Which Resolution on a Dell M1530?

magick

magick

magick

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I'm thinking of getting a Dell M1530. Not to sure which resolution to go for of either 1280*800, 1440*900 or 1650*1080?

I do want to play some games on it like CS Source and WoW and do want decent FPS and eye candy.

Is 1650*1080 to small for a 15.4" screen? Should I go for the 1440*900?

Thanks.
 
Good question. I fear 1650x1080 could be too much for an engine but then I've no idea what the Sauce or WoW engine is like nowadays. The 8600GT sitting in the 1530 is definitely a powerful gpu but I ponder if it can hold up to these games. I reckon it can in 1440x but it could be stretching things at 1650x.

I've not tried games on my 1530 as I just can't play games on a laptop at all. I have always feared that 1650x is too small for a 15" screen too, and it is tbh but I have never seen it in person.
 
Kainz said:
Good question. I fear 1650x1080 could be too much for an engine but then I've no idea what the Sauce or WoW engine is like nowadays. The 8600GT sitting in the 1530 is definitely a powerful gpu but I ponder if it can hold up to these games. I reckon it can in 1440x but it could be stretching things at 1650x.

I've not tried games on my 1530 as I just can't play games on a laptop at all. I have always feared that 1650x is too small for a 15" screen too, and it is tbh but I have never seen it in person.
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Yeah, that's the problem buying dells, you can't go and physicaly see what you'r getting beforehand. I once saw a MS Word running on a 17" 1920*1200 in a high street shop and that was painful to look at. Makes me wonder how so many people buy screens with that res. It was only in there once and now all the screens they have seem to be 15.4" @ 1200*800. I imagine there might be a bit of a FPS boost running at the res over a 1440*900 with a 8600m, but with 1200*800 there isn't much room for web browsing.

Incidently why did you go for a 1530 with a 8600m if you don't run any games? And could you tell me does the 1530 make much noise as i'm very sensitive to sound?
 
magick said:
Incidently why did you go for a 1530 with a 8600m if you don't run any games? And could you tell me does the 1530 make much noise as i'm very sensitive to sound?
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I reviewed it Here btw. I've always liked the XPS range, and thought the 1530 was just a good looker and performer. I also want something with a 8x00 class GPU on it for HD video output.

Sound wise people there are varying opinions on this from 1530 owners. Some complain about CPU 'whine', some state that the slot dvd drive is loud, others state that the hard disk is very audible. By sheer luck my 1530 has none of those issues and is eerily silent. The hard disk is a WD Scorpio, regarded as one of the quietest notebook drives around so I'm rather lucky in that regard.
 
I think the CPU whine might only affect some people whose hearing is more sensitive; my M1330 does it, but my friend can't hear it.

Kainz, what's the headphone output like on yours? Do you find there's a lot of hissing/background noise when you plug the earphones in? I was quite disappointed about mine doing that, especially when they ship it with earphones in the first place.
 
magick said:
Yeah, that's the problem buying dells, you can't go and physicaly see what you'r getting beforehand.
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From a week or 2 you will be able to go into any Currys, PC World or Currys Digital and be able to play around with the XPS 1330, 1520 (in 4 colours), XPS 1530 and XPS 1730 as DSG have a contract to sell pre specced Dell machines from then.

Quite looking forward to it myself as it means I can call Dell and haggle more on the price of a system as I can call in my staff discout into account :D
 
TheVoice said:
Kainz, what's the headphone output like on yours? Do you find there's a lot of hissing/background noise when you plug the earphones in? I was quite disappointed about mine doing that, especially when they ship it with earphones in the first place.
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No hiss or feedback mate. Even with the volume muted or not. I use my Creative Xmod with my laptop anyway so I don't really make use of those twin headphone sockets.
 
magick said:
I'm thinking of getting a Dell M1530. Not to sure which resolution to go for of either 1280*800, 1440*900 or 1650*1080?

I do want to play some games on it like CS Source and WoW and do want decent FPS and eye candy.

Is 1650*1080 to small for a 15.4" screen? Should I go for the 1440*900?

Thanks.
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I get my 1530 on Wednesday with the 1680x1050 screen, ill install CSS and WOW and let you know how they run, thats the only two games i bought to play on it :)
 
there has been quite a few complaints on the dell forums about the highest resolution screen with whites looking grey and pink. would be interested to see how yours turns out.
 
Its arrived :)

Have to say it looks gorgous, 1680x1050 res really sparkles, the screen is better quality than the 1440x900 screen on the vostro i had before.

Just installing WOW and CSS Source on it, i have to redownload source and HL2, so it may take a wee while.
 
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Have just ran the CSS stress test at 1680x1050 with the default details, a little overclock on and its running extremely smooth, 130.36fps average.

With the overclock on, im now also getting a nice little boost in WOW, 1680x1050 to a solid 60fps, which im absolutely delighted with, as i didnt think id get 60fps with the laptop at that resolution.

I did a 3dmark and get about 4200 on 3dmark 06 with it overclocked.

The only downside i am seeing, is that the brushed aluminium keys get a little hot after playing for a short while, and that if its working hard, the graphics card gets a bit noisy when the fan ramps up, hopefully it wont be as bad at home, my office is like an oven.

If all you are doing is playing CSS and WOW, then its a cracking machine, ill try some other games later.

The good thing with the HDMI port, i can also get a long lead, plug it into my tv, and wirelessly use the keyboard and mouse i have to game on the big tv with a lower resolution :)
 
spluff said:
Does the hdmi transfer sound and if it does does it transmit it in 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound (dolby etc)
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I have no idea, but ill stick an hdmi cable on it tonight and confirm if it transfer sounds (i assume it will though), i dont have surround sound to confirm that.

I just stuck on the witcher, the only other game ive got, and it runs great as well, theres a hefty old boost with this DDR3 8600GT over the ddr2 in the vostro.
 
How do you manage to play games on a laptop? lol, I just can't do it fullstop. I'd like to try Witcher because on my main PC rig it just CTD's every 5mins when I access the questlog/inventory/menu fs.
 
Kainz said:
How do you manage to play games on a laptop? lol, I just can't do it fullstop. I'd like to try Witcher because on my main PC rig it just CTD's every 5mins when I access the questlog/inventory/menu fs.
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I have been gaming on laptops for the last 2 years now, felt weird at first, but you get used to it, i dont have a desktop at home anymore so there is no alternative anyway :p
 
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