**Official Dell XPS M1530 Owner's Lounge**

Has anyone ever purchased a 6 cell battery off of ebay, if so what to look for. I have an extended battery but want to get a normal 6 cell now and I see that they are alot less expensive off ebay but given the fact that my 9 cell original from Dell took a crap in less then a year I am not sure what to do.

 

I sure haven't had any problems at this time. It's rather cool particularly on smaller battery... but even with the larger one it's awesome!!

 

No i know, i think i am not asking the question right. I suppose my question is... is an SD card the same size as the placeholder?

 

Upgrading my M1530 from Dell wireless G to the intel 4965 wireless N. Ordered the card for $31 delivered. If any one has done this upgrade what are your recomendations/advice/issues?
Thanks

 

No, an SD card is larger than the placeholder. When you put in an actual SD card, it will stick out a bit.

 

thank you see that was the answer i was looking for. So there is no cards that will fit flush like the placeholdeR? I figured if there was i would just buy one and use that slot for something useful

 

I use an XD Card (My Olympus camera uses this format) as a back up card. It is almost flush - sticks out about 1/8" but is rounded so it does not catch on my case. Look for a 2GB "H" high speed version not "M" version ( the cheaper ones). You also may want to check out a Lexar Express Card SSD - they are almost flush 3/32"- bigger capacity and faster.

Edit: New Egg has a 4GB for 5.99 free shipping - you could try it out with minimal risk.

 

right on thanks.

do you know what is good 4gb ram for these puppies? mine came with 3 but ram is so cheap i might as well upgrade.

 

Newegg has some really good deals on ram
I thought someone posted some as of recent let me check around

Cin

 

let me know if you find some or just PM me the link i want the best fastest ram possible the m1530 can handle .

 

I need help with my Card Reader.. I have a 1GB microSD card, i put it in the Sandisk Transflash Adapter and put the adapter in the card reader..
then nothing happens, why it not reading the card?
any help will be appreciated..
thanks.

 

You probably did, but have you checked to see if it shows up in My Computer?

Can you test it on another computer to verify the device is working properly?

 

No its not appearing in My Computer.. The 'New Device Found' icon appears just for a second in the taskbar, and then suddenly disappears..

 

I used to have the exact same problem. My 8Gb sandisk micro sd (inside an adapter) used to continually do that brief 'icon flash' then dissappear and I went mad trying to access the card.

Firstly I'd advise to check if the slider on the side of the adapter is in the correct position (try both), In my case if the slide was even a little bit off, then my laptop wouldn't recognise the card.

On mine it was still quite finicky, so in the end I uninstalled the card reader, deleted the driver, downloaded the newest driver out and re-installed the card reader.
Since then I've had no problems.

 

hey does anyone know if its possible for me to use the HDMI out for my tv, and use the VGA for an external monitor AND the laptop monitor at once? so basically having 3 displays at once? or does it only allow 2?

 

thanks, but as you know the card stick out a bit, when inserted into the reader, but when i keep it pressed all the way in, such that no part sticks out, it works absolutely fine, no problems. So to make it work, i have to keep it pushed all the way in, with one hand, and do the transfer operations with the other hand..
Its a pity.. I will try that uninstalling/reinstalling procedure, u stated above too..
thanks..

 

I'm just about to order a M1530 in the next few days but have heard a few things.

-Does the GPU overheat?
-I've heard something about the dell wireless cards being very weak?
-How well does the 8600m GT rate?

thanks for your time

 

1. It never overheated for me. Even after hours of intense gaming, it barely reaches, 82-85 degrees..
2. Cant say about that, cos i got Intel one.. Anyway try and get an Intel, i have heard people saying they are better than Dell ones..
3. I never had any problems with it. It played every game i threw at it.. From Crysis to Urban Terror and minesweeper..

 

Also, how does the 8600m GT compare to the ATI 3650?
Which will be better for games?

 

I'm having serious heat issues with my Dell 1505 Wireless Card, can anyone suggest a better one and where to buy? much appreciated!!

update: will this one work with the xps 1530? http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Dell-wirele...ryZ44996QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I would go for nVidia..

Get this one - http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Genuine-Int...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

Hello all i just joined the owners club myself

T9300
4GB DDR2 667
UJ-225S Blu-ray burner
8600M GT
1440x900 LED LCD screen
320GB 7200 RPM segate drive

Couple of questions and comments so far about it, first off im plesantly suprised how decent at gamming the 8600 is given the small size of the laptop, runs my UT3 maxed out. Really like the screen too! But there were a few parts i was thinking of changing and i wanted your input on it

T9300 --> P9500
Ok so i know the T9300 is a 800FSB 2.5GHz 6MB cache while the P9500 is a 1066FSB 2.53GHz 6MB cache, but the thing that interests me most is that the T9300 is listed as a 35w chip while the P9500 is listed as 25w, now unless im reading it wrong wouldnt saving 10w of power consuption be pretty big in a laptop? longer battery life and it should run cooler as well i take it? The cpu is the same socket irc so it should work right?

edit: well it looks like my laptop uses the intel PM965 chipset which it seems only supports 800FSB, that sound about right?

4GB DDR2 667 --> 4 GB DDR2 800
RAM is so dirt cheap i was thinkng of throwing DDR2 800 mostly cause i could sell the 667 and come pretty close to breaking even anyways, otherwise i know its not really going to be that noticable

edit: so this is weird, according to intels website the PM965 chipset only supports DDR2 667 max but why then would dell offer 8GB DDR2 800 as an option?

Is the 7200rpm segate drive the fastest drive i can get in there? i was suprised that it only got a 5.7 in the vista score when my crappy green power WD drive gets a 5.9 in vista on my desktop. Down the road i will probably move to a flash based hard drive but not yet

i have read a few articles about the 8600 overheating, has that been resovled or was it more so people just not taking care of their laptop who were having the problems? And is the 8600 the biggest card that will go in there or is there any other upgrades posible?


The only problem i have noticed this far is wierd, if i put in a blu-ray disc (havent tried it with any other disc) as vista is booting up still, the drive wont show up in device manager at all unless i reboot. If i wait and put the disc in the drive after vista has finished booting all is fine, weird huh?

oh and the Dell 1505 wireless N card seems to be not so good, i barely have more range then my friends HP mini with its G card (and yes it is a N router) so would the Intel 4965AGN card be a good one to swap it out with?

Thanks all, Bill

 

little bump for my last post, also any idea why my vista memory score is only 5.1? any way to raise that at all? i swear i saw a guy with 3GB and his had a 5.3???

 

He might be having DDR3 mate coz its only memorly which is bottelnecking to 5.1
the one step higher is processor which is 5.3

 

and what processor does it have? AMD processors have an integrated memory controller in the cpu and that's why they score highter. Newer Intel processors (from Montevina) also uses a highter performance platform and also... they score better than 965 chipset.

 

i meant i thought i saw a guy on the forums with a m1530, which i think has been intel only? and DDR2 only?

 

edit: oops double post

 

So does anyone have any idea why dell would offer 8GB of DDR2 800 when intel says that chipset supports DDR2 667 4GB max?

 

Hell knows. It's gonna run at 667 anyway.
PS: On my M1730 (wich also have 965M chipset) I have 4 GB DDR2-800 and they run at 667 in CL5.

 

again though they offer 8GB? how the hell does that work lol

 

This chipset supports 8GB of RAM without problems, but at the 333 MHz (DDR2-667).

 

cool ill probably bump the ram up down the road once the price of 4GB sticks goes down...


wierd though that dell offers 8GB @ 800mhz when it only supports 667?

also do you know if the video card on the 1530 is removable or if it is soldered on?

 

Hi I'm new and my laptop is only about two months old too. I hope I'm asking this in the right forum. I've noticed that windows media playback of music sounds a little tinny/ scratchy. Is there any way I can fiddle with the equalizer settings to get a more optimal sounding playback? If not, are there any other solutions to make music basically just sound better when played on the M1530? Thanks for any responses!

 

I recently purchased a M1530 and the Alps touchpad mouse/pointer frequently freezes, or becomes jerky, a few times an hour. The mouse freezes or stalls for about 5-10 seconds. I have to take my finger off the touchpad for 2-3 seconds to get the mouse to start responding normally.


Anyone else have a touchpad freezing/stalling issue with their M1530?

I am waiting for a replacement under the 21 day warranty return policy and I am wondering if the replacement unit is going to have the same issue.

 

my touchpad sometimes gets stuck right after i open the lid back up, and i'd have to right click a couple times to get it going again.

 

I've had issues with my touchpad in the past on my 1530..After a clean install the prob's seem to have cleared up. Since you are getting a new replacement..I would assume that going forward with your new one, you shouldn't have these issues.

And, you can always reinstall the latest drivers..and see if that helps matters

When are you expected to receive your replacement?

Cin

 

I really like my machine, except for the mouse problems, and I have tried to fix it by reinstalling the touchpad driver, video driver, chip drivers, and reinstalled the Bios.
I also installed the Synaptics touchpad drivers for the M1330, and installed the latest Vista 32bit drivers from the Synaptics website. While these drivers sorta worked (except I could not disable Tap to Click), neither set of drivers fixed the freezing problem.
I have also done a clean install.

Since none of these have fixed the mouse problem I am worried that my new machine's mouse is going to have the same behavior.
I have owned several Inspiron laptops and never had a problem with the mouse.

It has been 6 days since Dell issued me a replacement order number but they still can't give me an estimated ship date. Not sure what is up with that.

 

Joey don't fret! I have not had any problems with my mouse, and I have owned my 1530 for almost a year. Your new machine shouldn't have a problem.

 

Blindsay, the video card is soldered on. If you want more info on what it looks like inside there is a thread on this board somewhere. Just search for it.

 

No, no worries for you...your replacement shouldn't have these probs..
You may want to contact Dell tomorrow and ask them for a Status Update as to exactly where your replacement is in the Production process!

And, if you have a 9 digit order number, I would assume you can still get updates on it via automated dial. Try calling 1-800-433-9014, and enter that 9 digit order number..and see what info' you receive!

Cin

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I am hoping for the best.

Well, I just checked the Dell order status and it now is updated with an expected delivery date tomorrow. Not sure why the online database and customer support didn't know where my system was for the past week. I had called today and they said it was in final production and should be shipping soon, but were not able to tell me more. Up until now, the online Order Status Estimated Delivery said "Data Temporarily Unavailable".

I'll post back after I get a chance to test out my new machine.

 

Odd, if i go to dells website and type in my service tag it say my unit only supports 4GB max? even though 8GB was an option when i was building it?

 

do you have 64-bit vista?

 

Well, this is a marketing trick. 965M chipset can handle up to 8GB of RAM if you have the latest BIOS (version A10 at the moment).

 

I do have the latest BIOS then, i actually just got my 1530 a few weeks ago

and to the poster above, yes i have 64bit vista

 

Here is my update.

Yesterday I received my M1530 replacement from Dell to fix the freezing/stalling touchpad mouse.

Well, the new replacement unit's touchpad mouse does the exact same thing

As much as I really like the M1530, I cannot except this design/operating flaw and will also be returning this unit for full credit under the 21 day warranty policy.

In an attempt to show the problem, I made this poor quality youtube video last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eweq2lrlS_c

In the video I am playing the game Hearts.
When the mouse started to freeze/stall I turned on my digital camera video.
During the entire youtube video I am moving my finger back and forth across the touch pad. You can see the mouse pointer is not moving, or moves and then stops moving (stalling)

I am now searching for another laptop.
The Studio XPS 16 is a possibility but rather expensive, and I don't really want a 16inch monitor. I prefer a 15" monitor.
I have always owned Inspiron laptops but Dell doesn't sell 7200rpm drives, or SSD drives, on the Inspiron, which is one of my requirements.
My new requirement is the touchpad is NOT an Alps touchpad, and preferably Synaptics.
I need to start looking at HP and other brands.
I have been a hardcore Dell fan for over 15 years but it looks like I gotta start looking elsewhere.

XPS M1530
2.5GHZ 6M Cache
4G Ram
256mb Nvidia 8600M GT
128G SSD Drive
Vista Home Premium 32bit

 

Hmmm?! Joey did you try adjusting the touchpad sensitivity? BTW my touchpad is using driver version: 7.1.102.7. It was put out in 2007. I haven't had any problems with my touchpad. Just a thought if you felt like checking your driver.

 

I did download and try driver 7.1.102.7 release date 12/12/2007 from the Dell download page. It didn't help. The driver that came with both units is 7.1.1500.2 with a driver date of 12/27/2007. As an experiment, I also tried the Synaptics driver for the M1330, and the Synaptics generic Vista 32bit driver. Neither of these helped either.

I have the Touchpad Speed set to Fast(est), and Enhance Pointer Precision checked. Tap to Click and everything else is disabled.

I have done some googling and apparently this freezing/stalling was very common about a year ago on the M1530. Not sure why it is resurfacing on the 2 machines I received.

 

What BIOS are u running? Maybe try flashing the latest.

 

I already tried reflashing the Bios with A12. Both these systems came with A12 installed.

On the first unit I received a few weeks ago I did all the usual driver downloads/installs, and reflashed the Bios.
When that didn't work, I reformatted and reinstalled the operating system and drivers. That also didn't fix the touchpad mouse.

I am going to call Dell support later tonight and let them try once again to fix this second/replacement unit. I will also ask them to walk me through a clean install to rule everything out.