XPS M1530: a brief review

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manas

Wandering in the zone ...
gx_saurav is right.. Do a fresh install of Vista and install Service Pack 1.

It improves Vista's responsiveness a lot. :)
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
yup, SP1 just finished installation....
currently i have problem with MS SQL Server Express 2005 nd refuses to start it services even after SP1.

SO im gonna install XP too on it by formating it somehow.
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
I dun see n BIG change in the total system response after SP1. Sometimes even mouse movements are getting too choppy. I tries disabling AV, sidebar nd most of the resource hungry services, but doesnt help.




And the Creative Audigy Sound they provided is a software one. Its ok but it required registration while setup nd the serial number i got, seems to be expired (even before installation).

I think ill have to call Dell for help.
 
yes there must be some problem, these kind of problems don't even occur on my Celeron 1.5 with 1.24 DDR2 GB Ram and an PATA hdd@5400rpm. Do you have the most recent graphics driver, by the way, buddy? Also try using Process Explorer by Mark Russinovich of SysInternals. Its a great tool for analyzing situations like this and there is a link to a video on his blog that explains it very intuitively, apart from the blog entry. Address is *blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/
 

tusharlad

Down to Earth
Hi Aravind ! (dominator)

How is your lappy working ? Are all the problems solved ?
Please reply as I have to put order for the same lappy.
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
Everythi is fine except the audigy software driver. It shows as expired, but its my fault dat ivnt yet called dell bout this problem. Too busy with xams and college mini project.
nywat other than that im pretty happy with it, but the battery life still seems avg. I shud have opted for the 9cell.
 

gary4gar

GaurishSharma.com
Conga Man!. nice reviews there
I hope you have Gone for 64bit OS.
As, only 64bit edition will be able to do justice on your hardware.
Also, Please do remove all the crapware.

So, how is support on 64bit edition of Vista?
on Xp it is very bad when i last checked. maybe MS has improved in this deparment.


9cell batteries are very very Heavy to carry around:|
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
thnx man
Ive heard most s/w wont work for x64. Ill be using SQL Express 2005, VS 2008 etc for our college projects and any incompatibility wud land me in trouble.

BTW VIsta 32 bit SP1 got installed nd now whole 4GB is detaectd, but the performance remains same.
 

gopz

In the zone
BTW VIsta 32 bit SP1 got installed nd now whole 4GB is detaectd, but the performance remains same.

Well there are a number of threads on this one but I thought its worth mentining here again - It DOES NOT see all the 4GB, but just shows the installed memory.

32Bit OSes have a limitation of address spaces (2 ^ 32) which is 4GB, so it cannot see more than 3.5GB in your case. The computer is still using 3.5GB only, but it just displays 4GB to show much physical memory is installed (but only 3.5GB is used by the OS)
 

naveen_reloaded

!! RecuZant By Birth !!
Awesome review.i am going to buy this model very soon..
But before i need yöü to answer few questions..
Did yöü customize your system online or straight to the dealer..how is the procedure?
How long does it take to get delivered.?

Did yöü customize your display? I saw three variety and i choose the second one,ie wxga not with true life..sorry if i am wrong...is that the same display yöü are having?if so how is it compared to sony's display? My friend has a high end lap from sony,the display is just awesome..it had wxga display only..?
More question to come..

Is it possible to format everything on the hard disk and install a fresh vista?i mean even the backup or recovery the company takes up in seperate partition... I dont need them anyway..
What about drivers?is it availabe on their site? Or does those come in installation file?
Is it worth to go for 4gb? And also to 8600GT?
How is the mousepad? Is it sticky like in hp? Or rough in like sony? I prefer the latter...
Is there a way to get black key pad? Yours is silver right?
How much did it cost for yöü? With taxes?

Sorry for too many questions..hi hi i
Just curious..
All i need is a best display since i cant live with a horrible display which comes with starting models...thats why..
The third variety they showed on their website was costly, so i have no option but to go for second choice..so help me in this regard mainly..
Is it possible to send back the lap withing 15 days if i dont like it?
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
@naveen_reloaded
thnx for rating the review man
I have answers to some/most of ur questions.

* I customized it on site and i proceeded by clicking that button and i gave my email, phone number etc. They called me the very next day(it was at 10:pM that i configured it:D). And even after the sale person has called u, u can ask him to alter any specs and he ll give the correct price difference exactly as on site. It much easy and they sometimes gives foolish advices too. (like dual channel shud not be implemented manually on DDR2. It comes in dual channel even if i choose 3GB, ie 1*2GB and 1*1GB...lol)

* It took less than 2 full days after the cash has been transfered from the account to Dell. SO it ll take max of 3~4 days in case u are in a far remote location.

* There was choises like 1280*800, 1280*800 True Life, 1440*900[WXGA] True Life and 1680*1050[Xtreme HD]. I choose the 1440*900 one nd its brilliant though the viewing angle from bottom of screen is not much impressive. Sharpness, color, contrast, response everythin is top notch than most of the 19" desktop LCDs. And viewing angles from both sides are perfect. I think the WXGA nd XtremeHD displays can easily compete with VIAO.

* Yup, u can format everythin oh HDD and repartition as per ur needs. But its a big trouble if u want to keep that backup partition nd then repartition that primary one....And really that recovry partion is not dat useful. U get a fresh copy of Vista Disc OEM which dun need a s/n during installation nd only works for that mobo(coz its OEM).

* U get whole Driver disc packages on discs which includes every s/w which comes installed on it when we receives the lappy. U can also dl all drivers from Dell websites too if u want to update frequently. There is no choice for 8600M GT on nvidia website whereas Dell has it.

* The touchpad is average but far better than compaq nd HP. U can set if u want it too soft or hard via drivers....its highly tweakable.

* Nope, there is only SILVER for XPS M1530....but hey its not that bad as i thought before actually seeing it. The surface seems like brushed alluminium.

* U can bargain to get atleast 6~8k reduction.

* And i dun think Dell is giving any money back guarentee for lappys. If u are so keen on displays, then opt for Xtreme HD. Its sure gonna beat da hell outaa WXGA of dat VAIO.:p
 
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naveen_reloaded

!! RecuZant By Birth !!
Thanks for the answers..that was much usefull...
Is the mousepad easy to use..i mean, if yöü would have used hp ,yöü would notice that the mouse pad is very glossy and sticky,i mean the surface...my friend has it and its very uncomfortable to use..thats why i asked..
Thanks for the reply on display.. Will go for your choice..
I think i saw a lap with black keypad,thats why i asked..

Did yöü freshly install your os...coz the company installed will be loaded with sh!t..
Did yöü update to SP1? Is it showing 4gb?

Does 50k is inclusive of all tax? Sorry coz the i dont know what that epp stands for! And where can i get discount coupon as shown in whe website?
What did they give as free ?
Sorry for asking too many question... Hi hi..
Anyway thanks for answering all my questions:)
 
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dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
Yup, i lost my original vista installation while trying to split the primary partition using partition maic boot disc. Then i reformated using Acronis and then freshly installed vista and SP1 too. Now its showing as 4GB...nyways the memory usage never shooted upto 4G with whatever apps i opened simultaneously......didnt get time to game on it.
I got that carry bag and another EP 630 as free.. EPP is employee purchase program by which dell employees can purchase under gr8 discounts and that employee can give any shipping address. My Bro's friend helpem me.

And that Coupon feature is not available on India.

BTW where are u from? In south India, Dell has a new production centre at chennai.
 
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Does XPS 1530 have 8600gt ddr3 or ddr2 memory?? I enquired via mail to the Dell people n dey said it's DDR2 memory. Can u just check that out if it's possible to check??

Can u tell us wot all games u can play on it?? Was thinking of buying it as gaming lappi but drew back cause of graphics card being an old one!!
wud like to hear of fps u get on crysis and cod4 etc..
 
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naveen_reloaded

!! RecuZant By Birth !!
Yup, i lost my original vista installation while trying to split the primary partition using partition maic boot disc. Then i reformated using Acronis and then freshly installed vista and SP1 too. Now its showing as 4GB...nyways the memory usage never shooted upto 4G with whatever apps i opened simultaneously......didnt get time to game on it.
yup, it was 50,516/- incl of taxes and i got that carry bag and another EP 630 as free.. EPP is employee purchase program by which dell employees can purchase under gr8 discounts and that employee can give any shipping address. My Bro's friend helpem me.

And that Coupon feature is not available on India.

BTW where are u from? In south India, Dell has a new production centre at chennai.

sorry for the late rteply....

had problem in mobile office so wasnt able to reply from mobile...

anyway again thanks for the answer...
i

15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife(TM)
4GB ( 2 X 2048MB ) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8400M GS

these are the changes i made to Dell XPS M1530 Laptop... but as you acan see , i just having a confusion whether to go for 8600 gt intially or just 8400 ... anyway its my choice only .. but i am hardcore gameer.. but will be using it in my hostell.. where i have to study a lot coz i am in final year... but again are lesiure times i may play....

i am just thinking or asking suggestion to all whether shall igo for 8600 gt and reduce on to ram ie to 3gb ??? or go for 4gb and 8400 .. coz at present including tax it comes for Rs 54,291.23

also another thing is will it be difficult to change graphics card to 8600 gt ???

since for ram , its tweo slotted i can remove that 1 gb and put in 2 gb few months later....

please help me guys...

i cantstretch my budget fruther more and i cant compromise on screen clarity also ...

dominator .. can u post few pictures of your screen....

say a comparison between lap and pc if u have ???

thnks again for the answer...
 
OP
dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
@bhaskarvyas001
yup, now Dell is giving 8600M GT with 256Mb GDDR3...it different from desktop 8600GT gpu only GPU clocks...its at 475 whereas desktop one i for 540mhz.

will try more games on it nd will be back soon.
get that 8600GT and 4G ram as it wud be totally a big trouble incase u need to upgrade later especially the gcard.

ill post more pics 2day nite....
BTW...u can call me aravind...dom1nator is ma nick name i use for CS matches:smile:
 

naveen_reloaded

!! RecuZant By Birth !!
thanks aravind...

but getting both 4gb and 8600 gt will shoot my budget even higher,.... since with recent lcd tv and ps3 purchase my option have been limited...

anyway looking for more pics of your lappy...

heardf that it gives shock with that metal coating , is that true ???

and also please post a good clear picture... i mean one with good light setting.. want to see the beauty..nice./... hi hi ...
 
OP
dOm1naTOr

dOm1naTOr

Wise Old Owl
How cud it give a shock?
The adapter plug itself is only giving some 12v Dc to the system...and how is the chance of getting shock from a 12v DC?
nyways i havnt felt ny shock from it yet...maybe its a adapter problem that he got the shock or some grounding problem.

and sorry bout the pics...my connection is actig weirdly nd photo uploads are failing(even torrents ports not working). called the ISP nd they say it ll be fixed b 2moro.
but its crawling like a dialup.:(
 
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