Dell Inspiron 9400 OR XPS1710 OR Asus G1??

[TombKeeper]

Was wondering what would be the best of the 4 to buy:

a) Dell XPS 1710
b) Dell Inspiron 9400
c) Asus G1
d) Asus G2

The 2 dells would be with 7900gs, 17" 1920x1200 screen, Intel T7200 cpu...

The G1 is with a nVidia 7700 512Mb video card, 15" 1680x1050 screen

The G2 is with a 17" screen and an X1700..

I'm thinking the G2 is the slowest of the 4....followed by the G1...and the 9400/XPS fastest. The XPS and 9400 would probably both be the same in terms of speed...but I know the XPS can be upgraded later to the 7950GTX. But I pay a higher premium for XPS........

The G1 is smaller though - therefore more "portable". This is for a desktop replacement... not moving it much - but want to have the option to go to different areas of the house to use it and even take it with me if I go somewhere....

What would be best of the 4? I'm looking for something as close as possible to my desktop speed (which I will sell)... but I don't want to buy something that will give me problems later. The Dells would be with their 3 yr next business day onsite + CompleteCare warranty, whereas the Asus would be with their standard 2 year global warranty.

Any opinions?

[Xenocide]

IMHO 17" is not a laptop

i would go for the G1 since you can actually carry it, i know you said it won't be moved much, but still..it will get annoying

[crfracer290]

Word of advice, I hate my Dell, I wish it would burn in Dell Hell...it is being returned today as a matter of fact and I am picking up a mac book like I should have done it the first place.

IMO Dell is horrible quality, horrible service (unless you speak fluent Arabic), and overall a horrible experience;

[ozzlo]

I can't speak for this year, but year's past, dell's have been very good to me.

I have an i9300 and thus far, I've dropped it 5 feet onto concrete, dropped it 4 feet onto carpet, dropped it down the stairs (and it tumbled all the way down) while it was running.

and it's never had any problems except for a few nice scuff marks and a small chip in the corrner. (what do you expect after dropping it on the pavement?)

And I agree, 17" is not quite portable, I mean, it can be done. But something smaller is definatelly better for hauling around.

[Vengance_01]

Word of advice, I hate my Dell, I wish it would burn in Dell Hell...it is being returned today as a matter of fact and I am picking up a mac book like I should have done it the first place.

IMO Dell is horrible quality, horrible service (unless you speak fluent Arabic), and overall a horrible experience; Not sure what problems you have but Dell's 17inch line has been very good to me. I have owned the 9300, and now the M170. If you want a desktop replacement, look no futher than the E1705. Get it nicely config and O/C the GS to get close to GTX Speeds and preformace. The G1 is not bad for the money, but for a few more LBS you can get a much better screen, and gpu(very important for gamming)

[Binman_UK]

I've had the 9400 less than a year and the audio output is broken already. I do use it quite extensively because I use my laptop for music production.. but it really shouldn't break. The silver coloured Dell laptops also scratch very easily in my experience. The screens are also cheap and nasty.. many of them have backlight bleeding, especially in the larger models.

Other than that they're decent spec's for the money.

Binny.

[realtadiquantu]

I have to say Dell laptops are a no go.

Mine (see sig) runs fine most of the time, but it has horrible build quality, and light leakage on the bottom and top of the screen.

I rarely hear anything bad about IBM's (used at all the businesses I service).

Out of your choice, I'd pick the 9400. But, you should go for another brand, much more worth it in the long run since it should be more reliable.

<3

[Vengance_01]

I have to say Dell laptops are a no go.

Mine (see sig) runs fine most of the time, but it has horrible build quality, and light leakage on the bottom and top of the screen.

I rarely hear anything bad about IBM's (used at all the businesses I service).

Out of your choice, I'd pick the 9400. But, you should go for another brand, much more worth it in the long run since it should be more reliable.

<3 Hate to break it to you buddy but nearly all large LCD screens on laptops have light leakage. Its something that is very hard to do perfect. Also most of the time its only visable on a complete black background or watching a DVD.

[ozzlo]

^^^ Agreed

I have never really considered light leakage to be a part of build quality.

[realtadiquantu]

^^^ Agreed

I have never really considered light leakage to be a part of build quality.

Two separate issues for me.

[dvandervelde]

ASUS makes top tier machines. There is simply no comparison to the dell. Go for the ASUS, no question.

[ajrettke]

I'd go dell...you do hear horror stories but those are the ones you remember (you don't remember the good stories) and since dell sells so many, it's not a fair comparison.

I've own a few dell laptops, sold only to upgrade and I've had a problem with just one of em. For what your getting for the money your NOT going to beat a dell.

Also...17" not a laptop? heh I'm strong enough to carry 9 lbs (I am a fully grown adult male though), and I can watch videos / play games on airplanes, all on my notalaptop.

*edit* and as far as which dell to get, I'd go 9400 simply because I wouldn't want to pay 100+ bucks for flashing lights and a fancy cover...they're the same internal hardware. Also checkout www.notebookforums.com and their coupon thread to get 20% off atleast...maybe more.

[BenF]

I would go with either dell, depending on what you are willing to spend. I've had very good experiances 3 different dell laptops and would highly recommend them. The Dells will also perform better, better hardward.

There are a few horror stories that have been posted here (and in other treads) but I'd have aggree with the posters above that the number of horror stories is very low compared to the number of laptops sold by dell. Just for comparison, one of my good friends has had a horrible experiance with his ASUS laptop.