Dell XPS M1730 Review: An Old Gaming Laptop With Poor Battery

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Dell XPS M1730: At First Glance

There are various gaming laptops in the market today, one of which is the Dell XPS M1730. Although this 17-inch gaming laptop was released in 2007, it features decent specs that can run most outdated PC games.

Also, it comes with an elaborate design that screams “gaming laptop” and offers a decent price tag. Speaking of price, the Dell XPS M1730 had a starting price of $465 when this review was published in November 2022.

However, is this laptop worth buying today, considering it is over 14 years old? To find out, read on!

Dell XPS M1730: Design, Display, Ports, and Connectivity

The Dell XPS M1730 comes with a design that absolutely screams “gaming laptop.” To start with, the laptop features a chassis that is entirely made out of carbon fiber material.

Moreover, the laptop feels sturdy and should be able to withstand rough handling. Besides, the laptop has an eye-catching lid with a cross-hatched gray finish and a smooth glossy surface.

In addition to its glossy surface, this laptop’s lid features a reflective Dell logo that illuminates at the center. That’s not all; the lid also comes with LEDs on its left and right sides with huge “XPS” inscriptions.

These LEDs offer accents such as red, blue, smoke, and white. Whichever accent you choose, the laptop will look unique and stand out among its competitors.

Connecting the lid to the Dell XPS M1730’s base are two solid hinges. These hinges are so solid that they give no room for the lid to flex or wobble when nudged.

Moreover, opening the lid reveals the laptop’s massive 17-inch display with WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels) resolution. This display offers outstanding picture quality and impressive color accuracy for an ideal gaming experience.

In fact, the display’s picture quality should be sharper and clearer than that of an HD or FHD display. This is because the WUXGA resolution offers more pixels compared to the HD or FHD resolution.

However, the Dell XPS M1730’s 17-inch display isn’t bright enough, recording a maximum brightness of 242.8 nits. Thus, the laptop might not be ideal for usage outdoors or in well-lit areas, as the display will struggle with sun glares and reflection.

Surround this laptop’s massive display are somewhat thick bezels. The bottom bezel features a reflective “Dell” inscription in the middle.

Meanwhile, you will find a 2.0 MP webcam in the middle of the top bezel. Sadly, this webcam isn’t good for taking pictures or conducting video calls, as images appear blurry.

Moving on, the Dell XPS M1730 comes with a full-size keyboard. This keyboard has a light-gray finish that makes it look different from the other parts of the laptop.

Impressively, the keyboard is responsive and offers adequate feedback for a comfortable typing experience. In fact, the keyboard has dedicated number keys for making numeric-related computing tasks easier.

In addition to its dedicated number keys, this laptop’s keyboard is also backlit. Thus, typing in dark areas should be less bothersome.

Underneath this keyboard, you will find the Dell XPS M1730’s touchpad with dedicated click buttons. Although this touchpad is responsive and smooth, it is pretty small.

Also, it features an “XPS” inscription on its surface. Interestingly, above the Dell XPS M1730’s keyboard, you will see a Logitech Game Panel.

This panel displays various information regarding the Dell XPS M1730 usage. For instance, it shows the time, date, and information about the game you are currently playing, such as the frame rate.

You can also receive emails and text messages on this Logitech Game Panel.

That said, the Dell XPS M1730 comes with a decent amount of ports that a divided between its left, right, and back sides. Specifically, the laptop’s left side features one USB 2.0 port, a CD/DVD burner, a Firewire, three audio jacks, an S-Video Out, and an 8-in-1 media card reader.

However, on the right side, you will see two USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard, a Wi-Fi switch, and a Kensington lock. Meanwhile, the back side of the laptop houses the charging port, one more USB 2.0 port, and an Ethernet port.

For wireless connectivity, the Dell XPS M1730 has Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

In terms of dimension and weight, the Dell XPS M1730 is one of the heaviest and thickest laptops out there. Specifically, it weighs an outrageous 4810 g and measures 406 x 302.6 x 50.7 mm (W x D x H).

In comparison, this laptop is heavier but less thick than one of its closest competitors, the Toshiba Satellite X205-S9359. To be precise, this Toshiba laptop weighs 4263.77 g and measures 398.78 x 287.02 x 35.56 – 53.34 mm (W x D x H).

All things considered, I will be rating the Dell XPS M1730 an eight out of ten in this section.

Dell XPS M1730: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Dell XPS M1730 offers various processor options up to an Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor. This review focuses on the laptop with the Intel Core 2 Extrem X9000 processor.

This dual-core processor has a standard frequency of 2.80 GHz and 6 MB of cache memory. During the time of its release, this processor was the fastest and most expensive mobile Core 2 processor.

Also, it was mostly found in gaming laptops. Although the processor is fast, it cannot compete with most of the processors nowadays.

Nonetheless, the processor offers enough power to perform most computing tasks effectively, including gaming. To give you a better idea of the Dell XPS M1730’s performance with this processor, let us discuss its Cinebench R15 test result.

For your information, Cinebench R15 is a benchmark test that measures the overall processing capability of a computer by stressing its CPU cores. Furthermore, this benchmark test involves two separate tests, which are the single-core test and the multi-core test.

Briefly, the single-core test measures the computer’s processing capability when using one of its CPU cores. However, the multi-core test measures the computer’s processing capability when all its CPU cores are in use.

Notably, high scores on the Cinebench R15 tests equate to good processing capability. Therefore, according to the benchmark test results, the Dell XPS M1730 scored 3189 points on a single-core test.

However, on the multi-core test, the laptop scored 6084 points. Impressively, this Dell laptop outperformed most of the laptops in its category.

For example, the Alienware Area-51 m15x scored 3072 points on the single-core test and 5818 points on the multi-core test. Also, the Compal JHL90 X9000 scored 3072 points on the single-core test and 5843 points on the multi-core test.

It is important to note that these laptops also use an Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor.

In conclusion, although the Dell XPS M1730’s processor cannot compete with most processors nowadays, it offers decent performance. Also, the laptop outperformed most of the laptops in its category on a CPU benchmark test.

Due to this, I will be rating the Dell XPS M1730 an eight out of ten in this processor performance review section.

Dell XPS M1730: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Dell XPS M1730 comes with two memory slots and a standard memory of 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz RAM. Unfortunately, this laptop supports a maximum memory of just 4 GB.

With a maximum memory of 4 GB, this laptop won’t be able to play most high-end games. Nonetheless, it will be able to run outdated games.

In addition to that, the laptop should also be able to handle most computing tasks and light multitasking. Speaking of multitasking, the Dell XPS M1730 with 4 GB RAM should run about 8 Chrome tabs simultaneously without lagging.

For a better insight into the laptop’s performance with 4 GB RAM, I will now share the laptop’s result on the PCMark 05 test. For clarity, PCMark 05 is a benchmark test that measures the overall performance of a computer by simulating numerous productivity tasks.

Notably, a high score on the PCMark 05 test represents a good performance. In that regard, the Dell XPS M1730 delivered a score of 5017 points at the end of the test.

In comparison, this laptop was outperformed by most of the laptops in its category. For instance, the Lenovo ThinkPad T61p scored 5132 points on the PCMark 05 test.

All things considered, I will rate the Dell XPS M1730 a seven out of ten in this memory review section.

Dell XPS M1730: Storage Options and Performance

The Dell XPS M1730 comes with a 7200 RPM SATA HDD and supports a max storage capacity of 400 GB. Although this amount of max storage capacity will be enough for most people, some storage-hungry users might find it limited.

Thankfully, the Dell XPS M1730 features an 8-in-1 media card reader for storage expansion. With that being said, let us now talk about the laptop’s CrystalDiskMark test result to assess its storage performance.

In case you don’t know, CrystalDiskMark measures the read and writes speed of a computer’s storage drive. Read speed means how fast it takes a storage drive to open a file.

Meanwhile, write speed means the opposite – it means how long it takes a storage drive to save a file. Besides, the higher the “MBps” value on the CrystalDiskMark test, the faster the read and write speed of the computer’s storage drive.

On that note, the Dell XPS M1730 delivered a read speed of 106.8 MBps and a write speed of 107.2 MBps. In comparison, this laptop has a slightly faster read and write speed than the Alienware Area-51 m15x, which also uses a 7200 RPM SATA HDD.

Specifically, this Alienware laptop delivered a read speed of 103.8 MBps and a write speed of 103.2 MBps.

Putting everything into consideration, I will rate the Dell XPS M1730 an eight out of ten in this storage performance review section.

Dell XPS M1730: Graphics Card Performance

As expected from a gaming laptop, the Dell XPS M1730 features a dedicated graphics card. Specifically, it comes with an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX GPU that offers a standard frequency of 576 MHz.

Also, the graphics card features a 768 MB dedicated VRAM. With this dedicated GPU, the Dell XPS M1730 should be able to handle some graphics-demanding tasks like photo editing effectively.

However, due to the GPU’s low dedicated VRAM, it won’t be able to run most latest games, such as GTA V and Fortnite, smoothly. Nonetheless, the laptop will be able to play most outdated games and low-end games.

For example, while playing Doom 3, the Dell XPS M1730 should deliver about 145 fps. Also, the laptop should render around 82 fps (frame per second) when running F.E.A.R.

For more insights into the laptop’s graphics performance, I will now share its 3DMark 05 test result. Briefly, 3DMark 05 is a benchmark test that evaluates a computer’s ability to render 3D graphics.

Additionally, a high score on the test means good performance. So, according to the test results, the Dell XPS M1730 recorded a score of 14952 points.

In comparison, the laptop has better performance than the Clevo mySN M570RU and Alienware Area-51 m15xn, which also has NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. Specifically, the Clevo mySN M570RU scored 12761 points on the 3DMark 05 test.

Meanwhile, the Alienware Area-51 m15x scored 10805 points.

In conclusion, the Dell XPS M1730’s GPU is only able to run outdated games smoothly. Nonetheless, the laptop outperformed most of its rivals on a GPU benchmark test.

Thus, I will be rating the Dell XPS M1730 an eight out of ten in this graphics card review section.

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Dell XPS M1730: Battery Life and Performance

The Dell XPS M1730 features a 9-cell Li-ion battery. However, the manufacturer failed to include how long this laptop can last with this battery.

So, to figure that out, we will now discuss the laptop’s result on a web-surfing battery test. This test involves continuously surfing the web over a Wi-Fi connection until the laptop’s battery runs low.

Disappointingly, the Dell XPS M1730 delivered a mediocre battery life of 1 hour at the end of this test. Comparatively, the Alienware Area-51 m15x has a better battery life, lasting about 2 hours and 50 minutes on the same battery test.

In conclusion, the Dell XPS M1730 has a very poor battery life. Also, most of its competitors have better battery life.

Due to this, I will be rating the Dell XPS M1730 a six out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell XPS M1730 is obviously an old gaming laptop, as it was released back in 2007. Due to this, it doesn’t feature adequate specs to run modern games such as GTA V.

Nonetheless, the laptop offers a sophisticated look and an elaborate design. Also, it is capable of playing most outdated games and offers a comfortable keyboard.

Besides, it comes with an impressive display and a decent amount of ports. However, the battery life of this laptop is total rubbish.

Nonetheless, if you need a gaming laptop for running low-end or outdated games, you can consider the Dell XPS M1730.

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