Raw graphics and processing power combine with a stunning display in Dell's bulky Inspiron XPS Gen 2 gaming laptop. Jørgen Sundgot finds it irresistible - albeit a tad pricey.
Review summary of the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2:
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 Although our feelings towards the aesthetics of the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 are somewhat anmbiguous, we cannot help but be impressed by its delicate balancing of raw graphics horsepower with a high-performing, battery-conserving processor. Add to this broad connectivity options, a stunning display and overall excellent video performance, and it’s easy to see why the Gen 2 has us charmed. Buyer beware, though; at the altar of performance lies portability and price, along with lap-scorching heat dissipation. Let’s just say the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 is hot in more than one way. Release: February 2005.
Pros: Excessive processing, graphics horsepower; glorious display; feature-packed
Cons: Large and pricey; love-or-hate aesthetics; loud; tends to run hot
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Full review of the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2:
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Who would've thought: mainstream PC maker Dell receiving rave reviews for a gaming notebook, of all things. That's what happened when the first iteration of the XPS series launched in 2004, and lo and behold - the company has returned with an even more powerful setup in the Inspiron XPS Gen 2, which on paper looks set disintegrate its competition. As we all know, though, taking a closer look is always worthwhile - hop on for the ride.
Best of all, you only need 400 to build a house
At first glance, it appears the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 is a love-or-hate affair with its heavy duty industrial design resplendent with a - thankfully exchangeable - ribbed metallic finish for the top of the lid. At 394 x 288 x 42 mm and 3.9 KG, heavy is an adjective also well suited to describe its lumbering size, but it's worth noting that many a competing gaming notebook clocks in at over 5 KG.
Equipped with a strikingly bright and crisp 17-inch widescreen, the XPS Gen 2 delivers an absolutely stunning visual experience courtesy not only of its raw graphics power but also a high-gloss coating which lets games and video truly shine. The 1920 x 1200 pixel WUXGA resolution is nothing short of breathtaking, and the Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra Go card with 256 MB of GDDR3 RAM continuously cranks out frame rates which are fully on par with a great many desktop gaming systems.
Turning the attention to the remainder of the exterior of the XPS Gen 2, we find a highly comfortable keyboard with good travel and key pitch - thankfully centered and sans numerical keypad. Furthermore, a 16:9 touchpad with vertical and horizontal scroll strips make light work of traversing the screen, although sensitivy has to be set abnormally high to encompass the entire display.
Mounted in front is a row of dedicated media control keys - handy for switching tracks and adjusting volume whilst in the midst of a game, whereas four speakers and a bottom-mounted 'subwoofer' deliver surprisingly meaty sound. Two separate fans, also bottom-mounted, cool the unit - but don't expect anything less than a lap-scorcher after 20 minutes of intensive FPS gaming.
On an aesthetical note, the XPS Gen 2 is also equipped with an array of LED emitters; two in front, one on either side and two on the lid in the shape of XPS logos - all of which can be adjusted to display any of 16 colours or a combination of these to create ones own, highly personalized lightshow.
Welcome to the plugfest
Powered by an Intel Pentium M 770 processor running at 2.13 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache atop a Intel 915GM chipset, the XPS Gen 2 is somewhat of an odd child in a league where most competitors used to rely on Pentium 4 processors - yet doesn't take a back seat in the performance department. If anything, the setup allows for improved battery life courtesy of reduced power requirements, whilst pushing enough bits to power most any game - or application - around with ease.
Supporting a maximum of 2 GB of 400 MHz DDR2 RAM, our review model was configured with 1 GB of memory. As for permanent storage, the review unit came equipped with a 5,400 RPM IDE drive with a spacious capacity of 100 GB; SATA is not supported in the XPS Gen 2, yet performance still proved adequate. An optical drive is also present, supporting DVD+/-RW and CD+/-RW formats - also this sufficient, but nothing more.
Connectivity options abound in the XPS Gen 2, which sports 10/100/1000 Ethernet and a 56K V.92 modem mounted on the back; 6 USB 2.0 ports, of which two are mounted on the left and four on the back; a FireWire port on the right side, next to a PCMCIA Type II Card slot and a SD/MMC memory card reader; and S-Video, VGA and even DVI out ports, all of which are back-mounted. Furthermore, the XPS Gen 2 is also equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and optional Bluetooth 2.0, both of which displayed impressive signal reception, whereas audio quality provided by the 3.5 mm stereo jack proved rather mediocre.
Bring the power supply - always
As good a job the processor and chipset configuration of the XPS Gen 2 does of conserving battery, there is no escaping that it consumes power quicker than Kirstie Alley can devour a Haagen-Dasz; except a couple of hours at most. Still, power management features are on hand to reduce the toll on the straining battery, and Dell has also provided a few 3rd party applications which come in handy.
Configured with Windows XP Home Edition, the performance of the Dell Media Experience suite is a bit disappointing - of the included applications, we favour Jasc's Paint Shop Pro Studio and Paint Shop Photo Album 5, whilst Sonic MyDVD LE offers hassle-free CD and DVD burning and Norton Internet Security caters to - well, security. Microsoft Works 7.0 is also present.
Availability
The Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 is at the time of press available worldwide, selling in the €2,200 EUR to €4,100 EUR range for minimal and maximum configurations, respectively.
Comparison
Compare the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 with similar products
Price and availability
Available in the U.S. in February 2005, the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 is priced at TBA .
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