Questions On the Xps m1530

1) Ok how is the gaming quality like on a scale of 1-10?

2) The noise when i read the review i saw the the thing is pretty freakin loud so my question is will it be a nuisance in a class room environment? How is the noise while gaming?

3)Whats the recommended specs to make this laptop a wonderful experience?

4) How does it compare to the asus F8SV-B1? and the MBP?

5) WHats the heat like?

6) whats the battery life like on both batteries and is a 9v available?

 

I would like to know too about gaming experience. Particularly on Crysis, Orange Box, CoD 4 for 2.2 ghz, 2g ram and 8600m gt gddr3.

Also can i play games on a lower res for better fps but still get 1680x1050 screen for day to day browsing? I heard non native res is not ideal but how bad is it for gaming?

 

i just got my m1530 last week and all i can really say is graphics on this is great, i have ran rainbow six vegas on full settings and runs perfectly fine, very smooth.

as for the heat naturally laptops tend to get heat, but under full load it isn't too bad nothing that will burn you.

in the scale on my experience so far is 9 - 10 very good for a laptop i rekn, but thats my opinion. so for the noise factor it isnt loud the only thing that you would really hear is when the fan is running for 10 second cycle then it stops. ( i too use this for school ) so no problems there.

i dont have a 6 cell battery but i have a 9cell - fully charged idle sometimes 7 hrs? full load about 4 hrs
but these may vary depended on what u have running on your laptop.

 

Here's a small list of review, if you hadn't read them yet (you could find an answer to 2), 5) and 6) ):
CNET
NBR (9 cells)
Notebookcheck (tested with 6 cells battery)

I don't own a M1530, but it looks like to be one of the most (if not the most) powerful 15" laptop if you consider gaming. It boast 4400pts on 3dmark 2006 (the Asus F8SV perform a 3400pts due to its ddr2 instead of ddr3, like most laptop).
So, for question 4), the m1530 is way more powerfull.

3) Depends on your needs. T7500 and 2GB ram seems to be a good choice for a start.

 

anyone know any discount codes on the m1530?

 

yeah 669 off till the 31st. its on their website

 

I just got my 1530, but I only got it with a gig of RAM and I'm still waiting for the 3GB that I ordered so any gaming-related responses are subject to change.

1) I can't really rate on a scale of 1-10 since I haven't tried that many games yet. However, from what I have tried I am impressed, it does much better than I thought. I have tried the Crysis demo, and it runs pretty decently on medium settings. With shadows on low and some tweaking in the config files, you can leave shaders on medium too. I average around 20ish fps, but it does lag at some parts especially in firefights. I have noticed that the lag is associated with harddisk activity which has led me to conclude that it is the result of paging and should be remedied when I get my RAM. I don't have the orange box (yet), but I did try Half Life 2 and it will easily run maxed out without a problem. I'm downloading the Call of Duty 4 demo right now. Overall it seems like it'll be a decent gaming machine for the next few years, at least for DX9. In Crysis, though, it doesn't compare to the HD3870 in my desktop.

2) During normal use (web browsing, music, IM) I cannot hear the fan at all. The only time that I can hear it is while gaming if it's paused or the sound is otherwise muted. The CD drive does make noise when ejecting or inserting a CD that would be distracting in a classroom, but unless you intend on constantly ejecting and inserting CDs during class it isn't an issue. I have not experienced the hard drive noise mentioned in the NBR review.

3) Although I got the 2.2GHz processor, 3GB RAM, and the 8600m GT, I think that 2GHz and 2GB RAM would be enough for most people. The 8600M GT is a must for any kind of gaming other than WoW.

4) I haven't used either so I can't really say. The video card is the same that's used in the MBP so I would expect similar performance. Don't know anything about the Asus.

5) Qualitatively I'd say it cools really well. I've had mine on for the past 8 hours or so and it's still cool enough that I can sit with it on my lap. On the bottom, the back doesn't even feel warmer than if the laptop was off. The only place that heats up is the front at the hard drive and wireless card. The hard drive only gets warm, while the wireless card can get pretty hot. Depending on how you sit, though, this isn't an issue. The palm rests do get warm from this heat, but I don't think it's uncomfortable.

6) I only have the 6-cell, and with wireless on / max brightness, I got just over 3 hours of battery life surfing the web. There is a 9-cell available, and I will say that I was impressed by the battery life. I was only expecting around 2 hours.

 

I hate to take your thread, but I've got a question about it. It doesn't by any chance have the docking port on the bottom that the latitudes have does it? I don't think dell is smart enough to do that but its worth me asking.

 

Let me know when you try the COD 4, i'm sort of holding purchase until i know this game can run with close to max settings...or at least looking pretty good.