Dell XPS M1210 reviewed
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 1st 2006 4:30AM
posted June 1st 2006 4:30AM
NotebookReview got their mits on Dell's brand new XPS M1210 laptop for a looksee and really liked what they found. Indeed, while the design may leave a bit to be desired, it's hard not to like the specs on this one, especially when they're maxed out like the review unit they got. It came loaded with a 2.16GHz T6500 Core Duo processor, a 100GB 7200 rpm HD, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 graphics, and built-in EVDO, all in a 4.4 pound package measuring 11.7x8.7x1.2-inches, with one of those new glossy 12.1-inch LCDs all the cool kids have. Depsite having a few quibbles with the keyboard, and the fact that at 4.4 pounds it's not exactly an ultraportable, NotebookReview gave the XPS M1210 high marks across the board, finding that it lives up to its billing as a gaming laptop, able to run Half-Life 2 on high detail without any problems. They also complained that the laptop ran a bit warm, but then again, what doesn't?[Thanks, Dan H and Ben]
I am upgrading to the m1210 from the 710m. I have one major problem: The screen on the 710m looks MUCH better than on the m1210. I'm hoping this is due to the setting on the video card, and that this can be fixed. I get this feeling that the screen is kinda washed out on m1210. On the 710m the colors are rich and vibrant and the colors dont seem to warp as much when changing the vertical angle. I tried putting the two side by side and adjusting the brightness, contrast, and gamma. The sweet spot is 45 bright, 47 contrast and 8 gamma, but its still not as good as the 710m. The 710m is nice and easy on the eyes, but the m1210 seems to be getting to me. (i'm contemplating swapping the screens...) If anyone knows how to fix this please do tell :-)
On a side note, I've been having a problem with another thing for a long time. I've had this problem on the following laptops: inspiron 8200, b130, 710m, and now on the xps m1210. I put on a screen saver (password protect on resume) after 8 minutes, and screen goes off after 10 min. Sometimes, when I return and move the mouse to get the screen back on, I hear the sound that says "I've returned" but the screen stays blank!!! I've realized that if I wait another 10 min for it to return to the powersave screen turn off, when I move the mouse again, it usually turns back on again. Now i'm trying to figure out if this is a problem with win xp, or a hardware problem.
On a separate note, for all of those laptops mentioned above (besides the 710m that has a physical "button" to turn off the screen when closed) when I close the screen and reopen it, the screen does this "refresh" thing which sometimes takes 20 - 30 seconds - quite annoying - and sometimes it does a bad job at it - like my taskbar quadruples in size....
I'm wondering if this is a driver issue, or a hardware issue, or specifically nvidia issue..... I haven't really seen these issues in linux, but then again, I dont really use linux very much at all (maybe the live cd's every now and then).
If anyone has any ideas what to do with all this please give a heads up :-) (dell defenitely doesnt have any idea...)
respond here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56852&page=12
I am upgrading to the m1210 from the 710m. I have one major problem: The screen on the 710m looks MUCH better than on the m1210. I'm hoping this is due to the setting on the video card, and that this can be fixed. I get this feeling that the screen is kinda washed out on m1210. On the 710m the colors are rich and vibrant and the colors dont seem to warp as much when changing the vertical angle. I tried putting the two side by side and adjusting the brightness, contrast, and gamma. The sweet spot is 45 bright, 47 contrast and 8 gamma, but its still not as good as the 710m. The 710m is nice and easy on the eyes, but the m1210 seems to be getting to me. (i'm contemplating swapping the screens...) If anyone knows how to fix this please do tell :-)
On a side note, I've been having a problem with another thing for a long time. I've had this problem on the following laptops: inspiron 8200, b130, 710m, and now on the xps m1210. I put on a screen saver (password protect on resume) after 8 minutes, and screen goes off after 10 min. Sometimes, when I return and move the mouse to get the screen back on, I hear the sound that says "I've returned" but the screen stays blank!!! I've realized that if I wait another 10 min for it to return to the powersave screen turn off, when I move the mouse again, it usually turns back on again. Now i'm trying to figure out if this is a problem with win xp, or a hardware problem.
On a separate note, for all of those laptops mentioned above (besides the 710m that has a physical "button" to turn off the screen when closed) when I close the screen and reopen it, the screen does this "refresh" thing which sometimes takes 20 - 30 seconds - quite annoying - and sometimes it does a bad job at it - like my taskbar quadruples in size....
I'm wondering if this is a driver issue, or a hardware issue, or specifically nvidia issue..... I haven't really seen these issues in linux, but then again, I dont really use linux very much at all (maybe the live cd's every now and then).
If anyone has any ideas what to do with all this please give a heads up :-) (dell defenitely doesnt have any idea...)
respond here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56852&page=12
Does the XPS 5-in-1 card reader support CF Type I/II cards?
No the card reader does not read Compact Flash, or PCMCIA cards. Big bummer in my book. The screen is FINE in my estimation. I had the 700m and this one. I just slected the same gama settings the prior author suggested. seem OK but I am not fussy.
The computer works great. Getting scratched in front of the power buttons same problem I had with the 700m though.
--m
I also think the display is washed out. If anyone has a fix, please provide.
Thanks