XPS laptops are a family of consumer-oriented high-end laptops under the XPS brand, manufactured by Dell Inc..
Overview
Dell returned to develop their XPS performance line in 2010, releasing three new laptops in October of that year, which had many new features and improved specifications compared to previous models. These included JBL speakers with Waves MaxxAudio 3 technology, integrated 3D graphics, the first-ever Skype certification for video chat, and Intel i5 and i7 processors. Dell also offered a software-based X-Fi audio upgrade.
Production overview 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 11" 9P33 12" 9Q23 9Q33 9250 13" L321X L322X, 9333 9343, 9350 (2015) 9360 9365 9370 9380, 7390 9300, 9310 9305 9315, 9320 9340, 9345, 9350 (2024) DX13260 14" L401X L412z L421X 9440 DA14250 DA14260 15" L501X L502X, L511Z L521X 9530 (2013) 9550 9560 9570, 9575 7590 9500 9510 9520 9530 (2023) 16" 9640 DA16250 DA16260 17" L701X L702X 9700 9710 9720 9730
Early models
Inspiron XPS (2004) This was the very first XPS laptop, initially released under the Inspiron name. It was a very heavy desktop-replacement laptop starting at 9.06 pounds without a power supply (which added 2.5 pounds). This was because it was offered with either a 3.4 GHz desktop Pentium 4 HT "Prescott" processor, or the "Gallatin" Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor at the same clock speed, which gave off tremendous amounts of heat due to their higher clock speeds and TDP as well as an inefficient microarchitecture, despite a very large copper-based heatsink that spanned the width of the unit with three fans. It came with a 1920x1200 15.4-inch LCD, and a subwoofer integrated into the bottom of the battery casing, with the 12-cell battery (the 16-cell battery variant did not include a subwoofer). Earlier models came with an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 GPU with 128 MB of memory, and later models the Mobility Radeon 9800 with 256 MB of memory. The Mobility Radeon 9700 was based on the R360 core of the later ATI Radeon 9800 desktop graphics cards, while the Mobility Radeon 9800 was based on the R420 core which was the same core used on the early ATI Radeon X800 desktop graphics cards, but with half the pixel pipelines disconnected. The Inspiron 9100 was similar to this model, which mostly had the same features and chassis as the Inspiron XPS but with different screen resolutions.
A popular modification to the GPU was to bridge two traces in the top right corner of the PCB surrounding the exposed core with a conductive pen to unlock these pipelines. However, this could only be done on cores made before week 43 of 2004. Dell promised graphics card upgradeability, but only delivered the arguably small 9700 to 9800 step for 9700 owners (at a rather steep $399 price tag, including a technician to install it) and never delivered the promised upgrade to the 9800 owners.
It suffered from a whining sound on the headphone and microphone jacks located on the left of the unit. This was because of shared space with the leftmost fan, and the spinning of that fan caused interference. There was no way to fix this other than to otherwise use an external USB, FireWire/1394 or PCMCIA-based audio device or card for sound output as a workaround.
Second generation Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (2005) The Inspiron XPS Gen 2 was released in early 2005 as the direct successor of the first Inspiron XPS. This replaced the desktop Pentium 4 processor of its predecessor with a mobile Pentium M processor, providing almost the same level of performance as the desktop Pentium 4 at a lower clock rate and TDP. Weight was also significantly reduced to about 8.6 lb compared to 9.06 lb of its predecessor. Due to the use of a mobile processor instead of a desktop one this laptop was thinner and lighter than most other high-performance gaming notebooks of its time and output less heat than desktop processors used prior. It was also more efficient in power and performance than prior desktop processors due to it using a more efficient microarchitecture. It was part of the Intel Centrino platform-marketing brand. It had a design very similar to the later XPS M1710 and featured a 17-inch widescreen display at the same 1920x1200 resolution as the first generation. It used the NVIDIA GeForce 256 MiB 6800 Ultra Go graphics card, which was a Dell exclusive at the time. The whining sound problem of the first Inspiron XPS was gone as the internals were changed to resolve the issue. The Inspiron 9300, itself the successor to the Inspiron 9100, was based on this laptop with the same features and design but with a 1440x900 screen resolution and an ATI Mobility Radeon X300 GPU in the base model.
XPS M170 and M140 (2005)
In October of 2005 the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 was rebranded as the XPS M170, and updated to an NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX graphics card.
In addition, the XPS M140 was released as a lower-end alternative, based on the Dell Inspiron 630m. This model featured a choice of several Intel mobile processors; a 14.1-inch widescreen display; and 512 MiB to 2 GiB of RAM. Being more media-oriented than gaming, it did not feature a dedicated graphics card. It was later replaced with the Inspiron E1405, a 14.1" laptop physically similar, but featuring the newer Intel Core Duo processors and Intel's 945 chipset.
Third generation
XPS M1210 (2006) The XPS M1210 was a high-performance ultra-portable, 12.1-inch screen notebook featuring a new case design; Intel Core Duo processor technology; an optional dedicated NVIDIA GeForce 7400 Go video card; and an optional integrated 1.3MP webcam. It also had optional WWAN features supporting 3G broadband services. With the standard battery the laptop weighed 1.9 kg. Unlike other 12-inch notebooks the M1210 featured a built-in optical drive rather than an external one.
XPS M1710 (2006) The XPS M1710 was announced on April 18, 2006, as a higher-end 17-inch WUXGA TrueLife widescreen XPS desktop replacement, available in black or red. It was marketed to gamers, sharing a chassis design and many components with the lower-end Inspiron E1705/9400 and the Precision M90 mobile workstation. The base design featured an Intel Core Duo processor; NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS or 7900 GTX GPU; 7200 RPM SATA hard drive; DDR2 SDRAM; and a magnesium alloy case including a 1-inch subwoofer complementing the two treble heavy stereo speakers. User configurable multicolor LED lighting was present in the touchpad, fans, speakers and lid with the ability to have them change color/intensity via Dell QuickSet software or via QuickSet plugins to music with bass giving more red-shifted changes and treble more blue-shifted (an SDK developer kit for custom dynamic link libraries could be obtained for integration to many system processes and even games). Technical support was segregated for the XPS line with access to an "exclusive" XPS-branded segment of DELL's business support division. The unit was built on the foundation of a Precision M90 chassis. Later models offered the Core 2 Duo processor, the NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GTX GPU, and optional Blu-ray and/or an unlocked Core 2 Duo processor, which could be overclocked "officially" to 3.16 GHz, although at least 3.5 GHz has been reported as possible. As the mainboard used the Intel 945 chipset, the XPS M1710 could not address more than 3.25 GiB of RAM though Dell specified "up to 4 GB RAM". The chipset, although capable of AHCI operation, was never implemented by Dell, leaving any future SATA hard drive upgrade paths crippled to IDE legacy operation, protocols, and bandwidth. Further evidence of untapped capacity involved the use of replacing the video cards with a Dell Precision Quadro FX 1600M (essentially an 8700M GT with comparable performance to the flagship DX9 7950 Go GTX card), allowing for DirectX 10 functionality in a laptop not designed to do so (with the card being unidentified, but the LCD verified by the BIOS, leaving argument that some design foresight was in place for at least a path to using the Quadro FX 1600 and even FX 3600M in this machine in a BIOS revision).
There were severe overheating problems with the graphics card in this model, and just like the Precision M90, GPU failures due to cracking in the type of solder used on the NVIDIA chipsets to bind them to the substrate were common and settled via a class-action lawsuit with NVIDIA in later years.
XPS M2010 (2006) The XPS M2010 was announced on May 31, 2006, as a top-of-the-line briefcase-styled mobile desktop with a 20.1-inch widescreen with a WSXGA+ resolution and TrueLife. The outside of the case had a leather-like appearance."It comes with a charcoal grey exterior design, which will give us a soft-leather-like texture." Dell XPS M2010 Review | Blog – ScreenAid.com It used an ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 graphics with 256 MiB of graphics memory and had support for dual hard drives. It could be customized with an Intel Core 2 Duo T2500, T5600, T7400 or T7600, and 1, 2 or 4 GiB of DDR2 SDRAM at 667 MHz (Although it could take 2x2 GiB at 677 MHz it would only operate at 3.25 GiB at 500 MHz due to chipset and FSB limitations). It expanded to a full desktop set, including a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth mouse, and radio-frequency Media Center remote. It was praised for the high-quality sound system which included 8 separate ¾" speakers below the screen and a 1¾" subwoofer on the bottom of the machine, ported to the right-hand side. While it could be folded and carried as a briefcase with its built-in carrying handle, at 18.3 lb it was generally considered too heavy to be a true desktop replacement.
Fourth generation
XPS M1330 (2007) This 13.3-inch high-end laptop, released on June 26, 2007, featured the Santa Rosa platform. The screen was either CCFL or WLED backlit. The WLED-backlit version had a 0.3MP camera, as opposed to the 2MP camera with the CCFL screen, but the variant with WLED screen was thinner and brighter than the previous XPS 1210. Moreover, the it could also feature a biometric fingerprint reader, usually only found in business-class laptops like the Latitude series. It also offered the NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS graphics card as an option. Originally it could only be configured with Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors up to T7700 (2.4 GHz), but could later be configured with processors up to the Intel Core 2 Duo T9500. It was noted for its light weight of only 1.8 kg. It was also available in Dell's product red line (see below).
The XPS M1330 was replaced by the M1340 (Studio XPS 13).
The most reported issue with M1330 laptops was overheating. Dell became aware of the problem and found that it was limited to NVIDIA chip production (G84- and G86-GPU's). As a result the BIOS was updated to A12, which improves thermal control but does not prevent it from reoccurring.Message on Dell website Direct2dell.com This problem resulted from the chip material used by NVIDIA not being capable of withstanding high temperatures. This problem was exacerbated by poor thermal contact between the chip and the heat pipe (the gap was too big). Some overcame the problem by fashioning a heat sink using a copper plate and thermal paste to fill the gap between the heat pipe and the graphics chip.
Several cases were also reported of cosmetic defects in manufacturing, such as loose hinge covers and unusually uneven gaps between plastic parts, along with customer complaints concerning "CPU whine".
XPS M1530 (2007)