Questions regarding the XPS 1530

Hi guys, I'm a first time poster, and im planning on buying my first laptop, so be a little easy on me.

so im planning to get the 1530, but I have a few questions regarding the specs I should upgrade.

First, the monitor, .. from reading the forums i've seen the basic 1280x800 display setting is no good, so; my question is: is it worth 150$ to upgrade to 1440x900 (hi def)?

Second, is memory, .. ive read that upgrading ram is expensive(through dell), and maybe going to pacific mall, and getting some cheaper ram and putting it in myself would be a better alternative, and save money...; my question here is: is it worth saving about 100$, and risk screwing something up ?


The purpose of this laptop is a semi-desktop replacement. I am planning on upgrading the processor to a 2.4ghz and upgrading the vid card to the 256mb.
I'll most likely be running World of Warcraft, and later down the road maybe AoC or Warhammer. It will most be used for school/gaming.


Your imput is very much appreciated, and thankyou in advance,


Merry X-Mas,
Alvin

 

Welcome, first off I wouldn't say the 1280x800 is no good. In fact, it is quite good but preference on resolution varies from one person to another. The advantages of one is a disadvantage to another. One may love it and another may hate it. It depends on your needs and preferences. No one can tell you if it is worth it to upgrade. Go to your local electronic store, look at the differenc resolutions and make your decision.

RAM is expensive through dell and buying from outside of dell will usually always save you money. try ordering through newegg.com. Adding memory is simple and there isn't much you can mess up.

The games you'll be playing really aren't that intense compared to most as far as graphics so you'll be fine with the GT.

 

about the resolution i depends on the person itself. i my self have ordered the 1280*800 and fell perfectly fine with it. it u can cope with small text and fonts then get the upgrade. imo its not worth it . yes its worth saving the money . the memory is very easy to install and there is even a video on youtube to help u if u have trouble

 

I agree with above posts on resolution and upgrading RAM, 1280x800 is not bad, in fact up until recently that was the highest resolution provided with most 15” notebooks. And upgrading RAM is extremely easy.

As for the processor, T7300 (2.0GHz with 4MB cache) or T7500 (2.2GHz with 4MB cache) is more than enough. Don’t waste your money on a 2.4GHz unless it comes cheap or bundled with a preconfigured spec.

When talking about graphics performance, most important thing is the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) not the amount of video RAM. For example, an 8600M GT with 128MB would be faster than a 8400M with 256MB RAM. Therefore get the better GPU (usually better GPUs also come with more dedicated VRAM, but that is not always the case).

 

thanks for the feedback guys.

Another question came to mind about the hard-drive.... Is a 7200 rpm disk better than a 5400 rpm disk ? a friend of mine said it makes a big difference having the faster spinning disk ?

 

Your friend is right. Although it may not be a huge difference, you will certainly save seconds off of your access times.

 

The difference in speed is negligible with higher capacity drives, but a 5400rpm will run cooler and give more battery life than the 7200rpm. I'd go for a bigger 5400rpm over a smaller 7200rpm.

 

NOnsense. Get the 7200rpm for performance. It can litterally save you 30 seconds on loading maps in newer games like crysis and bf2142.

 

Please see this chart, there are some cases where a 5400rpm will outperform a 7200rpm. There is not a huge performance difference with larger sized drives. You may get a faster boot time with a 7200rpm, but at the cost of excess heat and battery life, and it won't effect much else.
2.5" Hard Drive Charts

 

Does anyone know what drives are used in the m1530s? It appears that it makes a great deal of difference.

 

I ordered it with the 160gb, and the model that came in mine was a Toshiba MK1637GSX, which doesn't score particularly well.

I can say that I seriously doubt that changing the model for a faster one will drastically improve World of Warcraft loading times. Even when I had the stock 1GB of RAM in, it loaded extremely quick and it wouldn't be worth the money or battery life reduction to make it load any faster.