Dell updates high-end XPS M1530

Even though Dell released this 15-inch entry in the high-end XPS line a little more than a month ago (to capitalize on holiday sales, no doubt), the XPS M1530 is still one of Dell's big pushes at CES. It's a move that makes perfect sense, as Dell basically took one of our favorite laptops of last year, the slim, snazzy 13-inch XPS M1330, and built a new 15-inch laptop around it.

The XPS M1530 isn't nearly as revolutionary as the earlier model (which had an LED-backlit screen and was less than an inch thick), but it's still the best-looking 15-inch laptop we've seen in a long time, and reasonably configurable, starting at just $999 with high-end touches such as a slot-loading DVD drive, touch-sensitive media buttons, and an HDMI-output jack.

Upgrades to the original late-2007 version (see our review here) are already under way, with a higher resolution 1,680x1,050 screen now available. No signs of it yet, but we'd love to see the slim XPS profile rolled out to Dell's 17-inch laptop--the current version, the XPS M1730, is as thick as a small-town phone book.