Dell XPS M1530

Dell XPS M1530

Dell’s XPS series has brought serious multimedia and computing power to both desktops and laptops for a few years now. The XPS lineup of laptops manages to keep on top of the latest advancements in hardware technology by updating configuration options every two or three months. Remarkably, they manage to keep them pretty affordable too. Dell’s current 15.4-inch XPS M1530 brings a solid set of performance oriented hardware at a midrange price.

Standout Features

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 processor
• 4GB of RAM
• 500GB hard drive
• GeForce 8600M GT video card
• High connectivity

Features

From a strictly aesthetic point of view, the Dell XPS M1530 is about as pretty as one could hope for. The Dell XPS M1530 manages to pack a Swiss Army knife’s worth of gadgets while still preserving a minimalist professionalism. Add the color options Dell gives you (pink, black and blue), and you’re looking at an elegant, yet still personalized laptop.

With a comparably strong graphics controller, the GeForce 8600M GT, powering video, HD movies will look stellar on the Dell XPS M1530’s 1440 x 900 resolution screen. No stuttering either, thanks to Intel dual-core processing. Feel like running some apps in the background while you enjoy the Quantum of Solace? Go right ahead, 4GB of RAM equate to smooth sailing when running multiple applications simultaneously.

The Dell XPS M1530 is going to delight the multimedia user more than anyone else. The Dell XPS M1530 has a remote control that tucks comfortably into the chassis of the notebook itself. The remote control in conjunction with the HDMI output on the Dell XPS M1530 allows it to link up with your HDTV for home theater quality audio and video.

Users looking to stay connected at work, home, and everywhere in between will be happy to learn that the Dell XPS M1530 ranks highly in terms of connectivity. In addition to standard wi-fi and Ethernet, you’ll find the option to include Bluetooth.

The only real complaint we have about the Dell XPS M1530 is the underwhelming video card. We’d love to be able to buy the Dell XPS M1530 with a 512MB video card. Unfortunately, the GeForce 8600M GT only has 256MB of dedicated memory.

Summary of Reviews from Across the Internet

Users are pleased with the thin and light build. The Dell XPS M1530 weighs about 6 pounds.

The Dell XPS M1530’s onboard speakers produce mediocre sound. Headphones are a must.

Summary

Ultimately, the Dell XPS M1530 is a jack-of-all-trades in the laptop arena. The Dell XPS M1530 will handle multimedia, wi-fi networking, internet, resource-intensive applications, and even manage some casual gaming on the side. For the user with a very specific set of needs, likeDVD authoring, the Dell XPS M1530 might not be the best laptop out there. But, for the civilian user with a love of multimedia and a need for versatility, the Dell XPS M1530 is a great candidate—especially at the price.

Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

This is It will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer, his career, and the stage spectacular that would have been. The film will provide moviegoers with an unforgettable front row experience compiled from extensive footage that shows Jackson's meticulous preparation for his 2009 London shows.

In Michael Jackson's This is It we watch as the late King of Pop "sizzles" on stage. He lets musical moments "simmer" and his only concern is to ensure the audience is "nourished." Jackson sounds as good as he ever has, but it's impossible to ignore his thin and frail frame as well as moments of deep breathing and not think about the circumstances involved in bringing this footage to the big screen.

What is being shown in theaters was never intended to be seen by anyone other than Michael Jackson for his own private reference material, and yet mere hours after his death the promoter of what was to be Jackson's comeback/farewell concert, AEG Live, snatched up over 100 hours of footage and began shopping it around in order to recoup over $30 million in concert production costs and the $85 million in ticket sales that would now have to be refunded. Can these facts simply be ignored while watching this movie?

Is it right? Is it too soon? Is it macabre? While watching Jackson as he preps for what was to be a 50-night run of concerts at London's O2 Arena these are the things that started to go through my mind.

Starting with "Wanna Be Starting Something" and ending with "Man in the Mirror" before the credits role and the newly released title track begins to play, this is something of a musical retrospective of Jackson's career. I will give credit to director Kenny Ortega, who is also represented in the film itself as creative director in charge of the concert series (and Jackson's "yes" man), for remaining as faithful as he could to the idea this was a concert film and not a behind-the-scenes film interviewing dancers telling us how much Michael meant to them (something that's gotten out of the way early and only revisited one other time).

Rehearsal performances of "Human Nature," "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" stand out as the most moving and complete portions of the film as Jackson would often reign things in, not wanting to strain his voice, but would rarely slack off when it came to his moves.

Very little about what is shown on screen indicates the fate that would soon befall Jackson, and as a result many fans, such as those at This-Is-Not-It.com, may look at this as some sort of a cover-up. In actuality, had that become the subject matter of this feature we would have ventured out of the realm of the macabre and squarely into the world of the morbid. Hard to tell if one or the other is more appropriate, but it's easy to decide which one is the more family friendly business decision.

While I enjoyed moments when Jackson would take time to work out musical choices with his band or encourage one of his guitarists telling her, "This is your time to shine," I found myself increasingly bored with the musical performances themselves. I've seen every music video and as many of Jackson's televised performances I could, and I wasn't getting anything all that new here. However, the in-between moments were extremely fascinating and led me to believe had we been watching the finished project this would have been a concert to behold with pyrotechnics galore, film tributes including Gilda, In a Lonely Place and His Girl Friday serving as the backdrop for "Smooth Criminal" and even a 3-D film that was to play in the background during "Thriller." This would have been a concert to bring the house down, but it ultimately became a prelude to the death of Michael Jackson and headline fodder for a $60 million business deal between AEG and Columbia Pictures.



Make no mistake about it, this is not a tribute to Michael Jackson as many are making it out to be. This is merely a cash grab and as such it tainted my entire experience. I don't know about you, but quotes from AEG CEO Randy Phillips saying, "He was our partner in life and now he's our partner in death," are quotes I simply I can't get over. I let my opinion of Michael Jackson be known the day after his death and suffice to say he was easily one of my favorite musical performers of all-time. To watch his final moments on screen as companies seek to make a profit and to know behind-the-scenes an irresponsible doctor would soon be the cause of his death it seems there will be no end to the attempts to bleed Jackson dry, and I have a hard time finding enjoyment under such circumstances.

MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT (2009)

Starring: Michael Jackson

Director: Kenny Ortega

Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Genre: Music

Rating: PG (For some suggestive choreography and scary images.)

Release Date: October 28, 2009

Official Site: http://www.thisisit-movie.com

H2: Halloween II (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

It's that time of year again, and Michael Myers has returned home to sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois to take care of some unfinished family business. Unleashing a trail of terror that only horror master Rob Zombie can, Myers will stop at nothing to bring closure to the secrets of his twisted past. But the town’s got an unlikely new hero, if they can only stay alive long enough to stop the unstoppable.

IRS auditors and repo men have encountered cheerier faces than those seen leaving a screening of Rob Zombie’s latest magnum opus. Where is Michael Myers, and what has Zombie done with him? Instead of a horror icon, we’re given a shambling hulk who looks like a homeless man with a pituitary problem.

“Halloween II” picks up just after Laurie Strode blasted Myers point blank in the face. Found covering in blood and wandering dazed on the road, she’s taken to the hospital. In a reverent nod to the original sequel, Michael Myers reappears to wreck bloody havoc upon the nursing staff–then on the parking lot attendant when he runs out of nurses. But in a flash it turns out to be only one of Laurie’s nightmares; two years have elapsed and she’s gone from being a good girl to looking like she buys her outfits from vendors at rock concerts. She’s in therapy, haunted by Myers and the death of her parents; her therapist must have been working wonders since she works at a beatnik bookstore and has a mouth an ocean of Scope wouldn’t wash out.

Michael Myers has been busy as well. Despite being presumed dead, he’s apparently taken advice from Henry David Thoreau and living in an abandon farm in the woods. Now sporting a mountain man beard and doing God could only guess what to occupy his time, he gets a call to action. It seems ever since his mother died, she’s appeared in visions leading a white horse imploring him to kill Laurie so the family can be reunited. The past two years have now been kind to Dr. Loomis, he’s turned into a media whore in order to promote his new book on Myers no matter whose wounds are reopened.

The inevitable happens and Michael Myers is back in action, intent on slaying Laurie and warming up by leaving a gory trail in his wake. Laurie reads Dr. Loomis’ book, and learns something that she could really do without knowing; meanwhile said author finally comes to the realization his behavior has been, to put it kindly, wretched. All three paths are on a collision course that will end in a deserted shack. Only one will walk out, but will never be the same.

If there are any therapistist looking for some high profile pro bono work, Rob Zombie would be an ideal candidate. His insane fixation with white trash culture was tolerable in his first two films and his “Halloween” remake, but now its’ simply become tiresome and at times repellant. A scene in which two ambulance drivers discuss necrophillia goes on way too long, as if Zombie was trying to convince eHarmony to add a new dating category. With any Rob Zombie film there’s the requisite past their prime players showing up for one last film that’ll get theatrical release, a Felliniesque parade of faded stars from the 70s and 80s there to snag a paycheck even though they serve no purpose to the film. Weird Al Yankovic, Margot Kidder, Howard Hesseman….they’re all in the this film for roughly 3 or 4 minutes. Naturally, you can’t have a Rob Zombie film without Sheri Moon-Zombie, once again playing Michael’s mother. Since’s she died in the previous film, she appears now as an apparition leading the Lone Ranger’s horse around and imploring Myers to kill a sibling. While she tries to look cold but etherally beautiful, she only succeeds in looking like the understudy to the White witch from “Chronicles of Narnia”.

While Rob Zombie may have failed as a writer, there’s a chance that he could succeed as a director. Those hope are dashed pretty quickly, while he can stage a few well crafted scenes, on the large he make the leap from helming a five minute sequence to being responsible for a full length feature film. With this being Zombie’s fourth film this is bordering on inexcusable. With him planning on remaking “The Blob”, it verges on criminal.

But what is even worse is Zombie’s treatment of Myers. For practically all of Michael Myer’s return to Haddonfield, he shambles around wearing an old parka with the hood up. Since his mask is mainly obscured, the killer ceases to be the iconic Michael Myers; this is a massive problem since everyone in the theater came to see Michael Myers. If we wanted to see a big guy in a hooded parka, we could go to the park after dark and see one for free–or at least for a dollar if he asked for one. Hasn’t anyone learned from the debacle of 1998’s “Godzilla”, that you don’t re-imagine an icon? It’s bad enough we’ll have to suffer the sight of Dwayne Johnson as “The Tooth Fairy”, this this keeps up there’ll be a run on tranquilizers.

Malcolm McDowell and Brad Dourif give fine performances with the material they have, which isn’t much. Tyler Mane has little to do under a mask and hidden under a hood, but does have a spectacular moment near the film’s climax. Face to face with Laurie, both with knives, he gives her a pleading look to release him from an existence of constant butchery. The monster has a soul, and Mane finds it despite all Zombie does to hide it.

No doubt, Zombie will release a “director’s cut” on dvd, and everyone will suddenly have enormous respect for whoever responsible for the cutting. In the meanwhile, it has been announced that next summer will bring “Halloween 3D”. Hopefully, it’ll undo all Zombie’s damage, and do it right in your lap.

HALLOWEEN II (2009)

Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon, Danielle Harris, Ezra Buzzington, Chris Hardwick, Richard Brake, Howard Hessman, Bill Fagerbakke, Bill Moseley, Margot Kidder

Director: Rob Zombie

Studio: Dimension Films

Genre: Horror

Rating: R (For strong brutal bloody violence throughout, terror, disturbing graphic images, language, and some crude sexual content and nudity.)

Release Date: August 28, 2009

Official Site: http://www.halloween2-movie.com

Sorority Row (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

When five sorority girls inadvertently cause the murder of one of their sisters in a prank gone wrong, they agree to keep the matter to themselves and never speak of it again, so they can get on with their lives. This proves easier said than done, when after graduation a mysterious killer goes after the five of them and anyone who knows their secret.

There comes a time in every girl’s life when she is confronted with the challenges of young adulthood. She receives pressures from school, her family, and maybe even from boys. But despite whatever troubles come her way, she knows that she can rely on her friends, who will stick by her no matter what. Maybe she will even be lucky enough to meet these lifelong mates at college, where upon they can share the load and help each other through various hardships.


Through these tight knit friendships, such as those forged in Sorority Row, these young women can encourage each other to spread their wings and together embark on life’s journey.


Or maybe the girl will meet a bunch of alcoholic skanks instead, who appear to own less pairs of full length pants between them as they do brain cells, and spend their time making out with their identical boyfriends and planning parties. Welcome friends, to the sorority girls of Theta Pi.


Meet Jessica, the ambitious blonde leader of the pack. She is the mastermind behind the prank that accidently kills fellow sorority sister Megan. She basically hates everyone that is not her boyfriend, but is obsessed with the idea of Theta Pi. She says things like “What happened to the tenants of sisterhood??”.

Cassidy is the good girl of the group, who feels that her friends were wrong in dumping Megan’s body down an abandoned mine shaft, but is still nevertheless hunted later on by a murderer craving vengeance on Theta Pi. She is comparatively less slutty.

Claire likes to get naked. In the jacuzzi. In the shower. In the opening scene of the movie, when she yells “Danny, give me back my shirt!” She is Asian American, which as Jessica points out, makes Theta Pi more “multicultural”.

Chugs (yes, that is not a misprint) likes to drink and sleep with anonymous freshmen (and her psychologist), much to the mirth of her friends. As her nickname suggests, she always has a drink in her hand and as one of her many companions divulges, tastes like vomit. Safe to say, she is the first to go.

Last but certainly not least, is Ellie (played by a ‘look-at-my-range’ Rumer Willis) who is the clever one of the group, conveyed by that fact that she wears glasses. She seems to carry the most remorse for killing Megan, but not enough remorse to actually do anything about it. Hence she spends most of the movie crying, or gasping for air. Jessica claims that she is “borderline retarded”.


As you can see, Stewart Hendler’s Sorority Row (roughly based on the 1983 B Grade gore fest The House on Sorority Row) borrows from a long line of high school/college horror flicks such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer; both in general murder/revenge/ murder plot and in the prolonged scenes of nudity.

In fact Sorority Row is probably rated R more because of the boob fest than the actual violence, which in comparison to most action movies is quite tame. Despite the dastardly premise of a killer punishing sorority girl’s for their evil deeds and Hendler’s obvious love of the jump cut, Sorority Row cannot really be described as a true horror film. It ultimately spends too much time trying to distinguish the girls from each other, and not enough building tension, resulting in the subsequent deaths being anticlimactic (and trust me, I am horrible with scary movies, it doesn’t take much have me cowering in my pop corn).


And yet it isn’t a total waste. To make a film where one of the main character’s names is ‘Chugs’ is to suggests a certain humour about the genre. Like a lot of '90s horror, it appears to parody itself continually, particularly through the character of Jessica who remarks in a deadpan voice “Oh no. Don’t go out there,” and unconcernedly rationalises one of the victim's grisly murders with “maybe he was a dick”.

The manner in which most of the girls die (I won’t wreck it but it’s preeeeetty suggestive) makes it clear that maybe Sorority Row is too self aware to take itself seriously. Not to mention that the sorority ‘mom’ is Carrie Fisher, who totes a shotgun and growls at the killer “Stay the fuck away from my girls!”

SORORITY ROW (2009)

Starring: Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Carrie Fisher, Leah Pipes, Audrina Patridge, Matt O'Leary

Director: Stewart Hendler

Studio: Summit Entertainment

Genre: Thriller / Drama

Rating: R (For strong bloody violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and partying.)

Release Date: September 11, 2009

Official Site: http://www.sororityrow-themovie.com

Fianl Destination 4 (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O'Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave... escaping seconds before Nick's frightening vision becomes a terrible reality. Thinking they've cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one-byone -- in increasingly gruesome ways -- Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination. The film marks the latest in the highly popular "Final Destination" series, and its first 3D installment, giving horror fans an especially visceral thrill ride.

The absolutism of the title tells us we shouldn't expect any more of the death defying gore the Final Destination franchise has offered audiences since the first film debuted in 2000 and more than doubled its production budget at the box-office. From that point on every three years has seen a new installment in theaters, but after nine years I would say it is finally time to put the nail in the coffin on this one as not even the fun 3-D effects can distract an audience enough to realize this just isn't fresh or interesting anymore.

Anyone that has seen a trailer for this film already knows we begin this premonition of death at a cheap-o looking hillbilly car race, which may be the first time I have actually seen the use of 3-D make a film look even cheaper as tiny stands filled with 30 or so on-lookers looks like they aren't even part of the action. I mention this only because I thoroughly enjoyed the opening to Final Destination 2 and with David Ellis back in the director's chair for this one, I had hopes for an opening that would rival that log-rolling face-crusher. Instead, CG takes over and bores the audience with each kill looking no different than the last. The best part of the whole thing is a headless dummy mold twitching and spurting blood in the segment's final moments. Sure, it looks fake, but it looks gruesomely fake. After all, I hope they didn't think we thought any of this was real in the first place.

After our lead characters escape certain death, including a role given to Mykelti Williamson as an ex-alcoholic racetrack security guard, we follow this group of goofballs as they try to fool death and escape its plan to finish what it started. It's the last in the franchise, is it possible they finally cheat death and declare check mate?

Expectations for what The Final Destination delivers should be muted. Even if you already know the kills will be ludicrous and the series of events leading up to them improbable, there is still that little something in your head that says, "Oh come on!" even though what follows may be gruesomely delightful. Echoes of "That's stupid," could be heard amongst my midnight viewing audience all while they had a laugh at the slaughter. Hell, if these are your kinds of movies you would be hard-pressed not to enjoy a little of what you see on screen, but only to a certain point.

When bottles of hairspray begin floating in pools of condensation you laugh a little, but roll with it. However, when a fan blows a cart full of liquid explosives across a room later on you can't help but think, "Didn't I see something like this only a few minutes ago?" The answer is yes and at that point tedium set in long ago, even though watching a racist hillbilly meet a gloriously comical demise was rather enjoyable.

Of course, thinking in this kind of a film is frowned upon. You are supposed to sit back, wait for the next person to find their fate at the hands of death's vicious blow and bask in the blood-soaked carnage. The only question is whether you are able to do that entirely. I can't. I love the imaginary kills, but have grown tired of the nonsense in-between. And on top of all that, with this being the final film in this franchise you would think they wouldn't end it with CGI skeletons and not an all out gorefest. It's an ultimate insult to an audience that is supporting this film despite the fact the third one was running on fumes and showed little room to go, but still managed to be far more fun than this one.

FINAL DESTINATION 4 (2009)

Starring: Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, Hayley Webb, Nick Zano, Krista Allen, Andrew Fiscella, Mykelti Williamson, Richard T. Jones

Director: David Ellis

Studio: New Line Cinema

Genre: Thriller

Rating: R (For strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.)

Release Date: August 28, 2009

Official Site: http://www.thefinaldestinationmovie.com/