Need a new laptop for work and am considering the m1330. Heard a lot of stories about it being unreliable. But those reviews were quite some time ago. I'm wondering if the current units are still problematic.
I'm concerned mostly with build quality and reliability. I would also like a unit with good display and sound. I'm a weapons designer/engineer by trade.
I've been comparing the new FW equipped with an hd 4650 and the current AW and am quite torn. I've assembled a few questions to help me figure out which model suits me best. I intend to replace my desktop which I primarily use as a multimedia and gaming am willing to settle for the FW's 16.4 inches only if the 4650 places its performance well over the AW's.
1.) Is there still any risk involved with the 9xxxM series (specifically the 9600m gt)?
2.) Are benchmarks for the 9600m gt reliable/universal (or would the AW's specs enhance its performace)?
3.) Given: P8700 2.53ghz, 4gb ddr2, 7200rpm hdd, and 1080 display in both; is the hd 4650 of the new FW worth the loss of 2" and the sleek build of the AW equipped with the 9600m?
4.) Is the above config suitable for adobe's cs4 products, orange box, ut3, sixth gen console emulators, and occasionally wow all in high settings?..................
I'm trying to avoid doing useful work, so I thought that I'd type in a quick review for the more discriminating / demanding buyers out there.
My strongest biases: like quiet computing, must have a great keyboard (good feel, no weird key placement, good key travel), must have a good screen (no grain, not too much bleed,
good color accuracy, good black levels), high-res screen, good touchpad/touchstick, good quality speakers, card reader slot, bang for the buck, light weight ( You can't really notice it, and if you really must have 800, then just auto-hide the taskbar :> If you already autohide the taskbar, autohide the status bar in firefox
Just got off the phone with XPS Support.. Not too happy.
I was on my computer earlier, and it froze. Left it alone for 20 mins before having to reboot. The HDD light was Stuck on. Got stuck on the windows start, once again with the HDD light on. Tried the startup repair, same thing.
Thought something in Windows mightve gotten screwed, so I tried launching the Dell Recovery. Nope, got same thing, hdd light stuck on.
Ok, thought it mightve screwed up the recovery partition, so I toss in the Dell windows 7 cd. Got stuck on the setup is starting with the hdd light on.
After reading the m1340 hdd light on thread, I put in my retail windows 7 cd. Got stuck at the same place, so I broke down and called support.
The rep had me do a pre boot assessment. Within 10 secs of launching it, my computer is beeping and flashing the keys indicating a failed hard drive. Even tho I can see it in the BIOs
Just ing great.
Is it really unreasonable to just get a computer that just works? I've had this computer for less than a month and have babied it. It came out of the packaging and has lived on my desk since.
Then, to top it off, my "next business day" onsite repair means the tech (which makes no sense, they won't ship it to me even tho I'm DCSE) will get the part in 2-3 days, arrange a time 3-5 days after that.
E6400
Windows 7 x64 RTM from TechNet
Latest BIOS, DCP drivers, etc
Not sure if anyone else is running into this but I will put my computer into hibernate by closing the lid and toss it in my bag. Works for about 5-7 hibernates and then sometimes it will look like it is hibernating, but the machine never turns off. I open the lid and see that the keyboard backlight is on and the num lock or caps lock will go on and off, but I can't get the screen back. I can only hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then restart.
Running on MBP's or Pros?
I'd be interested in the noise in comparison to e.g. the Pro, and how reliable the iSCSI initiator is.
I have been an avid HP user for quite some time in the recent years. Now graduated from HS, I'm off to the University in search of a reliable notebook. I have looked everywhere!
HP, Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Newegg, eBay, and now Sony. Out of all these, what makes Sony a brand I can truly consider to be my trustee for 4 more years?
Some questions to consider:Has the Sony brand kept up to its name? (i.e-build quality)Customer Support for the Vaio, how would you rate it? Are they quick, responsive, and ideal to the typical consumer who might experience problems from time to time?Updates, drivers, and firmware-are they constant?
By quick glance, Sony is the Apple's PC. The company is for style, easy user experience, and simplicity, all with the love for Windows. Ultimately, can you tell me if and why Sony is reliable to purchase from?
what would you recommend as a good and reliable external hard drive that I could use with Time Machine.
What do you think of this:
Iomega eGo Portable 500 GB External hard drive - 800Mbps(FireWire800)/400Mbps(FireWire)/480Mbps(Hi-Sp.USB)
Also, from friends I know I've heard only complains about external hard drives - problems with reliability etc. Has anything changed in this regard in recently?
Lastly, what is your experience with Time Machine? How much can I trust it?
Lately my laptop would freeze and I could see faint white lines only at the top of my screen. (lines do not go all the way down) This has happened twice in a day. Ctrl Alt Del doesn't work so I have to power down the system and it runs normal after that.
I'm really afraid its the dreaded vertical lines issues. I had my mobo + GPU replaced a year ago, still under CC warranty but its such a pain.
I am wondering if anyone know whether dell fixed the video card and heating issues (like many in this forum mentioned) yet?
I am very interested in this machine but I don't want to risk buying something that would burn out later. I am also interested in the new studio XPS 13 as well though I would love to know how it handles heat and the video card (i hate burned-out video cards..
i have been having problems with my xps m1330 ive had it for 3 years now and its been decent to me... 3 months ago when my warranty was up i sent it in to get the gpu and mother board replaced because of the warranty. Just recently it started acting up bad...
Would freeze left and right start running check disk when i tried to restart it...so i decided to reformat it seeing some scan i ran in dos was saying i was missing a system file. So i cleared the c drive and installed vista fresh... re-put my 60gb of music over and everything seemed fine for 2 days... not today it froze up on me ... i tried to restart and got a blue screen that flashed to fast to read and i tried to restart again and got a 2000-0141 error and alot of beeping and crap... so i restarted it and it was gone...
I've had my M1330 for about 1 1/2 yrs now. The first issue is that at one point 3 months ago,
I was being randomly electrocuted by my laptop when I placed my hand on the open space below the keyboard. About a few days after the random electrocution started, the battery died, and won't recharge at all.
Lastly, there is a constant whistling sound that was coming from the laptop ever since I bought it.
I'm out of warranty. Am I able to buy a new warranty for my laptop at this time or is it too late for me? And if it is too late, should I attempt to make repairs through Dell, or am I better off selling the laptop,
and then use the cash towards a lower pc, like those mini/EPC's that these companies are selling now?
Does anyone know if I can install 8 GB of RAM in my M1330? I now have 4 GB, but when upgrading to 64-bit I'd also like to add some memory.
I bought the computer in August 2008, and have the latest bios.
I think 800 MHz is the max speed I can use, does anyone know about any modules that will fit, if possible
First of all thanks to everyone who contributes on this board. The knowledge I gained is invaluable.
I upgraded from a T5800 dded Arctic Silver 5.
recently I've installed nVidea driver from MS windows update ,then the fan is always run, then I installed nVidea driver from dell support site, but still same thing.My bios is A09 ,
and have I to update my BIOS to A15 ? or keep it A09 ,because I thing it will afect the battery run time (i.e the fan need more energy and then battery need discharging quickly)
I recentley just formatted my M1330 and installed the AHCI driver but i am still getting BSOD right after the green bar on start up? The only way to get around this is to disable AHCI and enable ATA from the BIOS. Is there a solution to this
View 4 Replies View RelatedI have a new XPS M1330 on the way. I originally purchased a refurb. M1330 and had a few issues with it and dell agreed to build me a new(non refurb) one with same specs. (crimson,T9500,LED display,4GB's ram,vista ultimate etc.). In the meantime my company has ordered us new latitudes and I don't really see need to keep the new 1330. My question is, when it arrives should I not even open it and sell it either here or E-bay and my second question would be how much could I expect to sell it for ?
View 10 Replies View RelatedMy 1330 is my second XPS after owning the Origional 9100XPS tank.
I have the fully built M1330 with the best factory options Dell offers. Running Windows Home Premium.
I was very pleased with my PC however, I didn't like all these extra features taking up room. (Media Center, Back-up HD, ect)
So, after a little thought, I did a complete format of my HD. I removed all the other Partitions and only loaded the OS.
After doing the updates, re-installing my McAfee Suite, Office 2007 and the other basics; This computer is NIGHT and DAY compared to what it was.
It was never a slouch by any means but I can't even explain how much better it runs now.
For anyone that doesn't need the silly stuff. I HIGHLY suggest you take the time to clean sweep your HD and reinstall from scratch.
This one looks bigger than the original m1330 battery, so I was wondering if it will fit.
I`ve also heard about Mugen Power
who makes a lot of batteries for electronic devices, anybody got any input on that?
Poll because I'm curious for NVIDIA users only
View 10 Replies View RelatedI wanted to change my hard drive back to my original one and it turns out that when I first changed it in May I have screwed the low quality screws too tight. When I tried to unscrew them again, 2 of them (the ones that are towards the middle of the laptop) failed to unscrew and I pretty much turned them unusable with my repeated tries.
I'm not going to rant about the fact that Dell could actually use STEEL screws to prevent this type of thing, I'm just going to ask you Dell XPS M1330 owners if there's any other way around getting the hard drive out.
If I'll unscrew all other screws, can I take my XPS apart? Is there anything I should be particularly careful with (other than unscrewing the low quality screws that is)? Or do you have any tips on how I could unscrew the faulty screws?
I've owned a Dell XPS M1330 for about a year and am very happy with it. I want to buy a laptop for somebody as a gift, and I was thinking about the Inspiron 13, which I never actually saw. I know it's basically the lower quality brother of the 1330, I'm just wondering how lower the quality is.
Can any of you Inspiron 13/M1330?
I bought my M1330 a few days ago and am just waiting for it in the mail. I'm not so sure if I should downgrade to XP as I have heard that Vista is becoming more stable now that SP1 is out. First, my setup:
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 (2x 2.6GHz) Processor
3GB 667MHz RAM
500GB HDD (5400 RPM afaik)
LED Display
128MB NVidia 8400M Graphics
9-cell battery
My intentions are to run a TrueCrypted system that can run for as long as possible.
For those that don't know and are too lazy to look further into TrueCrypt, it essentially completely encrypts a hard drive so that it requires a password to boot into the operating system. Because of this, everything that goes on while the system is running has to have real time encryption and decryption. This adds strain to the CPU.
What is your opinion? Should I downgrade to XP for the speedier system and longer lasting battery life, or won't it make much of a difference? For those who are running XP on their M1330, do you like it? What is the general difference between XP and Vista?
I placed an order last night for a refurb m1330. The spec for the system says that it is the LED screen and has a 2.0mp camera. I thought this config didn't exist -
View 10 Replies View RelatedMy current configuration is the following:
CPU: T7500
RAM: 2GB
Is it worth upgrading to T9500 and 4GB of RAM?
Should I do it through Dell or by my own? I know that doing it by my own is much cheaper but what's happening with the guarantee? Moreover, will I need a new charger? How much does it cost approximately?
Is there anything else that I should take into account?
it's an owner to join such an informative/ friendly form
I have the M1330 system and after the crazy vertical lines and freezing over and over, the motherboard is replaced now.
My wonder/worry is, AM I able to use my notebook w/out the fear of the same issue coming again ?!
What's the best way to sell it?..........................................
View 4 Replies View RelatedI wanna get rid of my inspiron 9100 and carry around something smaller. I've currently got the mr9800 video card and do some low detail gaming (mostly old games...BFV, BF1942 demo, WoW). I do need to use it for Second Life as part of my job. I also do presentations and stuff for work.
The cost/benefit ratio of lugging this thing around in comparison to its performance is waning. I've been thinking of forgetting the whole desktop replacement thing and take a cut in gaming performance for portability. The portable computers are getting to a point that even with low end graphics card they are comparable to my 9100 with the mr9800 (almost).
I've been looking at the m1210 with keen interest...it's pretty compact and cool. But, I've read the extensive thread about complaints related to the screen. If I went with the m1210 I'd be getting the AV package in hopse of the AUO screen which is supposed to be marginally better.
I've also been looking at the m1330 because of the LCD screen...it's a little bigger, but lighter. It's also about a thousand dollars more expensive (decked out with a decent screen, video card, blue tooth, etc.).
When all is said and done I'm looking at nearly identical specs, except for the LCD screen, the fingerprint doohickey, and the new dx10 capable video card. And, like I said, the m1330 is bigger, but lighter. In your opinion, is it worth it? Bear in mind that if I went with the m1330 I'd have to wait until there was some sort of coupon/sale or it turns up in the outlet...cause I can't drop 2,000 on it. I'm looking at 1200 tops. The m1210 is available decked out for 1100 (including tax). I'm just a little nervouse about the LCD problems...and the older technology.
Well I have the same problem again. I was usign the PC normally and then it turn off the display, still the computer is still running like normal (I know because sounds).
I dont think that this is GPU problems (NO vertical lines, no crash, no weird colors) in a old thread people says to me that this can be that the LCD is damaged.
so i will buy the HDMI cable and if this happend again I will connect the PC to a
Maybe this can be a program? OS problem? a virus?..
I'm trying to get 5.1 sound through HDMI on my XPS M1330 with my Sony HT-CT 100 soundbar.
Is there any way to get 5.1, because I always get 2.0 .
