Dell's XPS M1530 gets Penryn treatment at long last

Sweet heavens, Dell hasn't forgotten that there's a 15-incher in between the Penryn-stocked M1330 and M1730! As we suspected it would, Dell really, truly went ahead and added options for a Core 2 Duo T8300, T9300 and T9500 to its XPS M1530 in short order after a mysterious message popped up hinting at as much on Friday. The 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz chips come at an upgrade cost of $75, $200 and $475 (respectively) and can actually be ordered right now. No, celebrating wildly in your cubicle wouldn't be overreacting.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Eli @ Mar 10th 2008 4:59PM]

Wow, $400 for 200mhz? No thanks.

[austin @ Mar 10th 2008 5:03PM]

Wow, $125 for 100MHz? No thanks

[Kurochi @ Mar 10th 2008 5:06PM]

Wow, A Dell? No thanks


:P

[Jubei @ Mar 10th 2008 5:31PM]

DELL's products generates the same level of excitement as to a person about to undergo a root canal without Novocain.

[Sam @ Mar 10th 2008 8:36PM]

I would be excited to watch that.

[JohnTitor @ Mar 10th 2008 8:55PM]

"DELL's products generates the same level of excitement as to a person about to undergo a root canal without Novocain."
same can be said about the price of a MacBook Pro with the same specs

[Praneeth @ Mar 10th 2008 5:06PM]

And $125 for 3MB more L2 cache and 100 MHz.

Cache does make a difference according to the most recent macbook benchmarks with this processor range...

[Praneeth @ Mar 10th 2008 5:06PM]

you mean $400 for 200 Mhz and 3MB more cache.

[Trey @ Mar 10th 2008 5:16PM]

Is the 7500 better than the 8300? The 7500 is 2.2 at 4 mb cache but the 8300 is 2.4 at 3 mb and is the the penryn. I've been having my build ready for the last three months to get in may but with the penryn chips in the m1530 now my plan is all ruined. I suppose I want a penryn chip for its many benefits but don't want a performance hit in price.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Mar 10th 2008 5:17PM]

now I'm gonna have to get it. It had everything except for Penryn, and now it's a real amazing deal for the price

[Pangaea @ Mar 10th 2008 5:28PM]

Sweet Jesus I just spent over $2,800 for a laptop.

[Kurochi @ Mar 10th 2008 5:28PM]

The chance of getting a crippled screen was to great for me, theres just to many reports of grainy washed out screens for me to be comfortable ordering.

Instead I got a Thinkpad T61p with the 9 cell battery. It'll game just as well if not better and probably last longer in the battery department.

Esp worth it now with all the discounts they have + upgrading the ram after market = huge bang for your buck

Look at the T61p 15.1 wide screen w/ discreet graphics. If you buy it with this link you'll save %5 /w a visa card + a %25 off promotion going on right now (through the 10th) + use USXTHINKMADNESS ecode for %11 off through march 31st.

http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?affinity=visacardholders&ConfigContext=StdAffinityPortal

I am in no way affiliated with Lenovo or IBM, I just love my new laptop! =D

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Mar 10th 2008 5:39PM]

I agree. My company provided me with the same thinkpad model even though I already have my own macbook. It's really amazing. Better than most of the thinkpad laptops, pretty fast and good for business people. I still favor my macbook a bit more though. But if I were to choose a laptop completely for my work, like presentations and all that, I would pick my trusty thinkpad. Macbook is for my fun stuff like music, videos and chat

[RyanTV @ Mar 10th 2008 8:56PM]

I just ordered one T9300, 1680x1050 display, 4GB RAM, 200GB 7200RPM HDD, 256MB 8600GT, N WiFI, Bluetooth, external modem and 3 yr warranty all for under $1600

My company buys dell's so we get a partner discount which saved me over $200.

[hac84 @ Mar 10th 2008 5:26PM]

Anyone has an idea when Latitude E series is comin out?

[Brian @ Mar 11th 2008 2:30AM]

@kurochi

thanks for the tip, just configured and purchased a t61p. beat the march 10th discount deadline by 40 minutes :)

[DustoMan @ Mar 10th 2008 6:08PM]

I just spec'd one out for $1689. 2.2Ghz/4MB, 4GB RAM, high res screen, and 200GB 7200RPM drive? Yes, please.

[Ian @ Mar 10th 2008 6:09PM]

I can see why the delay, you can't order a 1530 Penryn with a Blu-Ray drive on Dell's site. Might have something to do with size or heat constraints with the drive and the CPU heatsink? I'll bet the delay was in trying to shoe horn them both in. I was waiting for a Penryn 1530 + Blu-Ray... and it looks like I'll still be waiting.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Mar 10th 2008 6:26PM]

I'm still staying old school and stayng with DVD's for probably the next 5 years

[RyanTV @ Mar 10th 2008 9:13PM]

It just let me configure a 1530 with a T9300 processor and a Blu-Ray drive.

Not that I'd pay $500 for a blu-ray drive. DVD RW works just fine for me.

[bnathuat @ Mar 10th 2008 6:53PM]

Bah, I bought mine before the Penyrn goodness. Could've configured it cheaper and with a larger hard drive too. I'm a sad panda. Loving it so far though.

[Thunderbuck @ Mar 10th 2008 7:03PM]

I feel your pain. Took delivery of my T7500-based 1530 last week. Waaaahhh.

Oh, wait, I saved about $400. Suddenly I don't feel so bad.

[integralpart @ Mar 10th 2008 7:20PM]

My boss just bought me one of these over the weekend minus the Penryn. It's still a huge step up from the Vaio I was using.

[sixth @ Mar 10th 2008 7:07PM]

No joking round...bought a XPS M1530 about a month ago. Opened the box, looked at the machine, seemed half decent..booted it up and COULDNT BELIEVE the screen. JUNK. JUNK. JUNK. Called Dell up "o yes sir we are aware of a screen issue, you can either send it back for a full refund or get a new LCD and get 200 bux back." Sent it right back for the full refund.

Crap machines in my opinion.

[DirkP @ Mar 10th 2008 9:25PM]

Hey I was just wondering what was wrong with the screen ?..did you get the LED optional screen or the normal one ?

I have always had excellent luck with Dell...I have had 4 of them over the last 10 years and never had one fail on me yet.

I was thinking of getting the M1330 and hadn't heard of the screen issue.

[Maestro @ Mar 10th 2008 7:12PM]

Wish they offered a 512mb video card with this...

[Kaankin @ Mar 10th 2008 7:19PM]

So when are they giving the option to upgrade to a LED screen?

[Strangely Brown @ Mar 10th 2008 7:19PM]

Actually, the upgrade costs for the Penryn processors are $225 $350 and $625, respectively, because Dell requires the 8600M GT graphics card along with it. I've been waiting for this release to buy a new laptop, but now, for the money I'd spend on an m1530, I could get a Penryn VAIO FZ with Blu-Ray ROM and a better screen. Thanks for making my choice for me, Dell!

[Jason @ Mar 10th 2008 7:27PM]

Just orderd with Penryn and Blu-ray!

[hahkorea @ Mar 10th 2008 7:51PM]

yeah, but their still Dells....still crap.

[adrian @ Mar 10th 2008 10:36PM]

I don't really want to be crude. I will anyway....

I do love Dell but...

This is really just the same old whore who has been around all your mates, and she is now coming after you with a new dress on, and asking for an EXTRA 50 bucks.

I want some thing entirely new.

Bring it on... "E series get your tits out, show us your the colour of your knickers !" (Knickers in American = Female undergarment).

[jeff33702 @ Mar 11th 2008 9:33AM]

If they would edge up the GPU to a 8700 or something like that, this machine would be perfect.

Figures - I ordered one already and it's due to arrive tomorrow. Might send it back for the Penryn but I would def send itback if they up the GPU some too :)

[Warren @ Mar 11th 2008 10:39AM]

There must be a secret Dell XPS site of which I'm not aware. I was visited the configure a m1530 section and there is no options or mention of the new processors. What am I missing?

[sonicwind @ Mar 11th 2008 1:12PM]

Now if one could only be assured that all the power wouldn't be corrupted by one of those grainy, glittery Samsung screens Dell pawns off on M1530 buyers.

[engadget @ Mar 18th 2008 12:43PM]

NEW: March 17: The Dell Home/Home-Office site still shows that the earlier 7xxxx CPU is required for Blu-Ray support, but I just ordered an XPS M1530 with Penryn T9300 and Blu-Ray burner together. As of today, the check out basket allows this. I called Dell just to confirm that this was a legitimate order. They said that the restriction on the feature list is now out of date and that my configuration is now allowed.

[Rapscallion33 @ Mar 19th 2008 12:00PM]

Ok, i bought this laptop on Jan 8 and recieved it about Jan 18th. Within the first month i had placed 4 service calls on it. First service call there were two white spots smack dab center of my screen, they replaced the LCD. Second service call the front bezel on the LCD fell off and could not be snapped back on, this is a major design flaw even with the replacement bezel correctly installed you open and shut the laptop lid a few times and you will notice that it is starting to pop apart. Third service call opened up LCD cover and the A and Z key were stuck to the LCD screen, replaced keyboard. Fourth Service call LCD bottom left corner was white washed and far brighter then the rest of the screen, and the front bezel was falling off again. Frusterated i requested a whole unit swap out hoping that maybe just my particular laptop was defective. Was denied replacement, ended up filing a BBB complaint and now Dell is sending a replacement laptop.

Other major issue with this is that Dell does not supply anything but vista drivers for this laptop, so you are pretty much stuck with vista even if you find the bugs in the OS to be unbareable. Also it would appear that with Vista's user access control in place many previous versions of microsoft products will not work properly with vista so you are forced to purchase updated software. Also i have discovered that some of my older external devices will not work with vista period so you may end up being forced to buy additional hardware also.

All in all i am quite disappointed with Dell on this laptop, i have worked in the computer industry for almost 20 years now and in that time i have never seen a computer manufacturer force an operating system on it's customers, well except for maybe macintosh but i never liked macs anyways.

Anyways, end of story is Dell has failed to resolve the complaint with the BBB and i will be forced to seek legal remedy. Way to drop the ball Dell.