i7 740 NEW XPS17 incompatible with Nvidia Optimus video switching?

Optimus works by being able to switch to the inbuilt Intel Graphics chip found on i3 and i5 dual core processors. There is no onboard Intel GPU on i7 Quad core processors and so Optimus will not work.

Furthermore, because the i7 Quad Core processor does not contain an Intel GPU, the XPS-17  i7 configuration does NOT support wireless display (Wi/Di).  Wi/Di is only available in an XPS with the i5 processor configuration.

Thank you for the info as I suspected the same darn thing.  After researching all accross the web for info on this, I found that Intel hasn't rolled out the board yet for the i7?  Plus, the chipset that Dell uses is the basic cheap model, and it is definitely not a performance or high performance chipset.  So much for XPS being high performance, right?

Because I purchased the XPS17 under the false impression that indeed it will have an extended batterty life, like the Macbook Pros have.  Maybe I should have ordered an i5?  Wish the sales guy had been knowledgeable enough to have steered me in the right direction since I was very clear up front on what I wanted and that I most certainly wanted the Optimus feature so I had extended battery life along with strong performance.

The sales department aren't really as technical as they used to be in years past.  I hope Dell returns to a higher committment to quality and improves across the board their customer service.  It is disheartening to read the many forums where customers are complaining about the lack of customer support and about the bad quality of their hardware.  Shame.

Due to Intel designing the i7 as a Quad Core processor, it does not have sufficient real estate on the chip for the additional graphics GUI.  The i5, being only a Dual Core processor, does have sufficient real state for the graphics GUI function.  The processor GUI function is required, in addition to an Intel Centrino wireless card, and either an Intel graphics card or an NVidia card with Optimus for a laptop to have wireless display capability .

Apparently the XPS Product Management Team had never informed the Sales and Tech Support Teams of this i7 limitation before the XPS product line was released for public sale in mid-October.  The XPS Product Management Team finally informed the XPS Tech Support Team in India of this limitation by an e-mail on Friday November 19th at approximately 6:30 PM CST after the Lead XPS technician had been attempting to make the advertised wireless display function operate in my computer using remote access for over 5 hours.  Sometime in the next two days, a short statement was added to the bottom of the last paragraph of the wireless display section on the XPS marketing website.  This statement reads... " (available with i5 configs only). "

Hank:

Thanks for the response as it explains exactly what I suspected; too bad Dell support never responds to email because I have tried again and again to get a full accounting or cancel the order.

I sit here typing on my new XPS17 and it is very nice, the sound is superb, screen is crisp and great for my very bad vision.  The keyboard is a dream!  I have been on my Toshiba P105 laptop since 2005 and the keyboard was a nightmare.  This is soft, responsive, nicely laid out and the backlight is awesome.

Now the issue at hand is two-fold:

1. I ordered because I loved the idea of watching a 3D blueray on my future (I can dream, right?) 3D TV but better yet, do away with cables.  So far we now know that the machine will NOT perform as promised with this feature.  Too bad Dell sales, Dell designers and Dell engineers aren't all on the same page.  Duh. I was highly disappointed but heck, I can live with this because I know that I will have great graphics performance and extended battery life (NINE HOURS as per the hopeless sales man).

2. Now the fact is that the current build does NOT support Optimus so the power use or battery life is lousy.  Wow, this is a major flap and I am shocked that the "reviewers" at all the laptop testing offices for computer magazines and techinical websites have NOT found this.  This leads me to blow off future reviews as total bunk for the most part because this should have been a bit higher on their priority list than just listing the beautiful sound and dull ugly case. 

3. No WIDI support means cables...back to that again....

4. At this time I don't even know if I can share display with the TV even if I run a cable...will try that later tonight.

5. I am missing the Adobe Photoshop Elements and Photoshop software promised by the sales man and quote; not on the machine and not in the box.

So at this time, do I send the machine back for misleading marketing and general incompetence or do I fight to get a couple hundred dollars written off the bill?  What should I do?

Got to be others out there that can pipe in with suggestions...... and how do I alert the website reviewers that they should be taking a close look at the situation with the XPS line and the Dell sales claims?  Does anyone out there have links for me to follow or suggested sites or editors?  I simply don't want others to get duped like I was.  I have alerted everyone in my office to cancel any Dell orders they were working on till we got more info and clarity.  We had four orders going in and another one for next week.  All are EPP orders, federal civilian employees.  What a shame.

You have the first 21 days after shipment to return the system for replacement (whereby you can likely negotiate away the normal restock fee of 15% and order an i5 system, which will more meet your requirements), or return the system for a refund minus 15% and shipping fees, and go buy whatever you'd like.

You have the first 21 days after shipment to return the system for replacement (whereby you can likely negotiate away the normal restock fee of 15% and order an i5 system, which will more meet your requirements), or return the system for a refund minus 15% and shipping fees, and go buy whatever you'd like.

I might need to go that route because so far I'm getting no where.  I wonder if Dell is trying to reach customers like myself to offer us a swap, upgrade or downgrade?  That would be smart customer service. :emotion-5:

Hello

I have recently ordered an XPS17 with pretty much the same configuration as yours. But I was told in advance that i7 processors can't have the Nvidia Optimus feature. Fair enough. So I ordered the Nvidia card without Optimus (there was no other option). However, when I checked my order status it gave me a description of my order just like the one you posted and it said: NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M 3GB graphics with Optimus!!!  I know the Optimus feature won't work with the i7., so my question is, will the Optimus feature actually cause any problems? like slow down performance or something?