M1530's Longevity

Hiya guys, I've been searching for a laptop for 1 and a half months now and the Dell XPS M1530 really caught my eye as a good all rounder laptop with decent gaming abilities. I was really up for buying it till I read about how the new studio xps will be coming out and saw that many nbr members reccommends people going to buy a m1530 to wait a while. I've been waiting too long and kinda need a new laptop soon, hopefully in december.

My question is: How long will the m1530 last me if I did get one?

I'm hoping the laptop will last me 3-4 years, will santa rosa and nvidia 8600m last me through it? I don't mind it being old as long as I know that it can handle future programs/games at a decent mid range ability.

I know I can get another laptop that has the newer stuff but I have yet to find one that's not a Sony vaio fw (screen too big and heavy), hp dv5t (too glossy for my liking and I vowed never to go back HP again) or the Asus models (strange ugly design and bad port arrangements) all within £800 range.

*sigh* I guess my needs for a new laptop has come at a bad time eh?

 

Unless you are a heavy gamer, you shouldn't have any problems for 3-4 years unless something that truly revolutionize the computing world comes up in the mean time. The only problem I see is the 8600m GT but I think you'll be fine.

 

Yeah it should last, but the only thing id worry about is the heat, which could cause the componants to age... but im sure this shouldent be a problem..


And if i remember rightly the M!530 uses MXM graphics cards, which means you can just purchase a new one off ebay or somewhere similar and install it into your laptop if you ever need to upgrade.

 

i bought my xps with the same hope of having it for 4 years, im confident that my current hardware setup will last that long without giving any problems, i take as an example a geforce 6200 i have on my desktop, i think its about 5 years old, and i still use it for gaming today.

between sony and HP, i would ccertainly go for the xps, i havent tried sony, but i have used HPs, and i hate them
(xps have much higher quality than the plastic HPs)

as for the xps refresh, i really dont know, but rumors say they will leave all the gaming stuff to alienware. (i have used alienware, and i also hate them, impractical, heavy, inefficient, barely able to call them laptops)

but! its your choice, i could be terribly wrong, maybe new models on other brands are now better, but i really dont know...

 

Hehehe I hope not, my tech friends all say I helped my hp pavillion dv2058 epic fail because of me fiddling inside my laptop. I'm now restrained from opening any laptops around me. Right now this laptop is running on 256 ram (laptop cant read anymore, stupid broken ram reader), I know! Crazy right?! that's why I'm in need a of a good long lasting laptop.

 

Tbh I'd say go for the lappie with the newest stuff that you can afford.

As regards the 1530's longevity - it plays current games mid - lowish. So don't expect it to play ones 3-4 years down the road at anything other than very low spes, if at all.

Then you have to factor in that 8600's are defetively flawed (no official confirmation to prove current ones are any less faulty). That will quite possibly reduce the longevity unless you buy a suitable extension to the warranty.

As always it depends on what you wan't the laptop to do.
For instance I've a 10year old compaq at home thats still chugging away, grand for word and explorer but not much else.

Same goes for your laptop, if you merely want a laptop thats capable of running all the 'average user' type applications and a bit of medium - light gaming then yep its a grand laptop, but don't expect it to be a future proof powerhouse type machine.

 

Got mine in 1/08....and I'm hoping it will last another 3 years at least..
That was one of my reasons of getting the 1530..it's longevity!

Also, depends on what you will be using it for! :yes:

I lurves my 1530....despite *user error* at given times....



Cin

 

I have an XPS M1530, and i love it, i have had it since May 2008 and its still like new really, besides from some mild battery wear of course. I cart it around, it has suffered one of two mild bumps during transport with no visible damage, so i can vouch for a good build. When i sat it next to my ASUS F3J it looks soo darn nice it made the F3 look cheap.

Now i don't plan to keep mine for more than a year and a half really, but i am sure it will last the 3 years you want and if you really wanted to, you could push for the extended warranty so you also have the peace of mind in knowing that even if something does go wrong it is covered by Dell.

As for overheating issues while gaming i have noticed none, that is while playing, World of Warcraft, and The Orange Box, both for extended periods of time of course. I actually did post one or two of those temperatures on this forum a few months back just to OK it by other users.

I would suggest the XPS however, there are one or two issues really are that the XPS line is still using dated components, as far as i know. So you still have the Santa Rosa Platform which due to a slower FSB is obviously a disadvantage as well as them still using the 8600m GT even though the next generation has been out for some time now.

However you might now think that because that components are dated, the prices will be more competitive. But you would be wrong, just now i have priced up my exact specs on Dell.co.uk. There has only been a £37 drop over the past 6+ months from when i bought mine, when the T8300 was pretty new, and the 8600m GT was still a relatively good card for a 15.4".

In a summary i would recommend the notebook, but be aware that what your buying are pretty dated components now, but 6+ months, so for something with more 'umph' to last, you might want to look for something with 'Montevina' and a 9600m GT. Because you likely can for a similar price.

 

Wow thanks guys, really appreciate all your participation.

6+ months ago I would no doubt purchase the m1530 just like many of you here because back then there really was not much competition based on specs, qaulity, price and of course looks. In this moment in time, I think the m1530 still stands out in the crowd because there still is no competition really (in terms of 15.4" sizes go) apart from the fact it has old parts. If it had newer parts im pretty sure it's going to be another yearly winner, so i'm totally confused why dell doesn't release any information on the rumoured Studio XPS, at least some sort of specs announcement will get people drooling/waiting for it. If I never looked around nbr I don't think I'd ever know m1530 was a pretty old laptop < I think that's what Dell's thinking, sneeeaky.

So after reading all your opinions, I think i'm going to have to find an alternative. I mean what's the point buying an old laptop when it's more or less the same price as a newer laptop? Same as why buy a ds lite when you can get a dsi...which is not availble in the western market yet...ok bad example lol but you get what I mean

Kinda silly really, one year after the m1530 and no laptop manufacturers have been able to build a average medium sized laptop, average-high-ish specs, at an average price, with a good average-cool look, making sure it has new parts for average people which is...oh nearly everyone in the laptop market. I mean I don't know how much more average you can get, silly Dell.

 

The XPS line are a league of their own. Quality built is excellent and support is super. I have the 1530 and it hasn't given me any problems at all, it's a solid machine. I have HP's also and you can tell the difference with plastics and aluminum built. You can wait for a better one but in the meantime you're losing out on the 'now'.

 

the xps will be fine for 3 years and the 8600GT is still a powerful card, most of those other laptops of this size like the hp have the DDR2 version of the 9600 which is about just as powerful as the DDR3 8600 in this, and the processors are fine, montevina wasnt a huge upgrade, thats where the next line will come in, that will be a much bigger leap, but the video card in it isnt MXM you have to swap out the entire motherboard.

 

hi guys

relatively new to this forum.

im going through the same dilemma rite now as well because i have ordered the xps but should i cancel it to wait for the new one

its not urgent cuz i have a xbox 360 for games but should i just keep the order or cancel it and wait. i also hav a desktop

My major concern is that i will miss out on the new features when dell actually releases the new laptop.

 

Uh.. Gaming?
Tbh if its gaming you're looking for I think there are definitely some better deals to be found.

1600 dollars isn't exactly cheap so you should be getting something decent for your money - I'd have a look at what asus or sager has to offer before I'd put the money down on an xps.

 

get the xps ull b fine, idk why ur paying 1600 dollars tho with all the deals and coupons for them im sure u could get a good one around like 1200 or maybe even less

 

Yes, that XPS is dated as hell....for the same money you can get a Sager NP8660 which will blow the pants off it. Check it out.

 

yea im thinking about the asus g50vt-x1 as i like the nice silver finish. the orange is so i fugly i dont want to look at it but im not sure to buy it because of screen problems.

O yea forgot to mention, i also need it to be at least less than 8 pounds and not have too wacky designs as i need it for skool

 

im payin US$1600 for

BLU RAY
T9300
Ultimate
7200RPM
Good Warranty

Is that a bad price, i thought it was pretty good since australia has no coupon deals

Also, other choices i have in mind are
HP Dv5t - not too sure about the way it cools. too hot?

I dont like the sager notebooks because i dont like the design. I like to have a notebook that i would like to look at or otherwise i would be over the asus G50vt-x2 faster than you can say SAG...

 

Sach your deal is pretty good compared to mine, my notebook isnt anywhere as good as yours and cost much more (mine was >2.2k usd - back then the AUD to USD exchange rate was much better) though i did buy it a while ago. Seems Austalian customers pay more in general

To the OP I hate to say it but my xps purchased almost a year ago struggles with new games... If you want to game simply purchase a desktop. For standard word processing, surfing the web etc etc the xps should soldier on effortlessly for years and years pending reliability. unfortunately my hdd has already begun to fail! but for piece of mind you could get extra warranty. Personally if i had my time again i would get a good desktop, and a cheap notebook.

 

i already have a 6 month-old desktop, the one im using now.

but i need a laptop now definitely and since im only going to be getting a laptop, i want some gaming performance similar to my fairly new desktop

@fullycharged
Also, what do u mean by struggling with new games. Can u give me examples as this is my main concern!

 

I've had my XPS 1530 for six months, and I'm still amazed at the quality of its build and the power it has. I have had ZERO issues with it. You should be very happy with this machine! Also, I am running the latest BIOS and video drivers as well. (Laptopvideo2go is your friend, and BIOS A12 from Dell). Good luck!

 

That's a very good price for what you are buying

 

hey, thxs for input i think ill wait a little while and cancel my order because i mite move to america and get g50vt-x1.

Also curious to see new xps when it FINALLY will come out.

Just a question of interest?

Is overclocking okay for the 8600m gt on m1530 as this might make me buy it?

What are the recommended clocks for core and memory? Just want to know as im curious that i mite me able to make a 8600m gt like a 9600m gt!

Pls tell me if it is advisable to overclock?

thxs for the input, this has been the best forum ive been too as so many people get involved. THXS every1 for ur help and thxs admin for this AWESOME site!!

 

Well for my laptop most newer games need to be run on low settings anything more and it lags. Two recent games I've played on my dell is red alert 3, and need for speed undercover. both those games auto detected that my laptop could best only handle low settings. For red alert 3 i found its pretty much unplayable for anything above low graphic settings.

my 3dmark06 score is around 4.5k stock @ 1290x800, and 5.1k when i overclock to 600/800. (core/memory) it could probably take more but i couldn't be bothered trying.

However ive had my xps for almost a year now so a newly purchased one would probably fair better with newer games? But from a quick glance at ure specs compared with mine, for gaming purposes our notebooks would probably be close in terms of performance, though yours does has a slightly faster and newer cpu.

 

ok, this has definitely cleared my mind. thxs so much fullycharged, you have let me know my decision is im NOT going to buy it. I canceled it as soon as i could. thxs for the help. I think im going to wait for the new xps 16 as long as it is below US$2000, or i will just get the asus G50vt-x1. Its not like i really need a laptop to start pc gaming. Im just going to continue my AP courses and when i have time, plays gears of war 2 on my 360 as well as COD 5.