Dell XPS M1530 First Look and Video

HDMI really doesn't matter to me (don't have a HDTV, and don't really plan on getting one for a while, by which time I probably will have a nice desktop to play HD movies etc anyway).

But yeah, the video RAM is an issue. But there's no way I'm paying nearly £200 more, just for a nicer look and GDDR3 RAM.

 

its $100 CDN for the higher video card on my end, well worth it in my opinion for that leap in performance on a laptop.

and really you can go with cheaper ram (1gb) & buy the 2GB stick yourself for 1/2 the cost.

 

WE WANT THE REVIEW!!

lol

 

I was gonna say that if you hadn't already someday

 

well i'll say it again....STOP BEING INFO GREEDY PPL AND POST A DANG REVIEW

 

Lets make a list of games we want reviewed. 3dmark scores can only go so far.

Crysis
Doom3
CS-Source
Call of Duty 2/4beta
BF2
FEAR
Quake Wars BETA
Quake4
FarCry
HL2
Company Of Heros
Unreal Tournament 3

 

I find your lack of oblivion disturbing... Id also like a 3dmark'05 score/link to test page. Got rid of my desktop, and only have that test done on it.

 

I forgot to add. I havnt gamed in well over 3 years, so i was just looking up benchmarks for the 8600's and seeing who was testing what.

I just want to watch the benchmarks from 01 & 99, i loved they those looked.

I wonder if you can put them as your screensaver....

I think i may pull out dungeon siege 2, would look and play so awesome with a kickass system.

 

This has the same graphics card and essentially the same specs as the Asus G1s, you could just look at the gaming performance for that notebook.

 

Price on Asus G1s?

 

ya benchmarks for oblivion...not those other games

 

Between $1500 and $1700, depending on where you buy. More expensive and more bulky than the M1530, but its better built. And, more importantly, has essentially the same specs, plus the same graphics card, so they should offer the same gaming performance. There are plenty of gaming benchmarks for the G1S, so they should be about the same for the M1530.

 

very interesting

so what does the asus have that the XPS doesnt, and vice versa

Asus - 15.4” WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
- 10/100/1000 BaseT Ethernet, 1GB Ethernet??
- Esata (sweeet)

Im sure new drivers & XP will make these two fair competitors on both fronts.
The XPS does come ahead in design I think - barrel hinge and no front latch Also 7200RPM HDD & more customization ability

However the cluster of USB at the back is good in my books. I use a USB hub and just plug in 1 USB cable to keep down on having to unplug many things.

Local comp store here has the G1s-a1 for 1669 CDN

 

The G1S is nice, and TheSourceCC sells it here in canada. Its too expensive imo though. The dell similarly speced is about $250 less. I like the extra sturdy-ness and REALLY like the eSata port, but it isnt worth the price premium... Esp. when you take into account how gaudy it is. Neon Green grills, glowing eye, carbon fiber vinyl all over it....

Plus, its gotta be atleast 1lb heavier.

 

yeh and you can just add a PCMCIA TO sata Card easily or a PCMCIA Docking centre with Video out - 4.1 sound, DVI out, Sata etc. Great for desktop use.

 

Come on mate! There isn't even the need to test the fps of HL2, CS:S and Far cry. They used to run at 50+ fps( @ 1024x768) on my old GeForce 4 MX 440 ...
So it'll be totally useless to check it on a 8600M GT.

I would rather want this game to be checked out on that XPS M1530:

Gears of Wars

 

Ill check it myself Monday

Mine was shipped today!

 

Wow! Shall we expect a user's review on Monday night then?

 

More like Thursday.

Have a college final Monday, then need to study for wed final, Work/partying wed night. Thursday ill wake up around noon & get er done.

Going to do Vista Benchmarks, Format, then do XP Benchmarks. will be 5+ hours of benching. Will also test seperate videocard drivers, and ReadyBoost in vista & Cache on 4GB SD card in XP.

I wanted this laptop here as fast as possible, but i didnt at the same time cause i had finals...

 

How have you come to this judgment? You must have really good eyes to have seen the build quality from the videos and pictures...

Anyway, I hope a full review comes out soon!

 

Yea Vivek I would like to know what your basing this on...just because the asus G1s is 1.4 pounds heavier doesn't mean it is necessarily built better.

 

Sorry, I was assuming the M1530 has roughly equivalent build quality to the M1330. That is pretty much what I based my opinion from.

And I never suggested that the fact that the G1s weighs 1.4lbs more (is it not closer to 1lb or even less? I thought it was 5.8 or 5.9 for the M1530 and 6.8 for the G1s...) made it better built.

 

some japanese website ripped this review
http://notebook.thethirdmedia.com/Article/200712/show114946c15p1.html

 

I love the watermarks they slapped on it too.

One of these days I will publish my reviews containing images that are rendered using collages of the NBR logo in varying intensities.

 

we want review!!

 

My human greedyness told me that I regret buying ASUS G1S, I want this XPS...

 

ya ASUS sux...sell it!

 

Asus has no sound! Their speakers, at max volume, could not be heard over the general goings on at best buy.

 

Chinese actually.

 

yup asus blows...and i still want a review of the M1530...

 

Alright if it comes Monday I will review it that night ONLY. And only in vista & with stock drivers. Bloatware will be removed & noted.

What do you want reviewed other than games? Sandrasoft scores? Boot times?

I will have to download demos to most games as i dont have full versions.

**Download Demos now - Some are 1.8GB's.....
Total Demo Download 8.5GB's**
Should be downloaded by tomorrow onto my external HDD.

After each switch to a different demo to bench I will reboot, defrag the hdd, and then bench.

 

Boot time and sandrasoft scores would be great!
For games... Gears of wars and UT3 please


And also, if you could tell us about the build quality.
I'd also would like to see a sample pic from the 2.0mpx webcam.
And finally, a conclusion about the overall feel of the beast .

 

MUST!!!!!!!!

 

I have a question about the wireless card.
The Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card supports only n networks right?
or does it also support the other a/b/g ?

Can it happen that the wireless mini card is incompatible with a wi-fi network?

 

Pardon me? I know you want the M1530, but that isn't really a reason to hate Asus....They make some pretty good notebooks, even though their standard is not quite up to what it was a couple of years back. Plus, I'd rather have an F8Sv over an XPS M1530, but the GDDR3 in the Dell would make me think about it.

The wireless-n card supports 802.11a/b/g/n networks, its compatible with almost every kind of wifi network you will come across.

 

Thanks for clearing the doubts I had in my head.
It wouldn't have happened if Dell had precisely said that it could support all those networks

 

I cant find gears of wars demo for you guys? Do i have to get a hot copy or is there a demo somewhere?

 

you got pm kanadianiceman

 

Coo thx.
I think this is going to be a record for Downlods in one day. About 20GB of Demos!
My wifi card is going to catch on fire! & ISP is gonna be going huh.
pulling about 980kb/s for the next 5 hours!

Im a photographer so expect some kickass photos. NBR can use them as stock if they wish

PS: I got the 9Cell Bat too, I will take pics and post them of lappy while I bench.

 

we want u to write an acctual review...not just list benches

 

Can't wait for the pictures kanadianiceman .

 

ive never done one but ill look at some reviews already done & see exactly what needs to be done

The sneak-peak review summed up most of what I wanted to know ahaha.

 

Maybe this means GDDR3 8600m gt will be offered for the inspiron 1525 refresh?

As for the Asus G1s, it is starting to become more irrelevant, considering people who want good graphics in notebooks don't necessarily want their notebooks to be flashy, but having said that, we've got to give credit where its due. Hats off to asus, without the G1/G2 series dells will probably still have only intergrated graphics in them today.

 

For all those formating your PC's from vista to XP I found a kickass slipstream installation guide.

http://www.3dgameman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49639

When you get the video put it on slow speed in whatever program the guy goes fast.

 

Make sure you put in battery life for different activities and your opinion on heat and noise.

Also, could you get a bench for call of duty 4 if possible?

 

Demos I have downloaded so far to test.

COD4 MW
Company of heroes
Hellgate London
Ut2004
Timeshift
Fear
Crysis

Gears of War is soon...

Testing will commence Monday-Tuesday.

I have just slipstreamed win XP with SP2+Hotfixes & the video drivers & for the inspiron 1520, as well as all other drivers required by the 1530 (wireless, network, sound, webcam, card reader, bluetooth)
If I have enough time I will test that.

 

Yeah, when i get mine(have not ordered yet. waiting for the WXGA+ LED, but id be happy with the non-led WXGA+)i'll hold of on putting XP on it till they release SP3... As it is now, its to much of a pain to track down and download all the minor patches post-SP2. Once SP3 is out though, I really cant see any reason to stick with Vista. There's got to be atleast a 20% jump in performance over vista, and all at the cost of not being able to run anything in DX10 mode, which as we all know isnt really possible with the 8600 anyway(not powerful enough).

 

I know there are some hacked DX10 drivers out there

I cant really think of any reason to goto Vista. I just hope the drivers ive found will work with th 1530 & XP!

Toms Hardware did an extensive test on benchmarks/games/applications again vista & XP. XP came out on top.

 

hmm kanadian....i think its against EULA to download those so...dont post that on this forum or the mods will pwn u

 

Could you say why you would rather have the F8Sv? I'm kinda stuck between the two of them. Mainly because of the F8Sv's battery life (I'm guessing the difference between the two will be significant with a 9cell on the 1530).