Dell XPS laptop

[Ardesco]

I've seen a couple of these in action recently:

http://www.hpoutlet.co.uk/HP_Compaq_...ET/version.asp

I was very impressed, I'll probably look at something like this next time I buy a new laptop, all the fun of a laptop and the tablet abilities can be very useful to cut down on the number of bits of paper with scribbles on that are left all over your desk

[Cyberman]

Thanks for the reply Mr Robin!

It will be replacing a 3 year old laptop that's my everyday machine and starting to turn to crap. I don't do anything too sophisticated - mostly web browsing, office apps, watching DVDs etc. I like to lounge around the house and travel a bit so I like something lightweight with decent battery life.

A few more questions...
Is the build quality ok?
Is the LED screen upgrade worthwhile?
Did you go for Vista Home Premium or Ultimate? (I don't think I need Ultimate)
How much memory did you go for and is this sufficient to run Vista?
Did you go dor the SSD hard drive?

Cheers!

I ordered the XPS 1530 last week, and I got a telephone call telling me delivery is tomorrow!! I had been looking around and bought the latest PCPro and Computer Shopper. Both magazines have articles re tests on these models and are very positive so I decided to buy.

Is the build quality ok? VERY GOOD
Is the LED screen upgrade worthwhile? TRUELIFE screen is best
Did you go for Vista Home Premium or Ultimate? (I don't think I need Ultimate) Home Premium is best for price.
How much memory did you go for and is this sufficient to run Vista? See spec below.
Did you go dor the SSD hard drive? see spec below.



My spec. for 940 quid(incl VAT) approx is:

1 N03X5310 200-53187
1 XPS M1530 CORE 2 DUO T7700 2.40GHz,800MHz,4M 210-19343
1 Fingerprint Reader Biometric with BLACK accent 214-10030
1 Display 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) with Truelife 230-10144
1 CCFL backcover blue & 2.0mp camera 320-10190
1 Not Included Resource CD 340-13279
1 Documentation English XPS M1530 340-14931
1 Ship Accessories UK XPS M1530 - Power Cord 3 PIN 340-15221
1 Memory Dual Channel 4.0GB (2x2048) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM 370-12386
1 Hard Drive 320GB SATA (5400rpm) 400-14158
1 8xDVD+/-RW Slim Slot-Load Drive, including SW 429-12854
1 AC Adapter 90W - 3 Pin 450-10999
1 Battery XPS Primary 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion 451-10506
1 Not Included Carry Case 460-10041
1 Graphics Card 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT 490-10756
1 Dell Travel Remote control 506-10024
1 Modem Not Included 530-11691
1 Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-PCI Card, EUR 555-11012
1 European - Dell TrueMobile 355 internal Bluetooth Module 555-11135
1 Internal Keyboard Uk/Irish (QWERTY) 583-11745
1 English - Vista Home Premium 619-10906
1 English Microsoft Works 9.0 (Word Processor, Database) with Recovery CD 630-11001
1 UK Internet Service Provider - Tiscali 640-10280
1 English - Adobe Reader 8.1 640-10395
1 Dell Support Center 2.0 640-10551
1 English McAfee Security Centre 9.0 - 30 Day Trial Version 650-10792
1 Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support) 754-11241
1 No Warranty Upgrade 754-11243
1 No Accidental Damage Support 755-10404
1 To access Online Training or free trial, please go to www.learndell.com/euro to register 767-10030
1 Inspiron Order - UK 800-10140
1 Dell Internet Order. 815-10000
1 Road Freight Charge Per Unit 1-10 unit

[MrRobin]

Yeah there are nearly always 10% off coupons on the net for Dell machines. Go to myvouchercodes or hotukdeals one of the many others to get the latest.

Glad they changed the lid! Just has a small circle with XPS on it now. Got the lid in a nice crimson red too

[Spacecadet]

Good choice.
i almost got one of these last summer but the XPS back then had a HUGE XPS logo on the lid that glowed red when it was switched on.
Decided to get something slightly more subtle

Make sure you get them to include the 3year worldwide on site warranty for free
and try and get at least 10% off the price as well... Dell also do a lot of software, so if you need any (and don't have "free" copies) then get it all bundled.

[beaker]

Thanks matey! All very useful info. I plan on getting one when I'm back from hols...

[MrRobin]

Well, the M1330 is fairly lightweight but it's no ultra portable tho... but when I was in the market for a smallish laptop I felt it gave the best power vs portability tradeoff. I haven't really given it a good session just on battery power so can't comment on that one, but it predicts that it lasts around 2 hrs with bluetooth and wifi on and other power saving features on 50%. I only got the 6 cell battery, you can upgrade to a 9 cell for about £20.

The build quality is great. Feels solid, all the bits are flush etc and has a nice shiny finish. Only thing there is what I said about the keybord, but that might just be me sometimes trying to type in the wrong position (i.e. lounged back on a sofa)

I do like the LED screen. It's certainly better than my 5yr old ex laptop LCD screen.. is much brighter and produces a crisper picture. Haven't seen the LCD that would come with the M1330 normally so can't make a direct comparison. Supposedly it is brighter, lighter and gives better battery life.

Vista home premium... didn't see anything in the Ultimate I would find useful...

2Gb RAM. Was tempted to upgrade to 4, but Vista 32bit can only use about 3gb of it anyway. Its enough for me... I currently have open IE7 with 6 tabs, Excel, Access and Explorer and am using 59% of available so it seems its enough.

No I didn't get the solid state drive! I thought £800 extra was a bit too much, even for a contractor

[beaker]

Thanks for the reply Mr Robin!

It will be replacing a 3 year old laptop that's my everyday machine and starting to turn to crap. I don't do anything too sophisticated - mostly web browsing, office apps, watching DVDs etc. I like to lounge around the house and travel a bit so I like something lightweight with decent battery life.

A few more questions...
Is the build quality ok?
Is the LED screen upgrade worthwhile?
Did you go for Vista Home Premium or Ultimate? (I don't think I need Ultimate)
How much memory did you go for and is this sufficient to run Vista?
Did you go dor the SSD hard drive?

Cheers!

[MrRobin]

I purchased an XPS M1330 about a month ago. I chose the 2nd highest spec starting configuration and upgraded the screen to the lightweight and brighter LED one. Very happy with it so far.

Couple of minor cons such as the processor whine (but this is not a Dell thing apparently; is common to all C2D's), a slightly noisy dvd drive, keyboard not quite responsive enough and the usual bloatware that comes pre installed.

Other than that it has been very fast and reliable. I even have started to like Vista

What would you be using it for?

[beaker]

I've been looking for a lightweight laptop for a while and think this could be the one to go for. Seems to get good reviews. Anyone had any experiences with one of these?