Its a beast alright, a heavy ugly beast. 

I do appreciate the specs though and I guess you can only do so much to make it pretty when its that big.  Louis Bruno is very well spoken and that is one of the best product intro videos I've seen in a while(except the excessive camera movement). 

 Louis - stop into IdeaStorm, we have some ideas for you and would love to chat.

Can you please just tell us if/when you plan on releasing the Latitude XT? We're coming close to five months since you first announced it. 

Without so much as a public hint of a release date, features, or pricing, I'm getting close to the point of going with a competitor's product based on respect and principle.  Sawing other tablets in half doesn't make yours worth the wait by itself.

why does this guy think he knows what gamers want?!?  sounds more like what he wants.  why would anyone care if it the thing flashes 50 different colors, as long as it works well? 

Keith: Thanks for the clarfication on Crysis. I updated the post to correct my mistake. Thanks again.

When will we see the models with full customizing? The current levels are locked in such awkward ways. The base level is so fixed that there's no flexibility. The second level is reasonable but you're paying $500 for Blu Ray which not everyone wants. The third level has better flexibility than the first but is locked down in particular places like no single HDD option and the Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition.

I can understand the locks on Processor and Operating System for the third level. I could even understand locking say the processor of the second level but the Blu Ray drive isn't really helpful to a gamer.

Nice... but an Ugly "Beast"

      * I knew I should have made a trademark of the name "Beast"  ;)))

 However, the True Beast is the XPS7xx, in my case the XPS720H2C.

 So; Ugly Beast and True (Beautiful) Beast.

Congratz Dell on a few new innovations here.

Peace

"We begin taking orders today and expect to ship most orders within 10 days from the time the order is processed."

Uh huh. 

One thing, on a demo like this, it would be much better if a few things happened.

1. If the product was picked up so certain things could be seen.

2. You have a decent camera, not one with such an awkward, slow, motorized zoom.

 That is about it. All the guys on here calling it ugly don't remember the "good old days" of the backbreaking "portables". This thing looks like a chunky monkey, but is still relatively simple in its layout.

It looks, however, that a machine this big MIGHT be better served by making it a SMIDGE bigger to incorporate things like small corner bumpers and the like. I do not want a 12 pound (just a guess) porcelin vase to carry around. The bumpers would not make it a Toughbook, but it might keep it pretty a bit longer.

That's about it I guess. Take it for what you will.

What I don't see in the specs is Battery Life. ;-) . What sort of battery life does this thing has when doing normal computing and playing a game? 30 minutes? Inquiring minds what to know, since being able to run your laptop while on a plane and on the road is one reason people get the systems. ^_^

Well I ordered mine and I cant wait till it arrives.  Those that are buying laptops for looks go buy a Mac you hipsters. 

I cant wait until I can start fragging in the Airport or next to the Pool.

I´m doing a research about corporate blogs, and this one is one of the best i´ve seen around the blogosphere.

Very good iniciative!

Lionel:

Until Dell Canada wakes up and aligns its prices to reflect reality, I will NOT be buying from Dell. I have purchased nothing but Dell computers for the last 10 years - 4 computers and a Dell Jukebox

As of Saturday the Canadian dollar was slightly higher than the US dollar. For all practical purposes they are at par with the US dollar still predicted to drop. However the same XPS 1730 with 4 year in home service was

Dell.com US = 3,298 

Dell.ca CND = 3,749 

There is absolutely no reason for the price to be HIGHER in Canada than the US. Plus, I cannot buy from Dell.com because they will not ship to Canada.

Comparing prices of XPS 720 is even worse at over a 1,000 difference between exactly configured machines 

So, Mr. Dell - until you do something, I will not be buying from Dell.ca and I cannot buy from Dell.com

Take a look at HP.com  and their newly released Blackbird -- where the price is the same is CND and US dollars. That reflects reality. When Dell.ca starts to reflect reality I may consider Dell again, but until that time.... sorry you have lost a customer.

Aside from the looks, it's good to hear that the GPU's will be user-upgradeable (right?).

Is the PCI-E bridge for the GPU's 16x or 8x?

Just wait until you start seeing everyone complain about the Sigmatel audio problems. Same problems as in the M1330. M1710, the 1720's and so on. Yet another new model with the same audio problem. Way to go....

I have been waiting for the M1730 but am disappointed with the lack of options in the configurations.  The $2,999 "Good" version only allows you to change the software, warranty, accessory, etc. options.  You can't make any changes as near as I can tell to the actual component set-up of the system.  For example, I would like to get the Intel  4965 a/g/n Wireless card and Bluetooth 2.0 optionsbut apparently to get either I have to  spend an additional $600 for a Blu-Ray player that I don't really want or need to move up to the $3,599 "Better" Model, which of course does not provide for selecting the DVD/CD Player-Burner "downgrade" from the Blue-Ray player.  I'd like to get a M1730 but just don't think I can justify the additional expense for the two relatively cheap components I want and an expensive component I don't need.

I for one like the looks of the XPS 1730.  I think it's one of the nicest looking notebooks I've seen, and I'm glad they don't compromise the system's performance or reliability by trying to make it thinner.

However...the second GPU on this thing is worthless.  Nvidia's reference drivers won't support SLI on an Intel chipset, and without those reference drivers, you won't be able to play new games as they come out.  Dell has not and almost certainly will not release up to date drivers on a timely fashion (and for the years that this system will be useable).  *NO* company has ever done this, and it's extremely unlikely Dell is going to start now.

 I hope that Dell offers a *single* 8800 series card in it when that's available, as I don't want to have to pay for a second card that's basically worthless.  I also hope they allow you to ditch the physics card, which is also basically worthless.  Hopefully that will shave SOME cost off the system.
 

..and again, a machine which will draw so much power even when idle that most users will not want to use it while traveling.

While there is certainly a price to pay for the performance, why does DELL again and again fail to equip their XPS machines with a docking connector? Just because it is a consumer machine? Just because you fear to cannibalize your Latitude-series?

Come on, not seriously!

I purchased one almost as soon as it came out.  I owned it for about five days - long enough to install my software.  It played almost everything at full res and it was amazing.  World in Conflict, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Company of Heroes...  They all looked brilliant, and ran without flawlessly. 

 Then, on Saturday, the machine experienced a catastrophic failure.  It simply stopped charging.  Once the battery ran out, the notebook was about as useful as a brick.  After some discussions with tech support, the preliminary conclusion was a failure of the mobo.  Fortunately, Dell is sending out a replacement.  I asked them to keep me informed as to the cause of the failure, and will post again once I get an answer.   

I received my 1730 last week and it's awesome... I am interested to know a little more about the graphics card swap out. Will this happen across the globe and if so when can we expect the new 8800M card? - I believe it's out in a couple of weeks time in the Alienware machine.

Thanks!

Why can't the M1730 be connected to my 52" Sony HDTV in SLI mode? I mean without SLI it is hardly a gaming laptop.

No problem in connecting with SLI disabled.

I have an m1730 on order... Will I be able to use the 8800m cards in my 1730 someday.... sorry if this has been addressed else where... I have been searching with no luck...

 Thanks,

Steve

About 200 posts on SLI problems, nobody can actually claim that SLI is working - even the Nvidia Club SLI reg. application says NO SLI BUSTER!

Try if your M1730 has SLI enabled - and ps. Vista Hotfixes .. fixes nothing on this rig!
http://www.slizone.com/content/slizone/clubsli.html

4000$ Wasted - going back if DELL does not get in the game real soon.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=179479

 THAT IS THE STORY DELL?

Dear Sirs,

I have sent more than 5 e-mails without any real response? But hope dies last, so here we go again – I must admit that it is a bit unlike DELL not to respond especially to a high-end customer that is not even being negative “so far”.

Brief summary:
The gaming performance on the so called Beast is disappointing, almost all gamers are reporting bad performance, old drivers and bad “expert” DELL XPS support. The game that came with the computer “Ghost Recon” is able to run medium quality, probably because the game only detects the 256MB on one 8700M GT CPU/Card. The EA game “Crysis” released yesterday is a real disappointment – the game is playable in 1024x768, NO AA, Medium quality (result 20-30 FPS) -  Not the … quote “Mobile Gaming Supremacy and Full-Throttle Visual Adrenaline”.

I have asked all of you guys about the possibility to change the dual 8700M GT to the upcoming 8800M GT (dual 512MB with a total of 1024MB), but without any response on price etc..

I was promised a free installation of an extra  160MB HDD onsite by Ronnie Hermann (Danish sales dept.) – but then a guy named Thomas Brorsen called me and said that this was not possible after the product had been delivered? Strange! In the short video clip on (http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/09/27/30769.aspx ) Bruno Louis talks about the possibility for customers to add an extra HDD.

Another thing Bruno Louis mentions in the clip is the Expert Help from DELL that comes with the XPS M1730 – honestly the support are not even close the expert level, the reason why I was promised a free 160MB HDD was due to this support, I spend more than 3 hours total with the support in Ireland because the laptop was unable to install a clean Vista and even the DELL Vista disc. The problem was the SATA drivers – but I had to find out on my own. The solution was placing these drivers on a USB stick and then installing them during the Vista installation. Don’t get me wrong the guys are sweet but not experts. As the CTO in a leading Danish Media bureau I am no expert either.

Questions:

1.       Do you really think the gaming performance is “Mobile Gaming Supremacy and Full-Throttle Visual Adrenaline”?

2.       Are the loyal customers that bought the XPS M1730 on the release data – going to get the 8800M GT update, for free installed onsite, due to the bad performance with the 8700M GT?

3.       Can  I get the extra 160MB HDD installed as Louis Bruno mentions in the video clip?

look all you people that hate i dont understand why you think its rubish and ugly.

just look at it, its so beautiful and you cant say its not fast its just amazingly fast and beautiful and just beautiful and just cool i have even bought one with every thing on it and the fastest laptop i have ever come across  its just amazing and all i can say is well done dell.  bravo :-):-):-):-)

I got recently M1730 and I am very dissapointed about that thing. A lot of problems with performance. All games crashing or performance plunges till computer not running at all. You can find a lot of posts talking about SLI problems and I consider that DELL is selling without take care of costumers and they have lost all reputation for me. I think is junk... How can DELL sell such a product?

 It is mostly about users :/

 My 1730 with 2x8800 does the job well ;)