How to buy a Dell XPS 15 Gaming Laptop (Buying Guide)

Dell XPS 15 Core i5 Gaming Laptop Full Review

Back in November, 2010 Dell launched a new laptop from XPS series. It is new Dell XPS 15 specially for gamers and high performance required users. Dell XPS 15 features an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM and an excellent NVIDIA GT420M graphics with optimus. The first thing you would notice in this laptop is its sound which comes with a JBL sound system with sub-woofer and attract you towards Dell XPS 15. Let's have a brief look at Dell XPS 15 features and specifications.

Dell XPS 15 front

Build and Design of Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 comes in only one color variant, having a silver and grey color scheme. At the top and bottom there is silver finish of aluminium and plastic respectively. There will be a point of disappointment for the users who wish a nice designed laptop as it has a simple and corporate design. It is built using metal panel and plastic for body at the bottom. Compared to other Dell laptops it doesn't mark a visual interest to the buyers. It looks like Inspiron 15R in design, if Dell would have given some design to it, then it could be unique laptop by Dell.

However, XPS 15 doesn't looks nice but it feels very good. Metal panel for both interior and exterior body which gives this notebook a high-quality feel. When you hold it for first time, it feels weird as most of the panels looks like plastic until you open it. You can upgrade Dell XPS 15 in an easy way or not so easy. There is only a single panel at the bottom which shows only RAM, WWAN/TV tuner slot and wireless card. Yes you can install TV tuner in XPS 15 but if you get to open it to see everything you have to go through 16 screws which is a hard process if you get to repair it.

Dell XPS 15 Features

All the speed lover are going to add this laptop to their wishlist as it supports high speed 3.0 USB ports on XPS 15. There are two USB 3.0 ports and one eSATA/USB 2.0 port, mini display port, HDMI output and other plenty of jacks. You won't be able to add additional ports in XPS 15 as it has a SDHC card reader/writer.

Display and Speakers of Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 screen options has two variants: one with WXGA screen with 1366 x 768 resolution and another option comes with a nice 1080 pixels screen resolution of 1920 x 1080. Both the screens are good but with 1080p HD screen on XPS 15 you can see vibrant colors and sharp graphics on XPS 15. It looks best by horizontal view and if you look at 60-70 degrees its screen looks overpowered.

Apart from display, speaker of XPS 15 is most unique and favorite feature of XPS 15. Here it comes with JBL speakers, for all 15 screen inch laptops it's really hard to fit good speakers with them. But Dell has made it possible by not only attaching JBL speakers and also sub-woofer on the bottom, having a soft rumble on the top on keyboard and also palmrest when playing music or movie with bass. There is two headphones jack on XPS 15 for sharing movie with friends and also you can enjoy it on your HDTV with XPS 15 HDMI output.

Touchpad and Keyboard of Dell XPS 15

The first thing you would notice in keyboard is its backlit keyboard of XPS 15 with customizing options i.e. you can increase or decrease the brightness of backlit keyboard. Dell XPS 15 has chiclet style keyboard with flat key surface which makes less sound while typing faster. For typing any long document or playing game keyboard performs an excellent job.

There is a multi-touch touchpad on Dell XPS 15 with left and right buttons. Sensitivity of its touchpad is very excellent and you won't face any problem while tracking your finger over it. It supports multi-touch features like two finger scrolling, pinch to zoom and a large surface. You won't face any problem like slow refresh speed or logging, buttons are nice and deep with a soft feedback and feels like you don't need any mouse even you need it.

Performance and Conclusion of Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 is also knows as Dell XPS 15 L501X and offers an higher performance with Intel Corei5 processor at 2.53GHz with a very excellent NVIDIA Optimus graphics on XPS 15 which is powered by NVIDIA GeForce GT420M 1GB dedicated graphics card. It is also good for playing 3D games on XPS 15. All the users wishing to get a good laptop for gaming, should buy Dell XPS 15 gaming laptop.

Dell XPS 15 doesn't have any problem while playing 720p and 1080p video. Its GPU works great with XPS 15 and saves battery life by optimizing graphics when not in use and automatically switches back to dedicated card when there is higher need for graphics.

Price of Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 15 price is around $899 with closest configuration. You can choose between processors, keyboard- you can choose a backlit keyboard or simple chiclet keyboard. To increase battery life you can also choose 6 cell or 9 cell battery on XPS 15. All on all Dell XPS 15 is a very good budget laptop by gaming and performance aspect. So I would suggest you buy it, because there won't be a good laptop in comparison to XPS 15 in same price range, of course for anyone price matter as investing money is never been so easier and obviously you would want to retain your money.