Dell XPS M1730 Gaming Laptop Updated Textual Review

The problem with doing video reviews is that once you press the compile button and upload, it becomes written in to the net, other than deleting your work, there is not much than can be change.  As a tweak-er, updater, finesse-er, this is frustrating because you remember ideas that you wanted to convey but misplace the mental note, or the item or company featured in the review does something that cause the lighting on the review to change, changing the perspective.  This textual update allows for a medium that is fluid, which is able to change as time changes the dynamics surrounding the review.

Hardware:

Power Supply

The first huge disappointment out of the box on the Dell XPS M1730 is the power supply.  I had taken for granted that this would be similar to your standard laptop power cord.  No were in the literature that I read did it specify how big it actually is.  So how big is it?  We have a few laptops, the power supplies are all roughly the same size and weight; 12 oz.  Dell’s XPS M1730 power supply weighs in at 2LB and we are able to fit 4 standard laptop power supplies within the footprint of the M1730 power supply.  Since our primary reason for spending this kind of money on a laptop, money that could have bought as a top gaming dream desktop gaming machine., we were a little turned off by the lack of warning on the size.  So if you are consider add this laptop to your travels remember you’ll be lugging around the power supply as well.

Battery Power

When I think laptop I think being able to use it while traveling in areas that I won’t have access to a desktop.  Places without electrical outlets.  In these locations I would use the battery supply of the laptop to geek out.  It stands to logic that if you’re buying a gaming laptop, you would expect to be able to do some gaming in these remote locations.  Not so with the XPS.  There is such a huge drop in performance when you are on battery, that to play system demanding games on battery, these games become almost unplayable.   So if you are considering getting this for mobile gaming, it is not that mobile.  This works find for me because we go from one hotel to the next and have access to power outlets.

Power Cord Connection to Laptop.

The power cord itself is rather large, almost the same diameter as a cable coax cable.  On our XPS M1730 we have found the plug slips out with very little disturbance.  We feel that in time this may grow worse / more sensitive and cause problems.  We’ll keep this review updated.

In Game Graphics

Given the money that is spent on this system, we hoped to see more bang for the buck.  If you were to create a graph of dollars to gaming performance this laptop would fall about middle of that graph when a desktop of similar value would set the high end of the chart.  So it comes down to mobility.  Is better to be able to play a high end game on medium settings while you are on the road (and remember your average laptop would not be able to play at all)  or is it better to anchor yourself to a high end desktop that will blow your mind.  For traveling gamers that are inflicted with the same disease as I, “start of the art-isit” this is a daunting expense decision.  Over the past few weeks that we have had this laptop we have gone from very pleased with our decision when on the road, to very regretful that we did not go with a high end desktop that would support our gaming addition for years to come.

Customer Service
We ordered this laptop for a Holiday Review.  The day it was do to ship we received and automated email telling us that it would be delayed one month.  No time before that or during the ordering process were we told that there would be a delayed.  That day we email customer service and told them that if that was the case that we would be forced to cancel the order.  The contact that came with the original email very bluntly stated just let us know if you want to cancel it.  Now the bluntly may be considered a negative but I actually appreciated this no cost way out.  We had a very negative experience with Alienware were they would not let us cancel our order without a $900 restock fee.  On an order that arrived with a large hole in the side of the box, that they then want to repair this brand new machine and ship back to us.  Kind of like the car dealer totaling your car as they drive it out of the show room.  So to be able to cancel without grief was a relief.  We got another email that day from another customer service agent that stated they would check on the status.  Later that day we got a phone call telling it should only be another week and not a month and the agent told us they would call every day to keep us posted on status.  They actually did too.  Every day the called and kept us updated and 1 week later the system arrived.  While we were still upset on the delay, this pro active customer service made the difference in us pulling the plug on the order.

 Tech Support
So far the computer has not given us any issues that we need to call Tech Support.  We’ll keep this textual review updated as needs arise and the service that is provided.

Upgrading the PPU on the M1730

iftibashir on youTube.com is kind enough to show us how to open up the xps M1730

iftibashir has his own IT forum site

www.ITCertForum.com

Dell Rep tells us
- that we must have their approved tech install the cards (this I DO understand)
- if we upgrade, the cards are no longer under warranty. (which I don’t understand)
- need to call Spare Parts at 1-800-372-3355 to order them (which we are doing now)

- BRICKWALL Spare Parts Department says they don't have them and they don't know when they will get them.  (Woman did take my number and told me she would call when they do have them.)  We wrote to Nvidia to see if we could get them direct, so far no reply. (tear)

I was browsing around Dell and saw that they do offer the

GeForce 8800M GTX Dual SLI 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

3. If Dell in home tech install is the warranty still good?  - Answer Yes if Dell tech installs the original warranty is unaffected.

Given the cost of this laptop and video cards we feel it is important not to mess with the warranty so we opted for the Dell In Home Tech to install the Cards.   Here is the link:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Graphics_Cards/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=G92UPG

Order was placed June 15, 2008 - I'll keep you posted on status as well as review new cards.

iftibashir on youTube.com continues his fine work and show us how to upgrade the Dell XPS M1730 to the new Nvidia 8800mGTX video cards

http://www.moviedemo.com/mdd/link/Dell-XPS-M1730-Upgrade-8800mGTX.html

M O V I E D E M O . C O M

CRYSIS Problem with XPS M1730
Tanzar on youTube.com asks about what we did to get Crysis Running on the XPS M1730.

(first disclaimer - you this info at your own risk)

We downloaded the beta drivers at Nvidia

GO HERE:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/betadrivers.aspx?lang=en-us
PRODUCT TYPE: SELECT GEFORCE M/GO
PRODUCT SERIES: GeForce 8M Series
Product: Geforce 8700M GT (note if you have newer xps it may have 8800 - u lucky dog)
OP SYS: pick which one you have

install the new drivers.

reboot

next right click on the desktop.  launch NVIDIA Control Panel
turn off SLI  (in other words just have ONE video card running)

reboot

launch the game and select the lowest settings

see if that works.  if that works you can try bringing up the graphics and turning the
SLI back on - one by one.   Crysis is a GREAT game.  I only wish it ran better on the xps.   I am going to getting the 8800 as I stated above and I'll let you know on
performance with that.

hope this helps - if it did be sure to tell friends and family about GameDemo.com
and MovieDemo.com THANKS

M O V I E D E M O . C O M

OVERCLOCKING

here is a link to a video from Dell about Overclocking your CPU

http://www.moviedemo.com/mdd/link/Overclock-Your-Beast--Dell-XPS-M1730.html

Keep coming back here for updates.