Questions about the Dell XPS 1530

Hey guys,
I'm thinking about the XPS 1530 - oh yes, dreaming actually...
But im wondering if my specs are enough to play Crysis and edit video, in other words - does it preform well.

Heres the specs:
CPU: 2,40 (The Best)
GPU: nVidia GeForce 8600M GT with 256mb
RAM: 2056
LCD: 1440x900
Battery: 9 Cells

Will the laptop be upgradeable to new Penryn cpu's??
How is the battery
Is the 1530 using gddr3 memory? And in that case will it perform better than the 8600m gt gddr2 512?

 

Its going to be about as good as you can get without going to a 17" beast. So yes, it performs quite well.

You will see Penryn's come next month most likely.

The gpu is indeed gddr3, and it performs better than the gddr2 version.

 

It should run Crysis at some what decent frame rates on high settings but don't expect miracles. Even the best PC's out today struggle to run that beast and it really is a next-gen game, for next-gen hardware.

 

Will the GPU be swapable?

 

gpu's are almost never swappable. even on laptops that offer "upgradeability" as a selling point, most times they can't upgrade.

take the sager 5791 with the 8700m gt. it was advertised as being upgradeable. but when the 8800m gt came out, guess what? to upgrade you had to purchase a new motherboard with that new graphics card. over a $1000 cost.

laptops are so customized for not only power requirements of the individual components, but heat dissipation as well. the 1530 might support the next card on the block as far as bus power requirements, but the case might not fit the cooling solution for that new card. or the card itself could be bigger. same with the cpu. the motherboard may support the chip, but the cooling solution might be too big.

i haven't been on these boards all that long, but the whole "will this laptop support something that doesn't exist yet?" comments just make me cringe and go WTF? you buy a laptop, 99% of the time you can only upgrade ram and hard drive. maybe the internal network card. thats it.

 

I've had a read through the m1530 support section, if there was intentions for the the gpu to be upgradeable then it would be in there. Literally everything is covered, how to upgrade hard drive, how to upgrade ram, how to upgrade processor, how to change screen.... the one big missing component? Graphics card. I think that may be an indication as to GPU upgradability.

However, it is nice that when the later CPUs come out, there is scope to upgrade. Although how much bang this will give your gaming, I don't know.

 

So widge
when you ordering ?
I think i may order today , i think the savingsd we can get right now will be better than a upgraded penryn , dont think that will make massive improvements to the power of the lappy and id rather have massive improvements in my credit card statement

 

I've just gone and checked some benchmarks and it seems that one major advantage of Penryn is battery life, so I'm not too fussed about getting the T7250 now, I don't think I'd be doing much to take advantage of 4mb cache, also not too bothered about battery life really. Everywhere I go there is ready access to a plug!

I think for £700, I've got a pretty good damn system. I ordered on the 22nd by the way (check the new owners thread for my system)... although I'm a bit hmmm hmm about getting the 120gb 7200rpm HDD, thinking I should have gone 160gb. Proving hard to get dell to change.

 

Oh! I found a new 10% voucher!

If I have to cancel and re-order, I can use this!

 

yeah cancel it and re order
Im going for 200gb 7200 drive i think, was gonna add blu ray but seeing as all the stuff i watch is downloaded no need for the drive

 

I have just placed my order and checked the estimated delivery date and it say 14 Feb!!! this is 3 weeks away is this normal?

spec -
T7500
2gb Ram
8600M GT
160GB 7200 HD
3yr warranty
everything else standard

£860

please advise or direct me to the correct topic...

 

The lead time is always longer than it actually takes
Youll prolly find you get it within a week or so
did you take advantage of the 10% off voucher

 

yep sure did was originally £950

 

Can you tell me how you got it that cheap? Mine is currently about £1000 for a similar spec?

 

ye sure, i started here

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/xpsnb_m1530?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

then selected the £629 option, and select all my spec as above, then added the 10% discount voucher VC6X4PMZH0LH9Q (expired end of Jan)

this gave me an end price of £860 hope this help in your purchase

 

Ok, have cancelled order and have now bumped up to the 160bg hdd.
Also a USB mouse for all of the £5 that it costs.

Decided against a carry case, thought it'd be cheaper to look round for one, or even inherit one off work maybe!

Not pressed submit yet, now umming over case colour!

 

I ordered red looks the flashiest and stands out more IMO

 

Yeah, I was going black, but thought that just about all laptops are black, then blue.... well looks nice but thought it may be a bit corporate looking, so thinking of going for red... but then again, half my front room stuff is black and silver...

 

I realise that I had chosen a couple of extras which really bump the price up - the highest res screen and a 200GB hard drive

 

ahh i see

 

Mine is as DJCarl's here except:

basic warranty
T7250
£5 mouse!

That was... £739 I think. I've also gone via Quidco so I should get pre-tax/delivery of 5% back as well, which should bring me right on the cusp of £700 delivered for a great laptop.

I'll be expecting it to cook/make cup of tea for me or will be returning to Dell.

1440 res monitor, which will no doubt be knocked down for gaming, but need the extra res for Ableton.

 

Hi Widge are you in the UK? if so what EDD did you get?

 

I quote myself:

 

Yes I am!

EDD?

Oh delivery date:

14/02/2008

 

Hi all, just thought I add to this thread rather than create a new one.

I am just about to order the XPS 1530 with specs below
XPS 1530
OS: Vista Ultimate
CPU: 2.4Ghz
Ram: 2Gb
HDD: 250Gb
Screen: 1680X1050
Video: NVDIA 8600m 256Mb
DVD+/-RW drive Not BluerRay
9 cell Battery
Wireless N Minicard

Price is comming in at about £1211

Here are my Questions

(1) UK PRICE Can I get a better price for this spec. How?....b4 then going to haggle more off the Dell sales line
(2) SCREEN I currently have 2 laptops an Inspiron 8600 & a Sony A517.
The screen quality of the sony is simply oustanding compared to the dull inspiron 8600 due to Xblack, glossy & its Dual lamp features.

Are the new XPS Truelife by any means comparable to the sony dual x-black screens in terms of brightness?. Are the XPS screens dual CCFL lamps?
(3) other Laptops can you recommend other quality laptops that are ebay replacement parts friendly ?


thanks very much

css_jay99

 

hey widge that you on avforums ?
Im madgames

 

Dont forget to use the 10% off voucher if your UK based
Also you may wanna get the 200mb 7200 HD, its a fair bit quicker

 

^^^^^

and register and click via www.quidco.com for an additional 5% (pre-tax/delivery) cashback!

 

ah yes, it appears that I am talking to you!

 

The battery works wonders, the 9 cell runs for 4 hours on High performance

 

Anyone being shocked by the static buid up in the 1530.
I ordered mine on the 23 , then found out about people being jolted when touching the metal finish only today in cnet.
I think only in the US with 2 prong plugs . Here in the UK we get 3 prong 90w adaptors with ours , should emliminate the jolts people get.

 

/\ /\ /\ safety first

 

black looks really nice

@the forge - sometimes i get a very very very tiny bit of static but that has only happened once or twice so it isn't worth worrying about. I use a three pin plug by the way.

 

cheers.

Any Idea when UK would be getting other colours apart from the black & Red ?

Also Is it worth waiting till XPS gets equiped with the 2.6/2.8 Processors or even the Quad core ones ?. Are there chances that this could happen within 4months?. If so I could wait


cheers

css_jay99

 

Blue is available now as I have one ordered and it arrivea on Tuesday. Just hoping the screen is okay...

 

I was thinking of the White version myself.... if it looked as good as a mac

red looks too bold and un-business like.
Really tempted to wait for a higher processor speed

why is dellincluding a TV tunner remote control ? does it come with a TV?