Dell XPS M1710 Metallic Black 17-inch Notebook Review

MobileMark 2005, Wireless Networking

Mobile Mark 2005

Mobile Mark 2005 is a benchmark that runs three tests while the laptop is running on batteries: office productivity (i.e. Excel, Word, Outlook); DVD playback; and Wireless activity. Each test begins with the laptop charged to 100% and is put through the test until the batter is depleted to 2% to 3%, at which point the test stops and gives a score in minutes.

Overall Mobile Mark gives you a measurement in terms of how long the battery lasts while performing a specific action, and how much of that action you can perform during that time. For each test, the brightness of the display was set to 100%.

The Dell M1710 performs well in this test showing over 2 hours of battery life in productivity, DVD playback, and wireless web surfing. For a 17″ laptop, 2 hours of battery life is exceptional and our tests were done without any form of power conservation which means you should get much more life in real-world usage.

Wireless Networking

To measure the performance of the Wireless adapater we use Microsoft’s NTTTCP network bandwidth testing tool and compare the results against other wireless adapters. For this test, the laptop was located 2″ from the antenna to reduce the effects of other radio sources like cell and cordless phones, and other RF devices. But due to the mature of WiFi networking, this test is not 100% accurate since it’s impossible to eliminate interfering signals.