Video and Audio
The XPS M1710 comes with a standard high resolution UltraSharp 1900×1200 display which looks very sharp at all angles. The text is clear and the colours are vibrant.
Playing games is a real joy especially when you crank the resolution up to the full 1900×1200 with all the details. Games like Oblivion and Prey look stunning with their use of HDR and shaders.
Watching Happy Feet using the Blu-Ray drive was incredible. The blacks were nice and dark without any colour or light bleeding. The details were sharp and the colours were bright.
Audio
The speakers on the Dell XPS M1710 are a bit disappointing considering the quality of the rest of the product. The speakers are small and barely produce enough range to give any real definition to music or video.
In auditioning a few different songs and a few movies, it’s fair to say that the bass is nearly non-existent and the treble is over metallic and muddy. You’re better off using headphones if you want to get better fidelity or connecting the M1710 to an external set of speakers.
I really hope Dell improves the audio on the M1710 as it is a weak spot.
One cool thing I found on the Dell XPS M1710 is that the lights pulse with music and movies when played in Windows Media player. Using the Dell QuickSet utility, you can also have the speaker lights flash differently and with different media players. All you need is your own disco ball and you’re all set!
