Thinking about picking up a Dell XPS 15z next week

[360]

I am going to need something more portable than what I have right now, mainly for school but I do some gaming in my spare time. I'm talking games like GTA 4, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Call of Duty, etc. I will also need this laptop for the many trips I take. So I need to have both power and portability. Dell claims to have the thinnest 15" laptop on the planet. I really like the keyboard they have and the 2nd Generation Intel Processors they offer. This is thinnest laptop I have seen that has Intel's 2nd generation processors. I think this is the best deal that I could get on a laptop this thin, that has the specs I need, but i'm not completely sure.

 

For $1,199.99, here is what they offer.

 

2nd generation Intel Coreâ„¢ i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz

 

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus

 

8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz Memory

 

750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0

64 WHr 8-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

 

Elemental Silver Aluminum 15.6" HD (720P) WLED Display with Webcam

Backlit Keyboard

 

For only $100 more, they give you all the stuff listed above but also a NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 2GB graphics card, but only 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz Memory. Most likely I will only need 6GB. They also give you a Elemental Silver Aluminum 15.6" 300-nit FHD (1080P) WLED Display with Webcam instead of the 720p display.

 

I will have the money for both, my brother owes me $500, so I could upgrade even further if I wanted to, but I probably won't.

 

The link below will take you to a few pictures of the laptop

 

Dell XPS 15z Laptop Pictures

 

To see a quick video of the Dell XPS 15z Laptop, click the link below.

 

Dell XPS 15z Laptop Video

 

What should I do? Should I get the one that is $1,199.99, or do you think it would be worth it to pay $100 more and get the one with a few more features? I have the money to buy either one, I was just wanting a few suggestions on what people think I should do.

Edited May 31, 2011 by 360

[gruntmods]

A dell is not a gaming computer, neither is an hp, sony or apple computer.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/

Edited May 31, 2011 by gruntmods

[Quinn]

Essentially, I agree with what Grunt has said.

 

My laptop is an Acer 8943G, I bought it because of it's screen (18.4'), otherwise I would have bought a different one. I do a little gaming on it, it has an i5 and 5650m on it, and performs well. However, good luck running GTA IV well on a laptop, that shit doesn't run good on anything. Also, you really don't need 2GBs of memory on that card, because it won't be able to use it. Anyways, if your looking for all out performance, get one custom built.

 

Aside from the site Grunt suggested, pugetsystems.com and ibuypower.com also do custom laptops.

 

One last thing - you mentioned power and portability. I'm assuming you mean size/weight/battery life. If you want a good gaming laptop, I hate to break it too you, but your battery life is going to suck (especially if playing games), its gonna be heavy, and probably large (to fit all those components in there...)

[360]

Getting a custom laptop was one of my first thoughts, but I changed my mind because I wouldn't think I would use it that much for gaming. I can see why I should get a custom laptop, but on the other hand, gaming is going to be more of an "if I have time" kind of thing. The only chance I would have quality time to play games would be on the weekends, if even that. I wanted an even better laptop than what I have because of the classes I will be taking, and for outside of school, also because I do a lot of video and picture editing, and a LOT of multitasking while editing. There are a lot of other uses as well. This isn't just for classes and editing and what not.

 

Having that said, do you still think I should lean more towards getting a custom laptop even though most of the times it won't be used for gaming? I do understand that GTA 4 runs pretty crappy, the other computers I have had, I have had some trouble using it sometimes. When I do play games though, GTA 4 is probably one of the games I will rarely play.

[gruntmods]

Getting a custom laptop was one of my first thoughts, but I changed my mind because I wouldn't think I would use it that much for gaming. I can see why I should get a custom laptop, but on the other hand, gaming is going to be more of an "if I have time" kind of thing. The only chance I would have quality time to play games would be on the weekends, if even that. I wanted an even better laptop than what I have because of the classes I will be taking, and for outside of school, also because I do a lot of video and picture editing, and a LOT of multitasking while editing. There are a lot of other uses as well. This isn't just for classes and editing and what not.

 

Having that said, do you still think I should lean more towards getting a custom laptop even though most of the times it won't be used for gaming? I do understand that GTA 4 runs pretty crappy, the other computers I have had, I have had some trouble using it sometimes. When I do play games though, GTA 4 is probably one of the games I will rarely play.

Try this: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP5160 cheap and good for pretty much everything, light gaming included.

You might even be able to run GTA IV, but its such a bad port that even a 5000$ computer might lag on it.

Edited May 31, 2011 by gruntmods

[360]

Try this: http://www.sagernote...del_name=NP5160 cheap and good for pretty much everything, light gaming included.

You might even be able to run GTA IV, but its such a bad port that even a 5000$ computer might lag on it.

 

Thanks for pointing that out! That looks like a great laptop!

[Quinn]

I don't lag on GTA IV

But seriously, get a custom laptop, they are generally much better than pre-built ones.

[360]

I don't lag on GTA IV

But seriously, get a custom laptop, they are generally much better than pre-built ones.

 

Alright, I will keep that in mind from now on.

[gruntmods]

I don't lag on GTA IV

But seriously, get a custom laptop, they are generally much better than pre-built ones.

The last patch fixed the lag issues I believe, I don't lag on it anymore either.

[360]

The last patch fixed the lag issues I believe, I don't lag on it anymore either.

 

I still lag a little on the laptop I have right now, but it's playable.