Dell XPS 1530 vs. Studio 15 - It's driving me nuts

Hello people,
I have been reading a lot of reviews and asked a lot of questions about laptops and I was actually quite sure that I want an XPS 1530, but then I have heard quite some disappointing stuff such as noise level, clicking drives, faulty nVidia GPUs and of course - the price. I have the feeling that as soon as the warranty expires the laptop is doomed because of so many things that could screw up (faulty hardware here and there). Unfortunately, I can only afford one-year-warranty with my desired configuration, and actually I'd like to use my laptop a little longer
So I was looking for an alternative, and I guess I found one. The Studio 15.
It has its advantages here and there:

+ better design (yes that counts for me)
+ quieter
+ (even) better screen (LED)
+ price (because 3-year-warranty is included)
+ battery life almost on par

So here are the specs for both laptops:

XPS 1530:
WXGA+ (1440x900) CCFL screen
Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4 Ghz) Processor
GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB DDR3
320 GB 5.400 rpm harddrive
4 GB RAM
9-cell battery
1-year-warranty
Price: 983,98€ (with coupons and free shipping)

Studio 15
WXGA+ (1440x900) WLED screen
Core 2 Duo P8300 (2.26 Ghz) Processor
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 256 MB DDR2
320 GB 5.400 rpm harddrive
4 GB RAM
6-cell battery (might buy a 9-cell battery some time later)
3-year-warranty
Price: 1077€ (no coupons but free shipping, might wait for a coupon, though)

I really don't know which one to pick. What would you do?
Is the 3650 on par with the 8600 GT? Is it overclockable? Are there any special drivers to improve performance just like the nVidia drivers do? How about the processor? Is it remarkably slower than the T8300 (in Photoshop for instance)? Aw jeez, I'm asking so many questions, I just want to buy a freakin' laptop, I didn't know the decision could be this hard!
Please help me, I'm getting a little desperate by now because I'm looking for a suitable laptop for several months and still didn't find the right one. :/

 

Studio 15 better design than the XPS? Are you sure you don't have them confused The XPS is noticeably lighter and thinner, much more sleek looking and made from better quality materials.

How long has the 3650 been available in the Studio 15? Thought it was only in the Studio 17 at the moment?

For you the Studio 15 has the warranty you are looking for and the graphics card is fine for light gaming. It's not quite a good as the 8600M GT but should play most games at similar settings.

For me I wanted the sleek design of the XPS over the Studio which for me is too chunky. But I recently ordered a Studio 15 as a suprise bday presen for my girlfriend and i'm sure she will love it.

The noise levels will be identical in both laptops. They use the same HDD models and my XPS is actually really quiet anyway. The Nvidia GPU's aren't anything to worry about now anyway its up to you if you choose to believe that or not

For the fact the warranty is included I would seriously consider the Studio 15 unless you want something slim as the Studio is as I said a chunky laptop compared to others in its price range such as the Sony Vaio NR

 

Euro site for the win, god i want a montevina refresh

 

Well, I think it looks a little better. I know the materials of the XPS are of higher quality, but that doesn't make the Studio cheap, does it?

Well, I guess it's europe-only.

So light gaming is what? I would like to play any Source Engine games (Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2), Red Alert 3 and maybe GTA IV with low settings.

Cool stuff, I wish I could buy my girlfriend a laptop for birthday But I have to spare money for my own laptop first

I'm afraid the reviews say the opposite - the Studio is said to be quieter.(notebookcheck.com)
As for the Nvidia GPUs, I am not yet convinced that Dell now uses GPUs which are free of the heat issue. I'd like to be, but Dell couldn't confirm it, yet. All they gave was another year of warranty for the GPU, but seriously, I'm not too comfortable buying a laptop that is bound to malfunction in the near future (and Dell even admits that). Yes, nothing is made to last forever, but I got the feeling that I NEED the warranty for the XPS because something WILL go wrong.

Unfortunately, opinions are split here because some people say the Studio is lighter while others say the XPS is lighter. As for reviews, they say the weight is approximately the same.

 

The XPS line have better support if it breaks down. If you can see these two side by side then choose the one you like. There isn't really that much a difference in specs. The nVidia incident is far and in between. There is no mass BSOD going on. Even nVidia doesn't know which fabricated GPUs were affected and distributed. Just remember people who complain a lot has the loudest voice but also there are equal amounts of satisfied consumers, including me. I have the m1530.

 

How exactly is it better?
And yeah, I guess satisfied customers rarely report anything on a forum, therefore the unsatisfied customers do indeed have the loudest voice.

 

Pheon1x, from reading your responses, I think you made up your decision. You seem to be leaning towards the Studio 15.

Overall, M1530 is the better product. It is the premium line. It offers better phone support. It is lighter. It offers better components.

An excerpt from CNET: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-studio-15/4505-3121_7-33107339.html

"The bottom line: Dell's first release from its new Studio line, the Studio 15, sits between the Inspiron and XPS lines and offers a good mix of features for the price, but we'd be tempted to save up a few extra dollars for a thinner, lighter XPS."

 

The Studio does a great job of making cheaper components look really nice. The XPS is really solid, especially underneath the lid, the aluminum is really nice and does not show wear easily. Also the keys on the XPS are higher quality and don't wear out as easily. You pay for what you get. I would choose the Studio over the XPS if it was always plugged in to an external screen and keyboard but if the laptop is the main source I would go with the XPS, looks better and is finished with higher quality parts (the better support should you need it, is priceless).

 

xps 1530 > studio15. But then again Id have to get the wuxga screen.

 

which ever has the WLED display, besides xps lines will soon get refreshed.
there is reason to believe that dell will come out with a 15.4 mainstream equipped with 9600m gt or 9700m gt just like everybody else.

 

I wish it was that easy Right now I am leaning towards the XPS again, because I called Dell today and the rep told me that the Radeon HD 3650 of the Studio 15 is definitely inferior to the XPS' 8600 GT. If the warranty for the XPS wasn't that expensive (+179€ for 3 years), I'd have ordered the XPS already.

 

The reps are NOT computer specialists. They have basic training but any person on a forum who remotely cares about computers will know MUCH more than a rep from dell.com.

Check this website if you don't believe me.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile...search=8600 9300 9500 3470 3650&sort=3dmark06

Next time don't trust a rep from any company because computer training does not mean they know the ins and outs of graphics cards. Always do your own research.

Also the 8600GT is defective so if you want a laptop that might fail within 3 years and by that time there will be no replacement parts be my guest.

 

is the 3650 option for euro-market only? the tests ran on the 8600m gt, found in yur link, is probably runnin an OEM or older driver set. the 8600m gt ddr3 is actually more powerful and more overclockable then the 3650.

in yur case, i would definitely go with the XPS. the studio line was based off of the m1330 and m1530, so they will share the same chassis. the biggest advantages with the XPS system would be: better finish materials, better gaming performance, XPS-customer service is exclusive to XPS-owners - XPS-customer service is different from the regular dell department.

the 8600m GT GPU issue is pretty much a hit or miss thing. some get it and most don't. say u do happen to be one of the unfortunate ones that receive a faulty GPU. the XPS customer service will get u a replacement ASAP (if u know how to talk to them correctly).

my only pro for the studio is that it has the backlit keyboard.

 

OK, I just went to the Dell direct site and tried a simulated bulding of these two systems, with as close as possible to the same specs. Here is my question (granted I may have missed something): It looks to me, like right now there is only about a $150.00 difference in price. I thought the XPS with similar configuration would cost a LOT more money. Did I miss something in my haste, or is there a special now, or is this just the new deal.

Also, what is the Red edition advantage?

Thanks.

 

50 bucks to Africa

 

The 8600 GT comes from the same era as the 3650. I don't see how you are coming up with the 8600GT being loads better.

 

yea lately there have been a lot of sales on the XPS because they are gonna be discontinuing the line soon and turning the title xps into a subbrand of the studios and inspirons and leave the gaming department to alienware, or so has been speculated. About the build quality and sound, i owned a studio 15 for about 2 weeks and then sent it back and bought an xps when i saw they were on sale and the studio, while looking very nice, was usually louder and felt much cheaper than my xps does now. There were parts of the plastic chasis that i could feel weak points in and crackling noises when i would rest my palms down, it just felt very cheaply built. The backlit keyboard was one of the nicer things on it, and for me i loved it cause night typing is a usual thing for me and on my last laptop with a black keyboard it was almost impossible to see in the dark, but the silver keyboard on this reflects light very well and with the LED backlit screen i was able to get on this i can see the keyboard in the pitch black just as well as i could on the studio.

 

ok.. i went to the german site to check things out.. but i dont understand german..
the thing is i just saw the montivena update :S
how long has it been there?

Edit. the ati 3650 is slightly better than the 8600, it seems this laptop has got intels new processors in germany, i think its time to pick up the one you wanted deep down in your heart. the Studio 15.

 

thats not true its the other way arround, and the 8600m ddr2 doesnt stand a chance against the 3650.. but still the 8600 ddr2 is better than the 3450.

 

i was wonderin about the montivena thing too when i first read about the p8300 and 3650. the US dell site still lists the 3450 as the only option for the studio15.

and i was talkin about the 8600m GT ddr3 that comes in m1530's. the difference in performance with the dd2 and dd3 version is pretty big. if u could provide some info about the 8600m GT ddr3 vs the 3650, i would appreciate it. another thing is that i haven't seen the 3650 overclocked yet, but the 8600m gt ddr3 is gettin (sustainable/safe) core clock speeds up to 600+.

 

I have the m1530 as I said before. I emailed them that I lost the softwares that were bundled with my system and inquired if I can have them replaced. They responded the next day which I was rather pleasantly surprised. They do offer a one time replacement if that happens for free. I told them I found the softwares and wasn't necessary to send another set. I'm impressed with their fast response.

Love the all brushed aluminum finish of the keyboard, touchpad and palmrest. My other laptop.. an HP is mostly plastic and the difference is like night and day. I got the Blu-ray player on the m1530 and the picture quality is second to none.

 

Firstly, thanks for all the replies.
I am trying to sum things up:

XPS 1530
+ overall better build quality
+ better gaming performance thanks to GDDR 3 of the 8600 GT
- higher probability of a fried GPU
- higher price (but I will call Dell for that again, maybe I can configure something through the hotline I couldn't configure online)

Studio 15
+ better price with warranty included
+ LED screen (although I can do without that)
+ backlit keyboard (nice gimmick, but not too important)
+ GPU is safer from dying anytime soon
+ noise level is absolutely ok (I used an HP notebook yesterday which is - according to reviews - just as "loud" as the Studio, it was ok for me)
- build quality (the keyboard is wobbly, I've seen a youtube video about that, gross!)
- gaming performance seems to be worse, unfortunately there are absolutely 0 benchmarks about overclocked 3650s

Some questions still remain:
-> Is the P8400 (sorry, I typed P8300 in my first post by mistake) of the Studio as quick, slower or even quicker than the T8300 of the XPS 1530? I've seen the benchmark comparison on notebookcheck.com, but I couldn't make anything of the numbers there (what the christ is SuperPi and all the other things there?). I am only referring to the performance, I know the P-series has a smaller TDP but I only want to know which one is faster in, say, Photoshop for instance.
Benchmarks are here: http://www.notebookcheck.com/Mobile-Prozessoren-Benchmarkliste.1809.0.html

-> What exactly is the advantage of the XPS customer support? I compared them and the only difference I can spot is that I can call Dell 24 hours a day which I can't do with the Studio's support. Can you enlighten me please?

 

I actually like the studio 15 keyboard. While not as nice as the one on my vostro 1500, it is still nice and not wobbly at all. The only thing i really dont like about the studio, but i think the xps is the same way, is the shallow trackpad that is hard to find the scroll buttons on the sides. But overall i absolutely love my studio.

 

There is no question in my mind that I would go for the studio. This is entirely due to the GPU fiasco. Unless you are only planning to use the thing for a year, why buy something that my have a compromised life span?

And if the decision really is giving you a hard time, you could always consider a smaller desktop. You would generally have more flexibility to upgrade if it wasn't fast enough for you.

 

the performance difference between the p8400 and t8300 should be pretty minimal. the advantages of the p8400 is that it'll use less energy and has 1066MHz frontside bus. also, monteniva-based notebooks, are available with the wifi 5100/5300 and the intel turbo memory 2.0.

superPI is like a benchmark program, but for yur CPU. it basically throws a bunch of complicated calculations at yur CPU and see's how long it takes to complete them. the lower the number, the better.

i've owned at least 10+ dell laptops, with 6 or 7 of them bein somethin from the xps line. i couldn't say i remember how the normal dell support was, but i have been thoroughly impressed with the xps support. the biggest reason why they would be better is that they should have more general knowledge on xps-specific products. out of all the dell products i've owned, i've had great reliability. i've only had to request a replacement notebook (m1530) once and they sent me a new replacement a week after i made the call.

p.s. - don't get caught up in all that GPU hype. like someone stated earlier in this thread, complaints will be heard 10x louder than compliments. it's a hit or miss issue and keep in mind dell extended the warranty an additional year, on top of yur 1-3 year warranty option.

 

im really not an expert on gaming and graphics but if you search the internet a little there are people who will tell you the 3650 is the better card..

i can direct you to this page that sorts out the GPUs by power.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

and these are the direct specs/performace links to each.
3650 http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-3650.8839.0.html
8600 http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-8600M-GT.3986.0.html

 

i've already been to that site. it doesn't really tell u too much. all it really says is that the 8600m gt they used probably had an older or OEM driver, and still out performed the 3650's in-game FPS. most ddr3 8600m gt users will have a 3dmark06 score closer to 4k. fully OC'd 8600m gt were gettin 5k - 6k 3dmark06 scores (don't remember).

honestly, if u'r not worried about heavy gamin. then these 2 cards are pretty much on the same level. if goin with the 3650 and montevina will help u sleep a little better at night...then by all means, go for the studio15. if u prefer somethin with a nicer fit and finish, and don't mind takin the chance with the 8600m gt...then i'm sure u won't be disappointed.

 

Well, I'm afraid the 3650 only beats the 8600 GT with DDR 2, not the GDDR3 version built in the XPS 1530. If the 3650 was overclockable to beat a stock 8600 GT GDDR3 without being toasted, I'll buy the Studio. But then again, I could have it so much easier: I think I'm just going to order the Studio and see if it runs my games. If it doesn't, I'll return it and save money for the XPS.

@ nizzy1115: Sure it isn't like this?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zCmWK97NbU Scroll to 08:35

@ houstoned: Thanks for the explanation, it really looks like the P8400 can catch up to the T8300

 

Actually the 8 series is the same as the 2 series for ATi. The 3650 or 3 series is comparable to the 9 series. 8600mGT DDR3 > 3650 > 8600mGT DDR2 > 3450, and there is a big difference between the 3450 and ddr2 8600mGT.

 

no the 8 series of Nvidia is equivalent to the 3 series ATI, the 9 series Nvidia is equivalent to the 4 series of ATI which is out now.

 

I wouldn't even bother buying either of the two to be honest because quite frankly there are much faster laptops in the same price range However it's your choice and quite frankly they are pretty much the same laptop just slightly different parts and build.

 

I don't see how it can get any better. My new Dell Studio's fingerprint reader and media touch panel won't working properly, so I contacted dell tech support, trouble shooted, and when that didn't work, a technician called me the next day, came out, replaced it with new parts, and it was all good.

 

Ya you can't go wrong buying either PC. It's about what you need. The only reason I would pick the Studio over the XPS is because if your XPS breaks in 3 years and they don't have the mobo anymore it would suck. The Studio 15 is at least new while the XPS has been out for a bit.
If you weren't buying dell though I think there are a bunch of faster alternatives but it depends on what you want. Dell is the most reputable company I know about for service while every other company at the moment has a faster 15 inch notebook.

 

studio 15" is better as its got montevina now.

 

Wow that took them long enough to get it to the United States.

 

What I don't understand why does the Studio15 get the montevina processors/RAM where as the XPS 1530 doesn't? I was looking forward for the montevina and the GeForce 8600 both in one machine.

 

Because the studioline was refeshed recently, where as the xps line wasn't and most likely won't be.

In any event the 8600 is now an aging graphics card and should be avoided, especially since newer systems with both montevina and 9600m gt (equivalent but slightly better than 8600) can be bought for the same money.

Though you will have to change manufacturer as it would seem unlikely that dell has any intention of bringing out a replacement for the xps' any time soon.

 

true, but there is really nothing like the xps line, and i quote what a friend said:

 

can someone show me where to get a 3650 in studio 15. if in europe, which country offers this?

 

You cannot order a studio 15 with 3650 ANYWHERE.

All the previous posts are wrong with regard to the 3650 being an option (originally a typo, then peeps ran with the idea instead of checking the actual specs).

You can only get the 3450 in the studio 15.
You can only get the 3650 in the studio 17,

This is why the xps 1530 stomps the studio.

The 3450 is a 64 bit card comparable to the 8400 gs option in the xps 1530.

Wheras the 8600m gt is a 128bit card which means the xps will far outperform the studio as regards gaming and anything graphically intense.

Plus the 8600m gt 256mb is an extremely good overclocker which allows some extra perfomance gain if required.

 

Hey,

I'm on the look for a new laptop. My current one is an old Inspiron 6000 and I am really considering getting the M1530. A friend of mine has it and it seems decent for the games I play (Mainly source engine games, older FPS games, nothing fancy). It will also be used for school as I am probably going to university one of the following years. Right now I can get a pretty good deal on the danish site (which is rare, hehe) and I'd rather take the better looks of the Dell than buying a HP with 9600m GT that is ugly, with an older CPU.

Do you think that the M1530 would work out alright for me? Considering I don't play the newest games and if I ever wanted to I have nothing against playing at low resolutions.

Also nice overclock you've got there

 

Tbh honest you'd prob be best posting in the "what notebook" thread, at least there you'd have inputs from peeps form both sides of the spectrum.

I don't really have a whole load of experience with hp, but if you're not gone on the appearance of it -do you really want to have to carry it about?

Graphics card wise, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the 8600 gddr3 - 9600 gt gddr3, Basically all they did was reduce the size of the chip - (which had people wondering why nvidia bothered to release it as a 9-series)

Personally, unless I got a very good deal on an xps - I wouldn't buy, the 8600 is getting a bit old, as is the rest of the hardware in the 1530, though saying that it is still quite powerful and easily performs anything I want it to do.

You didn't specify when you're actualy buying, but if you're not in a rush and "want" a dell, then you could have a look at the rumoured studio xps line that's supposed to be coming out in the next month or two.

 

True, sorry about posting all that here.

However I do need the laptop rather soon and cannot "afford" to wait too long for a new line. I think I'm just gonna go with it.

 

It's too bad about the lack of a decent video card in the Studio 15 - anyone know if there's a chance of Dell offering the 3650 (or any other 128 bit level) video card as an option in the future?

p.s. I'm jealous of SACH7002 - I take it that 1680x1050 is still a screen option in Oz ....

 

It's mentioned in this thread that XPS support is better than regular support. it's also mentioned that Dell may be letting it's Alienware line handle the gaming rigs, which is why they are coming out with Studio XPS, which will not be quite a hard core gamer machine, but higher end than the Studio line. I wonder if Studio XPS will enjoy the same level of support, or will that extra attention now be just for the overpriced Alienware line? Will those of us who were looking forward to the superior support have to make a choice between Alienware and Studio XPS if service is a primary concern? I would hope current XPS customers would still be taken care of, if Dell goes this route, which I am merely speculating about.