Laptop review: Dell XPS M1530 user opinions

This mobile device review originally appeared on NotebookReview.com.

Users voice their opinions on Dell's latest XPS family member, the XPS M1530. A leader in the massive 15.4-inch sized laptop market, This article provides users' firsthand experiences with both pros and cons of this popular device.

The Dell XPS M1530 has been the most popular laptop on our charts for all of 2008 so far, that's no small feat when there are literally hundreds of notebook options on the market. So what makes the XPS M1530 so popular and what makes people like it? To find out we look to our user opinions.

One thing that certainly helps the popularity of the XPS M1530 is the fact that it's a 15.4" screen size notebook. This is by far the most popular size and makes up about 50% of all laptops sold on the market. Yes, the Asus Eee PC and tiny laptops may catch the buzz, but they don't sell close to as many units as your standard sized 15.4" notebook.

The real advantage the XPS M1530 has in a crowded market of 15.4" screen notebooks is the great looks, excellent performance options -- you can get a good dedicated graphics card and speedy Core 2 Duo, and reasonable starting price of $999. Other things making this laptop popular are the slot loading optical drive, LED option backlight screen, different lid color options, Blu-Ray, Nvidia 256MB 8600m graphics and improved customer support for the XPS line of laptops.

We wrote our full review of the XPS M1530 back in December of 2007. It quickly gained a lot of interest, with 279 replies to the article to date. Our view of the M1530 as an upsized XPS M1330 was positive then and we still view it as a great purchase option. Overall we have 78 user ratings, 73% of them recommend buying the XPS M1530 which is one of the product highest recommendation rates for any laptop in our database. Below is a sampling of some unedited user ratings...

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It's an ART!

Submitted by Faraz husain on 6/5/2008

Rating: 9/10

Pros: Specs: 2.2Ghz, T7500, 2G Ram, 160GB Drive, 9 cell Battery PROS: Extremely fast and cool. Although, Vista causes some glitches here and there. Did the DVD authoring and decoding which used to take around 3 hrs on my AMD 3400 XP 64 bit system for a 2 hr movie. This machine threw it out in merely 54minutes exact! Sleek design, Faster Application access, Excellent After sales support as my Media Remote wasn't working and DELL replaced it within 2 days after I contacted them. Has an excellent Vista Experience Index of 4.8

Cons: - Speakers aren't really good but sound is fine if you plug in the headphones or Aux it to your sterio. - Touchpad has some problems when the LID is closed and opened again. However, this can be solved each time after lightly touching the pad twice or thrice until you see that DELL Touchpad icon in the tray doesnt show activty when your finger isn't placed. Otherwise, u can update the BIOS - Screen options are minimal but fine for a laptop - Gets a little over 6lbs if bought with 9cell battery

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Good value and performance for my first laptop

Submitted by tristan on 5/23/2008

Rating: 8/10

Pros: This is my first laptop and debated between this, a MacBook Pro, and a Asus M series. Went with the Dell because of the price and options. The design of this unit is awesome and sexy. Runs 80% faster after a Vista reinstall, and boots twice as fast. Plays Crysis smoothly at medium settings. Keyboard is nice. LED screen is sharp and bright. Battery life with 9-cell is great. Built-in Blue-tooth, 2.5ghz proc. Slot-load drive. Fast hard drive.

Cons: Took more than 20 days to receive, but Dell stayed in touch, upgraded to 2-day shipping at no-cost and received it on the second day at 9:00am. Do not get the Dell wireless N, get the Intel Next-gen instead, for it does not work with Ubuntu, and the reception isnt that good. 7200rpm hard drive gets hot, speakers blow. Cant display 1680x1050 res on external display for some reason. Touch pad gets unresponsive and choppy. To much bloat-ware, MediaDirect is useless. Repartitioned immediately. AC adapter is the size of a brick. My Next laptop will have a 17 inch screen.

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Absolutely Marvelous

Submitted by Devin on 4/27/2008

Rating: 9/10

Pros: Stunningly fast Head-turning Design Excellent costumer service (what you would expect from Dell) Keyboard feel solid and sturdy The light-up keys are a nice feature Especially Light and Thin Amazing and sleek Form Factor

Cons: You (at the time of my reviewing, April 27 2008) can only get the 'red' system color by purchasing the Product Red version. I am fine with donating money, but the configuration is the same as the entry level, and therefore costs more to upgrade to. I really wanted the red color. The Touchpad could be at little bigger (not a big con, it is still a nice size)

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Was Deciding Between this XPS and a MAC, Very Happy I Got the XPS M1530

Submitted by raquaan on 4/17/2008

Rating: 9/10

Pros: Great to look at, very fast, works incredibly well with Vista (I returned an HP tower with Vista for a refund 3 months ago.) An outstanding replacement for my desktop.

Cons: None yet.

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Bad Notebook

Submitted by Eric on 3/24/2008

Pros: While it is a good performing notebook and good value for the spec they give you.

Cons: Just been using it for almost 40 days and it die on me. No respond from the power button. I saw many review on the Malaysia site and most people have to have their mb change. I got mine from Hong Kong so I was happy to know it was Made In China and not Made In Malaysia but it look like they share the same problem and basically not worth the price. When it was working it also very unstable and too many funny things happen. I'm using a HP now and it keeps going and going and going.

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Huge Disapointment

Submitted by Jayfar on 3/20/2008

Rating: 4/10

Pros: Performance was good.

Cons: Purchased from Staples who price matched the $999.99 deal the Dell had on their website. Thought it was a good purchase until I started using it. Problems: Noisy: The HDD was driving me nuts it was so loud. It sounded like there was a bunch of insects trying to eat their way out. The fan is very noisy, it is either constantly on for 10 minutes or cycling on and off for that time. Drives me nuts!

The slot drive does not accept mini DVD, so if you own a DVD camcorder your SOL. The mouse pad was inexcusable difficult to use, needing constant tweeking. The area where the power button is located stated to peel what appeared to be a clear film. Don't let Dell fool you about how thin the XPS is either.

Its tapered down to look thin, but when you get it its just as thick at the back as any other notebook. The power cord is very short and plugs into the left side of the notebook on Canadian versions. A pain for me, maybe not so for others. AC plug as mentioned above is too close to 2 out of the 3 USB ports, making access to these ports impossible while being plugged in. Poor speakers.

The unit is ugly, square and cheap looking. There more to list, but now I m wasting my time, beware people, although you will try to convince yourself to like the XPS, you will be disappointed when you get this notebook by all the little annoyances it has. It will drive you nuts, and you will lose sleep because you wasted your money. You'll see.

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Awesome!

Submitted by agh001 on 3/15/2008

Rating: 9/10

Pros: This is my second Dell and once again I am very happy with it. I love being able to customize every detail of the laptop. The XPS M1530 is slim and lightweight, has stunning finishes and is well constructed. I chose the Midnight Blue and it is gorgeous, it does not attract fingerprints like the black finish.

The 1440x900 screen is exceptionally sharp and bright and does not invert the colors when looking at it from an angle, like the Inspiron 1525 screen. I like the XPS accessories that come with the laptop, especially the protective case. The 256Mb NVIDA 8600 graphics card really rocks! This laptop is really good value for money in comparison to anything else similar on the market. The laptop is not filled with useless trial software on functional full versions. I haven't dealt with Dell support as yet, but in my past 4 year experience with them, they have quickly sorted out any problems that arose. They have never let me down.

Cons: Windows Vista can be a real pain. I had to search for all kinds of patches to make some of my older software work. The Trendmicro antivirus software that was pre-installed on the system kept on making windows vista crash. I had to install a patch from the Trendmicro website. Dell didn't bother to do that even though its been around for at least a month or two.

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Dellfabulous again!

Submitted by Danielc on 3/13/2008

Rating: 9/10

Pros: My second Dell in what seems as many months. I recently purchased my "Product Red" M1530 at Best Buy on sale. I bought it for work and have no regrets what so ever. One has to love the 'goodies' that it comes with; remote, ear buds, Product Red theme, case, and stylish design. This has to be the coolest looking laptop, period! It came with Vista Ultimate, which is a bonus, AND requires some memory.

The laptop came with 2 gigs. Well, Best Buy has 2 gig sticks for $64... So now I have 4 gigs! Vista needs 3 or more gigs to fly! I'm smooooooooooookin everything I throw at it! The fingerprint reader works great. The speakers are not the loudest I've heard, but they do in a pinch. I work in a busy environment and can hear my music just fine with the volume mostly all the way up. Finger pad and keyboard work flawlessly. Webcam is crystal clear. The touch media controls are awesome as well. Go Dell!

Cons: No onboard modem for faxing.

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This is just a sampling of opinions, you can view all XPS M1530 opinions here. It's worth noting that most negative opinions were related to Windows Vista frustrations and owners wanting XPS (which Dell doesn't support for the XPS anymore). And in general on the web, as in life, people are more prone to voicing complaints than praises, so don't be too scared by vociferous negative opinions -- as if you do have problems with the XPS M1530 we found customer service to be pretty good.