with them not to mention the additional hours I had an inoperable computer) their answer: reload the operating system! On a Machine less than 9 days old????? NO WAY!
Dell further held my money for another 34 days before my credit card company went after them and forced a credit. They still held nearly $300 which I'll never see again. Their customer service is anything but!! Platitudes and repeating your statements as a question back may be standard training for DELL's CS reps. but it accomplishes NOTHING.
Unless you are prepared for days of lost productivity, Weeks of having your invested money withheld from being returned, hundreds of dollars wasted on a poorly built product and "customer service" that resolves NOTHING - DON'T BUY A DELL!!!!
User Rating: 9/10
If you are looking for the BEST, stop here.
Pros: Super fast, handles many tasks at once effortlessly, large bright screen, chews up the graphically intense games and spits them out.
Cons: Heavy and costly.
Review: I have owned many laptops and currently have 4 at home. Two Toshiba's and one Vaio. Although all of my other laptops perform well at certain tasks, the Dell XPS M170 has taken the place of all of them.
This monster laptop just screams "look at me" when you open it up. I have had multiple people stop and comment on the lit-up back panel, front and side ports.
I am a graphic designer and I have had many graphics applications open, editted video, and listened to music all at the same time. The M170 never even hesitated. I have installed the latest games and upped all of the graphics resolutions and the game ran as if it were on a Playstation or X-Box.
I couldn't ask for a better laptop! My only complaints are the heavy price (which was justified after a week of use) and the fact that I couldn't find out how to choose the LED colors on the Dell website! I highly recommend this laptop for anyone who demands a lot from their mobile PC.
This monster laptop just screams "look at me" when you open it up. I have had multiple people stop and comment on the lit-up back panel, front and side ports.
I am a graphic designer and I have had many graphics applications open, editted video, and listened to music all at the same time. The M170 never even hesitated. I have installed the latest games and upped all of the graphics resolutions and the game ran as if it were on a Playstation or X-Box.
I couldn't ask for a better laptop! My only complaints are the heavy price (which was justified after a week of use) and the fact that I couldn't find out how to choose the LED colors on the Dell website! I highly recommend this laptop for anyone who demands a lot from their mobile PC.
User Rating: 10/10
Suprised the hell out of me!
Pros: Gaming power is Amazing, System Preformance, Screen Image Quality, Build Quality, Connectivity and Wireless Abilities, Light for a gaming Notebook, Stays rather cool.
Cons: If being picky i would say, Slightly large and a little heavy.
Review: I am a Certified Tech. for HP,Dell,Apple,Toshiba,and Gateway. I have had all of those computers and i decided i would take a risk with the Dell product and i was nothing short of shocked to recieve a product that was so well rounded in abilities.
Here are a couple things that i have noticed when using my Dell M170.
GPU and graphics speed is utterly amazing, i cant say that it is anything short of EXTREMEMLY FAST. While playing Battlefield 2 and The Elder Scrolls IV the frame speed is more than fast enough to support the games while being scary fast for a laptop.
The weight is a little shocking for a laptop but realizing what is packed inside, and also that the lid is a solid sheet of Aluminum and the bottom case is all extruded aluminum. These features a nothing less that unusual for a laptop.
The Notebook is extremely thermal effecient. The fans always run but are almost never heard. When running games, it runs very cool in temp, but none the less runs very cool and quiet.
The Build Quality is extremely good for a notebook, there is almost no flex when the computer is lifted with one hand on one side of the notebook. When you apply an extreme amount of pressure on the backing of the LCD panel there is no "stress bend" that shows in the style of shadows and ripples in the screen.
The Wireless is great if configured with a A/B/G wireless card. The Connectivity range is excellent and allows for extreme distances of roaming while still allowing it to connect to the way point.
There are SOOO many ports, to the extent that i dont really know what to do with them. The 6 USB 2.0 Ports are extremely fast and do not seem to slow down.
When Dell talks about the Xtreme Preformance System. They really mean it, it is extremely fast for both system use and also gaming use. Loads are almost instant and often does not show slow downs.
The Battery Life which i am sure everyone is worried about is not bad at all. When gaming i can get close to 2 hrs alway from the port which is not bad at all. When being portable and moving around and with the Wireless Off. I can definatly say that you can get around 3 Hrs if you are careful in what you do. Which is great for a gaming system.
The negatives of this notebook are to a limit and i say that directly as an owner rather than a Tech. I would recommend this notebook if you are a gamer and go to a lan gaming sessions and are mobile while gaming. Overall i am extremely sasified, and i have no real compliants for my purchase.
Here are a couple things that i have noticed when using my Dell M170.
GPU and graphics speed is utterly amazing, i cant say that it is anything short of EXTREMEMLY FAST. While playing Battlefield 2 and The Elder Scrolls IV the frame speed is more than fast enough to support the games while being scary fast for a laptop.
The weight is a little shocking for a laptop but realizing what is packed inside, and also that the lid is a solid sheet of Aluminum and the bottom case is all extruded aluminum. These features a nothing less that unusual for a laptop.
The Notebook is extremely thermal effecient. The fans always run but are almost never heard. When running games, it runs very cool in temp, but none the less runs very cool and quiet.
The Build Quality is extremely good for a notebook, there is almost no flex when the computer is lifted with one hand on one side of the notebook. When you apply an extreme amount of pressure on the backing of the LCD panel there is no "stress bend" that shows in the style of shadows and ripples in the screen.
The Wireless is great if configured with a A/B/G wireless card. The Connectivity range is excellent and allows for extreme distances of roaming while still allowing it to connect to the way point.
There are SOOO many ports, to the extent that i dont really know what to do with them. The 6 USB 2.0 Ports are extremely fast and do not seem to slow down.
When Dell talks about the Xtreme Preformance System. They really mean it, it is extremely fast for both system use and also gaming use. Loads are almost instant and often does not show slow downs.
The Battery Life which i am sure everyone is worried about is not bad at all. When gaming i can get close to 2 hrs alway from the port which is not bad at all. When being portable and moving around and with the Wireless Off. I can definatly say that you can get around 3 Hrs if you are careful in what you do. Which is great for a gaming system.
The negatives of this notebook are to a limit and i say that directly as an owner rather than a Tech. I would recommend this notebook if you are a gamer and go to a lan gaming sessions and are mobile while gaming. Overall i am extremely sasified, and i have no real compliants for my purchase.
User Rating: 9/10
Best laptop.
Pros: gaming performance, features, design.
Cons: Pricey, a little big.
Review: I think this is an outstanding notebook. It's pretty light compared to the other gaming laptops i've bought. I have no complaints about this computer except the price.
User Rating: 2/10
it was nothing compared to delll xps desktops
Pros: it was bad it was bad
Cons: what what what what what
Review: it had short batterary life, came with too much software and had a terrible mousepad. its speed the only thing that was good. it was WAY to big( had tiny keyboard with but nothing else) bad computer. whoever buys this had no sense at all
User Rating: 9/10
I finally did it
Pros: I finally placed the order
Cons: $2200.00 price tag
Review: I have been watching this computer since the day it was released and I was waiting for the price to go down. The computer is competitively priced and I could not let it go! I just hope I don?t have buyer's remorse.
Updated
I have had this machine for two weeks now and I can?t ask for more from this machine. When I received it the first game that I installed was F.E.A.R. and I was utterly disappointed when the game began to lag and become choppy, the first thought that popped into my mind was what about the 7800 gtx? Then I tweaked the settings and realized that the resolution was at its max. After adjusting the resolution the game plays like a dream {a scary dream!}. This machine is top notch and if anyone is still in the market for an m170 [on eBay or somewhere else] I definitely recommend this product.
I have had this machine for two weeks now and I can?t ask for more from this machine. When I received it the first game that I installed was F.E.A.R. and I was utterly disappointed when the game began to lag and become choppy, the first thought that popped into my mind was what about the 7800 gtx? Then I tweaked the settings and realized that the resolution was at its max. After adjusting the resolution the game plays like a dream {a scary dream!}. This machine is top notch and if anyone is still in the market for an m170 [on eBay or somewhere else] I definitely recommend this product.
User Rating: 3/10
You might wish you bought an Apple - I do.
Pros: Bright screen and fast .
Cons: Service is terrible.
Review: I bought the Dell for the service agreement ( 4 years accidental protection) and the high end performance. My problems started with the DJ Ditty MP3 player included for "free". It would "continous" play 2.5 hours, not the 14 hours Dell advertised. After hours on line with Dell (four 800#'s and numerous transfers) I learned that the advertising is wrong - my MP3 is performing as expected. They would not put this in writing.
User Rating: 9/10
Very Nice And Fast
Pros: Nice looking, big and clear screen and very fast
Cons: I dont have one
Review: My dad has one and i'm on it all the time it works great its very fast and the screen is unbelievably clear
User Rating: 10/10
Excellent, Nothing but Smiles out of the Box
Pros: Fast, Games are Great, Batterylife
Cons: None, Nothing Wrong With It
Review: About a week ago The XPS M170 came. I opened the box and there was nothing but smiles. Te Screen has no problems and makes text and games stand out. The Grapics cad makes it fly through games with out a sweat.Yes it may be expensive but it is fast with the Intel Pentium M 780 which is the fastest Pentium M Proccesor avalible. So Dont Buy a Alienware even though it was bought by Dell because they didnt change it. One last Thing, The lights make this computer stand out in the night and in the day. The weight isn't a big deal either. Who says Dells have a bad reputation.
Updated
It works so much faster tha expected.
It works so much faster tha expected.
User Rating: 9/10
amazing laptop, don't listen to people who says there are display problems
Pros: display,speed,general appearance,
Cons: customer service, packaged software
Review: I got this laptop about two weeks ago and when I first got it I was a little concerned with the resolution but after changing some settings the display looks very sharp. The mouse buttons aren't that noisy if you press them in the center as opposed to the tips of the buttons. THe software that comes with it sucks and I uninstalled most of it except Dell quickset to change the light colors. Games are amazing and the colors and everything is perfect. Everyone has gripes with the display but I love the glossy look. The customer service isn't really that helpful but they try. Overall I'm very satisfied. The laptop exterior looks amazing and it definitely gets stares. Every place I go says that its heavy but its really not that bad.
User Rating: 9/10
I will be having one so soon!!
Pros: Great shape, Cutting Edge Technology, Spectacular Display
Cons: maybe Expensive!
Review: After surfing the Internet for a laptop, I came into a final solution to buy this one! to tell the truth I won't care much about weight since it is below 5 KG and it is about 3.8! don't forget the huge display.. If you don't like this kind of displayes then don't say yuk this is a huge laptop.. well it is due to your interest and needs.. and i am sure the world is full of people who really luv this kind of laptops.. and i am one of them!
About GeForce FX 7800 GTX this is more than a dream! i have FX 5600 here and It amazes everybody sees it.. then wut about a 7800 GTX!
well yes it is so pricy.. but you're not getting junk with your money.. You're getting some great piece of art...
About GeForce FX 7800 GTX this is more than a dream! i have FX 5600 here and It amazes everybody sees it.. then wut about a 7800 GTX!
well yes it is so pricy.. but you're not getting junk with your money.. You're getting some great piece of art...
User Rating: 8/10
Dell Exceeds My Expectations...
Pros: 1920x1200 resolution, NVIDIA 6800/7800, 1GB PC2-4200 RAM, LEDs
Cons: The Pentium M
Review: My old Inspiron 9100 (which was basically the first generation mobile XPS) was broken beyond repair, so Dell sent me this lovely thing for free. Inside included the PM 760 (2GHz), 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 RAM, 80GB HDD andNVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 ULTRA. For $2100 dollars (the price that Dell told me I would have had to pay), you get a lot of stuff. However, I was ticked off that they gave me the lowest Pentium M model (760 @ 2GHz) instead of a Core Duo machine (I went from 2.80 w/HT to this one). While the 6800 ULTRA pulls it's fair share (and usually more) the processor sometimes lags on bigger and harder games, especially in HL2. If you get the XPS M170, make sure that you get the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800GTX with the Pentium M 780, or else you might want to smash the thing during gameplay.
The screen resolution is just awesome. I have yet to meet anyone else (including Alienware owners) who can even touch the resolution on this 17 inch beauty (or my old 15.4 @ 1680x1050). And it isn't your typical LCD, oh no. It's got a nice protective layer over it to enhance color and reduce sunlight strain.
The LEDs are awesome when turned on in the dark, especially in the red. It makes this thing look like a beast.
Overall, it's a machine that could benefit from the Core Duo, but in time will see this change. And even though it's an Intel machine, it still does pretty well.
The screen resolution is just awesome. I have yet to meet anyone else (including Alienware owners) who can even touch the resolution on this 17 inch beauty (or my old 15.4 @ 1680x1050). And it isn't your typical LCD, oh no. It's got a nice protective layer over it to enhance color and reduce sunlight strain.
The LEDs are awesome when turned on in the dark, especially in the red. It makes this thing look like a beast.
Overall, it's a machine that could benefit from the Core Duo, but in time will see this change. And even though it's an Intel machine, it still does pretty well.
User Rating: 8/10
One Problem with the graphics driver
Pros: Excellent hardware, cheap price
Cons: Dell's software sucks
Review: I got my machine and immediately installed The Battle for Middle Earth II. This game didn't work, it would load properly. I installed Omega graphics drivers and they solved the problem...temporarily. Once I restarted the computer, the game wouldn't load anymore. So then I called Dell, and they had me re-install the BIOS, even though it was up-to-date. Then it worked again, however yet again, when the computer restarted, it didn't work anymore. Dell still doesn't know what to do about it. I still await for a solution.
User Rating: 10/10
this thing kicks @$$
Pros: everything about it, especially the leds
Cons: monstrous laptop
Review: Got my laptop 2 nights ago and i have to say this thing is amazing. My last computer was like watching paint dry but this thing is like a lear jet it jus flys, i can play call of duty 2 with no lag. I recommend this to anyone in the market. dells customer service is fine for me ive never had a problem, and the shipping was quick and painless. This computer is excellent!
User Rating: 9/10
This computer blazes the competition, to put it bluntly!
Pros: Graphics, screen, screaming fast 7200 rpm hd, so quiet, stays very cool!
Cons: Pre-loaded software, that's it, i hate that crap, but that is all i could come up with!
Review: This computer, to put it simply, will not only replace your desktop, it will play games and multi-media better, look better, and stay as quiet as a baby. Any of the complaints that i have read in these reviews must be from gateway employees, i swear. This thing game working perfectly right out of the box with a fully charged battery pack. This computer stays as cool as the other side of the pillow. The graphics are unreal, with the 7800 GTX framerates blaze by. The resolution problems some complain about - non-existant. Listen, the optimal resolution is 1900 x 1200, just keep it at that and you'll be fine. Got 1 GB of memory and 2 Ghz processor. More than enough. If i were you i wouldn't waste the extra $500 bucks on the 2.2. If anyone reading has any questions just re-post, i'll reply.
User Rating: 9/10
Powerful, Good Looking, and Well Built
Pros: Powerful, a true desktop replacement
Cons: Tad on the expensive side
Review: Just recieved mine last night, fully loaded 2gb of ram, Nvidia 7800, and so on. I was a prior Alienware laptop user, I have and do built complex computers at work and I have to say Dell has put together a great machine.
I will be using this laptop as my work, and play computer.
An amazing, powerful and well built machine.
I will be using this laptop as my work, and play computer.
An amazing, powerful and well built machine.
User Rating: 10/10
Dell XPS M170
Pros: I just placed my order today!
Cons: I have to wait until March 28th, 2006
Review: Dell XPS M170 Dell Technology Graphics/monitor are sharp and crisp/Power! Power! Power!
Updated
Jot got it on THURSDAY March 23rd!!!! 6 days later after ordering it and sent to me over night at NO CHARGE! GREAT DEALS DELL OFFERS, a little trek here, first go on line and fill out your order, my total was 4250.00 that was with everything top of the line, than ?don't? press buy, call the Dell sales guy, they already know your on-line about to buy the NoteBook, ask him if he can do better, after you get what you want, ask him to ask his manager if there is anything more can be done, you will be upgraded and an extra manger discount, I got 350. more off just from the manager, but TAKE YOUR TIME, tell them?? let me think about it?, take all the time you need, they keep on coming back to you to get you to buy the mother, and give you tings like, Good Customer discounts, $100.00 Dell cards, printers, MP3, Backpack for the XPS, Software, extra battery, cool things! THEY DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE YOU! Well I got all of it + all the top upgrades all for $2800.00 YES! All the top of line. Remember take your time; Dell does have great deals to offer on the phone.
Amazing! WOW/WOW/WOW!
Billy (NYC)
Jot got it on THURSDAY March 23rd!!!! 6 days later after ordering it and sent to me over night at NO CHARGE! GREAT DEALS DELL OFFERS, a little trek here, first go on line and fill out your order, my total was 4250.00 that was with everything top of the line, than ?don't? press buy, call the Dell sales guy, they already know your on-line about to buy the NoteBook, ask him if he can do better, after you get what you want, ask him to ask his manager if there is anything more can be done, you will be upgraded and an extra manger discount, I got 350. more off just from the manager, but TAKE YOUR TIME, tell them?? let me think about it?, take all the time you need, they keep on coming back to you to get you to buy the mother, and give you tings like, Good Customer discounts, $100.00 Dell cards, printers, MP3, Backpack for the XPS, Software, extra battery, cool things! THEY DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE YOU! Well I got all of it + all the top upgrades all for $2800.00 YES! All the top of line. Remember take your time; Dell does have great deals to offer on the phone.
Amazing! WOW/WOW/WOW!
Billy (NYC)
Updated
Dell Customer Service called to ask if everything was OK with my new XPS M170, and ask me if I would do a customer survey over the phone and I did it, it took 10min, after the survey was over, they sent me over night a new Dell-MP3 and a Dell gift card for $150.00 and because I did not like the 'backpack' they sent for free the sent me the new XL 17" Targus notebook case for free, Thanks Michael Dell! You got me for life.
Billy Amato (NYC) 3/30/06
Dell Customer Service called to ask if everything was OK with my new XPS M170, and ask me if I would do a customer survey over the phone and I did it, it took 10min, after the survey was over, they sent me over night a new Dell-MP3 and a Dell gift card for $150.00 and because I did not like the 'backpack' they sent for free the sent me the new XL 17" Targus notebook case for free, Thanks Michael Dell! You got me for life.
Billy Amato (NYC) 3/30/06
User Rating: 10/10
Don't buy anything else but this model!!
Pros: Graphics and monitor are sharp and crisp. Sound is very nice.
Cons: System will run hot when tasking the CPU; Power supply is proprietary among Dell laptops.
Review: I've had several laptops for all different makers and this has got to be the best I have owned yet! With the demanding lifestyle in Information Technology, it not only does everything I need at the office, but it gives me the relaxation knowing that I can play any game I want when its quitting time. Don't buy anything else but this unit!! It may be a bit more expensive, but its worth every dollar!
--LANMAN_TA
--LANMAN_TA
User Rating: 
6/10
Not an Alienware
Pros: Dells service package
Cons: You can not upgrade
Review: Anyone who knows Video game and upgrades will tell you to spend your money on an alienware because my alienware cost 2200 and is half the size of this dell and much faster with the same exact package. The dell you can not upgrade the video card because it is intergrated into the hard drive and my alienware can be upgraded along with the motherboard by who? me because it was made just that simple.
User Rating: 10/10
incredible can't believe the quality
Pros: no flaws whatsoever except mediocre cost.
Cons: This product has no flaws I own one and deffinatly should know
Review: I can't believe it
User Rating: 10/10
Wouldn't trust another brand
Pros: Looks Great, Great Movie/Gaming Performance, Good Sound, Impressive Screen Quality, Flawless Customer Support, Comfortable Keyboard. Handles Everything.
Cons: Expense. Shotgun Metal Top seems laminated with a sheet of plastic that seems to scratch easily.
Review: I was hesitant of Dell when I first bought a desktop over 1 year ago. I had bought an XPS Gen4 Desktop. Since then, it has had not had a single problem, and I was latched to dell.
Yet bad news came to me last summer, I was diagnosed with a disease that I ended up possibly needing chemo therapy. In such, this therapy is required to be given once weekly for 4 weeks over 4 - 6 hours each day. A set of treatments that may have to be repeated yearly for life. I needed something to pass the time, and take my mind away. I needed movies and games.
I explored awhile for whom to buy my laptop from, Alienware and Voodoo were contenders. But when it came to it? Dell bought me over once again, my main reason? To be honest, 12 months no interest...I mean it was an expensive laptop! Not to mention everything about the laptop is great.
-The exterior of the laptop is very nice. It shows that you really did want a nice laptop.
-The screen is large, 17 inches. It is bright. Words come out cleanly, graphics look wonderful. It comes close to my 20 inch desktop LCD. No problems with it.
-The keyboard is great for my larger hands, and has a simply layout. The mouse area...I don't use it much. I have a trackball mouse I use, but if necessary the built-in mouse gets the job done.
-Performance is flawless. I love that Dell customizes...I ended up with an Intel Pentium M 2.00 GHZ with 2GB RAM Memory, nVidia GeForce 6800 Go Ultra. It is not top of the line, but runs computer thrashing games very well. I upped the Memory to make-up for a couple downgrades. Remember, memory is the single best thing you can do to up your computer performance.
-Customer service has flawlessly assisted me with questions. I have 10/10 review of their customer service.
-Neon lights are fun!
-Movies are GREAT on the widescreen LCD, sound is very impressive for a laptop. And I am a 21 year-old male sound junky and use to a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 sound system, these built-in laptop speakers satisfy me for portability.
-Hooking up to wireless is also simple.
Did I cover everything? I would not hesitate to buy a laptop or desktop from dell. You cannot go wrong with the Dell XPS m170. I am now looking for a nice new TV...I wonder what Dell has to offer.
Nathan
Yet bad news came to me last summer, I was diagnosed with a disease that I ended up possibly needing chemo therapy. In such, this therapy is required to be given once weekly for 4 weeks over 4 - 6 hours each day. A set of treatments that may have to be repeated yearly for life. I needed something to pass the time, and take my mind away. I needed movies and games.
I explored awhile for whom to buy my laptop from, Alienware and Voodoo were contenders. But when it came to it? Dell bought me over once again, my main reason? To be honest, 12 months no interest...I mean it was an expensive laptop! Not to mention everything about the laptop is great.
-The exterior of the laptop is very nice. It shows that you really did want a nice laptop.
-The screen is large, 17 inches. It is bright. Words come out cleanly, graphics look wonderful. It comes close to my 20 inch desktop LCD. No problems with it.
-The keyboard is great for my larger hands, and has a simply layout. The mouse area...I don't use it much. I have a trackball mouse I use, but if necessary the built-in mouse gets the job done.
-Performance is flawless. I love that Dell customizes...I ended up with an Intel Pentium M 2.00 GHZ with 2GB RAM Memory, nVidia GeForce 6800 Go Ultra. It is not top of the line, but runs computer thrashing games very well. I upped the Memory to make-up for a couple downgrades. Remember, memory is the single best thing you can do to up your computer performance.
-Customer service has flawlessly assisted me with questions. I have 10/10 review of their customer service.
-Neon lights are fun!
-Movies are GREAT on the widescreen LCD, sound is very impressive for a laptop. And I am a 21 year-old male sound junky and use to a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 sound system, these built-in laptop speakers satisfy me for portability.
-Hooking up to wireless is also simple.
Did I cover everything? I would not hesitate to buy a laptop or desktop from dell. You cannot go wrong with the Dell XPS m170. I am now looking for a nice new TV...I wonder what Dell has to offer.
Nathan
User Rating: 9/10
What screen problems?
Pros: Screen, Speed, Video Card
Cons: Size/Weight, No separate number keypad even though there's room for one
Review: I bought this laptop after reading numerous great reviews on this website and in various other publications. I am completely thrilled with it. I bought it with the Pentium 2.0 ghz processor, 1gb of RAM, 60gb 7200 RPM harddrive, and NVidia 7800 video card. This thing screems! I also got Madden '06 and at the highest resolution 1900x1200, it looks spectacular and does not skip at all. I have no idea what people complain about with the screen. I think maybe because it's glossy there's a potential for glare, but I have my laptop sitting beneath a ceiling light and I have no glare issues at all. The screen/graphics are stunning. I have yet to try out all of the features, but so far... so GREAT! I would recommend this laptop to anyone. It is rather large and heavy, especially the A/C adapter. But what do you want with such a large screen and power? Also, for anyone in the military considering buying a Dell, don't forget to order yours through AAFES. Type in "Dell" in the search bar and then follow the links. I built it through AAFES, then opened up a 2nd window and built the identical laptop through Dell's website directly. All in all, I saved just under $800! Now that's a discount!
User Rating: 2/10
Lets hope its better than the old XPS
Pros: It looks cute
Cons: Dell customer service is the worst
Review: I was one of the last people to buy the original XPS laptop. Dells most expensive unit ever. Every upgrade, best service contract. Catastrophic HD crash left me with calling Bangalore, nothing happened for 5 days. Got a call from US agent after 5 days. 14 unreturned phone calls later they sent me an unformatted HD, no software support. When the unit did not work I had to hire my own repair person to get it right. Glad I ponied up for the premium in home 48hour guaranteed service contract! Never will buy another Dell! Everybody I talk to has a similar Dell horror story. How do they expect to have people pay premium prices for inept service.
My XPS has a whopping 35 minute battery life, weighs a ton, and sucks so much wattage that even when I use the Dell airplane kit it won't work on a plane.
My XPS has a whopping 35 minute battery life, weighs a ton, and sucks so much wattage that even when I use the Dell airplane kit it won't work on a plane.
User Rating: 9/10
Very good and reliable
Pros: It is a very very good laptop in my opinon its very fast if you spec it out right.
Cons: Sometimes crashes when I'm playing games not sure why though.
Review: Does anyone have any ideas why it crashes when I'm playing games if so help me PLEASE!!!
User Rating: 10/10
Best Desktop Replacement
Pros: Stellar Gaming Performance, Support (see below), Screen Quality, Design
Cons: Bloatware, No Numerical Touchpad, External TV Tuner, lack of built-in camera
Review: My best friend owns an M170, I own a 9300. Both have been very nice, though I prefer the M170 which I've had the pleasure of using pretty extensively.
The Centrino is not the best for multitasking, but it's quiet, does not bottleneck, efficient, and relatively cool. The 7800 GTX is an incredible card, delivers smooth, quick performance, even with the visuals maxed out. The 1900x1200 resolution screen is second only to one: Sony Xbrite. That said, Sony does not make a comparable laptop. HD video plays smoothly.
The XPS has one of the coolest laptop designs with perimeter lighting with 16 colors available. The black finish is sleek, the multimedia buttons are intuitive.
Too bad there is no external tv tuner, because carrying it around hampers the portability factor (easy to lose too), my friend has Media Edition. The touchpad isn't the best quality (the buttons are loud, but there are worse touchpads out there. It's not a deal breaker). The DVD drive can be loud with cheap, scratched up disks, again not a deal breaker. The fans are powerful, you don't have to worry too much about frying cards.
If you have problems check out www.notebookforums.com (the 9300/M170 section under "dell"). They've solved every issue raised (search first). They've come up with ways of pinmodding the Centrino, and a lot of other stuff.
The Centrino is not the best for multitasking, but it's quiet, does not bottleneck, efficient, and relatively cool. The 7800 GTX is an incredible card, delivers smooth, quick performance, even with the visuals maxed out. The 1900x1200 resolution screen is second only to one: Sony Xbrite. That said, Sony does not make a comparable laptop. HD video plays smoothly.
The XPS has one of the coolest laptop designs with perimeter lighting with 16 colors available. The black finish is sleek, the multimedia buttons are intuitive.
Too bad there is no external tv tuner, because carrying it around hampers the portability factor (easy to lose too), my friend has Media Edition. The touchpad isn't the best quality (the buttons are loud, but there are worse touchpads out there. It's not a deal breaker). The DVD drive can be loud with cheap, scratched up disks, again not a deal breaker. The fans are powerful, you don't have to worry too much about frying cards.
If you have problems check out www.notebookforums.com (the 9300/M170 section under "dell"). They've solved every issue raised (search first). They've come up with ways of pinmodding the Centrino, and a lot of other stuff.
User Rating: 9/10
Brilliant Laptop worth the money
Pros: Love the design , get a Brilliant Steady Frame Rate
Cons: Battery life
Review: i dont actually own this laptop but i know this is one of the most Unique ones i seen on the market this very day this is definetly a Gamers Notebook allright especially all that Processing power inside it... the only thing that i thought that it wouldnt be good on is battery life
User Rating: 9/10
(^_^)~ I LOVE it!
Pros: Graphics card, Tweak ability, Build quality, Strong wireless, Descent sound, USB ports, Screen, etc...
Cons: CRAPPY Dell vid driver, bloated with useless software!
Review: I got my rig about a month ago, and so far so great (^_~) I have the works, 2.26 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 75k 100GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX, Intel Pro 2915 WiFi, Blah, Blah, Yadda, Yadda... My only gripe was the graphics card driver that Dell offers on their site, what a piece of poopoo (>_<
! If you are having problems with video performance go here... http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=125152 And all that crapware that came with my machine, do yourself a favor and format the HDD followed with a fresh install of the essentials.
Like I wrote above, I'm generally very satisfied with this computer. I read all the reviews and it seems allot of the problems users have are easily fixable. I had several problems myself that Google fixed for me, afterwards saying to myself... Doah, what a weenie, I should have known that!
If you have two jobs like me and can afford it then buy yourself an early B-Day gift, otherwise get outdoors, play tennis and ride a bicycle or you might end up glued to the monitor of one of the greatest gamming rigs made.
Only reason I don't give it a 10, other than the Dell graphics driver is I think the design should of been better. I wish it had the clean lines of a Mac and an all carbon fiber construction of the ASUS W1 Carbon Edition
! If you are having problems with video performance go here... http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=125152 And all that crapware that came with my machine, do yourself a favor and format the HDD followed with a fresh install of the essentials.Like I wrote above, I'm generally very satisfied with this computer. I read all the reviews and it seems allot of the problems users have are easily fixable. I had several problems myself that Google fixed for me, afterwards saying to myself... Doah, what a weenie, I should have known that!
If you have two jobs like me and can afford it then buy yourself an early B-Day gift, otherwise get outdoors, play tennis and ride a bicycle or you might end up glued to the monitor of one of the greatest gamming rigs made.
Only reason I don't give it a 10, other than the Dell graphics driver is I think the design should of been better. I wish it had the clean lines of a Mac and an all carbon fiber construction of the ASUS W1 Carbon Edition
User Rating: 7/10
No regular PC card slot!!
Pros: Good performace very stable
Cons: Couldn´t use wireless service
Review: Just got a Dell XPS M170, first thing had to fix several of the keyboard keys myself seemed to be badly assembled from the factory. PC card slot features the new express card which at the moment is useless!!, I think there are only 5 products in total for the slot. Who knows in the future.
User Rating: 
4/10
48 hours at Dell owns it again
Pros: Resolution, Speed
Cons: Tech Support, Software Troubles, Huge Charger
Review: Sorry to say it...I was so excited to get this new machine. Bigger and heavier than I expected, but excellent graphics and computing power. Problem was, nothing wanted to work smoothly. Encountered slow then "no" performance on web pages that used java applets and apps...my research says possible memory problem...anyway...Dell wanted money to help with "software support" for a 2 day old machine. No thanks. Did not work even after 24 hours of hard work and sitting on hold with tech support. RUN!
User Rating: 10/10
SUPER SUPER COMPUTER
Pros: VIDEO CARD, AUDIO, SCREEN, PAD
Cons: BATTERY IS NO SO GOOD
Review: THIS IS THE BEST COMPUTER I HAVE IN ALL MY LIFE, REALLY EXELENT, CHEAP? NO NO CHEAP BUT NOT A CONT BECAUSE WHAT YOU PAY IS WHAT YOU GET, BETTER THAN ALIENWARE !! THANKS DELL
User Rating: 9/10
In A Word, WOW!
Pros: Lots of ports, Huge Wide Screen Display, Loud and Crisp Speakers, Light for it's size
Cons: This thing is BIG, I mean REALLY BIG, BIG BIG. (Got that?), Small keyboard for a big machine
Review: My Dell M170 arrived on Tuesday, and I was stoked. Here's the skinny on the artillary:
Pentium M 2.23Ghz 533FSB with 2MB L2 Cache
2 GB Ram
Nvidia 7800 256MB Graphics Card
100GB 7200 RPM Hard Disk Drive
CD/DVD R-/+ Dual Layer
With that said, this is as good as it gets. This is the $3800.00 version of th XPS M170. From other reviews I've read the upgrade from 2.13Ghz to 2.26Ghz isn't worth the small boost, but since I was buying from Dell Outlet's refurb center I decided to go all the way. I spent about $1000.00 less than full retail by buying from the outlet, so that's always a viable option for those of you looking to keep the expense down.
My first impression out of the box was, "Wow, this thing is enormous." I knew it would be a big machine but since I didn't pay much attention to the dimmensions before I bought it I was a little unprepared for the size of this thing. I'm lucky it fits in my backpack. If you're a traveler you might want to consider a different notebook. I fly at least once a month and I'm fearing my first flight with this thing. It. Is. HUGE!
My second impression came when I turned it on. Lights glowed, fans spun, and I cried just a little because it was one of the most beautiful things my eyes have ever seen.
Then came trouble in paradise. I was attempting to remove all the Dell software that was included and tried to install the Omega Video drivers when I screwed up something and the display went haywire disabling any chance of recovery. No problem, reboot, format, parition, reinstall. Something I would have eventually done anyway. I don't know why they have to put so much useless crap on their computers. But wait, apparently Dell's version of WinXP has all those things preloaded on the CD Rom, great, how do I stop the insanity? It took some careful manuvering, but I did it.... no more Dell software. A clean XP installation, got the drivers for all the Dell components installed; I'm in business.
First thing I did after spending about 3 hours installing software (XP, Guild Wars, Hitman 2, SWAT 4, Simcity 4, Office XP, Firefox, Jet Audio, Limewire, etc.) was load up a game. Simcity 4 is sort of my benchmark test. I have a P4 3.4 with HT 1GB ram, and the Radeon 9800 and it has some trouble running Simcity 4, but the M170 made it look easy.
Last night I played Swat 4 for about 6 hours. It was the first time I played and it was incredible. Gameplay on the M170 was very smooth. The machine never got hot and didn't crash or switch off any of the games I've played on it.
The only reason I don't give this bad boy a 10 is the keyboard is way too small and touchpads suck for gaming. I think they would have been much better off with an eraserhead styled mouse and a large keyboard. The lights are cool, but if it sacrifices anything in batt life or weight I'd rather not have them. Once again Dell made the mistake of putting the USB plugs on the left side of the machine instead of the right side making those ports unsuitable for a mouse, fortunately in the case of the M170 there are rear USB plugs as well, unlike their Light and Thin notebooks like the 700m. All minor problems and bringing the score down to only 9.0. This machine rocks!!!
As always, if you have any questions you can email me at Rimes93@aol.com
Pentium M 2.23Ghz 533FSB with 2MB L2 Cache
2 GB Ram
Nvidia 7800 256MB Graphics Card
100GB 7200 RPM Hard Disk Drive
CD/DVD R-/+ Dual Layer
With that said, this is as good as it gets. This is the $3800.00 version of th XPS M170. From other reviews I've read the upgrade from 2.13Ghz to 2.26Ghz isn't worth the small boost, but since I was buying from Dell Outlet's refurb center I decided to go all the way. I spent about $1000.00 less than full retail by buying from the outlet, so that's always a viable option for those of you looking to keep the expense down.
My first impression out of the box was, "Wow, this thing is enormous." I knew it would be a big machine but since I didn't pay much attention to the dimmensions before I bought it I was a little unprepared for the size of this thing. I'm lucky it fits in my backpack. If you're a traveler you might want to consider a different notebook. I fly at least once a month and I'm fearing my first flight with this thing. It. Is. HUGE!
My second impression came when I turned it on. Lights glowed, fans spun, and I cried just a little because it was one of the most beautiful things my eyes have ever seen.
Then came trouble in paradise. I was attempting to remove all the Dell software that was included and tried to install the Omega Video drivers when I screwed up something and the display went haywire disabling any chance of recovery. No problem, reboot, format, parition, reinstall. Something I would have eventually done anyway. I don't know why they have to put so much useless crap on their computers. But wait, apparently Dell's version of WinXP has all those things preloaded on the CD Rom, great, how do I stop the insanity? It took some careful manuvering, but I did it.... no more Dell software. A clean XP installation, got the drivers for all the Dell components installed; I'm in business.
First thing I did after spending about 3 hours installing software (XP, Guild Wars, Hitman 2, SWAT 4, Simcity 4, Office XP, Firefox, Jet Audio, Limewire, etc.) was load up a game. Simcity 4 is sort of my benchmark test. I have a P4 3.4 with HT 1GB ram, and the Radeon 9800 and it has some trouble running Simcity 4, but the M170 made it look easy.
Last night I played Swat 4 for about 6 hours. It was the first time I played and it was incredible. Gameplay on the M170 was very smooth. The machine never got hot and didn't crash or switch off any of the games I've played on it.
The only reason I don't give this bad boy a 10 is the keyboard is way too small and touchpads suck for gaming. I think they would have been much better off with an eraserhead styled mouse and a large keyboard. The lights are cool, but if it sacrifices anything in batt life or weight I'd rather not have them. Once again Dell made the mistake of putting the USB plugs on the left side of the machine instead of the right side making those ports unsuitable for a mouse, fortunately in the case of the M170 there are rear USB plugs as well, unlike their Light and Thin notebooks like the 700m. All minor problems and bringing the score down to only 9.0. This machine rocks!!!
As always, if you have any questions you can email me at Rimes93@aol.com
User Rating: 3/10
My worst Laptop EVER!!!!
Pros: Amazing graphics
Cons: Almost everyhing exept gaming
Review: i have the m170 for 2 weeks now, i must say that i hate it in every aspect.
The only thing it does right is gaming. Her a list of what i HATE about that 5000$ junk;
First, it came preload with so much softare that the 2 gig of ram where just enough to run windows.
Second, the tv tuner wich they charge me 200$ is external and can be purchase for 100$ at tiger-direct.
Third; the touchpad is the worst that i had ever touch. My 700$ acer have a better one
Four; The cd tray is not closing properly; half of the time, the cd jam on the upper part of the laptop case.
Five; The usb port or drivers are buggy, 2 of my gamepad are not recognize, my logitaech gaming mouse is disconecting randomly.
Six, Can't install any electronic arts Games, the install stop for no reason, work fine on my other pcs.
Seven, That 5 000$, enough to buy a killer PC, wich i should have done.
Eight; 5000$ and they give you a nylon backpack to carry it ; Alienware and Sager give you a carbon fiber or aluminium case for that price.
The only thing it does right is gaming. Her a list of what i HATE about that 5000$ junk;
First, it came preload with so much softare that the 2 gig of ram where just enough to run windows.
Second, the tv tuner wich they charge me 200$ is external and can be purchase for 100$ at tiger-direct.
Third; the touchpad is the worst that i had ever touch. My 700$ acer have a better one
Four; The cd tray is not closing properly; half of the time, the cd jam on the upper part of the laptop case.
Five; The usb port or drivers are buggy, 2 of my gamepad are not recognize, my logitaech gaming mouse is disconecting randomly.
Six, Can't install any electronic arts Games, the install stop for no reason, work fine on my other pcs.
Seven, That 5 000$, enough to buy a killer PC, wich i should have done.
Eight; 5000$ and they give you a nylon backpack to carry it ; Alienware and Sager give you a carbon fiber or aluminium case for that price.
User Rating: 10/10
amazing price
Pros: price, speed, gaming experience
Cons: none, that i can think of
Review: this laptop is a must own for all gamers. better than alienware or any other of those crappy overpriced brands. DELL does this computer right!!!! i am on this thing 15 hours a day and wish I could play while sleeping.
User Rating: 10/10
Best Laptop I have ever used Hands down
Pros: Nice high Resolution screen, Very Fast, Lightweight for desktop replacement, lots of features, awesome speakers
Cons: none really, just a little pricey but its worth it
Review: I ordered this system on a tuesday and i recived it on friday after i got overnight shipping. i have owned 5 laptops from all different companies and was never happy with them. the speakers on this system are very good, they are loud and have really good sound quality
User Rating: 9/10
Great Laptop, have had it for about 8 months
Pros: fast, really cool lights/looks, big lcd display, never freezes, good battery life, all around good laptop
Cons: expensive, not very portable
Review: I really like my xps. In my opinion its one of the best laptops out there.
User Rating: 8/10
Excellent gaming laptop
Pros: Extremly fast, light weight, bright screen, tons of features and Customizable lights,
Cons: Extremely large adapter, external tv tuner.
Review: When i first got my XPS, i thought it was way to big, but you get use to the size and it is not as heavy as it looks. I like that fact that you can deactivate the lights and change the colors. The keyboard is very comfortable but i wish the keyboard keys were quite. Perfomance was very fast with the M170 blasting through applications like butter. Having an external tuner subtracted from the media center experiences as i ended up with addition cables and wires running everywhere. Overall it is a great laptop.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Machine.......BUT
Pros: Speed, picture clarity, functionality
Cons: a battery hog, hard to carry on my motorcycle, PRICE
Review: I have had mine for about 2 weeks now. As the old greek saying goes "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!" The price is a little steep even for someone who has deep pockets (not me). But I do beleve the M-170 is one cool notebook. For the those in Rio Linda, thats a laptop. Great for doing graphics or number crunching. DVD playback is super. As a game machine, it goes without saying....so I won't bore you. I ride a motorcycly most days here in Texas and because of the width of the XPS-M170 I do worry about accidently laying the bike down and doing damage to my Dell. It is about one fourth the value of my bike. I have taken up driving my car a little more frequently than I would like. All in an effort to preserve the M170. The only complaint I REALLY have is that it is a battery hog. I am, so far, completely satisfied. A happy camper. I am also well over 50.
User Rating: 9/10
Best of 22 computers I've had
Pros: video processing is excellent, sound is excellent, after 5 monthes of use still no bugs - not one!
Cons: I wish the firewire port was a powered port. So i could use some of the high end firewire portable audio gear- but USB works fine.
Review: This thing screams. I've finished half life 2, F.E.A.R. and others without 1 glitch or lockup!! I'm a Sound Engineer at a major 4000 seat Theater and have used extensive audio programs and not had a problem with any of my software. My battery life has been better than they reported and heat is not an issue like my friens alienware lappy. I have had 7 laptops and 15 desktops since the first IBM PC.I've had many different brands such as ibm, gatewat, acer, toshiba and winbook and apple. This is the best yet. Dell puts a lot of proprietary operating ***** on it but if that bothers you do a clean install on day one. I saved about one thousand dollars buying this online and still got the 4 year premium warranty from dell. If you got the money and want a portable screamer with a widescreen then my better than novice advice is to go for it. You won't be dissapointed.
User Rating: 10/10
Dell is getting it right - READ THIS!
Pros: Design, Power, runs cool, and the Service!
Cons: Maxed out my Credit Card
Review: Some of these opinions on this site that either say this laptop 'Sucks' or say they had these brutal problems are absolutely bogus or are Dell haters (because they work for the competitors and they are getting their butts whooped).
I got this laptop 3 months ago, and when you first take it out of the box, I guarantee you will have a HUGE grin on your face. It looks SO COOL!
Second, the connections...man...the connections! Dell spared NO expense!
Third, the screen is beautiful! Crips and clear, and bar none, the best laptop screen I have seen ever. Dell is supposedly the #1 seller of LCD's, and now I know why.
Fourth, it runs cool and pretty quiet!!!
Last - I was REALLY impressed that if you buy a high end XPS (deskptop or notebook) you get a different Customer Service line. About time! I paid 3500 bucks for this and when you pay this kind of dough, you expect some sort of frills Service wise. Plus, the Tech guy gave me a pointer on the Halo 2 game that helped me out big time
Honestly, if you really are looking for a gaming laptop, this is it...Period. Dell is really going high end these days and so far so good!!!!
I got this laptop 3 months ago, and when you first take it out of the box, I guarantee you will have a HUGE grin on your face. It looks SO COOL!
Second, the connections...man...the connections! Dell spared NO expense!
Third, the screen is beautiful! Crips and clear, and bar none, the best laptop screen I have seen ever. Dell is supposedly the #1 seller of LCD's, and now I know why.
Fourth, it runs cool and pretty quiet!!!
Last - I was REALLY impressed that if you buy a high end XPS (deskptop or notebook) you get a different Customer Service line. About time! I paid 3500 bucks for this and when you pay this kind of dough, you expect some sort of frills Service wise. Plus, the Tech guy gave me a pointer on the Halo 2 game that helped me out big time
Honestly, if you really are looking for a gaming laptop, this is it...Period. Dell is really going high end these days and so far so good!!!!
User Rating: 4/10
watch out for Dell!
Pros: nice machine
Cons: too big AND HEAVY
Review: TRIED TO EXCHANGE MACHINE FOR SMALLER WITH DELL. CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS AWFUL!
WANTED A 15% RE-STOCKING FEE EVEN THOUGH THE BOX WAS NEVER OPENED!
WANTED A 15% RE-STOCKING FEE EVEN THOUGH THE BOX WAS NEVER OPENED!
User Rating: 10/10
Incredible; Beats Alienware Hands-down.
Pros: Stable, Powerful, Light-weight, Cool-running.
Cons: Comes loaded with Dell's bloatware.
Review: After the headaches I went through with the POS Alienware Area-51 m7700, I decided to try once more with a gaming laptop. I was rewarded handsomely. The XPS M170 is a powerhouse. With a 2Ghz Pentium M, 2 Gigs of DDR2, and a nVidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX, I am putting my 3.4Ghz P4, 2GB DDR, X800XT o/c'ed to shame. 5800 3Dmarks for my desktop compared to 7200 for this XPS. Its got a lot of useful features, such as front Media Player buttons, long-battery life, DVD... I can't even begin to explain them all.
If you are looking for a gaming laptop, or one that will definately perform, the XPS M170 is just the laptop for you.
Oh and btw, it runs about 30c cooler than my Alienware did, for just as powerful.
It Rocks.
If you are looking for a gaming laptop, or one that will definately perform, the XPS M170 is just the laptop for you.
Oh and btw, it runs about 30c cooler than my Alienware did, for just as powerful.
It Rocks.
User Rating: 
5/10
Nice, but the Sager NP-5720 blows it away
Pros: 7800GTX card
Cons: Expensive, bulky, silly exterior lights
Review: I tried the M170. It performed well, but I returned it when I saw the new Sager NP-5720. The 5720 has a MUCH better screen, is lighter, slimmer, sexier and offers all the high-powered hardware found in the M170. My 5720 with Pentium M 750, 7800GTX, 2GB RAM, 80GB 7200RPM, 17" WSXGA+ LCD, 8X DVD RW DL LS, etc. cost $2196. The same configuration M170 (except the LCD; WSXGA+ not available) was over $3000.
User Rating: 8/10
excellent but not perfect
Pros: 1920x1200, good inbuilt sound, power/weight ratio highest on market, power/price ratio lowest on market, power/mobility ratio highest as well, quiet operation
Cons: it's a Dell, it's a bit ugly, front speakers blocked by forearms, would have liked an inbuilt CF card reader, 100GB not enough
Review: This is a great laptop and for someone who does not particularly like Dell, that means something. I bought this as a 'middle-of-the-range' compromise believe it or not (I was initially going to buy a notebook with an Athlon X2 dual-core) to put things in perspective.
First of all my specs are: 7800GTX, M770 2.13GHz, WUXGA, 1GB RAM, WLAN b/g + bluetooth, Win XP Pro.
The screen is pretty good at 1920x1200 its the same res as my Dell 2405FPW which I really looooooove(yes it's another Dell but the panel is manufactured by LG). This panel is made by samsung, so I was actually expecting a bit better quality. The brightness is ok, but mine has quite a bit of light bleed at the bottom edge which is disappointing but you can really only notice it on a single-tone full screen (expecially black).
The keyboard is pretty standard, actually a little cramped for a 17" lappy, there is a lot of space either side of the keys which is occupied by air vents. Touch pad and buttons is pretty standard and no better or worse than any other laptop. I really need to buy a good mouse...
Graphics are great as you would expect. I haven't played any games yet but I've benchmarked it with 3DMark05 and scored around 6650. Try to find another laptop with the same hardware that scores that highly. If you can, then compare the price! I expect Dell will beat it every time. Updating bios/windows/graphics made no improvements on that benchmark, though it did look a little smoother with 82.10 drivers but I really need to wait to test a real game though.
In built sound/speakers is pretty impressive for a little machine. You could quite easily have it running in the corner of a small room pumping out music with 6-8 people there if they aren't too drunk or noisy. The AC97 codec is terrible through headphones though, but you can't have everything. The other thing I found disappointing with the sound was that when you have your hands on the keyboard, your forearms sit right ontop of the 2 front speakers and muffles them quite significantly. You really want to roll up your sleeves if you're playing music/games with this thing on your lap.
i/o is quite good, but pretty bog-standard. DVI out is one nice feature. 6 USB2 ports. PCMCIA, SD card reader, etc etc. Would really have liked a CF card reader.
100GB HD is the largest it comes with. I have already filled half of that. I will ahve to buy an external HD now
There are some fancy lights that you can change through 16 different colours, but personally I think they're a bit gay. I turned all of them off except for the lid ones. All in all I don't think it's a very attractive-looking laptop. It's a bit too poser-ish for me.
I'm impressed with how quiet the thing is, how cool it runs and how reasonable the battery life is. After doing a bit of experimenting with 3DMark05 (attached to mains power and mobile) I was very pleased. The score dropped to 3800ish off mains power but that is to be expected - who plays games off battery on a laptop anyway? The battery meter tells you about 2.5hrs is possible while mobile. I doubt this but I have not done an objective test, though it certainly isn't as bad as other DTR laptops. The last laptop I used was an older Sony VAIO with a 2.4GHz P4 and ran significantly hotter in the lap than this one too, and that was mainly just web browsing.
Hmmm what else... the WMP controls at the front are a nice addition but a little buggy I've found. I think you need windows MCE 2005 to make full use of them. Get rid of the Dell Media Experience software (MCE rip-off), which is painfully slow and get the genuine thing. In fact get rid of as much of the Dell bloatware that it comes with. I will be upgrading to MCE soon.
Oh yes one more note about using this thing as a media centre if you intend to do so like me (eventually). If you plan on recording much Free-To-Air TV then I would forget about the inbuilt TV tuner option. At the moment every inbuilt/pcmcia laptop TV tuner card only has software MPEG2 encoding that I have found. To record in MPEG2 you need a lot of CPU grunt. Pentium M's just cannot handle this workload. Buy an external USB TV tuner card with hardware encoding and a high gain antenna (mains-powered one).
I think that's about it. I'm certainly happy with my purchase.
First of all my specs are: 7800GTX, M770 2.13GHz, WUXGA, 1GB RAM, WLAN b/g + bluetooth, Win XP Pro.
The screen is pretty good at 1920x1200 its the same res as my Dell 2405FPW which I really looooooove(yes it's another Dell but the panel is manufactured by LG). This panel is made by samsung, so I was actually expecting a bit better quality. The brightness is ok, but mine has quite a bit of light bleed at the bottom edge which is disappointing but you can really only notice it on a single-tone full screen (expecially black).
The keyboard is pretty standard, actually a little cramped for a 17" lappy, there is a lot of space either side of the keys which is occupied by air vents. Touch pad and buttons is pretty standard and no better or worse than any other laptop. I really need to buy a good mouse...
Graphics are great as you would expect. I haven't played any games yet but I've benchmarked it with 3DMark05 and scored around 6650. Try to find another laptop with the same hardware that scores that highly. If you can, then compare the price! I expect Dell will beat it every time. Updating bios/windows/graphics made no improvements on that benchmark, though it did look a little smoother with 82.10 drivers but I really need to wait to test a real game though.
In built sound/speakers is pretty impressive for a little machine. You could quite easily have it running in the corner of a small room pumping out music with 6-8 people there if they aren't too drunk or noisy. The AC97 codec is terrible through headphones though, but you can't have everything. The other thing I found disappointing with the sound was that when you have your hands on the keyboard, your forearms sit right ontop of the 2 front speakers and muffles them quite significantly. You really want to roll up your sleeves if you're playing music/games with this thing on your lap.
i/o is quite good, but pretty bog-standard. DVI out is one nice feature. 6 USB2 ports. PCMCIA, SD card reader, etc etc. Would really have liked a CF card reader.
100GB HD is the largest it comes with. I have already filled half of that. I will ahve to buy an external HD now
There are some fancy lights that you can change through 16 different colours, but personally I think they're a bit gay. I turned all of them off except for the lid ones. All in all I don't think it's a very attractive-looking laptop. It's a bit too poser-ish for me.
I'm impressed with how quiet the thing is, how cool it runs and how reasonable the battery life is. After doing a bit of experimenting with 3DMark05 (attached to mains power and mobile) I was very pleased. The score dropped to 3800ish off mains power but that is to be expected - who plays games off battery on a laptop anyway? The battery meter tells you about 2.5hrs is possible while mobile. I doubt this but I have not done an objective test, though it certainly isn't as bad as other DTR laptops. The last laptop I used was an older Sony VAIO with a 2.4GHz P4 and ran significantly hotter in the lap than this one too, and that was mainly just web browsing.
Hmmm what else... the WMP controls at the front are a nice addition but a little buggy I've found. I think you need windows MCE 2005 to make full use of them. Get rid of the Dell Media Experience software (MCE rip-off), which is painfully slow and get the genuine thing. In fact get rid of as much of the Dell bloatware that it comes with. I will be upgrading to MCE soon.
Oh yes one more note about using this thing as a media centre if you intend to do so like me (eventually). If you plan on recording much Free-To-Air TV then I would forget about the inbuilt TV tuner option. At the moment every inbuilt/pcmcia laptop TV tuner card only has software MPEG2 encoding that I have found. To record in MPEG2 you need a lot of CPU grunt. Pentium M's just cannot handle this workload. Buy an external USB TV tuner card with hardware encoding and a high gain antenna (mains-powered one).
I think that's about it. I'm certainly happy with my purchase.
User Rating: 4/10
Decent in some ways, but there are better alternatives
Pros: Sleek Design
Cons: Hardrive and Processor troubles, can't live up to some other gaming laptops
Review: My neighbor got a Dell XPS for his birthday about 3 months ago. Unfortunatly, he was having problems right out of the box. From the moment he turned it on, his HD was shot. Being a computer wiz, I told him I would work on it. Unfortuantly, after formatting the drive several times, it still would not function properly. Also, everything on the computer was choppy. Mouse movement, menu pop ups, etc. In addition to that, the processor made a terrible noise. And you could forget about gaming. Also, has with most Dell XPS's, the majority of them come with Centrino Processors. Yes, they provide good mobile power, but unfortuantly, they, like Celerons have been known to wear down very fast. It helps to upgrade to a Pentium, if you can afford the initial investment. There are much better, and much cheaper alternatives out there.
User Rating: 5/10
Locks up during gaming
Pros: Built like a tank, cool display
Cons: Video card issues
Review: My work bought me my XPS M170 so I spared no expense and maxed out all of the bells and whistles. I've had the laptop for 3 weeks, bought 2 games (Call of Duty 2 and Half-Life 2) and the laptop locks up after a few minutes of playing each game. The diagnosis is the video card (Nvidia 7800GTX). I learned from one of the game manufacturers that aproblem with the laptop is that Dell configures the video card to the point where Nvidia drivers won't even recognize it. I tested this claim out by trying to install the latest Nvidia drivers from the Nvidia website and they don't even recognize the video card. That means you have to use Dell's drivers which aren't tested for performance issues on the games. I thought that was pretty lame, especially for a system that's marketed as a gaming machine. Dell will replace the card but it was a major hassle getting one lined up (took almost 2 weeks and it gets installed next week).
User Rating: 9/10
Man-o-Man What a Laptop
Pros: Maybe better than advertised. Well built not nearly as heavy as it looks.
Cons: Pretty wide, if you travel with it get a rolling laptop case for 17 inch laptops
Review: I have been using the Dell M170 for about two months and I am frankly very impressed.
17inch LCD screen
2GHz Pentium M processor
2 GB RAM
80 GB Hardrive
Intel Wireless
Bluetooth
nVidia GO 6800 GPU
This is a great machine.
Because I travel a lot (Contract Trainer) I was concerned if this machine would stand up to the rigors, but it has so far without a glitch.
This machine is REALLY a desktop replacement. I have read other reviews about sparkles on the display panel, well either I don't know what to look for or this display doesn't have that problem at all. This display is down right beautiful. Other Instructors and students have commented on how great the display looks.
The keyboard is positioned well on the deck for comfort and ease of use. I have big hands.
While the speakers certainly won't compete with standalone speakers from Logitech, or even Dell brand speakers they are certainly good enough. This is the first laptop that I have seen with a built in mini sub woofer.
The built-in wireless and Bluetooth work great. There are a load of connectors
6 USB, 1394,mic, headphone, SD memory,S-video, VGA and DVI connectors, along with modem and Ethernet connectors.
Because I have been busy traveling I have not had a chance to actually play any games on this machine yet but the DVD burner plays great movies. I haven't tested the battery to exhaustion but I was able to play Batman Returns on a flight from Vegas to Chicago with no problem from battery life or heat.
There are a couple of things to consider. Dell now ships their computers with a lot of fluff software even after I requested to not get it. That wasn't a big deal because I (probably like most that would buy this machine) normally wipe and reinstall Windows XP Pro as soon as I verify I have drivers for all of the on-board equipment.
Dell makes it pretty easy, because included is a drivers disc and Dells website has everything needed that might not be on the System Software Disk.
One other thing to consider is while this machine is not nearly as heavy as it looks it is wide. Well built, but wide. My old rolling laptop case would not work any more. Targus makes a couple of rollling cases designed for 17 inch laptops. I got one of the Targus TCG717 cases. This is a bit larger than my previous case, and because it is a bit wider it will not roll between the seats on most airliners, but will easily fit in the overhead luggage compartments.
If I were to offer Dell some advice it would be these two items:
1). Someone senior at Dell should try calling into Dell Service and Support. It IS maddening, infuriating, exasperating,frustrating and down right irritating. The thing is it doesn't have to be this way and it didn't used to be. What happened. Dell has come very close to offering a Lexus caliber product but with Pinto phone service.
2). As soon as AMD gets its notebook processors to a reasonable battery life please reconsider using AMD processors. It is a shame to have probably the coolest laptop on the planet powered by anything less than the best processors.
All-in-all this is a great laptop and I expect to get great service. Now where is Windows Vista when I need it?
17inch LCD screen
2GHz Pentium M processor
2 GB RAM
80 GB Hardrive
Intel Wireless
Bluetooth
nVidia GO 6800 GPU
This is a great machine.
Because I travel a lot (Contract Trainer) I was concerned if this machine would stand up to the rigors, but it has so far without a glitch.
This machine is REALLY a desktop replacement. I have read other reviews about sparkles on the display panel, well either I don't know what to look for or this display doesn't have that problem at all. This display is down right beautiful. Other Instructors and students have commented on how great the display looks.
The keyboard is positioned well on the deck for comfort and ease of use. I have big hands.
While the speakers certainly won't compete with standalone speakers from Logitech, or even Dell brand speakers they are certainly good enough. This is the first laptop that I have seen with a built in mini sub woofer.
The built-in wireless and Bluetooth work great. There are a load of connectors
6 USB, 1394,mic, headphone, SD memory,S-video, VGA and DVI connectors, along with modem and Ethernet connectors.
Because I have been busy traveling I have not had a chance to actually play any games on this machine yet but the DVD burner plays great movies. I haven't tested the battery to exhaustion but I was able to play Batman Returns on a flight from Vegas to Chicago with no problem from battery life or heat.
There are a couple of things to consider. Dell now ships their computers with a lot of fluff software even after I requested to not get it. That wasn't a big deal because I (probably like most that would buy this machine) normally wipe and reinstall Windows XP Pro as soon as I verify I have drivers for all of the on-board equipment.
Dell makes it pretty easy, because included is a drivers disc and Dells website has everything needed that might not be on the System Software Disk.
One other thing to consider is while this machine is not nearly as heavy as it looks it is wide. Well built, but wide. My old rolling laptop case would not work any more. Targus makes a couple of rollling cases designed for 17 inch laptops. I got one of the Targus TCG717 cases. This is a bit larger than my previous case, and because it is a bit wider it will not roll between the seats on most airliners, but will easily fit in the overhead luggage compartments.
If I were to offer Dell some advice it would be these two items:
1). Someone senior at Dell should try calling into Dell Service and Support. It IS maddening, infuriating, exasperating,frustrating and down right irritating. The thing is it doesn't have to be this way and it didn't used to be. What happened. Dell has come very close to offering a Lexus caliber product but with Pinto phone service.
2). As soon as AMD gets its notebook processors to a reasonable battery life please reconsider using AMD processors. It is a shame to have probably the coolest laptop on the planet powered by anything less than the best processors.
All-in-all this is a great laptop and I expect to get great service. Now where is Windows Vista when I need it?
User Rating: 10/10
I wanted the XPS and I got one.
Pros: The fastest laptop at this weight.
Cons: The cost this thing is not cheap.
Review: The XPS M170 is not that heavy if you are a strong guy. Comon... this thing is 8 pounds!
Mine CPU is 2.13GHZ and of course it uses the Intel Pentium M processor 770. The screen is an LCD panel and at 17 inches you see it all. The screen has the Truelife feature and that sold me by itself. Memory 1GB Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ 2 Dimm. Which they give you a choice of 2GB if you want to pay for it. It is upgradable in the memory department. You can choose from Microsoft windows XP Professional or Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition which is what I have. I upgraded my hard drive by calling them online. They were kind not a problem so my 100GB 5400 RPM was replaced with a 80GB 7200 RPM drive. That cost me an extra $60.00. The 7200 is faster than the 5400 and I feel it was noticeable. Mine has a network card and modem. Video card is 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra and is nice. It has a CD ROM/DVD ROM 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/RW) with double-layer DVD+R with write capability. Wireless is an Intell PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps) The primary battery is a 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) The software that comes with it is Adobe, McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal 15 months. Digital music Musicmatch by Yahoo! with Music entry level on demand for 90 days. I added a three year hardware warranty. IT also has XPX specialized support. I also have accidental damage. 6 Months of AOL access for free ( I' am not interested).Comes with Corel Photo Album 6 starter edition (organize and edit photos). Dell also gave me a free DJ Ditty for free. This is the best laptop screen I have seen so I am leery of those that say negative things about it. I think most people are used to the cheaper screens. This thing hauls as far as speed goes. I have a cable modem so I have alot of enjoyment. I move about my house with this XPS and sometimes I go outside. I have no need to take it anywhere but to family or relatives homes. If I brought it out into public I would not feel ashamed. It is a cool looking laptop. Dell said that after a few days if I did not like it I could take it back. I don't think that will happen. I also bought a Targus messenger to carry it in. A Kensington PocketMouse Pro Wireless mouse was also purchased. They offered Lojack for computers but I will buy and install it later myself. I also was offered Microsoft Office Basic which I accepted. When I bought this laptop everyone was looking at me with envy. Many people want it but it is expensive. I am a happy customer!
Mine CPU is 2.13GHZ and of course it uses the Intel Pentium M processor 770. The screen is an LCD panel and at 17 inches you see it all. The screen has the Truelife feature and that sold me by itself. Memory 1GB Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ 2 Dimm. Which they give you a choice of 2GB if you want to pay for it. It is upgradable in the memory department. You can choose from Microsoft windows XP Professional or Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition which is what I have. I upgraded my hard drive by calling them online. They were kind not a problem so my 100GB 5400 RPM was replaced with a 80GB 7200 RPM drive. That cost me an extra $60.00. The 7200 is faster than the 5400 and I feel it was noticeable. Mine has a network card and modem. Video card is 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra and is nice. It has a CD ROM/DVD ROM 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/RW) with double-layer DVD+R with write capability. Wireless is an Intell PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps) The primary battery is a 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) The software that comes with it is Adobe, McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal 15 months. Digital music Musicmatch by Yahoo! with Music entry level on demand for 90 days. I added a three year hardware warranty. IT also has XPX specialized support. I also have accidental damage. 6 Months of AOL access for free ( I' am not interested).Comes with Corel Photo Album 6 starter edition (organize and edit photos). Dell also gave me a free DJ Ditty for free. This is the best laptop screen I have seen so I am leery of those that say negative things about it. I think most people are used to the cheaper screens. This thing hauls as far as speed goes. I have a cable modem so I have alot of enjoyment. I move about my house with this XPS and sometimes I go outside. I have no need to take it anywhere but to family or relatives homes. If I brought it out into public I would not feel ashamed. It is a cool looking laptop. Dell said that after a few days if I did not like it I could take it back. I don't think that will happen. I also bought a Targus messenger to carry it in. A Kensington PocketMouse Pro Wireless mouse was also purchased. They offered Lojack for computers but I will buy and install it later myself. I also was offered Microsoft Office Basic which I accepted. When I bought this laptop everyone was looking at me with envy. Many people want it but it is expensive. I am a happy customer!
Updated
I was on the phone with Dell for 3 days trying to buy a computer that they had canceled. I keeped getting transfered to another division or representative. One rep even gave me a number to a 1-800 talk line.
Dell is the worst I have ever delt with. I was transfered from India to Panama and many more places. Ridiculous!!!! I still am not getting a computer and I am not sure if they are going to bill me for nothing. I really do not care about how their computers work. I want service and you will not get it from Dell. TERRIBLE.
I was on the phone with Dell for 3 days trying to buy a computer that they had canceled. I keeped getting transfered to another division or representative. One rep even gave me a number to a 1-800 talk line.
Dell is the worst I have ever delt with. I was transfered from India to Panama and many more places. Ridiculous!!!! I still am not getting a computer and I am not sure if they are going to bill me for nothing. I really do not care about how their computers work. I want service and you will not get it from Dell. TERRIBLE.
Updated
I am happy with my XPS but the phone service is not top notch. Order what you want upfront and don't change or upgrade after that.
This computer is fast but it will be faster after I delete the free music samples. They gave me about 30 MP3's.
I am happy with my XPS but the phone service is not top notch. Order what you want upfront and don't change or upgrade after that.
This computer is fast but it will be faster after I delete the free music samples. They gave me about 30 MP3's.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Power but very, very heavy
Pros: powerful laptop, excellent 17" glossy screen, 6 USB ports!
Cons: Heavy Heavy Heavy. Very expensive. Too flashy.
Review: I have had this laptop for 3 months now and it has not boken down or given me any problems what so ever. I bought this laptop with all the extras and Im continually impressed with it's power.
One thing that I've noticed is that many people prefer to read about the bad stuff rather than the good. So, one of few things I consider bad about this laptop is the weight. I seriously do not think that Dell ment this machine to be portable. The thing weights about 10 IBS with all the extras on it. I tried carrying it to school and it nearly threw out my back. So, if you do buy this then do not expect to be carrying it arround. The laptop is also huge so if you do decide to carry it arround your probably gonna get some weird looks from people because this is a very large machine. The backpack is also very large, I it is almost the size of a medium-sized hiker backpack. Another thing that I did not like, the supposed Quick-Snap is not replacable. I know the Cnet video says that it is but I called Dell and asked several representatives and they all said that the Sheild is meant to be permanent. Initially I expected to be carrying this thing arround with me all over school and I noticed that the shield gets nicks and scratches very easily. Another thing to consider if you plan to be lugging this thing arround. I do not like the LED lights on the side and back of the LCD display. They are too flashy and bright. I guess if you like that sort of thing then its okay.
Another thing I would've liked is to see a number pad under the the keyboard. I mean there is plenty of room for something like that anyway.
Overall, I like this laptop. It is very powerful, it comes with Media Center which works very well with watching DVDs and the large screen is good for playing games. The speakers are loud so do not worry about buying speakers.
So, I have grown complacent with the fact that this thing is sationary.
One thing that I've noticed is that many people prefer to read about the bad stuff rather than the good. So, one of few things I consider bad about this laptop is the weight. I seriously do not think that Dell ment this machine to be portable. The thing weights about 10 IBS with all the extras on it. I tried carrying it to school and it nearly threw out my back. So, if you do buy this then do not expect to be carrying it arround. The laptop is also huge so if you do decide to carry it arround your probably gonna get some weird looks from people because this is a very large machine. The backpack is also very large, I it is almost the size of a medium-sized hiker backpack. Another thing that I did not like, the supposed Quick-Snap is not replacable. I know the Cnet video says that it is but I called Dell and asked several representatives and they all said that the Sheild is meant to be permanent. Initially I expected to be carrying this thing arround with me all over school and I noticed that the shield gets nicks and scratches very easily. Another thing to consider if you plan to be lugging this thing arround. I do not like the LED lights on the side and back of the LCD display. They are too flashy and bright. I guess if you like that sort of thing then its okay.
Another thing I would've liked is to see a number pad under the the keyboard. I mean there is plenty of room for something like that anyway.
Overall, I like this laptop. It is very powerful, it comes with Media Center which works very well with watching DVDs and the large screen is good for playing games. The speakers are loud so do not worry about buying speakers.
So, I have grown complacent with the fact that this thing is sationary.
User Rating: 6/10
Not Pleased
Pros: maybe good for gaming --
Cons: not good for high end video editing and animation
Review: When I first booted it up, I noticed that there was resolution problem right away. The display was very dark and the letters and icons were very distorted.
Right away I contacted Dell to complain about the problem. They acted as though I was the only user in the World that had ever complained about this, which is hard for me to believe (especially after reading more recent reviews).
They took me me through tons of troubleshooting steps, which I knew would not resolve the issue. They even went a step further to have me download a new driver, which I was quite sure would not resolve the issue as well.
We went on and on for sometime before they agreed to send out a replacement. I received the replacement and it was almost worst than the first one.
I contacted Dell again and ended up requesting a full refund for the untit. For 3100, you would want better quality.
I have not tested out the Toshiba, however, I have gotten a chance to see the display which is alot better.
I purchased the Dell for Animation and Video editing. So far, the Dell M170 is not a good idea for animation and editing.
On the brighter note, they agreed that I can get a full refund, so I am happy.
Please look around before purchasing.
Right away I contacted Dell to complain about the problem. They acted as though I was the only user in the World that had ever complained about this, which is hard for me to believe (especially after reading more recent reviews).
They took me me through tons of troubleshooting steps, which I knew would not resolve the issue. They even went a step further to have me download a new driver, which I was quite sure would not resolve the issue as well.
We went on and on for sometime before they agreed to send out a replacement. I received the replacement and it was almost worst than the first one.
I contacted Dell again and ended up requesting a full refund for the untit. For 3100, you would want better quality.
I have not tested out the Toshiba, however, I have gotten a chance to see the display which is alot better.
I purchased the Dell for Animation and Video editing. So far, the Dell M170 is not a good idea for animation and editing.
On the brighter note, they agreed that I can get a full refund, so I am happy.
Please look around before purchasing.
User Rating: 9/10
The ultimate true gaming laptop, that even gets almost 3 hours of battery life.
Pros: Powerful, sturdy, great WUXGA screen 20-40% off dell coupons!
Cons: Expensive (Find a coupon!), battery life is "decent"
Review: Since I actually own this laptop, I feel I should help keep the record straight as opposed to those that just seem to hate Dell and write whatever they can think of to detract from their rep.
It is amazingly powerful, the newer versions with a GO 7800GTX and 2.26ghz Pentium M CPUs are even more so. I thought the lack of "smoothness" hyperthreading gives the P4 would detract from my liking of the Pentium M, however this laptop never seems to experience the brief "hangs" my old desktop used to have!
The 1920by1200 WUXGA brightscreen display is perfect, not 1 bad pixel on it. The glossy screen doesn't bother me. The hinges are absolutely solid and still going strong. The brushed aluminum back even hides the usual scruff marks a laptop accumulates, and is a good amour for the display itself. For the power this system offers it is amazingly light and not bad carrying around. It even fits in my 15.4? size rated Targus backpack, despite being a 17? display. And it?s only a mere 8.7 pounds, lighter than anything else in it?s class.
I can squeeze out 3 hours of battery life if I really try, which is very good for a 17? system, and exceptional IMHO for the horsepower you get under the hood. The system temps were good across the board from GPU core to CPU. The DDR2 RAM does get fairly warm however. The fans are silent, and under load you still won't hear them with any other sort of noise in the room. The speaker quality is good, although there is no real bass for that ?thump?. Honestly, this laptop has way more ?bling-bling? than I?d want, but is just personal taste, and anyway you can turn the LEDs off and stick a cover on the lid if you really need to
Now about that high price? I got mine with a 40% off Dell coupon folks. The price was still ?high? afterwards (due to a 7200rpm drive, most upgrades, and 4 year everything warranty in my case), but it was worth it for a TRUE desktop replacement laptop. So if you are interested in this system, make sure you grab a 35 to 40% off coupon off the web before you buy!
For a better price/performance ratio then I would have to suggest you use the coupons on a 9300, same chasis/case without the flashy stuff but without the same crème de la crème of hardware offerings. Otherwise if you want the absolute best, go for XPS Gen 2 as it can handle anything out there
It is amazingly powerful, the newer versions with a GO 7800GTX and 2.26ghz Pentium M CPUs are even more so. I thought the lack of "smoothness" hyperthreading gives the P4 would detract from my liking of the Pentium M, however this laptop never seems to experience the brief "hangs" my old desktop used to have!
The 1920by1200 WUXGA brightscreen display is perfect, not 1 bad pixel on it. The glossy screen doesn't bother me. The hinges are absolutely solid and still going strong. The brushed aluminum back even hides the usual scruff marks a laptop accumulates, and is a good amour for the display itself. For the power this system offers it is amazingly light and not bad carrying around. It even fits in my 15.4? size rated Targus backpack, despite being a 17? display. And it?s only a mere 8.7 pounds, lighter than anything else in it?s class.
I can squeeze out 3 hours of battery life if I really try, which is very good for a 17? system, and exceptional IMHO for the horsepower you get under the hood. The system temps were good across the board from GPU core to CPU. The DDR2 RAM does get fairly warm however. The fans are silent, and under load you still won't hear them with any other sort of noise in the room. The speaker quality is good, although there is no real bass for that ?thump?. Honestly, this laptop has way more ?bling-bling? than I?d want, but is just personal taste, and anyway you can turn the LEDs off and stick a cover on the lid if you really need to
Now about that high price? I got mine with a 40% off Dell coupon folks. The price was still ?high? afterwards (due to a 7200rpm drive, most upgrades, and 4 year everything warranty in my case), but it was worth it for a TRUE desktop replacement laptop. So if you are interested in this system, make sure you grab a 35 to 40% off coupon off the web before you buy!
For a better price/performance ratio then I would have to suggest you use the coupons on a 9300, same chasis/case without the flashy stuff but without the same crème de la crème of hardware offerings. Otherwise if you want the absolute best, go for XPS Gen 2 as it can handle anything out there
User Rating: 10/10
Best gaming system
Pros: high end gaming, has all the toys gamers love, look and feel great
Cons: gets hot very quick on high end games, not so great battery life
Review: I have owned by XPS Gen 2 since May of 2005 and have been using it for gaming and everyday use since then. I havent had 1 technical problem since I bought it.
I play games like World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2, Star Wars Online, Dark Age of Camelot: Darkness Rising, Quake 4, FEAR, Age of Empires 3, and many others. There are no problems with graphics turned all the way up on this system. Which considering its competitors is saying a lot.
I would say if your looking for serious gaming portable, dont go any further beyond the XPS gaming system.
I play games like World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2, Star Wars Online, Dark Age of Camelot: Darkness Rising, Quake 4, FEAR, Age of Empires 3, and many others. There are no problems with graphics turned all the way up on this system. Which considering its competitors is saying a lot.
I would say if your looking for serious gaming portable, dont go any further beyond the XPS gaming system.
User Rating: 8/10
Good machine if you use it, but can be a little excessive!
Pros: Fast, Comparatively Light, Good Options, Not excessively hot!
Cons: Screen resolution/glare, battery life, LEDs can be distracting
Review: I have had mine for about a month; here are my observations:
PRO's:
1. Fast performance. Let's face it, this machine with the GeForce 7800 chipset just screams through any games that you can presently throw at it. Yes you may have to play with the optimizations a little bit, but there is something to be said for being able to play Half-Life 2 at 1920x1200!
2. Sound is great for a laptop with tiny speakers, the sub-woofer really makes a difference.
3. Comfortable keyboard and touch pad ergonomics. I used to have an Inspiron 8500, and would constantly get wrist cramps if I used it for a long time. Not a problem with this one.
4. Good Options - Dual layer DVD burner, though the software stinks, but I use Nero, so it isn't a big issue. Embedded wireless works good, but not as good of range as a PC card adapter would get. Nice having an embedded SD card reader.
5. Heat disipation - this machine does a lot better job of not cooking my legs than my old Inspiron 8500 did. After about an hour of use it would get VERY hot both on the underside, and the keyboard. Not a problem the this XPS. I also have used the HP zd8000, and the XPS is much better in this area as well.
6. Comparatively light weight - Compared to the Alienware and HP equivalent machines, 8.6 pounds is pretty good. Yes it is heavier than my 8500, but all in all, not too bad. I have a rolling bag to tote this machine around in, so I don't actually have to carry it to often. If you want the performance of this machine, it does come with a price. I have read a lot of complaints about the weight of this machine, and all I have to say is that unless you want sacrifice performance, quit whining!
CON's
1. Screen resolution - I wish they would offer different screens for this machine. 1920x1200 can be kind of hard on the eyes, especially when reading text, and some games don't like to run at higher resolutions. Battlefield 2 springs to mind. Sometimes on newer games you have to turn down some of the optimizations to run smoothly, or scale the screen down to a lower resolution which will effect quality. If I had the option, I would have gotten the WSXGA or WXGA screen. The screen glare is also kind of a pain, and it would be nice if it wasn't so glossy.
2. The LEDs - they can be kind of annoying, especially if you are gaming. Plus they kill battery life. I usually just turn them off. Even when on AC power, especially the front speaker lights cause even more glare.
4. Battery life - maybe I am having battery issues, but even with the screen brightness turned down, and the LEDs turned off, I have been getting less than rated battery life. May have to call support on this one, as I am averaging about 1.5 hours on battery, and that is just watching a DVD or working, not gaming.
5. The screen lid - a lot of people have said that they love the look of the "brushed metal" on the lid, but when you scratch it, it looks like crap. I think they need to include the Personalization shield as standard versus having it as an option.
6. Lack of docking station support - while this is not important to some, I use one in my office for my 8500, and it is nice to be able to use my MS Natural Pro keyboard and Logitech MX1000 mouse if I want, with my 20 LCD. This does have a port replicator option, but it is just a Targus USB port expander, and totally does not fit the bill. I know this is primarily a gamin laptop, but it would be nice to be able to put it on a docking station sometimes.
Summary:
Yes it is heavy, yes it is garish, and yes battery life is not great, but this is one of the best gaming laptops out there right now! If portability, seek life elsewhere. If you want great performance at any cost, this is a very good candidate.
PRO's:
1. Fast performance. Let's face it, this machine with the GeForce 7800 chipset just screams through any games that you can presently throw at it. Yes you may have to play with the optimizations a little bit, but there is something to be said for being able to play Half-Life 2 at 1920x1200!
2. Sound is great for a laptop with tiny speakers, the sub-woofer really makes a difference.
3. Comfortable keyboard and touch pad ergonomics. I used to have an Inspiron 8500, and would constantly get wrist cramps if I used it for a long time. Not a problem with this one.
4. Good Options - Dual layer DVD burner, though the software stinks, but I use Nero, so it isn't a big issue. Embedded wireless works good, but not as good of range as a PC card adapter would get. Nice having an embedded SD card reader.
5. Heat disipation - this machine does a lot better job of not cooking my legs than my old Inspiron 8500 did. After about an hour of use it would get VERY hot both on the underside, and the keyboard. Not a problem the this XPS. I also have used the HP zd8000, and the XPS is much better in this area as well.
6. Comparatively light weight - Compared to the Alienware and HP equivalent machines, 8.6 pounds is pretty good. Yes it is heavier than my 8500, but all in all, not too bad. I have a rolling bag to tote this machine around in, so I don't actually have to carry it to often. If you want the performance of this machine, it does come with a price. I have read a lot of complaints about the weight of this machine, and all I have to say is that unless you want sacrifice performance, quit whining!
CON's
1. Screen resolution - I wish they would offer different screens for this machine. 1920x1200 can be kind of hard on the eyes, especially when reading text, and some games don't like to run at higher resolutions. Battlefield 2 springs to mind. Sometimes on newer games you have to turn down some of the optimizations to run smoothly, or scale the screen down to a lower resolution which will effect quality. If I had the option, I would have gotten the WSXGA or WXGA screen. The screen glare is also kind of a pain, and it would be nice if it wasn't so glossy.
2. The LEDs - they can be kind of annoying, especially if you are gaming. Plus they kill battery life. I usually just turn them off. Even when on AC power, especially the front speaker lights cause even more glare.
4. Battery life - maybe I am having battery issues, but even with the screen brightness turned down, and the LEDs turned off, I have been getting less than rated battery life. May have to call support on this one, as I am averaging about 1.5 hours on battery, and that is just watching a DVD or working, not gaming.
5. The screen lid - a lot of people have said that they love the look of the "brushed metal" on the lid, but when you scratch it, it looks like crap. I think they need to include the Personalization shield as standard versus having it as an option.
6. Lack of docking station support - while this is not important to some, I use one in my office for my 8500, and it is nice to be able to use my MS Natural Pro keyboard and Logitech MX1000 mouse if I want, with my 20 LCD. This does have a port replicator option, but it is just a Targus USB port expander, and totally does not fit the bill. I know this is primarily a gamin laptop, but it would be nice to be able to put it on a docking station sometimes.
Summary:
Yes it is heavy, yes it is garish, and yes battery life is not great, but this is one of the best gaming laptops out there right now! If portability, seek life elsewhere. If you want great performance at any cost, this is a very good candidate.
User Rating: 5/10
Over-priced and too flashy
Pros: looks better than gen 1 XPS
Cons: way too expensive for what you get
Review: I have used this laptop for gaming and it is fast however a laptop will NEVER be suited to gaming. If I were to spend close to $3500, I would get a sweet SLI desktop. I can not imagine anyone who would buy this, maybe the rich and insane.
User Rating: 8/10
Great gaming laptop from Dell!
Pros: Lots of raw power, improved design, battery life, weight, latest in portable gaming technology, beautiful 17inch WXGA+ display
Cons: still heavy, battery life could be a little better and so could the price
Review: Dell has always been improving in the area of its notebooks, most noticeably with the Dell XPS line. Their intial design was somewhat drab, battery life stunk, and the thing weighed in at nearly 10 pounds. Now that they have adopted the Pentium-M processor, the design is now more slimmer and eye-catching. As opposed to the P4/HT desktop processor, the P-M utilizes the same amount of performance, yet finally gives you some portable time with the improved battery life (which could be better without those excess lights that it has, which is pretty but not needed.) The price is also somewhat of a drag. But if your on a budget (not from alienware, voodoo pc, etc) then a Dell XPS Gen2 is a great choice.
User Rating: 10/10
This laptop is outstanding!
Pros: Lightweight for a wide screen, high definition, top performing laptop. Bright clear picture that plays ALL the FPS action games great.
Cons: Looks a little out of the ordinary sitting in Starbucks checking my mail.
Review: I own this laptop, and owned the XPS before it. It is awesome. If you are looking for a tiny lightweight laptop to put in your shirt pocket, go buy one. If you are looking for a big screen awesome gaming machine, this is your device. It is incredible. Oh, and the support for the XPS is a specialized group of gamers located in Tennesee. They are excellent. Period!
User Rating: 8/10
Have one, very fine.
Pros: Fast, high resolution LCD, weight vs. performance
Cons: Rather have a non-glossy screen for work, headphone port hiss (boo), spacebar bezel proximity
Review: After working 3.5 years on an Inspiron 8100 with an upgraded M9 ATI 9000 card (an excellent machine, sans the very creaky case and funny LCD connector that would corrupt the LCD screen and I?d have to ?twist? the case to get the display back to ?normal?. Heck, Far Cry was even playable! At the lowest settings mind you? 10fps during heated battles), I decided to get a M170 from Dell Canada. $2800 Cdn with a 2.13Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 80GB HD, 6800 Ultra and XPS brand backpack (I found a flyer offer for the discontinued Gen 2 for $2999 which they matched with the M170 (basically the same machine as the Gen 2) and a $200 coupon? always dig for Dell coupons to save a bundle).
I mainly program database applications and develop web sites but wanted a machine that could handle modern games with a bit of future proofing. The machine with (shockingly HUGE) power supply and 3rd party laptop bag (Tracer Brand) weighs about as much as my 8100 did (16lbs) in the APC bag I recently bought for it (APC makes an excellent laptop bag BTW, but way to small to fit the M170. I Picked it up at a discount store for $25Cdn? cried when I had to abandon it).
The M170 is a BIG laptop, but the 17? screen is well worth the size. I tried and returned an ACER Ferrari 4005, which is an amazing machine in every way (speed, weight, screen, build quality), except the keyboard was very rubbery and drove me crazy when I typed (which I do a lot of). If the ACER keyboard was better I would have kept it happily. But the Acer is in a different class than the M170? the Acer is a powerful machine that?s reasonably light (Acer 6.5lbs vs. Dell 8.6lbs not including power supplies? and the M170?s supply is like 2x heavier than the Acers) and very trim for its screen size. But the bulk of the M170 is a fair trade off for the large high resolution screen and the performance. The M170 actually runs quite a bit cooler while doing office type work. Also, the fan, which runs all the time (as did the Acer), is quieter than the Acer. The Acer?s exhaust from the fan was quite warm, even when the system was idling; the Dell?s exhaust isn?t warm at all when idling.
The glossy screen is a bit of a pain in an office environment (but fine in my basement home office). It reflects ceiling lights and the windows, but if you tilt it just right, it livable. When I ordered the M170 I didn?t clue-in the screen was Glossy? TruLife = Glossy, d-oh. I may not have actually ordered it knowing that? but now that I have it, I?m happy to put up with the reflections. I?d have given it a 9/10 if it had a non-glossy screen at the same resolution 1920 x 1200 (from an office work perspective).
The keyboard is the same layout I?ve had on my previous two Dell laptops and its feel is excellent. My 8100 keyboard was very well broken in with a lot of the letters worn off the keys and the space bar worn smooth. One complaint I?d have about the M170 keyboard and funny enough about the Acer Ferrari keyboard is both keyboards bezels below the space bars are too high and your thumb (ok, MY thumb) bumps into it when typing. Maybe I have some genetically misshaped thumb in that it doesn?t curve down to meet the keyboard before hitting the bezel, but my 8100 had a nice sloped bezel that was a millimeter or two lower than the space bar? thus avoiding contact when typing. I can live with the problem, but it makes me wonder what the two manufactures were thinking when they designed the bezel keyboard relationship. It almost feels like they thought, ?Hey these are game machines? not for work? maybe we don?t even need a keyboard?? oh, maybe I guess we should put one in just incase?? But the Inspiron 9300 has the same bezel keyboard relationship as far as I can tell? I think the 9300 is meant as a work computer, could be wrong though.
The build quality of the M170 is excellent? no creaking unlike my old 8100 that creaked if you even looked at it the wrong way. The LCD does leak some light along the bottom, doesn?t bother me? as I don?t notice it when using the machine for office applications. I don?t see any of the dreaded ?sparkles? people talk about in the LCD; not sure of the brand.
The dang-headphone plug has a nasty hiss when you?re using headphones. I?ve read about this problem on the Inspiron 9300 also? and it?s a shame, must be a physical design flaw as they haven?t seemed to solve it. When I?m listing to music or playing a game with headphones it?s not really noticeable. But if you?re listening to the headphones without any sound, it?s quite a loud hissing sound. I?ve tried turning off line-in and other sources but nothing helps except selecting ?PC Spk Mute? under advanced settings? which isn?t much good of course since that disables all the system sound. Fingers crossed they may be able to solve the problem with a driver update (not holding my breath).
The LED lights on the case that light up are ?neat? I normally have them off, saving the LEDs for a special occasion like Christmas or something.
I stretched the life of my old 8100 with a new Hitachi 7200RPM 60GB drive (replacing a 4200RPM drive). It made a big difference in performance (booting, starting applications and database work) on the 8100. I transferred the 7200rpm drive to the M170, mainly so I didn?t have to reinstall all my applications and settings (man, I HATE doing that). The transfer was easy? just set the BIOS to boot off the CD, move the hard drive over, boot off the Windows XP CD (purchased version, NOT OEM) and select ?Install Windows? (not the repair option on the first page) it will find the existing version of windows on the swapped HD, select ?R? to repair the existing version. Windows will reinstall? activate with MS, install drivers from Dell and bam? you?re done! Did it three times no problem (8100->Acer->8100->m170) but I digress.
I ran HDTach on the original hard drive that came with the M170 (a 80GB, 5400RPM drive) and on the 7200 after installing it. Both drives performed roughly the same. The only big difference was the 7200 drive had a slightly lower seek time of 14ms or so vs. the 5400?s 16ms. But I wouldn?t hold much credence in the results given I didn?t go out of my way to shut down every task possible. But it does sort of suggest that the 7200 drive isn?t much of a benefit over the 5400 in normal use; still nice to have though.
So all in all I?d give the machine an 8.5/10. It?s an amazingly powerful machine with tons of screen real estate for business apps at a reasonable weight/performance ratio. Far Cry is the only high-end game I?ve tried on it, and it runs amazingly well, very smooth. Its minor glitches (hiss, spacebar bezel proximity, Glossy screen) are livable. Nothing is perfect, but I'm pleased.
I mainly program database applications and develop web sites but wanted a machine that could handle modern games with a bit of future proofing. The machine with (shockingly HUGE) power supply and 3rd party laptop bag (Tracer Brand) weighs about as much as my 8100 did (16lbs) in the APC bag I recently bought for it (APC makes an excellent laptop bag BTW, but way to small to fit the M170. I Picked it up at a discount store for $25Cdn? cried when I had to abandon it).
The M170 is a BIG laptop, but the 17? screen is well worth the size. I tried and returned an ACER Ferrari 4005, which is an amazing machine in every way (speed, weight, screen, build quality), except the keyboard was very rubbery and drove me crazy when I typed (which I do a lot of). If the ACER keyboard was better I would have kept it happily. But the Acer is in a different class than the M170? the Acer is a powerful machine that?s reasonably light (Acer 6.5lbs vs. Dell 8.6lbs not including power supplies? and the M170?s supply is like 2x heavier than the Acers) and very trim for its screen size. But the bulk of the M170 is a fair trade off for the large high resolution screen and the performance. The M170 actually runs quite a bit cooler while doing office type work. Also, the fan, which runs all the time (as did the Acer), is quieter than the Acer. The Acer?s exhaust from the fan was quite warm, even when the system was idling; the Dell?s exhaust isn?t warm at all when idling.
The glossy screen is a bit of a pain in an office environment (but fine in my basement home office). It reflects ceiling lights and the windows, but if you tilt it just right, it livable. When I ordered the M170 I didn?t clue-in the screen was Glossy? TruLife = Glossy, d-oh. I may not have actually ordered it knowing that? but now that I have it, I?m happy to put up with the reflections. I?d have given it a 9/10 if it had a non-glossy screen at the same resolution 1920 x 1200 (from an office work perspective).
The keyboard is the same layout I?ve had on my previous two Dell laptops and its feel is excellent. My 8100 keyboard was very well broken in with a lot of the letters worn off the keys and the space bar worn smooth. One complaint I?d have about the M170 keyboard and funny enough about the Acer Ferrari keyboard is both keyboards bezels below the space bars are too high and your thumb (ok, MY thumb) bumps into it when typing. Maybe I have some genetically misshaped thumb in that it doesn?t curve down to meet the keyboard before hitting the bezel, but my 8100 had a nice sloped bezel that was a millimeter or two lower than the space bar? thus avoiding contact when typing. I can live with the problem, but it makes me wonder what the two manufactures were thinking when they designed the bezel keyboard relationship. It almost feels like they thought, ?Hey these are game machines? not for work? maybe we don?t even need a keyboard?? oh, maybe I guess we should put one in just incase?? But the Inspiron 9300 has the same bezel keyboard relationship as far as I can tell? I think the 9300 is meant as a work computer, could be wrong though.
The build quality of the M170 is excellent? no creaking unlike my old 8100 that creaked if you even looked at it the wrong way. The LCD does leak some light along the bottom, doesn?t bother me? as I don?t notice it when using the machine for office applications. I don?t see any of the dreaded ?sparkles? people talk about in the LCD; not sure of the brand.
The dang-headphone plug has a nasty hiss when you?re using headphones. I?ve read about this problem on the Inspiron 9300 also? and it?s a shame, must be a physical design flaw as they haven?t seemed to solve it. When I?m listing to music or playing a game with headphones it?s not really noticeable. But if you?re listening to the headphones without any sound, it?s quite a loud hissing sound. I?ve tried turning off line-in and other sources but nothing helps except selecting ?PC Spk Mute? under advanced settings? which isn?t much good of course since that disables all the system sound. Fingers crossed they may be able to solve the problem with a driver update (not holding my breath).
The LED lights on the case that light up are ?neat? I normally have them off, saving the LEDs for a special occasion like Christmas or something.
I stretched the life of my old 8100 with a new Hitachi 7200RPM 60GB drive (replacing a 4200RPM drive). It made a big difference in performance (booting, starting applications and database work) on the 8100. I transferred the 7200rpm drive to the M170, mainly so I didn?t have to reinstall all my applications and settings (man, I HATE doing that). The transfer was easy? just set the BIOS to boot off the CD, move the hard drive over, boot off the Windows XP CD (purchased version, NOT OEM) and select ?Install Windows? (not the repair option on the first page) it will find the existing version of windows on the swapped HD, select ?R? to repair the existing version. Windows will reinstall? activate with MS, install drivers from Dell and bam? you?re done! Did it three times no problem (8100->Acer->8100->m170) but I digress.
I ran HDTach on the original hard drive that came with the M170 (a 80GB, 5400RPM drive) and on the 7200 after installing it. Both drives performed roughly the same. The only big difference was the 7200 drive had a slightly lower seek time of 14ms or so vs. the 5400?s 16ms. But I wouldn?t hold much credence in the results given I didn?t go out of my way to shut down every task possible. But it does sort of suggest that the 7200 drive isn?t much of a benefit over the 5400 in normal use; still nice to have though.
So all in all I?d give the machine an 8.5/10. It?s an amazingly powerful machine with tons of screen real estate for business apps at a reasonable weight/performance ratio. Far Cry is the only high-end game I?ve tried on it, and it runs amazingly well, very smooth. Its minor glitches (hiss, spacebar bezel proximity, Glossy screen) are livable. Nothing is perfect, but I'm pleased.
User Rating: 4/10
Looks nice, but Dell support is now abysmal
Pros: Full featured, fast,
Cons: Dell service has deteriorated to the point of unacceptable
Review: Probably will switch my aging Dell notebook to an Apple Powerbook. Almost everything I need to do is slicker and easier on an Apple desktop with the exception of audio editing for which I really prefer Adobe Audion, which is still a Windows product so I'm torn as to whether to stick to a Window notebook. But one thing's for sure, it won't be Dell based on their current support track record.
Updated
Sorry folks who did not like my comments about Dell service. Just for the record, and I was not clear in my comments, my review was based on evaluating this computer for possible purchase and the reasons why I did not do so. True, my experience with Dell service is based on the model I currently own, not the one I was considering. And true, I only evaluated an acquaintance's XPS model, I never owned this particular model, so my experience is more limited than those of you who own it...But on the other hand, my comments are not from a troll Dell hater, just my personal experience and why I bought a Toshiba Qosmio and not a Dell XPS M170 after CAREFUL consideration and trial of several Dell models including this one.
Sorry folks who did not like my comments about Dell service. Just for the record, and I was not clear in my comments, my review was based on evaluating this computer for possible purchase and the reasons why I did not do so. True, my experience with Dell service is based on the model I currently own, not the one I was considering. And true, I only evaluated an acquaintance's XPS model, I never owned this particular model, so my experience is more limited than those of you who own it...But on the other hand, my comments are not from a troll Dell hater, just my personal experience and why I bought a Toshiba Qosmio and not a Dell XPS M170 after CAREFUL consideration and trial of several Dell models including this one.
User Rating: 5/10
CRAP! CNET IS HYPIN IT!
Pros: Fast.......................... .ya thats about it
Cons: LOOKS BAD!!UNSTABLE! CHEAPLY MADE
Review: The notebook is horrible, its the worst machine ever made! Its huge its ugly! Dvd's look horrible, i've only had it for 12 hours and this is my first dell OMG stay away from dell,it crashs alot! I reinstalled windows didnt speed it up o i took it apart and omg u call that a PC SOME PARTS R GLUED TOGETHER!! The keyboard hurts!! The graphics sux for half life! Dells tech support is so bad!If you wanna have a PC that makes u wanna kill urself this notebook is for yo, if u want a notebook designed and not made with cheap parts get an HP or Sony!
i cannot belive Dell is still alive with crappy computers like this!
[Edited by: admin]
i cannot belive Dell is still alive with crappy computers like this!
[Edited by: admin]
User Rating: 4/10
Fast machine but will break your back or shoulders
Pros: Fast fast fast
Cons: HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY
Review: You want to lug around 10 pounds just to play games? Take a PSP or a DS!
%20-%20Laptops%20-%20CNET%20Archive&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-m170-notebook/1707-3121_7-31520758.html){kind=small}