Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition

WOW No, not WoW. I really mean WOW. I am a big fan of World of Warcraft and I own one of Dell’s XPS laptops (M1710) and with this launch I am completely blown to pieces. A great gaming laptop to begin with and they’ve made it even more appealing to gamers by redesigning the laptop to look ‘wowish’. There are two themes available, one for Horde (for ‘da’ Horde) and one for Alliance. Yes I play the Horde side. :p

The back of the laptop is themed according to the faction you choose when buying. Let me say; it looks amazing. You can check some videos on the end of this page.

Click on image to enlarge

Bad news for europeans. This launch is going to happen in the US on the 11th of December. Not sure “when” it will be made available to europe.

If interested in buying this rig, in the box you will have (data from Dell website):

• 17″ HD widescreen notebook complete with World of Warcraft backpack
• Illuminated speaker grills and faction specific Honor Badges
• Back-lit keyboard stays awake as long as you can
• Track your stats with the world’s first built-in notebook Logitech® GamePanelTM LCD
• Enhanced graphics with NVIDIA® SLITM technology and AGEIA PhysXTM Mobile TechnologyTM
• Pre-loaded with World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and all major game patches
• Golden Ticket for a custom FigurePrintTM of your actual in-game World of Warcraft character with your actual armor and weapons
• World of Warcraft Beta Club Key Card with a key to future World of Warcraft beta tests
• World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition Account Upgrade Certificates
• Exclusive desktop background artwork and screensavers
• Additional loot like a behind the scenes DVD, soundtrack, Warcraft novels, strategy guides, trading cards, etc

A review of the Dell XPS M1730

Some of the main differences between the M1730 and the previous XPS (M1710), not including the specs of course, is that the M1730 has now a full keyboard including the numeric keypad and also the keys are illuminated (nice ). Another thing that you notice on one of the picture above is that you have an lcd above the keyboard. This lcd has the same functionalities as the Logitech G15, so you can use this as you were using the G15 (check the G15 specifications for more details).

Some more specs:

Screen: The same 17″ UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with the amazing 1920×1200 resolution
Graphics: 512MB Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT with NVIDIA SLI
CPUs available:
- Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor X7900 (2.80GHz,4M L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7800 (2.60GHz, 4MB L2 Cache,800Mhz FSB)
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7700 (2.40GHz,4MB L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)
- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.20GHz,4MB L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
RAM: 2GB or 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HD Options:
- Speed: 160GB or 200GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- RAID Performance: 128GB (2×64GB) solid state drive, 320GB (2×160GB) or 400GB (2×200GB) (all 7200RPM)
- Reliability: 64GB Solid State Drive and Speed: 200GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)

It can also come with a Blu-ray drive instead of the normal Dual layer DVD burner. Also Wi-fi and Bluetooth 2.0 is available with loads of more options of both hardware and software.

I like the M1710 laptop and this one is even more powerful. The price is a bit steep ($4500) but you have here a Desktop Replacement with very good gaming capabilities.

Also check these videos, they’re worth it (they open in a new browser window):

First impressions - Part 1

First impressions - Part 2

First impressions - Part 3

Someone playing with the “unthemed” Dell XPS M1730

So, if you like the specifications, you are a gamer, you like World of Warcraft and you have the money to spend on it then this laptop is perfect for you.
If you would rather prefer the ‘unthemed’ XPS M1730 you have it available from the Dell store as well.

Pictures added to the gallery.