Due to a change in circumstance, this laptop is no longer for sale… sorry!

I can, however, still provide valuable information on choosing a suitable laptop (or suitable PC hardware) to meet your needs, so if you need advice of this nature, don’t hesitate to ask! I’ve been giving advice on such matters for over a decade, and thus far my record is virtually immaculate (I only seem to fail when choosing hardware for my own “top-of-the-range” custom PC’s… mainly because some of those parts are prototypes or too new to be fully reliable). Anyway, if you need some suggestions, I can help you!

I’m selling my Dell XPS M1730 custom gaming laptop to raise some funds towards building my new “monster rig”.

UPDATE (17th September 09): Forgot to mention that this XPS does indeed have the PhysX card!

In Brief (updated 09/09/10):

• Laptop is in basically perfect condition (fully functional, clean, all hardware 100% perfect, fresh OS installation of Vista x64 Ultimate)
• Can only ship to mainland UK addresses (partly due to Customs)
• New asking price of just £850 (will not be dropping the price any lower than this… it’s worth far more)
• Includes:
  • FREE 16GB SDHC card
  • FREE 17″ Laptop Cooling Tray
  • All original documents & disks
  • Original battery + charger (battery still holds the exact same charge as the day it was bought, thanks to my rigorous maintenance routines) with Original DELL-branded charger!
  • Includes an additional Windows Vista x86 Ultimate license (as I bought a separate x64 license) which CAN be transferred to another machine if you desire!

If you want it, get in touch! If I don’t find a buyer soon, I’ll stick it up on eBay with a buy-it-now of £1000, and a starting bid of £850, and I am 90% sure it’d sell within 48 hours at those prices.

Technical Specs

CPU: Intel Core2Duo T9300 2.5GHz (software overclock possible, though not necessary)
RAM (Memory) : 4GB DDR2 800MHz (Dual channel 5-5-5-15)
HDD (Storage Drives) : 2x 320GB (640GB RAID) Western Digital (RAID Edition) 7200rpm 16MB Cache (configured on a 640GB RAID0 Stripe for optimal performance)… much faster and more reliable than the Seagate Drives originally included by Dell! These drives can be reconfigured as a RAID Mirror if you prefer (if you preference redundancy over performance)!
GPUs (Graphics Chips) : 2x NVidia GeForce 8800GTX-M’s on SLI (Easily handles Crysis at 1920×1200 with nice graphics courtesy of nHancer software optimization which I’ll include with the installation)
OS: Windows Vista x64 Ultimate (I upgraded it from the 32-bit edition Dell shipped as standard, both license certificates are included on the chassis, so you can use the 32-bit key on another system if you want… so you’re also getting a free Vista Ultimate license!) NOTE: I’ll also include the original Vista Ultimate x64 DVD package, just in case you wish to reinstall at some point in the future!
Optical: Dell’s standard DVD+R/RW drive (has served me very well over the last 18 months as it reads DVD disks which, for some reason, refuse to work on my BluRay drives)
Display: 17″ Widescreen (16:10 aspect) WXGA crystal-clear display with a resolution of 1920×1200 (above HD). This is one of the two most impressive laptop screens I’ve ever seen due to its contrast ratio and the clarity of colours. NOTE: I have carefully examined the display and can see absolutely NO visible marks or blemishes of any kind (no surprise given that I put a LOT of care into all of my machines and their displays)
Additional Features:

• Integrated Logitech G15 LCD keyboard display (with related function buttons) and Backlit Keys
• Touch-pad and speakers contain RGB LED’s which can be configured to light up any colour you like (also can be configured to perform funky light-shows if you’re into that kind of thing)
• SD/SDHC card reader (I’ll include a Class 6 16GB SDHC card for free so you can make use of it, or use it for ReadyBoost)
• ExpressCard 54 slot (which contains an IR media remote for your entertainment pleasures)
• 4x USB 2.0 sockets
• Firewire 1394 mini socket
• Dual Headphone outputs and one microphone input socket
• Integrated Horizontal Array Microphone (I have recorded tutorial videos using this microphone and can testify that it is an incredible piece of kit! Not a single blip of unwanted background noise or distortion was captured, making the editing process much easier)
• Integrated Webcam (I think it’s 2 mega-pixels, but I’m not 100% sure… the picture quality is great though)
• Very high-quality speakers (I believe they might be Altec Lansing, but again not sure… all I know is the sound quality is the best I’ve ever heard from laptop speakers, with volume superior to most common desktop speaker kits!)
• DVI Monitor Output (can add a second digital display, or clone your primary display using NVidia’s drivers)
• Wireless N wifi card integrated
• 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet port (as you’d expect)
• Because the M1730 has a modular board, you can upgrade all the major hardware (CPU, RAM, HDDs, GPUs)… so long as you have experience with carefully disassembling and reassembling a laptop without breaking anything!
• 85Wh original Dell Battery Pack (with integrated LED gauge to view charge levels without the need to turn the laptop on)
• Original Dell Charger pack.
• All original documentation, CDs, DVDs etc. which came with the system (NOTE: I cannot ship it in its original box as I disposed of this once the warranty expired. As a systems developer, I have cupboards and a garage full of warranty-required packaging thus it is necessary to dispose of such things once they are no longer required)

Other Details and Customizations

• This particular laptop has the faux Carbon Fibre effect, with the red XPS panels on the lid… though it is possible for you to replace these red XPS panels, if you really want to, with any of the coloured panels for this model you can find online.
• The laptop is FULLY FUNCTIONAL… having tested everything (and given that I’ve been using this laptop for 18 months) I can say with 100% certainty that there is not a single faulty or broken item of hardware within it.
• There is one minor (very small) bent piece of shielding metal on the Ethernet socket which makes it slightly difficult to disconnect Ethernet cables. It is a very small defect which occurred during manufacturing at Dell’s Ireland facility… so minor that I never saw reason to have it corrected.
• The laptop is clean and can almost pass for “brand new” (so we call it LIKE-NEW). As a serious computer enthusiast (“geek” if you prefer), I put a great deal of love and care into all of my computers and equipment, which means I clean them completely and regularly (monthly). This includes cleaning dust from the inside of the chassis which would ordinarily result in reduced air flow and thus unwanted heat, as well as cleaning each individual key on the keyboard, and the touch-pad, with treated cotton buds to remove smudges left during typing.
• The laptop performs perfectly under normal conditions (running it on a suitable surface), but those foolish enough to try playing games on it with it sat directly on their lap (or any non-solid, flat surface) will experience a significant heat increase. If you want to sit a laptop on your lap, get a laptop tray! I will provide a suitable AKASA laptop tray (with USB-powered fans) [worth £40] FREE of charge with this XPS as the improved airflow (thanks to its ribbed surface) further reduces heat buildup and the risk of damaging internal components due to overheating.
• I shall be fully formatting the 640GB partition and reinstalling Windows Vista x64 Ultimate prior to shipping (to remove my personal data and software from the machine). If you would like, I will happily configure it with all the lovely optimizations I use which allow you to get the absolute most from this extreme performance laptop, including…
  • nHancer to drastically improve graphics performance and quality
  • 16GB of ReadBoost cache on the included 16GB SDHC card
  • tweaks to Operating System settings/configuration to squeeze every ounce of performance
  • will install every single Windows Update for you, to save you the trouble when you first start using the machine
  • Can install a 30 day trial of Kaspersky Internet Security to protect you from viruses whilst you begin installing your own software and files
  • Can preinstall any desired software you specify (so long as the installers are available to me) to save you some time and effort (NOTE: I cannot install any software which requires a license key unless you provide your keys, which is your choice to make). I tend to preinstall VideoLAN (VLC Media Player) on all machines as standard as I consider it to be the definitive media player suite. It plays virtually all file formats and requires no codecs to do-so. Chances are I will (out of habbit) preinstall this software anyway, but it can be uninstalled – if you prefer – very easily.
  • I will NOT bundle any JUNK on the system! By default, Dell ships its systems with a difficult-to-remove trial of Norton (which I hate), along with a bunch of AOL and Google crap nobody wants… none of this will be on the system when you receive it! This means you will not need to spend hours removing useless bloat-ware from the machine as I had to do when I received it. All of the drivers and their required utility applications will be installed and configured for you… so no driver installations will be required by yourself.
• As a matter of full disclosure, the secondary 8800GTX card was replaced 12 months ago on warranty as the original card was faulty and stopped functioning. I have had absolutely no issues with this machine since then.
• I can report that, considering the performance hardware packed into such a tidy unit, the fan noise produced by the system is very reasonable (when compared to a similar performance PC or even many lower-performance laptops)! I have used this machine at night to watch movies in bed… and I don’t even notice it.
• The speakers are truly impressive! I have been able to play music and video in public places with both immense volume and superb audio quality compared to literally any other laptop I have ever seen (and even many desktop speaker solutions I have witnessed).

The Price

The original purchase price of this laptop was £2075. Once it arrived, I put a further ~£300 in with upgrades (hard drives etc.). The included 16GB SDHC card was about ~£60 on Amazon at the time of purchase, the Windows Vista Ultimate x64 license was ~£150 at the time of purchase, and the AKASA cooling tray was around ~£45.
Today you can buy (on Amazon) the closest-spec M1730 for £1500 (see the Amazon listing for more details) but this only has 2x 160GB (slower) drives, Vista Home Premium 32bit (which is rubbish) and none of my upgrades & optimizations, though Amazon’s does come with a 3-year warranty which I cannot provide with mine.

I’m selling this XPS M1730 Custom for £1000 (or near offer) including shipping, the spare Vista Ultimate 32-bit license, the 16GB SDHC card and the AKASA cooling tray. I’m including a 7 day returns policy in the HIGHLY UNLIKELY event that laptop arrives DOA (shipping will be insured to cover the value of the laptop itself). This return policy is ONLY valid if the laptop is DOA, as the system has been thoroughly tested by myself, and witnessed by an independent computer retailer.

I WILL ONLY SHIP TO MAINLAND UK ADDRESSES!

As I said in the very beginning, I’m only selling this laptop to help raise some of the funds towards building a new state-of-the-art PC to replace my aging “Monster Rig” system (the new hardware is costing ~£7000 in total).

So, if you’re in the market for a high-end performance/gaming laptop, but don’t want to spend more than £1000, this is a perfect system for you!

If you’re interested in purchasing, send me an e-mail to kraven [at] greycascade [dot] com and I’ll send you payment instructions (PayPal, Cheque, or Bank Transfer).

If you want any information (or have any questions) not provided (answered) already, please leave a comment and I’ll add that information for you.

All I ask of the buyer is that they treat this machine with as much care and respect as I have… she has been a valuable asset to myself and my work, it’s a little sad to be selling her.