There are two kinds of Dell rumors: sure things, and ones that aren't sure things. This one falls in the latter camp, so proceed with caution. We've got a tipster who says a friend of his from Dell handed him this shot of what is purportedly a new XPS M1330 / M1530 design. As you can see, pretty much the same old fare... but what's this? A large glossy touchpad? Here's our hunch: Dell is tired of drawing inspiration from Apple after the fact, and decided to turn the tables by capitalizing on one of the most persistent (and outlandish) Apple rumors in existence. A good capacitive touchscreen for the trackpad on a laptop would undoubtedly be a blast if it was done right, with the right software support, and at least seems like a good gimmick. Or maybe it'd just be lame. We won't go further than that, this could just as easily be a Photoshop, but we will be keeping an eye out.

Update: False alarm, turns out this is just a still from an NVIDIA Tegra demo on YouTube. Thanks, shiv, for pointing this out in comments. Boo, tipster, boo.

It's not as momentous as the new enterprise-focused Precisions and Latitudes, but Dell's got a tiny little treat for consumers today as well: an available $450 Samsung SSD for the XPS M1330 and M1530. Sure, the benefits are debatable, but c'mon -- you know you want it.

[Thanks, Justin R.]

Ugh, it's springtime again. So in addition to the pools of human secretions warming into an olfactory howdy-do on city sidewalks, we get these, the pink laptops. The pink XPS M1530 and M1330 now official. Check the late-nite Dell Infomercial after the break; Ron Popeil Productions must be so proud.

[Thanks, Matus]

Got a hundred bucks to burn? Lucky you, 'cause that Benjamin will now take the stock 15.4-inch 1,440 x 900 display of Dell's XPS M1530 and squeeze in a full 1,920 x 1,200 pixel resolution. Toss in the optional $500 Blu-ray Disc drive and you've got yourself a sweet portable HD rig pumping Intel's Penryn at the core. Another $50 and you've added a presumably brighter, LED backlit display but you're now back to the original 1,440 x 900 resolution. Oh decisions, decisions.

[Thanks, Jonaid]

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]

Well, would you look at that? Oh wait, you can't -- because Dell just removed a teaser tagline from its USA webstore that totally gave away the impending release of a Penryn-based M1530. Earlier today, the "Select My Processor" page seen while building an M1530 showcased the following message: "Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, T7700, and T7800 require a selection of 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS as your video card. Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, T9500, and T8300 require a selection of 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT as your video card." Of course, said message has since vanished, but we'd wager that it's only a matter of days (hours?) before Dell finally gets with the program and gives its 15-incher the same treatment the M1330 and M1730 already received (not to mention the M1530 in other corners of the globe).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We knew Dell and Microsoft would be giving some of their gear the Bono treatment this week, but the two companies and the AIDS-in-Africa relief project unveiled their partnership in style today at Davos. Just like we'd heard, the XPS m1530, m1330, and XPS One machines are all going crimson, as well as the 948 AIO printer. Microsoft's kicking in a special (PRODUCT) RED-themed edition of Vista Ultimate to keep things special on the OS tip, and obviously you'll feel better about things with donations of $50 - $80 of each machine's purchase price going to RED, and $5 on the printer (hey, those margins are low enough as it is). All the new stuff should be available by the end of the week in the States, and by January 31 in 30 additional countries -- or right now for your viewing pleasure in the gallery.

Once in awhile you get surprised at CES -- this is one of those times. Apparently, Dell is toying with the idea of a 16-inch XPS laptop, and it's brought a concept version of the device to the floor of this year's show. What you're looking at above is a full HD laptop based on the M1530 design. The screen sports a stunning 1920 x 1080 resolution, which is powered by an NVIDIA 8600M graphics chipset. The folks at Notebook Review managed to get some pretty handsome photos of the new design (which is as-yet unannounced) before being "ushered away" from the display. Hopefully we can glean some more information as the CES wheels turn -- so stay tuned.

We weren't exactly thrilled when Dell launched the 15.4-inch XPS m1530 with a lackluster 1280 x 800 display, but it looks like the cries of anguish from Dell fans across the tubes have been heard in Round Rock -- the company just announced on its Direct2Dell blog that m1530 buyers will now have two additional high-res display options. Bumping up to 1440 x 900 will cost $50, while a 1680 x 1050 WSXGA+ screen will tack on $150 to the m1530's base price. That's definitely better, but we're still wondering why 1440 x 900 isn't standard to begin with.

Thar she blows! Dell's mysterious XPS M1530 is up live and dancing on Dell's Singapore site. With any luck, she'll be struttin' that 15.4-inch, 1440 x 900 CCFL (not LED-backlit) display, HDMI-out and optional slot-loading Blu-ray Disc and 64GB SSD Stateside by morning. This XPS powerhouse packs up to a 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo T7800 processor, 256MB of NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics, 4GB DDR2 memory, and either a 7200RPM 200GB or 5400RPM 320GB SATA disk. Rounding things out are 802.11n WiFi (with built-in WiFi catcher), Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel webcam, and optional HSDPA or EVDO cards. It's even sporting a panel of touch-sensitive, capacitive controls for your media. Thing is, that rumored 4-pound weight is 5.78-pounds in reality -- more if you opt for the 9-cell battery. Still, that weight was always a bit too good to be true for a fully-spec'd, 15-inch laptop.

Update: Ooops, the Singapore site is down (gone?). No worries, the site is up in Germany, France, and the UK.

Update 2: Dell's US site is now hot. Prices start at $999 for the "good" configuration on up to $1,499 for "best." Oh my, and the display has been rolled back to just 1,280 x 800. Why so stingy with the pixels Dell?

[Thanks, Stuart]

It's been awhile since we've heard a peep from Dell's unannounced (though very real) XPS M1530. The followup to the hotly received XPS M1330 makes its first appearance on Dell's website (as a footnote to a Mini PCI Express WiFi card) and in the form of marketing collateral purportedly sent to the kids at DarkVision Hardware. Fortunately, everything jibes with what we've already told you: 15.4-inch LCD with 2 megapixel camera, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS graphics, and 4(ish)-pound weight depending on battery and configuration. What's new is a base configuration price of €849 (about $1,257) as listed in Belgium (exclusive shipping or VAT) -- likely listed for less in the US. No availability date but it can't be long now.

Update: Scanned brochure image after the break.

[Thanks, Frederik]

Read -- XPS M1530 reference
Read -- DarkVision Hardware

For those of you potential XPS M1330 customers out there whose orders have yet to be fulfilled or who are still within your 30 day Dell grace period, take heed. We've just gotten a booty load of information on the successor to the tainted throne, the XPS M1530. Featuring:

• 15.40-inch display (CCFL up to 1680 x 1050, LED up to 1440 x 900)
• Core 2 Duo options from 1.5GHz (T5250) up to 2.6GHz (T7800)
• Crestline GM/PM 965 chipset with up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• GeForce 8400M or 8600M GS options (up to 256MB)
• Slot-loading Blu-ray / 8x DVD±RW
• Options for 802.11a/b/g/n, WWAN, Bluetooth
• HDMI, VGA, 1394, ExpressCard, (3) USB 2.0, Ethernet, fingerprint reader, media reader
• 2.0 megapixel (with CCFL) or 300k (with LED) cameras
• Weight supposedly 4 pounds to start (which is pretty light, we're assuming that's sans battery)
  

It's slated for November 7th release for release before the holidays, but we can never make guarantees for any company to hit it's ship date, ok?

One rumor ends, and another one begins: now that the M1730 (pictured) is all out in the wild, rumors abound of a mid-range 15-inch M1530 to fit between the M1330 and its bigger brother. The evidence? An error message on a Creative webcam, and a potentially mistyped AC adapter listing on a cheap battery retailer's site. Not very compelling, but we've seen reality borne out of less. Also on the radar is an A2010, probably to replace the M2010, that 20-inch behemoth of a gaming laptop. Keep your eyes peeled.