M1330 Purchase question

I have decided to buy a dell xps m1330. Before I pull the trigger I needed some advice. Here is the configuration I have decided on:


PROCESSOR Intel Core™ 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
LCD AND CAMERA Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel Webcam edit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE Speed: 500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
BLUETOOTH AND WIRELESS USB Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0
WARRANTY 3 year with 3 year accident protection

I can get the above configuration for about $1050 through my school.


My First question. Should I stick with the T6600 processor, or change it?

It is $50 less to get the T6400(2 GHz, 2 MB Cache)
It is $75 more to get the T8100(2.1 GHz, 3 MB Cache)
It is $125 more to get the T8300(2.4 GHz, 3 MB Cache)

My second question. Is Dell's warranty and accident protection good?

I coulld upgrade to a 4 year warranty for $80 more dollars, or downgrade to a 2 year warranty for $100 dollars less.

I am trying to keep my budget below $1200, so, given the options processor/warranty should I go for?

The computer will be for general computing/internet, some photo editing and light gaming.

Any help is much appriciated.

- Thanks

 

Get the least amount of RAM is the first thing, you can get 4 GBs RAM on Newegg for cheap, and if its possible get either the T8100 or T8300.

I liked Dell's warranty, they replaced anything whenever I had a problem (or caused the problem)

 

4 GB is the lowest amount I can configure for this particular setup to get the cheapest price.

 

Well if u have not purchased your laptop till now then i would recommend not to purchase it because all dell xps series are deffective

 

So what should I purchase instead?

 

I don't understand where you are coming from stating the XPS series are defective??? They are not all defective.

No, if you want to purchase a 1330, I think you should still peruse taking a further look into it. You can get some fantastic pricing on it right now. You, may even want to check out the Studio XPS 1340, also.

McCin

 

it appears your brain is deffective, my xps works perfectly fine and i LOVE it to death

 

order by phone... get the least amount of RAM, 3 year warranty, 3 year accident coverage, the fastest processor, and buy 4GB ram from a third party vendor... should come in at less than 1200$

 

Just curious, with the discounts listed online, and my 7% EPP, what is the advantage of ordering over the phone?

 

just call them over the phone and tell them the config u have right now and the price.... the people over the phone will probably give u a better price... if not, call again

 

I am also about to buy a Dell M1330... ( in fact I will have it in about one week) T9300, 4 Gb of memory and so on... do they still have the problem with the NVidia videocard or did they solve it ?

 

Well....I called Dell and pulled the trigger on the M1330. Thanks for the advice to call. I got an additional discount and free overnight shipping with the phone rep. With the additional saving I was able to get both the T8300 processor and 4 year complete care coverage!

Here are the system specs:

XPS M1330, Intel Core 2 Duo T8300(2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache)
Matte Black Casing XPS M1330
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm, for XPS M1330
13.3 inch Wide Screen WXGA TL CCFL Backlit LCD with Camera, XPS M1330
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, for XPS M1330
500GB 7200RPM Free Fall SensorSeagate Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Edition English
8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive for XPSM1330
Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
McAfee Security 9.0, 3-Year Subscription
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1330
4 Year Limited Warranty
CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 4 Year

I very excited about this deal. I dont think I could get a better system and warranty for around $1200 including tax. Let me know if I missed anything though......I would hate to have regrets!

BTW....I know I didnt go with the LED slim screen, but this machine is for the wife, and she insisted I not get it.

Thanks for everyones help and advice!

 

The 8400M GS and 8600M GT are still defective. BIOS updates on the M1530 and M1330 just prolongs the life a bit by having the fans act up more. However, if you're lucky, it'll have no problems for quite a long time (like a few of us here on NBR). I still prefer them over the new Studo XPS though. If only they just updated our hardware already

Eitherway, hope you both enjoy your purchase~

 

Grat's on your purchase! I'm sure you both will enjoy the 1330!~


Cin

 

[This post was wrong]

 

Negative, read the press release from both Nvidia and Dell.

They haven't fixed anything, they gave $$$$ to computer manufacturers to replace the laptop mother boards and that's that. There is no revision to the chipset.

The boards being replaced and being installed in the new laptops are defective.

*edit* To add on to that, I'm on my 3rd mother board within 9 months of ownership. Lovely huh?

 

Nothing was fixed. Dell only released new BIOS that makes the fans switch on earlier than before. NVIDIAs press release stated that they will only replace or repair any of these defective cards. They said nothing about actually fixing the problem as a huge number of these GPUs have already been distributed and logically would be more expensive to produce and distribute undefective ones. The current 9 series does not have this defect.

 

You're both right and I owe Hirohata an apology.

I can find details where NVIDIA have changed their soldering processes for some chips, but nothing specifically mentions the G86, nor is there any official info.

So, sorry Hirohata. NVIDIA haven't stated jack s**t!

 

No problem. Quite a few people actually did/still think that NVIDIA did something to fix the problem.

 

I phoned the rep as well. All he was saying is that he can't do it.
So I am wondering how you convinced the rep to give you this decent deal

 

I wish they had fixed it.

If my board dies one more time - which I know it will I'm requesting a different model.

 

If it happens again to you...I think you should, also.

3 Motherboard in 9 months = not a good thing.

Cin

 

..on the dell site, the m1330 comes with a fingerprint reader by default...and i cant choose a no fingerprint option..anyone know if ordering by phone, and talking to a sales ref, could maybe get me the m1330 without a fingerprint reader???

 

I didnt say anything special to get the deal. After talking about the configuration and price I asked if that was the lowest price I could get. At that point the sales rep offered free overnight shipping, 36 months of virus protection and then a discount if I bought it right then. I asked for an even bigger discount and me met somewhere in between.

As far as the overheating issue I did read about it hear before I bought. This machine will see very little gaming, so, I dont know how much strain will be put on the graphics chip.

 

AFAIK the fingerprint reader is a standard design on the XPS models. You can just disable it like most of us though

 

You can get it with out fingerprint reader so ask Dell with have 2 units with reader.

 

The only problem for me is that the laptop is bought from ebay ( in fact there are two of them) and I am trying to talk to the seller to transfer the ownership to me and in that way I will have the warranty for the laptops in my country. I hope it will work though.

 

Hmmm... Do i have to understand that you are complaining me for buying these 2 laptops from ebay ?

 

Given the choice to purchase a laptop again, it wouldn't be a M1330. It died on me twice and the motherboard + GPU had to be replaced. Parts of it have shoddy workmanship and I'm constantly worried about rising GPU temperatures due the crappy thermal design.

But having said that, its been working fine since but still runs quite hot. I've considered doing the "copper mod" and invested in a laptop cooler.

 

Hey! I remember you! You helped me when I first joined in 10/07...when I was struggling with what Dell model I was going to get! You were very helpful!

What laptop cooler were you thinking of?? (sorry not trying to hijack)..

Cin

 

Did I? Wow its been such a long time I don't even remember!
Thinking of either Zalman or Coolermaster. But I forgot the brand my friend told me about...it looks super sleek but quite pricey. Will get back to you on that one.