Buy Dell XPS M1530 or wait for Studio???

If you are looking at the M1730, now is probably the best time to buy. The deal today for the M1730 has a T8300, 4 GB RAM, 8700 SLI and 400 GB in RAID for $1999.

 

Yeah, though if you're looking at that, you'd probably only want to consider it with dual 8800GTXs, or it's not as good of a deal. I'd buy one now if it had an LED backlit screen instead of CCFL.

Personally I doubt it, as that would leave Dell proper without anything in those "slots", and the m15x and 1530 cover very different price points and have fairly different form factors and configuration options.

 

Which is why the studio is essentially equivalent to the m1530.

 

Quick Question:
I'm a student - How do I qualify for Dell EPP?

 

EPP is the Employee Purchase Program. You would have to check out Dell University.

 

I wish I could buy now too but I am also holding back for a 17 inch LED screen and of course the money to buy it

 

Which would also make it essentially equivalent to the 1520, and a logical successor to the 1520. If it's only similar hardware to the 1530, then it's not the successor to the 1530 for obvious reasons (such as those XPS systems having been on the market for ages and needing true successors).

Check with your university if they have some deal with Dell. That would be easiest. I'm not sure if you can buy stuff from them discounted otherwise or not, though it might be possible. If your school doesn't have a formal relationship, I'd just go through the EPP store and see what it tells you about ordering.

 

Ya, I was just looking at that deal on the 1730 and wow it's awesome but I really would like LED screen and the price is just too high. I can go $1800, but $2100 or so is just too much. Besides, I really don't need a 400GB RAID HDD. I think my best bet is to wait for Montevina and Studio.

 

Yeah, the 1730 really only makes sense if you want the 8800GTX cards. For what it is, it's actually a good deal (kind of scary, but...)

I really don't want to buy another screen with CCFL lighting for a bunch of reasons. Maybe it's silly, but oh well. They don't last as long (I have a co-worker with a 1.5 year old laptop that's already really noticeably dim, and my work screen is dim when you first turn it on). Plus you have to worry about getting rid of it properly because of the mercury, plus CFLs give off ultraviolet radiation. The study I read out of England only pegs the increased cancer risk in the single digits, and I'm underneath FLs 8 hours a day anyway, but still, I'm sitting in front of screens all day and I might as well have one less source of UV.

Plus they're LED backlights are SOOOO bright and pretty

I really would order a 1730 right this instant if it had that as an option. So glad the 1530 added it. I'd prefer the option of a lower resolution screen too, but I'd settle...

 

I would wait for new processors to come out and sweep up the deals on penryn. Hopefully there are some generous xps coupons weeks before the release of montevina.

 

On that XPS Summer Savings Event, tomorrow will have a deal on the XPS 1530. I wonder how good it'll be...

 

Probably close to the last one which was very close to the one before it...

 

The deals stop on the 26th which is the same day the current coupons end so I wonder what the coupons will be on the 27th...?

 

i think the XPS line will be dropped for alienware because Dell bought them out a while ago and their two lines are pretty much competing against each other. i think the Studio will be a higher up inspiron that is marketed as a "multimedia powerhouse" like how the xps m1530/1330 are marketed, while inspiron will maintain its entry-level name.

personally, i don't do not care about this at all. i just want the mini inspiron to come out. i love my m1530 and i got it for an awesome price. (1k off with EPP + 599 + 200 drop on the phone) so i'm good. for all of those who are waiting, why? there is ALWAYS going to be something better coming out. there is no SWEET time but there are SWEET deals. stop being stingy with your money. indulge.

 

That's how I expect to be and also sort of hope it to be. The Studio would be a good fit for me if that's how it goes.

You're right, there are some awesome deals right now on great notebooks and now is a great time to buy. But of the laptops I'm looking at right now, no one fits exactly what I'm looking for.
The 1530 is awesome and has everything in it that I want, but I've really been planning to get a 17".
The 1730 is awesome, but it's rather expensive and it doesn't have an LED screen option.
And the HP Pavilion notebooks which are on sale with a $500 off coupon are also nice, but they have weak graphics cards and will be obsolete quickly because HP already announced the new lineup.

So, I see the Studio line coming soon, which hopefully will be my perfect fit. It seems to be the right class of notebook for me and supposedly it'll have an LED screen option. Also, it'll be available in a 17" version. And as an added bonus, it'll come out around the same time as Centrino 2 so I can get a upgrade there as well.

Does my plan make sense or am I off?

 

There are no new CPUs coming out for notebooks until next year. The update next month is a new chipset, which basically just bumps the FSB from 800 to 1066MHz.

 

well the T9600 is suppose to be 2.8GHz so it's a processor update at least.

 

Just to be clear though, that type of speed bump has nothing to do with the new chipset, they may choose to release faster CPUs at the same time, but they aren't a new design, and the speed bump has nothing to do with the new chipset (aside from the faster FSB).

 

There are more Penryn processors coming out with Montevina

http://laptoping.com/intel-montevina-penryn-cpu-prices.html

 

Well, I just was looking at the 1730 again for the heck of it. Wow, that thing is nasty. I mean, it has such awesome features that most notebooks will never have...
Well, I have a few questions:

1. How's this config look:

XPS M1730 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB/6MB cache) SP93HN [223-6308]
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1 VHP31E [412-0946][420-5769][420-5924][420-6436][420-8566][420-7401][420-8143][463-2282]
System Color Sapphire Blue SBLUE [310-9524]
Memory 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz 4G2D6 [311-7447]
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA 17UXGAT [320-5788]
Video Card NVIDIA®SLI™Dual GeForce®8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3 Memory 512NV87 [320-5790]
Hard Drive RAID Performance: 400GB (2x200GB) 7200RPM Free Fall Sensor 400R0 [341-6334]
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1 ADOBER [420-7468]
Combo or DVD+RW Drive CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive) 8XDVDRW [313-5591][420-8183]
Sound Options High Definition Audio 2.0 IS [313-4217]
Wireless Networking Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card IP4965 [430-2582]
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works IWRK9 [420-8051]
GAMING LCD Logitech® GamePanel Display GLCD [320-5789]
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security NOAV [461-8389]
Primary Battery 85 WHr Lithium Ion Battery (9-cell) 9BAT [312-0603]
Warranty & Service 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor,24x7 Phone Support S1OS [950-3337][950-9797][412-0360][960-8710][983-8450][988-0307]
Dial-Up Internet Access No ISP requested NISP [412-0148]
Bluetooth and Wireless USB Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR) TM355I [430-2655]
Environmental Options Recycling Kit and Plant a Tree for Me RCLTREE [310-5408]
Physics Game Accelerator AGEIA PhysX™ 100M Processor PHYSX [320-6171]
Dell Digital Entertainment No Entertainment software pre-installed NODE [464-9572]
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor ICNSNB [310-9348]
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium VPN [310-9516]
DataSafe Online Backup Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
--------------

2. The total price would be $2,159.00. Are there any other discounts I could get whether it be a student discount or anything? What about that fatwallet website?

3. What advantages would there be in me not getting this and waiting? (besides the cost)

thanks! - I've only got about 6 hours to decide before this deal is up!

BTW - is this 32 or 64 bit Vista?

 

I'd strongly suggest getting the 8800GTX SLi's. 1 8800 will do better than the 8700 SLI's combined, so why even get a huge desktop replacing m1730 without the best gfx cards that will make this thing strong for many more years? I say its worth the money to upgrade the video cards. However, if you don't really care and just want a huge computer for other things with gaming as a 2ndary objective your set up is fine. for 2k, not too bad. I got a similar set up for about 3,000$.

 

That's me.

I just don't know whether or not I should just wait and get something like the new Dell Studio laptops coming out.
Do the features of this beast make it better off than waiting?
hmmmm...

btw, how is the 1900x1200 screen? I really wanted LED, but is it still nice? And do the icons and text seem too small at that high of a resolution?

 

....nevermind...

I've decided to wait.
As beautiful as the M1730 is, the price is high and I don't need all that stuff.
400GB HDD, 2 GPUs, LED lights everywhere are all awesome but unneeded for me. I'm going to stick it out and wait for Centrino 2 and Dell Studio. I just hope it will come through with an LED screen option and a backlit keyboard would be nice.
But I'll keep on the lookout for any deals on the M1730 in the near future just in case.

 

FatWallet is actually offering 3% FatCash for Dell Home right now.

 

atbnet, I see that you too are "waiting for Montevina before I buy another laptop".

What kind do you have in mind?

 

I think I convinced myself that I need a 17 inch one. I kind of want RAID and the 17 inch ones seem to be the only ones so far with two hard drives. Then I'll probably grab the Mini Inspiron for mobility. Who knows I'll probably change my mind by then!

 

Ya, I'm in the 17" boat too.
I'm trying my best to organize my thoughts of what I want in it:

Processor: Montevina version of something like the T9300/T9500. Which I suspect would be the T9600. (Centrino 2 platform)
OS: Vista Home Premium SP1 (32 bit)
RAM: 3GB (or 4)
Display: 17" LED
GPU: As best as I can get with the choices available. 256MB +
HDD: around 160GB 7200rpm
Drive: CD/DVD Burner
Wireless Networking: Intel Wireless a/g/n Card
battery: 9 cell

Extras:
Fingerprint reader
nice design
decent battery life
good brand

That's what I want - Now I just gonna find it in a notebook

Hopefully this Dell Studio will be the answer...

BTW, do my specs seem sensible?

 

Yeah I think the Studio will be able to deliver those. I am waiting on the 17 inch LED myself too.

 

Is Dell the only major company that currently offers LED screens in (some of) their laptops?

 

Sony does I believe. Apple has them on the 15 inch Macbook Pro. I was disappointed that Lenovo hasn't put them in the Thinkpad line yet. I just mostly pay attention to Dell since I am most familiar with them.

 

I'm most likely going to end up getting a Dell.
HP would be a contender too, but no LED is a drawback.

How's Sony's reputation for notebooks?
Thinkpad's seem a little too business-looking for me.
And I'm not a big Mac fan.

 

Vaios are usually top of the line machines. I know two people use them at work, they are pretty sharp. A bit too pricey for me, I can get more with Dell.

 

Studio has been announced!!!
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/06/26/dell.inspiron.studio/

 

I've been looking around and have seen that the Studio has a 5400rpm HD. Any ideas if there's going to be an option for a 7200rpm HD? I know it's not a deal breaker.

I've officially decided to wait for the Studio and not get an XPS

 

No, there is no option for 7200RPM Hard Drive. Specs are available via Dell UK. Im 100% certain I'm sticking with my M1530 and will not be returning it for Studio.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...x/laptop_studio_15?c=uk&cs=ukdhst1&l=en&s=dhs

 

nice looks stylish

 

studio is already out on dell US website....it has the option of 200GB 7200RPM hard drive if u customize.....

 

Well, it is exactly what I expected it to be-more or less a replacement for the Inspirons. I like that they have HDMI and a cheaper Blu Ray option...and apparently LED backlighting as an option (not sure what "WLED" means though), so that's awesome.

The biggest issue I see are the relatively lame GPUs. The 15" model only offers a Radeon 3450, a HUUUUUUGE step back from what you could get in an Inspiron 1520 a full year ago (or of course the higher end XPS 1530 right now). The 17" model offers a Radeon 3650. Theoretically that's OKAY, but it appears to be basically on par with the Geforce 8600GT, that again, has been on the market in similar systems for at least a year.

And I'd rather have Nvidia hardware. I'm not even sure what the situation is for getting drivers for mobile ATi parts, plus I stick with Nvidia when possible for their drivers (and now I'd like to use CUDA apps too). if this had even a decent Nvidia part I'd probably order a 17" one...once again another notebook that ALMOST but not quite gives me what I want.

Well, maybe the XPS updates will fit the bill, the 1540 and 1740, or whatever they end up calling them...

 

Well, I'm glad I waited because this new Studio 17 looks awesome.
I will be waiting just a little bit longer though, because I want to wait for Montevina.
Hopefully by mid-August the Studios will be updated with Centrino 2.
And it would be nice to see a 7200rpm HDD also.
And like you said, an Nvidia GPU would be good to see.
Plus, any problems with the new Studio line should be worked out after a few weeks.
And who knows, maybe there will be a slight coupon then too.

 

Chances are, you wont see any of the new XPS until late August, or at least once Montevina comes out. One things for certain, they will look nothing like the M1530 or the Studio line. 7200RPM drives will definitely be reserved for the XPS.

Just seeing Studios lower end GFX options and lack of 7200RPM drives simply shows that XPS is not going away.

 

Hmm...well I think this would end up a several hundred cheaper for me than the 1530 (and with a larger screen, which personally I'd prefer), but that GPU...

And actually a lot of the price difference for me would just be because Blu ray costs twice as much to add to the 1530.

Oh, and remember you can always just add your own 7200RPM drive to the system if you want, as Dell's are nearly always designed to be easy to get at components. I don't care what it ships with as I'll immediately swap the drive for my own so that I can swap it back if I need warranty service.

 

hmmm I'm not so sure about that. They were available in the Inspiron sometimes so I don't see why not in the Studio. Also, they're already available in the UK. So why not the US?

 

what a lame GPU option from dell,hope they will add better geforce card later on.Big let down but nothing suprising considering they cripped the vostro line earlier.

 

They are underwhelming that is for sure.

 

Hmmm if I only I could swap the backlit keyboard and put it in my m1530

 

ATIs are pretty good actually. Besides these laptops are budget laptops, betweem the Inspirons and the XPSes.

 

No, I like the ATI addition, but overall these laptops really fall short of my expectations. I'm waiting anyhow so I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

Maybe the thread title should now be changed to "Buy Dell XPS M1530 or wait for 1530's successor???" since the Studio 15 falls short for some people.

 

I bought M1530 already. The Studion looks nice.

 

m1530 or the E series for sure...you'd think with time specs will be better but not with dell..if HP comes out with geforce 9600GT on thier new pavillions like they say then dell studio sales will be crushed.