Nearly all 15.4" widescreen displays are 1280x800 simply because a 1680x1050 display would be near impossible to read on such a small screen.

If you really wanted a 1680x1050 screen then go out and get a 17 or 19 inch laptop so that you can actually see what is on the screen.

The XPS 1330, in the US, comes with 802.11 n. In the UK it's a/b/g

I've just been onto the Dell UK web site - same for the new XPSM1530 - i.e. no 802.11 n. Interestingly, unlike the 1330 it looks like you can't Customise and Buy the 1530 models and the 1530 comes with a 250GB hard disk so where is the Solid State Disk variant?

Does El Reg just pump out the marketing lies of manufacturers or is there at least some journalism involved in the process ? If these are US only specified machines then it's important to mention this especially as a UK price is given...El Reg has a large UK readership I'm sure.

I've just got myself the xps 1330 replacing an inspiron 6000 that i had, although i miss the high res 1920x1200 screen - you can see two full web pages side by side, if you cant read it GET GLASSES!

in that top pic, that isnt a widescreen display, look more 4:3 to me. im looking at it on my sony widescreen laptop, the aspect ratio is completely different. wrong model pic?

"UK prices start at £699, US prices at $999"

Taking today's exchange rate, US$999 equates to about Stg£482.61. Stg£699 is some 45% higher than this currency conversion. I can see why a company would try to maximize it's gains by any means possible, but as a consumer I have taken to buying from non-EU markets in order not to fuel this rip-off. Even when adding shipping and insurance, buying directly from a US retailer is not going to set you back Stg£216: "Buy cheaper - don't buy in Europe".

I've had the 1330 for a couple of months now (after a six week wait following my order) and I'm absolutely loving it.

It's the first laptop I've owned and, as it was a joint purchase, my g/f set out a clear specification to be met before purchase was approved. It had to match Sony for style (but cost half as much) and had to weigh less than 2kg (17" monsters need not apply for sofa surfing). We weren't gonna plump for a Macbook so until the 1330 appeared we weren't gonna be buying owt.

This 1530 looks like it could fit to my living room setup quite nicely. It really is up there in terms of design quality/style.

We've still only got a crappy old 14" portable TV/VCR (+ Cambridge amp to make things audibly tolerable) cos the g/f protests that "big tellys are vulgar". I tend to agree. So the 1530 might be a persuasive way of tidying up our home tech setup. Two sofa surfers at once (1330 for the lady, I'll have the 15 incher...). Plonk the 1530 onto the amp (& stick in a DVB stick) and you've got a TV+PVR+CD/DVD/BluRay player. Or hook it up to a projector via HDMI and you've got a nice and compact home cinema/gaming setup.

Dear Santa,

Please add the 1530 to the following list:

HD Projector

LinksysNSLU2

500GB USB HDD

EEE PC

Dear eBay,

What can I get for a working 14" portable TV/VCR, CD/DVD player, 15" Dell Dimension Desktop and a last-gen games console?

Dear Virgin,

No TV subscription from now on thanks, your telly is no better than freeview and V+ is overpriced.

Dear Dixons,

Stick yer inferior to CRT, big HD LCD TV FUD, I'm off to buy a projector of t'interweb.

Dear Dell,

Nice one.

Upgrade your girlfriend as well as your laptop.

My Dell D420 has the same resolution and its got a 12.1" screen.

It doesnt have to make things harder the read, you can turn text sizes up. However, images and videos are displayed in higher definition with more pixels per inch.

1280 x 800 is absolutely appalling....

I miss the 1920 x 1200 i used to have on my Precision M60, i have 1440x900 on my Macbook Pro now.

1440 x 900 should be a minimum for something of that performance, 1680 x 1050 the norm at least!

Try video editing, or using Ableton on a low res screen, then say 1280 x 800 is fine Dell!