- Dec 23, 2006
- 6,886
- 0
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Hey all, I'm thinking about selling my m1530 while its still worth something and upgrading to something more up to date
m1530 I bought last summer, came pretty loaded, for about $1450
T8300 2.4gHz
8600GT
4GB ram
250gb HD 5400rpm
1920x1200 glossy LCD
Built in bluetooth, etc etc
Anyhow, I've done some looking at other m1530 in the FS/FT forum and with these features I could hopefully sell for ~750
What I love about my m1530:
Small, very light, stylish, and easy to use. Plus I really like the monitor
Reasons to upgrade:
Didn't realize at the time that 8600M GT is pretty weak, and I use my laptop for autocad 3D and gaming when I work in the field, its not handling COD4/5 or WotLK as well as I had hoped
Runs pretty hot. Not too hot since I measure my temps often, but even when sitting at the desktop, elevated on CD cases the whole body gets warm to the touch. GPU can almost reach 90c when gaming
Slow HD. 250gb is fine but the 5400rpm is noticable. I thought about putting in a 320gb 7200rpm but I don't know if I want to put any money in this laptop of buy a new one
Battery life is terrible. With the backlight at any usable level It only lasts a couple hours just idling, much less if I was using wifi and surfing the net, or god forbid had to open a model in autocad
What I use my laptop for, want it capable of:
15-17" monitor, but preferably 15-16 since I want something portable and don't want to have to buy a new laptop backpack
internal bluetooth, I already have a dell bluetooth mouse/keyboard I want to reuse
Good enough graphics to play COD4/5/WoW at half decent settings I figure 9600M GT should work fine, dunno what the ATI equivalent mobile would be. 4670?
fingerprint reader/webcam definite plus
At least 1440x900 monitor, but 1080p would be a plus. I like the res even on such a small screen. Not a dealbreaker though
Good cooling. I know you dont usually buy laptops for their cooling but I'm a cooling fiend on my main PC and I don't want my laptop running 70c on the desktop or burning up my lap
Slightly better battery life, but I really don't use it off AC too much so as long as its as good or better I'm happy
I'm definitely comfortable with upgrading RAM/HD through newegg, instead of through the OEM since its nearly always cheaper
So far I've looked at:
Dell Studio XPS 16
Doesnt seem all too different from my m1530, I'd get is with P8600 (P series versus T series, is kind of like wolfdale vs conroe on the desktop side right? Hopefully lower heat/power, as good performance or better, etc), 4GB DDR3, included 250gb 7200RPM HD, mobility 4670, int bluetooth for ~$1230. But... I hear it runs hot. I like that it has an esata/usb port, but is it a real esata or will it just run at USB speeds? Also not much heavier than my m1530
HP dv7t
I've heard good things about HP lately, though never owned one. I can get a P7750, 4gb ram, 320gb 5400rpm HD, 4650, 1600x900 17", wireless-N and bluetooth for about $1250. Looks like similar value to the dell, but it is heavier, and has slightly slower HD/cpu/gpu. Also its quite a bit larger so I'd probably have to buy a new bag. I do hear it runs cooler though
HP HDX16t
I can get almost a clone of the Dell spec wise, except for only $1150. Seems like the best choice right now. Not too big, but heavy. Better battery life, not too hot, seems feature rich.
Gateway P-7807u FX
Big and heavy, with seemingly low res for a 17", but seems like really good value at $1100. 4gb DDR3, 320gb 7200RPM, 9800M GTS, but no internal bluetooth.
Toshiba Satellite A500-ST6621
Haven't looked at this too closely, but with a p8700, 4650, 4gb ram, 250gb 5400HD, intel a/g/n/bluetooth it looks like an option
Any contenders I'm missing? Advice/comment/criticism/questions?
UPDATE:
I realized that really, I never game on my m1530 anymore. All i really use my laptop for is NEFing on AT and watching movies/TV on my HD. So I bought a Lenovo Ideapad Y550 for $515 with t4200, 4gb ddr3, 320gb HD, 720p LED LCD, better speakers for movies, esata for my externals, should run noticably cooler and longer on battery. Can't wait to get it!
m1530 I bought last summer, came pretty loaded, for about $1450
T8300 2.4gHz
8600GT
4GB ram
250gb HD 5400rpm
1920x1200 glossy LCD
Built in bluetooth, etc etc
Anyhow, I've done some looking at other m1530 in the FS/FT forum and with these features I could hopefully sell for ~750
What I love about my m1530:
Small, very light, stylish, and easy to use. Plus I really like the monitor
Reasons to upgrade:
Didn't realize at the time that 8600M GT is pretty weak, and I use my laptop for autocad 3D and gaming when I work in the field, its not handling COD4/5 or WotLK as well as I had hoped
Runs pretty hot. Not too hot since I measure my temps often, but even when sitting at the desktop, elevated on CD cases the whole body gets warm to the touch. GPU can almost reach 90c when gaming
Slow HD. 250gb is fine but the 5400rpm is noticable. I thought about putting in a 320gb 7200rpm but I don't know if I want to put any money in this laptop of buy a new one
Battery life is terrible. With the backlight at any usable level It only lasts a couple hours just idling, much less if I was using wifi and surfing the net, or god forbid had to open a model in autocad
What I use my laptop for, want it capable of:
15-17" monitor, but preferably 15-16 since I want something portable and don't want to have to buy a new laptop backpack
internal bluetooth, I already have a dell bluetooth mouse/keyboard I want to reuse
Good enough graphics to play COD4/5/WoW at half decent settings I figure 9600M GT should work fine, dunno what the ATI equivalent mobile would be. 4670?
fingerprint reader/webcam definite plus
At least 1440x900 monitor, but 1080p would be a plus. I like the res even on such a small screen. Not a dealbreaker though
Good cooling. I know you dont usually buy laptops for their cooling but I'm a cooling fiend on my main PC and I don't want my laptop running 70c on the desktop or burning up my lap
Slightly better battery life, but I really don't use it off AC too much so as long as its as good or better I'm happy
I'm definitely comfortable with upgrading RAM/HD through newegg, instead of through the OEM since its nearly always cheaper
So far I've looked at:
Dell Studio XPS 16
Doesnt seem all too different from my m1530, I'd get is with P8600 (P series versus T series, is kind of like wolfdale vs conroe on the desktop side right? Hopefully lower heat/power, as good performance or better, etc), 4GB DDR3, included 250gb 7200RPM HD, mobility 4670, int bluetooth for ~$1230. But... I hear it runs hot. I like that it has an esata/usb port, but is it a real esata or will it just run at USB speeds? Also not much heavier than my m1530
HP dv7t
I've heard good things about HP lately, though never owned one. I can get a P7750, 4gb ram, 320gb 5400rpm HD, 4650, 1600x900 17", wireless-N and bluetooth for about $1250. Looks like similar value to the dell, but it is heavier, and has slightly slower HD/cpu/gpu. Also its quite a bit larger so I'd probably have to buy a new bag. I do hear it runs cooler though
HP HDX16t
I can get almost a clone of the Dell spec wise, except for only $1150. Seems like the best choice right now. Not too big, but heavy. Better battery life, not too hot, seems feature rich.
Gateway P-7807u FX
Big and heavy, with seemingly low res for a 17", but seems like really good value at $1100. 4gb DDR3, 320gb 7200RPM, 9800M GTS, but no internal bluetooth.
Toshiba Satellite A500-ST6621
Haven't looked at this too closely, but with a p8700, 4650, 4gb ram, 250gb 5400HD, intel a/g/n/bluetooth it looks like an option
Any contenders I'm missing? Advice/comment/criticism/questions?
UPDATE:
I realized that really, I never game on my m1530 anymore. All i really use my laptop for is NEFing on AT and watching movies/TV on my HD. So I bought a Lenovo Ideapad Y550 for $515 with t4200, 4gb ddr3, 320gb HD, 720p LED LCD, better speakers for movies, esata for my externals, should run noticably cooler and longer on battery. Can't wait to get it!
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