Dell XPS 15 Configuration

I'm looking at buying a new XPS 15 in the coming month due to my beast desktop dying and moving away from home so I want something more decent than my cheap Dell ATG D620 that I use for work. I'm going through the options and I get a discount through member services with my gym (no much at all, but better than nothing) so here's my situation. I've been out of the game for years and getting back into it is hard. Depending on how much of my old computer stuff I can sell my budget is around $1,200 shipped.

1. I'm moving to Arizona in December so I will be away from my family which is why im leaning towards the skype certified webcam.
2. BD Drive: Would the $100 Blu-Ray drive be worth it? This question links to the screen concern
3. Display: I would like the 1920x1200 screen (i love high res) for gaming and movies , but is that a good option with the blu-ray?
4. Graphics: I'd like to play MW2, Battlefield 3, any new game out pretty much. Is the 525M gonna be able to handle them or go for the 540M?
5. Memory: I surf around a lot, multitask way too much, is 6GB gonna cut it or jump to 8GB?
6. Warranty: Worth upgrading over the standard 1 year? I'm not going to abuse it but I plan to have it for a few years and stuff can happen

Other options i'm sure of include the backlit keyboard, JBL sound option, Intel i5 2430M or i5 2520M depending on which configuration I go with, and the 9-cell battery. Thats all I can think of for now. Any current owners with pros/cons, regrets, etc will be welcomed

2) slim sata bluray drives are $50 so i dont see how they are selling one for $100 unless its a burner, and u would not use a disk on battery so why bother, it would be better to get a usb one and rip the disks.
3) they only come in 16x9 so 1080p is the best u can get
4) the 525 is worthless its about the same as an amd IGP, and the 540 is not good ether, u need a 560m/580m or if u go amd the 69xx
5) dont buy ram from dell buy it from newegg and put it in, u will save money and its easy u just take off 1 panel on the back and it dose not void the warranty, same with the HDD
6) dont upgrade the warranty unless u want incidental damage coverage, the company that they go through is crap and wont fix anything properly.

since u have $1200 u can do much better with an asus or msi.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230141

prices have all gone up about $100-200 due to the HDD shortage, so u cannot get a high end system in your price range anymore, but u can get an upper mid range still and u may beable to go high end with some hunting for places that did not update prices.

Thanks for the tips. Thats what I was thinking with the RAM, and id love to put an SSD in there. Idk how Dell is selling that 256GB SSD for like $500 upgrade. Do you know the difficulty for swapping the 525 for a 580, if I even have room?

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Originally Posted by BucNastyHater

Thanks for the tips. Thats what I was thinking with the RAM, and id love to put an SSD in there. Idk how Dell is selling that 256GB SSD for like $500 upgrade. Do you know the difficulty for swapping the 525 for a 580, if I even have room?

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you cannot swap gpus, they cost alot (like $800) and the bios will most likely not work if its a card that is not offered, and the power draw will not be supported.

but u want to look at asus or msi for your price range they will get u the best for upper mid range gaming.

I don't know if it will look as good or have the features of the Dell aka backlit keyboard and skype webcam

if u want gaming on the cheap, check out Clevo P151HM1 a good local reseller is Malibal.com

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Originally Posted by BucNastyHater

I don't know if it will look as good or have the features of the Dell aka backlit keyboard and skype webcam

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everything has a webcam, and i think that the asus ones have back light keyboards, but the msi gaming ones i know do. your looking at a segger that is resold by dell and the msi and asus are also saggers (though high end models) so its not really anything different.

and if u do want dell get one from the outlet, u get a full warranty and they are much cheaper.

I checked out the Dell outlet, all they have are the older versions of the Intel processors but they have some deals. Would a 420 even be able to play battlefield 3 on decent settings?

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Originally Posted by BucNastyHater

I checked out the Dell outlet, all they have are the older versions of the Intel processors but they have some deals. Would a 420 even be able to play battlefield 3 on decent settings?

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no, thats not a gpu class chip its IGP class. go look on wikipedia and figure out what the desktop equivalent is then look is this something that i would even look at.

I found some videos on youtube of gameplay with XPS15's and 525M's and crysis 2, MW2, and GTA iV look pretty playable. My 8800 Ultra in my desktop was failing but could barely handle MW2 and forget about GTA IV even on low settings, same with crysis 2.

I did just price out an Alienware M14x for under 1200 with very similar specs and a 1.5GB 555GT

Can anyone vouch for the xps 15z with the SSD?

Maybe wait for Ivy Bridge models to come out? (From what I can see they should start popping up monday the 30.)