Price: $2,663.00
Best general-use and gaming laptop.
•Gaming performance
•Display quality
•LED backlit keyboard
•Quiet operation
•Bloatware
•Expensive
•Massive power supply
•11-pound weight
Reviews all point to the Dell XPS M1730 as a top-notch mobile gaming machine and a great desktop-replacement laptop in general. Expensive even in its base configurations, the laptop can be optioned with a wide range of options, including dual video cards. The 17-inch widescreen display is widely praised, as is overall performance, though the screen may be a little too glossy for brightly lit offices. If watching multimedia is more important to you than gaming, the Acer Aspire 8920G (*est. $2,500) costs a bit more, but includes a Blu-ray player, multi-channel surround sound and a widescreen 18.4-inch screen. It's not as great for gaming, but the Acer is a solid performer in all other aspects. You can get a Blu-ray player on the Dell XPS M1730 for $400 more, but it still won't have the Acer's multi-speaker sound system.
While reviews for the Dell XPS M1730 are a little older, more current reporting says that nothing now available usurps its standing as the best gaming laptop. It earns rave reviews from NotebookReview.com, an impressive and respected source for laptop computer reviews, and Editors' Choice awards from several other well-regarded publications, including CNet, PC Magazine and Laptop magazine. Though it's a difficult read, the review at NotebookCheck.net is worthwhile for its comprehensive testing.
