Need some advice - Laptop

Hey guys am planning to buy a laptop for all kind of purposes: watching movies, converting them to dvd, play games, surf internet, use word etc.

I am thinking of buying Dell XPS 1530 for $1778 without tax (btw my budget is under $2000)
heres the laptop config:



Additional Info:


Now i really need ur views on this btw as u can see i am saving $221. Also is it a good choice to upgrade to T9300 for $200 or i should stick with T8100?

btw i live in Canada
Also can someone please confirm if this laptop includes: VGA output for RS232cable, firewire, and svideo. Also would i be able to attach my external desktop speakers or not ? i am also very confuse about the battery like not sure which one to get like 9 or 6 cell ..cuz i heard that 9 cell would be very heavy compare to 6 and weird shape? Lastly is the grainy screen problem still around like i have to tell the representative for LG screen or not ? thanks i hope someone replies

 

do NOT get the xps 1530

 

Not really sure why this guy said this. I have the xps 1530 and its a great laptop for the size weight it performs excellent. I play quite a bit of games and dont have any issues.

 

Indeed, one of the best 15.4" laptops, not to mention it's lightest and it looks stylish.

And yes, that XPS system will do just fine even with the latest games on medium/high settings. Guaranteed satisfaction with that machine.

Offical NBR review : http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4135

 

not really sure what you are saying. the xps 1530 is DATED meaning old and slow and the "defective" 8600m gt

 

I assume that price is CAD 1700 (~ USD 1400) and not USD1700. Well, Even if it is Canadian, I don’t think that is not a very good price for an outdated notebook. You do know that M1530 is using an older platform (CPU, Chipset and Graphics card) right ? There is a new platform called Centrino 2 (a new low power consuming CPU with a faster FSB + new chipset with optional support for DDR3) that also comes with the next generation of Geforce 9000 series graphics cards. An XPS refresh is very near, personally I’d wait for that or buy a Centrino 2 GF9000 series notebook from some other manufacturer.

But, if you don’t mind the all that, think the price is right and in a hurry to buy a notebook, then go ahead. M1530 is a pretty decent notebook even now.

 

Do you really need that much power with the CPU? I mean, for $200, doesn't seem to worth it except if you do intesnive CPU tasks. Also, do you really need a 3yr lojack warranty? Also, you might want to consider the Sager NP2096, MSI-1651, HP .dv5t and Asus G50v or M/N series.

 

Defective nVidia cards were sent on Q1 and Q2 2008. And most of them went to USA only.
The chance of getting a defective 8xxxM card is slightly less than 1%.

Also, one year isn't that old, not to mention they use new T9xxx serie CPU's for a long time already. -_-

 

The Dell Coupons at the top of the page would help lower your price.


"Use coupon code SP$S3F3H0898M? at checkout to get 25% off the configured price of an XPS M1330 or XPS M1530 that's over $1,699. Coupon expires 1/5/2009."

 

If you order, you will enjoy the 1530!

It's a great lappy, if it suit's your needs, and you can get a good deal on it.

Good luck in your choice!


Cin

 

Hey everyone thanks for replying ... but seems like all u guys ignored my last paragraph.... where i asked so many questions i would really appreciate if someone answer them ... also am not sure about the warranty ... like its really confusing me .. is it worth it to get three year warranty ? for $419 ? thanks i hope someone reply

 

i tried using that coupon its not working for me ... ? can someone help me on this too .. am from canada btw

 

For you, spending $200 on 0.4MHz + 3MB cache is not worth. Because gaming performance almost entirely depends on the graphics card, for the rest of the things you are planing to do (i.e : DVDs, Internet and word) a T8100 is more than enough.

It has a VGA output, but RS232 is something completely different. VGA port AKA D-Sub 15 is very different from the old RS232 serial port (used for serial data communication).
It has Firewire and 3 x 3.5mm audio jacks (2x headphone/line out + 1x mic) which can also be configured as Front, Sub and Center speaker outputs for a 5.1 surround sound speaker system. Or you can use either of the two headphone jacks for an ordinary stereo 2 speaker system.
It also has a S-Video AND a HDMI port for connecting external monitors or HDTVs digitally.

I don't know how much weight a 9 cell will add, but it will be heavier and has a different shape that will cause the back of the notebook to raise. Take a look at this photo (taken from the M1530 review)

I don't know the current situation of the grainy screen problem, but you cannot request a specific screen brand while ordering, because the sales representatives don't have any control over what brand of components goes in to the notebook. All you can do is choose the configuration not the brand.

 

thanks a lot for replying Phoenix .. really appreciate that ... now last thing is in this deal am getting 5400 rpm and someone told me that 7200rpm is better so what is rpm and is it gonna make a lot of diff? lastly regarding rs232 serial port is there any kind of external rs232 usb thing available in market? cuz i have this old receiver that requires rs232. thanks

 

rpm = revolution per minute. Its how fast your drive spindle can achieve. Basically how fast you can access your data in your HDD. Better get the 7200rpm HDD. but it has trade off of course.. it requires more power and usually generates more heat.

read this..

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/33C6A76DF9338B0A86256D34007054C0/$file/Why7200MobileHDDs.pdf


rs232.. you're old school... havent seen this term for quite sometime now.. just google rs232 usb converter and you should hit somethings on it...

 

haha i aint old school .. but my old good receiver is lol thanks for replying btw any idea which coupon i can use on this deal on dell canada site ?

 

also guys i just asked a dell representative from canada site and said it doesnt include svideo ... so is it true or not ? if yes then is there any solution for it like usb svideo or anything like that?

 

Um, the 1530 does have s-video and HDMI on them. I own one, and if the site says it has S-video (the photos of the machine), it will have s-video.

 

hey guys gotta quick question am getting this laptop wid blueray for additional $200 .... so is it important to have a blueray ? ... or let say if i get a bluray movie from my friend on comp and then use HDMI cable to connect my laptop to my HD tv would i get the same result as bluray ? thanks

 

get the longest cc warranty you can afford. dells are ok, but the cc is great, it is worth getting a dell just for the warranty imho. i have a 1330, its ok, not practical for me on a daily basis though. it is a good work kick around machine for me

 

getting it in blue might be a good choice too, i have mine en black BTW

 

If you will not be watching blue rays that much, i think its just waste of money. PC games and other PC installation programs are pretty much at the most DVD format hence your blue ray drive will end up just for playing blue ray movies. Unlike if you have PS3, its a blue ray player as well and ps3 games are also in blue ray format, which is a 2 in 1 thing. But again, it depends on you if you have some cash to spare... btw yeah you should have the same result as the blue ray player with your laptop connected to an hdmi port and into an hd tv...