A Few Questions About The XPS M1530

High Resolution glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1680x1050) & 2MP Camera

Is this a good screen resolution and will it be good for playing videos games and things of that sort

There have been a lot of complaints that this screen is very grainy because they've been using samsungs. They're supposedly switching to higher quality LGs though so there may not be any problems yourself. As far as the actual resolution goes, its your own opinion really. Some people enjoy high resolutions, other people think that high resolutions make things just too darn TINY. Look at the resolution you use, just remember the higher it goes the smaller things get. For games, if you want to run games in your native resolution then it will be VERY taxing on the video card and you will have to turn down other effects since theres so many pixels to render. However Ive heard that the screens still look fine even if you turn down the resolution to non-native.

4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)

I've heard the issues of only 64bit vista running the 4gb ram yet when i configure the setup it doesnt say there is conflicting versions of ram and OS(it did when i upgraded the processor and not the video card)

Well technically there is no conflict, these will still work. Your system will just recognize only 3GB of the 4. Do not buy any RAM upgrades from Dell though, its much cheaper to buy them online and install yourself

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)

Is this honestly worth the extra money in that it will last me longer than the other options or will it not do the justice of the extra money or would going with the 2.6ghz one be a smarter idea even though the price is mindblowing

People believe this is the best deal for this generation of Core 2's, the price for the small extra of clock speed in the 9500 is ridiculous and not worth it

Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card

I have not read anythong on wireless cards so im wondering is it worth the extra money to go with this wireless card or will i see no difference in the speed of my connection

You get extra range, connection speed will stay at the max of the router though.. I believe people are overall satisfied even using G routers and you might as well be prepared for the future when there are more wireless-N routers for better connections.

Speed: 160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor

is there a large difference in the 7200rpm and the 5400rpm hd's or should i go for a larger amount of space and the slower version?

It really depends on your preference. If you download and store large files like movies and such, and have a constant need to access it then you should get a larger one. The 7200 really does make a big difference though, looking at the speed itself the 7200 is 33% faster and it DOES make a big difference when using your computer, especially boot times. If you have a lot of storage you could always get a 7200 then get an external drive.

ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi® Xtreme Audio Sound Card

I listen to alot of music and i would most likely be using my laptop to play my music when i am in college. with nice speakers to hook up will this sound card make a large difference in the quality of sound output or will it be about the same depending on the speakers i use?

This one I cannot help you

Also and lastly will there be any new updates in the next few months on the XPS's?

I highly doubt there will be any big updates to wait for. Perhaps there will be fixes for certain issues the computers have, but who knows they may already be addressing those issues (such as the mousepad, audio static). Other than that we MAY see the GeForce 9 series come to the M1530 but that would likely be in the second half of the year (unelss its the 9500GS which is practically the same as the 8600GT) There will be the new Montevina architecture with faster bus speeds and better use of the Penryns, but that will likely be late summer or afterwards, so unless you are willing to wait that long there is nothing, as the Penryns santa just came out that is the biggest update.

Oh also there could be LED displays coming out for the series, if that is important to you (slightly more energy efficient, and slightly slimmer - See M1330) then that may happen soon

Wraith582 Notebook Enthusiast

roland_j Notebook Consultant