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

are you serious?! thats horrible.. glad i dont have any of these hardware related issues i just dont understand how random it is..

 

Can you check, is that a Seagate drive?

 

The same 7200.3 model as the other two that did the same thing before giving up the ghost.

The video linked from this page is pretty close to the sound all three have made
http://www.codestore.net/store.nsf/unid/BLOG-20081126/

 

So many complaints from Seagate users. Once they were very reliable drives. Dell should have gone with Hitachi or Western Digital (WD).

 

Thanks for the insights! Any others? by the way...best buy reduced the price to $899...yet even their website has a ton of negative reviews for this!

 

Nice, I already picked up the wife's for $899 because of the 10% military discount. Now I'll go have them price match themselves.

 

I too recently bought the studio xps 1340 from best buy for $999, within the past 17 days, to have them price match do I just need to bring in the receipt?

Also, for those thinking about buying the laptop I have really enjoyed mine. It looks great and runs very well. Earlier I had posted a question and reported the laptop blue screened when updating Trend Micro, otherwise the media buttons didn't respond on two separate occasions, though this was fixed by shutting down and wiping the media buttons off. Otherwise the computer has worked very well.

Specs:
13.3'' hi def widescreen (I believe wxga)
intel core 2 duo core processor p8600
4gb ddr3 memory
320gb hdd
nvidia 9400m

 

hey has anyone used hdmi out yet? if so.. does the hdmi support 1920x1080? i havent hooked it up yet bc i dont have a spare hdmi cable and i dont feel like digging through myself..

 

chek out my unboxing video in my sig
dont forget to subscribe

by the way while i was looking at the ports and stuff i forgot the names of all the ports because i just wanted to turn on the laptop already

i know that there is a usb port, and usb/eSATA port, vga video port, 1394 port, HDMI, display port, 2 headphone jacks and 1 microphone jack, media card (doesnt come with the laptop), charger (AC) connector, and a network connect...i tihnk thats it

 

What do you mean by that? What media card?
Are you talking about the card reader? If so, it's there in the front, and it comes with all 1340 laptops by default.

 

no i mean the remote control
sorry

 

yep it dose support up to 1920x1080

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ESiv7HeVM

 

I just was shopping at best buy tonight. Saw this laptop and was like WHOA when did THIS come out. Ive been doing some research on this all night and it seems like a great deal. I would like to talk to someone else in this thread about what I Found there.

Geforce 9400m
Intel P8600 2.4Ghz
4GB DDR2 (it distinctly said DDR2 on the best buy label) i will verify tomorrow
320GB HDD
Webcam
$899.99+tax

But ive been reading so much stuff about quality control issues and the thing heating up really badly if you block the vents with the screen or even if you don't, and I was wondering. Is it worth the risk of that happening to me or dealing with the flaws of that laptop, cause for $899 im about to go back tomorrow and get 1. I have an XPS m1210 now.

 

Rumon, thanks very much! im going to go back to circut city tomorrow and pickup the logitech diovno for $129.99 so i can control the laptop from 30ft away the keyboard has a built in mouse pad..

 

will support 1080p without any lag? can you test that please? not looking to game on this laptop ..well maybe some roller coaster tycoon 3 but thats not even close to 1920x but curious about some 1080p movies..

 

is dell or any other company ever going to release a silicone keyboard cover for this laptop?? i hate having to rub the finger prints off of my keyboard...

 

deff going to pickup a Logitech Dinovo Edge @ circut city tomorrow.. they are 50% off so it comes out to be like $115 or something...should work flawless with this laptop on my 46inch samsung

 

hmmm just hooked laptop to hdtv went to 1920x1080 but it looks like this.. http://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03012.jpg ....any help?

 

I wasn't sure if this review was posted or not, but...

http://www.binaryturf.com/dell-studio-xps-13-review/

The lower left hand corner of this guys sxps 13 screen was 'decolorized' because the screen blocked the vents so I suggest being wary of that.

 

Mr Lithium,

I was in your same shoes earlier. I'm typing on my new 1340 now. Took the plunge and picked one up. Amazing deal at 899. My american express credit card allows 90 days of accidental damage protection along with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee up to $300. so if i return within 14 days and they charge the 15% restocking fee, amex said they would refund it to me. Also added 1 yr of extra warranty. As far as the ddr2....it's ddr3. I dont care what the best buy label says. bunch of idiots there if you ask me. with no risk (if u have an american express card, or similar card), test it out. it is a bit warm but for ddr3 at 2.4 ghz core 2 duo for a light weight laptop.....cannot be beat. good luck in your purchase process

 

hmm, can someone link to that facial recognition and webcam software link please? someone posted a link before...but I can't find it

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=353099

can u download it and put a link to like rapidshare or something? i cant seem to beable to register for a dell acct

 

nevermind, was able to register, you have to use the non-64bit of IE to register, the 64bit wouldnt let me register! now ive got both webcam central and facial back! yes!

 

Yes, I've used HDMI out to my 2408WFP, which is 1920x1200. Worked like a charm.

 

sc4freak, im trying to do hdmi out to my samsung 46inch and it cuts the screen off when going to that resolution :\ any idea?

 

Yep It did the same thing when hooked up to my 27inch. If you go into the Nvidia control panel > Video & Television > Resize HDTV desktop.

 

Moosey could you upload it for us foreign users We cannot register

 

rumon, tried to do it, when i resize it will not save my selection!

 

? I dont think i understand what you mean DId you try to grab an image from the CD/DVD?

 

dell is currently having a promotion here.

4gb ram, 500gb hdd,9500 graphics card upgrade with the usual p8600 processor for about 1000usd.

do u think i shud get it? i do read that there are plenty of issues with this model though....

 

where did you find that promo??

 

im currently residing in japan, and they are having tht promotion for about 99,900yen which is roughly 1000usd.

do u think its a good buy?

 

As far as I'm aware, the XPS 1340 is just a nickname for the Studio XPS 13, so with that being said, is it supposed to be the next new XPS model, or is it more of a super-refresh of the m1330 (kinda like how the old 710m was basically just the 700m with a new exterior)?

Basically, what I'm trying to get at is, with the recent "super savings" sales targeted on the m1330, I'm assuming Dell's trying to get rid of its remaining stock of m1330s. Does that mean Dell is going to introduce a new 13" "just-XPS" model in the coming months, or is the 1340 supposed to be that model? It just feels like the 1340 is more of a "special edition" laptop instead of the next "flagship" computer for its size in the XPS line (plus the Studio tag makes me think that it's not supposed to be the next main XPS). Does anyone know if Dell will release any new laptops this year where stuff like P processors or LED-backlit LCDs will become standard?

 

1340 is a new line its already been stated its a hybrid between the studio series and the xps series value and good pricing

 

So are the XPS and Studio lines going to permanently merge now? Or will they stay separate? I guess I'm trying to see when the next just-XPS models are going to come out or if there has been any rumors/news about them.

 

no the studio lines will remain i believe, those are the higher end more $$$ lines.. i dont know about the xps line all i know is from what i read where they wanted to offer a good quality laptop at a reasonable price

 

Hey people,

Anyone with heating issues? There is a new BIOS update. Just try it. It works for me....it really does reduce the heat by 60 % (guesstimate). I can safely put my lappie on my laptop now

 

I see. The reason why I'm asking all this is b/c a couple weeks ago, I was thinking about getting the m1330, but after reading the boards I was told the m1330 was sorta outdated now. And since I'm not particularly enamored with the 1340's styling, I wanted to see if there were going to be any new XPS's coming out this year.

 

Just got my s xps 13 from best buy for $977, what update/mods do you guys recommend? Thanks!!!

 

i recommend you take it back.. it should only be $899 they just lowered the price nation wide, or is 977 after tax?

format format format, install vista prem. do some small tweaks.. check out blackviper for tweak info

 

Thanks mooseymoose....yes that was with tax...im am not too computer savvy, so by format, what do you mean?

 

There will not be any more "just XPS" models. Studio XPS is what it's become. It's only the name change, but the idea remains the same, as with the older XPS line -- it's all about hi-end computers.

1340 is not just a "refresh" to 1330, but it's a completely new series, with a new platform; next generation; a successor to 1330.

 

if your really not a computer savy person i would not recommend a format then.. u might be getting in over your head, one thing you could do is google "black viper windows vista" and it will show you some easily doable tweaks and such

 

I got the Dell Studio XPS 1340 last Friday for $999 at a Best Buy store.
It's $899 on bestbuy.com now; I hope everything works out okay when I try to return/exchange it tomorrow and keep those 100 bucks. It'd be even better if I were able to just call up and get that credited to my charge card.

Aside from that issue, boy did I have problems when I first got this.
The first one I got froze on me within the first 15 minutes after Windows was up and running. Figuring this did not bode well, and I might have gotten a defective one, I went back to the store immediately, returned it and got another one.

It took a while for this next one to freeze. And by freeze, I mean no response from the keyboard or touchpad at all/in any way. Pressing fn+right arrow for turning the keyboard backlighting on and off doesn't count (although it was interesting that it worked).

I called Dell up a few times for advice/help. After having me run hardware tests and having them all pass -- fn+power pre-boot hardware tests, and booting from supplied drivers cd and running diagnostics from there (both, btw are pretty cool) -- they declared it to be a software issue. I flashed the BIOS with the supplied download from dell's website, and updated all drivers, etc. No luck. It still froze intermittently (maybe every 20 minutes or so).

On the next call, it was suggested that I restore the system to it's factory hard drive image--f8 key while booting, system repair, something about restoring to original set-up. Again, no luck. It still froze on me.

Fortunately, it also comes with a Windows installation disc (I'm guessing it only works for this computer?), and so the next thing I did was do a fresh install of Windows (home premium 64) after quick-formatting the main partition. I used the dell drivers cd to install the chipset "system software", and the dell wireless driver. I then downloaded the remaining drivers from dell's website (assuming they'd all be newer ones). The only glitch was that the webcam driver said a newer version was already installed (I think Windows updates snuck in an updated driver in there).

It's been 3 days now, and it hasn't crashed/frozen since, and I'm very happy with performance.

The only thing I haven't installed is the included Trend Micro Internet Security (with 15 month subscription). I'm afraid to install it.

Oh, I guess I haven't installed the Webcam Central software or the facial recognition software either, but I don't think I need/want them. The webcam works in other programs just fine.

The glossy finish does get quite greased up with my fingerprints, but that's something I can handle. I've heard mention of wobbly keys on the keyboard, but I don't see a problem (I guess if I try to wobble an individual key by itself it wobbles minimally, but there's no problem typing normally).

I also wouldn't say mine overheats at all. The keyboard stays cool, while the underside gets warm, but I don't think it's hot. The vent at the back does get partially covered by the screen (well, the panel the screen is on) when the screen is at a normal viewing position. I don't think that'll become a problem as I haven't felt any hot air coming out of there.

Overall, I'm very happy despite the fact that it didn't work out of the box and that it's now $100 cheaper. I do hope I get those $100 back somehow tomorrow, and I hope I get over my fear of installing Trend Micro Internet Security. Although, are there any suggestions for a non-bloated/CPU/memory eating (even free or open source) anti-virus, etc. program?

 

there are no wobbley keys, the entire laptop is wobbly for some people. the rubber feet are uneven, try puting on a desk and see if yours wobbles

 

laptop is wobbly for me.
what i'm noticing is that if i put it to sleep and wake it up, the sound is muted

 

that is also a known issue.. lol. also, if you have headphones plugged in and mute it then unplug headphones and to try unmute it doesnt work until a reboot

 

Mine sits flat on a desk.
Also, it sleeps and wakes up fine without muting.

But, it doesn't unmute until after reboot as mooseymoose said, if muted with headphones plugged in.
(Actually, logging off and back in unmuted it.)

 

hey guys, i stated earlier that if you mess around with sound settings youcan get sound back after doing that (change it to independent headphones and move the volume around, whatever works) hopefully an update should fix this later on.

 

The touch keys (wireless, media player control, volume, and DVD eject) on my SXPS 13 randomly and regularly stop responding to my touch. The only way I have found to get them to work again is to turn my computer off and actually remove the battery. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have any solutions? I have not been able to figure out what causes it or reproduce it consistently (though it happens all the time). Thanks!