--->The Official Studio XPS 1340 Owner's Thread<--- *Part 2*

Maybe your battery needs to break in? Did you cycle the battery a few times when you received the system? Are you on windows 7?

 

TBH, power save mode shuld be using the max cpu setting at 0%.
Thats atleast what i do, and get approx 3h with a notch lower then mid brightness, 9400 and wifi.

 

I will try that tip and let you know how I go. The other thing that it could be is that I run Windows Vista 32bit. I didnt want Windows 7 because I absolutely hate the fact that you cant have the classic start menu (Start - Programs etc) and stuck with Vista. Maybe Windows 7 is somehow giving an extra hour? Thats something to think about.

 

Mr Pinger,
Do you have ethernet problems after the system resumes from sleep?
Thanks

 

windows 7 doesnt do much for battery life, maybe 10 mins extra.. its really how the xps 1340 is built weather its the battery or the system itself but I knew I was buying a system with a sh**ty battery life.
Ooo and dont upgrade to win7 yet... Theres a big problem with 9400m card and windows7,,, all of my 720p vidoes play more blurry and grainny than on vista... a lot of people have this problem (even with latest drivers)
So its either directx10 problem or something with win7 encoding or win7 general..... I would go back to vista but its a pain in the butt to do everything all over again

 

has any tried hackontosh on this laptop and with any success.

 

It is illegal to talk about using Mac's OS in the SXPS 13. Apple stated that it is illegal to have Mac's OS in other pcs except their own. So you might need to search somewhere not here

 

lol as far as hackintosh.... I use safari browser and itunes.... thats as far as I went

 

Finally got my 1340 today...its been a total nightmare. I've spent the first 5 hours with tech support because my media buttons didn't work and then I discovered that my comp has the Nvidia 9400 graphics card even though I ordered and PAID for the 512mb graphics card. I spent another hour with tech support. They at first kept trying to tell me that I got the right graphics card. Finally they realized that the wrong one was sent and they are sending out a technician to change my mother board and graphics card.

UGHHH...

I waited three weeks for my comp...read every post and review on this computer in anticipation. What a total let down...

I will say that the online tech support was helpful and I was impressed with their system. They are able to connect to my laptop and stay connected even after a reset. So I could sitback and let them figure things out for the most part.

Just not the best way to start out with a new purchase of one of Dell's highend computers.

 

no offense!!! really!! but to anyone who still buys xps 1340's from dell is Stupid! read all reviews!!! IT IS A NIGHTMARE blame dell

 

Actually, I did read all the reviews and from my research, the newest 1340 with the new graphics card and most recent BIOS fixed almost all reported problems that were happening.

I guess I can find out first hand since I currently have the old motherboard and graphics card and will have the most recent soon.

Also, why would anyone take offense to you calling them stupid?

 

Mine came new with 8GB of RAM that was bad. I really didn't think both sticks could be bad, but it appears they were. However, I needed to run Windows 7 so I lived with it for just over 1.5 months until Dell finally "supported" Windows 7. I was getting BSOD from 5 minutes after boot to no longer than 3.5 days of up time. But the sticks were shipped overnight, and after that I've been fine.

 

Will do as soon as i get home on sunday evening. Sitting on WWAN now and that one disconnects at sleep...

 

Just a question tough, i guess you tried to activate the high perforamnce mode to enable the hybrid sli setup?

Even the support could have missed it

 

Conversely I've had an absolute nightmare with Dell Tech support this last couple of weeks. My motherboard had been acting up, overheating crashing for a couple of weeks, finally the output messed up and I got no output coming to the laptop screen. I called tech support on the 31st Oct and despite me trying to argue the point the technician decided that my screen was at fault.

A technician was sent out on the Tuesday to replace the screen, and to little surprise the new screen showed no output either. They then arranged for the motherboard and another new screen to be fitted this time I had to wait until Friday (so much for supposed next business day engineer visits). Anyway the engineer arrived late Friday afternoon and replaced the screen again, and the motherboard. All seemed fine after an initial quick check, however by now I had waited around at work till gone 6 and needed to get home so left.

I spend the evening doing a clean installation of Windows 7 and then thought it might be a good idea to properly test the new motherboard. 15 seconds after turning on Hybrid SLi the system switched off. I tried again, and the same happened.

I decided to wait until morning and tried again but the same still happened so called tech support. This time the engineer decided that my motherboard was faulty and that it needed replacing. Again an engineer was sent out on the following Tuesday. However an hour after receiving a call telling me he would arrive in an hour I got another call from the engineer in question telling me that he needed to check with tech support because he didn't think I had SLi as my motherboard didn't have two graphics card and hung up.

Another hour later and this time a call from tech support, who tried firstly tell me that in fact my laptop didn't have SLi and was working correctly. I explained to him that my laptop didn't have SLi it had PowerBoost/Hybrid SLi and that it wasn't working correctly as it shouldn't turn off after 15 seconds of enabling. He then tried to re-diagnose the problem eventually telling me that the motherboard was faulty and they would send out an engineer next day. I was not happy at this point I explained that I already had the problem diagnosed on Saturday morning and where was the engineer that was supposed to turn up today? I wanted to speak to someone senior at this point was I was getting pretty angry with them messing me about, this new problem was after all due to a second faulty motherboard they had fitted.

I was promised a call back by 4.30 from a manager. By 5 I had had no call, so I call them and spoke to a further two people each who tried to re-diagnose my problem and tell me they would send out an engineer the next day - another one of which didn't seem to understand Hybrid SLi - and 30 minutes of being on hold before I finally got to speak to a supervisor. By this time I was getting pretty fed up and just wanted the laptop to be replaced whole-sale and not repaired. If their tech support don't understand their own Hybrid SLi solution I had little faith in their abilities.

I was told that someone from returns/replacements would call me the next day and arrange a solution. So yesterday I made sure I was available to answer the phone all day. At 5.40 I got a call telling me that I would get a call first thing today to arrange whether they could replace or refund me, not exactly what I was promised the previous day. So now I'm still waiting for my 'first thing in the morning' call at 10.30 and am pretty angry at their seeming incompetence.

/rant

The unfortunate thing is until this series of events I was perfectly happy with the laptop, now I just want something else.

 

Well, i had 7 replacements for my SXPS 13 then another 4 problems came up. Dell rep issued me the system exchange imediately but i refused it because i wanted my motherboard upgrade and was concerned about the stutter issue. After 2 hours of chatting, i gave up and said fine, go ahead for the 9500m. Then i waited 11 days to get my order but it was canceled in 11/03/2009. Then i talked to the manager that i demanded a refund or motherboard upgrade. the manager told me that the refund was not possible but he could give me upgrades. Then the new order was placed in the 11/10/2009. Now i am waiting for my replacement laptop. Even though i encountered many problem, i would still choose this laptop because i love every features about it. With a little bit tweaking, this laptop will be the fastest 13 inches laptop.

 

What's annoyed me most is Dell Tech Support's general lack of understanding of their own technology and the constant lies both about the spec of my own laptop and when I would receive call backs from managers. Had the engineer turned up on Tuesday when promised I would have had no issues.

 

I learned that after the engineer did their part and finish it, You have to check that everything is ok then you can let him go. They did their job that you could turn you laptop on.

 

What do you guys think about this...I had my system since february, I am now noticing some strong markings (hazing/scratching) on my screen from the battery when closed and now just recently one of the little rubber pads to the right of the palm rest (keeps the screen from touching the keyboard) fell off, and now the other one to the right is falling off. Do you guys think this is worth a chat with dell??

 

one of my rubber stoppers came off as well, I just glued it back on. And I dont want to rub salt into the Dell inflicted wounds but I took the risk and brought my laptop refurbished. Thank god it has been wonderful and I saved a bundle. If you're in Australia check out ebay seller it_tx, great price, great product

 

IT BIT ME

Well I received my 1340 this week w/ W7 preinstalled and Bios A11. Less than 30 minutes into setting it up, it froze and has fozen a dozen times in 6 hours of use. UGH! I called tech support and he insisted it was the hard drive....and is shipping a new one to me. Will this fix my issue if I am lucky? If it doesn't, I will exchange the laptop within the 21 day return period for an identical replacement. If that doesn't work, I guess I will return it and move on to something else.

How likely is it that the hard drive is bad and is causing the freeze? I did run the Dell PC check program and it gave a 'SMART' hard drive error. Not sure if this is related to the freeze or not.

-- XPS1340 w/ 9400

 

I hear you guys...same stupid problems with my 1340. Hard drive issues and now ethernet issues. Can you guys do me a favor and check if your ethernet is working correctly after the system resumes from sleep/standby? Mine doesn't work unless I restart the system. Tried everything. Gonna have to get a motherboard replacement.

If you guys are having teh same problem, its probably a software/bios issue. So Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry...I only use WiFi so I have not used the Ethernet adapter.

 

UPDATE ...So, although the unboxing couldn't have gone worse and I will be getting the newest mother board and graphics card sometime next week, my computer has been working fine since the initial glitch with media buttons.

I am quite impressed. Dell didn't junk it up with a bunch of trial ware, the comp looks great and is fast. I haven't had any issues.

I spent the day looking for a carrying case. That can be quite the challenge for a 13" comp. I actually ended up buying a leather portfolio with a three ring binder. Then I carefully removed the metal rings. Its a perfect fit and has the extra pocket for the battery.

I also plan on buying a skin for the top and palm rests. The comp looks great, but its impossible to keep smudges off of it.

Can wait for the better graphics card! I do feel better about my purchase today.

 

ethernet problems
thousands of reported bsod in the past.
hdd failure from seagate 7200rpm.
multi media button glitches
crappy speakers that crackle
impossible to keep xps on lap with 9400m (copper modded) due to bottom panel getting hot since its metal.
many reported hdmi problems.
air vent could of been designed better
dell cant seem to make a solid bios that makes all components work
edge to edge glass comes over on the corners from a lil time of use.
wably rubber feet..
.....and many many more...

^^^^ these are all issues that many people reported... and there are many many more.... The only reson why Im saying all this is to prevent future buyers who still believe in xps1340,,, its expensive you have a greater chance of getting a lemon, and even if you dont somewhere down the road your gona experience problems due to cheap hardware.


Yes on paper the specs look nice, but dell fails at making xps1340 a solid performing laptop

 

^ Over half of your arguments hold no water, you might as well include people who've dropped their laptop or spilled water on it.. seriously

I'm not saying the SXPS 13 is perfect, but you're exaggerating a little too much..

 

^ take ur smart mouth to part1 of this thread, and also visit dell's community forum.. then talk. If your a happy xps1340 user thats great for you... Im sure that all these people who are suffering with those problems would love to receive a system which they can actually enjoy instead of spending hours on support line.

 

Not to cause arguments, but a bunch of the original issues have been fixed by the BIOS. Everything works great with windows 7. It'll take some time to get all the small freezes and driver issues to get sorted out.

I just have this annoying ethernet issue with standby(but not with hibernation?!...), but everything else works great. The 210m SLI is great. Heat issue is not much of a problem since the 9400m alone does not really generate that much of heat. When you run SLI, you need to have a notebook cooler though to keep the system safe in the long run.

But, if you can't afford time to fix issues when they actually arise, you should avoid this model and go with a thinkpad or maybe a macbook.

 

I've likely had my SXPS 13 longer than you pal, so don't think I haven't seen the part 1 of this thread or the Dell community forum.

And I'm not trying to be smart, but you're clearly spreading incorrect facts when you make it sound like so many people have all these problems and in reality, only one or two people have it for whatever the reason may be.

I'm also probably repeating this for the millionth time, but you're also forgetting that people without problems aren't likely to talk about it, so you can't really judge and say there's a great chance of getting a lemon.

 

To demonichawk.
I know that majority of people that have it have it either with no problems or very minor problems. But what I mean to say by listing all of those problems is the fact once dell patches us problems that shouldnt be there in the first place, a new one arrives. and 9400m heat... yes internally it doesnt get hot enough to cause bad performance. but it gets hot enough not to have it on your lap.. I had my motherboard replaced and same results even with new revised chipset die.. Mainy the bottom shouldnt of been metal but rather different material since its a very portable notebook and people are going to use it on their lap but it just gets too hot!! I even did a copper mod but that only helped interior chipset temps..

As for me I have with laptop for around 5 months... but in those 5 months I faced a lot of problems. And with my previous 2 nokebooks, hp and macbook.. I never ever had to call support line for anything just plain enjoyed it.


Dont you see the problem if you look on this site.. xps1340 is one of the biggest threads,, now they even made second one.. and just like you said ppl that are here are the ones you have or experienced problems with xps1340.. on other brands you dont have threads that huge with that many problems.

I really want to buy the new m15x with i7 and 260gtx but since alienware is under dell right now and dell really went down in reliability it makes me think twice about buying an alienware laptop.

No hard feelings DemonHawk

 

AlexSochi, I don't think that dell ever used any "cheap" hardware. Mointor(samsung or LG) motherboard (nvidia) mousepad (dell) keyboard(microsoft) HD (Western Digital or samsung) Battery (Panasonic) dvd drive (samsung or LG or plds) RAM (samsung) If some of the hardware falls then it is not all dell's problem. It is the manufacture of the hardwares. I actually like dell's customer service better than asus and sony that my friends had worse experience than the dell.

 

^ the problems that I experienced is seagate 7200rpm 500gb harddrive, after 2 replacements at least the last one doesnt crash so far.. and low quality speakers..

As for me I was usig white macbook 2009 model with no problems. ( just osx isnt my taste so i sold it) the hp pavilion something something I had for 3 years, at that time I maxed out all games on it, and had not one problem in 3 yrs! thats all I mean

One thing thats is small but I like it a lot on xps1340 is 2 headphone port! and 5.1 channel mic port

 

Yeah.. I do believe that the speakers in the sxps 13 are very bad. I cannot find out who made this speaker. However most of people recommend sxps13 users to use headphone that it gives much better sound quality. The sound cracks in higher volume from no reason so the speaker is pretty bad and dell called it "Studio"

 

Well I'm not sure how build quality varies from country to country but I have had a very different experience then AlexSochi. I run a small computer repair business in rural Australia and also sell second hand parts on ebay. In the last 2 months I have sold 2 dead hp/compaq laptops which were just over 1yr old. I've also sent a sony, an acer and a toshiba back under warranty. I like the fact that Dell and asus still give you windows media when you buy the computer, unlike hp/compaq/toshiba/acer, so thats why I recommend dell/asus to my customers. In my opinion toshiba/sony/acer have let their standards slip in recent years and hp/compaq never had any. Maybe hp/compaq are only useless in australia? I also base my build quality opinions on what I see for sale secondhand. ebay/graysonline is flooded with 3/4/5yro dells which leads me to believe they live for several years, unlike the hp/compaqs I deal with.

I know you dont hear when people aren't having problems, but here goes. My 1340 has been perfect and I took the risk on refurbished. I recommended it to my neighbour and apart from the silly media button problem every so often his is good too. So theres two happy 1340 customers.

 

oh year, the speakers in the 1340 are nothing to write home about but I mainly use desktop speakers or bluetooth headphones. If you buy a laptop for its mobility and lack of wires, get some bluetooth headphones and a mouse

 

I checked my eternet connection last night and it seems to resume from sleep just fine. No issue there for me. Just the random freezes. I was playing with the power settings and would prefer 'power saver' to conserve battery, however when I had the system on 'high performance' I do not recall any freezes......I'll have to investigate further.

 

mc1275,
which drivers are you using for the ethernet,chipset? Windows 7?

 

Well said, to accurately say a certain issues is a major problem, you have to look at the total numbers. How many units were produced, with the same system. How many complaints, if, say 200,000 units were produced, with 100 complaints, is that too many? Anything produced is going to have a certain number of problems. It is also true, most folks will not use this forum, or any other. I would like to see some stats from dell. Anyway, I am due my new 1340, any day.

 

Yeah, only the vendor can actually know how many failures there are. Also, I was waiting for some sort of Apple reference; I'm currently waiting on a "dead drive" (Apple Genius bar thinks it's that, I think it's another failed Logic Board to match the other 3 I've heard about in the last few months) to be swapped out and returned this weekend to a friend of mine. After that, I get to set it up for the 4th time. So yeah, you better believe Apple has their share of failures, even with all of their control over who makes what and what drivers are used.

 

W/ Windows 7 64-bit:
I'm using Chipset 2.07, A01 (nVidia) and ethernet 73.1.0, A00 (nVidia)

 

Even though I am still waiting for the new motherboard with 500mb graphics card, I have no complaints with my new XPS. I REALLY like Win 7. Very clean... Really reminds me of Mac OS, but better. I think Microsoft finally figured out what consumers want.

I was shipped a laptop with the 9400 graphics card even though I ordered the 210. Dell is taking care of that. In the meantime, I haven't noticed any heat issues with this comp. I haven't gamed on it either, but watched a full movie online through Netflix on the battery and did not notice any heat that I thought was higher than should be expected.

I plan on installing Fallout 3 once my motherboard and graphics card are swapped out. It will be very interesting to see how well the XPS handles the game.

 

The 9400 is the motherboard integrated low-power graphics.

To active G210 SLI I had a hard time in Windows 7 as none of the available power options displayed that option as a possibility. I had to follow these instructions, modify a power setting, then I could toggle.

I don't think you need another motherboard.

http://jtango.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/missing-hybrid-sli-settings-under-power-options-in-windows-7/

 

Today I Finally got my studio xps 1340, sweet. One of the first things I have been checking for is the heat. Now I am not a gamer, so issues around gaming don't really interest me that much. I am not having a heat issue at all, and I've been using it on my lap for several hours. I was almost expecting to be able to cook on it. My new unit is replacing a Toshiba, that was much hotter.

 

When you go to device manager, does it say you have a 256mb graphics card or a 512mb?

 

jrh3819,

I agree.

I haven't had any heat issues, no BSOD, freezes, etc. The comp has been running perfectly.

 

Device manager in Windows 7 doesn't say anything about memory size that I can find. I do see hexadecimal memory ranges but I have no idea what to do with that. Nvidia control panel tells me the 9400 has 128MB. I currently have the G210 disabled. The G210 does tell me 512 once I enable it in one of the power options.

 

I'm a potential customer for the studio xps 13,
Just a few questions for those who have windows 7 and the 6 cell battery, what is your guys battery life?

Please list all your hardware (Processors, GPU integrated/discrete, etc) also please list the activities. I kind of want to get a consensus or ball park range of the battery

 

I'm also noticing that at least with drivers 186.33, hybrid SLI does not change between discreet and integrated without reboot on Windows 7. The 9500 chip could change 'on the fly'.

 

Well, I ordered mine from outlet, and I love it...in some ways.

However now I see the other video card, I will call Dell to see if I can work out a deal to either keep it (and get another MB), or maybe return it to get the upgraded card. I have more than 18 days left on my return period.

Things I noticed already:

1) The screen has a bright sub-pixel issue and its really annoying. However Dell is going to send out a new LCD

2) The lid of the LCD (getting replaced anyway) is curved up on both sides.

3) The system gets really hot. At idle, my CPU is 46C (not bad), but my GPU (thats on power saver) is 61C...ouch.

4) I dunno how the heck the person who owned this computer did this, but the esc key is "off" and about to come off (if it hasn't already).

5) This thing is a finger print magnet. I wash my hands and it still shows up!

6) High pitched whine that comes from the wireless card. I turn off and turn on the speakers; still there. Then I try the same with the wifi; it turns off and I can hear myself think, but it doesn't always happen.

7) I don't plan on gaming on the card, but I do notice how the SLI feature doesn't help at times, and just causes more issues instead

8) Loud HD - I can hear even when a air filter is on right next to me.

In the end, I have to decide if I like this laptop or not. I like the way it feels, and the way it handles itself when playing movies and doing some Adobe work.

I just worry about several things if I do decide to keep it.

1) Heat, but that can be corrected partially with a different GPU (I hope I can switch) and thermal compound.

2) Dust behind the screen. I read that it could happen, and I know its covered under warranty, but it just bothers me.

3) The whine if it doesn't get fixed by Dell.

 

I had Vista 32bit till a few days ago. I just did a clean install of Windows 7 32bit Ultimate just to see how things would work:

- The SLi/Power Save mode switching is quite quicker in Windows 7 almost instant, whereas in Vista it would take about 10-20 seconds.

- My 3dmarks score in Vista was 4820 unclocked, my 3dmarks in Windows 7 now is: 4900 unclocked. Although I am finding the detail in games much sharper in Windows 7 it is lagging a bit more. Vista was not as sharp and crisp but was more smoother. I used the exact same driver (there is not really much choice for drivers for the G210M at the moment).

- My Battery life in Vista 32 was 2 hours and 50 minutes exactly in Power Save mode with keyboard lights at dim, Bluetooth WLAN on. My Battery life in Windows 7 is 3 hours and 10 minutes with Bluetooth WLAN on, keyboard lights to dim in Power Save mode.

- My Boot time in Vista 32 (Boot and then able to open Internet Explorer) was 2 minutes and 10 seconds. My Boot time in Windows 7 is 1 minute and 20 seconds.

- If you have a good set of Surround Sound Head Phones, try connecting them in all jacks (front, centre and rear) then in sound properties, select the main Speaker/Headphone and then enable Bass enhancement with Frequency 50Hz and Boost level at 24 dB. Really power sound especially with music with bass for those who like it.​

I have finally figured out how to overclock the NVIDIA G210 card:

A: Download NVIDIA System Tools:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/system_tools/6.02/6.02_nvidia_system_tools.exe

B: Go to NVIDIA control panel, now there is a "Performance" tab there. Select Device Settings and choose the G210M card and set the custom speeds. The trick is to go up in slow increments till the program accepts it. Then select the 9400M card and do the same. Click apply and then say yes to save and apply at startup.

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7580/overclockt.jpg

My score went from 4900 to 5440 in 3dmarks 06. So it seems to be working well so far.