-->*OFFICIAL: Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge*<--

I returned my XPS 1730 a few weeks ago due to being unhappy with its performance. At last the 8800's are out!

The Australia Dell site has no info on them. I hope it isn't going to be too long till we see these becoming available over here.

Does anyone know if there will be the option of just having a single 8800, instead of the SLI?

 

Ah well, you can always upgrade later on down the road.

I wish I could keep my laptop and just have the hdd and gfx card upgraded but they won't do it for me. They say the only way is to return it and re-order.

Kinda ticks me off since it runs so beautiful and I have zero issues with it.

 

Vader, stay away from the SSD's, complete waste of money. SSD technology is good but dell only supplies samsung ssd's which suck bad. The performance is worse then a standard 5400 rpm drive...brutal

Pommie, not sure about australia but the canada/us dell sites only offer the 8800M GTX's in a sli config. Best way to go if you ask me. Sli is fantastic as long as you know what you're doing.

 

Thxs for the SSD info

& u said"8800M GTX's in a sli config. Best way to go if you ask me. Sli is fantastic as long as you know what you're doing"

What do we need to know ?

 

How to operate a computer correctly...lol

Every other posts seems to be about people having gfx performance issues with sli (I'm exagerating of course, but you get the ideo).

 

I would wait for the new Penryn cpu. Now is really a question of days. You are still in time. Check with Dell. More power, less consumption, less heating problem.

 

I have some new info - the Penryn processors WILL NOT be offered as an upgrade option for existing users. It will only be offered in new systems.

 

Good. Another very good to reason to wait.

 

Im not too bothered with the processor TBH. Im pretty sure I would be able to get hold of one through my Dell Business account manager if I wanted one. But Im not too bothered with it so probably wont be chasing it.
I just want the 8800 card in my system, and Im done.

 

Just noticed that drivers for the 8800GTX card are not available on the Dell or Nvidia sites either yet......Dell must just be supplying them on CD with the card for now I guess.....

 

Anyone have any idea of when the 8800 will be in the UK, or fo how much?
Still waiting for my account manager to get back to me.....

 

hey ifti. Gawd this thread is well alive now. Id say after feb 08th. Dunno why

 

Ive read on a couple of forums that the new Penryn mobile chips will need a newer slightly different chipset, santa-rosa refresh or something. I haven't had it confirmed but it seems you might also need a new motherboard also if you want the newer cpu.

Wonder if the newer version will finally have DD2 800 ram...

tom

 

that is a very interesting point tenikis, I received my XPS1730 some weeks ago and have an option to return is as there were some problems with it. I *also* have an option to upgrade when 8800 GPUs becomes available, this was an agreement made when concluding the order.

So for 8800 GPU(s), it should be no worries.
However the RAM limitation is a bit of a downside, if the 1730 is to be delivered with a new motherboard which supports 800 ram & of course the new Penryn it might be a better option to return it.

- would the Penryn be noticable better than the 2,4Ghz CPU?

My main concern is heating with 8800 GPUs tho, *if* the Penryn CPU will reduce heating, hence compensating for the extra heat produced by the 8800 GPUs, one might be better off waiting for an XPS with a new motherboard, Penryn & 8800 GPUs.

Thoughts on this?

 

What makes you say Feb 8th??

How come the US always get things first!!!!!

 

I dont think the heat the CPU throws out affects the GPU's too much - the GPUs have their own fans etc to cope with their heat

 

It's all fine and dandy that they've released the 8800s for new XPS M1730s, but what about us early adopters? Where is our upgrade package, and how much is some dual 8800 action going to cost?

 

Dell comes from US so it makes sense that everything is released there first, like with apple.

 

true guys but i dont think it will be much longer before the uk and EU gets the upgrade path and option.

 

Just wondering if anyone has any solution to this.....

When playing a BD Movie using PowerDVD Ultra 7.3, every 5-10 mins the movie stops, and I have to restart PowerDVD to restart the movie again.

This happens whether I have SLI enabled or disabled.

Any ideas as to whats causing it?? Ive tried pausing my antivirus, made sure no screensaver is set etc, but no difference....

 

Like I said, Media direct works fine with BR.

When you put in the cd, dont let it install itself, browse the cd, and look for actual program that will install media direct in vista.

 

I agree with ACHlLLES... Media Direct works great with BR. I even like being able to boot into Media Direct.

 

But I cant install Media Direct without reinstalling my entire operating system now can I??

Or can I still install it but only use it within Windows?

 

Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you.

Browse the CD, and look for media direct setup/exe file, and there is couple of other things you have to install, but I can't remember off my head.

Just browse the CD, and try it out.

 

Greetings everyone... I ordered my XPS M1730 (by virtue of that assumed that I am in the correct thread) last week and was given a delivery date of 18th Feb, but according to Dell tracking, it was under production yesterday, stage 3, and then this morning it was at stage 5 - dispatched! 1week from order confirmation to dispatch, does this sound normal or do you think I am getting a recycled reject returned by someone else? After wading through the 300 odd pages of this thread I am a little concerned about the speed of production. Don't get me wrong, I hate waiting like everyone else and I am overjoyed that the wait will not be sa long as I was first told.

 

hi snake welcome to the forum. Are you from uk ? Just asking this as mine was ordered 23rd of jan and its still in stage 2. Cheers

 

Just got done chatting with tech support AND sales... both said no upgrade option was available NOR planned for the future...

 

Thanks for the welcome Dazzy, I am actually in France but ordered through the UK. Just after confirmation of the order I went straight to stage 2 and stayed there until yesterday, then today it supposedly has been dispatched, though UPS doesn't seem to have it on their sytem yet. Maybe there is a time lag or whatever. I am very keen to get my hands on it, as I am sure you are too.

 

Ok cool cheers. I have it installed now. But when I tried to play a BR movie it would tell me that the DVD was not found or somethin.

I then explored the disc a bit more and saw a Mediadirect BD setup program, so I ran that as well. Now it is recognising that I have a BluRay movie in my drive, but its said a update is necessary, so Im downloading the update now. Thing is, the update is 13MB and is named MediaDirect33.exe - so I think its just a newer version of MediaDirect?

Also is MediaDirect by Cyberlink? I ask since this update is coming from a Cyberlink server...

Thats what tech support and sales told me as well. But Im assuming its because they dont have any information on it yet. It was clearly stated that the GPU card was upgradable, and I dont see why they cant just sell us a part - I mean its more money for them anyways.

On top of that read this:

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/01/29/43163.aspx

It clearly states that there will be an upgrade option for current owners. I'll really push my account manager to get me a card if I need to. I wont let it drop until I get one!

Also, Im wondering if they will bring it out as a single card rather then SLI? Id rather avoid the SLI issues if I can! Unless they have better drivers this time!

 

Just to clarify somet......

When you disable SLI, are you actually just using one GPU only, with the other sitting doing nothing at all?? Or are both GPUs still working, but with independent tasks, rather then sharing the workload as they do with SLI?

 

You actually just put one in "Sleep Mode" until you enable it again.

 

Yea it generally takes 24 hours for UPS to get the shipping code live.And yes im very eager like you aswell.Its just if i wait anylonger it will be like well why has yours shipped way before mine when ive ordered the same spec in everything and had a ESD of FEB 19th.

 

Oh I see.
I think I'll probably go for the 8800GTX SLI card, but will see what the stability is like with the drivers that come with it. If stability is still an issue, the card will still be good enough to run one GPU alone for now, while I wait for better drivers.
Im just sick of the SLi issues, although they have reduced, I still need to disable SLI for certain tasks, like using Movie Maker for example. I should be able to enable SLI, and leave it enabled permanently, rather then have to disable it so my system wont crash using a particular program!

 

Look for another file - something about Blueray, or BR, BD folder, and you have to execute it also. You also have to update the media direct-which can be found in setup in media direct.

 

Thats what I also installed - there was a BD Pack folder, and I installed that also. After that at least it recognised the BD drive and the disc etc, but wouldnt play it stating it needed to download an update.

The message I get is:
"A critical component of the Blu Ray player require periodic updates. New movies could fail to play if the critical component is not updated promptly. The update will be downloaded from the Internet, if an Internet connection is available, or you can request an update disc from Dell support".

I have no option but to do this update apparently, so I'll do it and see what happens. Maybe my disc version is older or somet?

 

Just update it. It should run fine after that.

 

8800GTX showed in the spanish site... pretty high class model starting at 2800 euros...

 

ifti,
Not sure this will help, I installed a 3rd party SLi profile manager called nhancer. It has really worked good for games. I just used it to make movie maker utilize a single GPU which is the default profile in nhance for media player and media center.
Orginally movie maker was using SLi with just a small amount of activity on each GPU as displayed by the SLi load bar. This may work for you, allowing you to manage Sli enabling based on application. I will also note I don't use movie maker a lot but have not noticed the same issue your having when using it with Sli.

I will also note that even though NV control Panel shows windows media player and media center as single GPU, Sli was still enabled on these apps and I used nhancer to make sure it was disabled.

 

ok welll FRANCE & SPAIN have it now. ME slowly awaits the UK.Its like UK are a steamroller compared to other countries who are like NOS vehicles

 

Hi guys,

I can confirm that 8800M GTX SLI Option appears in DELL Italian Site too.

I'm from Italy



byz

 

I downloaded the update - but it wasnt an update. It was just the installation package for MediaDirect again! lol

Anyhow, I installed it anyway, and it didnt make a difference to the program.

If I open MediaDirect, scroll to 'Movie' and try to play the movie, I still get the update notification.

However, I noticed that when I insert the BluRay disc, when I autorun the disc, it runs mediadrirect and plays perfecty! So I guess all is well. Ive now set Vista to autorun BD movies with MediaDirect and it works fine.

Thanks for all your help mate

I'll check that out!
Cheers!

Damn man. Seem slike the UK always get stuff last. But hey, its in Europe now, so its getting closer! lol

 

rotfl


Be patient friend



byz

 

im tippin tomorrow it will be avail as the old offers expire today. So lets just hope. I can see ifti spamming his sales rep as soon as the 8800m is avail

 

I just want the bloody thing now!

I also dont see how its fair that new customers ordering their system get to choose the 8800GTX straight away, while current customers have to wait for some crap 'upgrade program'.

Dell - just stick the card in your bloody parts stocklist, inform your bloody sales reps of its availability, and start selling it to your current customers at an 'upgrade' price. How hard is that??

 

Which old offers stop today?? How do you know?

Right thats it, no more emails to my account manager. From tomorrow..........I START PHONING HIM DIRECT!

lol

 

short Q:
Is the power plug to your XPS somewhat loose?
Has happened several times that when I move the laptop a bit around on the table the plug just does loose enough contact for the XPS to start using the battery.
Usually I don't notice this until the battery is empty and the XPS hibernates, can't say I am good enough to check the indicators on the right side of the machine.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

the 25% of on hardware ended today and so does the £250 off select m1330 and m1530 machines.

 

When you disable SLI, you should be able to drive two monitors.

 

TBH I was quite impressed with mine. I had heard reports of the plug being either loose, or not fitting properly, meaning you had to cut a bit of the plastic back so you could get the plug in far enough.

However, I have no problem with mine. It fits perfectly. Really nice and snug. Doesnt move about when plugged in at all. My laptop sits on a shelf that I can pull out, and then push back when not in use, and even though I do this the plug at the back never comes loose at all.

Either tape it in place (lol!) or contact Dell and see what they say. I would do the latter.

 

hey zerg u gonna get the 8800m upgrade now then ?

nice 3dmark score btw