1705 vs M1710 (hidden features)

You get a D-dock connector, gigabit NIC, better video card option and processor options with the XPS other than that they have the same keyboard and build quality.

Another option to consider is the Precision M90, all the extras of the 1710 except the lights.

The M1710 has 30% brighter screen according to Dell. Brighter than M90 and e1705, that is.

Can't think anything else that has not been mentioned.

I don't agree with these 2 comments. I have had 2 different 9400, and we have 2 XPS M1710 at home currently. The screens in them are exactly the same LCD model #. (9400 vs. XPS).

Another difference nobody has mentionned is that the XPS has a smartcard connector on the side. With vista, you can use the smartcard to store all your authentication information (passwords to websites, login passwords, etc). Useful when you have many PCs to work on/maintain. Might be available under XP as well, I'm not sure.

I also noted another small thing but it may be important to some people (it was to me): The speakers on the XPS sound worse than the 9400. I think it may be explained by the smaller "chamber" available to the speaker. On the XPS, the circuit board for the speaker leds steals room inside the speaker, and the speaker istelf is slightly different. Not something you would notice unless you have both models side by side. It bugged me enough that I replaced my xps speakers with plain ones from a 9400. (9400 = more bass, m1710=tin can sound).

interesting to know about the sound.

I've tried both the XPS M1710 of a friend and my E1705 and I don't think the XPS M1710 is worth the extra cash you have to pay for it

LoL obviously you've convinced yourself that what you currently have is fine, and that's the only real reason why you don't even own a M1710. You know when you own a XPS you also get the XPS service number where you can sometimes avoid those god awful long hours. I've made 3 calls since owning mine and it's be quite nice. After coming from the Used Market of Notebooks, I decided to get a M1710 after owning a 9300, because let's be honest here no matter what you do to it's a grade down to the XPS, it doesn't even matter if you put in a 7900 GTX or a 7950. When you want to re-sell the notebook you'll get more money and have an easier time with a XPS over the Standard Inspirons and even M90 it appears. So that's why I own a XPS.

Speaking as some one who owns them both I would say no the M90 is not built any different/better than the 9400/1705.

Yeah but in the end what I said earlier is true though, you'll have an easier time selling the M1710's as compared to the m90's.

i love my m1710, it is pretty with the red top, and the 7950gtx is bad ass. but i have owned a m170 and a 9300 and loved them both too. the build quality is really good, compared to other laptops (2 Toshiba's, 2 Sony's and a Compaq) i have owned. very rugged and sturdy. but the customer service is a nightmare, but to be honest i don't think the customer service is any better with anyone else anymore.
oh, my dell i6k is pretty bullet proof too, it is crazy but it is the best of all of my computers, it is old and antiquated now, but it never fails.

Seems like your the one in need of convincing yourself that the extra money you paid was worth it. Considering the GS can OC to well with in the GTX range, and if the e1705 was fine for him, why would he spend all that extra money for no reason?

I'm not sure if it was you but some nisssan guy tried to sell an E1705 with some GTX card in it, and it wasn't a cake walk to sell. I'll tell you why because in the long run you'll experiance a Smaller Lost when compared to buying the Inspirons. The Inspirons are always on sale, their prices drop severely especially with those coupons. Yeah you'll save money when you buy it, but how much money would you save if you ended up maxing it out or modding it all the way towards an XPS? By the time you decide to sell it you'll experiance a bigger lost. In the Long Run the XPS is a better Choice. I already lost nearly 600-700 dollars when I modded my 9300 towards a XPS, while my friend took a 300 dollar loss when he sold his XPS. In the Used market XPS sell alot quicker, easier, and higher then Inspirons. Look at the E1705 for 750 dollars in the For Sale Section right now, and tell me what that's all about. LoL And he still can't get someone to buy it. In theory it should sell easy, but it's simply an Inspiron and people easily overlook it. If I sold my M1710 right now for 1900 which is more then double his price tag I gurantee you I'd be able to sell my notebook within 4 days. Granted I have better parts, but you can't deny the fact that an XPS is just going to be easier to Re-sell. Look at Past M1710 ad's and look at their average prices and how quickly they go. I've seen countless numbers of peopl struggle to sell 9300's, 9400's and 1705's.

Yeah it was me who tried to sell it. It wasnt 'easy', but then again i wasnt desperate to sell it, so why would i put a better than average price on it? I put out 1800, and when i put it on ebay it would have sold for 1575, but i chose not to sell it at that price since ebay and paypal fees would have made it not worth it. By the way, 1800 - 1575 = 225. 300 > 225, which is less than a hit of selling an XPS, and not only that, but the total amount of money invested to begin with was much lower.

Your point about modding it to an XPS is pretty much moot considering the XPS is available with the GS, as is the 1705, and the rest of the specs can be nearly identical, save Gigabit NIC, pretty lights, and a D-Dock. Putting a GTX in the e1705 cost me an extra 300 after i sold the GS. I paid 1800 for true XPS power. --And thats all setting aside the fact that the GS itself can compete with the GTX.

You would definitely not sell your XPS for 1900 either in 4 days. Santa Rosa is coming out soon, and anyone willing to put up that much for a laptop is gonna know that anything with out Santa Rosa is going to drastically drop in value very very soon, and the same thing goes for the I9400s.

I'm pretty sure with my processor and my 7950 in it which I forgot to adjust in my sig could in fact sell for 1900-1800 dollars easily. It's not so much that new stuff is coming it's that people are buying M1710's right now, and that's all that's really important.

Oh the GS cards in both systems are not the same, unless they've recently changed it. Seeing as how you're talking about Over clocking and all that just increases the differences as one has double Copper Bars while the other has a single. Seeing as how my friend bought a Used M1710 from someone who fried the GS card in it, even with the double I don't even want to think about what would happen to a single GS. And there is a huge diffference between the two cards when playing FPS games. Especially at Max Resolution.

FYI the guy replaced the doulble with a Single GS card, and that lasted for about 3 days I was pissed off with it and popped in my old 7900 GTX and got myself a 7950. And The Difference is Visable.

sry to butt in but hmm dont recall a big difference (btw single and dual pipe) in the big 7900gs flashing thread...The heat dissipation of the dual pipe on the dell cards is much less than you would think it is in theory
Anybody can "fry" a card by pushing it too far...no matter what the cooling...
Of course a stock gs is way behind the gtx but thats where a little term i like to call headroom factors in
Anyway, I'd have to agree that an xps sells better just because of the brand with the average consumer...I would likely never choose an xps nowadays as the 9x00's seem to be able to offer comparable performance at a much less price...

Thank you Mr. Pulp.

I measured a difference of about 8-10 degress between single and dual pipe heat syncs, with no undervolting or such, in a completely uncontrolled situation, no ambient temp recordings, etc. I believe krazyiepop was able to acheive temps close to the dual pipe GTX with his volt mod on a single pipe card. His scores with the GSX mod, undervolt, and single pipe rivaled my GTX OC scores. I highly regret buying the GTX.

As far as OCing increasing the difference, loki iss flat out wrong. Stock for stock, obviously the GTX wins. OC vs OC, the GTX still wins, but only by about 10% vs the 66% over stock vs stock. Realizing this is only 2 cards out of a population, it is about on par with reports on the forums from various members with similar equipment.

I do highly doubt the XPS sells better than the Inspirons. The XPS main attraction is raw power. Demanding gamers who require this raw power will more often than not, build a desktop which they can upgrade and run cooler. I dont have sales figures or anything, but id be willing to bet the i9400 outsells the XPS.

...I would likely never choose an xps nowadays as the 9x00's seem to be able to offer comparable performance at a much less price...

Excellent. My entire point. Although, one minor change...

Well say what you want, but then again I never payed Face Value for my XPS, as I got a good price from Max on the boards. So it was the obvious thing to do at the time.

Which thread had the comparisons between the 7900gsx and 7900gtx? Thanks.