new dell m1530

today i went out and checked out this m1530 xps laptop,,..the guy said it was used twice...when i got there , he took out of the closest, it was stored there under some boxes...when he took it out out the box, i was shoicked, it indeed look new, and the protective covering was still being used on the screen...wow....for $400,,,,,i am just so happy..it has the 8600m gt, 1440 x 900 screen.....this laptop looks a lot better than the plastic junk out there today.....it even has windows 7 on it. not sure how much this cost new, but probably over $1000

 

sorry...but i dont think that was worth $400...
don't get me wrong. i thought it was one of the better designed dell laptops, and much better styled than the xps now...but it is a laptop from 2007-2008....and it does have its full share of problems..

 

Yeah, my dad has one and it does have its issues. It's a pretty old system, the Llano AMD laptops destroy it.

 

well, i still think its worth $400,. with a dedicated video card....there are new ones on sale , ebay, going for $800...its new, just like getting a new one from dell.......i quess it depends on the buyer,,,,most dedicated nvidia laptops are usually $740 and higher today....ati is no good for me, i run linux...this laptop should last me a couple years at least. after looking at some reviews, this laptop was $1500 plus....i am very happy, i realize that its not a asus g53, but got a solid laptop that can run some games.

 

well i guess its not a bad buy for 400$... but i would stay away from that 8600m GT if i could.....

 

Ya I hope you know the M1530 was badly affected by the bad Nvidia chips. It was an expensive machine when it was new, but now it floats between 300-500.

 

i know about the nvidia chipset problem...hoping it does not happen to me...its not everyday you find a 3 yr old computer , that is new...the seller said he used it twice, and i believe him...when he removed the laptop from the box, i was stunned by how nice it looked...today, there are not a lot of laptops that appeal to me....there are a few, but they are expensive...i cannot stand the $500 rigs i see at frys electroncis.....boring designs.. though lenevo and acer are coming out with a few new case designs that look nice i quess.

 

okay...i got burned,,,this video card is not good, i get little specs on my screen after running a game, and it does not even play them....going to call him tommorrow...and try to get my money back

 

i just bought this tonight, and the seller said he only used it twice,,,,got home and ran a game...bingo, spec all over my screen, and they are still there.....he lied, and took my $400....any recourse on this....and now what do i do with this bad laptop....

 

Threads merged. Please don't start a new thread on the same topic.

As everyone mentioned, you should stay away from any Nvidia 8-Series and many 7-Series chipsets as well. I don't see how people, fully cognizant of the issue, can just "hope" it doesn't happen to them... it just doesn't work that way.

Anyway, if you had bought this with Paypal, or the like, you probably would have had a good chance of getting your money back, but since you bought it locally, it's really kind of murky. Basically, you can argue with the guy, but I doubt you have any legal recourse.

You can check if you have warranty on the unit, but I highly doubt that too. You can try to reflow the board yourself or buy a "new" one, but who knows how long even that will last. Parting it out may be a reasonable choice, I doubt you'd get more than $150 to $200 if you sold the entire thing as is.

tl;dr, you are basically SoL. Stay away from these Nvidia GPUs, folks!

 

if you end up stuck with the laptop, try updating the bios. the xps m1530 suffered from overheating and the newer bioses helped fight that by turning on the fans sooner. (and overheating can lead to the specs you see on the screen).

 

A BIOS flash will not stop a defective ship from melting. As I recall, manufacturers released BIOS flashes to basically make the fan go super speed to prevent the GPU from dying inside the warranty...then the fans would fail causing the GPU to melt. And from what I have read, the GPU failure begins ~55-65C.

Point in case OP, stay away from laptops sold from 2005-2008 with Nvidia.

 

what should i do, like the guy that sold it to me....tell the buyer the same thing, i used it twice.....its okay until you start gaming?

 

okay....the laptop had a9 bios, i upgraded to the a12 bios, the recommended for the nvidia problem, and that helped....i was now able to run 3dmark 06 okay, got 4877...

so.,,...how long will this laptop last before i have problems....i really don,t game a lot on laptops....just now and then...maybe one a month....

or should i sell it on ebay....?????and get something eles
this laptop is in new shape, it looks like it just came from the factory

i think i will sell it on craigslist. its just not a good nvidia chipset....

 

my xps m1530 has run for years with no problems. its a luck of the draw thing i guess.

 

The BIOS update really shouldn't fix the problem here... it is a software patch and you have a hardware issue... that being said, if you're sure it's working, you should definitely get rid of it ASAP. In the words of another forum member these things are basically a "ticking time bomb".

 

It's a matter of when, not if, it will will break. It may last a few months, you may be lucky and it might be fine for a few years. When I had an m1530 the motherboard needed replacing every 6-12 months because of ongoing issues. It was never fixed.

You should take it back to the seller and say that you would like to return it.

 

It's a ticking time bomb. I had my mainboard replaced twice for that problem. And it really makes no difference what you use it for. Enough heating and cooling cycles and it will just stop working.

It's also kind of crappy to sell a bad PC unless you tell the buyer that it's bad.

 

i am trying to sell it ...going to take a loss....now asking $300....its sort of sad, because these were really well built laptops.,,,,not like the cheap plastic you get today in most laptops...when i bought this, i was not aware that the problem was so severe. after the bios update, the problem is somewhat solved i quess....at least i don,t feel quilty like before...

 

Are you telling people about the problem? It's not solved because it's unsolvable and you're just going to end up with someone pissed off at you (if anyone even buys it, since it's a known issue).

 

me too had this laptop for 2 years .... did gaming as much as i wanted and nothing happened to it... then i upgraded and left it at home for family use...

though it never showed any symptoms but i never liked GPU idle temperatures (~65ºC) on that laptop and load temperatures were also 90+ºC.....
So i did 2 things
1. bought Zalman ZM-NC2000 coolerpad...
2. Used to open and clean heatsink and repaste every 6 months....

 

the laptop seems to work okay now, not sure if it was the drivers, but i believe it was...i have downloaded game trailers from youtube, and they worked okay...its sort of sad that nvidia had this problem, because the m1530 is a nice laptop...i once actually had a inspirion 1520, and liked that one too, though many did not .....