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

To DemonicHawk: I waited and even restarted my laptop it would not eject the disk. the only way to eject the disk is to go to bios and then it will eject. That is how i encountered.

 

I have a similar problem. After sleeping, I lose my screen (blank!); i have to make a hard reset in order to be able to get it again. But I have this problem since A06, even if now I'm running A07. Anyone with this same problem?

 

turn off hibernate. It will help you alot.

I still have some problems with sleep, though. I will lose the screen every now and then. But it's not as bad as it was with hibernate turned on. I've got the new A07 bios, too.

 

I always turn hibernate off, I've had nothing but problems with it on just about every computer I've owned.

My issue is simply logging in. Sometimes, it seems as if the screen doesn't refresh and never leaves the login screen. You hear the starting windows sound and you see the CPU lights flashing but it's as if the screen is stuck. It does this about every other reboot at which point my only option is to press the power button which shuts it down. I don't know if this is due to the graphics card or what but I've been having this issue since the purchase of the laptop and through all the different video drivers I've tried - some drivers are worse than others.

 

Well, I received my M1340 yesterday and have to say I'm not sure what to think. Here's what I've encountered (this is a outlet unit):

1) They sent a 2-prong 90w ac adapter, but the cord that plugs into the ac adapter is a 3-prong... ? Luckily, my M1210 has a 2-prong cord, so used that to connect to the ac adapter. Customer care says they'll send out another ac adapter. I tell them please make sure the prongs are the same and that it's a 90w. Checked today online and they're sending a 65w?? Is that even enough pwr for the M1340?

2) There's a huge scratch on the top of the glossy cover. The protective screen on the left is lifting off the LED screen (can't imagine how nice that will be once dirt and crap starts getting into that opening) and there's a gap on the top of the lid where it goes from glossy to plastic. I know it's refurb, but I didn't order Scratch/Dent. So much for impressing anyone with the fancy lid. Luckily, they agreed to change out the screen. Funny thing is that I was telling the lady I think the whole screen needs to be replaced, but the lady was insistent and said "oh, we don't have to replace the entire LED screen, just the the parts that are defective." Looked at my order and they're sending the entire screen. Read over the service manual and sure enough, says not to disassemble the screen assembly...nice work Dell, great training. Luckily, they'll allow me to do the install instead of a tech.

3) BSOD. Damnn, right when I turned it on and checking things out, not more than 15min and got the blue screen. I was planning on doing a fresh install of Vista Ultimate x64 later, but thought I could at least wait a bit to try out the sys. Ended up doing the install yesterday because I got fed-up with it. Install went fine, updated with latest drivers from Dell w/A07 BIOS, no BSOD or stalls. I left my computer on overnight to transfer 150gb of data. Woke up this morning to see that there was a blue screen error and it had to restart and not all my data transfered. Damn, even my 8yr old Dell I8100 XP could handle that task. Right now, I'm doing a Vista update. We'll see if that helps at all.

Also, Dells service is soo hit & miss nowdays, how did they ever win awards. I mean, how many people do you need to talk to just to get anywhere, I think I was like at 8 people and 1hr into it. My first Dell was an I8000 and the customer service/tech support was soo much better then. Since then, I've owned an I8100 and M1210. I hate to say it but I think when they started to farm out the service, it went downhill from there. I mean these guys will say anything to try to get you off the phone. I had one rep tell me that even though my spec showed Vista Ultimate, because I bought it in the outlet, it will only ship with Vista Premium, he said "Dell doesn't ship anything from their outlet with Ultimate, only Premium. Only Dell business laptops ships with Ultimate"..... ? Well, there's my rant. Hopefully my next post will have better news.

--M1340, 2.66ghz P9600, 6gb RAM, 500gb HD, LED Screen, 1510 Wireless, 370 BT, Toshiba/Samsung DVD, Vista Ultimate--

 

Anyone get stickam to work with the integrated webcam? Is there a secret? I can't seem to get any video to work

 

Also with nothing running, all radios off, and the brightness on the lowest level, i'm only getting like 3 hours of battery life. Is that normal?

 

Are you on the 6-cell battery? If so, that's pretty normal, and what most of the reviews are quoting.

 

Yea the 6 cell. Is there anything else I can do to optimize the battery life other than putting it in power saver mode? I'm thinking about picking up a 9 cell battery now.

 

There's definitely something wrong then... maybe it's the media control keys?
It doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the OS.

 

AFAIK, there's not going to be much else you can do to really eke out more power from the 6 cell. Most of the reviews on the 6 cell cite it at close to the 3 hour mark, so if longevity is important, upgrading to a 9 cell is probably a good idea.

 

So are they sending you the complete LED Screen to you? My refurbished system has a small smudge that wont go away so they said that a tech will replace the led screen. I'm in I.T and I prefer to do this myself. They said I couldn't and that was my only option.

 

Since you guys have not posted any question on the DVD drive, i will assume that my DVD drive is defective that it cannot eject the CD. It's ok because the Dell Rep will replace my media buttons and the DVD drive. Now i receive the dispatch process email, hope they will arrive soon!!

 

Yup, complete screen. Initially the lady said it was a simple fix in that the LCD assy could be dismantled and the defective pieces would be sent over for user replacement, which isn't the case. That's why I think she didn't schedule a tech. Good for me, don't have to wait around for a tech for a replacement that isn't too hard to do.

Hanming, I inserted a music CD, after the first song I hit eject and it came out (didn't have to wait long). I have the Toshiba/Samsung DVD. Hope your replacement works.


As for my fresh install and Vista updates, so far, I haven't had a hang up or BSOD. Keep you guys informed if that changes in the next couple days.

 

Thank you facky2000. Then the Dell rep must lied to me. I have the same samsung/toshiba but it just couldn't eject!! I guess this problem will be fixed! Yes!!

 

Received my new 13 today so far so good no issue found or notice that have been reported here.

 

So i tried the new DOX final build version of the 185.85 and it solve the hibernate problem. First i unplug the power chord then wait for a monment then change to power saver mode directly from performance. Guess what? it didn't freeze like the dell A06. Then i close the lid in power saver mode, it didn't freeze and go to hibernate. I waited 30 miinutes and then it will turn back on. HOWEVER i have two issues with this driver. My laptop will freeze in the vsita loading bars and the shuting down icon. I think i have a HD problem with this but not sure. Can someone give me an idea?

Edit: I think ram or hd may have some problem with it. Now testing it!

 

Does anyone have the problem with the sound driver constantly crashing? I think I'm running the latest drivers from the Dell website.

 

Gents,

I'm feeling much better now with Windows 7; lot less problems. However, still got some issues that I would appreciate if anyone can help me:

1) Cannot put the webcam to work
2) If I turn on Aero, but screens blink a lot and the laptop screen will go black very often for long (minutes) or until I drag a windows or click there.

important to say that I use an external monitor as my primary device and the laptop screen as an extension.

3) DVD drive works randomly with some DVDs but not with others (nearly sure it is defective, mainly having already read several complaints about the dvd drive.

Finally, a curiosity: which cds/dvds came along with your system. I bought from the outlet and only got the vista dvd/ drivers & utilities/ works!

Cheers

 

never had any problems with my sound card! at least one thing that work well in my system.

 

If a BSOD is resolved by BSOD, then you will just want to run a check disk to ensure proper Hd functionality or else you will just be trying to save to inmarked bad sectors.

 

Hi,
After installing bios 07 i lost my bluetooth, i can not turn it on no matter what
i do, reinstalled bios 06 bluetooth is back!! any one having same problem with bios 07 or is there a way to make bluetooth work for bios 07?

 

using bios 07 & bluetooth is ok!

 

Just got my 1340 yesterday.

Seemed to be working fine, but the DVD tray was a little noisy when inserting and ejecting CD's - sounded funny to me. Now after about 4 ejects total, it won't eject any CD's. You can hear it trying to, but nothing happens.

Great. What a piece of junk....

 

Alright. So Dell is going to send me a new DVD drive. Anyone have instructions on replacing it?

Damn. This thing gets UNREAL hot. The little vent to the left of the battery, its hot enough to burn skin I swear! Is anyone else's like this???

 

I found out what was causing my freezing problem on start up and shut down. It is not the driver's fault. It is the intel 5300 wifi's fault. If i closed it before shut down then it never froze on start up or shut down. I think the Dox final version for 185.85 is very stable and fixes the hibernate's problem. You guys can try it. ^^ And now my DVD drive won't even read any disk. It will eject the disk immediately after i put in. So my dvd drive is really a defective one.

 

PLEASE HELP!!

Hello,

I am soon to be an s-xps13 owner by May 25th or 26th. This is my configuration:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
Microsoft Works
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA LCD with 2.0 Megapixel Camera
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9500M - 256MB
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini-Card
High Definition Audio 2.0

I am getting the s-xps13, for university which starts in September. I was very excited about this notebook, because originally I wanted a MB, but than because of price+compatibility issues, I decided to go with a PC. From my understanding, the s-xps13 I configured and the MB are on an even-playing field. So I was very happy and excited. Mind you this is my first Dell, but my older brother had one of the old precisions and he upgrade to an xps last year; and he had nothing but praise for Dells.

Originally I bought this laptop based on reviews, and most all reviews of it say its very good; but then yesterday I stumbled upon this forum, and the amount of issues people are having with this laptop scares me. I need this laptop to last me for the next 3-4 years, as that is how i cycle through my computers, and so I do not want too many problems outside the usual wear and tear. My question is should I just send my s-xps13 back, and wait/get something else? I do have a good 3 months, before school starts, and I have my parent's VGN-FW140D to hold me over until then. I just need some opinions on what to do, from you kind people. Thank you in advance .

 

Well as you see in my above post - I got mine, and the very next day the DVD drive was broken and unable to eject CD's. You could hear it trying to eject, it would just *clickclickclick* and nothing would come out.

 

I have the same problem as you do. Now my dvd drive won't even read! It will eject everything without ever trying to read it. By the way, what is ur's DVD drive's brand?

 

I have the TSST drive, with the latest firmware offered from Dell. I don't believe its a firmware issue though, it's a problem w/ the physical drive. My replacement should be here hopefully this week.

I'm going to replace it on my own. To be honest, it's not the simplest job - it's a lot of parts to remove to get to it. If you're going to replace yours on your own, make sure you have the right screwdriver. Something that you can get a lot of torque with. Some of the screws are VERY hard to remove, and will easily strip.

 

Mine is TSST too. Maybe this is a common problem for the samsung/toshiba drive. Dell rep kept on asking me to update the frimware and bios even though i told him many times i already did. Well, i am waiting for the dell tech to arrive and replace the media button which they thought was faulty and the DVD drive.

 

Available With Ubuntu

 

I saw that as well, and was really excited since I am running Ubuntu on my machine. I have also noticed a few configuration differences, first is you can no longer get the 500gig 7200 HDD, its now a 5400RPM drive. Also you can only get it with the Dell 1397 instead of the Dell 1515 card, and you cannot get more than 4 gigs of RAM.

Interesting. I am having a lot of problems with my Dell 1515 card in Ubuntu, and am debating on getting a different card, preferably an Intel card.

But I was very surprised that it came with the better video card.

 

Anybody know how well the SXPS 13 with 4gb RAM and P9600 can handle America's Army and FSX? I am torn between the SXPS 13 and 16 but would like to save some cash and portability and get the 13 if it can run them decently. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I dunno about AA, but FSX runs really nicely.

 

Would you suggest I go with the 16 or the 13 for gaming ability? I realize that the 16 has double the VRAM but is that really necessary because I dont really plan on playing games like Crysis and system demanding ones like that. I also am looking at the Viewsonic 26" 1920x1200 or 1080 for the external display....

 

I am not getting the blu-ray, so the only real difference would be the graphics card

 

The graphics card in the 16 is at least 50-100% faster than the Hybrid-SLI option (9500M) in the 13.

If you're going to be gaming, the 1640 is a significantly faster option.

 

The 1340 won't be able to handle anything recent on good settings at 1920x1200. It can handle most recent games at okay settings if you were at the laptop resolution (1280x800). The 1640 is, as stated above, a lot more capable. It's also a lot bigger of course.

 

Is it at all possible to change a GPU in a 1340?

I don't need it now, but I was wondering if I could do it some time later to prolong the usefulness of my laptop...

That, and the onboard GPU isn't too powerful.

 

Nope, it's soldered on...

 

Hmm... was it possible in the old SXPS models then?

 

If you're referring to the XPS 1330 then no... not many laptops have interchangeable GPU's.

 

I was wondering if anyone has experience with WoW and this laptop. I am looking for a decently priced laptop that can play WoW at reasonable settings and still get 20-30 FPS. I'm stuck between the Dell XPS machines, the cheapest Alienware notebook, and possibly a Vaio.

 

I know it plays fine on the 16, it seems most newer games on the 13 have to be put in lowest settings on everything to be playable. I think the 16 is a better choice for gaming.

 

Alright, I'm going to go customize a 1640 and see what I get.

 

Have you seen the videos on You Tube showing game play on both the 13 and 16? Just put in Dell Studio XPS in the You Tube search and it shows lots of game play videos for both. This will maybe give you a clear idea of what to expect. Something else, when I put Call Of Duty World At War on my 13 the whole laptop burned right up after 10 mins use, it's not a pleasant experience gaming on the 13 I think infact its pointless when your getting like 11fps on normal settings you need to put the setting right down to lowest to get any decent frame rates when playing a game so it actually is playable.

 

I just updated to bios A07 and now it seems like the fan is running all the time. it is running at a slow rpm (i do not know what to use to check the actual speed). With the old bios i am not sure the fan ran slowly all the time. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Correct observation.

With the new bios it runs all the time, shame on that.
Me myself didnt really get bothered with aving it on all the time, so i reverted back to bios A05 to have it more silent (the computer dosent get "HOT", it just get warm)

Idea on the matter: http://www.ideastorm.com/ideaView?id=087700000000Q92AAE

 

has anyone noticed on 1340 a line across the plastic about 1/4 of the way down and the screen from where you close the lid, looks like where the keyboard meets the palm rest area. Looks like scratches as I cannot rub them off and it also looks like its darked the actual screen under the plastic aswell.

got the dell engineer out today to fix my hdd/wifi lights will show him for what its worth