I lost a hard drive a few months into ownership, but no big deal - it happens. Later, the wireless went out.
Then, the microphone. Then about a third of the keyboard. And now it looks like the hard drive is going again.
I'm not particularly hard on laptops and have owned several. The M1530 is incredibly well designed and I'm delighted with the T8300/LED screen/etc. and particularly the packaging, but the number of component failures is getting rather scary .....
I am currently trying to figure out which new laptop to buy for myself. My main choices are now lenovo T400 and Dell E6400. I've had good experiences with thinkpad's durability, but what makes me apprehensive to buy one right now is the dubious panel quality that lenovo uses. Dell on the other hand seems to use much better LED panels, but I am worried about durability of the computer. I've used Latitude D820 (work laptop) and a 15" Inspiron (my wife's) and both have literally fallen appart in year and a half.
By fallen appart i mean extremely loose monitor hinges, keys falling off and chipped plastic parts. The Latitude developed a discolored streak on the bottom of the panel. IBM T42 and Asus (G1) I am currently using have held up very well to abuse that I throw at them. Both are still extremely solid with hinges and other parts having barely any wear or deterioration. I dont baby my laptops at all, and need them to be able to hold up being carried everywhere with me all the time, bumpy bicycle commutes in my backpack (vibrations) and ability to haldle a possible drop once a in while.
Are the new latitudes any better build quality wise and will stand up to a very abusive user like myself? Has anybody used one heavily since the time they first came out and can comment on their general durability?
The Vostro 1320 looks almost ideal for what I need (a pc easy to move around but can still serve as desktop replacement for most tasks). The matte screen is a big plus, as is the integrated optical drive. The price is also quite reasonable.
I however question his long term durability. I'd like to keep this laptop for around 4 years. Is the 5400 more susceptible to last that long ? It's a bit bigger but I'm ok with that, as long as there is a real quality difference. It's still smaller than my current 15"
I was curious about the durability of the HP imprint finish. I did a search and didn't run across anything.
Anyway, I recently ordered an HP HDX16t (which shipped today!). This is my first HP computer. I'm concerned with the high gloss case scratching over time. The last laptop I had was an ASUS G1S which was also glossy. Even with my constant attention, and careful placement into a neoprene sleeve every time it was not in use, still became scratched and looked very dull in the 2 years of it's service.
I guess I'm rough on laptops because this one is starting to wear out and I haven't had it a year. How does the aluminum unibody hold up to heavy usage? I'm specifically looking at keyboard(I type fast and hard), mouse, and cd drive. Well, I guess I might be a little rough in handling too. I really like the construction if the new macbook pros and would love to get the new 17".
When will the price of the m1530 come down? I want it, but it costs a lot.. After christmas maybe? Or am I better off getting something else?. I do live in canada so none of those amazing $400 off Inspiron/vostro coupons work...
I had made the mistake of lending my XPS m1530 to a friend who is in the hospital due to cancer and she gave it back all messed up.
Most everything don't work. I can't get online, a lot of programs don't work, such as trying to right or left click in the taskbar and other places... nothing happens.
I tried system restore to before she got the computer and nothing changes. I've ran AVG and spy bot and it found some stuff, supposedly fix them, but the problems remain. I defragged too.
So what to try next? Reformat? I don't want to if I don't have to.
So I'm having heat issues with my m1530...but that seems to be the norm.
So I've got a Dell tech coming out to replace the mobo & fan/ heatsink.
Do you guys know if the Dell tech will remove the old thermal paste, and use some AS5 (provided by me of course) instead of the crappy Dell thermal paste?
If not, when would be the best time for me to do it? Right away, or should I let the thermal paste set before I remove, and replace it?
I'm getting ready to order a new m1530, but can't decide on Ram options. I know with 32-bit Vista, it only recognizes ~3.2GB of RAM, so would the benefit of 3.2GB Dual Channel be worth the upgrade from 3GB non-DC?
Has anyone noticed any problems with Aero when using non-DC?
Building an M1530 from parts and got the LED screen, Chimei part number N154C6-L02 with cable N849D.
Here is the problem; looking at the cable there is a connection for what could be an inverter/converter but I cannot find a part number from Dell or anywhere else.
Does anyone know what part this is and where I can get one? Is it the same as other Dell models with the WSXGA+ LED?
I have an XPS M1530 that's just shy of 6 months old.
Over the past 3-odd months I have begun to notice some things that I REALLY dislike about this laptop.
1. It gets UNBEARABLY hot. I'm afraid I might not be able to have kids if I use it as intended (ie: on my lap)
2. It can't play TF2, CSS or HL2 at all low settings. That's ridiculous. I suspect that may have something to do with the poor thermals.
3. Its battery life is ridiculously short. Not much of a problem in everyday life, but something that really gets to me on those >6 hour intercontinental flights.
4. The Fingerprint Application (psqltray.exe) seems to dislike Vista x64. I've caught it using up to 1,000,000K of memory.
5. The internals are of TERRIBLE quality. The heatsink offers no reassurance about thermal performance whatsoever.
6. Dell tech support is beyond incompetent. I do believe my 11-year old sister knows more about hardware problems than the 2 people I spoke to.
Can I call Dell over for a physical inspection of the laptop? I divide my time between India and Los Angeles, but most of my time is spent in LA and the laptop was bought here.
i had a XPS M1530 since Jan,2008(When first release). couple of weeks ago when there was an issue with my media buttons dell decided to change the whole system as they were not been able to fix it.
actually the light(Blue surroundings lights when once touched the media buttons) was not as brighter as they were suppose to b. when i first bought the system these lights were really brighter. but a month ago when the buttons were not working properly dell replace the whole Media Hinges Cover. i found the lights really deemed. then they again changes the hinge cover. but still the same. third times they changed the mother board, but nothing fixes the problem, i mean every times it's deemed media buttons. so they changed my whole system.
the new XPS M1530(replacement) i have received a couple of weeks. but u know guys, i was surprised to see that these media buttons r also deemed. and it was assembled in Poland where the old one was in Ireland. also i have found another changes that is, the screen light is much more brighter. something like Blueish. i don't know if it is good or bad. one of my house mate has got his old xps m1530. so i did compare just putting his one right next to my system. they also changed hdd. my previous one was Fujitsu and this one they have put Hitachi. this hdd make little noise than previous one.
i could complain to dell and keep replacing the parts but i didn't, u know guys why, bcz this new system came along with Processor 2.5Ghz where my previous one was 2.2Ghz.
I put it on the table and started to work... At first i heard clicks from HDD. Then i downloaded HDparm and done what there were said:
"Just install HDPARM and run the "unclick.exe".
You can put a shortcut into the windows "autostart" folder to run it directly on boot"
After that clicks form hdd gone...
But today i took it on sofa and when i picked UP it i heard like scrpas clicks FROM HDD. and in vista all started to slow.... then i didn't moving it and when i moved it (picked up) again - again this....
I downloaded HD Tune and done some tests.
CANT post here picture but the graph was like if its standing its all going straight but when i picked first it falls down and vista slows down .. and then i put it back on table but when i pick up it again and starting walking slowly its started to beep clicks and etc. and again the line was fall down 3 times (to the transfer rate minimum) ...
2) This was when i was moving slowly it like walking and i heard clicks ... sounds from it and A BEEP like sound 2 times..
1) thats when i picked up it only.
HD Tune: ST9200423ASG Benchmark
Transfer Rate Minimum : 0.3 MB/sec Transfer Rate Maximum : 78.7 MB/sec Transfer Rate Average : 59.9 MB/sec Access Time : 27.7 ms Burst Rate : 73.0 MB/sec CPU Usage : 3.7%
I now have 8 gb of ram on my xps m1530 using the A11 bios update.
I want to thank Rhodan for the idea and the original poster of the A13 bios for m1330 thread. I downloaded the a11 update and installed it. I then installed my other 4 gb sodimm and bios recognized it and windows recognizes it. this is awesome.
Kudos to Dell for listening to its ideastorm ideas and implementing the ones that really matter to us users.
So I've had my laptop a year and a half and it has always gotten very hot to the touch. Right now it is at 60 degrees C. Earlier it was up to 68 I believe. Is this normal? Also I don't ever hear a fan on and I'm not sure if it even works. Is there anyway to test this? Or am I overreacting to the temperature?
just wondering do you have the same problems like me ? I have to turn all details on low and it looks like shi*. Really pis*ses me off that I never get more than 18 FPS.
I have the M1530 2,4GHz 8600M GT 4GB RAM, Windows XP SP3
I know that the M1530 is not a killer gaming machine but it cant be that bad or what do you think ?
Alright I bought a refurbished laptop for $900 and the performance has been terrific. Now i have several minor problems i like to point out to see if this is normal or not and if its not i like to have it fix.
The first picture shows the plastic (whats the name for that?) isnt flush against the frame .....
When was the last time you had your mobo/gpu/heatsink/fans replaced because of overheating? Dell is claiming to have "fixed" it by putting in new chipsets. So now I want to see when this "fix" occurred.
Ok, I have neglected my M1530 for WAY to long and it is in desperate need of reformatting. I also have not paid too much attention to the forums and what is the latest and greatest out there so I was wondering if you all could recommend which drivers I should search out before I dump my system. I have my dell drivers cd and operating system cd, but its over 2 years old. I am looking for the latest and greatest Video, Audio, anything special, etc.
Also, If there is anything cool new trick I should do to reformat, I would appreciate it. I was at one point going to put on a linux partition, but am going to skip it for now. I am planing planning on 3 partitions.
1. Media Direct (Only have used a few times, so maybe I should skip??)
2. Windows
3. Data (would like to split this on, but I think i am limited to 3 partions with media direct??)
I have just ordered the M1530 with a number of bonuses. I own an Edifier R251 5.1 surround sound system which I currently have jacked into my desktop via a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 sound card.
I want to know if I can hook my sound system up to my new M1530 when it arrives but so far no one can give me a sure fire answer.
