Dell XPS M1330 First Look Review (Video)

Regarding power consumption of X3100 vs nvidia 8400, i noticed that the danish Dell site warns you to choose at least a 6-cell battery in order to have a 'usable' battery life with the 8400. So i guess the 8400 does have a significant impact on battery life. I would still like to know how much though....

 

Thanks for posting this first look and responding to so many of the follow up questions in the thread. Can't wait for the full review.

 

That does not surprise me at all. In desktop system graphics chips are drawing huge amounts of power these days. Sometimes even more than the PCI-X bus can supply by itself.

What I would like to know though, is if these cards draw more power when they are being used for normal computing. For example, if you are on the road with the 8400 card, just word processing and browsing the web, does the 8400 drain the battery faster than the X3100? Or does it just pull more power when you are doing heavy 3D work?

 

The 8400 will always drain more power than an X3100, even when idle, but it'll drain less power than load. Graphics cards are smart nowadays, they'll downclock themselves when they sense they're not needed, just like processors will.

 

Yes, it really drains the battery faster than an integrated graphic card. I have read, for example, that in the vaio sz4 (in which you can switch between gma950 or 7400) that the difference between them were about 30 min (which is not very big). I would like to know the same about the xps with x3100 and 8400 gs, someone cant told us something about that?

 

I have not seen this movie before. Basically a demo piece released by Dell, but gives you another look at it.

Also, for the person who was worried about how far back the screen can go, it looks like this guy opened it up pretty far when demoing it.

http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com/watch?v=GP-H46ga0fk

 

Not far enough for me I still use my 700m (!) in flat mode, which means I put it sideways like a book and rotate the screen 90degrees in software. It's for reading stuff, obviously

 

Haha, the comment underneath the video says something about "the fat guy from Dell talking about this model."

Ok, so I'm really tired...

 

Andrew's video is 100x more professional - this guy gave me a headache with the constant opening and closing of this "super thin" notebook - I think he said that phrase at least a dozen times in 3 mins....didn't even show the keyboard !

 

Wow I just watched that video. I didn't catch it, but did he say "this notebook is thin, light, and sleek?" I mean, I'm not sure I heard that.

 

I am sorry but could the reviewers verify that there isn't the annoying high pitched cpu whine that is prevalent on the core 2 m1210s?? I know that the sony FZ series make the noise =(

 

Haha yeah it was a fluff piece alright. The guys from Dell are no Steve Jobs when it comes to making you crave their cool computers.

 

Maybe it has been mentioned here, but...
1. in UK, YOU CAN NOT configure nVidia card with this cool 9 cell battery

so basicaly you get the same price for T7100 CPU and nice nVidia video card but with 6 cell battery, or for 667Mhz only 1,5GHz CPU with integrated video card but with nice 9 cell battery...

now make a choice, the 2nd case is a bit too expensive...ah DELL! Now how can I take nVidia card with better 9 cell battery? any thoughts?

2. it has been mentioned here but not answered, how far backwards you can move LED screen? Hope it is not locked too early - due to vertical viewing angles going bad - when it's sitting on my knees...a pic would REALLY HELP!

 

I've seen that with tha battery..i'm not too happy. I'm buying thorugh my companies account manager and hes said I can have the 9 cell battery so I will let you know..

 

Have 3dMark benches or in-game benches been posted yet?

 

the 3dmark score from the review at the beggining of this post is 3079 in 3dmark 05. Reasonable but not mind blowing.

 

Seems like they removed the option for the T7300 on Dell Sweden... Boo! And some other prices were increased while they were at it. Admittedly, some prices were blatantly wrong when they first put the page up. SSD for an additional 128312 SEK (~18k USD) anyone?

 

3DMark 06 - 1640 (1024x768) - Is it true?

 

I just read the cnet and pcmag reviews and everyone seems to recommend the LED screen as it is both thinner and brighter...I will have to call Dell to try to upgrade to the LED...no point in buying a top-of-the-line ultraportable without the "sleek, thin, SEXY" new screen right? Yes, I'm quoting the Fat (Dell) guy! I also wished I picked white now vs bland black but my first priority will be to swap out the screens. I'll worry about the color afterwards

 

Possible. The 3DMark06 scores are obviously lower than 05 ones. The card is a GeForce 8400M, so expect the scores to be lower than the 8600M.

Yeah, if you are getting this one, might as well go all out.

Take that info with a grain of salt. Go with what Dell.com says.

CNET.com is rating the m1330 as a 7.9.

Me too. Sounds unlikely.

Yes, FarCry shouldn't be an issue.

EPP should work now.

Probably. Use a third party app to do it.

Great advise.

Yep.

Seems like Dell is definitely going for design these days. I agree.

It is a DVD dual layer writer.

No, that's not true. It IS a dual layer writer.

 

The Dell XPS with the backlight screen is like 1.79kg with the 6 cell battery i believe. How much heavier is it with the 9 cell battery and will somebody notice the difference in weight. Also, how much longer will you get say from going from the 6 cell to the 9 cell battery?

Thanks

 

The review guy should be able to tell you the weight. But PC Mag said something about the 9-Cell making it as heavy as a regular laptop? So maybe it adds 1-2 pounds? I am just guessing though.

PC Mag and CNet seem pretty useless reviews though. The CNet video is just like the Dell guys video. A Fluff piece. So We will probably not know any real info until this site decides to right a real review and not a first look.

 

I've heard 4.7-4.9 lbs with the 9 cell. 4.2ish with the 6 cell and 3.9-4 with the 4 cell.

I went with the 6 cell. Seems to be a good balance between 2-3 hours of run time and weight. If I find I need the 9 I'll pick one up later. Ideally I would have gone for a 6 and 9 battery option and bought both, but they only had 4 and a 9. I am usually working near a power outlet whether it is in the library or in my apartment, so I am not really that concerned. I'd only want a 9 cell for when I travel on a long flight or on a bus or something which I dont do frequently enough for it to really be a reason to lug all that weight constantly.

 

The XPS M1330 has the new Santa Rosa chip sets that runs at 800mhz, so why does it ship with the 667mhz RAM?

Wouldn't it make more sense to ship the new laptop with an 800mhz RAM to get the best performance out of the Santa Rosa chip sets?

During the ordering process today, the sales woman was trying to tell me that the 9 cell battery will only give me an extra 30 minutes over the 6 cell battery. Is that correct?

 

Thats because 800mhz ram isn't available yet.

 

That sounds wrong, the 6-cell battery is supposed to yield 56 Whr, while the 9-cell is rated at 85Whr ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt-hour if you dont know what Whr is . This means the 9-cell battery can yield ~50% more energy than the 6-cell before needing a recharge (not surprising considering it has 50% more cells).

 

It's more complicated that that.

The FSB of the dual cores is actually multiplied by 4 so in reality its 200mhz

DDR2 has a 2x multiplier) so 667mhz is actually 333mhz.

this is with pc's which i assume relates to laptops as well.

The only real reason to have 800Mhz is to hope when it underclocks to 667mhz it has tighter latency timings which generally it doesn't and so gives no benefit.

Confused yet

 

But right now the FSB:DRAM ratio is an awkward 3:5, whereas with 400MHz (DDR2-800) RAM it could be a much simpler 1:2. Not to mention faster RAM always = better performance, even at higher latencies.

 

When will companies realise that we actually do give a **** about the way batteries stick out from laptops?

That was ugly. Most people buying ultra-portables need battery life, hence the max capacity battery. Find a better way to tuck that 9 cell please .....

 

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I thought the 800mhz RAMs are available already.

As for the 9 cell battery sticking out at the bottom, I like it. I purchased the M1330 with the 9 cell battery. The sticking out part will give me the additional grip on the laptop. However, I am worried about the inclination of the keyboard when the laptop is sitting on the table. We will wait and see once it arrives.

 

I'm getting a 9 cell with mine + a 4 cell for when it's just left on charge and round the house stuff.

 

I wish Dell had an option for a 9 cell and 6 cell combo. I would've gotten them for the exact same reason...the 6 cell for around the house.

 

They are:

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=XPS+M1330

The problem is that they're prohibitively expensive.

Michael

 

The Santa Rosa CPUs use an 800 MHz FSB but only support 667 MHz RAM, that's why nearly no Santa Rosa laptops ship with 800 MHz RAM, since it wouldn't give any performance benefit.

 

Does the Santa Rosa chip help speed things up? I opted for the standard processor - 1.5 Ghz - that should be sufficient since right since it's Core2Duo so it's kind of like having 3 Ghz on a regular , non Core2Duo, Santa Rosa laptop,right???? I might have opted for the 1.8 had I paid closer attention to my ordering...

 

You can't compare it directly to a 3 GHz single-core processor, but the baseline model should be enough for regular stuff like browsing, mail and office work. Any dual-core machine will be considerably more responsive than a single core one while multitasking.

You would probably only notice a difference in processor speed while doing CPU intensive tasks such as gaming or encoding.

 

I just have a quick request for the full review:

Please test Battlefield 2 on this notebook. Even if you just download the demo, I really need to know how this game runs, and what the maximum settings that produce playable framerates are, on the 8400M GS to know if I can get this notebook.

Thanks.

 

If you chat with dell customer service rep online and mention the slow build date and that you need it ASAP. Theres a very good chance he/she would upgrade your shipping to Next Day shipping free of charge! worked for me!

 

I wonder if Iomega designed this with the Red M1330 in mind.


Iomega - eGo

When I saw this and that it is powered from the USB port I thought... daaaamn.

Still priced too high though, if they can get this sub 100 then we are talking.

 

I tried chatting with them. The woman said that she will keep an eye on the order for 9-10 days. After that she will cancel the order if it has not been shipped.

I was shocked. I didn't ask her to cancel my order. I felt like Dell was threatening me, because I had tried to get my order shipped faster than the 2 months estimated delivery time. That is bull****.

 

You should have said that to her. Like "Is that a threat" and she would be like "No it's a promise" and you would be "Oh it's on *****."

I can not think of any reason at all why Dell would want to cancel your order, so you probably had a bad service rep. Maybe report her (forward you chat log to them) and say how unhappy you are.

 

I bought one yesterday and it says it wont ship out until august 21.

 

Mines estimated for 21st of july. I hope it's not too much later than that.

 

19th July here. (Ive been told i will be one of first to get it in the uk as Ive got an unrepaiable M1210 that is being swapped by tech support with a monster spec M1330)

 

My sales rep told me that it could be delivered in 10-15 days after ordering (Switzerland).

But I don't know if I should order now or wait for more options. Some said that a blu-ray drive would be available soon. But what means "soon" in Dell language? Anyone knows more about that option?

 

if you're getting yours on the 19th on want mine to (UK)

 

Nothing has been announced yet about the Blu-ray.

 

how can this be?

 

Notebookreview mentions the heat under the palmrest. Does anyone else think the m1330 is absolutely going to burn your hands off while typing? I wouldn't be able to handle that and I can't imagine Dell releasing a laptop that runs so hot. What does everyone else think?

Also, just how good is the LED display? I read that it's so bright, but no one mentions the true quality of the display!?

 

th
Yes ! how can you get this deal ? I've tried w/ Dell university and still can't get it.

Please show me... greatly appreciate ...