The Dell XPS M1530: the Best Laptop I've Ever Owned

I've owned or used a number of different laptop computers since they came on the scene, and with the constant advances in computer technology I'm likely to use several more in the coming years. My best laptop, so far though, has been Dell's XPS M1530.



I say '˜so far,' because, like a fickle lover I'm apt to find something in my next laptop that will cause me to jilt my M1530 for another, but for now this has been the best laptop I ever owned.



When Dell came out with the M1530 in 2007, it was in response to customer complaints that their laptops were too heavy and clunky. When it came out, this was one of the lightest, thinnest laptops on the market. It wasn't the fashionable litheness that made me fall in love with the M1530, although, the light weight was a plus. No, the M1530 was the best laptop ever owned for me because of all the capabilities and features Dell packed into it.



The first thing that impressed me about the XPS M1530 was the keyboard. The keys were as large as a desktop keyboard, making it easier for me to touch type. Previous laptop keys were like the small cell phones, making me resort to hunt-and-peck typing which was a real bummer. I didn't like the Microsoft ME that came with the computer, but it was a snap replacing it with Microsoft XP. I also loved the larger screen. The previous laptops I'd used had small screens that made playing games difficult.



Compared to the desktop computer that I'd been using for several years the M1530 had computing and storage capacity far greater, even though I'd installed an extra hard drive on my desktop. I do free lance writing, book length projects, and photojournalism, and being able to keep all my manuscripts and digital photos on one computer saved me a lot of time. No more putting portable media in every time I wanted to switch to another project. I do save my stuff to flash drives for protection, and to free up space when a project is no longer active, but right now I have seven 60,000 word novels, five hundred articles, Skype, and over a thousand photos on my M1530, along with Sid Meier's Civilization III and a whole bunch of other applications, and there's still a lot of free space.



The XPS M1530 is also a tough little bugger. I haven't dropped it or anything, but it has been hauled from the U.S. to Europe, Asia, and Africa; in and out of hotels, airplanes; in places where the quality and reliability of the power supply is somewhat '˜iffy,' and it's still working well after almost four years. In the universe of computers, that's a long time.



Because I do so many different things with my laptop; downloading photos from my digital camera, for instance, while I'm working on a manuscript, the Bluetooth technology that permits use of a wireless mouse while simultaneously synching up with a Blackberry or other Bluetooth device, is a treat. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the little extras like a built in camera, voice recognition software, and the biometric log-in capability using your scanned fingerprint. And, to sweeten the deal, the price tag was under $1,400, which was a steal for laptops back then.



Okay, like a fickle lover, I'm apt to dump my M1530 soon for an upgraded model, but like a first love, it will always occupy a special place in my heart.



References:



www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/xps-m1530/pd?cs=22



www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4135





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