Dell XPS M1710 Metallic Black 17-inch Notebook Review

DVD, Firewire, USB, and HDD

DVD Ripping

To test DVD performance we use DVD Decrypter to make a back-up of the first disk of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

The Dell M1710 Metallic Black edition laptop manages to perform well beating two of the three systems tested. The Asus A7J still comes out on top by 7 minutes thanks to a faster read rate.

Hard Drive Performance

We will now test the hard drive performance using HDTach. Results from these tests are important if you do a lot of disk writing and reading like copying media files. To compare, we are testing the Fujitsu 4200 RPM drive in the Compaq V2410, the 5400RPM Fujitsu in the Asus A7J, and we throw in some desktop HDD numbers for good measure.

The 7200 RPM SATA drive in the M1710 makes a significant difference in performance compared to all the other laptops tested – the M1710 is over 10MB/s faster in both sequential and average reading speeds. In burst speeds, we see a massive jump in performance with numbers closer to a typical desktop SATA drive. For quick file accesses like loading Windows or loading applications, the M1710 will give you a much faster experience bringing you closer to that of a desktop.

USB 2.0 Performance

For many of us, the only way to add functionality not built into a laptop package is by using one of the expansion ports. With so many USB and Firewire devices on the market these days, tests like the one we are about to perform are even more critical. Using a Bytecc ME-740 U2F external ATA133 enclosure, we will test the performance of the USB and Firewire ports on the Asus A7J.

Excluding the Compaq V2410, the Dell M1710 is just slightly slower than the other systems tested, but overall the USB performance is on par with the other Intel laptops (Asus) and the desktop.

Firewire Performance

For most laptop users, the Firewire port goes relatively unusued. Most use it for an iPod or a hard drive, even less use it for a video camera. However, the few tests will show you that Firewire is great for long sustained transfers that beats USB 2.0.

Like the USB results above, the M1710 comes up just just a bit slower than the other systems tested. This difference is VERY minor as the scale is magnified to show the seperation of results.