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

Ordered one today from the dell outlet

Studio XPS 13 (1340) Laptop:
Dell Studio XPS 13
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)
160 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G
Total Price: $645.84

 

Such sweetness in savings, Burkle Grat's!


Cin...

 

thats cheap as hell! nice score

 

I have just upgraded to Windows 7(64 bit), what graphics card and chipset drivers are best?

I have tried to install the newest nvidia graphic driver, but it says it doesn't contain drivers for my graphics card.

 

^ Windows 7 Nforce drivers from nvidia.com and graphics driver version 186.12

 

But which nforce driver is it I need to download?

 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_win7_64bit_15.37.html

 

Thanks for the help

 

Need an opinion guys... I just ordered an m1330 AND and xps 1340 from the dell outlet. I need help deciding which one to keep:

m1330
t5750 2ghz core 2 duo
2gb ddr2 667mhz
120gb 5400 hd
x3100
bluetooth
webcam
led display
fingerprint reader
---------for $478 taxed shipped to california

OR

xps 1340
p8600 2ghz core 2 duo
4gb ddr3 1066
320gb 7200rpm free fall
bluetooth
webcam
wireless N (1515 card)
---------for $618 taxed shipped to california

What are the weight/dimension (thickness) differences?

 

I have no idea about os x and I think hackingtosh is not an acceptable topic on these forums.
I compared the sxps and the 1330 directly (i have sxps 13 and my sister has an 1330). If you are only interested in portability go for the 1330 because the difference is noticeable. It is much thinner and lighter than the SXPS.

 

Hi, can you plz let me know the link where you could get the 1340 for $618
Is there a coupon you used?

 

Dell Studio XPS 13
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4Mhz
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)
500 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
NVIDIA GeForce 9500M
Dell 1515 wireless
Dell bluetooth

 

It was the dell outlet:

www.dell.com/outlet >>> home >>> then you'll find it
there's a 15% off home outlet laptops that dell is sending out through its e-mail lists but e-junkie is selling them for free here:
http://www.e-junkie.com/coupon/prod...Coupon+15%+off+A NY+Refurb+Laptop+and+Desktop

Mine was actually a scratch and dent (usually they look pristine) 659 - 15% + 9.75% and $8 Ca recyling fee tax. I'm still waiting on both.

I do a lot of photography (PS mainly) and am getting into video editing with my 5d mark ii so now i'm planning to use sony vegas, adobe premiere and after effects.

In terms of portability and performance with doing quick edits/processing, will I take a huge performance hit if I end up keeping the m1330 instead of the xps 1340 (after upgrading the hdd and adding more memory). I know the m1330 with LED display is even thinner than the ccfl m1330, but is the xps 1340 HUGE in comparison to the m1330?

 

I'd rather have the p8600, 7200 rpm's and 4 gigs of ram. In terms of systems, I like them both. The 1340 "seems" slightly better built and I like the illuminated keyboard on the 1340.

 

I have both systems, slightly diff configs though.

The M1330 is slightly lighter and a bit thinner. Then again, the model has suffered its share of mobo/video card downfalls which can be found in several threads.

The M1340 is a much better looking system albeit slightly heavier. The backlit keyboard and the style of the keyboard is well worth the upgrade alone, however I see that for the slight increase in price you get 4gb ram rather than 2 and a far better hd....

Hmmm...not really a tough decision and I am sure many here would scoop that 1340 from you for that price eheheh.

 

Are these confirmed working? Nvidia's windows7 driver page refers OEM users to their OEM supplier for drivers, and Dell doesn't list any windows7 drivers. Last I knew the nvidia web page's windows7 drivers refused to load on the 1340, and everyone has been using drivers with hacked .inf's to work around this (from laptopvideo2go.com or the like). I would have hoped the situation would have improved now that the RTM version of w7 is out on technet, but I haven't seen any officially signed&working driver for the 9400m on the 1340.

 

I can confirm both are working flawlessly, and you don't need any hacked infs for the 186.12.

And it is unfortunate that Nvidia hasn't released any official driver for Windows 7 yet, but I guess they still have time since Windows 7 isn't being sold yet.

 

Link for the 186.12 drivers please?
When I go to
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
with product series 9M selected from the radio menu still just takes me to the 186.03 WHQL drivers.
The 186.12 drivers I installed were from laptopvideo2go.com and weren't digitally signed.

Windows7 is effectively being sold already as technet customers are paying customers with RTM copies of windows7.

 

I don't remember if mine were signed either, but you can try getting them from here: http://support.dell.com/support/dow...emID=ALW_LP_M17X&os=WV64&osl=en&catid=&impid=

And yes it's being distributed through TechNet but they're only using it for evaluation/testing and as far as that's concerned, they have the beta drivers which are quite stable. Either way, lets just hope they release an official driver soon

 

They are the Alienware M17x beta drivers for Vista which support Hybrid SLI and yes they work great IME.

 

well, my sXPS is finally in my hot l'il hands and I am happy.

All good thus far and pleasantly chuffed with performance and looks

 

Congratulations! It's been great to me for a while now

 

dell studio xps 1340
13inch LED
2.4ghz c2d
320gb 7200rpm HD
4gb ram
9400m gpu
Order Subtotal: $648.91
Shipping and Handling: $19.99
Shipping Discount: -$19.99
Tax Total: $54.32 (**** you tax!)
Total Amount: $703.23


was that a good deal?

 

Was that an outlet deal or brand new?
Either way, seems like a pretty good deal, I got mine exactly the same (minus LED display) for $618 including 9.75% Ca tax from the outlet.

I guess I'll have to decide on which one to keep as the m1330 arrives Thurs. and the xps 1340 arrives Sat. I'll have to see if weight/dimensions will be a deciding factor for me.

 

It was outlet. Anyways, you do know that Dell charges a repacking fee (I think 10-20%) for all returned products, right? The xps 1340 was available at my local BB aka I was lucky to have a hands-on before the purchase. ps don't you hate the tax? I know I do. With my insane 10% NY tax, I only saved 7% (2% from preferred account) :/

 

Yes, this is mine

13inch CCFL
2.4ghz c2d
160gb 7200rpm HD
4gb ram
9400m gpu
Sub-Total : $585.65
Tax : $52.19 (CA tax)
Order Total : $645.84

 

Dell does not charge a repacking fee for all returned items to the best of my knowledge. Their repacking fee, traditionally, has been reserved for special circumstances such as those who simply refuse shipments and what not.

I have returned two laptops in the past, neither of which were subject to any repacking fee and both of which resulted in 100% of money being returned.

 

Thank you guys for the positive responses. +1 rep for both of you Anyways, at first I thought about getting a 9cell battery, as it was $80 extra. What killed the deal for me was the tax, $20 more tax = $100 battery = no thanks. Am going to wait until my 6cell completely dies before replacing it with a 9cell. Oh screw it, by the time my 6cell dies, a new studio xps will probably be out. If the new studio xps manages to look even better than the current iteration, I might get that instead

 

I'm running Windows 7 Pro now (the final RTM version is available through the MSDNAA now), so I'm not sure about the RC anymore, but I installed the 190.56 drivers with the hacked inf from laptopvideo2go and everything seems to be working OK. I had some issues on the RC with some of the older drivers freezing up when switching from onboard graphics only to hybrid SLI.

 

jonjonk...

You have one year no questions asked return on your Dell battery. Simply contact them in the 12th month and state that it is not holding its charge the same anymore. They will send you a replacement to which you send the old one back.

Hope this helps..

 

Thanks for the info. When I said that a replacement laptop might be possible, I meant it in 4 years Depending on the built quality, it might even be longer.

 

seems like the cooling isn't good enough for heavy gaming.

with some other games i've had no issues, but with a beta of fallen earth i'm getting tons of tears and artifacts - kind of what you'd get if you oc your gpu.

so far this is the only game that does this, but then i've only played 3 different games.

it runs fine on my 1720 with it's 8600m gt.

i am using a cooling pad btw and i had the laptop about 2 ft from a ac vent on the floor.

 

hey guys, I just got my laptop today. Got it 2 days after ordering from outlet. As of now, I love this laptop..with the exception of three things. Those three things rank in my level of frustration (1 being the highest):
1. Heat! It's seriouslly pissing me off. I just got it an hour ago and it's already heating up.
2. The size of the touchpad. This touchpad is small. It's about the smallest touchpad I have ever seen on a 13inch. Using it is slightly irritating.
3. The battery life. In the age of long battery life portable laptops (including the previously discontinued m1330), this laptop does a horrible job managing the battery life.
If you take those three things out of the equation, this is seriouslly the BEST laptop (at around $1k) I have ever had. I would give this laptop a 10/10 if the above three listed wasn't such a problem.

 

Are you running on high performance? I'm guessing you are because that will make it run hotter because the SLI will be enabled which will increase the heat and power consumption.
IMO the touchpad is perfect. I don't think it's to small. Perhaps if you increased the pointer speed that would help you.

 

I have a question for anyone who (foolishly) bought their 1340 without internal bluetooth, and who now wants to add it. How hard is it to install a new card? It seems like (after a good bit of research) I need to install the:

"2.4 GHz Wireless 370 Bluetooth (2.1 + EDR) Mini-Card"

Any idea on how hard this would be? Also, I bought the laptop from BestBuy; do you think this would void my "Black Tie" Service Plan?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

+1. I like the touchpad too.

For the system being hot - I don't even remember the last time my 1340 got hot. I always run it on power save mode. The Hybrid graphic option feels like it's worse performing anyway.

 

Hi, thank you for the swift reply. I do not have a 9500GE, mine came with the 9400m. I'm currently undervolting the cpu to see if the heat can be controlled. If the heat drops a good 10-20C, this laptop will be the perfect laptop.

 

I bought the Studio XPS 13 also recently and have the same problems. I have my settings on enery saving and hybrid slide is off (also energy saving).

My laptop is also running really hott and also the audio out of the speakers are bad .

The battery life is only 2 hours with light brightness on
4 bars on the left and wifi and backlit keyboard off.

I think that is unacceptable for a laptop of 1000 Euro.

 

Buddy, you should have bought at dell outlet. With my budget, I never buy any laptop over 1k. But after I graduate grad school, that's another story lol

On a side note, I do not understand what the laptop designers were thinking of. The back vent is completely useless due to the fact that it's covered by the screen.

 

Here in the Netherlands we dont have a dell outlet

 

Ok, I think some people just have different heat tolerances than others.
I'm used to living in warm/hot conditions, so maybe that's why I don't think it's too hot.
I think you should replace your thermal paste, that always helps lower the heat with Dell computers. Dell uses pretty lousy thermal paste.
Also you could buy a notebook cooling pad if you don't mind using them.

Yes, if you play crysis with hybrid enabled, it will like... cough every few seconds IYKWIM. There is something messed up with it, so I just have it disabled unless I'm testing.

Use HWMonitor to measure your temps. Mine are currently: A-48C, CPU Core #0 & #1-34C, GPU Core-50C.
I think 2 hours is acceptable on a 13" notebook, especially on the 1340 considering the CPU and GPU it has. Keep in mind that you can purchase a 9 cell battery if you really need it.

That is a real shame, you could look on ebay for some international sellers who resell refurbished 1340's.

 

Quick question about drivers. When I first installed the Windows 7 RC, Windows pulled down Nvidia drivers through windows update and hybrid sli worked flawlessly.

I just did a reinstall and windows update doesn't find any Nvidia drivers this time. I'm stuck with Dell's Vista drivers again and as I mentioned earlier in the thread I get horrible interlacing with them on the 9400 so I'm not pleased.

Anything I download from Nvidia only lets me install chipset drivers as Hybrid SLI doesn't seem to be supported. I used the nForce link that DemonicHawk provided above but no joy.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Holy! That's real cool. My cpu idles at 46-48C. How did you make it that low? I just messed around with undervolting, got it decently undervolted...almost no change in temperature whatsoever. The cpu would start out around 10C lower than before undervolting, but, due to the poor "screen blocks vent" design, the temperature increases back to where it was before undervolting. Tell me your secret ps I have the P8600.

 

lol-This is my secret

Honestly that is all I did.
The longer MX-2 is on your CPU, the cooler it will get
I originally had a P8600 in my 1340 but swapped it with the P8400 in my P7811. But I still got good temps when I was using the P8600.

 

I got some generic thermal paste at home somewhere. I bought it to keep my desktop cool, and it worked really well. I'm just a little disappointed at the fact that thermal paste have to be re-applied the first day I get this baby. I noticed from another poster on this thread that there is a plastic mesh inside the case that can be taken out for a drastic temperature adjustment. Gona see later If I can get it anywhere close to your idle temperatures.

 

Ahhh yesh, plastic mesh... the purpose of that is to keep the fan from pulling in a 'lot of dust. If you remove it, the laptop will run cooler but dust will be pulled inside the laptop, get blown all around and clog the heatsink fins. If you don't mind cleaning the laptop every month or two then you should be ok. Just remember some dust will likely go all through the inside of the laptop if there is no mesh.

 

The chipset drivers are just that, chipset drivers. For the graphics drivers, download the 186.12 from the alienware m17x downloads.

 

+1 rep. Thank you for the great advice.

 

Messege froom the dell forum of the website of dell

Studio XPS 1340 Overheating
13 Aug 2009 12:49PM

Until Dell ships the newer vent cover, I removed the current vent cover to allow more hot air to be expelled from the system chassis. I also loaded the latest A07 Bios and A06 video card driver. Understand, this is just a workaround until Dell can release the new plastic vent cover.

* Power the system off
* Turn it over with the hinges away from you
* Remove the 10 phillips screws holding the Base Cover
* Remove the Base Cover
* On the top right you will see a plastic vent cover with 16 vent holes
* Remove the two phillips screws and lift the plastic vent cover off
* Replace the Base Cover

Using this workaround, I can run the system with Hybrid SLI on with no overheating.

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19289346.aspx

 

I kinda predicted this...
I remember posting something about it a few months ago when some people here were talking about it overheating because of the screen and vent.

It's late and I'm going to bed, but tomorrow I'm going to dig up that post I made and show it