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

If you look at the configurations he posted they both have the same screen.

The difference in price is that with the Dell you get Dell's pretty good warranty, compared with bestbuys in-house one.

 

Well I just got my outlet Studio XPS 13 and initial impressions were bad. here is what i got :

Studio XPS 13 - 1340

* Studio XPS 13 (1340) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 (3MB cache/2.0GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit

System Price : $979.00

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
Memory 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)
Hard Disk Drive 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Video 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9500M
Media Bay 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Base Studio XPS 13 (1340) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 (3MB cache/2.0GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
Laptop Screen 13.3 inch HD WXGA Edge-to-Edge Slim Laptop screen W/LED with 1.3 Megapixel CameraSoftware Upgrade
Windows Live
64BIT Operating System DVD
Microsoft Works 9.0
64BIT Operating System CD Hardware Upgrade
6 Cell Primary Battery
125V Power Cord
90W AC Adapter
System Color Obsidian Black with Leather Accent
Network Interface Card Dell Wireless 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card

here is my initial impressions :

1 The thing WAS hot like a brick oven
2 Battery life was reporting 2 hours and 15 minutes on balanced with the 6 cell
3 Hybrid SLI was not an option. it was no where to be found as far as toggling it on and off. But the nvidia icon said it was on. (and there were no gpu settings under power profile settings either)
4 no Facial recognition software as promised. Not installed and no disk to install it with.
5 came poorly packed in some Styrofoam and all the cables and discs were just thrown in

I was pissed. as you can check in the studio 14z owners thread i was one of the initial buyers of that laptop. I got it fine but they sent the wrong color. I won't even go into the hell that has been. I will say that I was supposed to get the replacement by July 1stand that I STILL DON'T. I got this Studio XPS 13 cause I need a machine 3 weeks ago for my new business and I could not wait anymore (BTW dell refuses to cancel the 14z order and says it has been in production since the end of June) So right away I wanted to send this new Studio XPS 13 back. I can't, for business reasons my credit is tied up and all I have to get the laptop right now with is my DPA account and I never dreamed it would be a problem. So I started of by just wiping the damn thing ans starting over with Windows 7 RC1. I used all the dell drivers from their site for Vista 64 bit except for the graphics driver. I got that from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ and it was version 186.12_win7x64. It is an entirely different machine than the one I first opened! Now I have the correct power options ( i did not install dells power settings) and I can right click on the Nvidia Hybrid SLI Icon to toggle it on and off. The machine on battery saving mode reports over 4 hours on a full charge and with SLI enabled I can play Left 4 Dead at full res with everything set to medium and get a solid 30-50 fps It is hot as hell when playing a game but with SLI disabled and on power save or balanced power profile it is just mildly warm. It is extreamly quick and runs everything from photo shop and dreamweaver for web design and hand brake for video encoding at the same time smoothly. I am now VERY happy with this purchase, just pissed that it took so much work. Dell needs to really work on its presentation. If I were not computer literate and knew where to go and what to install I would have wrote this thing off as junk but as it stands now it is shaping up to be my best laptop I have ever owned.

The point here is that is if you are willing to spend a evening reloading everything and know what your doing this is a wonderful machine. if not look elsewhere cause as it comes it is going to disappoint.

 

Actually, the Dell.com website actually states Edge-to-Edge while the BestBuy.com doesn't state that.

Was just curious. I'm not too worried about warranties etc. I was wondering if the Windows Vista on the BB version is actually 64-bit and NOT 32-bit. But for $899 it seems like a good deal.

Anybody?

 

Bestbuy version has 64-bit Vista installed. I quickly reformatted the hard drive and installed Windows 7 RC 64-bit. Runs like a dream.

 

I just bought a xps studio 13 from ebay for 700 and recieved it today. I'm pretty excited to use it and it looks flawless. What are some ways I can keep the heat low and since I'm using it for college should I back up my data more frequently due to overheating?

 

Use a notebook cooler. I got one for $10 on Newegg and now my SXPS is cool to the touch at idle. Mildly warm while gaming. It's a good investment.

 

I chatted with Dell about this wireless connection probelm. After the lid was replaced I began to have connection problem. So it's clearly the antenna's problem/ However the stubborn Dell chat said that it is the wireless card issue. I argued with her about 2hours and she finally agreed to take my laptop back to their center and check with theirself. They better fix the connection problem.

 

I have the same problem except nobody is coming to fix mine, and I'm not allowed to send it in

 

Thanks for the tip, does anyone have any good notebook cooler recommendations?

 

Any way to manually eject a dvd?

 

Has anyone been able to retrieve SMART information from the hard drive? Or did Dell somehow disable that.

 

Sorry..That's so sad. But you can have the Dell Chat. The people in there are usually nice especially guys. They don't ask anything and will give you a replacements. As for the female, they usually very stubborn and untrust worthy. One female told me that they don't have wireless department. I imeadiately exited and had another guy who helped me the problems.

 

Well, I think I finally have a good excuse to get Dell to replace the awful DVD drive they put into my SXPS 1340.

I wanted to install Windows 7, and it just won't see one file. The file is clearly there (works on a different computer). Annoying drive... >: (

 

Has anyone removed the thermal pad off the GPU? Is there a gap between the GPU and heatsink, or can you apply a thin layer of thermal paste to it?

 

Hard drive died in my SXPS 13 Friday afternoon...called Dell yesterday and they're going to overnight me one Monday. Was on hold quite a while but once I finally got through to someone his accent wasn't too hard to understand and he was very helpful.

 

Yes, Yes, No.

 

Yes I'm using Vista.
This computer is truly aggravating me now, shutting down nearly every time I use Youtube or stream music.

 

Looking for some help.... Just installed Win7 and I am having trouble figuring out what the coprocessor not recognized in the systems settings is??? Also, I cannot get the Creative webcam software to work regardless of what driver is installed.

Got the Facial Recog software working perfectly though.

Any help is appreciated!!!

EDIT!!! Coprocessor was a NVidia Driver found...

Now I just cannot get the webcam software to work!!!! help!!!

 

The box came this morning and I arranged for a pick up tomorrow. I hope they really fix the wireless problem in Texas.

 

does anyone know the manufacturer part number for the led lcd for this laptop?

Thanks

 

Great! Fedex picked up the box with my laptop inside this morning. I asked for a receipt or something but no. They gave me a tracking number but it won't work. It said no information. I am really worried about it whether I will see my laptop again or not.

 

Do you need the webcam software? Webcam drivers work fine with Windows 7. You can still use it with Messenger etc.

 

Hi everyone,

One question for everybody: You know what is keyboard breating ? that is one thing that I want to do with this computer. Sorry my bad english and my bad explain. Maybe with this video, you can undertand better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o750SDEWnSs



As you can see, the key of the cellphone, Breath =), I want to know if that is possible with this laptop xps 1340, as the keyboard have the same funcionality.

Very thanks in advance.

 

I see what you are talking about, but unfortunetly that is not a built in function with the 1340. I don't think it can be modded to do that either... maybe an electrician would know.

 

Guys... but how good is the 1340. If we forget about how crappy the hybrid graphics are, this laptop rocks.

 

the 16 inch version has had an upgrade and they recently cut the price of the adamo. seems like dell has begun using their brains lately. hope they upgrade the gcard soon.

have they annouced anything yet?

 

Does anybody have acronis image from xps 13 ? i live in japan and have some space for upload if its possible PM me pls.

in exchange i can download anything u want from japan,

i hope this dont break the rules.


Joelox

 

Guys... I hope you can help me, I am experiencing processor fan running all the time, this is my second unit, a replacement ( 2 units in 5 days!!!)... i downloaded SpeedFan4.38 to check what is going on in my system and it reported a temperature of 89~90C in one of my GPU... the other one is running at 61C may I know is this normal? (All this is on AC power)

When on battery, no issues because it only takes in one GPU...

 

Hey guys, there is a new firmware update for the TSST optical drives. You guys might need it for the W7. Mine still in Texas depot service...hoping to see it soon.

 

even if i switch the HDD settings from ACHI to ATA, I Still get the BSOD 0x0000007E...

anyone can help me?

edit : i found out my xp wasnt sp2... i am now trying with a sp2 xp and it seems to work

 

Les try this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=402809 for webcam issues.

 

So I just got my Studio 13 and I'm in love with it. The heat issues were exaggerated imo because so far it's been running very cool even after a hours of downloading and streaming shows. This is without the BIOS update and with a 6cell. Everything seems to be working so far. I'm going to download some games and test the heat as well.I'll keep you updated for a week, the 1st day is usually deceiving.

One thing that really annoys me though is that my right click button gets stuck in place if I click it in a different position. It doesn't take much to put it back in place, you just touch it slightly and it's fine but I'm not sure how I should go about fixing this.

 

hello i was just checking the task manager and its hows only 2301mb available but windows vista reports 4 gb then i run everest and its shows again only 2 gb ram!!
anybody having this kind of problems??

Another thing>.
have anybody tried to install vista without any driver from dell just plain drivers for every device?

Joelox

 

^

That may just mean one of the sticks of RAM came unhooked in transit, open up the chassis and push both the RAM sticks gently to make sure they are snapped in.


Make sure the PC is off before you do this, turn it on after wards and if the system still only recognizes 2GB contact Dell support.


Im so torn between this laptop and the Studio 15, I can get a much better processor, 1080p screen but inferior build quality, RAM and looks or vice versa. These are on models that are comparable price.

 

Maybe you should consider the SXPS 1640

 

Well i just installed the latest 185.85 drivers from DOX from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com and my xps its sooo cool and i can choose in the system tray manually wich mode i want!! its great and i recomend to all do this as soon as possible if they dont want your lovely xps burn in summer! by the way i was thinking here in north japan in winter will be nice have a nice warmer in my lap haha.

About installing xp well the IR port doesnt work but i dont have a remote so i dont find another use and i dont care !
the nvida just recognize 9400MG and the other is disabled anyway works fine and the audio doesnt work the integrated microphone...so i hope someone have a good advice here.

cheers

Joelox


About the camsoftware someone advide its nice if you could remove the name of the software in the image all time thats annoying so i stick with dell software thats uses by the way loots of power from the ram.

 

Just to let everyone know, the Invisible Shield for the SXPS 13 is finally out!

http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/dell-studio-xps-13-cases-covers-skins-shields.php

 

I'd guess you're running a 32 bit version of Vista. It'll list 4GB, but only let you use about 2-3GB. Other programs are probably just recognizing the 2-3GB that is available without a 64 bit OS.

Other: New firmware is available for both DVD-Rom drives at Dell's driver site.

 

2.3GB is too low even for a 64 bit OS. I'm guessing he is running a 32 bit OS and 700MB-1GB is being used as shared memory with the GPU.

 

I was wondering what should I do to preserve battery life. Some people told me to remove the battery when im using the notebook with the ac adapter. other told me to keep battery on....


what should I do? I often use the computer with AC adpater.

 

Just keep the battery in, I dont see the point of having to take out the battery each time you plug it in. The extra heat isnt going to significantly hurt the lifespan of the battery. Besides, the battery on the 1340 is a pain to take out each time.

 

'Nother update.

So after having the first tech come twice with defective LCD ensembles, a third tech finally came with a working ensemble. Unfortunately, DELL decided for my graphics card issue to try replacing the mobo. After he replaced the mobo, fan ran REALLY loud and the computer shut off within a minute of being turned on. Again and again. He said he wasn't sure if it was a software or hardware problem but it was obviously a hardware problem since this happened exactly after he'd replaced the mobo, and it had never happened ever before then. So DELL has finally given up and is going to send me a whole new laptop. I wish I could be happy about this, but I'm only worried I'm going to get another broken POS with a whole new list of problems.

Fingers crossed, man.

 

Sorry about you situation, but I think that is Just BAD LUCK, because i was thinking that my laptop arrive with a bounch of defaults, but thank to God, everything is OK, till now.

I hope, that you new Laptop arrive without any fail.

 

My power cable is separating just behind the blue LED bit. The internal wires are now visible. Seems a bit shoddy. I'm going to ask Dell for a replacement. Are they likely to just send a new one or will someone call out to pick this one up? It still works perfectly though it looks broken so I would be happy to have an extra a/c cable if I can hold on to both.

 

Does anyone have recommendations for versions of NVIDIA drivers that give good performance and stability for the XPS 13?

 

If you mean the SXPS 13/XPS 1340 with the 9500M GE option, then I suggest the beta drivers for Alienware's M17x.

 

Sorry if this has already been asked, there is a lot of pages here and the search feature wasnt helpful to me. Is there a way to turn off the hinge light when I close the laptop and while it is plugged in? Also, does anyone know where I can find a tutorial on applying a thermal compound to try to cool this thing down? I did this on my old laptop but it was a AMD processor and that was the 1st and only experience I have with doing that type of modification and so Im nervous about messing up my new laptop and would like a hold my hand guide if available. Thank you

 

This post is for those who are interested in drastically reducing the heat that is put out by this machine. I installed the new BIOS as recommend, however the temperature was still way too hot to sit on my lap. I then decided to try to apply a thermal compound to the CPU because I read this would help. I recently did it and it makes all the difference in the world, way more so than the BIOS update that did almost nothing noticeable. For those who are intimidated by trying this modification, I can only assure you that I was too and that it actually turned out to be very very simple. Before doing this my temp would vary from 50 to 60 degrees C according to Everest software and now it varies from 40 to 50. about a 10 degree difference which is huge. The machine has been on my lap for 30 minutes and I am downloading a movie and writing this with the lid open and covering the exhaust more than usual and the temp is a consistent 42 degrees. Here is what I did and sorry I didnt take pictures but will try to explain the best I can:

You will need: clear rubbing alcohol, a coffee filter, a tube of thermal compound (I used Arctic Silver 5), and a small Phillips head screw driver and I used tweezers to clean up Dells mess (see below).

First watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dCa7CZ_3sI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERqkEQPK148&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzDwTGBnLnU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drwH08jP0-k

Now Read this:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_intel_dual_wcap.pdf

Now you should have a general idea of what the components you will be working with look like and you should be able to identify them when you see them. A couple things I noticed with this laptop is the CPU wasn't directly under the fan like in my other laptop. Also when I got this machine apart I was shocked at how Dell manufacturers just gobbed the stuff on they originally put on. According to all the stuff I read this is not the right way to do it. The stuff Dell used seemed to be over spilling down the sides of the CPU. Anyway enough Dell bashing, we all know they suck in many ways.

So, turn off the machine unplug it and I didnt remove the battery but probably should have.

Flip it over and remove the back panel (10 screws) lift the panel straight up while leaving the screws in the panel so you dont lose them.

The exhaust vent has 2 screws. Take them out and sit them to side.

Then look into kind of the center of the machine and locate the 4 compression screws that are labeled 1,2,3,4. I loosened them out in reverse order but dont know if that was necessary. (when reassembling you will want to tighten them in order)

Then lift this entire piece off which will also be connected to the area where the vent screws went that you took out previously.

This will expose the CPU. Clean it up following the Arctic Sliver 5 instructions or whatever compound you choose to use. Also the piece you previously removed needs to be cleaned it is the copper square that rest on top of the CPU.

Apply compound and reassemble. Very easy and took me about 15 minutes.

Again I apologize that I am a layman and do not know the technical terms of the different components and I have never written instructions before but hope this helps someone or gives them the confidence to try this because the heat problem is now totally gone. It is remarkable and this laptop is amazing, the heat was the only thing I hated about it and now its fixed. Good luck

 

Dox's 185.85 are excellent

 

I'm usually a lurker, but I thought I'd post my experience with this notebook to help others:

I went from a m1330 to a m1340 due to a free upgrade from dell after complaining about the m1330 GPU failing 3 motherboards in a row.

****I highly regretted moving from the xps to studio xps. Read that sentence again. In my opinion the m1330 is better designed, of higher quality construction, and much more ergonomic than the m1340.****

Don't get me wrong, the studio xps 13 is a 'great machine', but I was A LOT more comfortable with the size/weight/feel/look/durability of the m1330.

Currently there is a list of bullet points I have to share about this machine:

-Arctic silver is mandatory if you care about your components
-MCP (northbridge) runs incredibly hot ~55-80 averaging 65
-You can't put AS5 on the MCP (thick heating pad instead ugh)
-Removing the plastic meshing from the underside inside of the case (take off the bottom panel, it's just lightly affixed with adhesive) directly under the fan intake **drastically** helps improve temps
-9 cell battery is a must for decent temps
-DCP latency issue is atrocious and cannot be fixed w/o bios update
-Glare from 'anti glare' cover is horrific, I miss my M1330 screen
-'Anti glare' enamel keeps coming loose around the edges of the bezel
-Fan control is not possible and the default profile is not aggressive enough
-Waiting on A08 bios for several fixes
-MACHINE WILL NOT RESTART WITH AC ADAPTER IN (probably due to hybrid sli, but no setting/drivers fixes this)
-Must use Dox drivers (185.85) for any reasonable 3d (link below)

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/122-doxs-customized-forceware-releases/

hopefully this shortlist will help inform current owners and dissuade potential buyers from ending up with regrets. Even though I had problems with the M1330 GPU and I'm a gamer, I still would prefer that notebook to my current M1340 due to the above shenanigans.

-wintermute