Performance
We gave the XPS Gen 2 a full workout. In our SysMark 2004 tests, the XPS Gen 2 did not blow doors down -- it came in slightly behind the Voodoo Envy m:760, the ABS Mayhem G3, and the elder Dell XPS Extreme Edition. But the XPS Gen 2 is, first and foremost, a gaming machine -- it simply destroyed the competition in our suite of game tests.
While it merely nudged past the Voodoo, ABS, and Dell XPS Gen 1 in our Unreal Tournament 2004 test, the Gen 2 turned in twice as many frames per second as the nearest competitor in our new Half-Life 2 test and surged well ahead of the Voodoo in our new Doom 3 test. Simply put, it's the most powerful gaming machine we've seen to date. In our battery drain test, the XPS Gen 2 lasted for 142 minutes -- not at all bad for a desktop replacement and long enough to watch one standard-length DVD.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating |
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SysMark 2004 Internet content creation |
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SysMark 2004 office productivity |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Atari Games/Epic Games Unreal Tournament 2004 |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Activition/Id Software Doom 3 |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Valve Half-Life 2 |
System configurations:
Dell Inspiron XPS
Windows XP Home; 3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition; 1GB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB; Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 60GB 7,200rpm
Dell XPS Gen 2
Windows XP Professional; 2.13GHz Intel Pentium M 770; 1GB PC4300 DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; Nvidia GeForce 6800 Go Ultra 256MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K80 80GB 5,400rpm
Voodoo Envy m:760
Windows XP Professional; 3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 560; 1GB PC4300 DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; Nvidia GeForce 6800 Go 256MB;Fujitsu MHT2080BH 80GB 5,400rpm in RAID 0
Edited by Lindsey Turrentine
Additional editing by Nick Hide
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User reviews3
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Javed Iqbal 30 January 2006
Good: good looking notebook, powerfull
Bad: i havnt use it yet
Comment: well i have placed an order for XPS M170 on 27th January 2006. And im sitll in waiting list. I order via phone and the lady said that i should recieve my notebook before 6th febuary and today is 30th january.
The specification of my laptop is:
Pentium M 780 (2.26Ghz)
1GB Ram
100GB HD(7200RPM)
Geforce Go 7800 GTX GPU
DVD R/WR
Windows XP Media Center Edition with remorte control and TV Card
3 Years Next Business Day Service Plan
The face value of all stuff was POUND 2243. But i was lucky cus i got 480 pounds discount. So i pay 1953 pounds in totle. Well im a serious game lover. This pc is perfect as i come to know from many many reviews at lots of web site. well personly i have never use it before. I will update my opinion as i recieve my order.
Camper VanDeaglesniper 6 August 2005
Good: Display rocks (duh), quiet, looks cool.
Bad: Keyboard is 3/4 size but doesn't need to be.
Comment: Make the keyboard full size, people. And my original laptop came with a badly-scratched cover. Called Dell (paid extra for the Fast Lane tech support, bad move, it's still S_L_O_W), they sent another one in 10 days. This one was scratched too. Currently waiting for the 3rd one. Good news: haven't paid a penny yet. Not going to either until they get it right. HOURS on the phone trying to work it out. Runaround runaround runaround. Indian guys calling themselves "Jeff" (riiiiiiight) putting me on hold forever, transferring me to more and more people so I can hold with them.
Summary: great computer, expensive, lousy support.
K. Perot 8 June 2005
Good: Speed, screen size and quality.
Bad: It weighs a lot... about 10lbs, which is the only negative thing about it.
Comment: Definitely don't regret buying it. It's a work horse that performs just as well as my P4 desktop. But if you're looking for a thin, easy to manipulate notebook, you may have to look elsewhere.
See all 3 user reviews