Some thoughts on my New M1530

I have always used Thinkpads. I've had a T21, T22, T41 and a T61. I've always went to Lenovo because that was what I was comfortable with. I liked the fact that it had a Light built into the LCD Bezel so you could see the keyboard at night or when it was just a little dark, and they seemed to be so mindful of the vigors of buisness life and made them durable. I kept my T61 for a week and sent it back because it just felt very plastic and flexible, like it would get damaged easily and it didn't feel as sturdy as the T41. So I did some research and decided to go with the Dell XPS M1530 and boy am I glad I did. I had ordered it on Feb. 01 and it just came this past Friday, the 8th. I've been glued to it all weekend long and i'm just blown away by how fast it is. I had come to this forum right after I had ordered it and I was dissappointed by all the problems with the LCD's on this model. I worried and worried that I would end up with a grainy screen and I was afraid that I would end up having to return this one. When it came the quality of the screen was the first thing that I took notice of, it's absolutely stunning. So no problems with graininess for me. When I opened the lid and looked at the keyboard and bezel It was just beautiful, a nice brushed stainless look. It feels solid and the keys on the keyboard feel better than any keyboard I've typed on. I was worried I would miss the light on the screen to illuminate the keyboard at night, no worries there, the light from the screen itself light up the silver keys wonderfully! The only thing I'm not impressed with is the speakers. They are very hollow sounding, but i'll be using headphones, hopefully wireless ones since I had Bluetooth added to the configuration. The graphics are stunning, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT, so no complaints there. I loaded The Lord of The Rings game that came with it and played it for a few hours and it did great. I was sort of worried bout the heat that was blowing out the back of it, so decided to not play that game anymore for a while. I'm not sure if it could over heat or not, that could just be a personal concern that really isn't meritted. The fan is very quiet and hardly runs unless it needs too, which is seldom, unless your playing a graphic intensive game. The onboard Cam is awesome. Its so crisp and clear. The wireless is flawless, I have a Belkin wireless N router, so if you want a good router thats a good router. The Dvd slot is great, I'm glad that there isn't a tray that I have to worry about getting broken or damaged. It works great, no complaints there. I just got a 46" Samsung LCD HDTV and I just ordered an HDMI cable for the M1530, so i can't wait to try hooking this baby up to my tv to watch a movie, the HDMI connection on the Laptop is a plus for me cause I'm waiting to see who's going to win the High def dvd war, HD or BlueRay, and my old dvd player isn't worth hooking up to my new tv, so this will be my dvd player for a while. So anyway, that's bout it, this is a great laptop, I couldn't recommend it enough! It's just positively, absolutely Beautiful and it's fast and it feels sturdy and well made. I got it in Midnight Blue, I'm glad I did, I was having a hard time deciding between that and Red. I wish I would have gotten the 9 cell battery instead of the 6. The 6 seems to only keep it's charge for about 2 hours, if that. I'm going to buy a 9 cell from Dell to replace it, least I'll have a backup battery that I can keep charged. So anyway with all that said here are the specs of my new Toy.

-XPS M1530, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800MhzFSB, 4M L2 Cache)
- Midnight Blue Casing With Microsatin Finish XPS M1530
-4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm, for XPS M1530
-15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ TrueLife LCD with 2.0 MO Camera for XPS M1530
-256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
-250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive for XPS M1530
-Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
-8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
-Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Mini Card
-Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)

 

Welcome to NBR! Nice 1st post. I too was a longtime Thinkpad user,most recently an X40 and X41,had the same concerns you mentioned,but the sheer power of the M1530 compared to those two was just amazing,and the keyboard response on the Dell is also quite good.Hope you enjoy your new Laptop

 

Thanks Professor. I'm definately going to enjoy.

 

What brand of the screen you got? LG or Samsung?

 

honestly, I have no idea. When I go into details it doesn't tell me, so I'm not sure how to find out.

 

Just check Monitor Hardware ID in Device Manger Bro and btw Congrats for you New Laptop

 

I did like you said vinumsv, it's says "Monitor\LPLDF00" is that Samsung or LG?

 

That is LG, good job brother!

 

LG

I'm sure happy with mine! I order mine same day you did and got it Friday too.
Here are some pixs of it:
http://corvettec3.com/dellXPSm1530.htm

 

Thanks guys! I'm relieved it's LG, i've worried alot over that waiting for it to arrive. Here's a pic of it, it's a nicer blue in person.

 

Jack53, that's a mighty fine looking black laptop! Nice!

 

Here is mine bro

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=215153

 

Vinumsv, thats a an awesome looking Red. I started to get the Red, but it added $100 to the base price. No regrets though, couldn't have asked for a better laptop. I'm impressed by Dell, looks like they finally got it right.

I'm a Duke fan, thats why I chose the Midnight blue

 

Blue is Great Color Bro and Here in India for choosing colors you don't have to pay anything

 

Man, this really makes me want to get an m1530 or an m1330.

But what I'm really waiting for is the Gateway C-141XL Tablet for note taking.

 

yeah, the speakers aren't too great, especially after using a i1710. I've gotten used to them, though. You like the keyboard? I'm getting used to it, but I don't think it's too great. I don't like the touchpad either. It's not very easy to use. And I'm disappointed they've taken out the retractable coffee cup holder option, too.

 

Well, I am not surprised that you love the screen. It is LG!! My replacement system came with Chi Mei or something, and it was awful.

 

Off-topic - Sorry - but nice photos Jack - Thanks. I still intend to get a 1530 but I'm going to wait a while...plus I have to sell my 1520 to afford it...

 

Sonicwind, I like the keyboard. It's got a great feel to it, at least it does to me. LOL on the retractable coffee cup holder. I'm actually rather fond of the lack of that...

 

Congrat's on your new 1530 ~ I do like that Midnight Blue color! I have it in "red" and so far enjoy it (my first lappy)! I liked your "mini review". I'm still adapting to the "touchpad" coming from using a "mouse" all the time w/my old desktop!!!

 

Believe it or not, but Dell can use different manufacturers for keyboards as they do with LCDs. A while back the same game was going on with keyboards as with LCDs now. People looking up their keyboard model and getting them exchanged for the other model. I'm not getting into that, though. I'm getting used to this one.

But...maybe I should...check...my keyboard model...

 

My new 1530 is absolutely perfect. Beautiful screen, no problems at all, it is fast (I have the 2.6Ghz T7800) and silent (I have the SSD). I have an ExpressCard controller connected to 500GB SATA II external drive, provides tons of fast additional storage, and this part I like best: I opened a novatel U720 CDMA EVDO USB mobile broadband device, inside is a PCI express MiniCard, which I removed, and installed in the M1530. The antenna wires were right there, one screw to hold down the new card and the antenna wires snap right onto the modem card. Now I have unlimited data roaming anywhere nation wide, speed is good. I like how I can configure what the wireless on/off button does, right now it only controls the mobile broadband. I have dual boot XP and Vista, everything works on both, installing Ubuntu tonight, then VMWare, then games