DELL XPS M1530

  • Thread starter Thread starter ive
  • Start date Start date
Mixed feelings about mine.

Overall build quality is great but like jamesk13, I need to get rid of all the crap installed to speed it up a bit.

Very dissapointed about the screen. This is only a 1280x800 screen but is very grainy (although you only tend to notice this with very light colours and whites). The viewing angle is incredibly specific. You have to have it spot on otherwise the whole screen washes out.

Speakers are very poor also.
 
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Mine arrives tomorrow :)

Today I'm going to download all the drivers etc and make a vLite Vista HP installation DVD, similar to what I did for my VAIO SZ, see this thread

Once I've tested the DVD I'll post a rapidshare link to it. The only thing I remove is the additional languages and hardware drivers, saves about 2GB on the final install but most importantly will get rid of all the Dell software and speed Vista up.
 
Bloodshot said:
Just ordered the following:

Total: 656.14 inc VAT and shipping.

Good price, or not so good?
Click to expand...

For just another £70 I got a 2.4Ghz CPU, 1680x1050 display, Intel 4965N WLAN, Bluetooth and 9 Cell battery.

The other specs are the same as yours.
 
Mujja I would be VERY interested in that vlite disc once you have a chance to get it with the relevent drivers. All the hardware is the same so the disc would suit a lot of posters in this thread :)

I will double check my screen tonight - I didn't have long to try it out and I do wonder whether I am just not experienced enough to tell the difference. Viewing angle is probably as you say but I think I just expect that with a truelife gloss screen anyway.

Vorm - was not aware of the 1280 screen having issues as its an LG one isn't it? - can you give me something to specifically test to replicate what you see? I am curious.

Any views on software worth keeping? What is the media centre stuff? Is that Dell or Vista?
 
I'll try and take a picture of it tonight and post.


I'm not sure whether to complain and try and get a new screen or simply to return it.
 
You guys paid a lot less than I did!!!! :eek:

I bought mine direct from Dell Business though, not the outlet.

This was the spec I got, posted a few pages back:-

dell2ia8.jpg


£722 inc VAT & Delivery.

@Mujja would also be very interested in a link to a vLite install.

Cheers.
 
The more I think about it the more unhappy about it I am becoming so I have e-mailed tech support about the screen asking for it to be changed for a LG screen if possible or to advise about a return if I can't get one.
 
Although I love this thread for providing me with so much info and encouraging me to go ahead and purchase this fantastic laptop, a bit of me also wishes I never came across it, especially with all the comments about the screens :)

I'm happy with my screen so far and not bothered at all about which panel I have. I know forums are usually a place for people to come seeking help about problems, rather than praise their products.

I'm still curious however as to the % of people who are happy with their screens/haven't noticed a problem, vs the % of those who returned it back to Dell just to replace their screen.
 
I must admit having looked again I can see what people mean when they say it looks grainy when showing bright colours. Not lines for me but liek very fine sand is sprinkled over the screen. Now I notice it I can see why some think they can eliminate it but I dont mind.

Sadly I have noticed that there is a hairline crack in the thin piece of my 9-cell battery :( Bad design really as the thin piece (that doesn't clip onto the base like the rest) is a clear weak spot.

Do I phone Dell to arrange replacement? It works fine but now I've seen it I want a new one to be sure.

*edit* Also as I think someone else mentioned I get a faint hissing noise in both earphone ports - is this just interference from the HDD or chassis and to be expected or do some of you have silence and zero background noise at all? COuld it be drivers and/or bloat vista? Want to make sure I am not accepting anything I don't have to....
 
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...and you shoudn't :)

Not tried mine with headphones yet but will try tonight and let you know.

I liken the screen to my 2 year old Samsung phone. Its been used that much that there are very tiny almost inperceptable scratches on the screen but there are that many it makes the screen look grainy and sparkly where the brightness is getting through.

edit. Not heard anything from my e-mail to tech support yet. :(
 
I used their online e-mailing service - just got a reply telling me to try various things before they can take the matter further. So obviously from India or wherever they have their call center.

Sir, I need to inform that this is working as the per the system design. And as you have requested for the replacement with the LG screen over the Samsung screen. So in that case I need to inform that I cannot give the replacement of the originally send screen with the different one....
Click to expand...

I get the gist but come on...

...and I love this bit

Greetings from Dell?!
Click to expand...

Like she's not sure...
 
Out of curiosity, I checked my screen in Device Manager and I have the CPT141F, which is manufactured by Tatung
Chunghwa Picture Tubes or something (according to this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2382411&postcount=15). Seems to be positive which is reassuring as I've not had any problems so far and I can therefore not expect to see any in the future. It's as good as the screens of all the laptops I've personally seen so far.

Best I stay away from this thread now because everytime I check it, I hope to be of assistance to someone who has a few queries about their brand new M1530. Instead, 75% of it is about grainy screens. Any more and I will start getting paranoid, phoning up Dell to replace my screen with an LG even though I'm happy with it :p
 
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Laptop arrived yesterday.
Look and feel isn't as good as I had read in reviews when compared to my previous laptop, VAIO SZ. My laptop before that was a VAIO S so I only have Sony to compare with but I needed a good spec for a good price and for that the m1530 is good.

The screen, I thought I was prepared but didn't think it would be this bad. I have the Samsung (SEC330) WSXGA panel. I'll be asking Dell to replace this asap for a LG. I don't want to return the laptop.

I've created a Vista Home Premium ISO with the Dell drivers integrated. The OEM serial was accepted and Vista activated fine. I wan't sure if it would at first as I thought the download source was retail only, see my previous post for a link to my notebookreview post.

I'm uploading the 1.9GB ISO to Rapidshare now in 100MB chunks and will post links in a couple of hours.
 
Mods, there is nothing illegal in the files below. It's a Vista Home Premium DVD with the drivers integrated for the Dell M1530 laptop. No cracks or serials or anything illegal.

If you don't have a rapidshare account and don't want to queue sign up for a month for only £6 and pay via Paypal. Or download the Vista DVD from the source I did and use vlite to integrate the drivers yourself. If you prefer the 2nd method I'll create an archive with the drivers I used and upload to RS later.

**** Please don't download until someone has managed to burn a working ISO, see posts below ****

Update 1 : Using my m1530 as a test. The files below have extracted successfully into an ISO image using 7-Zip.
Update 2 : The ISO image burnt successfully to a DVD+RW using Imgburn. Now to reinstall Vista.
Update 3 : The installation is complete and I'm back :) Files below tested and working fine.

Update 4 : Vista SP1 won't install because of changes made by vlite. I'm leaving the links here for now. If you wait until after the weekend I'll make another ISO with SP1 and m1530 drivers integrated.

m1530_Vista_HP.iso.001
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.002
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.003
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.004
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.005
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.006
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.007
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.008
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.009
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.010
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.011
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.012
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.013
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.014
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.015
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.016
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.017
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.018
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.019

Changes made to the install
- Removed all drivers
- Added Dell M1530 drivers
- Disabled UAC (User Access Control)
- Skipped user creation during setup. Only user Administrator will be created which can be renamed.
 
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Great stuff Mujja. Thanks a lot in advance :)

I will be activating a return for my battery today as that is just damaged.

Would be interested if people could confirm their tests on the headphone sockets - is it normal/ok to have a whitenoise in them - has anyone else had this and/or solved it with software updates?
 
Mujja said:
Mods, there is nothing illegal in the files below. It's a Vista Home Premium DVD with the drivers integrated for the Dell M1530 laptop. No cracks or serials or anything illegal.

If you don't have a rapidshare account and don't want to queue sign up for a month for only £6 and pay via Paypal. Or download the Vista DVD from the source I did and use vlite to integrate the drivers yourself. If you prefer the 2nd method I'll create an archive with the drivers I used and upload to RS later.

m1530_Vista_HP.iso.001
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.002
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.003
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.004
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.005
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.006
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.007
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.008
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.009
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.010
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.011
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.012
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.013
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.014
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.015
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.016
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.017
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.018
m1530_Vista_HP.iso.019

Changes made to the install
- Removed all drivers
- Added Dell M1530 drivers
- Disabled UAC (User Access Control)
- Skipped user creation during setup. Only user Administrator will be created which can be renamed.
Click to expand...


Good stuff - thanks . M
 
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