Studio XPS 16 or 1530

I almost pulled the trigger on the Studio XPS 16 the other day, but then i ran into "Official Owner's Thread". I sat here for two days (while my wife complained) reading almost every post with my mouth open. I didn't know it had all these problems. I guess it's because it's such a new computer, and the production line hasn't been ironed out yet or something. All the big reviews said it was great.

>>The question is, should i buy the Studio XPS 16 or should I backup and just get the XPS 1530?

I wanted to leave this question open to both SXPS 16 and XPS 1530 owners.

I want to make the purchase very soon. I am moving from the U.S. to Germany in less than 2 months.

Why i like both: BLU-RAY, good res screens, dedicated graphics, bluetooth, hdmi out, and style (but the sxps looks much better!)

 

I would say go with the 1640. The BestBuy deal right now is AMAZING and it probably won't last very long.

People tend to become united by negativities and voice out only when they find problems. There are many 1640 owners who do like their 1640 and have absolutely no problem with the speakers balance, BSOD, or any other issues that are repeatedly reported in the forum. Again, people often overlook posts that present no issues just because they are more attracted to posts that do discuss issues with the laptop.

Right now it seems that when people receive their 1640, they either love it or they find too many problems and return them. So you can just buy a 1640, and if you can't stand its problems, return it and get a m1530.

How long will you stay in Germany? The only concern is that how 1640 will perform in the long run is quite unpredictable, so unless you spend big money on international warranty, you may find it troublesome to fix your 1640 if it breaks while in Germany.

However, mind you that m1530, being old as it is, still suffer from unfixable problems like video card overheating, bad motherboard, etc. Those are ticking time bombs that may go off while you are in Germany as well. As far as I am concerned, many problems of the 1640 can be fixed with software/bio updates, and if there is one problem that cannot be fixed, it is the same with the m1530 - overheating.

So, regardless which one you pick, you are still exposed to risk of being stuck with a broken overheating laptop in Germany. I say 1640 for the Montevina CPU that produces less heat than whatever m1530 has (merom or penry), and the ATI vcard which doesn't have as much overheating trouble as the 8600m GT does.

 

If you look at threads for any other laptop there are plenty of people complaining. Several people have also posted that they haven't noticed any problems and don't get what the matter is. If you're keen on it, I'd get one. It'll probably be fine unless you go through the thread and look for problems, and if anything actually does annoy you, you can send it back.

 

I chose the 1640 because:

- 1080p RGBLED
- 1066 FSB
- newer design (DDR3, eSATA, etc)

 

Hmmm. I think I would go with the 1530...Cuz I have it, and I still am luvin it, very much!

And, you can get some really, rather good deals right now! At both Dell's home site, and the outlet!

Now, if I didn't have the 1530...I would probs' seriously think about the 1640!

It always comes down to personal choice, what you want.


Cin

 

I think the 1640 is plain and simple amazing. Of course like cin said, it all comes down to preference i like the 1066 fsb, ddr3, and esata port personally. Plus i like the design better then the 1530

 

Thanks so much. Those were all very good points. I think i will look into that deal with Bestbuy. . . but i might not, because it has no RGBLED.

 

NP! Sounds like you want the SXPS 16
Looks like they are on backorder on BB's site anyways..so that gives you a chance to ponder over your decision!


Cin

 

It also depends if you want a Blu Ray drive which can burn as well as play Blu rays.
This option is only available on the XPS15

 

Personally I'd pay more to get the lower resolution screen.

Between the two, I think the biggest advantage the XPS 1530 has is an Nvidia GPU. Also I'm not sure if it's cooling is any better or not (or at least not obstructed). But besides that the 1640 is just an updated 1530.

 

What do you like better about the "lower" res? That's the only problem i have with the BB one.

 

It's a MUCH more usable resolution for me. The 'low' resolution one is about the same res as my 19" monitor, which itself is on the verge of being too high resolution.

 

MY current old laptop is 1680X1050 on a 15.4" screen. It just seems like a big downgrade to go to 1366x768 on a bigger screen (albeit not that much bigger), I dunno. Hopefully they'll have one at a BB store i can see.

 

The 1530 has had all kinds of problems, too. I'm sure they are both usable. I'd just go with the features/cost and not worry to much about the reported defects, because I think you've got equal risk either way.

 

WUSXGA is incredible small on a 15", but I think it help quite a bit in 16". Moreover, the RGBled on XPS1640 is superior (even better than Macbook pro screen, which I found is already excellent - my friend said so , did not have a chance to check it out yet))
I personally like the design of XPS1640 because it looks more professional and aesthic than xps1530.

 

It will be the same or worse on the 1640. The upside is you can probably increase the resolution or the text size and still have it be very clear.

 

I personally like the keyboard on the 1530 a lot more, for what that's worth. (One of the very best notebook keyboards I've ever used.) Though the 1640 was fine by notebook standards.

 

I have a 1530 with a 2.5ghz 6mb cache intel 9xxxx core 2 duo and a gforce 8600gt (mobile) with 256 dedicated ddr3 ram.

It urinates all over my boss's quad core alien with ddr3.

Read about ddr3 v ddr2 and you will see not a big difference in speed with these chips. Get a core i7 with onchip memory controller and it may be worth it.

Id go with the XPS 1530, you can bang up to 8gb of ram in it and aside from having to fix the keyboard bulge myself it realy is better than 99.9% of laptops out there. Plus you could save yourself a packet for buying this older model.

Whats the point in getting a Studio 16 then bunging in a 7300 series with 3mb cache and probably no VT support? (check the processor you get has VT support if you plan on running Virtual Machines)

Get an XPS with 9500 or 9600 core 2 duo for about 500 quid nowadays although I paid over a grand for mine last year.


Im IT manager for a large company (MS Gold Partner) and I will be ordering in a STudio 16 for one of our designers just to see how good it is, when I know, I ll let you know, but for now get the XPS and you wont regret it.

Avoid Alienware (OCZ DIY LAPTOPS REBRANDED)