Dell XPS M1530 Review

[koo]

Unfortunately mine has already been shipped. Are there anyw workarounds to improve the harddrive?

oscar,

yes - you can purchase a new hard drive and install it yourself. there is a video a couple posts up that shows you how to do it. it is very easy. you can get a decent 7200rpm 16mb cache drive anywhere from $140-$200 depending on the size you want. you also might want to think about selling your Dell stock drive on eaby to make up some money (only do this when you know for sure you're going to keep the computer)

[oscar_90]

oscar,

yes - you can purchase a new hard drive and install it yourself. there is a video a couple posts up that shows you how to do it. it is very easy. you can get a decent 7200rpm 16mb cache drive anywhere from $140-$200 depending on the size you want. you also might want to think about selling your Dell stock drive on eaby to make up some money (only do this when you know for sure you're going to keep the computer)

Thank you very much koo!! I'm now relieved that I didn't make a stupid choice. I probably won't upgrade the HDD and the RAM yet until further along when the computer starts to lag. Thanks again koo. I now have a peace of mind.

[blue5]

When an order is shipped, about how long does it take to arrive?

[blue5]

I'm still seing this on the staus page:

Carrier: Data Temporarily Unavailable
Tracking Number: Data Temporarily Unavailable

What does this indicate?

[arch983]

hey everyone!!!

Some exciting news!!! The new resolutions are out 1440x900 and 1680x1050. These are just the CCFL LCD resolutions so far. Not sure if later they will also introduce some LED options. But this is pretty sweet for the peoples that were waiting for the better options. Check it out at the Dell site.

[Onion Knight]

Hello to all. I have a question and it is whether it is actually better to go with the 1440x900 resolution for this laptop as opposed to the maximum being offered for it which is 1680x1050. The $50 dollar difference is not that much of an issue. What I'm worried about is whether 1680x1050 will turn out to be too much for a 15 inch screen. I haven't yet seen a monitor with 1440x900 resolution, much less a 1680x1050 one, as my monitor only displays up to 1024x768. I have used 15 inch monitors (not mine though) with 1280x1024 resolutions and on that screen size, it seems to be the ideal resolution.

I began getting slightly worried about this after some posts on another forum suggested that 1680x1050 might result in display elements that are too small. Also, the 15 inch Apple Macbook Pros only offer 1440x900, with only the 17 inch models offering the higher one. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks a lot.

[arch983]

Hello to all. I have a question and it is whether it is actually better to go with the 1440x900 resolution for this laptop as opposed to the maximum being offered for it which is 1680x1050. The $50 dollar difference is not that much of an issue. What I'm worried about is whether 1680x1050 will turn out to be too much for a 15 inch screen. I haven't yet seen a monitor with 1440x900 resolution, much less a 1680x1050 one, as my monitor only displays up to 1024x768. I have used 15 inch monitors (not mine though) with 1280x1024 resolutions and on that screen size, it seems to be the ideal resolution.

I began getting slightly worried about this after some posts on another forum suggested that 1680x1050 might result in display elements that are too small. Also, the 15 inch Apple Macbook Pros only offer 1440x900, with only the 17 inch models offering the higher one. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks a lot.

Hey, I got the Lenovo 3000 N200 at a CCFL 1680x1050 from a year ago and it is sweet as hell. If Dell offers LED back lighting later it probably will be 1440x900, because that is the only option in 15" so far I believe with that new tech. But I have seen those macbook pros, at the stores and they look amazing too. Don't forget, the higher the resolution, the smaller the application, but more detail. The smaller the resolution the bigger the applications but less detail. It is ultimately your decision which you perfer.

To say that 1680x1050 is too small, I completely disagree as I have one and it is amazing with qaulity and detail rich. I never find myself squinting while looking at spreedsheets or applications with smaller printing. Also the good thing about 1680x1050 is that you have much more freedom putting two apps side by side like spreedsheets with word or Internet with word doc. It works wonders with fitting in all that information!! Less scrolling to be done.

Last but not least, if you game on the side a little, it will provide richer and finer content.

To sort of turn the tables on you though, if they offer LED backlighting in the future at 1440x900, I would definitely go with that. Why? because it provides purely evenly light pixels throughout the screen and much, much better viewing angles, increased brightness, if you like that, and less battery consumption. Possibly even a thinner lighter weight profile. So you might want to take that into account. But if you are to buy right now, then go with the 1680x1050, you will not regret it. those are my final thoughts.

[Injek]

Well I think that new games played at 1680x1050 might lag, and I don't really think you can enjoy a game which lags a lot.

So in the end you might be going back to putting it to 1280x1024 , thus losing the details of your 1680x1050 screen ( for gaming purposes ).

This is why I think that a 1440x900 resolution screen would be fine, even if 1680x1050 screens are more detailed. But only $50 for the upgrade of screens is really something which would tempt me to get the higher res.

EDIT:

I do not see the 1680x1050 screen options on Dell(US).
Only saw the 1440x990 in CCFL with a 2mp webcam.

[Onion Knight]

Hey, I got the Lenovo 3000 N200 at a CCFL 1680x1050 from a year ago and it is sweet as hell. If Dell offers LED back lighting later it probably will be 1440x900, because that is the only option in 15" so far I believe with that new tech. But I have seen those macbook pros, at the stores and they look amazing too. Don't forget, the higher the resolution, the smaller the application, but more detail. The smaller the resolution the bigger the applications but less detail. It is ultimately your decision which you perfer.

To say that 1680x1050 is too small, I completely disagree as I have one and it is amazing with qaulity and detail rich. I never find myself squinting while looking at spreedsheets or applications with smaller printing. Also the good thing about 1680x1050 is that you have much more freedom putting two apps side by side like spreedsheets with word or Internet with word doc. It works wonders with fitting in all that information!! Less scrolling to be done.

Last but not least, if you game on the side a little, it will provide richer and finer content.

To sort of turn the tables on you though, if they offer LED backlighting in the future at 1440x900, I would definitely go with that. Why? because it provides purely evenly light pixels throughout the screen and much, much better viewing angles, increased brightness, if you like that, and less battery consumption. Possibly even a thinner lighter weight profile. So you might want to take that into account. But if you are to buy right now, then go with the 1680x1050, you will not regret it. those are my final thoughts.

Thanks a lot for the very helpful advices. 1680x1050 seems like the way to go now. Also, LED backlighting sounds really neat but I can't really wait too long. The special offer for the $1399 featured system ends on January 31, so hopefully, Dell will incorporate it before then. Anyway, thanks a lot again!

[koo]

Can you upgrade the screen at a later time - but paying $50 and having someone come in and replace it?