Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 Notebook - Gaming and Performance

Over the past year, it has been interesting to see the emphasis that the big names are willing to put on the "enthusiast" crowd, in regards to notebooks. In the past, notebooks have been targeted towards businessmen and the like. These days, however, the variety is so wide that there is a notebook targeted to just about every niche and need. Consider this: a few years ago there were a handful of names making true blue notebook gaming rigs, i.e. Alienware, albeit in small quantities.  But as the gaming generation grows, so does the interest in these powerful systems. So, it really comes as no surprised to us to see Dell and HP joining the fray. The difference is that Dell has really gone after the "enthusiast" gamer, rather than the casual "once in a while" type gamer. This is really seen once you get into the design of their gaming notebook: the Inspiron XPS. Now in its second generation, let's take a more in depth look at this already popular notebook.

Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 Specifications

Measuring in at 15.5" x 11.3" x 1.67" and with a weight starting at 8.6 pounds (our XPS Gen 2 sample weighed in at about 8.8 lbs.), the XPS Gen 2 is currently the largest and heaviest notebook to come from the design team at Dell and exceeds historical size specifications for past Dell notebooks. Obviously, this is not the mainstream notebook you should be buying if you are just looking to do some word processing or emailing. This notebook has been explicitly designed for the hardcore gamer and multimedia enthusiast looking for a notebook. The reason that Dell is making a big statement with this notebook is...well...because they are Dell. That name alone carries a lot of weight and bursting onto a scene that Voodoo, Alienware, Hypersonic, and others normally occupy is a huge deal when it comes to serious gamers looking to avoid a huge price tag.