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About to buy an M1530...

post #1 of 11
6/4/08 at 10:55pm
Thread Starter 
I'm about to buy an M1530 to replace my aging computer. I wanted something portable, yet that I can also use at my desk with my 20" LG widescreen (native resolution of 1680x1050). I specked out:

-Core 2 T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
-Full Hi Definition, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1920x1200)
-4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
-320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
-256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
-56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

The reason I went with the full Hi-def monitor was so that I can use it with my 20" when I'm at my desk, but is this overkill for a 15" laptop monitor?? It seems like dell used to have more screen choices, I'd rather go with a lower native resolution..any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
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post #2 of 11
6/4/08 at 11:49pm
Today I check out futureshop on the m1530 and I don't suggest you overkill this lappy. Its kind of on the heavy side for me (i'm 5'9" and carrying around a 6lbs laptop isn't fun) I also don't suggest the 1525 and 1420.

The M1330 really impress me, the screen is pretty big too. It's like 3-4lbs and is as light as a 150 pages book. If you already have a LCD monitor and want to hook up to your laptop, I suggest the m1330. Hope that helps.
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post #3 of 11
6/5/08 at 5:01am
Why don't you get the WXGA+ 1440x900 or the WXGA 1280x800.

The resolution of your notebook screen won't affect what you can use on an external monitor.......it just needs to be set up in the nvidia control panel as to what res is used on what screen.

Personally,I think WUXGA 1920x1200,its too small to use comfortably on a 15" screen......some people love it though.
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post #4 of 11
6/5/08 at 11:54am
is there a big difference between 1440x900 and 1920x1200 on a small screen like the 1530? my eyes aren't as robot like so i can't tell the difference.
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post #5 of 11
6/5/08 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryjoson View Post
Why don't you get the WXGA+ 1440x900 or the WXGA 1280x800.

The resolution of your notebook screen won't affect what you can use on an external monitor.......it just needs to be set up in the nvidia control panel as to what res is used on what screen.

Personally,I think WUXGA 1920x1200,its too small to use comfortably on a 15" screen......some people love it though.
You're absolutely right, for some reason I kept thinking the native res of my laptop needed to be as high as my monitor, but the GeForce should beable to display at my monitor's native res. Thanks, I'm going to downgrade my laptop monitor now, saves me a hundred bucks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ihabfan View Post
is there a big difference between 1440x900 and 1920x1200 on a small screen like the 1530? my eyes aren't as robot like so i can't tell the difference.
I haven't seen it in person, but I'd assume so, it would probably get really annoying to traverse such a small screen with your mouse on the higher res.
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post #6 of 11
6/5/08 at 8:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ihabfan View Post
Today I check out futureshop on the m1530 and I don't suggest you overkill this lappy. Its kind of on the heavy side for me (i'm 5'9" and carrying around a 6lbs laptop isn't fun) I also don't suggest the 1525 and 1420.

The M1330 really impress me, the screen is pretty big too. It's like 3-4lbs and is as light as a 150 pages book. If you already have a LCD monitor and want to hook up to your laptop, I suggest the m1330. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the suggestion. You're right..with all the crap I've added on it's probably going to weigh more than a small child..I'll have to rethink some of these options! Would an LED LCD reduce the weight by much?
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post #7 of 11
6/6/08 at 1:24am
I haven'tr seen the LED Lcd in person but from what I've heard for the M1330, it reduces the weight of the laptop. I noticed gaming on PC really sucks. So I saved the money and got a PS3 and a small laptop for my daily work.

This is what I suggest you do.

Core 2 T8300 (2.0GHz/667Mhz FSB)

-something around 1440x900 is good

-3GB Shared 667MHz (2 Dimms), don't need to overkill the ram unless ur running ultimate.

-just get the hard drive that comes with the laptop, buy 1T much cheaper outside.

-128MB VC

-56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

with these specs you save about 300-400 which will allow you to buy an PS3. cheers.
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post #8 of 11
6/6/08 at 3:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ihabfan View Post
is there a big difference between 1440x900 and 1920x1200 on a small screen like the 1530? my eyes aren't as robot like so i can't tell the difference.
Yep, screen is made up of 2,304,000 pixels compared to 1,296,000 on WXGA+,I hardly think you need robot eyes to tell the difference and some people love 1920x1200 for the fact you can get twice as much info on the screen.......myself,I've only owned one 15.4" WUXGA and wouldn't get it again,because I had to bump up DPI and font sizes a lot so I could read it,but that also made the icons,text etc fuzzy.

Good thread on this forum showing pictures of the differences between WXGA,WSXGA,WUXGA,here http://www.notebookforums.com/thread192591.html
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post #9 of 11
6/8/08 at 11:33am
I also notice that you got the 8600M option, which tells me that you're interested in gaming on this laptop. Remember that more pixels means that your little 8600M will need to work harder... and 1920x1200 is a LOT of pixels to fill for that GPU. If you get a lower-res screen, not only will it be easier on your eyes, but you'll also get much better framerates in games when running at native res on your laptop display.
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post #10 of 11
6/8/08 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent1146 View Post
I also notice that you got the 8600M option, which tells me that you're interested in gaming on this laptop. Remember that more pixels means that your little 8600M will need to work harder... and 1920x1200 is a LOT of pixels to fill for that GPU. If you get a lower-res screen, not only will it be easier on your eyes, but you'll also get much better framerates in games when running at native res on your laptop display.
Well I'm not going to be gaming with this laptop, I'll leave that to my XB360, but in order to get the T9300 I had to get the 8600M, I had no choice. I wanted the 6mb cache though..I'm in a bind! Do I really have to get the 8600M? Even if I choose a T8300, I have to get an 8600M..
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post #11 of 11
6/8/08 at 4:30pm
I have an M1530 I'm trying to sell. One month old, 3 year complete care, T9300, WSXGA+, 8600MGT, 4GB ram, 120GB 7200RPM HD, Intel Wireless N. Check PMs.
$1625 shipped.
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