My first notebook review in my new series of laptop reviews is for the Dell XPS 1730 laptop computer. If you are in the market for a laptop that is easy to carry around then you need look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a gaming laptop that you can take to LAN parties, you will definitely want to keep this machine on your list. The XPS 1730 is not a lightweight machine by any stretch of the imagination. It is considered a desktop replacement and rightfully so, The power brick alone weighs more than most 15” laptops.
Dell markets this laptop as a gaming machine and so far it has handled every game that I have thrown at it on medium to high settings, Yes, it plays Crysis. In fact, it is more powerful than a couple of my desktop computers.
For this notebook review the XPS 1730 had a t9000 2.8 GHz dual core extreme processor which is overclockable to 3.4 GHz, 4 GB Shared Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800 MHZ (2 Dimms), 8800m GTX graphics cards in SLi, Dual 160 GB 7200 RPM HDD in a raid 0 configuration, a Panasonic UJ-220 Blu-ray writer drive, a Logitech gaming LCD screen and last but not least a beautiful 17 inch display with a native resolution of 1900x1200.
There are lights all over this gaming laptop, even the keyboard lights up which is a great plus for all of us gamers that enjoy playing our games in low to no light environments. You can even make the lights change colors. There are a lot of different effects that can be done. The more exciting ones can react to the sounds playing on the machine, which is guaranteed to make your machine the envy of any LAN party.
The Dell XPS 1730 weighs in at a 5.4 on the vista score scale, which is impressive for a portable computer. The score could be higher and this is actually my major gripe about the machine. Dell sells the XPS 1730 with DDR2 SDRAM at 800 MHZ but the motherboard on this laptop computer down clocks the RAM to 667 MHZ. When I called Dell to inquire about this none of the support reps had any idea of what I was referring to and actually tried to sell me “Approved Dell RAM” which would somehow magically make the motherboard read all 800 MHZ.
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Dell also has very poor 64 bit support which is funny because the amount of RAM that they sell can only be read on a 64 bit operating system, not an available OS option (Maximum RAM 32 bit windows OS can read is 3GB). The XPS 1730 does tend to run hot because of the components, so a notebook cooler is definitely a smart investment if you wish to enjoy the machine for years to come. The best one I have come across is The Antec Notebook Cooler 200.
I recommend you pick up a Dell warranty as it is one of the best warranties on the market. I give the Dell XPS 1730 gaming laptop 5 out of 6 Stars. It has a beautiful screen, powerful processor, and the ability to run everything on the market. I took off points because some of the hardware is outdated and dells lack of 64 bit driver support.
I hope that this notebook review has helped you out, Please; keep an eye out for more laptop reviews from the TechGuru.