Best XPS m1530 for my needs (from dell outlet)? This one look good?

After doing some searching and reading here I have a feeling I’m going to be on this site a lot in the future. I’ve been looking at XPS laptops at the dell outlet for a few weeks now. My main criteria when hunting for an xps 1530 was a high speed hard drive, decent video card (for casual 3d gaming on the go), intel n-wireless, and 9-cell battery. I take my laptop everywhere and do vehicle tuning, gaming on the road, office work, etc. I had been looking at the studio 15 in the outlet but I think the XPS will be a little more portable in a more well-built package (I also ruled out 17” notebooks from experience with brick-like previous ones). I’ve found one that I think will work but I’m concerned about the WXGA+ screen (don’t want a grainy one) and the price (my original budget for an outlet lappy was $500-$600).

Proposed laptop… $645 + shipping/tax
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (2 DIMMs)
200 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Certified Refurbished
XPS M1530 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web Camera
Microsoft Works 9.0
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini Card
Dell Travel Remote Control
90W AC Adapter
9 Cell Primary Battery
Tuxedo Black
Bluetooth Wireless Card 355
15.4 inch WXGA+ Laptop Screen with TrueLife

How does the battery life compare between a wxga led versus the wxga non-led screen? I’m hoping the 9-cell will make it a moot point. I currently have an acer 14.1” 1200x800 screen lappy (with crystalbright) and I really need more real-estate space with at least an equivalent quality screen. Does this dell sound like it be okay? I see the ram is 667mhz on a 800mhz bus but that can always be fixed in the future. Thoughts/opinions? Any reason to wait and “hope” for a 15-20% XPS outlet coupon in the next month or so and are these sort of system specs/$ common in the outlet? From my experience watching what happens when an outlet coupon comes out it becomes super tough to find something specific. Thanks!

Wayne

 

I traded up from a 1330 to 1530 a couple of weeks ago. I got an excellent price for a t8300 with LED screen for under 650 shipped - I am very satisfied with the LED screen having come from the CCFL on a 1330. I also came from a 9 cell on the 1330 to a 6 cell on the 1530. I was concerned about the battery life but the LED uses a lot less power. You can't fix the speed of the memory - the mb is limited to 667 mhz.... kind of as shame, but the 1530 is getting to be older technology now..... as far as buying it, I really wasn't planning on getting it, but I saw a coupon and was "bored" so I started looking, and saw this LT and couldn't pass it up - took about an hour to get and hold onto a good deal -- good luck in your search if you haven't picked up one already....

 

Congrat's on your purchase... You have some nice specs there!

I have the 6 and 9 cell. The 9 cell on my battery can last nearly 5 hours
And the elevation on the 9 cell provides great *ventilation* and a great edge for typing, etc

I think if you find something you want *now* you should get it. As, Dell's coupons always *come and go*..just like technology...ever changing

Welcome to the XPS family!


Cin

 

Thanks for the feedback! I kept my dream system in my cart most of the day yesterday (by continually searching every 5-10 minutes). When I went to check out IE7 crashed and I lost the laptop Good excuse to go hunting again!

You found a LED screened m1530 in the outlet? I have never seen one and I've been looking for weeks... unless Dell labels them wrong? The only thing I ever see is "15.4 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLife" even on the $1000+ units. In the other outlet areas Dell clearly identifies them as "15.4 WXGA LED Laptop Screen Display with TrueLife".

That is amazing battery life! What screen and video card do you have?

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm going hunting for my m1530 again...

 

I think there were some really good deals when I bought this one. I didn't realize there were LED's on 1530's until I saw the one I am using now. As I said, I wasn't planning on upgrading quite so soon (holding out for the adamo) but this LT was saying buy me, buy me...... Unfortunately, and probably deliberately, Dell doesn't allow you to filter for the LED displays.... good luck!

 

Over the weekend I saw a couple outlet LED screens finally pop up on the 1530 and I just found a wxga+ LED screen with a 6-cell battery. The rest of the laptop specs are decent but not perfect (it does have the 8600gt at least). How would you say the battery life of the 9-cell with ccfl compares to the LED with 6-cell (during casual laptop use)? A new 9-cell battery is sooo expensive at ~ $200 I'm tempted to keep looking for the ideal 1530 (which probably won't exist at my price point in the outlet). Thanks for all the info/feedback!

 

hey Cin, you buy your batteries direct from Dell? I'm looking to acquire a 9 cell, and i don't want to go generic after the last generic i had for an HP...

 

Yup..I got both my batteries from Dell. I would rather get my batteries directly from Dell! They have the one year warranty, and I just feel *safer* ordering batteries made for the 1530, from Dell!


Cin

 

Well I sucked it up and pulled the trigger on the wxga+ LED screen that I had in my cart. The wifi card isn't as good as my previous catch but thats an easy upgrade (so I read) and this one has faster processor/more ram and the 64-bit OS (not to mention $50 cheaper than the system above with the free shipping they have today). If the 6-cell battery isn't up to the task I'll hunt down an OEM dell refurb battery (I read they are out there) or a new one. If the hard drive is slow I'll swap it out with a smaller/faster one from newegg. Can't wait for it now...

1 XPS M1530 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache)
1 Dell 1395 802.11G Wireless Mini Card
1 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
1 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
1 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
1 Dell Travel Remote Control
1 Bluetooth Wireless Card 355
1 6 Cell Primary Battery
1 15.4 inch WXGA+ LED Laptop Screen
1 64BIT Operating System DVD
1 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

 

Comparable in my opinion.. I can't really remember because battery life does decrease over time and the 1330 that I had was a year old. I haven't timed the 1530 but it has to be nearly 3 hours on dimmed display (its too bright at full power unless I am in full background lighting - balanced power plan.... haven't tried any gaming without plugging in.....i would go for the 6 cell - it is worth it for the smaller footprint, and lower weight....

 

Congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you'll be extremely please with the 1530 especially with the LED screen. How much were you able to get it for if you don't mind my asking. The outlet has some great deals, one just needs to be patient

 

Nice, may I ask what your final cost was??

The 6 cell batt' is nice..I use that when out-and-about, and the 9 cell at home.

When is your ESD, and did were you able to apply any coupons?

Cin

 

My total price was $665 after free shipping and taxes (dpa and fatcash discounts included). I couldn’t find any coupons to apply and I wasn’t going to risk waiting since the wxga+ LED screens are really rare (especially in the inexpensive units). I told the wife I could probably get a couple hundred off craigslist for my Acer to recoup some of the extra cost of this machine compared to a studio 15 (which has a 20% coupon right now). My ESD is 2/26 (tomorrow). This is my first outlet experience so I hope I’m not disappointed. Thanks for the support!

 

Very nice purchase price there!

And, it will be arrving very soon ~ a very good thing. The Outlet always delivers fast! I don't think you will be disappointed.


Cin

 

I'm typing on my new m1530 already The screen is just beautiful... so bright that on pages with a lot of white I might need to dim it a bit. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it came with the fingerprint reader even though it was absent from the feature list. Does this happen often at the outlet?

So far so awesome. The keys seem to need firm pressing... I might be too used to my latitude at work that only requires a light touch.

Question... assuming my new lappy is stable... what is the consensus/recommendation to do first... remove bloatware, fresh vista64 install, or wait until the warranty is up in case I need service and leave it alone for now?

Yeah!

 

Wowsa! Everyone is having great feedback today! Me likey to hear these things!

Sounds like you got an awesome lappy purchase from the outlet!
The key's after some usage, will become easier to use! No worries there!

Doing the clean install/64 install... is up to you...I did the clean install w/in a day of receiving my lappy..and all worked well (I followed Les' guide).

You can also do the Vista tweaks guide to help things out!

Congrat's again!

Cin