Dell XPS M1530

When Dell launched the XPS M1330 last June, you could almost hear the applause from all those who doubted the company could turn the XPS line into something luxurious. It was—and is—a laptop that represents the latest in cutting-edge design and processing technology. People wondered when Dell would expand the line, and sure enough, in September the company announced the XPS M1730, a 17-inch gaming monster. Now, to fill the gap between the two sizes, the Dell XPS M1530 ($2,174 direct) has joined the XPS family. It maintains the same metallic finish and stylish chassis that made the M1330 so appealing. The system is ideal for workaholics who chain themselves to their desks and home theater enthusiasts who fancy things like a slot-loading Blu-ray drive and components that scream luxury.

As the middle child in the XPS family, the M1530 offers a desktop replacement experience while still being light enough for short trips at 6.2 pounds—and that's with a nine-cell, 85-Wh battery. With a standard six-cell battery reducing the system's weight to 5.9 pounds, it becomes less of a burden, though it's still a shade heavier than the HP Pavilion dv6500t, which weighs 5.8 pounds. When talking about 15-inch luxury laptops, it's hard not to draw comparisons with the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (LED). While there's no question that the M1530 is sleek, the MacBook Pro is only 1 inch thick all around and is lighter by at least a half pound (5.3 lbs). The M1530 tapers to 1 inch as you move toward the front of the system—but at the back it is a chunky 1.3 inches. The design is very similar to that of the HP Pavilion dv6500t, but Dell went with a brushed magnesium alloy finish instead of a "piano" finish with embedded designs. The XPS M1530 is available in three colors: Tuxedo Black, Alpine White, and Crimson Red.

Unlike the XPS M1330 and the Macbook Pro 15-inch (LED), the M1530 doesn't yet have an option for an LED screen. (LED options will be available early this year). The benefits of LEDs include thinner profiles and prolonged battery life. The fluorescent lighting in the M1530's screen adds to the overall thickness of the system; it doesn't, however, take anything away from its brightness or quality of the viewing experience. The 1,440-by-900 resolution is not as good as the 1,680-by-1,050 resolution found on the Asus Lamborghini VX2S, but the naked eye won't detect significant differences when viewing high-definition content at 720p or editing high-resolution images.

The keyboard, mouse buttons, and overall typing experience, I'm happy to say, have a family resemblance to what you get with the M1330. The keyboard is fabulous, second only to those of the Lenovo ThinkPads. In my opinion, it's slightly better, in terms of its tactile feedback and comfort level, than any of the MacBook Pro keyboards. The metallic finish on the palm rests keeps temperatures cool (about 85º F). Despite all the high-end performance parts, the M1530's design keeps a lot of the heat away from the base (which doesn't get much hotter than 88º F). Other neat design features include the touch-sensitive DVD control buttons and volume controls.

The M1530 is one of the first laptops to feature a slot-loading (not a tray-ejecting) Blu-ray burner. With all the Blu-ray movies popping up lately, the 15.4-inch widescreen is more than capable of accommodating a decent high-definition experience. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray burner is a $500 up-sell, and it's available only on the M1530, not on the M1330. It can burn BD-RE blanks (25GB and 50GB capacities), albeit at a painfully slow rate, but it can also burn dual-layer DVDs and single-layer CD blanks at much faster speeds. I keep saying this, but it won't be too long before you start seeing these drives on the MacBook Pro, since it uses a similar slot-loading drive technology.

You'll find three USB ports and a single FireWire port on this system. There's also an HDMI-out port that'll let you run a cable over to a larger display, so you can watch Blu-ray content on your big-screen HDTV. You'll need to purchase a separate HDMI cable, though. The 2-megapixel webcam gives you face time with friends and family. If you do much traveling with the M1530, WWAN options, with either Sprint's network or Verizon's EV-DO Rev A, are available for an additional $150. The beauty of built-in WWAN is that you can use a cell-phone signal to achieve broadband speeds, and it doesn't occupy an ExpressCard slot. The M1530 has a 160GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive.

The M1530's energy consumption levels won't earn it an Energy Star sticker anytime soon, but the system's raw horsepower is quite impressive. The Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2 GHz) and 2GB of RAM are the same components found on the MacBook Pro 15-inch (LED) and the Asus Lamborghini VX2S. SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall scores favor the MacBook Pro because it ran these benchmark tests using Windows XP. The XPS M1530 loads Windows Vista Home Premium—a more demanding and resource-draining operating system. Otherwise, there are many performance similarities between the Dell and Apple. The M1530 did beat out the MacBook Pro in video encoding and CineBench 9.5 scores.

Like the M1330, the M1530 loads discrete graphics for high-definition enthusiasts who are also part-time gamers. The included nVidia GeForce 8600M GT is a tier higher than the nVidia GeForce 8400M GS found on the XPS M1330. Both sets have nVidia's PureVideo engine, which delivers hardware decoding for high-definition playback and cranks up frame rates when playing the latest 3D games. The M1530 offers two battery options: a six-cell battery that gives you less-than-stellar battery life (2 hours 45 minutes), and a nine-cell (85-Wh) extended battery, which is what you'll want. It adds significant weight to the system, but 5 hours 2 minutes of battery life is hard to pass up. In comparison, the MacBook Pro's only battery option generates about 2 hours 45 minutes of battery life. And another thing: The batteries on the M1530 will not work with the M1330, even though they look the same.

It's no MacBook killer, but the XPS laptop family is becoming a force to be reckoned with. The Dell XPS M1530 is the newest edition, featuring a 15.4-inch widescreen, outstanding performance scores, and one of the first ever slot-loading Blu-ray burners. Although it came in slightly heavier than I expected, its design elements and raw horsepower are a great choice for folks who are seeking to replace their desktops.

Check out the Dell XPS M1530's test scores.

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