Dell XPS M1330

Ourro - I don't believe they will have a port replicator for the M1330. At most a 5:1 surround sound dock with some added usb ports at most.

I have the D630 and I love it. Honestly, it's the best laptop I've ever purchased. I like it more than my M1210 because it barely weighs more yet has a nicer screen and is more battery efficient (because of the integrated graphics). The build quality is just as good as the M1210. Nothing so far has bothered me. Screen A, keyboard A, battery life A, weight A, looks A, build quality A, performance A.

But then again, that's just my opinion.

 

I bought the M1210 purely because it is the balance of portability, processing power and graphics power. I considered the W7J and the limit on 1.5GB kind of put me away. I had my Asus A2k and the warranty support is so-so compare to Dell.

I still don't think a notebook is good for games due to the size and heat factor. If I have to spend $2.5k on a gaming notebook, that money can get me a VERY NICE gaming desktop.

Here's what I did to get everything for CAD$1600+tax

In Canada, Dell has kiosks in malls. You can haggle with the sales rep, and the prices they offer is generally hundreds below Dell.ca prices. Dell.ca has promo on every Friday, Dell was offering the T5600, 1GB RAM, Vista Home Premium for $1799. There was a free upgrade to GF7400, A/V Package and 80GB@7200RPM. I then upgraded the system to T7200, 4965ABGN, 3 Years RTD, and the total went up to $1987.

I took the quotation to the kiosk, told the sales rep that, "I am interested in buying the system TODAY. The price however is a little bit more than I can afford. What can you do for me?" The sale rep then walked to his computer, turned off the big display monitor, and checked the prices. He eventually offered me the T7200, 1GB RAM, 80GB@7200RPM, Vista Home Premium, A/V package, 9-cell, 3 years RTD for $1500 flat. Shipping is $15 extra. After my attempt to haggle for the free Bluetooth, which the guy asked for $60. He ended up waived the shipping cost. The system ended up as CAD$1500+tax shipped.

Dell.com later had the Bluetooth 355 for $20 + $4.99 shipping. I bought that and installed myself. I bought 2x 1GB Samsung SODIMM from ZipZoomFly for $100 after rebate. Sold the 2x 512MB on eBay. Roughly these extra cost me $100.

I did the same thing to my 640m which I bought a month after the M1210. I got the T2080, 1GB, 80GB, WSXGA+ for $699. A week after, there was a coupon code that take another $100 off. I then called to request a credit because I ordered the notebook less than a week. Dell offered to give me a refund of $150. So... my 640m came to $550 + tax.

My M1210 came with a faulty LCD backlit, sent the unit back 3 times and were never fixed. I called Dell on the 4th time, planning to scream at them on my frustration, which I didn't eventually. They arranged next day on-site service for me and gave me the AUO screen I wanted without me even asking.

Am I happy? Yes I am very happy with Dell and their service.

Kind of OT.. but I still think the M1210 is a good buy since I am very sure they are planning to roll out the M1330, and the M1210 prices will go down.

 

@GTO - That's some pretty awesome and persuasive talking. I guess you are a bit lucky as well.

 

I have a question about the screen on this new laptop. Quite simply, how bad is the glare expected to be?

I came very close to purchasing a Dell M1210. I did not go through with the purchase however because a friend of mine bought one and I got to have a look at it; the glare was nearly unmanagable. I realize that the glossy TrueLife screen has more vibrant and crisp colors, but I'm more interested in being able to see the screen in at least 75% of the places I take it.

Barring whether or not you agree with me about the M1210 screen, I did not like it at all and do not wish to purchase a laptop with glare comparable to what it had. My older two laptops were far, far better in that regard.

This new laptop appears to feature several screen options, including an LED backlit display instead of the traditional CCFL. Will that help with glare? If not, do you expect there to be at least one anti-glare or matte option?

 

Where do you know about this and what are the differences between the two screens?

 

If you're looking for something to take advantage of your current docking station, stick with the D630 as that is your only option.

 

No Express card slot?

Did I miss something? what's up with that?

Everything was all fine and dandy with this guy until I thought about what I would do if I wanted to put in a sound card. Unless I missed something, there's no way around that.

 

No laptop nowadays lacks an ExpressCard slot...you'll be fine.

 

The first post on this thread was my source of information. It says the following...

"13.3-inch screen, configurable with LED backlight! (300cd/m2, or 220 with CCFL backlight)"

To me, that implies that there will be the option of having a CCFL or LED backlit display. In addition, 300cd/mw and 220 appear to be some sort of option, though I do not know what they imply.

 

300cd/mw and 220 are descriptors for screen brightnesses. Anything over about 400 is too bright and/or won't matter, but get too low and the screen is too dim. It is a measurement of how much energy per unit area the screen emits.

 

Alright, I've got faith in you. I was just a bit concerned since it seemed to list all the other I/O ports and left that off the list, Additionally, only having the left side that we haven't seen the mock up for, I'm a tad worried about space (right side is DVD slot only it looks like, front has 1/8' audio stuff, back I presume is nearly out of retail space after the battery, hinge, and possibly A/C plug, which leaves all the other I/O ports, as well as a very necessary air vent, to the left side)

I suppose even Dell couldn't make that bad of a design flaw though.

 

Thank you for that description. It makes sense now, and I appreciate the information.

Back to my original question... will any of the screen options (LED vs. CCFL, or the various brightness options) significantly reduce glare? I'm mostly curious about the LED vs. CCFL option.

If not, is it too much to hope that Dell will offer a matte or anti-glare finish? Regardless of the benefits of TrueLife, I personally do not like it because of the glare and would prefer a screen with minimal glare; my old laptops from 5 years ago have perfectly fine screens, and I find it irritating that it is difficult to get something new with minimal glare when it was common back then.

Thanks again!

 

Unfortunately, there is little chance of the M1330 having a matte screen as virtually no consumer notebooks have them anymore. I like the newer screens as they are much brighter and crisper.

 

the new Santa Rosa MBP have'em, but I'm not sure if the extra $1,000 cost is worth!

 

Matte screens are generally only found in business notebooks now. For some odd reason the glossy screens took over...I'm okay with them but I like matte better. Glossy screens are acceptable, but I think it was a mistake getting rid of them.

 

There are currently 3 brands of screen available for the M1210.

- without AV package - Toshiba DE58 screen (worst) that is overly bright and washed out image
- with AV package - Samsung (SECxxxx) that is overly bright and leakage.
- with AV package - AU Optronics (AUOxxxx) which is the best one with the best saturation in colors and contrast. My 640m has one.

The difference between CCFL and LED is quite large. LED offers more even backlight, it uses much less power, and is much lighter. The Sony SZ has the LED w/ carbon fibre body, which is why the screen looks so great and weight only less than 4lb.

That means with LED, you get another hour on the battery, brighter, more even looking backlight and a lighter notebook. However, this LED option may cost an arm and a leg.

 

Um, the MBP will probably cost less than a fully-loaded M1330.

 

Not when contrast and color rendition are far superior.

 

I doubt it. An equally loaded MBP will cost more than a Dell XPS M1330. I do not mind MBP, but they are expensive.

 

I doubt it will cost that much more. On the Sony SZ, going for the Premium model costs exactly $100 if the two computers are identically specced. If you assume $150 for the 8400M option, $100 for the LED option, your looking at close to $1600 right there. Ouch.

 

I think you need do recalibrate your abacus. A M1220 right now configured my way is $2100. A 15-inch MBP is $2074 with 160GB drive.

And if you add the SSD, well then you're talking $2500...

 

Samsung seem to be stuck in a previous era: Several new models this year but the only one with ExpressCard is the bottom of the range R20.

Persoanlly, I don't mind because I have cards which fit the old slot.

John

 

XPS M1210

From $1,862
$1,862

My Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7400 (2.16GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Integrated Webcam and Mobile Broadband Antenna
2GB Dual Shared Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
Size: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7400 TurboCache™
Integrated Audio
My Accessories
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell 1505 Wireless-N
My Software
No Productivity software pre-installed
McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 15-months
No Entertainment software pre-installed
My Service
1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day
No ISP requested
Also Includes
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Award Winning Service, Support
Windows Vista™ Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

 

I think both of you need to recalibrate your brains. Why are you guys comparing the MBP and the M1210? If anything, you should be comparing the MB and the integrated graphics version of the M1210.

 

That is also an odd comparison. The Dell XPS M1210 is far more durable with better case and keyboard. (The keyboard part is my opinion because I do not like the MacBook's flat keys, but I know some students that like them). The Dell XPS M1210 is like a MacBook Pro 12.1"

 

hahaha :laugh: your point makes perfect sense !

 

Wow! They dropped the price $300!

 

My friend, .12" thinner and slightly less durable case is a much slighter difference than a full 3.3" larger screen and much more powerful graphics. Its kinda like comparing the Honda Civic (M1210) to the Toyota Corolla (MB) and not the Honda Accord (MBP).

 

I disagree.

 

they're the same price, almost
xps m1210
2.16ghz
2gb 667mhz
160gb 7200rpm
nvidia 7400 go
1yr warranty
1yr lojack
= $1889.00 no tax/shipping

mbp 15in
2.2ghz
2gb
160gb 7200
nvida 8600m gt
90 days warranty
=$2224 no tax/shipping

overall the .06ghz doenst make a difference but hte 8600m gt is better. probalby be the same price but dell got 9months warranty in there with lojack.
so the question is if 335 worth the 8600mgt upgrade? How about screen size?

for me, i like 12.1 size so the 15in doesnt factor in much. as for 8600m gt vs 7400gt i wouldnt fork an extra 200 for it let alone 335 but im sure some of that money goes into the screen. dell offer longer warrnty and 1year lojack.

its all based on preference anyway. i would get the mbp if i had little more money to spare and m1210 is already pushing the budget.

edit: you do compare civic to corolla because they're the same msrp. in that way you compare performance. in another way, we can compare m1210 to mbp15" in price because the components are very similar and the only real performance difference is in gaming. in this way we compare by price and i think tis more accurate to compare it by price in this case, assuming the build quality is marginally differnt.

 

I agree with Homer that the M1210 (and also the Sony SZ), while probably in-between, is closer to a mini-MBP than an MB. Sony C series is more like the MB.

 

You can't really compared the M1210 to the Macbook Pro. That's an unfair comparison. Try the Macbook compared to the M1210.

 

The Dell XPS M1210 is between the two laptops. It is superior to the MacBook, but it lacks the GPU found in the MacBook Pro. I think it is closer to the MacBook Pro than the MacBook. I think it is a MacBook Pro 12.1"

 

Some actually do, like HP's business notebooks. Even the latest models lack an ExpressCard slot.

 

And the new Toshiba Portege R500 ultra-portable has a PC Card slot! DOH!

 

Which is why you shouldn't be comparing the two.

As for price, an M1210 with the same specs as the black MacBook costs $50 less.

 

Can't wait to get this & wanna play Hellgate on it when it comes out too !!

 

Oops...and I have one of those notebooks

Most consumer level laptops have them...

 

I wil be buying a 1210, I know from personal experience wedge shaped computers suck.The chassis is a step backwards from the 1210.

 

This is just your humble opinion and hence, please, let us talk about the 1330 model here! There are a lot of forum threads about 1210 thou, where you can talk about it. Thanks.

 

he's simply providing his opinion on the matter, which he is allowed to do.

 

I am talking about the 1330, I am comparing it to the 1210, which by the way is the model it is replacing.I know it might be hard to draw a link between the two, but it's not like I was comparing it to a sager.So I will talk about it here, Thanks ).

 

of course he's allowed to, but that isn't the point here. i asked him respectfully not to blame a model on it's own thread until it appears at least! and what's the point of talking about the 1210 here ?

we're not sure 1330 will replace the 1210 model. maybe they will both coexist.
following the same logic you used earlier, how would this sound to you: "Donovan, you suck, even thou I don't know you at all!" ?
I'm sure I'm allowed too, to do this on public forum but wouldn't be fair !

 

No need for you to sound like an insecure fanboy and make personal attacks.I am just giving my opinion of the new design.

 

fanboy me? insecure me? personal attacks me? well.. these (yours) are personal attacks ! I used the "would" clause so you cannot accuse me of this.. but what the heck.. your opinion is imensely helpful to this thread ! Thanks again mate !

 

Actually Jaymz, the scenario you've given about you having the right to say "Donovan, you suck, even thou I don't know you at all!" is flawed. You're not allowed to do that. Read the rules

anyways, back on topic ...

 

lol, Is there an ignore feature available with these forums?I feel like i am talking to George W Bush.

 

Yes, please back on topic without insults. This is warning #1.

 

this is again personal attack you.. and you're not allowed to do it here!
auto-ignore yourself please, because you hate logics and you'll suffer a lot !

i think the 1330 RULES !! no evidence or pleads on my thought, but I'm allowed to do this and I also want to, now !

I got the warning and I'll be cool from now on !

 

Lol, ok...