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

Looks like we'll be getting the invisible shield soon Anyone decide to send their machine in?

 

Just got my 1340 in today, and installed Windows 7 on it. Runs nice so far, and for those of you wary of the heat, it's not a big concern. Under normal use, this laptop just gets a tad warm. One thing I don't like so far though is the wireless. I've installed the driver and I'm using Firefox but this bloody connection is so slow. I'm using a Wireless N router as well, and I'm downloading at about 6 KB/S. Anyone have any fixes for this? I don't know why it would be so slow

 

Does this work with our dell xps 13?

2in1 BLUETOOTH + WIFI 802.11G

http://cgi.ebay.com/2in1-BLUETOOTH-...trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1205|293:1|294:50

Any help is appreciated. My laptop didn't come with bluetooth.

 

That isn't normal. I'm typing to you from 7 right now and have had no problems connecting to any routers yet (from Vista, Linux, and 7) be them G or N routers. I suggest trying to re-install the drivers.

 

Tried that quite a few times. I think it's just the router, because when I'm plugged straight into the modem or the router, the internet is fine. I'll test it once I can find another open router.

 

Are they sending free shields?

 

Is anyone able to "dim" the display? Thought that I read somewhere, that its possible in Win7... e.g. after 5 minutes, the display dims by itself...

 

Dim it by pressing FN+Up Arrow/Down Arrow

 

That much I do know
I am looking for "auto-dim"

 

bump ...anyone?

 

^ AFAIK, it doesn't.

 

Thank you. I should just get the dell bluetooth 370 mini card right?

 

I have a question for you all, I use this laptop a lot for light gaming every weekend. I usually play DOD:S. I have the hybrid card and I have found that it runs better it power saver mode than in performance mode, at least for Source games. What I would like to do is figure out how to make the "dell recommended" mode keep the higher CPU clock speed but put the video card into the battery saving mode. Anyone know how to do this?

Also why do you think a lot of games run better in the power saver mode?

 

Greetings to All,

Somebody who tell me, how to do a big test to all parts of this laptop. On the next few day my xps 1340 will arrive, and I need to test all the funcionality, and verify if everthing is ok, if not inmediatly given back to dell for a replacement.

Sorry for my bad english

Thank you in advance.

 

When you start up the computer run the Diagnostic checks. It should take about 15 minutes and it will test your display, GPU, CPU, HDD, and RAM for any errors.

 

Is there a better program than the Dell Diagnostic to use ?

 

I found Dell Diagnostics to be very thorough. It tests every component.

 

Very thankz, I will do that.

But, ...I dont know what does exactly this diagnostic, but things like test about the light about each key, the multimedia keys, the camara.

I dont know.

Before you told that use that diagnostic, I was thinking on testing. Like:
-Press everykey, see how long the battey discharge, I dont know.

Thank you for the information.

 

You can edit any of the power profiles. Right-click the battery icon on the taskbar and open up the main power plans screen, then click Change Plan Settings on the one you want to change. Then click Change Advanced Power Settings and you can edit pretty much everything (including CPU speeds).

 

Alright, so I received my XPS 13 last Wednesday. I knew it would have some issues (they all seem to), but I'm getting worn out since the dell service techs are no help so far. The plastic covering of the screen is coming out from the frame, the left hinge light isn't working, and today I spotted a dead pixel. Man, it's only been a week, wth.

The most annoying problem though (only the most annoying because I know there's gotta be something I can do to fix it) is the nvidia card isn't working right with power options. On balanced, it never goes to boost performance when plugged in, and it's nowhere to be found in advanced power options. I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest driver (twice because the dell people somehow though maybe a second time would be any different) and notta. The only thing I've read about this was one thread somewhere where someone had this issue and someone else recommended downgrading to an old driver. Do you guys know about this? I have the A06.

Also do you guys rec just asking for a whole new system? That dead pixel means a whole new screen too, and that's a .

 

I feel your pain, I have the same LCD issue where the cover is popping out, plus a ton of BSOD's in game, and crashes, hangs, and freezing. I've had the laptop 2 days. The video card artifacts as soon as it gets into Windows, temps are pretty high. Overall I'm disappointed, but I've got service coming to replace my LCD and motherboard.

Talking to a Dell rep, I think the LCD issue is known. I told the guy I had problems with the LCD panel cover popping out, and he said "So you have problems with the LCD popping out on the top LEFT side, right?". Now, I never told him it was the top left side, but that's exactly where the problem is.

Also, with drivers, go back to the version that was installed on your XPS originally. Those are the only ones that work for me, and I had the same problems as you.

 

I'm finished with my Studio XPS 1340. I will send it back and this really relieves me after all the hassle and problems.

Bought a Studio XPS 1340 for 1200€ at the end of May. When it arrived it wasn't standing even (here's a nice video from someone with the same problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BxY6ZnhTk ). So I wondered about the Dell quality control and called the service. They were very kind and sent me a replacement.

The first thing I did when it arrived was checking the feet. I was quite shocked when the replacement wasn't standing even, too.
I called the hotline again and they sent me another replacement. When it arrived I was quite happy when there were no problems with the feet. So I transfered all the data from the first device to the new one. Just when I had finished I discovered a serious problem with the screen. I called the hotline and the tech came to the conclusion that the screen would have to be replaced. So the next days a tech arrived, replaced the screen and everything seemed to be fine.
After some days I realized that something was wrong with the wireless device as the 1340 had serious connection problems. It was standing next to the router and often lost the connection or had a poor signal quality while the first 1340 that we still had showed no problems at all. I called the hotline, described the problems to a tech and he said the notebook would need another repair. Then the first 1340 that hadn't been fetched by UPS so far showed a new problem. In addition to fact that it didn't stand even the screen started fading from time to time. So it faded to white and then to purple while everything froze. Moving the bezel helped but the error returned from time to time.

By this time I was really disappointed - several weeks had gone and I still hadn't received a proper device for my 1200€. Instead I had to take several days off in order to wait for the replacements or for UPS fetching the broken devices. I had received three broken notebooks. (1st didn't stand even and had a serious screen problem; 2nd didn't stand even. I don't know if there were more problems with it because I never turned it on after it had the same problem with the feet; the 3rd device had a broken screen and problems with the wireless device. In addition all of them had the problems with the audio delay which I discovered first in this thread).

But so far at least the service staff had been very friendly. I called the hotline and asked for a fourth year of guarantee for free because of all the problems and bercause I had lost confidence in the quality of the 1340 - at this moment I decided that I wouldn't keep it without with a compensation from Dell. Well the service hotline referred me to the tech hotline and they referred me to the "unsolved problems"-form on the website. I described my problems there and waited two weeks for an answer. Nothing happened and so I called the tech hotline again. A grudgy guy heard my story and told me that this didn't sound like a hardware problem at all. Funny thing that everything worked until they changed the screen. So I called his supervisor and asked for the 4th year of service. He said that he couldn't give it to me but that the service hotline would call me in order to solve the problems. Well, they never called. So at the end of the day I'm quite disappointed because of the poor quality of the Studio XPS 1340 and even of the service which has been on of the major reasons for me to buy a Dell notebook. Good look with your 1340s - I hope those produced for the US are better. Since the European ones are produced in Poland the quality has definately declined (even the Dell tech which swapped the Screen told me that).


saint

 

Saint, your wobbly problem can be easily solved by loosen some screws. Then the low connection problem is either the wireless card problem or the LCD problem because Dell hides the attenas in there. The LCD showing different colors might be GPU's problem that needs to change the motherboard. Maybe you got the good system at first but you change it if you read some posting in here rather than spending time with the Dell chat or hotline.

 

Yes loosening the screws can help - the tech that repaired the screen told me that. But they didn't know that at the hotline - instead they sent a new device

I guess that the wireless problem is related to the replaced screen. Perhaps some cable is loose.

And the color-problem didn't seem to be a graphic card problem as it was temporarily solved by moving the bezel.

Well I called the hotline and they refused to take it back as they just tried to fix the last 1340 once. So getting two replacements doesn't really count. The repair of the last device has to fail two times in order to get my money back. Great - by now I have lost all faith in this notebook but it looks like I have to let them try to repair it. Well after all the problems I experienced until now I guess it won't take long to find another serious problem with it to get a refund


saint

 

Wait, they're actually letting you send it back after 2 repairs? My LCD died, and my motherboard died, and none of the reps I've spoken to will allow me to return my XPS 13. I pretty much hate this thing.

 

they have to take it back after they fail to repair a problem twice - it's laid down in a law here in Germany. The only thing they could do is claiming that they repaired different parts but I'm staying optimistic :/


saint

 

A Dell Tech came to my house today, and replaced my motherboard and LCD no questions asked. Temps dropped quite a few degrees, and now games are much more playable and I've yet to get a BSOD. The whole repair took less than an hour and I didn't have to reinstall anything. He handed it over and I played some games to test it out. Quality control on the SXPS 13 may not be amazing, but customer service has come through for me. Only yesterday did I first call them with complaints. My only gripe now is that the keyboard isn't on quite right I don't think, because when I press the enter key, a third of the keyboard dips down a little bit. Oh well.

 

guess what

computrace insists that this computer does not have the agent

when enabling the computrace feature in the system bios, it does nothing to protect your computer.

i updated to windows ultimate, and installed vista and windows xp on a wiped hard drive (twice), and my computrace was removed from the computer.

either the actual computrace agent is missing in the flash bios, or it is broken.

 

A few pages back "huey85" posted some nice skins he got on eBay.. following that I got myself the "synthetic leather wrist rest" as the glossy surface just had to get wiped every few minutes

Just a few pictures for those interested.. it's not like the leather on the back of the laptop, it feels a lot like the slipcase/bag that the laptop comes in when you open it up from the box.

 

Haha looks like it turned out nicely for you too.

Yes, the material is more of a felt material but TBH I like the feeling more than plastic.

How are you finding it, pillowshow? Did you get a skin for your lid too?

 

That looks pretty impressive, can you post the link to it on ebay?

 

Here's the link http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Polar...19QQ_sidZ684371949QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Huey: I'm finding it really nice.. it's great not having to wipe it every few minutes to get rid of the smudges and it looks and feels really nice.. I'm still undecided on the thing I should get for the lid.. they have so much choice.

 

My Studio XPS 13 just came in and I love it, except for one feature. When I put the computer to sleep and close the lid...as soon as the lid opens, the computer wakes up. Anyone know how to stop this? It's very annoying...

 

Hmmm looks really nice...Free shipping to germany and the seller seems honest... Is it easy to apply? Will you be able to take it off without any residue?
Now we just have to find a skin/mod for the keyboard...THAT would be an improvement...

 

Another problem has popped up on my XPS. I am running Vista 64 bit with the Bluetooth 370 device, and everytime I resume from hibernate or standby, the bluetooth will not work. Ive spent hours today trying to reinstall drivers, as well as contacting Dell. Still no luck. Anyone else having bluetooth issues on their machine?

 

Great - a tech came in order to repair the SXPS and after he had swapped the display one more time the notebook didn't start anymore. Only the touch buttons were flashing shortly after I plugged in the AC. The tech said there must be something seriously wrong with the notebook and that it has to be sent in. So I called Dell and they will actually refund the money \°/
I'm so sick of this notebook but it looks like I can close this chapter quite soon.


saint

 

Did anybody have problems with the wireless miniPCI card?

Well I just got my Dell Studio XPS 13 with the 1515 wireless card and something wrong with it. It can't see any routers even if other laptops in my office (Sony Vaio, Thinkpad x60s, Asus, etc) all work great (with excellent signal strength).
When I place the SXPS13 near to the router then the signal strength is recognizable but still "poor". I tried it with different routers and reinstalled a clean operating system but the new Dell can't connect to the routers.

I'm a bit upset because I was waiting for 3 weeks to get this laptop (Europe) and now I have to send it back...

 

Might be a faulty card. But it can also ba as simply as that the antenna are not connected properly. I assume you got xps in home support, so just call them and ask for a exchange of antennas and card?

 

exchange/repair of the antennas normally means that they have to swap the complete lid

 

noob what are you talking about? this is the essence of sleep mode. if you want to keep the laptop sleeping, then don't open it. your question is ridiculous?

 

Bump, does anyone else have any suggestions?

My computer will shut down when I'm just watching a Youtube video with AC plugged in and in high performance mode.

 

You're using Vista right? I had that problem and I got the motherboard replaced and it actually turned out to be Windows 7 conflicting with some of the drivers.

 

Many people agreed that Dell wireless 1515 is bad but how about Dell wireless 1510? I don't see many complain about it. Since Intel Wifi 5300 doesn't not work, I want to find a nice wireless card. Can someone give me some suggestions?

 

Before you toss the 1515 card in the trash, try uninstalling the Dell drivers and download the Atheros drivers from
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14833 .

I had the 1515 card in an SXPS 13 I recieved from the Outlet and it wouldn't connect to my wireless network using the Dell drivers. Once I installed the Atheros drivers, everything worked perfectly. I eventually returned that computer for other reasons and got another SXPS 13 with the 1510 card and that is a Broadcom based chip and has worked perfectly for 2 months now.

 

Anybody here purchased the Best Buy version? If so, how's it keeping up so far? How does it compare to the problems that other users are having with their direct-Dell orders?

Just looking for some insight and hope it helps in my purchasing decision. I'm looking into buying the Dell Studio XPS 1340 but wondering if the few hundred dollar difference is really worth it. (I compared a built-to-order from Dell.com and the BB version and I believe the only difference was that the screen on the BB version is not WLED and that it doesn't have the 256MB dedicated GPU...and it was probably 300$ difference between them even after the 7% EPP discount).

 

Ok here's the actual "lo-down":



//DELL.COM - $1101.12 (after 7% Member Purchase Program discount)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA LCD with 2.0 Megapixel Camera
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery


//BESTBUY.COM - $899.99
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, (guessing 32-bit)
13.3" WXGA TrueLife widescreen display (with webcam)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

//DIFFERENCES
32-bit vs 64-bit
and i'm thinking the Edge-to-Edge HD screen not on the Best Buy version.

Other than that...

that's a over $200 difference for something similar.
Now for what I've read online, it seems you cannot perform a simple "upgrade" from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Vista. You have to perform a clean install and it should work. Am I correct? And if so, will the 32-bit product key work with the 64-bit product key?

Just looking for some input. I currently am looking into purchasing a notebook. And it's not that I'm trying to save money as much as I'm trying to get a notebook soon. I currently already have access to a BestBuy credit account that will cover the cost of the notebook there. The problem is that I don't have the cash $ at the moment (and probably wont for a few months as I have other expenses) to purchase this directly from Dell. I've tried applying for their credit before and have gotten denied due to whatever reason they gave me.

Suggestions?

 

The screen is the exact same, and they both operate on 64 bit Vista.

 

Yes, I have the Bestbuy version and it is def 64-bit. Both systems are the same, and I have bluetooth, on dell's site it was an additional $20

 

I tried the driver. However it has the same outcome. It only shows 2 bars when my laptop was next to the louter. That's why I need a new wireless card.

 

AFAIK, the best buy version doesnt have the thinner and more effective LED screen?