Im a architecture student who needs new laptop, so I am considering a Dell XPS m1530. Id like a high resolution display but they have a option for the LED LCD panel with lower resolution. I know Apple really touted this feature with the MacBook pros, but is it anything special? Or should I just go with the 1920x1200?

LCD, Color and camera
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1280x800) & 2.0 MP Camera [subtract $150]
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1440x900) & 2MP Camera [subtract $100]
High Resolution glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1680x1050) & 2MP Camera [subtract $50]
[#e2001c]High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 M [add $50 or $2/month1][/#e2001c]
Full Hi Definition, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1920x1200) & 2.0 M [Included in Price]

LED gives amazing contrast ratio. On LCD TVs you're looking at 500,000:1 ratio in some cases. To put that in to perspective, my 19" Viewsonic has a ratio of 800:1. For architecture I'm not sure what is more important to you.

I think it would be worth it. I'd probably go for the LED screen. The main reason is that LEDs will use less power than a regular screen. They give a better response time, and much better contrast ratio (normally). DEFINITELY worth $50. My laptop is a 15.4 inch 1280x800 and it looks really good, I'm sure 1440x900 will look amazing.

Edit: leo beat me to it

lcaley,

How much better is the response time? Didn't realize led backlighting improved it. Does that mean it is a better gaming option than most LCDs?

LED backlighting is a really big thing for graphics professionals. CCFL backlighting produces a monitor with color accuracy that sucks. The white light emitted by CCFL is not a correct spectrum and that produces inaccurate color. The LED back lighting produces full spectrum white light. I have bought 3 garden variety CCFL LCD panels and tried to color calibrate them with no success. Returned all of them and I am still using CRTs.

One of the worst problems for photographers and artists is the uneven brightness produced by LCD screens . You cannot see the entire screen at a constant even illumination. The LED backlighted screens are reported to solve this problem also.
In addition to accurate color the gamut has been expanded with LED backlighting. The best of the LED type have full adobe1998 RGB color spectrum. Not even CRT's have that.

The top of the line are the NEC and the Visio (both 24 inch) retail in the $5,000 price range. Samsung released the XL20 (20 inch -$1499) and the XL30 (30 inch) which don't quite cover adobe1998 RGB. Now Viewsonic has the lowest price leader The 22 inch VLED221wm at a street price of $739

Does anyone know the effect on response time. Is it better as lcaley said, same, worse? If better, how much?

Jdunn do you do any gaming? I assume those same positives are nice for gaming as well? (assuming no response time issues).