Dell XPS M1710

Not long ago, Dell's XPS M170 blazed through our performance benchmarks to become our top gaming notebook. Now the company has unleashed an even faster model in the XPS M1710, which sports two important upgrades: Intel's Core Duo T2600 processor (for better multitasking power) and a shiny new Nvidia Go 7900 GPU (for better 3D eye candy). The results are impressive, but this beauty will cost you. The base price is $3,400, and our model runs a whopping $4,215.

The M1710 is available in two configurations; Metallic Black and the more powerful (and U.S./Canada exclusive) Special Edition Formula Red. Ours is the SE, which features a reflective red finish set into the lid. Dell's design is far less attractive than cases from Voodoo and Falcon Northwest. The red inset looks like fancy fiberglass siding and contrasts poorly with the blue-lit XPS logos running down the left and right of the lid. Thankfully, there's an option to change the color of the accent lights.

Inside the clamshell is a more pleasing, simplified layout. A big keyboard (sans number pad) delivers large and very responsive keys. The tracking pad has a backlit XPS logo (surprisingly useful when gaming in the dark), and the mouse buttons are large and have a softer, easier feel compared to other systems in this class.  An uncluttered set of media controls rides above the keyboard. One of the keys activates Dell's Media Direct software, which accesses music, photos, and DVDs without booting Windows.

The 17-inch TrueLife display has the same 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution as the XPS M170, but it's noticeably brighter. With the processing power available, that means incredibly detailed gaming performance with huge frame rates. The display is also excellent for viewing movies and TV. No built-in TV tuner is present, but an optional external TV tuner and remote costs $130. Dell has gone with an integrated subwoofer to complement the two front-mounted speakers. The result is a meatier sound than most notebooks offer.

The M1710 seems determined to blast performance records to bits. The 2.16-GHz Intel Core Duo T2600 works in tandem with the Go 7900 GPU and a satisfying 512MB of DDR2 VRAM to deliver top-flight performance. 3DMark03 was thoroughly conquered with a score of 18,319, a good 24 percent above results from the XPS M170. Maxing out settings on F.E.A.R. barely fazed this rig, which delivered 72 frames per second; with settings on autodetect the score raced to 104 fps. The M1710 delivered a respectable 2 hours 42 minutes of battery life in our MobileMark 2005 productivity test, so we would expect a good chunk of that runtime to be sacrificed to the gaming gods.

One thing the M1710 doesn't do is support PCMCIA cards; instead, an ExpressCard slot is built in next to the 5-in-1 card reader. That means you won't be able to upgrade to wireless WAN modems or high-speed 802.11n Wi-Fi cards until those become available in the ExpressCard format. Also on board are six USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire port, plug DVI-D, VGA, and S-Video out connections.

The downside to the entire package, of course, is price. The base $3,400 is not for the faint of heart, and premium configurations will strain almost any budget. A big payoff is guaranteed, however, especially for gamers who want the best balance of performance and portability. There's little to compete with this powerhouse.