Specs. and initial look
| System Name | Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 |
| Processor | Intel Pentium M 770 - 2.13GHz - 2MB L2 cache |
| Motherboard | Intel i915PM (dual-channel support, PCI-Express) |
| Memory | 1GByte (2x 512MB) DDR2 PC4200 SODIMMs |
| Hard Drives | Fujitsu MHU2100AT 100GB, 8MB cache, 4,200RPM |
| Screen | 17" WUXGA (1920x1200) |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra (450/1100) |
| Optical drive | Sony DW-D56A |
| Optical drive characteristics | 8x DVD-R, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 4x DVD-RW, 2.4x DVD+R9, 24x CD-R, 10x CD-RW, 8x DVD-ROM (read) |
| Sound | Intel High-Definition Audio |
| Modem | Conexant D110 MDC |
| Networking | Broadcom 5702 Gigabit LAN, Intel 2200BG 802.11b/g Wireless, Bluetooth, FireWire | Ports connectivity | 6x USB2.0, 1x 4-pin FireWire400, modem, RJ45 LAN, S-Video, DVI, HD15, PCMCIA, line-out (audio), microphone-in |
| Operating system | Windows XP Home SP2 |
| Weight | 3.9kg (without charger) |
| Dimensions | 394mm (w) x 288mm (d) x 42mm (h) |
| Warranty | Dell 1-year next business day |
| Price | £2099.99 (as at 14/06/05)) |
| Shipping | Included in price |
| Other notables | Integrated SD card reader |
Cast your eye over the specs. again. The Dell XPS Generation 2 laptop is a desktop replacement in the truest sense of the words.
Dell has redesigned the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 from the ground up. There's very little left over from the original Inspiron XPS laptop, which made use of an Inspiron 9100's thick chassis and wattage-eating Pentium 4 desktop CPU. The Inspiron XPS Gen 2 tips the scales at 3.9KG, which is more than acceptable for a laptop that uses a 17-inch screen as standard. It's certainly a lot more portable than the 5.5KG Rock Xtreme Ti, and you can carry it around with one hand, just. The XPS Gen 2 will never fit into the thin-and-light category but, I feel, its overall size is acceptable. You can see its thickness, when compared to a Sony Ericsson K700i phone, here. The buttons on the front control Dell's DMX A/V program, but you cannot play an audio CD with the laptop turned off. Pressing any key results in Windows XP booting. It's a shame that this is the case, as the in-built speakers are reasonable enough.
Turning it to the right-hand side shows a single PCMCIA slot, an integrated SD card reader, a 4-pin FireWire400 port, headphone jack, and microphone-in. These are pretty much par for the course with modern laptops.
Turning it around again highlights a couple of copper heatsinks on either side, just about visible through the vents. Connectivity-wise, Dell adds 4 USB2.0 ports, modem, RJ45, S-Video, and a power jack. Outputting graphics on to external displays can be done by either DVI or VGA, much in the vein of the Inspiron XPS Gen 1. Wireless connectivity takes the form of both 802.11b/g and Bluetooth.
Completing the product tour is a shot of the left-hand side. Another couple of USB2.0 ports brings the total up to 6, and next to them is a Sony multi-format, dual-layer DVD writer. It's not removable, however, so there's no hot-swapping of drives. It seems as if the Inspiron XPS Gen 2's designers are fans of lights. There's LEDs on one side and on the top of the chassis. It's an acquired taste, sure, but it kind of grows on you, and you can even change the colour of either set of LEDs to any one of 16 from within the BIOS. So far so good.
