help deciding between m1530 vs 1640...

Considering getting a new laptop. Was pretty much sold on the m1530. Now the 1640 is a contender. Main use of laptop will be for watching movies, web surf, multimedia/web design etc..., casual gaming and lastly school/study. These are the two spec setups I've been looking at. Obviously the 1640 would be quite a bit more $. Is the RGB LED LCD really worth it? I am sure movies would look sick on it but is it really that much of an improvment compared to the high res LED option on the m1530? How does the ATI compare to the NIVIDA in this case?

Studio XPS 16 (approx. $1689):

*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 (3MB cache/2.26GHz/1066Mhz FSB
*ATI Mobility RADEON® M86XT - 512MB
*Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
*Edge-to-Edge FullHD Widescreen 16.0 inch RGBLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0
*3GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
*320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
*8X DVD+/- RW(DVD/CD read/write) Slot Load Drive edit
*Dell Wireless 1397 802.11a/g Half Mini-Card
*6-cell Battery

VS

XPS M1530 (approx. $1300):

*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache)
*256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
*Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
*High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 M
*4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
*320GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
*Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
*Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
*85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

any input would be appreciated. anyone out there used both? (I suppose the 1640 hasn't even shipped yet to those who've ordered)

Thanks

 

Hmm...

What is your budget, first? Of course, the 1530 is cheaper because it's not a brand new model ~ and the 1640 will be more expensive.

You have more color choice with the 1530. The 1640, only one color choice.

I have the 1530..it's a great lappy, you have a nice build there. And, also for the 1640. No one has rec'd the 1640 on the board yet, that I know of.

Pro: for 1640 no Nvidia....Some have had prob's with it on the 1530...some not. I haven't (lucky, I guess) LOL.

The screens on both are different sized resolutions. I would prefer the 1440x900 ~ the WLED is sweet!! The 1640 has a little more *umfff* then the 1530??

Oh, and you can get the 1530 at the Outlet for some really good deals, if you want to buy on that way!

Cin

 

if u decide with the 1530 u shld get the 7200rpm hd
im personally using the m1530 for school, lasts great when i decide to take notes on it with the 9cell battery. and the resolution of the screen is perfect for me. unless u plan on watching 1080p movies, i think the screen for the studio is overkill, especially when you want to game.

you'll have to scale it down to a lower res if you decide to play current games at the max details you can with the graphics card.

and like the previous post, u cld prolly find sicker configuration for the m1530 at the outlet for a great price! i have the T9300, its nice!

 

Go with the 1640 because you wont have to worry about the GPU over the nvidia fiasco even though they say ts over there are reports it is not.

Also the ATI GPU while not superb should last you a longer time then the 8600.

 

YUP!

@Gozer.... if you do decide to purchase from Outlet, I have a 15% off coupon for the 1530. If you would like to use, just send me a PM!

Also with the Nvidia..if you choose to go with that on the 1530..I believe that Dell is extending out an additional one year warranty on them


Cin

 

Wow. Thanks for the input everyone. I will take all of these things into consideration. In response to CIN's budget question: I'm trying to keep it under 2k. Again under 1500 would be a plus. Sounds like going the outlet route (at least for the 1530) is the best bet for saving coin. Unfortunately I'd have to do a bit of a day trip to get to said outlet. Is there one in Vancouver, Canada? I live on the Island. Thanks for the coupon offer CIN. If I go that route I'll let you know. Perhaps I'll try and hold off a bit longer for some 1640 feedback to start coming in on messageboards and youtube reviews before I lock into a decision. Both seem like they'd be pretty rad machines.

 

NP You get lots of good help and support on the forums at NBR (esp. the Dell forum)

Oh, there is no *physical Dell Outlet store* it's all done online.

Here is the linky: to Dell dfsdirect.ca:
http://dfsdirect.ca/directory.cfm?CategoryID=8
(It's for computers that are ending a lease, and they can be expense or older)

I'm sorry but I don't think you will be able to order from the Dell's US outlet
But here it if you want to price compare against the Dell CA one:

http://www.dell.com/outlet


Cin

 

I have the M1530, and I love it. But, in this case I would go for the 1640 just because it is a newer model, has the Centrino 2, rather then just Centrino. Also, the higher resolution like I have on my m1530 is great, its crisp and you have so much screen real estate. I am not a fan of ATI thought which would be a killer deal for me. I have not had the Nvidia problem in my laptop, and I also thought that that problem was dealt with and was no longer a problem. Also the 1530 will probably be lighter for you to carry around, if you will be taking it to classes like I do. Both are a good choice and I dont think you will be disappointed with either. And also, I think there is a review for it now, made by this site.

 

There sure is, and voila' here it is:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4764


Cin

 

Do you think the "pre-installed bloatware" that the review refers to is integrated (ie unremovable) or something that can be cut out as with most other start up systems?

 

Most of the time, it can be taken off, to an extent though. Some stuff is dug in there. You can also just wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows to clean it all off.

 

well, i just got the m1530 and, so far, i love it.

I'm not sure if they really fixed the gpu problem, but all I know is that my system is running nice and cool and even underload the gpu is barely hitting 70. That said, the system is very new so who knows what the future holds.

I'm personally not a huge fan of the new xps studio laptops. seem like a bit of a step backwards. also, the reviews seem to say they run very hot, although I don't know if others are experiencing this.

All I would say is that, though a year old now, the m1530 is still pretty well kitted out when compared with other laptops and, for the price, not much can beat it.

 

To the OP:

I was in exactly the same position as you are just a few hours ago. I had similar requirements and was confused between the studio xps 16 and the 1530.

Well , a few hours ago i finally placed my order for the 1530, even though everyone said to go for the studio xps as its newer/better.

I went with the following specs:
T8300 (2.4 ghz, 3mb l2 cache, 800 fsb)
3 gb ddr2 ram
1440x900 resolution
256mb nvidia 8600m GT (not sure if its gddr2 or gddr3)
320gb hdd @ 7200 rpm
Costs me just above 60,000 rupees (approx $1200)

Why ? well...
1. Don't quite agree with the looks of the studio xps, and find 1530 to be better. I mean whats with the genuine leather on a laptop?
2. The 16"er is slightly wider/bigger and heavier.
3. The studio xps cost 12,000 rupees (approx $240) more in default config
4. Some of the newer tech in the studio xps may just be overkill for a lot of stuff .... 4gb ddr3 ram and the 512mb graphics card...well really unless you want some hardcore gaming or Autocad/Matlab type of stuff, I'm not sure if you could even utilise it all.
5. I wasn't going to take up on the two key upgrade options for the studio xps anyway - the Blu-Ray drive and the RGB LED screen (i think the res is too high for me )
6. The newer aspect ratio (16:9) might be better only for movies and not for games or general stuff really.

Don't know if any of this helps. hope it does.

 

Agreed. Sacred beast meets machine? Oddness. Thanks for the thoughts all. At this point leaning towards the m1530. Seems like I can get some quality options for relatively cheap (well, cheaper than the 1640 anyway). I am still going to try and hold off a little longer. Can't research forever though. There's always going to be "faster", "better" machines flying out. Singularity man! So yeah, can't let that keep me from making an actual decision. Thanks for the input.

 

If it was my own money I would have ordered the 1530. But because it's not, I ordered the 1640.

IMO the m1530 is still in every way a better buy than the 1640. There are only two things that the 1640 have that may give it a leg up. New chipset and the option for that supposedly beautiful RGBLED screen. I've repeatedly stated that the 1640 is only marginally better than the m1530. It's heavier, hotter (not look, it's subjective), thicker and weight a hell lot more. The 1640 would score badly in all the factors that would make a good "mobile" portable computer. Like the NBR reviewer said. It's a desktop replacement. My heart sank when I read that.

 

Yeah, they both have potential but my personal tastes lie with the 1530.

I would like to pick it up with the 7200rpm hard drive though.

Unfortunatly as a customization option, this is not being offered right now on the dell site.

Does anyone know if dell is willing to ship orders with slight alterations that aren't on their options list?

I chatted with tech support and their answer was a straight "no" with absolutley zero explanation as to why.

It seems like if a customer was about to drop 2 g's they'd be receptive to small alterations at the least.

 

My 2 cents:

I'm a student at a university and it has been almost a year since I've had my XPS M1530. Before the Dell, I used to lug around a 17 inch Vaio. That sure wasn't pleasant. With the Dell, I am able to game (with only GTA4 taxing my system) and stay off the outlets when using max battery with tweaks.

Although I have no experience with the 1640, I can say that my 17 inch Vaio was a beast to lug around. I've seen others lug around the 17 inch HPs on campus. I would have to lean towards that the 1640 should only be purchased if its going to stay on your desk and occasionally around the house.

With a fresh 9 cell battery, at MAX BATTERY (no wifi/bluetooth/min brightness/1 min screen off) I was able to push close to 5 hours. After a year, I believe my battery is at 26% wear level. I am not sure of its current mileage but I want to say its about 4 hours. (when I first tested the fresh battery, every 20% ~ 1 hour of use)

In all honesty, I'm holding out for the Inspiron 10

 

@Gozer...

Did you make a decision yet?


Cin

 

Based on pics from the service manual and the review (with the cover off) it looks like the GPU is incorporated into the system board, rather than on a removable card. Won't know for sure until someone can look themselves.

GPU looks like it is socketed to the system board, between the cooling fan and the HDD. The small heat pipe goes to it. The larger goes to the CPU socket, between the memory modules and the black WWAN card (whatever that may be).