Dell M1530 - my thoughts (Dell Inspiron XPS M1530)

Member Name: englishdavid

Product:	Dell Inspiron XPS M1530
Date:	31/05/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish, well specified

Disadvantages: Battery life could be better

I've been using the Dell M1530 for a little over a year now and I'm happy to say that I can't find too much to fault about it.

It's a fairly well-specified laptop and could be considered as mid-range. Although it has everything I currently need in a PC, hardcore gamers and people working with image manipulation software, video editing, etc, might require a somewhat higher specified grahics card.

The case is a stylish affair. Mine is black and silver but the machine is also offered in red and blue options for a slight premium on the cost. Overall build quality feels good. It's not excessively heavy but feels reassuring solid. The laptop is held shut by the hinge mechanism only. There is no fiddly little slider or button to press to make the lid pop open which I feel is a nice design touch.

Connectivity is excellent for a laptop with 3 USB sockets and built-in HMDI so you can view your screen on your larger plasm or LCD TV screen without any fuss. The M1530 has a slot-loading DVD player/writer.

The 15.4 inch glossy screen is beautiful and quite comfortable to use, even for fairly for long periods. I've read a few general complaints about the reflectivity of glossy screens but since the Dell's is so brightly lit I can't see many people having any serious issues with it. The included media remote controller is a genuinely useful addition - I often use it to control my laptop when hooked up to the plasma screen TV in the lounge to watch movies.

The keyboard is nice to type on and although I favour an external mouse for all but the briefest sessions, the trackpad is sensitive and fairly nice to use. In addition, along the top edge of the laptop, immediately below the screen, sits a row of touch-sensitive buttons which control some of the media aspects of the PC such as volume, disc-eject, etc. These feel a bit gimmicky but they light up with a cool blue glow when pressed and they certainly add to the overall 'coolness' factor.

In operation it's a quiet machine, even when being stressed with DVD playback and, although the brushed aluminium keyboard surround does tend to get warm with prolonged use, overheating is not an issue.

Coupled with a decent amout of RAM, a good capacity from the hard drive and a speedy but quiet and cool processor, I can happily recommend the M1530 for all those who would like a stylish, comfortable and well-specified laptop for general use.

Summary: A great all rounder!

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