Dell - 15.6" XPS Laptop - 8GB Memory - 750GB Hard Drive - Silver

For under $1k. Pros: -Display is awesome. As soon as you turn this on you'll notice how crisp it is. 1920x1080. Beautiful. -Lightning fast. As soon as you boot up you'll notice how responsive it is. Even with all of Dell's preloaded bloatware on there and McAfee running, its smooth as silk. -Speakers are as good as everyone else says they are.. probably better than the $100 logitech speakers I bought for my desktop awhile ago. -Backlit keyboard. Such a nice addition. -Gaming. Whoever said this wasn't good for gaming must've been mistaken. I can play WoW in windowed mode 1600x900 resolution, high settings and still get 30 fps in laggy Stormwind. Canyourunit.com says it beats the recommended reqs for Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur, D3, etc. Nice! Probably the best video card you can get in a laptop without paying an arm and a leg. -And a blu ray drive? Seriously. Cons: -It's a little heavy for a 15". -750gb not a 1tb. Bottom line: This is the last laptop you'll need for quite some time, and it's under $1k. A Macbook Pro with these specs would be $2500.

Can not say enough about this laptop. Loving it! Fast, cool, quite and it includes Blu Rey and backlit keys.....REALLY and there is more,,,,The speakers on this are sooooo loud and clear.........theres more! The color and sharpness of the screen is amazing. I have not even begun to know all the things it does but I do know the keypad is solid and the touchpad I have had no problems with. The fan is very quite and it has never heated up on me. Again for the money its a prize!

I got this computer for work and liked it so much, I ended up getting the 17" XPS Z(X17L-2777ELS) for home use, so this is a combo review of both models... I did a TON of research and this was the best computer I found that had all the bells and whistles I was looking for. (The XPS 15 is great, but if you can do it, go for the bigger screen and the extra toys on the 17" - it's worth it!) I came close to getting the HP Envy 17-2070nr at Best Buy, because the design is a lot prettier, but the screen on the Dell in my opinion is superior - so crisp and clear with rich vibrant color - just beautiful - as compared to the HP's more washed out colors, so that's what made me finally opt for the Dell. Touchpad - I've heard people complain about the two finger scroll, but you can adjust it to one finger scroll on the right hand side where its more comfortable. Sensitivity is terrific and the pad is nice and large. Heat issues - If you keep it on a flat surface it’s stays cool. I haven’t had any problems - by raising it up a hair, it runs even cooler than my desktop. (If you want to mostly use it in your lap, go for something smaller/more portable.) Backlit Keyboard - wonderful… The HP was a bit dim and backlit just around the keys, whereas here the keys themselves are lit up and you can adjust the brightness settings. Keyboard - The 17” comes with the full keypad (includes the numeric pad which the 15” doesn‘t have) and with the brushed aluminum finish where your palms rest, it’s so smooth and soft to type on - really a pleasure. Battery Life - not great, but I’m not doing a lot of power saving features - I use full screen and no sleep mode, etc., so you may have better results with different settings. DVD/BluRay - Slide loading rather than the tray would have been nice, but I’ve heard people say they’re more difficult to repair. Picture quality is beautiful for both - haven’t used the 3D yet. Speakers - I confess, I’m not as wowed as everyone else seems to be. They are better than most other laptops I’ve heard, but overall I think laptop speakers have a long way to go. The speaker design on the XPS 17 is nicer than the 15, where they kind of look like weird grills on either side. These are integrated better to the left and right of the palm rest. I actually like the sound a tad better on the 15, maybe because the speakers are larger/louder. General Adjustments - I’ve had zero issues so far (yay!) but I did make a few adjustments based on issues other people had, like not being able to “wake up” the screen or black screen…I changed the settings so it never falls into sleep or stand-by mode, and changed the windows updates to “ask me before installing.” This is important because letting updates work on auto-pilot can cause problems. Cosmetics - As mentioned above, the HP was a lot prettier, but Dell had the upper hand most everywhere else, so I opted for the ugly duckling, lol. It’s not horrid looking, it’s just sort of industrial and plain, but the brushed aluminum finish is really nice and it is very solid, well built. Sony Vaio was nicely loaded, but it looked cheap/flimsy in person and if I’m paying over $1,000 for a computer I want something substantial. Toshiba Satellite was nice overall, but lacked the backlit keyboard and the vibrant screen. All the models are super speedy and you get that info from looking at the specs. So there’s all my reasons why I recommend the Dell. I got kinda wordy here, but these area the types of reviews I appreciated when I was looking for a new laptop, so I hope this helps! : )

Let's start with the negitives since there are so few of them. While the computer is NOT heavy at all it does weigh a little more than some of the others that are out there now. With that being said, the only other negitive I can think of is the processor as newer i7 processors are coming out. For positives, computers with the newer processors don't have any place near the screen that this one does. In fact, it totally kicks serious butt! Audio? Forget it I have never heard audio this good ever and I am not even a big music person. Maybe I got lucky but the fan and heat issue everyone talks about is non existant. The palm rest is pretty much cool to the touch and I don't even hear the fan at all. I know people are curious, my overall score is 5.9 but most are between 7.6 and 6.6

I have used the XPS L502x for about 4 months. I replaced a comparable Dell XPS i5 desktop and haven't looked back. I bought my wife a tricked out Dell Z 15" and after demoing it decided I would get this XPS and save some money. The BestBuy price was about $330.00 less than going through Dell on my school pricing plan. The unit is reliable and performs great. I like the chicklet keypad better than the one on the Dell Z. I use the unit for home assignments, and media. The screen is great and the touchpad makes it easy to expand windows for detail when needed. I rarely have the brightness over half-way. I have a 32" LCD I use when I need to have about 5 windows open at a time for research, and the unit is easy to add the LCD and close it out. #do make sure the HDMI cable is fully seated#. Also I use a Logitech Marathon mouse at desktop and its reccognized quickly. No hick-ups or crashes so far. Always finds my home and school wi-fi quickly. I use USB 2.0 to a DAC #Nuforce Icon HDP#for listening to music. I get a bit of keystoke/touchscreen audible disruption from time to time. This may be the fact I use a 3 meter USB cable to the DAC and that's longer than reccomended. I will be updating the DAC to one that has Asynchronous USB 2.0 24/192 and hopefully that DAC's integration with USB is a bit more fool proof. The audio section is good through the headphone jack, but I have not used it in S/PDIF output, as I use USB 2.0. My only comment is the powercord falls out of the socket once in a while when used on my lap. Maybe its the cable being conected in the back, that the cable gets caught on clothes, #perhaps the side plugs were a better idea#. Not a problem at my workstation. I got an identical charger for about $40 to use away from my desk which has the original mounted through the desk to the pull out keyboard/laptop shelf. Nice to just click the power strip main when the desk is not being used and cut power to the LCD, powercord, and accessories. I use a Canon photo and video program for the Powershot S100 as my only camera/video editing program, no issues. I think dell has done a nice job with this laptop and it meets my needs for a single computer and obsoleted both a Dell XPS i5 desktop and an older XPS 1530, and was much less than the curent Macbook pro options. I breifly considered the Samsung NP700Z5B-S01UB BestBuy sells but the keypad area wasn't as easy to use dispite the alure of a 10-key pad. #Reviews of this Dell have been fewer as its special order, but higher than the Samsung, which is stocked#. Oh well, with the great on-board speakers on the Dell, something had to go. A little weird not having 10-key and using the calculator. As to battrey life, It gets through four hour class sessions without running out #putting it in stand-by for breaks#. In conclusion, Dell has made a nice unit here. The Z is nice but expensive. This may be one of the best personal laptops available without breaking the 1K mark. One last point, BesBuy lowered the price $30 from the order date to pick-up date and promptly refunded the difference. Good service #unit arrived early, and the Geeksquad guys removed all the bloatwear and optimized some performance seetings N/C before leaving the store#, is always in style and welcome!

Pros- AMAZING sound system: JBL speakers. Not to mention a BUILT IN SUBWOOFER!!! On a laptop?! Crazy right? It's small, so I'm still planning on buying a legit plug in system, but for on the go purposes this sound quality is unbelieveable for a laptop. Also- lightning fast, perfect size screen, lot of options for connecting things (HDMI output, 3 usbs, 9 in 1 memory reader) Cons- Batter life is TERRIBLE, a little thick- but I really don't mind it. Also, if you're looking for a gaming computer, do NOT get this one. It only has like 64 MB for video processing I believe. I was able to install my Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 CD but not my Tom Clancy's HAWZ game. Overall- I purchased this for college and am looking forward to use it for classes. It is exactly what I need......now if only I can get my hands on Microsoft Office Professional package!

Fantastic purchase for those who love a power full laptop which can be used to play blu ray movies. The speakers came as a big surprise. They are unbelievable for a laptop.

Dell XPS L502X is really a amazing laptop...great display and sound...i like very much.....the one problem is the more weight...it weighs more and not comfortable to carry over...rest its the best of XPS models......great laptop....