new XPS 17 "L702X" + 1080p 3D TFT = no Optimus?

I just been to UK Dell site you still waiting..that is surreal I cant believe that..anyway I just wanted to mention that this system heats up when gaming I am not a big gamer but i have been playing a modest FPS with fairly high settings and the aluminuin area around the keybaord gets very hot I have a cooler but i can only really use it for about half an hour after that I get worried about the system..if I was to keep going I could fry a steak on it.

This is only playing games but i guess that the Nvidia is a power hog I wish that it was an ATI GPU..it does run well but the heat is a real problem I use it for many other tasks so i am not that worried about it and I have to say it is a very solid system and heating in any other environments is not an issue I am glad I got Optimus.

The other thing is I would recommend is to get the option of getting a win 7 disk with the system I foolishly thought that this would come by default with the system but it does not it is part of the upgrade option and though cheap it is something that easy to over look though you can create setup disks with data safe which I have done

I would have like to got a win 7 setup DVD with the system, sometimes these sort of issues pop up and I feel there should be more clarity on this as the configuring of the system can be a challenging process and one tends to assume things like the win 7 setup DVD will come default with system...it is not it is a 2$ AUD upgrade and not obvious..which I find ridiculous.

I have found Dell good to deal with their staff have been responsive to any issues I have had and the system is very good but this situation where the UK have been waiting so long for these config options particularly considering that this is a hot running system and to deny the option of Optimus is not reasonable and considering that the rest of the world has this i find surreal. 

The Win7 setup DVD is an important part of the system. I agree: It should come standard with the system -- as Dell had done for many many years.

Cam 01235 said:

The WiDi is only on 2720QM cpus and above the 2630 doesnt have it.  That means you wont be able to transmit your system wirelessly onto a TV that would need a receiver for that purpose will need to use a cable like HDMI for using it on a TV.

Hi, maybe I'm missing something, I went to the intel page here and it says the 2630QM is capable.

www.intel.com/.../CS-031059.htm

ONE of the following:

Intel® Core™ i7: 640M; 660LM; 640LM; 620LM; 620M; 610E; 690UM; 680UM; 660UM; 640UM; 620UM; 660UE; 2710QE; 2820QM; 2720QM; 2635QM; 2630QM; 2657M; 2649M; 2629M; 2620M; 2617M; 2540M; 2520M; 2510E; 2640LM; 2620LM; 2630UM; 2610UM; 2530UM; 2920XM

Intel® Core™ i5: 580M; 560M; 540M; 520M; 480M; 460M; 450M; 430M; 580UM; 560UM; 540UM; 520UM; 470UM; 430UM; 2540M; 2520M; 2410M; 2537M

Intel® Core™ i3: 390M; 380M; 370M; 350M; 330M; 330E; 2310M

Sorry about that didnt mean to mislead any one but when I did the research a couple of months ago i was 1 of the advantages cited for having a 2720 and I saw several places that said the 2630 didnt support it.. there was a fair bit of misinformation floating around with sandy bridge I guess being so new..for example no one knew how much RAM it could take ..once again apologies for incorrect info

Hi Nigel yeah the config stage can be kind of intense I remember the feeling...maybe I can help i have got a similar machine and I might be able to help..first of all these are very good machines I have been very pleased with mine they are worthy of their reputation so let me touch on the points you raised..the 2630 is a very powerful CPU these sandy bridges are very powerful dont get to worried about benchmarks and specs they are just a different type of marketing but you have a very powerful CPU trust me..dont worry about the 2 DIMM... 4 gig is heaps and 8 gig is a lot of RAM more than you will probably ever use once again dont get to taken in by specs etc in real terms this is a very high end system I am using 4 gig and it eats every thing up combined with a fast 7200 rpm HDD it is very grunty...this is an Optimus sytem and I have found it to be very smooth and fast and effecient it keeps the heat down and is very well done once again sandy bridge very impressive..the only heating issues I have had is playing 3D games I have found that after about half an hour there can be heating issues this is the GPU the Nvidia is very powerful and fast but it does run hot but this is the same with all gaming laptops so just be cautious get a good cooling pad..the rest of the time the system is not excessively hot has a very quiet fan..I am not a big gamer so I am not to worried and it does have very good graphics when required...the anti glare HD monitor is excellent it has very sharp good graphics and holds up very well at angles there is very little image loss ...videos pictures etc look great I got the TV option and was quite impressed with that too it picked up the digital stations very well...as far as WiDi goes I am not too worried about it I may organise it later but I doubt if it would have the bandwidth to cope with more than video stream and I use a HDMI cable onto a 24" monitor anyway..the bottom line is relax you have got an awesome computer..I have also found Dell very good so far they have responded to all communications and resolved all issues. It can be very hard researching these things but in reality when you use a system things like a few marks in a benchmark or having 8 or 16 gig just dont matter in real world use... it is just hype and marketing the machines are awesome and you got something to look forward to..like you I did a lot of research before I got this..6 months ago I would have got an ASUS it is not a brand thing it was just the best system at this price point at this time ..good luck with it :emotion-2:

Oh OK, thanks for that Cam.

I did order the 2630QM with non 3d FHD screen, 3gb vid card, cause of a great long weekend sale they had and now I'm doing research on it to see IF I bought the right combo and I'm kinda freaking out about all the info I'm reading on the 2 dimm vs 4 dimm, heating issues, matt screens, optimus vs non optimus, widi, non widi, etc, aaaggghhhh.

Ok cool thanks Cam for all that info. I'm now finding posts from a guy who says his 2 dimm can take 2 8gb sticks. I'm also reading the other post about the fans never kicking off for more than a minute at a time. Currently I have a 8600 (thus the ID name) and a E1705 I haul my 1705 around with me all the time and its not bad to transport at all. I bought the xps17 mainly because my 8600 hd grinds too loudly in bed and keeps my wife up so when I saw the backlit keyboard and ssd I was all over this one but now the fan noise is concerning me. But if you say they are quiet I can only wait and hope I get a good one.

I do plan on buying a 2820QM processor off of ebay eventually for about 400 and selling the stock 2630 for about 175

This is a very big laptop it is a desktop replacement but I like that about it the backlit key board is great it is a lovely looking machine the thermals are fine if you are not a big gamer...your wife will be pleased it is a very quiet system..I had similar concerns about the fans but this only to a small amount of machines and apparently is fixed easily with software or power management app you should be right or else if it is issue send it back or get it resolved with Dell which they will do, but I think you should be right...I have noticed that there are a lot of whingers and that they makes alot of noise which may be justified but may not be a true indicator but you have to do this research...the 2860 sounds great but is very pricey at present you may find once you start using it that you wont be as worried the same with the RAM 8 gig dimms are still very pricey and 8000 meg of RAM is a lot in real world use terms... I think the worst thing about the transaction was having to wait for the new toy it is shocking but is worth it...I used an old centrino Lattitude at work last night at the uni and it was slow as a wet week these are very fast machines I was much more into ASUS before these came out but they ticked alot of boxes and one thing is Dells after sales service is alot better than ASUS..they make good machines ASUS but their after sales service is almost non existent, woeful..  and I have found Dell to be actually quite good here ..be careful buying laptops or parts of ebay .. anyway great machine good service I think you will enjoy it

So how much bigger and heavier is it than a E1705? I haul it around with me all the time no prob.

Funny thing, I got cold feet on the non 3D screen and ordered a 3D screen two days ago and now I changed my mind again and ordered another non 3D but with the tv tuner. Now I have 3 laptops on the way to me. Yikes

You got 3 on the way you really must like them...I went through a fair bit of torture trying to decide on the final config..i would have liked 3D but I was more interested in Optimus so that sort of made that decision for me and being in Australia had that option which has been the main issue in this thread as it has taken a while for that option to get to some countries and has not gone to the UK for some strange reason which has left some potential customers in the UK very angry..Dell Australia very good..Dell UK not very good like different companies I think we benefit in Australia by being located in SE Asia and having the connection with those manufacturing countries such as China they are very good in Australia....the size of the laptop is quite chunky which I like but I dont have a problem moving it around but some people might find it a bit much for eg say an executive type female may find it a bit chunky turning up to business meetings with it but for us lads I think it is OK... I think you will struggle to carry 3 of them around you could resell the non 3D HDs to the UK they would get snapped up there!

It looks like Dell are NEVER going to release an non-3d option in the UK, however it does now say on the information "NVIDIA Optimus™ technology automatically optimizes your battery life while maintaining the graphics performance ...whether you’re watching an HD movie, surfing the web, or playing a 3D game" does anyone know whether this means they have finally sorted out their hardware so that the 3d Full HD screen version does now support Optimus and WiDi? I know it says that WiDi is not available with the 3D panel, but I thought this was just down to that wonderful setup having Sandybridge features disabled, if Optimus works (i.e. you can make the machine use onboard graphics) then why shouldn't WiDi- or is this yet another example of Dells wonderful concept of removing functionality as a 'feature' of its highest end, most expensive models?

So basically does the XPS17 with the Full HD 3d Screen and 3D capable graphics card now support Optimus and WiDi in the UK? (if not could someone from Dell please just come clean and let us in the UK know whether or not it is the case that you do not consider us worthy as a market in the UK of the options you give the rest of Europe and the first world.)

David,

Just found on another forum,this might answer your question.

: Just found this info from Terry B at dell " I am afraid that I have more bad news. The 3D systems have a fully integrated NVIDIA GPU installed; it has full control of the system. There is no Optimus or WIDI features at all on the system. From the information that I have, it is the GPU that controls the feature, it has nothing to actually do with the LCD panel. So swapping out the LCD should have little effect. You would have to swap out the GPU and that is integrated in the system board."

I cant believe that you are still waiting..what is wrong with Dell UK? That is unbelievable and unprofessional it must be very frustrating there is a fair bit of contempt for their customers there..they seem fine in many other countries I would say that in Australia they are very good they have treated me well..but what is happening in the UK? Their management should be ashamed they are lagging so far of the rest of the world I really dont understand it and am amazed that this is still an issue..unbelievable..it has gone from the surreal to the ridiculous

Hi David,

Just got in contact will Dell C/S this morning to ask about the above mentioned screen,and was told that there had no news on this screen coming to UK/Ire.

At this point I am now sick to death of waiting,and will be considering another Laptop over the next few days.

As for the 3d Full HD screen version,from reading a lot of online forums WiDi is still not supported.

I wouldn't  hold your breath about that non 3D 1080 screen in the UK.....they've already moved onto the XPS 15z !

When I asked about the screen I was told that the UK could not support such technology!!!   Unbelievable....... maybe Dell UK won't be able to make a large enough profit margin without the 3D feature attached. I am nonplussed.