I recently purchased a brand spanking new, fresh off the press, newborn baby of an XPS M1530 with the 256 GB SSD.
I used the 25% off coupon, so I basically got it for free along with the four year warranty and four year accident protection.
The question I have is: what kind of SSDs are they using? Are the drives Dell uses proprietary as a previous thread asked (which I seriously doubt they are), or are they OCZ, Intel, Toshiba, etc.?
Dell M1730: 320gb 7200rpm to 128gb SSD is $100, and to RAID 256gb ssd (128x128) is $300
HP HDX 18t 320gb 7200rpm to 160 gb SSD + 500gb 5400rpm (who wants that?) is $600.
Sony AW: 320gb 7200rpm to 64gb SSD + 500gb 4200rpm (!) is $420.
Are the SSD's that the Dells use worse quality or something? I really want an SSD with my next laptop, and I'm leaning towards HP or Sony because I think I want an 18.4 inch model, but it really, really surprises me that the Dell SSDs are so much cheaper. Anyone have an explanation, or am I missing something obvious?
m6400 with a single 200gb HD which is not really enough space.
At the moment I am trying to decide between doing one of the following
1. Buy 2x320gb 7200 WD drives and raid 0 them up WD 320 : 66.69 * 2 = COST 134 GBP approx Total Space 640 Gb
2. Buy 1 320 hdd and 1 60 gb SSD to boot off SSD : 137.99 + WD 320 : 66.69 = COST 205 GBP Total Space = 380 GB
3. Buy 1 320 hdd and keep the 200 gb drive its coming with COST 67 GBP - Total Space = 520 GB
I would like it to be quick (obviously)
Does anyone know how a single SSD compares to twin 7200 hdds in raid 0 ? (approx)
The SSD I would probably buy is the OCZ "solid series" (read "budget series") but it still appears to be quick at least according to the OCZ site, I couldnt find any actual reviews of it because I think its too new (its the red coloured one).
Im a little afraid of the risks involved with raid 0 plus the fact that I couldnt just swap out one of the drives without loosing the array.
Maybe a single 7200 is ok. Has anyone any experiance with this SSD?
Also second thing
I am also thinking of buying some more RAM - the 2 brands I am looking at are OCZ and G.Skill
They are both identically priced and the only 2gb dimms for ddr3 that the shop I am looking at stocks.
As a proud Vaio Z owner (and at the same time a poorly payed PhD student), I opted for the cheap Z with the 128GB SSD and I am already almost at full capacity.
I am looking for someway to expand my available storage. SD cards would be one option but high capacity ones are expensive, read/write speeds are not that good and I have had reliability issues with most removable media I've used in the past so I would not want to put my work-critical files on them.
I have come across these expressCard based SSD drives:
Amazon.com: Wintec FileMate 48GB Ultra ExpressCard Solid State Drive 3FMS4D48M-WR - PCI-e, Mini USB 2.0: Electronics
that seem to provide relatively good performance. However they seem a bit unreliable from the reviews, so I am still not particularly keen on getting one.
Has anyone come across any viable alternatives to the above drives?
I am in the market to buy a ssd for my new on the way notebook and I saw one of these on Craig's List, seller says it is Apple branded. Let me know what information you guys have on this drive!
I am looking at buying the Z690/790 with the SSD RAID configuration and was looking for more information on the size and interfaces of the SSDs used in RAID configuration.
a. Are they 2.5" inch drives or 1.8" inch drives? b. Do they have SATA interface or some other interface
I've just purchased the Lenovo Z510 Intel Core i7 (model 20287) and I've got a few queries:
1. if there is one mSATA connector available and free (not already connected) so I could be able to add an ADATA XPG SX300 mSATA SSD? this one is compatible with lenovo products?
2. if yes (compatible) ,I can be able to install the Win7 OS after and if system will recognize the new ssd? any tutorial?
3. if no (not compatible), what are Lenovo laptops compatible with mSATA ?
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.