M1530 Refurb? Resolution?

My HP 1 year and 3 month laptop is in for repair (dead no power-System brd?).

I have been looking at the XPS 1530-refurb since they are cheaper. Any opinions on Dell refurbs?

They all seem to have the WXGA screen with true life. Is this a 1280 resolution? Is it a good screen or should I hold out for a better screen?

128MB video or 25MB (not a gamer)?

 

WXGA = 1280x800
WSXGA+ = 1680x1050
WUXGA = 1920x1200

 

Great! That answers my technical question, but what do you think of that resolution? And your opinions on refurbs?

What is True Life?

 

True life is the glossy screen stuff...most laptops have that now.

As for the resolution...check this out. This is a comparison of all three resolutions on 15.4" laptops.

I personally find 1680x1050 to be the best 'fit' for a 15.4" screen. 1920x1200 is too hard on ones eyes, and 1280x800 isn't enough for me.

However, I suggest you go to Best Buy and/or Circuit City. They have plenty of 1280x800 15.4" laptops. If you don't like what you see, heavily consider the 1680x1050 option.

 

I have a 1280 X 800 and I agree its now enough, but money is still the issue. Which is why I am considering refurb.

 

Refurb is fine, I'm not the biggest fan of the Outlet but that's how I got my first D430 so I can't complain.

 

You know, why don't you consider trying to keep your HP for a little while longer? That's the cheapest option...

 

The system board is being replaced for overheating. Its a dv6300 series. Who's to say it won't fry again?

 

Well the M1530... and like 10 other models are having their share of *potential* problems as well (with the whole GPU thing) so just be sure to keep that in mind before you purchase.

 

I can tell you that I purchased a refurb m1330 about two months ago, and so far, couldn't be happier (well, I guess I COULD be happier, if there weren't the issues with the GPU, but that's another story)

The laptop looks brand new, and so far, after a couple of months, has been steady as a rock! This is by far the most stable laptop I've ever owned! I usually go over a week before needing to restart, and usually I have to restart because of updating or installing software, not because of any issues.

I (well, my son) play Team Fortress 2, Portal, HL2 etc. and have great results. I also use a 22" external monitor, which is amazing!

Dell gives you (I believe it's... ) 21 days to check your laptop out, and if you're unhappy, return it no questions asked. It also comes with in home/ office repair, so if a problem arises, and they can't fix it over the phone, they'll send a tech to your location to repair it the following business day.

Mine came with a sleeve (well, actually TWO sleeves, they mistakenly also included an XPS sleeve for an m1530, as well as one for the m1330), leather binder to store restore disks and manual, headphones, etc. etc.

Overall, if you can't tell, I'm THRILLED with my refurb'd laptop!

Hey, if the GPU goes out, I'll give Dell a call, and have to deal with a tech coming to my place and replacing the GPU. Not pleasant, but not the end of the world. (I plan to extend the one year in home service my laptop came with to three years)

Good luck!

 

I purchased a refurb M1530 this month and so far I'm satisfied. Specs in sig. Notice that I was able to find one that isn't WXGA, which is great because I really didn't want to get WXGA for a 15.4" either because everything just looks too big and cheap (in my opinion). WXGA+ (1440x900) is a good resolution for this screen size and WSXGA+ (1680x1050) should be fine too.

I've noticed that there's usually more stock in the outlet on M1530's with 8600GT late at night. Might be wrong though. Maybe it's like that with the "rare" resolutions too? Well I ordered my laptop at 2:30AM...

Hope this helps. And if you're not a gamer the 8400GS should be enough?