Dell Studio XPS 16

[lazimutha]

What do you all think of this laptop? Is it worth upgrading to the i7? I'll prolly wait until the sales as there are usually a few good deals during that time. What other extras would you recommend? I'm already thinking of the rgb led upgrade.

[sawyen]

I have the Core 2 Duo version, works ok for me I guess, RAM > 4GB is hideously expensive.. I got the 8GB version and its stupidly expensive... its a little pants in the heat management area and causes the fan to rev up quite often. Back of the laptop does get warm to a point where its probably ranked as discomfort.

The ATI chip, for mine its the 3670, works fine for most aero stuff and is good enough for a game of MW2 with 1024x600 (down from the native 1920x1080) with medium eye candy on.

And as with all Dell, it comes with all the useless extras, or bloatware, not as much as the old days with my latitudes, but still VERY heavy for enthusiasts.

Then again, the only thing that I cannot fault is the LCD panel, its by far the best laptop screen i've ever come across.. If you buy it with an additional Dell (non-ultrasharp) TFT panel you will immediately see the difference.. something you get comparing PVA and TN panels.

[lazimutha]

Thanks. I don't really do enough heavy duty stuff to need to get into the 8Gb territory. I just want the UI to be completely smooth. I play a few games here and there, but again, nothing sustained. Have heard that the lcds are great on the dells. Was surprised to find out that lcds on other brands vary and that one model can have lcds made by different companies depending on the batch you buy.

Also, would love to go for the ssd, but it is really expensive and may instead try to buy it separately and do a bit of diy. Has anyone tried to do this and is it easy?