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

Do you have a link explaining why 64bit Vista apparently needs 4GB of RAM? I've never experienced this or seen anyone else suggest it.

Please elighten us.

 

Your right its not true; I think he meant to say if you have Vista 64bit it will see all 4GB of ram if you have 4GB installed.

 

Its only that hot when I play fear. I can play all my other games without the cpu and gpu being so hot. Then the gpu gets only 75c and de cpu 65 or so.

 

I have the 3G memory coming with my unit. But Dell Wants an extra $400!! for the 4 G upgrade! What is up with that!? ..can i just by one more stick to get it at 4G from New Egg?

 

Har Har Har... 5 Day build with Shipping!!! I love this laptop!!!

 

the estimated shipping date when i placed the order was 1-8-08 i got it today 12-31-07.

 

no word from dell or ups yet. I'm tempted to cancel this damn order.

 

My XPS 1530 finally came today. Should I do a clean install of Vista and drivers or can I get away with disabling the extras with msconfig and services.msc? If I can get away with disabling the extra stuff which one can I disable? I already went through the blackviper guide but still am not sure about some of the extra software dell installed.

Also how do you overclock the 8600gt? I tried coolbits but nothing showed up under the nvidia panel.

 

other than the OS, you should be fine without the other stuff. All of dell's diagnostic tools are on another partition. So uninstall the stuff you don't need, of format and install.

Coolbits no longer work in vista. You have to use ntune (official tool). Or rivatuner.

 

Oh ok. I tried ntune but it didn't work because of the mobo so I guess I'll try rivatuner now. BTW is there a way to downgrade Vista to XP for free?

 

ntune didn't work? Oh, in ntune, the OC settings don't remain between restarts. You need ntune for temp. monitoring. Rivatuner works pretty well, and the OC setting stick well.

I don't know if they have a downgrading option. If you can get the drivers for the machine in a windows xp version, a reinstall of xp will be possible

 

Could anyone explain to me how the memory is set up in these laptops? I was under the impression that shared dual channel meant that there is 2 memory slots that must be of equal size (i.e. 2x 1gb memory sticks or 2x 2gb memory sticks). How is it that the 1530 comes with 3gb of memory? I assume it must be one 1gb stick and one 2gb stick, but then my idea of shared dual channel is skewed.. Please set me straight! Happy new year!

 

I emailed Crucial about using 4GB with Vista 32bit. They also addressed the dual channel issue. Here is what I was told:

 

You would have to replace one of the sticks with a 2GB and then put (2) 2GB sticks in the computer as there are only 2 slots. Adding another stick would give you 3 sticks.

 

pstrisik, I appreciate your post, but I'm not sure I understand:

I read this as... you must use indentical sized memory sticks to get dual channel.

Huh? This contradicts what I thought I just read. So... "matched pairs" don't have anything to do with size? They just have to be designated as "matched"?

Can you or anyone explain this more?
I'm considering the 3GB m1530 also.
Bottom line... will I have a memory speed advantage by having two 2GB memory sticks versus a 2GB and a 1GB? (Even if I don't gain much usuable ram)

Buzz

 

I got the same conflicting interpretation of Crucial's response. As often happens with computers... a situation that should be crystal clear... isn't

Dave

 

sorry I miss wrote.. 64Bit will see the 4GB ram not the opposite

 

I did a clean install but still ended up with too many processes running. After I installed Vista it was 37 processes and after I installed the drivers and apps it was close to 60 processes. Any this doesn't even include McAfee yet. Can someone post a screenshot of the processes you have running? Also I can't seem to find the creative HD sound software on the driver/apps disk or on dell's website.

 

about 57 processes sounds close.

I'm trying to get through to dell chat, but I can't get through. I want to find out what the hell is going on with my order

 

Goto www.blackviper.com tells you what services you can turn off.

 

ok, I got through to dell chat and it will take ANOTHER WEEK. Oh and something interesting. When I had last talked to dell they said there are no tracking numbers for my country. And voila! there is now......something is fishy....

 

Does anyone have some backlight bleeding? I have some, but i dont have any expierience with lcd screens, so i dont know how bad it is.

 

Most screens seem to have a little bleed from the backlight (my wife's 1520 has a little, only noticeable on a black screen).

I'm hoping my M1530 doesn't have too much, but I will tolerate a little as it's common to most screens it seems.

 

Can you give me an example of some common bleeding? I have no idea of what is normal.

 

I suppose it would be a light glow near the base of the screen. Sorta like a light gradient.

 

I've noticed when I start my 1530 sometimes the user screen (where you put in your password) is half black for a second or two (almost like you were over clocking the card and it got to an unstable state, forget the name right now) It doesn't happen all the time but is it something I should be concerned about? Also should I be worried about dust getting into the dvd drive or can I use one of those air spray can things to clean it out if it ever gets bad?

 

I got that little black thing once too, also wondering what it was.

 

Ok, you'll have to excuse me if this issues has already been addressed. I got a bluetooth mouse to go with my new m1530 and got ready to sync it and realized that my bluetooth wasn't turned on. That seemed weird because I thought the switch for bluetooth was the same as the Wifi card. I confirmed this and then went to double checked that I had ordered a bluetooth card. Sure enough, I had so I got in touch with dell. They had me check the devic manager and there was no sign of bluetooth. I also checked the BIOS and BT was there and enabled. The guy asked me to reseat the card and still nothing. I made it through three techs before one of them suggested that my bluetooth might be incompatible with my Intel Wirelss WiFi Link 4965 AGN card. That sounded logical, but I had been able to get a Bluetooth dongle to work in between calls to tech support. So they are sending me another card, but has anyone else heard of a hardware conflict between the a 355 BT and an Intel Wirelss WiFi Link 4965 AGN?

 

So is what you are saying is that if you order the Intel wireless card and the Dell Bluetooth they are incompatible? If so that's ridiculous, and they need to get this straightened out right away!

 

Well, one of the guys I talked to said that sometimes when you cofigure an order online, it allows you to pick components that may conflict with eachother. But like I said, I used a bluetooth dongle without any issues, so I don't know how one would conflict and the other wouldn't, especially since the internal bluetooth card connects to an internal usb which is the same interface as the dongle. Can anyone offer any insight into this?

 

Well, this is a discussion I'll be sure to have with Dell before I place my order.

 

could be a driver conflict.

 

So I just got the replacement bluetooth and installed it. Same issue. I don't know what to do. Is no one else having this issue?

 

Where can I download the creative HD sound software? I had it before I reformated but can't seem to find it on the driver/apps disk or on dell's support site.

 

it should be with all those cds you received

 

Well I just ordered my 1530! After 3 sales people, and many hours I finally got them to lower the price a measley $80 to keep it under my preferred account limit. For those of you seeking further discounts on the 1530... GOOD LUCK. They won't go down without a fight.

I got the one starting at 1399 and added
7200 rpm 160GB HD
1440x900 screen
9 Cell primary

total was 1495 including tax. I tried to get the 6cell, with additional 9cell which was only a $30 difference but they wouldn't budge. It's really silly that they won't let you pay with two different payment methods. If could have put the difference on my debit card I could have gotten everything i wanted.

Oh well.... I now the wait begins!

 

Can anyone else test or confirm that their bluetooth adapter is working if you also have the intel AGN wireless adapter?

 

am yet to try out my bluetooth, but i have the agn wireless as well, so will give it a go tonight...

 

Ok, so I figured it out. I went into the netwrok cennection center and right clicked the wireless card and went to properties. I then clicked configure and the advanced tab. There should be a list of items. Click on the one that says 802.11n Width and over to the right will be a drop down menu that says Auto. Select 20 Mhz and flip the wireless card off then on. You should be set to go. It seems like Dell should have figured this out and done this before sending me the laptop, but I'm just glad I don't have to mess with a dongle now.

 

nevermind... it cut out after about 15 minutes.

 

Ok, regarding the bluetooth problem. Dell has a driver listed on their site for the m1530. Its an update for the Intel wireless adapter that has a bluetooth incompatibility fix listed.

"Fixes and Enhancements
Release Highlights:
* Addresses 3945ABG radio disable seen with some systems running with Bluetooth modules"

Found here.

Have you tried this driver update? Maybe it will help. I cannot say for sure if this will fix your issue or not, but it's worth a shot.

 

I had to run update R159805 to make my bluetooth work. Nothing else helped.

 

That might help, too.

"Recommended Dell recommends applying this update during your next scheduled update cycle. The update contains feature enhancements or changes that will help keep your system software current and compatible with other system modules (firmware, BIOS, drivers and software)."

The link for that bluetooth driver (R159805) at Dell.com is here.

 

Could someone kindly shoot me?

Seems the idiots at UPS have forgotten that laptops are duty free in my country and its going to take another week of processing.

 

just tested on my m1530 - and my bluetooth works fine

 

got my xps today ordered it on the 21 of Dec 2007, the 1280x800 res isnt that bad.

have no qualms with the noise from the slot load dvd drive either its only loud just after you insert disc as expected, mines branded as a TEAC brand, not sure if is the same teac brand that make crap tv's here in Australia..

some bad points i have are:

-media remote doesn't sit flush mine pokes out about 3mm looks tacky for a "premium" notebook
-touch sensitive media keys take a while to respond especially vol up/vol down
-this ones probably my personal preference but touch pad buttons have too much travel for my liking
-lastly it can run ridiculously hot! was playing juiced hot import nights on high settings and i burned myself by unsuspectingly resting my hand momentarily on the top left corner of the notebook... was so hot that i immediately closed the game down.. id say a notebook cooler is a definite must for gaming/computation intensive work like finite element etc etc

 

I have very little experience with modern laptops. I'm getting ready to order an m1530... but right now I have a 9 year old Inspiron 7000 (PII 266Mhz, $2500 w/ tax).

That Inspiron gets hot... but I only notice it mostly on the bottom. It's case is all plastic.

Could it be that the newer metal cases are simply spreading the heat that would have otherwise been internal or on the bottom up to the top? Is Dell taking advantage of the case by intentionally using it as a heat sink?

So maybe closing down your laptop when it gets so hot isn't necessary. Maybe the heat is there on other laptops... just not exposed to the user?

I'm totally speculating and/or asking.

 

There is a protective layer of plastic covering the media buttons. You can barly see it, but it has to be removed for the buttons to work properly.

 

Got my Zalman NC1000 the fan is no louder tan the m1530's fan at full force.

After a quick hour of gaming the heat on the left hand palm rest area, the area where the hard drive is located, the heat has been considerably reduced.

Got a Razr Exacto pad and it works too really well. and I got a new swiss backpack, soo many reviews comming up from me.

 

Man Xe12o, how did you get your 1530 shipped so fast

I ordered mine on the 27th and it is still in "Boxing" stage. :cry: