It is very sharp with excellent contrast and brightness. I found the screen to be excellent for all tasks, from surfing the web to gaming and watching movies. The XPS M1710 has 250 nits of brightness while the M170 was about 200 nits. The display on the XPS M1710 is 30% brighter than the M170 it is replacing. The TrueLife is a standard feature on the M1710 and a good option for an entertainment machine as it really does provide greater contrast and bolder colors. The XPS M1710 has a 17″ widescreen WUXGA (1920 x 1200 resolution) LCD with the Dell TrueLife (glossy screen) treatment. With power adapter (1.4lbs) and notebook (8.8lbs) the total travel weight of the XPS M1710 comes to just over 10lbs ( view large image ) The XPS M1710 is quoted as being 8.8 lbs by Dell, I weighed both the M1710 and its power adapter together and the total came it at just over 10 lbs. I’ve run across seventeen inch screen notebooks that make you groan just picking them up to move from one surface to the next. The weight of this notebook isn’t as bad as you might think. The area above the keyboard where the status lights are is also somewhat flexible. It’s not likely that you would be touching this area often, but still worth noting to keep the review honest. There is one part of the build that’s lacking, the plastic on the bottom of the LCD is easy to bend and flex. The hard drive has a StrikeZone shock absorber for small drops and bumps for protection in small drops. Honestly, the lid on this notebook is possibly the strongest I’ve tested on any notebook, it does not flex at all and is stronger protection than even the renknowned ThinkPad notebook line. The hinges are constructed of steel, Dell claims they have been tested for up to 20,000 cycles (openings and closings) to assure freedom from loosening and wobble. This results in strong overall physical protection of the notebook, worry-free of case cracks appearing or problems with excessive flexing. The keyboard and palm rest area is made of a thick rugged plastic. The M1710 is very sturdy it uses an all magnesium-alloy case on the top and bottom. You’ll notice the XPS M1710 has somewhat of an industrial look and this is true to the actual build of the notebook. I’m used to seeing a black keyboard on Dell machines, but this one sports a more sleek looking silver keyed look, which is nice and fits the design well. Outside of the lid and lights, the rest of the look is silver. XPS M1710 front view (touchpad lights off), on the screen is the config program for changing lights ( view large image ) XPS M1710 front view ( view large image ) Keyboard view in the dark( view large image ) Touchpad in the dark view ( view large image ) Top view of XPS M1710 in the dark ( view large image )ĭell M1710 in the dark, next to mirror ( view large image ) I’ll let the pictures of the light display the M1710 emits tell the story, the light colors are configurable with up to 16 color options for each light via a Dell included QuickSet program:
In the dark, if you stand far enough away this thing looks more like a UFO as the lights glow in a somewhat eery yet cool manner. In daylight the striking red or metallic black lid will catch the eyes of just about anyone nearby. The Dell XPS M1710 design is, in a word, brazen. Price of this configuration: $4,215 (base price of black metallic M1710 starts at $2,600)ĭell XPS M1710 above view next to power cord ( view large image ).Ports / Slots: 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader, DVI-D, VGA video output, S-Video, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), 6 USB 2.0, Express Card slot, Modem, Ethernet/LAN, Microphone in, Headphone out.Battery: 9-cell lithium ion recharegable battery.Optical Drive: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW/+R) with Dual-Layer.Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX with 512MB DDR memory.Hard Drive: 100GB capacity at a speed of 7200 RPM.Memory: 2GB 667MHz – 2 DIMM Slots (2 x 1GB) (Max Ram 4GB).Processor: Intel Core Duo T2600 (2.16 GHz).If you like to do serious gaming or simply have the fastest notebook money can buy right now, this notebook is for you! On the inside it houses the 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM and the icing on the cake - the latest and greatest nVidia Go 7900 GTX graphics card with 512MB of memory. The M1710 has a 17″ widescreen and comes in a choice of two colors, “formula red” or “metallic black”. The Dell XPS M1710 is the latest premium gaming notebook from Dell that replaces the current XPS M170.