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

Picked up my 1340 over the weekend. I immediately swapped drives (Intel X25-M) and installed a clean copy of Vista Ultimate 64 and dell drivers. Observations:

1.) DPC latency checker shows similar results to everyone else here.
2.) eSATA causes my computer to freeze, no matter at what point it is at - windows, POSTing, or during Vista boot. I am using a Seagate FreeAgent 500GB.
3.) I could not get the screen to come out of sleep mode after it sat processing iTunes overnight.

The machine gets somewhat hot, but it is downright cold compared to my girlfriend's macbook pro.

-Aaron

 

Hey guys - my 1340 just arrived this morning. I'm very pleased with it - just reinstalling vista from scratch now. Will give further impressions once I have it up and running.

Quick question - will my system (details below) be able to drive a 24 inch 1920x1200 monitor (a Samsung 2433BW)?

9500m
P8600 (2.4Ghz)
4Gb RAM

Thanks!

 

Aaron,
I'm getting this problem as well with Google Talk. Worse yet, it'll interrupt audio in my headphones and actually play the beep over the speakers. It's really annoying, so I just turned off audio notifications. There is no issue if the sound comes from Google chat within firefox.

 

Yes easily. Even the integrated graphics alone can handle that no problem. Gaming at that resolution with a decent framerate - that's another story.

 

Thanks, thought as much, but wanted to make sure before I dropped £200 on a monitor...

 

I've recently gotten many blue screens of death with my computer as it comes out of standby. It kind of sucks but good thing I'm getting a new one!

 

Hmm, now I have a new problem with error codes - luckily less fatal than last time.. hehe..
This times it is windows update that wont update, but gives me this error coder: 80246008

After reading a bit it is a problem with BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) which must be activated by finding in the services (run --> services.msc).

However, i can not find BITS in the services list?

Any suggestions?

Regards

 

Heyy,
So I ordered my 1340 on January 22nd and paid about $1415.00 CDN. Its the most basic configuration except I added another GB of ram, making it 4. Here's my setup:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 (3MB cache/2.26GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
4GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz
250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA LCD with 2.0 Megapixel Camera
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G

So my laptop FINALLY shipped on Friday February 13th. Today I was poking around on the dell.ca website and noticed that their offering a better configuration than mine for the EXACT same price as the starting price of the laptop. The new configuration is:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/ 2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
4GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz
320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA LCD with 2.0 Megapixel Camera
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G

Before, because of financial reasons, I couldn't afford the better processor and hard drive, which I really wanted. But, it would have came to about $250 CDN more. I'm really disappointed now, and still haven't received my laptop, but I feel as though I wasted some money. I ordered really early, had to wait a month, and missed out on a really great offer. If I would have ordered today I would have maybe had to wait a week longer, because it seems like everyone is getting theirs faster now. Is there ANYTHING I can do to take advantage of this offer and maybe exchange my laptop for the better configured one. Keep in mind: My order has shipped, but not been delivered, and I'm in Canada, AND the offer ends on Friday .

Thanks alot

 

Just order the new config and return the incoming. If I was you I would do that because otherwise it would bother me to no end.

 

Okay guys so I have been entertaining this notebook for the last few weeks. I have called and found out that the 65 Watt charger is a possibility for an additional $80, but you need to ask for it. It is also quite small from the picture they showed me. It may or may not be enough to power the laptop with Hybrid SLI on, but should, in theory, be able to power and charge it with Hybrid SLI off and will charge the laptop while powered off. Since I travel a lot, this trims down the fat that I have to carry with me as my mobile printer takes up the majority of my laptop case. I think I'm about ready to take the plunge on this one.

@Tissie: Dual Graphics cards (SLI or CrossFireX) are a whole different beast from Hybrid Graphics cards (Hybrid SLI or Hybrid CrossFireX). Turn off that setting and you should get better results.

 

Okay, just placed the order, I feel so much better about everything, except the fact that I will have to wait even longer. But oh well I guess. Thanks.

 

Has anyone contacted Dell on this eSATA issue? What is their response?

 

If it's for travel, I hope you got the auto/air/ac model:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=19&sku=310-8814&mfgpid=200802&chassisid=8549
Not the standard AC only one.

 

Speaking of travel chargers, anybody try the igo juice 70 with this laptop? With my igo it looks like tip #20 fits right and provides the 19.5V but I'm worried because igo's web site doesn't list any igo juice 70 tips for the xps notebooks.

 

I am still waiting for my Laptop and watching all pplz in here getting their laptops is making me more mad on Dell.

I hope i will get mine on the Expected Date without any Delay.

Btw: ANyone had any problem using the Touchpad? It seem'd quite small in Picture

 

I had 2 delays with my order stuck in "boxing". Had to cancel and reorder actually. Took almost 5 weeks to get it.

Yes, I covered that in my review:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4524020&postcount=1209

 

That's 360 gram (65W) VS 450 gram (90W), not much fat gets trimmed, IMHO.

 

Did you order that "weekend sale" configuration for $1149?

 

I was more worried about the size. The 90 Watt looks very large from some of the review pictures. I have not ordered yet, but I was assuming that the 65 Watt he was talking about was that one. He priced it out at $79.99.

 

Two things that might help.

First, get the latest A03 drivers from Dell's site if you haven't. They're a little faster than the ones that come with it - my 3DMark score went from 3550 to 3580. The latest ones from NVIDIA make things even faster but currently you have to modify the ini file to let them work on the 1340. If you want to try that, see this post.

Second, in the NVIDIA Control Panel set the slider to Performance instead of Quality if you haven't and that'll help a little.

When I was running Windows 7 Beta I also noticed that things ran better than they do in Vista, but that's a little way away unless you want to run the beta.

 

Thank you, I'll try the first 2 suggestions - I'll also try the win 7 beta suggestion in the near future..

 

how long does the battery life in "stamina" mode last on the 1340?

 

All 1340 XPS owners,

I've been asking you all about any other DVD playback issues. Noone really spoke up which is good i guess (meaning maybe mine was the only broke one) The dell techs through dell chat tech support have figured it out to be a bad motherboard. The major signs mine exhibited were.

1. Crystal clear dvd playback when using DVD DX Pro player while the laptop was plugged in to a power supply only.
2. DVD DX Pro would look grainy as soo as you unplug the power supply and run the dvd off of laptop battery.
2. Any other dvd player (windows Media etc.)would look grainy even when plugged in to wall outlet.

The tech could see my point clearly once he took remote access of my laptop and I had my dvd on a movie title menu. With the laptop on battery power all the words (menu, Chapter, Scene selection) were fuzzy on the edges, as soon as you plug the power chord in , instant clarity.

And by the way when it was working properly, it was the clearest Laptop dvd picture i have ever scene.

This unit is being sent back once the replacement gets here. Also worth mentioning, the 21 day warranty still goes off the 1st broken laptop. I moaned and complained enough that they extended it another week. That is a pretty messed up policy, why not start a fresh 21 days from the shipment of my next laptop.

This unit also came with a small spec under the glass. Other than that I like the feel and look of this laptop. Sure hope my replacement isn't a junker as well.

Hope this is useful to anyone noticing any DVD playback issues.

 

Just checking in if anyone have given Windows XP a go yet?

Am struggling like rats with WLAN / ethernet / GPU drivers. Have tested different third party drivers, Driver Agent, RadarSync etc.. none successful yet.

Would hate to be stuck with Vista, especially since some of my work apps do not support Vista (crud).

 

Yes, that's very helpful. Thank you for sharing this!

 

Drop the dead donkey. There must be competitors who do offer 21st Century service. Not supporting Vista at this late stage, regardless of its perceived or literal shortcomings is simply unacceptable.

 

That is a valid point, however XP would still be my personal preference and I am not the only one around. There is a reason why XP's lifecycle has been prolonged several times while awaiting the full release of W7.

 

I was wondering for all those users who opted for the SSD, what performance score does Vista/Windows 7 give? And for a comparison, what does it give those of you with 7200/5400 RPM drives? Make sure you include the operating system since they are rated on two different weighted scale.

 

I just got mine today. Left palm side of the laptop was not even on a flat surface, so i decided to give a little twist using my both hand. Heard a cracking sound, and this time right palm side was not even. Gave slight twist again, viola, problem fixed. I just hope that cracking sound didn't damage anything.

 

XP has simply gone into its extended support lifecycle, as did every previous Windows release, and as will Windows Vista and 7 in the future.

XP hasn't been available for retail sale to end users for over a year now, just as Microsoft stated at the beginning. It's only available to select OEMs, under very specific circumstances, again, as Microsoft stated long ago. XP can only be legally obtained now via an OEM with a proper "downgrade" license. And it's now generally only even sold with netbooks and certain "business" notebooks.

 

So I tested my 9400m based 1340 with the igo juice, and it doesn't work right. The system will run off of the power but it won't charge the battery. Quickset pops up the diagnostic: "the ac power adapter type cannot be determined. Your system will operate slower and the battery will not charge". Additionally igo's faq says:
"Due to the design of newer Dell notebook computers, which prevented 3rd party adapters from charging the notebook battery, our previous Dell notebook tips 20 and S20 were power ONLY tips that did not charge your notebook battery... Due to higher power requirements for charging, some compatibility was shifted and you may need to upgrade to a higher wattage power adapter when going to the new charging tip."

Now the excuse about higher power requirements smells like BS since the igo juice 70 is a 65w power supply just like the stock dell ac power supply. Yet the later charges my battery but not the former. Ok, I'll bite, dell has forced me to get a new auto/air charger. So,

Has anyone yet tried the dell auto/air 65w
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=19&sku=310-8814&mfgpid=200802&chassisid=8549
or the igo everywhere85?

I'm a bit wary now that I know that my laptop may decide to refuse to charge the battery even when the power supply provides enough watts & the right voltage.

 

i feel like a complete idiot, i purchased this laptop from bestbuy today and my usb port on the right side will not work?! the esata/usb combo port, i plugged like 5 different devices into it and it would not pick any of them up, is there something i have to edit to do? please help, ive already exchanged one bc the usb port didnt work on that either.. it has to be a setting!

 

That's weird. Maybe you got the same computer twice? There are no settings to enable or disable USB ports. Check in the Device Manager if the USB controller is disabled (yellow exclamation mark). Otherwise, take it to the store and ask them to plug a flash drive or any other device to test.

 

ok wow, my friend bought one too, his works just fine! so it is my laptop, and its 2 different ones ive had, ive checked device manager nothing appears to be disabled! his is sitting right infront of me with no issues at all

 

the nearest bestbuy that has them in stock is 45mins away! would formatting this laptop help at all or must it be bad ports?

 

5 weeks .. I guess i should now stop thinking about it. And yes thanks for the link, helped alot. Have you seen any kind of docking station for this laptop?

 

Does anyone have a "dust under screen" problem with your new SXPS 13 from BestBuy? I have exchanged 3 of them last week, and they have a same issue "dust under screen" >__<

 

5 weeks .. I guess i should now stop thinking about it. And yes thanks for the link, helped alot. Have you seen any kind of docking station for this laptop?

 

In Canada the cheapest I saw the system was for $1293.00 CDN, about 3 weeks ago. I ordered it then and added a gig of ram for $50.00 CDN. Now, the cheapest available is $1349.00 CDN, and until Thursday, Dell is offering a free upgrade to the Core 2 Duo P8500, a free extra gig of ram to make 4GB, and a free upgrade to a 320GB harddrive. I ordered this configuration today and plan on returning the model I ordered on the 22nd of January, which I expect tomorrow. For any Canadians interested in this laptop, I suggest ordering before Thursday because this is a great deal, as you are getting a better processor, more memory, and a larger harddrive for absolutely no more money. As Canadians we do kind of get shafted with the prices, although I do understand our dollar isn't quite up to par with the U.S. dollar, we do have to dish out quite a lot more for similar configs. I am not complaining though and am quite happy I continued to poke around the dell site and came across this deal.

 

No, but I just read this comment about one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4531683&postcount=2

 

I would be suspicious of those 5 usb devices of yours - maybe one of them is frying the ports. 2nd guess is that the software is not setup right. Perhaps someone did a clean reinstall and didn't put the chipset drivers on there? Everything look good in the device manager?

 

I have exactly the same problem under vista. Usually it works but sometimes it doesn't. Seems to kick back in if I open/close a random window. I was able to make the on-screen display stop permanently by killing the quickset process. Worked again when I restarted it...
I've seen on-screen display be flaky like this with other laptops as well (asus, thinkpad).

 

I currently have this Toshiba model and its having the very same problem. But to be true i dont want this pop up to show even once. I hate these kind of Random Popups.

 

Guess you should uninstall quickset then. The media keys work without it...

 

I thought he was saying that the USB port on the left side works, and on the right side doesn't. So, it can not be chipset drivers, for sure. My guess is it's either defective, OR that extension board that has the eSATA/USB is improperly connected or something.

 

bbc, my 2nd dell is fine, the other one sucks badly, but now im noticing flakley quality control, one of my hex screws by monitor is sticking out its not flush, you know the 4 screws on the silver thing 2 on each side, neone have any idea what T size those are? my spacebar is also having some sticking issues, and now im getting the un-even rubber feet where i have to put a penny under the top left one, wow dell way to up a promising thing...seriously quality control needs fired! and bcc, its not my usb devices bc they work fine on my hp dv6904 ...this will probli be the LAST dell i get.


DELL FTL@!

 

ok my last post didnt really make sense,

on unit 1, my left port worked, but the right side usb/esata combo didnt work..
on unit 2 which im on now both ports are working however, here are my unit 2 issues.

wobbley keyboard, have to use penny top left rubber foot.
spacebar was tacky/stuck, seems ok now..
some tiny dust under screen already..
1 of the tiny screws holding the melt hinge to the screen isnt flush, does anyone know the size of the torx driver to fix this? it looks like T1 or T2 but not sure.

 

Sorry I misread, you're right. Since others have had troubles with that same port as esata, I'd guess there's a mechanical problem then.

 

I got you now; ignore my previous guesses on that problem.

For the keyboard wobble, if you're up to it, you could try something like my fix (assuming it's the left front that lifts up off the desk slightly):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4529258&postcount=1246
But with all those problems combined, maybe it's a lemon you want to replace again.

 

Just got mine today!
It all worked well initially. Then I had a freeze when installing firefox! Thereafter the system has been fine. All the hardware pretty much works. The WLED screen is way too good compared to my Vostro 1400.

SO I guess a reinstall of Vista will make the system smoother. Also I dont use windows as my OS, so I will be installing Fedora over the weekend and I will report my experience with linux on this machine here.