Customer Reviews

Dell XPS M1330 13.3-Inch Widescreen Laptop (Tuxedo Black)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought a XPS M1330 with a 4 yr service contract. This was my 5th Dell system. I spent three weeks with XPS support trying to get it fixed. I called at least 1 time every day and as many as 3 times a day. Every call lasted over an hour. I talked to XPS Tech Support and customer support. I have over 5 support numbers and yet every time I called I had to start over. They do not retain any information. They told me they would ship me a new part and I should return the bad one. The part they sent me did not work either. Then they sent me a UPS pickup order for the two original bad parts that did not work and the replacement part. I sent them back and got confirmation that Dell did receive the three shipments.

Yesterday I got a bill from Dell and I was shocked to find out that none of the parts I returned were credited on my bill. AND, they even charged me $98.95 for the warranty returned parts. I called billing and was on the phone with them for over an hour before they agreed to refund $180.00 for 2 of the returned parts but I would have to contact customer service to get the charge for the warranty part that I returned reversed.

I was so upset with the fact that I could not communicate with anyone at Dell. Then to really add insult to injury someone from Dell called me two hrs later and said they canceled the $180.00 refund and was that ok.

I've owned many laptops and do computer support for my office, so after going though Sony, HP, and Compaq, I tried my first Dell laptop a couple of years ago - the Lattitude D820 which was a fast, durable, and dependable machine. My only complaint with that computer was its weight - over 6 pounds when you hauled it with the power supply. I was impressed with the fact that in contrast to my other laptops, the battery seemed to last forever and did not lose charging capacity over time. When I went to upgrade, I chose the M1330, sacrificing some screen area (15.4 vs 13.1) and resolution for a more portable package. The design on the 1330 is fantastic! The screen is brilliant and thin with bright LED backlighting. The resolution is perfect for the screen size, the brushed almunium and painted surfaces are crisp and clean. The XPS comes with dedicated and competent Dell support - I had a simple question which was quickly addressed by the support staff at Dell. Other cool features include an integrated remote control meant for controlling media, but which I use for frequent powerpoint presentations. Dell has also rolled out MediaDirect, a separate system which boots quickly to give you access to media and powerpoint presentations without booting into Vista. Integrated wireless and bluetooth works like a charm. I upgraded the memory to 4 gigabytes out of the box and have found the machine to be blazingly fast. I could not be more pleased.

While this is an excellent machine on paper it is not worth the money. Dell is knowingly selling these computers with a hardware design flaw that causes them to overheat which can lead to numerous other problems. When it works, it works great, but take it from me and everyone else who's written a review after the first couple months-you will have a lot of problems and a huge headache dealing with Dell's customer service. If I could return this laptop I would in a heartbeat.

There's a poster in our school's "College and Career Center" that reads: "College is not a prize to be won, but a match to be made." I suppose the same goes for computing. The best laptop is not a super-expensive toy to feature, but--again--a match between the user and the product. In this case, the M1330 fit almost perfectly.

When I began my quest for a laptop, I wasn't in the market for some bank-busting dream system that ran at twenty petaflops a second. What I needed was a reasonably sized, reasonably priced machine that could still beat out my old computer: a Dell Dimension 3000 that had begun to show signs of age. After a day or two of searching, I chose this little computer called the Dell M1330: a fast, adjustable machine that featured everything I needed for a decent price.

I'm happy to report that this machine surpassed all of my expectations.

Where I do I start? The cosmetics side, perhaps. I ordered this Dell with a $150 LED screen; it bumped up the price tag, but for a good cause. The display is brighter than bright, sharper than sharp and lighter than the standard LCD. Moving on to the keyboard, I came across a brushed metal base that looks and performs admirably. In between the base and the screen sit eight touch-sensitive media buttons, notable for the subtle LED lights that come on as you adjust the volume or slide in a CD.

I'm happy to report, however, that the laptop's slim build (3/4 inch-thick keyboard, 1/4 inch-thick LED screen) does not compromise its external and internal features. Looking around the M1330's rim, I find an 8-in-one card slot, headphone and microphone jacks, a slot-loading optical drive, 2 USB drives, HDMI and firewall ports, a fingerprint reader that works, wireless switches, a nifty Media Remote that slides into the Expresscard slot and assorted internet, power and video plugs. The trip inside the computer is even more revealing. Where else could I find a 1.8 Gigahertz processor, 3 Gigs of RAM ($150 extra), and a 136 Gigabyte processor in such little space for such a small price? As I write this, Windows Vista, Firefox, Word, Adobe In-Design CS3 and Windows Movie Maker are all running on my desktop with almost no delay.

This may appear to be a long review, but I haven't said enough. If you're looking for a slim, yet feature-packed laptop with a reasonable price tag, I suggest you stop your search and pick up an M1330 of your own. You might just find yourself posting yet another 5-star rating on this review page.

The only reason I gave it 1 star is because 0 stars was not an options. Ton's and Ton's of problems with the computer. Motherboard has been replaced 3 times because it quits working. Video card plagued with problems. I'd avoid this laptop if your looking for a working laptop. But if you like to spend a LOT of time trying to get things to work, like to spend hours with foreign tech support, and like to tinker with toys that don't work this laptop is for you.

When it comes to computers, Dell has had a pretty good reputation for "build quality" in their products. But, they also have a reputation for notoriously bad "customer service". One thing that I never expected from Dell was a laptop that was not only built well, but also a real "head-turner" . But that's exactly the case when it comes to the Dell M1330 laptop. This sleek and sexy 4 pound high-end (XPS line) laptop packs a formidable punch and offers a cool array of features & options. These features include an 13.3" LED backlit screen (LED backlight optional), slot loading optical drive, brushed aluminum casing, biometric finger print reader (optional), Media player with travel remote (optional), integrated camera, HDMI out, Solid state hard drive 'SSHD' (optional), and a good selection of laptop colors to choose from. To finish it off, it features powerful CPU choices ( from 1.66Ghz to 2.5Ghz "Core 2 Duo" Intel Processors) and an optional 128mb NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Card. But along with the good, there are a few things that keep this laptop from being perfect. One thing that I really wished this laptop had was more than just 2 USB ports. Not only that, but the ports are on opposite sides of the computer. Also, there isn't even an option for buying an integrated Blu-ray drive... which doesn't make any sense when you see that there's a beautiful 13.3 wide-screen and HDMI port on this thing.

Still, there's a lot to love about the Dell M1330. It's ultra portable/super thin wedge shape design, full-sized keyboard, and built-in memory card slot, integrated web-cam & mic, and 2 headphone jacks, also adds to it's intrinsic value and charm. Few laptops can match both it's 'power per size' ratio. And although it's been available now for a couple years, it can still hold it's own among some of the newer laptops on the market. And when it's all said and done, I think that it makes this Dell a true "classic"... especially now that Dell has discontinued this model. It can still be acquired "new or used" on sites like Ebay, through Dell's online Outlet store, and other online sources. It's also still available at some retail stores.

Pros:
-Beautiful glossy 13.3" wide screen (also available with LED backlight)
-Great super portable, sleek, light, and sexy design.
-Powerful (up to 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo and 128mb NVIDIA GeForce Video Card option)
-Nice array of colors available including "Blue, Pink, White, Black, and Red"
-Slot Loading Optical drive
-Wide array of hard drive options including SSHD, easy to DIY hard drive upgrade as well.

Cons:
-Only 2 USB drives
-No Blu-ray Option
-Standard 6-cell battery doesn't last too long (about 2 hrs) Don't even bother with 3-cell batt.
-9 Cell battery available but it's very expensive and adds much bulk to laptop.(sticks out too)

Conclusion:
This is a sexy and powerful high-end ultra-portable laptop. I've heard that it was rated the most powerful laptop per it's size (when it was first released) ...But this may not be true anymore. The XPS line of Dell laptop has a higher build quality than most regular consumer laptops on the market. And because the prices for this model has drastically dropped (now that it's been discontinued), it's even more of a bargain. Mine has been very dependable and I'd highly recommend it to others.

Here's a list of the details, scroll down for overall recommendation.

Pros:
-Light, perhaps one of the lightest out there
-Pretty
-Good specs on paper (discrete graphics are nice)

Cons:
-Slot loading drive is trendy, but really really noisy (esp b/c it initializes with every bootup. that's great during a quiet moment in a lecture)
-With lightness comes extreme fragility. I am a student and this thing couldn't even take regular backpack transport. Little more than jarring it caused the optical drive to fail, while scratches showed up regularly on its pretty surface.
-Windows vista is a nightmare. I tried and tried and tried but I couldn't get it to work steadily. I was told by our tech guys that XP wouldn't support the hardware in this laptop, but they could be wrong.
-Shoddy, it appears, workmanship. The connection inside for the webcam was loose, or something similar, so that if I adjusted the angle of the screen it might disconnect the webcam.
-I don't know if this is a vista thing, but the USB drivers failed frequently, , causing things like USB hubs and external hard drives to fail
-Bluetooth is neat, but beware it interferes with some of your wifi connectivity (not, of course, specific to this laptop, but a con none the less)
-Dell tech support is an absolute joke. I am now starting to think the "dude, you're getting a dell" ad campaign was supposed to convey pity, not admiration, because if by some chance your warranty IS valid, good luck getting solid service. I've read stories of people returning this laptop 3 times to get the mobo replaced, but I can't confirm, because they literally wouldn't even take my call because my warranty lapsed (not even to answer a question like "how do i open this thing to swap the optical drive myself?
-This thing runs HOT, HOT, HOT. I ran a temp monitor and the GPU regularly broke 200 degrees Fahrenheit during normal operations (youtube, browsing, word processing, etc). I had to undervolt the cpu to make it manageable (note none of the problems listed started post-undervolting


Perfect for you if: You can afford an extensive warranty and have a lot of patience, in the chance that your dell is garbage like mine was.

Not for you if: you don't like tech support on-hold music, or you plan on taking this laptop out of the house in anything but a padded case with shock absorbers (because, believe me, a backpack is insufficient).

Look, I get it, the M1330 is pretty and light and comes in fifty colors, but I really, really, really, don't recommend this computer. If I wanted crap in a shiny wrapper, I'd buy a Mac.

If you want something ultra light, look at the MSI Xslim line or a Lenovo U Series (I think, one of the Lenovo series is really small), or anything in the "ultra portable" category (if you're in Canada, check out the LG p300/p310, lighter than the m1330 and great specs, but not avail. in the U.S.)

Me, I traded my xps m1330 in for a Lenovo T400, and I couldn't be happier--a few pounds heavier, but bigger screen & durable like a tank with switchable graphics for battery consumption and one of the highest rated tech support experiences in the business (according to PC Magazine, I believe).

I would like to share the terrible experiences that I had to go through with Dell. When I purchased my Dell XPS Notebook couple years ago, I was really excited. They said I'll be getting a $150 coupon for future purchases and it will be shipped in 4 - 6 weeks. But I never received it. When I called Dell customer service, they said there was no such thing and I am not going to receive the coupon. I wrote several emails to there management team with no response.

Few weeks ago, my computer stopped working and I called in to Dell customer service to send it for service. They promised me that it will be fixed and shipped back to me within 10 days. The Dell service rep charged me $500 right away and said they'll refund the rest after they determine the cost of repair. It's been 4 weeks since I shipped my Dell XPS Notebook and everytime I call, I hear a different story. One time they said it has been fixed and will be shipped within the next two days. When I called a week later, they said they are waiting on a part and it will take few more days. My job depends on this Notebook and because of this my daily operations is stalled. I will never ever purchase anything from Dell. The worse part is all service calls goes to India where those people use fake American names. You can clearly identify their accents,but they pose as if they are Americans. They have no clue on how to truly address the customer's issue and keep repeating pre-recorded statements like robots.

In a nutshell, when it comes to Dell it's honeymoon period until they take your money! After that, they make you run after them. Please be cautious when buying Dell products or when engaging Dell services.

This Dell was by far the best computer I have so far (I went through 3 HP's). This is my first DEll and it is perfect. It is light and easy to use. I always wanted it customize -- this computer has already done it for me. I'm a short and petite person, therefore, carrying this laptop around campus was an easy breeze for me. Everything loads really fast --- including the new version of Windows Vista. The loading is like a blink of the eye. The web cam from dell is super good.. way better than HP. It even has a zoom features. The only thing I found complicated was the fingerprint reader -- it was hard to get your finger to read... after several attempts-- i gave up.. plus, I found it somewhat pointless to use if I have complicated issues with it. Anyways, before you purchase this laptop, make sure you shop around other various stores...
I have had this computer for 2 weeks now and I still feels new every time I use it. I'm even using it now to type this review.

I bought mine from BESTBUY for around $900-$1000 and including warranty to a total of 1288. Online might be a bit more expensive, but just look around for sales. :D
To prove how fast this computer was.... I tested the loading at the same time with my other HP laptop (all three) and Dell was by far the champion. :)

I recently bought this item and I have to say... I am stunned. This thing is soo fast and soo sleek I am in love with it. I would pay 3000 dollars for this.