MaximumPC 2008 08

Dell XPS

M1530

Stacked and packed, Dell’s

notebook is far better than

the MBP—in some ways

We wondered if Dell was making a

passive-aggressive statement when it

shipped us its new XPS M1530 in flamingo

pink. Perhaps the boys in Austin think the

MacBook Pro is a bit effete, so the pink is

fitting. Or perhaps someone on the

reviews team just finished

watching Reservoir Dogs

and was chan-

neling Steve

Buscemi’s Mr.

Pink.

Whatever the

reason, the XPS M1530—be it pink,

blue, or brown—is a worthy contender to

Apple’s vaunted MacBook Pro. Featuring

Intel’s 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo T9300, 2GB of

DDR2/667, a 250GB Samsung SpinPoint

drive, and a GeForce 8600M GT, the XPS

M1530 certainly has the specs to compete

with the MBP in performance.

A notebook configured for media han-

dling, the XPS sports an SD/Memory Stick

reader, S-Video, VGA, and HDMI outputs.

There are also two headphones jacks. Why?

It’s simple parent math: Two kids + two

headphones + one Pixar movie = two hours

of rest on the plane.

And there’s no need to worry about the

battery run time. Dell included a massive

9-cell battery with this XPS. It makes the

notebook a bit bulkier but has the nice side

effect of getting the bottom of the machine

off the desk, which helps air circulate

underneath it and keep the rig cooler. Dell’s

glossy LED-backlit screen makes watching

movies a real treat.

Other amenities include a slot-fed DVD

burner—a first for Dell, we believe—a

biometric fingerprint reader, and built-in

EVDO.

But as we’ve said, this isn’t just about

specs, it’s also about usability. In that area,

the Dell is a bit lacking. It features a set

of touch-sensitive buttons for volume

and disc control, but then it falls back on

an old-fashioned analog push button for

power and the Dell Media Direct Applica-

tion. We’re also not big fans of the anod-

ized aluminum combined with the black

powder-coated magnesium bottom.

We do, however, like the Wi-Fi Catcher

button. Push this button on the notebook’s

side and the XPS fires up an applet that

searches for Wi-Fi access points. Unfor-

tunately, once you decide you want to

connect to an access point, functionality

reverts to the stock Windows Vista applet

instead of something more custom and

usable, like the applet Lenovo includes on

its notebooks.

Dell has made a conscious effort to

keep the vendor trialware and bloat to a

minimum on the XPS, but there’s still a cra-

pload of icons on the desktop and Google

Desktop is preloaded. As cool as the app

is, Google Desktop is a major resource hog;

we’d rather install it ourselves if we deem

it necessary, thank you very much.

So take a beautiful screen, add Intel’s

second-fastest CPU, a pretty-fast GPU, and

EVDO coverage, and you’ve got the Mac-

Book Killer, right?

Maybe. See our final analysis on the

following page. –G U

The XPS’s beautiful screen will catch your eye,

but the specs will open your wallet.

VERDICT

$2,000, http://www.dell.com^8

DELL XPS M1530

PROFESSIONAL

SPECIFICATIONS

CPU Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz)

RAM 2GB DDR2/667

HARD DRIVE 250GB, 5,400rpm

SCREEN 15.4-inch LED-backlit TFT

(1440x900)

LAP/CARRY WEIGHT 6 lbs. 3 oz./7 lbs. 5 oz.

PC Notebooks vs. MacBooks

40 | MAXIMUMPC | AUG 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com