Karthik’s Log

Looks Like the Good Old Dell XPS M1330 and M1530 have been Dicontinued. I was looking for a laptop for sometime now, and was able to see the M1330 and the M150 listed on both the US and the Indian Dell websites. Last I saw them was arond the 10th of this month (10-Jul-2009). Looks like since then, Dell has pulled these two models and you will no longer get them.

Dell XPS

What does this mean to loads of people who simply fell in love with the XPS the first time they saw it ? Well, I don’t no really. XPS marked a new era for Dell, in terms of style and performance.

My brother bought a M1330 I think around a year back and my friend Vibushan bought a M1530 around the same time. I have seen and used both laptops and I must say both are fantastic.

With Studio XPS 13″ and 16″ coming into the scene, looks like, Dell thought its time they EOLifed the M1330 and M1530. But will people miss anything from these models ? For one, I hear that the new Studio XPS have heat issues. Next is that, leather or not, the new models have a glossy look and easily attract finger prints. If I remember right, the XPS models had a matte finish that didn’t attract finger prints all that much.

Next are two other aspects that maybe people don’t pay too much attention to. One is the beautiful sleeve that the XPS M1330 and M1530 came with. The second is the remote control that comes in the PCI slot. They were great add ons. You know what ? The sleeve in the Studio XPS looks rather lame. And there is no friggin remote !!! Bloody heck!!

I recently bought the Dell Studio 16 (also knows as XPS 1640). I haven’t had a chance to see it yet. (It’s still in New Jersery safely nestled in my sisters apartment there.) But then, Dell cheated me. They gave a shitty sleeve and there was no remote. For 1200$, thats a poor show Dell.

Next Post: Woes With DELL

I have been looking to buy a laptop for quite sometime now. Last time I was seriously considering was last thanks giving, when I could get a decent HP Laptop for 600$. But then somehow, that didn’t happen. If you are wondering why I am talking about thanks giving sitting here in India, it’s because it is my sister that was to buy the laptop (in amreeka).

I have been waiting since then, looking at lots of prospective laptops. My choice was limited to HP and DELL. I would never buy a Sony Vaio simply because they are overly priced and I don’t see value for money in them. Sure, they look stunning and all, but I like substance over style. As far as Apple Mac Books are concerned, why would anyone want to buy them ? I did consider Toshiba, Lenovo, Compaq (HP) but looking at their websites gave me a mild headache.

So only HP and DELL survived the initial round of selection. I had to drop one of these two. My sister has a HP and my brother bought a DELL XPS about an year ago. Both are pretty happy with their laptops. Besides, I have used some of the HP and DELL laptops and there is very little to choose between the two. I finally decided to go with DELL, because HP has too many lines/series and that gives me a headache.

Having chosen DELL, I had Studio, XPS and Studio XPS to choose from. After initial filtering, I decided on either Studio XPS 13″ , XPS M 1330 or a customised Studio 15″. Then for some reason, I was unhappy with a 13″ . I am not someone who carries the laptop someplace everyday. For me, it’s more of a desktop replacement. I had a hard time convincing my sister that 16″ was ok. She is dead againt big laptops. I would have liked a 14″ , but 13 was too small for my liking. I am not a business executive and like my movies and games.

So it all boiled down to a Studio XPS 16″. Here are some pictures:

The configuration I chose has the following:

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P7350 (3MB cache/2.0GHz/1066Mhz FSB)

RAM: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz

HDD: 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive (I did think of upgrading it to 500 GB hard disk. But I guess I might as well buy external storage later. there was no 7200 RPM 500 GB HDD available with this particular model.)

Graphics Card: ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 – 512MB

Display: Edge-to-Edge HD Widescreen 16.0 inch WLED LCD (1366×768) W/2.0 MP

I also get a free upgrade to Windows 7 and a 50$ coupon. Sadly , I had to upgrade with an additional 20$ for bluetooth.

Eagerly awaiting to get my hands on it. (Sometime in August, when I go home to Chennai and my sister comes back from US)