Dell XPS M1330

Craig321 · 3 Jan 2008 at 01:54

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a laptop around May/June (provided I have the money).

I'm looking to spend £800-£900 and would prefer to configure it myself (e.g. Dell).

I've been looking at the Dell M1330 and really like the look of it. I configured it with a 2.2GHZ T7500, 13.3" White LED screen, 2048 667MHZ RAM, 160GB 7200RPM hard drive (maybe the 200GB 7200 if I can afford it at the time), nVidia 8400, 6-cell battery (I would have gone for 9-cell, but I HATE the way it sticks out at the bottom).

Does anyone have a similar laptop to the above, if so what battery time do you get?

As the laptop is so small do I lose out on anything compared to a similar speced 15.4"?

Also, what graphic card can the 8400 be compared to in desktop PC performance terms?

Thanks,
Craig.

TheVoice · 3 Jan 2008 at 08:18

Haven't got my 1330 yet, but I'll try and help where I can.

You don't really lose anything - some physical screen space obviously, but that's about it. Only other benefits of opting for a 14" or 15" would be the options for a better resolution display, a better graphics chipset (the Vostro 1500 and XPS M1530 can have an 8600M GT), and a few other small options. You also only get 2 USB ports on the 1330.

In desktop terms, the 8400GS in the XPS is probably a bit slower than the desktop version.

If you're only going to be ordering in May/June though, I wouldn't really worry about the spec now, because they'll probably be offering different things in 6 months time.

Curfish · 3 Jan 2008 at 12:50

looking at http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

the 8400 gives about 1000 3dmark 06 points. so as long as you dont want to game on it then im sure you will be fine

Mattitude · 3 Jan 2008 at 20:02

DELL XPS M1530 look at that, its new and its at a good price, within your budget

Craig321 · 4 Jan 2008 at 11:46

Curfish said:
looking at http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

the 8400 gives about 1000 3dmark 06 points. so as long as you dont want to game on it then im sure you will be fine

Not bad. Only games I'd want to play on the laptop are e.g. a bit of CSS, RF Online etc

TheVoice said:
Haven't got my 1330 yet, but I'll try and help where I can.

You don't really lose anything - some physical screen space obviously, but that's about it. Only other benefits of opting for a 14" or 15" would be the options for a better resolution display, a better graphics chipset (the Vostro 1500 and XPS M1530 can have an 8600M GT), and a few other small options. You also only get 2 USB ports on the 1330.

In desktop terms, the 8400GS in the XPS is probably a bit slower than the desktop version.

If you're only going to be ordering in May/June though, I wouldn't really worry about the spec now, because they'll probably be offering different things in 6 months time.

Thanks

I guess I should be looking closer to the time really. 2 USBs doesn't bother me, most of the time I'll have nothing plugged in, possibly a mouse sometimes and maybe something else (pen drive).

Mattitude said:
DELL XPS M1530 look at that, its new and its at a good price, within your budget

The only thing that put me off that laptop was the fact that I couldn't choose a 7200RPM hard drive with it

Craig.

TheVoice · 4 Jan 2008 at 12:02

I would think they'll have added new options to the 1530 by the time you're making your final decision. They've already added new display options (well, for everywhere except the UK it seems!) for higher resolutions, so faster HDDs are quite likely too, given its focus as a gaming notebook. They'll have the new Penryn Core 2 CPUs by then too.

Balb0wa · 4 Jan 2008 at 19:26

Ive just got this from the outelt this afternoon, quite chuffed with it :

XPS M1330 CORE 2 DUO T7500 2.20GHz
English - Vista Home Premium
£496 delivered
Memory: 3.0GB MB (1X2GB + 1X1GB) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB (5, 400 rpm) Sata Hard Drive
NoteBook Screen: 13.3 WXGA (1280x800) White-LED Display with TrueLife
CD Read-Write Drive: 8xDVD+/-RW Slim Slot-Load Drive
Tuxedo Black 0.3 MP Camera for White-LED
Primary 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery
128 MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 8400M GS
European Dell TrueMobile 355 internal Bluetooth Module
BIOMETRIC FINGERPRINT READER
DELL WIRELESS 1505 WIRELESS-N MINI-PCI

sid · 4 Jan 2008 at 19:28

bobbyboy uk said:
Ive just got this from the outelt this afternoon, quite chuffed with it :

XPS M1330 CORE 2 DUO T7500 2.20GHz
English - Vista Home Premium
£496 delivered
Memory: 3.0GB MB (1X2GB + 1X1GB) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB (5, 400 rpm) Sata Hard Drive
NoteBook Screen: 13.3 WXGA (1280x800) White-LED Display with TrueLife
CD Read-Write Drive: 8xDVD+/-RW Slim Slot-Load Drive
Tuxedo Black 0.3 MP Camera for White-LED
Primary 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery
128 MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 8400M GS
European Dell TrueMobile 355 internal Bluetooth Module
BIOMETRIC FINGERPRINT READER
DELL WIRELESS 1505 WIRELESS-N MINI-PCI

A very good deal there but the Ram won't be running in dual channel and will have a big performance impact.

Balb0wa · 4 Jan 2008 at 19:31

sid said:
A very good deal there but the Ram won't be running in dual channel and will have a big performance impact.

Yes its an odd configuration, but il only be using it for the net

TheVoice · 4 Jan 2008 at 20:46

sid said:
A very good deal there but the Ram won't be running in dual channel and will have a big performance impact.

It'll still be dual channel, as there's two DIMMs.
Very, very nice price on that XPS by the way, absolute bargain. Does that £496 include VAT?

Balb0wa · 4 Jan 2008 at 20:48

TheVoice said:
It'll still be dual channel, as there's two DIMMs.
Very, very nice price on that XPS by the way, absolute bargain. Does that £496 include VAT?

Yes its delivered and includes vat, cheapest ive seen in two weeks, and i look on there a lot

also had 3 yr warranty for £80

TheVoice · 4 Jan 2008 at 21:04

Wish I'd seen it now, much better spec than mine! Let me know what condition it's like when you get it.

Apparently, the 1330s are also supposed to come with a set of in-ear headphones (Creative EP-630s) and a slipcase; anyone heard anything about that? It's not on the website or the system inventory, it just seems to be what some people say on other forums.

elitetrick · 4 Jan 2008 at 21:11

there meant to come with a remote control that pops out of a slot in the side aswel.

where the hell did you get that deal :O
email in trust if you cant say name.

Balb0wa · 4 Jan 2008 at 23:27

elitetrick said:
there meant to come with a remote control that pops out of a slot in the side aswel.

where the hell did you get that deal :O
email in trust if you cant say name.

got it from the outlet, was there all of 2 seconds before i bagged it

sid · 5 Jan 2008 at 14:47

TheVoice said:
It'll still be dual channel, as there's two DIMMs.
Very, very nice price on that XPS by the way, absolute bargain. Does that £496 include VAT?

I thought you need same size modules for dual channel?

PaRaDoXiA · 5 Jan 2008 at 15:44

TheVoice said:
Apparently, the 1330s are also supposed to come with a set of in-ear headphones (Creative EP-630s) and a slipcase; anyone heard anything about that? It's not on the website or the system inventory, it just seems to be what some people say on other forums.

I got the M1330 early December, and yes it came with Creative in-ear headphones and a slipcase. Not quite sure on what model headphones, as for the slipcase if you're thinking about taking out and about with you I'd consider getting something a little more robust.

Hope that helps.

TheVoice · 5 Jan 2008 at 15:56

Awesome, thanks muchly. I've already got a Crumpler McBains Baby bag for my Dell 630m so I'll probably keep that for this one too, but the slipcase will be nice for putting in my other bag (same as Jack Bauer's

) so I don't always have to drag both with me to uni etc.

spaceman · 6 Jan 2008 at 08:41

i'm thinking of getting myself one of these shortly.

is there any way to tell on the outlet site if they have the 8400 graphics card or the intel? or is it a case of if its not listed its got the intel graphics?

cheers
Steve

fonzee · 6 Jan 2008 at 11:07

spend a little extra and get the M1530, i could get them for 760 delivered not long ago. which is a hell of a bargain for the spec.

Rich · 6 Jan 2008 at 13:17

fonzee said:
spend a little extra and get the M1530, i could get them for 760 delivered not long ago. which is a hell of a bargain for the spec.

Different kinds of laptops really though, the 1330 is tiny and light. The 1530 is a bigger laptop all round. Depends what you are looking for i guess.