Dell XPS M1530

D

Duckman

Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
What are you thoughts on the Dell XPS M1530 Laptop?

* Intel® Centrino® Duo Processor Technology - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.0GHz/ 800 FSB/ 2MB Cache)
* Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
* 2GB 667MHz dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM
* 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
* 15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display with TrueLife™
* 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
* 8X max DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability

The model I think I will get is the one with a 2.2ghz processor and 3gb RAM, with 320gb HDD. It will be mainly for web design and other design work, and a few games. I think (think) by getting this model it will be sufficient to carry me over for at least 2-3 years with Adobe CS3 software, and a few games. Although most of the games I play currently aren't the leading edge, I want to stay relatively up to date with recent games (I play Rome: Total War, Civ 4 and expansions, as well as SimCity 4. I haven't ventured to more recent games seeing the PC I have barely runs Civ 4).

Thoughts, comments?


EDIT: The reason I want this one to the relatively priced Inspiron 1720 is the size, and that the XPS has a matte finish to the screen. Reflections I can't stand to deal with....
 
See if you can get one with either more ram or a better video card (I'd swing for the video card myself).

Two reasons, one if you're doing anything with flash or Java, you're gonna want something that can muscle it when you get into the really irritating compiling without leaning on your base ram at all for the video output.

For the ram, see how much they would charge to make it 800 mhz rather than 667...

Also it would enable you to handle Civ4 without batting an eye :P

The HDD's a pretty good size, I'd also invest in an external backup drive (USB clamshell or Flash drive) so that you can keep a copy of your most recent work at home on a regular drive, just so that, y'know, in case anything happens to the dear little laptop.

The drive isn't bad, but I'd say ditch the double layer and try to get a 16 spinner on it, the double layer drives haven't taken off like they should have due to the fact that they cost so bloody much and blu-ray is almost out already, the double layers are likely going to be relegated before they hit mainstream.

First thing you do though when you get this thing, get all the hardware written down on a piece of paper and locate each driver for XP and burn it to a disk, after that flush the whole blooming thing and install XP using the drivers you just hunted down.

--EDIT--

Do Not flush anything if you don't know how to use Nlite to drop in the sata drivers for your particular drive however.
 
xdarkyrex said:
My opinion is tempered by price.
What's it cost?
Click to expand...

AU$1999. It's the cheapest thing I could possibly find with specs like this. And that was my upper limit for price.

@ Mord

I am getting the higher end version with 3gb RAM, so I am pretty sure that it will be more than enough, though I don't know how much Vista chews up...

Also, I have no idea about Nlite, so I am willing to leave that right about now :P

Also, with the RAM options, there are very little that Dell Australia gives as options. It only gives 4gb or 3gb of 667mhz of DDR2 RAM...
 
Specs look good, I suggest going with XP instead of Vista though, I strongly suggest TinyXP or another XP variant that lacks the bloat. You can get yourself a dramatically decreased memory load and faster processing if you do it, without all the vendor lock-in software that windows gives you (like internet explorer and outlook and windows media player).

TinyXP 2.0 Platinum edition with the full set of drivers and Opera instead of Internet Explorer, and VLC player instead of WMP. I would also suggest getting Directory Opus to replace Windows Explorer, and Litestep to replace the windows desktop.
Make the most of the hardware ;)
 
OK thanks. But I can't choose XP as an option dammmmit!

But I will definitely look into that tinyXP thing, thanks.
 
After you get your computer, make a thread about it, or post in this thread, and I will do my best to walk you through really tearing apart windows and uprooting things to make your hardware operate much more efficiently. Doing it also beefs up your security real good, because while I'm at it I can show you how to disable all sorts of exploits and work some security into windows components that only exist to use really obscure hardware and software. You may have to wipe your hard drive with some other piece of software to downgrade to XP from what I've heard. (TinyXP also has some fancy Vista features, such as the glass Aero theme)

Also, Service Pack 3 is supposed to be released for xp in the beginning of next year, but until I toy with it I won't have any suggestions of how to optimize the security and software updates. :)
 
I just bought it off the Dell site, and when I get it (approx 7-10 working days), I'll let you know how it is. I just want to get rid of that "Bloatware" that Dell puts on :P
 
Duckman, I'm not sure if you remember me but I'm a Dell technician. If you need assistance in locating the drivers for Windows XP, send me a private message and I'll locate the drivers for you as it can be a pain in the ass, because they are not available on the website. What we do in these cases is match drivers from Latitudes that use the same chipsets and hardware. We can usually get the customer going with that. The only driver that we'll have a bit of trouble locating will be the video driver because not even Nvidia has it, IIRC. Also, ripping apart Windows XP might make it more efficient but I would think it through because we really don't know which dependencies will Service Pack 3 have. Suppose you want to install Service Pack 3 and some feature that's required to install it was taken out. You have a great system, it's just a matter of optimizing it a little.
 
It's excellent, congratulations. Dell support is, of course, kind of not good though. I blame Skynet for that :crazy:
 
The thing about XP is it doesn't have native SATA drivers, that's what Nlite is for, you have to hack job the sata drivers into the installation disk image then re-burn it so that you can install XP on a sata native system.

First thing is to get all the drivers for the system offloaded to disk, then to take your original XP disk, and Nlite it so that it creates an image with your drives sata drivers, most of those XP mods are created with Nlite and a little bit of personal tweaks to show that it's special :P
 
Skynet and MorSith are both very right.
Before you start meessing with things it is probably best to wait til the end of January, since I believe that is when SP3 is going to be released.
Also, before getting SP3, read some reviews on it, who knows what kind of invasive software microsoft will be putting in this time...
 
Well, I have already bought the system, will SP3 be something that existing users can download?
 
Yes, just like service pack 2.
Its just an update you get through microsofts website for XP, and it has something likw 1200 fixes in it for different bbugs, errors and exploits.

sp2 made a huge difference in making xp more functional and less glitchy, and sp3 shall take it even further, hopefully.
 
I'll just have to keep an eye though, it will be a pain :P

Anywho, I'll let you guys know when I get the laptop (7-10 working days) and see what I can do from there.

Appreciate the input too :wink:
 
Briosafreak said:
It's excellent, congratulations. Dell support is, of course, kind of not good though. I blame Skynet for that :crazy:
Click to expand...

Bad service, huh? Well I no longer work in the US segment so that might be the reason why you are getting poopy service. You see, they closed the US dept. in Panama to give the task of supporting US customers to the Philippines and Canada, that is, if you bought your system in the Transactional or Relationship segments. If you bought on the home users dept. you get a one-way ticket to India.

Don't worry about SATA drivers on XP, you can set the SATA controller in the BIOS to ATA-compatibility operation mode which will allow the Windows XP installation program to detect the hard drive. See, we do respond to feedback.
 
Briosafreak said:
It's excellent, congratulations. Dell support is, of course, kind of not good though. I blame Skynet for that :crazy:
Click to expand...

Dell isn't what it used to be, my ex had some problems with her dvd rom and in the same day a dell tech came by and no questions asked he just replaced it. The phone support is excellent, I have used it myself, but I can only speak for myself, maybe I am lucky :-)
 
Got the laptop today, with everything installed. I guess I will have to go through and see what bloatware they have going :P

Great thus far.
 
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