Should I sell XPS M1530 to upgrade to Studio XPS 16?

Hey guys,

I have an XPS M1530, love it to bits, but have been offered a good price to sell it to a family member. Just wondering if it is worth selling and gettingthe studio xps 16. Im worried because I love my M1530 to bits, but surely the studio xps is an improvement?

The stats of my m1530 are

T9500 2.6GHz, 6mb cache, 800mhz fsb
15.4" WSXGA 1680x1050
4GB DDR2 Ram
320GB 7200RPM Drive
256mb 8600M GT

The Studio XPS im looking a has these stats

P8700 2.53GHz, 3mb cache, 1066 fsb (possibly upgrade to T9550)
15.4" WLED 1080p screen (possibly upgrade to RGBLED but scared of colour saturation)
4GB DDR3 Ram
1GB 4670 ATI Mobility Radeon
500GB 7200RPM Drive

What I am wondering is will i notice a performance hit downgrading cpu slightly, or will the much more powerful gpu more than make up for that.

I use it to game and to record audio (plus basic stuff)

Thanks for your time!!!

 

Well what is the cost involved? The Studio XPS are newer but I personally still prefer the M1530 build and design with its solid chassis and non glossy finish. I wish I could get an M1530 with a backlit keyboard, i7 cpu and better graphics card..ahh..

You won't notice a hit in performance. At least for gaming, you'll see an improvement in performance.

 

I currently still have my m1530 but purchased the xps 16 also. I have the 1gb video card in mine and it is by far superior than what we could get in the m1530. I would say that it certainly picks up any slack.

One thing you'll notice is that the xps 16 is slightly heavier. It doesn't feel quite as sturdy as the m1530 but not many other dell laptops do. I like the way that thing was built. At any rate, I don't think you'll be disapointed with the performance in comparison.

 

I think that you will find that the XPS 16 will perform about the same. While the CPU is technically a lower model, it still is plenty fast. With the same amount of RAM, an equally fast hard drive (newer model may be slightly faster), and a more powerful graphics card (The 8600GT in mine was "ok" if you ask me), like I said, it will be the same, if not better, especially in the graphics department. As for the RGBLED vs WLED, I would say stick with the normal WLED. I have the LG 1080p, and love it. You may have to get adjusted to the 1080p resolution though, coming from the WSXGA 1680x1050. That's what I had to do (I'm not complaining though, I wanted *higher* than 1680x1050 when I got my m1530, and that's exactly what I got )

EDIT: Another thing that you may want to consider is getting Intel Turbo Memory. It doesn't cost much, and can help improve system performance. It is underrated these days, but to me I still think it helps, at least in bootup. It fits into the WWAN slot. Oh, and for your network card, I would recommend going with teh WiFi 5300, as it will be more future proof compared to the 5100 (which is what mine came with ... I can buy a 5300 online, but I don't currently have an N router so no immediate need for it )

 

well that configuration would be no cost to me, the amount I have been offered for the m1530 is the cost of getting that configuration with EITHER the processor upgrade or screen upgrade, not both.

Yea the only reason I am considering the RGBLED is because the LED is not 16", do you notice the 15.4" screen in the 16" frame?

I really do like the build of the xps m1530, it is so beautiful! the sxps looks cool but i wish it was still aluminium body.

Its probably a good idea to get rid of the 8600m gt as well in case it dies in the future ha ha