Dell XPS M1530 First Look and Video

Oh, phew! I thought my hair was falling out but now I realize those hairs must have come from the PC after all.

 

wtf swarm...


and ya chris this is part of the marketing devilry for sure

 

The current resolution is fine depending on the types of programs you use regulary. Some people truly won't see much of a benefit from higher resolution. I use photoshop a lot. Although, I can use them on the current resolution offered, it gets to be a pain when I have multiple pallets open. I lose view of a large portion of my images. This problem is lessened by a higher resolution.

 

Wasn't there an issue with the M1330 where the "XPS" letters kept falling off? Hope the M1530 doesn't have the same problem.

 

I'm thinking of putting an order and time is a factor. For the underneath setup I'm going to be paying $1401. A similar setup with the 1520 costing over $1500. With the lower res screen, is it muddy or something?

SYSTEM COLOR Tuxedo Black
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition - English
LCD Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1280x800) & 2.0 MP Camera
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE Size: 160GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
WIRELESS NEWTORKING CARD Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
Accessories
BATTERY 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works Suite 2006 -Includes MS WORD 2002,Encarta 2006 + more
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY No Security Subscription (30-day trial)
ADOBE SOFTWARE Adobe® Reader 8.1.1 - English
Services & Software
WARRANTY & SERVICES 3 Year Limited Warranty plus 3 Year NBD On-Site Service

 

To get a good price on the Inspiron, you'll need to use the Dell coupons.

 

blue5,

I got the 2.2GHZ for 4MB cache & 120GB HDD for 7200RPM.
Also 3GB memory so i can just take out a 1GB stick and throw in a 2GB stick for 4GB of ram dual channel. (ram is $59 for 2GB of 667MHZ here)
Lojack from dell is about 10 bucks cheaper as well.

 

Nope. Its just to keep initial demand down while they ramp up production. Remember what happened to the XPS M1330 initially? They don't want that to happen again, hence the limited resolution choices, so that they sell less of them until they get more systems produced, then they can add the higher res screens (and hopefully LED ones as well) to ramp up demand to meet production.

 

Thank you very much for the input. To be honest this site saved me from buying the vostro 1500. I used it a few weeks later and god I hated it.

Unfortunately I'm in Trinidad so most of the coupons don't work. And what sucks is the default price on the inspiron 1520 went up over $200 from the new price. I do most of my art on my desktop.

The additional problem is I need a laptop for my final year project so time is dwindling. Whats really funny is that I was actually trying to avoid buying a laptop thinking I was spending too much but to be honest, when you doing your final year thesis, its a life saver.

any advice would be nice and so far this laptop seems to be a great option. I just a bit worried about the monitor.

Edit: Oh and I know I'll be formatting the system when I get it. Vista ultimate all the way!

oh I revisted the 1520 section of dell and reconfigured exactly like the 1530. it came up to $1,612. Yikes!

 

I thought of that, but right now I don't think that's the reason here. I mean, if they just wanted to reduce sales until they could manufacture more of them, the smart way to do it would be to have a higher base price and only sell high-spec configurations (such as 2.2GHz and up, lots of RAM, etc.) -- kind of like the MBP, although not necessarily that high a base price. That way you cut sales units but make more money per unit.

Nah... I'm guessing they are having trouble getting a good supply of high-quality high-res screens... the Inspirons are often getting grainy screens, and they don't want that stuff in the XPS line, you know, buyers will have higher expectations for the XPS machines. But I'm just guessing of course. Another possibility is they want to make sure the manufacturing process is working smoothly before they complicate it by adding screen options.

 

For Review can you test
Sound levels of CPU FAN - 100% Usage?
Temp after 30 min of 100% CPU
Resolution of 3dmark tests?

can you have HDMI + VGA out Simultaneously? VGA & S-video?

 

I scanned this pretty quick, so it was probably mentioned, but would the wxga screen be good for gaming? I found a few at staples, and the resolution was really comfortable for general browsing and menial tasks, but during games, would it be a hindrance? And, could I set the gaming resolution above the native and still have it look ok?

 

LOLS!


the native resolution is 1280x800, you can't go higher than native resolution, only lower

but the thing with LCD is that they tend to look fuzzy when not displaying at native resolution.

For gaming, 1280x800 would be preferable because the lower the resolution, the less taxing it is on the GPU therefore you can run the game with higher FPS

but at lower resolution, the game doesn't look as sharp as it does at 1600x1050, so its a trade off.

really depends on your preferences

 

That is another possibility for sure. I know that my Vostro had a pretty crappy screen, as do most other Dells I've used.

The problem with jacking the price up early is that the people that are interested will come and look at the thing, see that the unit is way overpriced, and not really ever consider it again for that very reason. Even if it drops in price later, they wouldn't care, since they probably wouldn't have noticed it, especially if they weren't devoted to getting only that notebook. That'll end up killing demand and sales, and in the long run, profits as well.

Technically, you could do an extrapolated screen resolution, but I've really only seen that feature on UMPCs, so its kind of a moot point.

 

LOL. finally....

 

Can you make a battery test with normal/energy saving usage?

 

Also, seeing if you can get 5.1 audio down the HDMI connection would be really useful, or if not, confirmation on digital audio out over SPDIF but I am not sure the latter is even offered.

My interest is related to playing video files encoded with AC3.

Cheers.

nwpsys

 

Yeah, a similarly speced 1520 (t7500, 1 gig of ram, 120gig hard drive, 8600gt, WXGA screen, camera, bluetooth, etc....) is $250 MORE then the M1530.

I guess dells trying to push the power users into the XPS machine, since the inspiron's clearly cheaper if you lower the specs.

 

Did you guys use the Dell coupons? That is the least expensive way to get an Inspiron.

 

Vivek: are there a listing for coupons for Dell Trinidad?

Thnx.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2736248
PC hairs do exist!

 

I can't wait for the WSXGA+ screen to show up, the only thing I would absolutely want. The rest of all icing on the cake. If only there was a way to pry a release date for that from Dell. Excited for the full review on this one.

 

has any1 else seen any reviews?

 

I found this review here .

Is this true that there is no modem??? Like no wireless connection etc?
Does it have a LAN port?

 

It has wireless and an ethernet onboard. There is no onboard modem (old school dial-up). I don't find that to be a big set back myself. It would be nice to have a back-up and it could be extra hassle to carry around an external modem (They aren't to expensive or big, its just something extra in the bag I have to connect. =P ). But it has been probably a few years since I last needed to use a modem.

 

Well its official, it has GDDR3 memory, hy5rs123235b to be exact. Man... it was such a PITA to find out though. Video memory is mounted on the top of the board, not the bottom with the GPU/CPU/chipset.

 

Thanks Kevin. That's sweet.

That looked like it took a lot longer than the 3 minutes you had expected.

 

About 15 minutes, didnt expect the VR to be on the opposite side of the MB.

 

The XPS M1330 does not have a modem either, to which I say GREAT! You can fit more useful stuff in. The XPS M1530 absolutely has wireless and a LAN port, you can get BlueTooth and WWAN as well to satiate your connectivity needs.

Also, we just ran 3DMark06 and got 4,332 -- so even higher on the second run. Thanks to Kevin for pulling apart the XPS M1530 to find the video memory.

 

Thanks for your answer.
I always use a DSL connection via the LAN port or via Wi-Fi now , so not having a dial up is not so much of a hindrance, but it sure would have been better as some kind of 'security'.

 

Thx for rippin' that baby apart!

Sorry, can't help but say that you need to clean that desk up! Your going to lose a tiny screw or spill that soda all over the place (can't stand unorganized work spaces).

OCD rant over

As far as the modem - GOOD RIDDANCE! Damn it has taken a long time to get rid of that CRAP!

 

If you guys have time, could you show us the frame rate on some new games like Unreal Tournament 3, Call of Duty 4 and Crysis?
I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes to see the smooth performance of this GDDR3 graphic card

 

I just ordered my M1530 but there are a few things that I didn't see in my order.
Are the S-Video port and the remote standard items?

 

This is from Dell' site:
I/O Ports
3 USB 2.0
HDMI
VGA
Firewire (IEEE 1394a)
RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100)
8-in-1 card reader
1 ExpressCard 54 mm slot
Stereo in & headphone/speaker out (x2) dual digital array mics

Don't see s-video, but the remote is standard.

 

sleey0,
where do you see the remote control in your list?
I went to see the manual for the M1530 which reported a s-video port standard.

 

Dells Site States it does.
Svideo is on the right side rear as well beside a USB.


Man do you have balls taking apart a brand new kickass laptop!

Can u post a Riva Tuner Stats? (core,ram)

 

The 7pin S-video port's gotta be standard. For an extra $15, you can pick up a 7pin s-video to component/spdif adapter... Not too useful with HDMI on the thing now, but you still might have a situation where you would prefer to use component over HDMI[remember, component does NOT have HDCP, so DRM'd video like some HD-DVD and Blu-ray wont transfer]

As for the remote, on Dell.ca's site, its in the same area as the bluetooth stuff. Can one of you guys confirm if the remote is bluetooth or infrared? I'd prefer IR, as having bluetooth enabled would lower the battery life.

 

Didnt even see remote in the bluetooth section when I ordered mine, i got BT tho.

If its in the BT section than it must be BT.
Which kinda sucks cause i didnt check to get it, not that I need it.
You can always get a 3rd party BT controller.

BUT

the manual says this

"Consumer IR - A port on the front of the computer that allows certain software applications to be controled by the dell travel remote in some systems. In other systems, this port allows you to trasfer data between the computer and infrared-compatibile devices without using a cable connection"

 

Well, I am going off of my 3 1330's - all of them came with the IR remote that slides into the expresscard slot.

So, I would hope that it is standard on the 1530 just like the 1330

 

I just got off the phone with Dell. The lady on the phone was nice.
Her response was: "It definitely most likely might have a remote control. (I got the BD drive and that is where the uncertainty comes from.) We are running a little low on remotes right now. Please check your laptop when it gets delivered."
There you have it: It might or might now.

 

Stats from RivaTuner:

Under 3d load the various speeds are as follows coming out of the hardware monitoring thing

clock/ROP: 513mhz
clock/shader: 1026
mem clock: 702
core temp: 68C

At idle

clock/rop: 182
clock/shader:364
clock mem: 601 (was down to 300, then bumped up while others stayed the same)
temp: 53C

 

lol how can they say might, thats terrible marketing/sales.

You might get what you paid for...

All i can say is, screw the remote, GDDR3 MEMORY!!!!!!!!!!!


how loud is the fan @ 100% CPU & max fan? can you do a video ? DB Test?

 

Theres no specific mention of bluetooth on the actual item... Infact the item is labeled EXACTLY like the IR one found in the inspiron. I bet they just put it in what they thought was the most applicable category.

edit-I still think its BS they have it as an add-on item though. You would think they would include it as free, atleast in their XPS line.(HP seems to include their remote in ALL their laptops found at brick & mortar stores.... atleast here in canada)

 

53-56dB under load

 

YAYAYAYAYYAY!!!!

THANKS

damn, that seems really loud. how far away was this measured?

 

I'd like to see some pictures of the 1530 with the 9-cell battery in it too, since I don't really like the fact that it will somehow stick out. That's why I would like to see it before I buy it .

Could you also test the battery lifetime for 6-cell and 9-cell?

greetz!

 

Heres a simple one:
Are both so-dimm slots located on the back of the laptop, or will i have to take off the keyboard to get access to one of them(like the 1520).

 

NO...there is a cover on the bottom you unscrew. Both are very easily accessible.

 

the 9cell battery raises the laptop off the desk a little bit, and sticks out the back a little bit as well.

However with it raised it increases airflow & decreases temps.

Whether or not the remote is with all laptops is beyond me, However I believe this is the remote that MIGHT come with it.
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro...spx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=412-1034#Overview

 

Listen, the remote is most definitely included with the laptop!

I don't know what the big deal is. It was included with the 1330 and the same applies for the 1530. Those option are for upgraded remotes and spares.