Dell XPS L501x: An Excellent Mainstream Notebook
by Jarred Walton on November 10, 2010 12:01 AM ESTDell XPS L501x Battery Life: Good but the 9-Cell Would Be Better
The default battery in the L501x is a 6-cell 56Wh unit, which is more than the paltry 48Wh 6-cell batteries in many laptops but not quite at the 63Wh level seen in others. The combination of Optimus Technology and a reasonable battery means we should see good battery life, but nothing record setting. That's pretty much what we get, with a few oddities.
The L501x comes out ahead of many of the 48Wh laptops in the idle, despite having a larger 15.6" LCD, so the slightly higher capacity battery balances things out. Internet battery life is a different story, dropping the L501x down below the N82Jv but still slightly ahead of the ID49C. As bad as that result may look in the chart, it's also still 16% higher than the Toshiba A660D with a 16.7% larger battery, so in that particular test the AMD P920 + HD 4250 matches the i5-460M + GT 420M on a relative basis. In contrast to the Internet result, the x264 playback puts the XPS back ahead of many of the 48Wh batteries.
We had hoped for something a bit more impressive here, but the results aren't bad. It could be that the higher LCD resolution affects some tests negatively (i.e. in the Internet test, you would see more of the test web pages and thus Flash ads further down the page might increase CPU usage). [Update: I retested Internet battery life at 1366x768 and the result didn't change; for some reason the L501x does far worse in that test relative to the other laptops.] HWmonitor also shows the battery at 4% wear despite over 10 cycles, so you might get slightly improved results with a different battery. Ultimately, though, the simple solution to battery life concerns is to spend an extra $40 and get the 9-cell 92Wh battery if you want to run all (or at least most of the) day untethered. There's a compromise in weight with the 9-cell battery, though, and it juts out about an inch below the laptop. I prefer the form factor of the 6-cell battery, but it's always nice to have a choice.
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JarredWalton - Sunday, November 14, 2010 - link
Right now, the "B+GR" is only listed on the 15.6 as an upgrade, while the 14" and 17" list WLED. Obviously, all WLED are not created equal, so unfortunately without testing I can't say how the other displays compare. We're working to get the other two models in for review, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.Hrel - Monday, November 15, 2010 - link
In order to get the GT435 GPU you HAVE to "upgrade" the CPU to a Core i7. I DO NOT WANT A Core i7, I want a Core i5. Yeah, let's reduce the clock speed by 1GHz then double the threads, yeah, that'll be great for gaming cause ALL games totally use 8 FUCKING THREADS!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Seriously, WTF!? In what world is pairing a Core i5 with a GT435M and "compatibility issue". I fucking hate you Dell. Even when you start to do something right, you FUCK IT UP!
I am angry out of my mind right now, I cannot believe they FORCE you to downgrade to a Core i7, fucking greedy bastards. That's NOT what I want. Cyberpowerpc.com FTW!
plewis00 - Monday, November 15, 2010 - link
While that's true, your rant just made you come across as a complete retard...I originally noticed the 420M vs. 435M issue but the 435M is virtually just a factory-overclocked 420M anyway. You also don't get Optimus but I'd find it less 'forcing' you as there is some other underlying reason neither you nor I know about.
JarredWalton - Monday, November 15, 2010 - link
Incidentally, while the i7 quad-core is lower clocked for the base speed, it has MUCH higher Turbo modes. So an i7-740QM runs at a base 1.73GHz but can Turbo as high as 2.93GHz when only one or two threads are active. The i5-460M in this system as reviewed runs at 2.53GHz base but can only Turbo as high as 2.80GHz.I'm betting you're thinking right now that the i7-740QM won't usually run anywhere near that 2.93GHz, but at least in my experience it does exactly that for many games. I'd go so far as to say that the only dual-core Arrandales that will clearly outperform a 740QM in games would be the i5-540M and i7-620M (and any higher clocked parts, obviously). But then, those cost just as much or more than the 740QM and in multithreaded loads they would still lose.
As far as I'm concerned, the only real drawback to the quad-core upgrade is that removal of Optimus. 435M can definitely do Optimus (i.e. look at the L701x: BOOM! An XPS laptop with 435M and Optmimus!), but Dell is choosing to artificially require the CPU upgrade along with the GPU. Sandy Bridge should take care of the problem in the near future with IGP + quad-core + ~25% faster than Clarksfield/Arrandale at the same clocks. How long before we get SB + 445M Optimus? That's what I really want for the base L501x.
mopomoso - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Jarred, well you seemed to suggest there was no significant difference between the i5-460 and i7-740 in your review and then almost contradict this above.Review:
"...The higher base clock speed also puts it (ie i5-460M) within striking distance of the i7-720QM in multi-threaded tasks, so unless you really need every last ounce of multi-core power the dual-core i5-460M is a compelling alternative—and don't forget the loss of Optimus (and the price increase) that comes with moving to Clarksfield processors"
rorthron the wise - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Have a look at your own post - the clue is in there!Sod it i'll tell ya - the i7-740 is quicker than the i7-720!!!
mopomoso - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
Haha! Teach me to post when I'm tired -:) Apologies to Jarred.I'm currently debating whether to buy a L501 now or wait for SB. Doesn't look like SB will bring any benefit thermally and will, at least with the duals, only provide a small increase in processing power.
Plus it could easily take until February for SB XPS to ship.
blackrook - Monday, November 15, 2010 - link
Isn't the 420m easily overclockable anyway?rorthron the wise - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
I took delivery of an XPS 17 a couple of days ago; it kept crashing on me and now it won't start at all. When i try i get 6 beeps indicating a video card failure. It also came with a slight indentation on the right palm rest.I've got a full refund though, and i'm not too put off - it's just a bit inconvenient that i've now had to re-order, which means waiting another couple of weeks for a new machine.
Hopefully this is not usual - doesn't Dell have a good reputation for reliability?
dgs - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - link
I can find various versions of the XPS in terms of CPU and screen size, but I can't find the model XPS L501x. More pertinently, I can't find any customization that will give me the 1080p screen that the review recommends. And that's the screen I want!I used to like Dell's website, long ago, but in recent years it's become so junked up that it's really hard to find what I want. Has anyone else been able to find it?