M1330 Outdoor Viewing Performance

Hey guys,

How is the m1330's LED screen viewing performance in sunlight? I write reviews often for a gaming website and I definitely would prefer to be able to do this outdoors. Currently I have a vostro 1400 already and I'm hoping it is considerably better than that.

Also, on a side note, how is the heat with X3100? I know it's on the warm side with the 8400M GS.

Thank You for taking tbe time to issue a quick response!

-Steve

 

Pathetic.. The screen is barely visible at full brightness in direct sunlight.. You would be better off with a Daylight viewing capable screen.. Perhaps the Latitude XT or latitude ATG...

 

Ooh, that certainly isn't good to hear. I currently have one on order, mostly for the portability, but also for the screen... my three primary concerns that remain are outdoor screen viewing, heat, and battery. To help quell the latter two I chose the x3100 over the 8400M GS as I will not be gaming, only working in Photoshop and watching movies sometimes. But I also want to be able to see it outdoors...

How about when the sun is shining on it? Isn't it transflective or something of that nature?

Thanks again.

Steve

 

You'll have a good view of your face when the sun's on it directly... or of the sun.. Good luck trying to make anything out on the screen.. .It isn't transflective....
It's glossy, and just LED backlit.

Battery life is good, though... Small mercies, eh?

 

I've seen worse screens do fine outside with the sun NOT shining on it. It shouldnt be hard to posistion yourself as such. But yeah, the sun is going to flush the screen and out make it undesireable

 

You guys rock, thanks for the help. So as long as I seek some shade I should be better off than I was with my Vostro I hope?

Steve

 

If the sun is setting in the west, you want to face north. This keeps the light from flushing the screen and your head reflecting on the screen. Aslong as you keep the sun on your side it wont be all pretty but still visible.

 

In a shade, it is somewhat viewable, at the highest brightness... Strains the eyes if you have to look at it long, and differentiating colours is difficult, everything looks dark grey, to bluish grey....

 

I had no problems using my m1330 outside.....keeping in mind that I also wasn't sitting in direct sunlight and I turned the backlight to full.

 

Better than the Vostro screens at least I hope?

 

Certainly.. Unless you got the Vostro with a matte screen..

 

What Vostro screen? Matte or glossy?

Matte is for outside viewing a must.

 

No; my Vostro is a glossy screen. As long as it's usable in the shade/angled properly without too much eyestrain I will be relatively happy. I don't care about colors so much, just contrast--I will be primarily word processing, as a I always have a lot of writing in my queue.

Thanks again. I suppose in the end what I will do is simply try it out for myself, and if I really don't like it, I'll just arrange to have it returned. Hopefully Dell doesn't put up too much of a fight when that sort of thing occurs.

Is there anything at else I should be concerned about? I have researched the subject quite vigorously over the past 48 hours and yet I still have my reservations about whether or not I made a good purchase.

Heck, I'll just list the specs in case anyone wishes to comment:

1 223-4555 XPS M1330, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.0GHz/800MHzFSB, 2M L2 Cache)
1 310-9240 Matte Black Casing XPS M1330
1 311-7638 3GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
1 320-5583 13.3 Inch Wide Screen WXGA TL WLED Backlit LCD with Camera, XPS M1330
1 320-5602 Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100, XPS M1330
1 341-6242 160G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
1 420-6813 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
1 420-6436 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-7387 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP XPS-M1330
1 412-0946 Dell Travel ExpressCard Remote Control, IR
1 310-9246 Creative Earbud EP630
1 313-5361 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive for XPSM1330
1 313-4783 Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
1 430-2577 Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini Card
1 312-0561 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1330
1 420-8051 Microsoft Works 9.0, English For Inspiron
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty
1 987-6347 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
1 983-3700 Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 310-9273 Fingerprint Reader
1 430-2566 Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)

$1,198.86 + tax

-Steve

 

I think its a joke Dell lets the XPS name have 3100s

 

Good config, great price.. You could upgrade the battery.. The 9 cell gives me around 3.5 hours of battery life, at full brightness.. That is with a 8400M GS, though..

Also, if you can, go for Complete cover/ Complete Care..

 

I was thinking about the battery thing, but the last time I called Dell to change an order it actually almost lost the deal I had secured to begin with. I also would like to own a 6 cell as well for around-the-house use, so hopefully I can get a 9 cell for cheaper than the MSRP $155 down the road at some point anyway...

If anyone knows of a way to do that, I'm down. Of course, I want a new, OEM battery, not just some rickety knock-off.

As for complete cover, I checked the Dell EPP site... this price seemed even better than what they were offering; granted, with less of a warranty. I am fairly technically inclined myself (I do tech support on the side actually) so I can probably fix/diagnose most problems, even probably many hardware issues, outside of the warranty period. So I am less concerned about that than outright breakage. But I am generally careful with my things, so I think I will be all right...

Steve

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=242631

waiting for OP in that post to respond with review... but u'll get brightness loss with any filter...

 

an anti glare filter might help. I have a sunlit appartment and got tired of looking at reflections. I use this for my new M1330 and Im very pleased with it. http://www.buyviewguard.com/catalog/...hp?id=133-1610