Cheap M1210's

I just picked up a new refurbished XPS M1210 for $630 from Craig's
List. The person selling it bought it from the outlet but never used
it, and he wasn't able to get much for it so he bargained way down.

Anyway, cheap XPS M1210's are out there now, on Craig's List, ebay,
and the Dell outlet. The Dell outlet went from about 3 pages of
listings up to around 10-12 now. I don't know what drives the outlet,
but maybe the new 13.3 XPS caused returns or excess inventory.

It's not a high-end system but it's fast:

- Core Duo T2400 @1.83 GHz (a little out of date, not a Core 2 Duo)
- 2 GB RAM
- 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
- Intel 3945 wireless
- Integrated Intel 950 video
- No webcam or mic
- No bluetooth
- No enhanced Soundblaster Sound
- 6 cell battery
- No extended warranty, but 316 days left. I am going to find out
what it costs to extend to see if it's worth it.

It rates a 3.1 Windows Experience Index so runs Vista Aero just fine.

A big selling point for me is that it has Vista Premium (which I want
to play with to see if the TV recording functions are better than
Media Center). Really though I want a license to Vista Ultimate for
the security features. I think I also might not be able to use Remote
Desktop to connect to the M1210 which will be an issue due to its low
resolution.

I did some research before buying. A lot of people have been having
problems with the integrated webcam. Also, it supposedly draws power
even when it's not being used.

Dedicated video draws a lot of power on the M1210's cutting down the
length of time on battery significantly.

I am going to install my extra 80GB 7200 rpm drive in it, but I don't
know the best way to move the image of the existing 5400 to the 7200
-- if Acronis True Image would do a good job of that.

Also, I'd like to get a 9-cell battery for a good price and don't know
if there's a better place to get it than the Dell accessory site.

Anyway, for those who have wanted a M1210, it's a good time to buy. I
have wanted one for quite some time but could not justify the price
until now. The screen is great -- very bright, and the keyboard and
trackpad are very good. For good battery life and lower price, don't
choose the web cam, and go for integrated graphics unless you have a
reason why you need dedicated graphics.

-----Original Message-----
From: Journey ]
Posted At: Monday, July 23, 2007 9:07 PM
Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Conversation: Cheap M1210's
Subject: Cheap M1210's

I just picked up a new refurbished XPS M1210 for $630 from Craig's
List. The person selling it bought it from the outlet but never used
it, and he wasn't able to get much for it so he bargained way down.

Anyway, cheap XPS M1210's are out there now, on Craig's List, ebay,
and the Dell outlet. The Dell outlet went from about 3 pages of
listings up to around 10-12 now. I don't know what drives the outlet,
but maybe the new 13.3 XPS caused returns or excess inventory.

It's not a high-end system but it's fast:

- Core Duo T2400 @1.83 GHz (a little out of date, not a Core 2 Duo)
- 2 GB RAM
- 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
- Intel 3945 wireless
- Integrated Intel 950 video
- No webcam or mic
- No bluetooth
- No enhanced Soundblaster Sound
- 6 cell battery
- No extended warranty, but 316 days left. I am going to find out
what it costs to extend to see if it's worth it.

It rates a 3.1 Windows Experience Index so runs Vista Aero just fine.

A big selling point for me is that it has Vista Premium (which I want
to play with to see if the TV recording functions are better than
Media Center). Really though I want a license to Vista Ultimate for
the security features. I think I also might not be able to use Remote
Desktop to connect to the M1210 which will be an issue due to its low
resolution.

I did some research before buying. A lot of people have been having
problems with the integrated webcam. Also, it supposedly draws power
even when it's not being used.

Dedicated video draws a lot of power on the M1210's cutting down the
length of time on battery significantly.

I am going to install my extra 80GB 7200 rpm drive in it, but I don't
know the best way to move the image of the existing 5400 to the 7200
-- if Acronis True Image would do a good job of that.

Also, I'd like to get a 9-cell battery for a good price and don't know
if there's a better place to get it than the Dell accessory site.

Anyway, for those who have wanted a M1210, it's a good time to buy. I
have wanted one for quite some time but could not justify the price
until now. The screen is great -- very bright, and the keyboard and
trackpad are very good. For good battery life and lower price, don't
choose the web cam, and go for integrated graphics unless you have a
reason why you need dedicated graphics.

That's a heck of a deal on an M1210. Nice find.

Remote desktop uses the resolution of the client, so if you connect with
a big monitor, that's the 'new' resolution, so the resolution of the
'server' M1210 doesn't mean anything. You'll have to upgrde to Ultimate
though, since Home Premium doesn't include remote Desktop Server (what a
rip).

I think you'll find the media features about the same as MCE. The only
'new' feature is the support of CableCard (which has huge limitations),
but that's only on a machine that comes shipped WITH the CableCard
capability. You cannot add it afterwards (thanks to our friend DRM and
a Cable monopoly).

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:26:08 -0400, "Tom Scales"
wrote:



-----Original Message-----
From: Journey ]
Posted At: Monday, July 23, 2007 9:07 PM
Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Conversation: Cheap M1210's
Subject: Cheap M1210's

I just picked up a new refurbished XPS M1210 for $630 from Craig's
List. The person selling it bought it from the outlet but never used
it, and he wasn't able to get much for it so he bargained way down.

Anyway, cheap XPS M1210's are out there now, on Craig's List, ebay,
and the Dell outlet. The Dell outlet went from about 3 pages of
listings up to around 10-12 now. I don't know what drives the outlet,
but maybe the new 13.3 XPS caused returns or excess inventory.

It's not a high-end system but it's fast:

- Core Duo T2400 @1.83 GHz (a little out of date, not a Core 2 Duo)
- 2 GB RAM
- 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
- Intel 3945 wireless
- Integrated Intel 950 video
- No webcam or mic
- No bluetooth
- No enhanced Soundblaster Sound
- 6 cell battery
- No extended warranty, but 316 days left. I am going to find out
what it costs to extend to see if it's worth it.

It rates a 3.1 Windows Experience Index so runs Vista Aero just fine.

A big selling point for me is that it has Vista Premium (which I want
to play with to see if the TV recording functions are better than
Media Center). Really though I want a license to Vista Ultimate for
the security features. I think I also might not be able to use Remote
Desktop to connect to the M1210 which will be an issue due to its low
resolution.

I did some research before buying. A lot of people have been having
problems with the integrated webcam. Also, it supposedly draws power
even when it's not being used.

Dedicated video draws a lot of power on the M1210's cutting down the
length of time on battery significantly.

I am going to install my extra 80GB 7200 rpm drive in it, but I don't
know the best way to move the image of the existing 5400 to the 7200
-- if Acronis True Image would do a good job of that.

Also, I'd like to get a 9-cell battery for a good price and don't know
if there's a better place to get it than the Dell accessory site.

Anyway, for those who have wanted a M1210, it's a good time to buy. I
have wanted one for quite some time but could not justify the price
until now. The screen is great -- very bright, and the keyboard and
trackpad are very good. For good battery life and lower price, don't
choose the web cam, and go for integrated graphics unless you have a
reason why you need dedicated graphics.

That's a heck of a deal on an M1210. Nice find.

Remote desktop uses the resolution of the client, so if you connect with
a big monitor, that's the 'new' resolution, so the resolution of the
'server' M1210 doesn't mean anything. You'll have to upgrde to Ultimate
though, since Home Premium doesn't include remote Desktop Server (what a
rip).

Exactly. I didn't phrase my reason for the M1210's resolution being a
factor being a Remote Desktop issue. It's for what you said above. I
can't connect to the M1210 via a system with a larger monitor, so I am
stuck without Remote Desktop being able to access my M1210 which means
I am stuck on the M1210 with only its resolution.

Vista Business or Vista Ultimate is required. You're right -- what a
rip. This feature should be on at least all versions above Vista
Basic.

Ben may chime in here. I think I understand why MS's Vista changes
didn't affect the user interface for things like rearranging toolbar
buttons (on the bottom, the open apps) . They may have not
implemented that because if much of the value in Vista would be in
features that they couldn't really disable in Vista Basic, then people
might have a greater chance of choosing Vista Basic for the benefits
it would provide.

I wonder what percentage of users actually use the 3-d app switching
in Vista. I bet it's a small percentage.

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:03:29 -0500, Journey wrote:

They may have not
implemented that because if much of the value in Vista would be in
features that they couldn't really disable in Vista Basic, then people
might have a greater chance of choosing Vista Basic for the benefits
it would provide.

And therefore less revenue for Microsoft.

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:26:08 -0400, "Tom Scales"
wrote:

I think you'll find the media features about the same as MCE. The only
'new' feature is the support of CableCard (which has huge limitations),
but that's only on a machine that comes shipped WITH the CableCard
capability. You cannot add it afterwards (thanks to our friend DRM and
a Cable monopoly).

I was hoping that Vista Premium would record to something other than
dvr-ms.

I'll probably end up with Beyond TV anyway.

And there are some good Usenet discussion groups so I should be up to
speed in no time.