New 1530 in August? To buy or not to buy?

I have been trying to push (2 and a half months) buying a 1530xps looking for a good deal to come around but it seems to me that each deal dell creates comes with a con. Either it will be a useless cpu that will cost a lot to upgrade or more recently, 4gb of ram which is useless unless you go out and buy a 64bit OS. I also was just talking to a sales rep and i am sad to hear that all of the bonus items that used to come with the xps (case, leather notebook, cleaning cloth, media remotes, earphones still there!) are no longer included (miscommunication i hope). Also, the different notebook colors (midnight blue) has changed from a 8 day delay to an 18 day delay. All of this information has lead me to two conclusions. Either they really want the xps line to go to hell, or they are truly trying to sell whatever crap they have in the 1530 so that they could release a new one in August.

Now i am not a really big computer geek, but the way they are selling the xps ram, it looks like the 1540 (most likely to be new name) will have 800mhz ram, why else would they give 1gb of free useless ram, and hopefully start with the T8300 at least.

What do you guys think, could this really be true, or am I going senile?
(I'm really new to nbr and I am sorry if a thread like this has already been created)

 

64bit-> ask a friend for his 64bit medium, and use the cdkey under the laptop(as long as u choose the same vista OS, the key works)

i called dell after getitng my laptop w/o the freebies.... and got them (btw, i chatted with dell EPP sales, they said freebies were still being included) and the travel remote should be included( if u buy, the remote is definitely listed in the invoice)...

dell's not yet leaking anything about the m1530...

 

thanks paper, but did you just talk to them a couple of minutes ago (i talked to them before i posted), and dell may have different stock in their American plants then they have in their Canadian plant (where i am). I don't mean to put down your help, I'm just being really anal about this right now, because whats really the difference btw the xps and the studio when the xps doesn't come with all its freebies?

 

From what I've read the Studio laptops have a worse video card and its made of plastic, and generally the build quality of the XPS laptops are higher (and made of aluminum? (unsure)).

I ordered a XPS m1530 like 2 weeks ago, and is being shipped (via Purolator), but I don't think the 32-bit Vista Key is the same as the 64-bit key is it?

Once my laptop arrives I'll PM you what it came with if you'd like (I'm in Canada as well), I'm kinda hoping it at least comes with the case still.

 

Your Vista CD-Key entitles you to use either 32-bit or 64-bit on your laptop. Definitely.

I'm waiting for todays "10 days of deals" to come on in the UK as the 1530 is listed as todays deal, but it is 4:30am here at the moment so it will go live on the site around 9am. I'm not expecting it to be that amazing of a deal but if it is I may be tempted. I'm also unsure of how long it will be until the new XPS is out.

All i'm really interested in is whether or not it is going to have a better graphics card than the 8600M GT. I won't be using it mainly as a gaming laptop but want to be able to play some modern games at the weekend every now and again.

I wanted the 1330 but you can only get the 8400 GS card in it :-( Wish they could release the 1330 with the 8600M GT as an option, but I think it may be too small to accomodate it.

 

Can you dual boot 32-bit and 64-bit using the same key on the same laptop? Or would Vista go crazy?

 

I think that legally you are only allowed to use the Key on one single Vista installation at a time. Either 32-bit or 64-bit.

Also as far as I know, technically the key should only be used with your Dell laptop too. Theres no point dual booting anyway because 64-bit should be fine on it's own.

I read somewhere that with SP1 the 32-bit version can see the full 4GB RAM, which is the max supported by the XPS range at the moment. I'm not sure how true this is, I always thought the limit for a 32-bit OS was 3.25GB.

 

sp1 makes it so that windows can see all 4gb but can still only use 3.5

 

Yes, but with 64-bit you can use all 4GB. 32-bit will say you have 4GB with the SP1 update, but like you say it can't use all 4GB. Not that you'll ever need to use all 4GB (unless you like to play Crysis and Call of Duty 4 at the same time ).

 

FWIW, I just got my 1530 about a month ago (in Canada) and it came with all of the bonus items: cleaning cloth, earphones, leather case, and remote.

 

As far as I know.. the 1530 comes with all the accessories mentioned. Heck, they even included the Bluetooth headphone... even though it wasn't mentioned in the Invoice.

 

Man everybody else gets all the deals. I'm pretty sure they never included any of these things for the DELL UK customers? Highest prices and worst offers lol. No 25% off coupons here!! heh.

 

haha dont worry its pretty bad in australia 2. Like if u take the 2 year complete cover option it will go over $2000 even with like the worst specs. I saw some 15% off ones here but i missed them. Oh well i will wait for the next one or the new xps line.

 

I'm actually in the same boat. I want an XPS with the option for a better card. The 8600M is so yesterday year. I really like the XPS, except for not being able to get a better video card. Maybe the Montevina refresh in August will give ways to better video cards. All that's standing between me and hitting buy right now is the option for a better card.

 

They still had the freebies come with the XPS a month ago (i saw it somewhere on dell site, but its no longer there, wish i took a screen shot of the convos i had with sales).

I just feel that they have to be coming out with a new one, because although it is a pretty high build quality, they really have reduced what you can do with it and what you get with it in the past month (IMO, and my friend had bought the XPS 3 months ago; within a month, the palm rest paint was gone due to his hand resting there).

(As you can prolly tell I'm really mad at dell ) If Dell can't pull their **** together and deliver a new XPS for students before school starts or at least the old XPS where you could actually customize really well and get every freebie possible, I'm gonna flip 'em the bird and move on.

I've been looking at Sager right now and they are already doing pre-orders on laptops that have a newer video card (9600 GT) plus the new centrino 2 cpus, and I'm sure if I keep looking I will see more companies ready to take my money because they can offer me what I need in time for school (I think that would be the best time to release laptops, before school, since most students are going to be needing a laptop for college/university).

 

Just don't buy a Dell, I never will again. They have possibly /the/ worst customer support I've ever experienced and considering my experience that says a lot.

There are other options, find them!

 

thanks delly. I am trying to find other options but i don't know if i will in time because i've been waiting on dell for so long to deliver something new lol.

 

LOL about your name, NewDelly. reminds me of where most of the poor Dell customer service originates (or some other Indian city). As for options, instead of taking a chance on the M1330's Centrino 2 successor with all of the problems the M1330 had, I may get a Sony Z. However, I might also get a M1640, if Dell releases a 16.4" XPS notebook. I need two notebooks, one for home & one for backup/travel.

 

hmm.. The Sager NP8660 has the option for the Nvidia 9800 and it's guaranteed delivery for the first week of August. Montevina P8400 and Nvidia 9800 before September. That's a hell lot better than the "not sure when" offer from Dell.

 

Yeah thats true, but its i think $137 (or over $200) to upgrade it from the ATi card. And is paying that much and waiting longer really going to yield greater results( I haven't been able to find a thread on the ATi card)?