While the original Inspiron XPS notebook impressed us with its performance, it fell short in weight and looks. With a complete makeover both inside and out, the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (XPS-2) sports the new GeForce Go 6800 Ultra–the fastest mobile video card on the market–instantly making it the top dog of gaming notebooks.

New and Improved
Major advancements have gone into improving the XPS-line notebook. First, Dell ditches the P4 desktop chip in favor of the more efficient P4-M (up to 2.13GHz). Without the need to deal with major cooling concerns of the P4 chip, the XPS-2 drops a full pound from the first generation to 8.6 lbs, even with the bump up in size to a 17-in widescreen UXGA display (1920x1200 max resolution). A 9 cell lithium ion battery provides 2-hours in normal use, not gaming. Although not good enough for movies, the built-in 2-watt stereo speakers and 5-watt subwoofer works well in a pinch. With a starting price of $2749, the XPS-2 offers great value in this class of notebooks. 

Big Bad Mutha
Although lighter and thinner (1.5-inches), the notebook is slightly wider (15.5-inches) and deeper (11.3-inches) than its predecessor and will not fit into any standard notebook bag or backpack. Thankfully, Dell offers a special Dell XPS backpack to tote this monster to and from LAN parties.

The exterior has gone through a complete overhaul, starting with the black and metal brushed metal lid. The XPS-2 adds further customizable looks with a Personalization Shield -- snap-on covers that you can slip in special game themed or print your own 8x10 inserts. For the “Pimp My Ride” crowd, the XPS-2 has user-configurable LED lights (air intake vents, lid cover light, and speaker lights) to add bling to your portable gaming rig. 

With navigation buttons sitting front and center just below the lid latch, a push of a button launches Dell MediaDirect to quickly access all your multimedia content (music, pictures and videos) and also play your DVDs and CDs. An add-on tuner adds the ability to watch and time-shift TV.

Other specs:

• Support for up to 2GB of dual channel DDR2 SDRAM
• Up to 100 GB Ultra ATA HDD
• 8x double layer CD/DVD burner (DVD+/- RW)
• Built-in Gigabit Ethernet
• SD reader
• FireWire and USB 2.0

Final Thoughts
Unlike sequels to movies, second-generation products almost always improve upon the original and the Dell XPS Gen 2 does not disappointment. With the sleek, lighter design and the fastest mobile video card in the universe, the XPS-2 is the best gaming notebook out there, until the sequel. 

Pro: Lighter and tighter design; fastest mobile video card; bling bling features; good value
Con: Too big to fit into any standard notebook bag.