Dell XPS M1730: The Old Guard
We reviewed the XPS M1730 back in October of 2007, but the company sent us a replacement with an upgraded processor for comparison purposes.
The XPS M1730 looks far more like an Alienware product than a Dell, so it would be easy to look at the two and make the wrong guess about its origins, if not for the logos.
The XPS M1730 case hasn’t changed since its original review, so we can skip directly to the internal changes. The CPU has been upgraded from the X7900 to the new X9000, which bring an increase in cache from 4 MB to 6 MB. Desktop enthusiasts know that this also means an upgrade in core technology from the 65 nm Conroe to the 45 nm Wolfdale, which should reduce both power consumption and heat.
The Dell XPS M1730 is a lot harder to open up than the Alienware m15x, as two bottom panels open to reveal only the hard drive and RAM.
Memory was increased from the former configuration’s two gigabytes to the current four gigabytes, still running at DDR2-667 speed.
Unchanged but still worth mentioning is the 9-cell battery, which is rated in watt hours rather than the standard milliamp hours. Watt hours are meaningless for comparison purposes, but dividing 85 Wh by 11.1 V yields 7.66 amp hours (7657 mAh).
