Dell Studio XPS 16: the Eyes Have It
by Jarred Walton on April 2, 2009 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Upgradeability and Internals
We like to dismantle our laptops, just for fun, so we pulled out our screwdrivers and started in on the XPS 16. A single large cover on the bottom provides access to everything you might actually want to upgrade. If you want to continue dismantling the XPS 16, you will need to remove the two covers on the sides of the battery compartment. They slide inward and then back - no need to remove any more screws.
Upgrading the processor is relatively simple compared to other notebooks. After removing the bottom panel and the plastic piece that covers part of the cooling heatsink, you can remove the system fan and heatpipe and replace the CPU. There's not much need to actually do that, however, as it is unlikely Dell will support anything faster than the current T9600 CPU option. (Adventuresome individuals could always try one of the quad-core mobile Penryn chips I suppose, although with the system already running warm I wasn't willing to do so.)
The hard drive can also be upgraded with relative ease. Changing out the optical drive requires quite more work, since you will have to remove the keyboard. You will also need to find a slot load optical drive, which isn't quite as easy as finding regular notebook drives. Some people love slot load drives, but they seem to be a case of aesthetics winning over functionality, since you can't use nonstandard discs and the eject mechanism is quite noisy. Those are minor concerns, of course.
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Nfarce - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
I have a 3 year old 17" Inspiron E1705 and still love it. When new, it played older DX9 games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein pretty well with a 2.0GHz Centrino and ATi X1400.It has the glossy screen which really helps increase the contrast appearance and really doesn't affect me because I don't use the laptop outside or next to a window. Yes, fingerprints and smudges are an issue even being as careful as possible. However, it's a small price to pay for a better picture IMO. I just don't like the "matte" screen on my Sammy 22" LCD on a gaming rig - and I think that is even harder to clean and get smudges off. Something about the grooves or something in the cover.
Finally, what's up with all these new weird LCD screen sizes these days? I use a 15.4" laptop for work and it's just too small by itself when not connected to a docking station with a monitor. And then we have the new 23" LCDs out now, and the 25.5" LCDs...
Digobick - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Is the 9-cell battery removable (meaning, can you take it off if you don't think you'll need it)?Also, have you weighed the laptop with the 9-cell battery installed? I'm curious to know how much it weighs with both the 9- and 6-cell batteries installed.
JarredWalton - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
The 9-cell battery weighs a bit more than the 6-cell, probably .2 or .3 pounds. I don't have a scale that can measure such weights accurately, unfortunately, so I use the manufacturer specifications.As for the first question, the 9-cell battery is a replacement for the 6-cell; you can only use one or the other. The 9-cell is larger and raises the back of the laptop, with a .5 to 1 inch protrusion on the bottom where the 6-cell battery is flat.
andrezunido - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Would it be possible to have the figures for the macbook pro 15'' color gamut to compare with the Dell XPS 16?jabber - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
You could at least have wiped the laptop down before taking the pics!That just looks sloppy. Yo did get a cloth after all.
Unless of course it was a scratched/battered review model.
JarredWalton - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Actually, it isn't messy at all and those aren't scratches... at least not on the laptop. That's just a reflection of the white paper I have around my photography area. The laptop surface is extremely reflective, so I'm happy it's just reflecting paper and not my face, camera, etc.jabber - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Hmmmmmmm still looks like the blue haze of greasy fingerprints round the edges.Just doesnt look right to me.
Please can we ditch glossy plastics now?
ksherman - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Apple stopped offering the choice on the MacBook Pro (and now indeed all their current computers/displays) back in November. It SUCKS. At least its a sheet of glass (supposedly) not a glossy coating.Pirks - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
ksherman, check your facts before posting please. This is from www.apple.com online store:MacBook Pro comes with a high-resolution 1920x1200 pixel LED-backlit display. Choose a standard glossy display that lets you view graphics, photos, and videos with richer color and deeper blacks, or an optional antiglare display.
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Glossy Widescreen Display
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display [Add $50.00]
See, Apple still offers antigare option no matter what you say.
erple2 - Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - link
Both of you are simultaneously right and wrong. The 17" Macbook Pro can be had with a either a glossy or non-glossy screen. The 15" Macbook Pro comes only with a glossy screen.