===> The Official Studio XPS 1640 + ATi 4670 GPU Owner's Thread<===

WHAT? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO GET THAT PRICE????? I paid 1382 for the system in my sig.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the same card. For some reason, Dell uses other numbers when referring to the graphics cards. I had the same question when I ordered mine.

 

I joined the club today. Specs in the sig.

 

Welcome to glory.

 

So I've had some really bad problems with my order. The machine showed up busted, right out of the box. And no, it was not any kind of open box PC. It was made custom for me.
After wasting a week with tech support on the phone (suffering a phone bill increase of $137), having a technician try to replace the motherboard with a defective one sent by Dell, and a few other frustrating problems, I got them to start building me a new Studio XPS 16. God only knows how long it will take for the new one to show up, but the guy did say he would "expedite" the process. After complaining about my problems, which are severe due to the lack of a computer for my business, the guy said he could only give me a $25 credit. I asked for some hardware upgrades, but got nowhere. He started to suggest the possibility of "other solutions," but he dropped that when I suggested a better processor or something like that. I really feel like I got screwed over here. Sure, the original price was good, but the time wasted on my order, the resulting lapse in my productivity, the huge phone bill due to tech support, and everything else seemed to be worth more than a stinking $25 credit to my account.

Should I expect more? Should I call these jokers back and demand better treatment? I would do so if I knew there was a possibility they could give me a better computer to replace the one I ordered. I'm just not sure how limited these sales people are when it comes to giving upgrades in a situation like mine.

 

Thanks, I forgot I have a P8700 at home. Gonna have to change the proc.

 

Mine is supposed to be here tomorrow morning. I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight!

 

Ugh, that's cruelty. Well, technically, upgrades come out of the "goodness" of their hearts, so you can't expect one. Usually, though, Dell isn't too haughty about upgrades. You may have just gotten a stingy representative. But, now that leads to the issue: if you call another representative, you'd have to explain the whole scenario and they, having not actually been with you during the tech support calls, might not feel as sympathetic. It's worth a shot, though.

Upgrades, unfortunately, are kind of like free fries with your order at Burger King when it took too long. You can't exactly demand it, but it is always much appreciated. This is iffy....I'd give them a call, see what they can do. No harm in just calling, right?

~Ibrahim~

P.S. Slightly off-topic, but most of us have configured the XPS 1640 almost identically. I'm sure I could find at least five users here who have the exact same configuration as I do. J3n82: ours are identical, except we have different procs...

 

Dell EPP baby!!! Once youve ordered your machine with the current promotion online, call (must be between monday through friday 8am central time) and give them your EPP code if you have one. Then they will determine how much more they will take off. I got an additional 15%, but thats probably due to past order history through my company...

 

Hey guys I need some help. I just received my dell studio xps today and its great. only problem is that out of nowhere I get the blue screen. And this was not just one, but the fourth time today! and i got my shipment at around 2:30 and have only been playing around with it for a few hours. please help?!?!

 

Has anyone tried removing the little dust filters (I assume that is they are) that cover the air intake vents on the inside of the baseplate of the 1640? It seems like these filters barely let any air at all through, and I was wondering if it might improve airflow to take them off. They just seem to be glued over the vents...but I'm somewhat hesitant to take them off.

Any ideas why this might be a bad/good idea?

 

Send it back immediately...

 

Yeah, I would definitely give them a call. It may just be a bad RAM stick, but a BSOD on the first day or even the first month is something serious.

~Ibrahim~

 

I agree, you just spend a lot of hard earned money on a system that is supposed to be a flagship to the consumer side of the company. You should never have any problems with a system out of the box. Call them and demand an advanced RMA. Atleast you will have something to work on while you are waiting for the new one.

 

yup I paid $1060 for the system in my sig EPP, DPA and 2 year warranty plus free 9 cell bat and $50 gift card

 

when you mean advanced RMA how long does that ususally take once i let them know of the problem? and they send me a new SXPS 16 when i ask for the RMA right?

 

So you got the white one? Is it looking good?

 

I don't know I just ordered it. I'll find out. From the pics it looks like only the lid is white and everything else is black.

 

What is the expected delivery date? Congrats on the order by the way!

 

Call customer service and request a replacement for your defective system. They will re-order you the same system and ship it to you. They wil issue you a return label for the defective one and you will send it back at no charge.

MANY of us have done the same thing, it's quite painless.

 

Thanks, 9/11 is EDD.

 

A day you probably won't easily forget... 9/11...

 

thanks for clearing it up. just asking but approximately how long does it take for them to send youa new one?

 

No way to say, depends if the parts are in stock and other factors. I received my replacement in less than a week, but others have waited the same amount of time as a new build.

 

Well, my laptop is here. Every time I close the lid and open it back up I get the BSOD. There is color bleed on both sides of the screen and the colors are way off (I didn't adjust them so that could very well be why). Anyone else have the same problems with the BSOD every time you close the lid and reopen?

 

Depending on your ability and how much you need/want the laptop, I'd do a fresh install and see if that fixes it. If you don't feel like it, call Dell and have them send you a new one. Unfortunately that's only going to address one of your 3 issues.

*edited for speeling erorrs.

 

Every 1640 I've seen has the bleed near the edges. Some come without much at first, but after using the laptop for about 2 weeks it gets much worse like all the rest.

About the RGBLED colors, that's what I've been talking about for a while now. Everyone seems to rave about how great it is when the colors seem way off. I haven't been able to correct the colors very good except using ATI CCC turning the saturation down to 90.

The strange thing is, my old 1640 had REALLY bad over saturation on the colors, but my replacement system is MUCH better, but still needs to be adjusted in CCC to 90 saturation....

They must be doing something different, or some of the screens are defective.

I also took the back plate off of both systems to compare and the one with the 4670 has bigger heatsinks on it. Also, the gap between the screen and the vent is bigger on my new system.

 

I got a BSOD with mine when the battery was very low (about 12%) and I closed the lid and opened it. First time I let it get that low, maybe it's some sort of battery issue.

 

The other thing is the default power settings are set to put the laptop in sleep mode every time you close the lid. Try changing it to "Do Nothing" when you close the lid. That's the first thing I change on everyone I own. Again, if it were me I would format it, but that's just me. I format every computer I own 3-4 times a year.

 

Bah!

Dell just updated my ship date from Aug. 24th to Sept 14th!!!

Time to call and rage!

 

my estimated delievery date was 26th but they delayed it to sept 4th. i just checked my order and they shipped it!! i think you should wait couple of days before you call Dell

 

They must be short some component.
It will be there before that, they always are.

 

Well, I'm a victim too! They delayed my machine from 28-08 to 08-09. I had a talk with my sales rep who told me that the delay was caused by a missing Operating System... The item that was red flagged was the OS... He also could not understand it, so he´ll try to get more info and get back to me tomorrow... :S

 

I decided to send mine back. I'm really bummed I missed out on the 50% off Latitude sale last night (although according to Slickdeals Dell is canceling a lot of the orders). Oh well..back to my ancient desktop until I can find another laptop I like.

 

So you not getting a replacement 1640?

 

Nope. I am most likely going to get a Latitude.

 

Was it the screen colors that made you not want a replacement? Or the BSOD's etc.?

 

Sounds like you got a defective laptop. I don't think a latitude will be any better but hey it's your choice and money. I'm actually regretting not purchasing the Asus G51VX-X1A like I was going to originally. I got so impatient that I ended up sticking with the SXPS instead. My return window is up so the only choice I'd have is to sell it at a loss and get the Asus..hmm. If anyone is interested, the system in my sig has 3 yrs warranty + 3 yrs complete care and is brand new (received it on aug 19th) with no defects. I'll let it go for $1500 shipped.

 

Joker - What's the matter with the one you got, I thought it was perfect this time?

OT- I notice that with most of the people who are unhappy with the XPS16 it comes down to a money thing, like buyers remorse when the see an out. IMO if you are unwilling to let Dell send you a new one at NO cost to yourself than frankly you didn't really want it in the first place. Give them credit they are pretty accomodating in that way.

 

Yeah man it's perfect, no flaws at all. I'm just not happy with the gaming performance, specifically Frontlines fuel of war. That game doesn't run too well with ATi cards from what I've read on their forums and it's one of my favorite games. So I'm thinking of selling this laptop and getting the Asus with the GTX 260 instead.

 

Screen colors/bleed, very hot while idling, really loud fan. I compared the RGB LED screen to my husband's Latitude D830 (1920 x 1200) and was really disappointed to see that the Latitude was better. I expected a lot more. His Latitude (D830) has a much more accurate screen, way quieter, and cool to the touch. The repeated BSOD was just the icing on the cake.

ViperGTS - In my case it's not buyer's remorse about the cost. Unfortunately, I will probably end up spending even more for my next laptop or cut back on the more frivolous specs to keep it in the same price range. Photography is my main hobby and the RGB LED simply wouldn't be right for my needs. The screen is one of the most important things I look for. There really aren't any stores that sell laptops where I live so I was unable to see one of them in person.

 

That's the main thing that bothers me about RGBLED. They advertise it like it's a photographers dream, but it's actually worse than the standard WLED 15.6". Maybe you should try that instead? Probably not because the system is hot too. That doesn't bother me much because I use it on a desk with an external mouse.

I'm really beginning to think I should change my new order from the RGBLED to the WLED. It's fully decked out: 3ghz, 8gb ram, hd 4670, bd burner, 5300 wireless, bt, etc.

 

And yet this very same RGB screen is what got unequivocal rave reviews from every reviewer to be found. There is not a disparaging review anywhere regarding the screen. Many say it's the best screen to be found on any laptop, anywhere.

Go figure...

 

Nice specs you have there! Have you seen the RGB LED in person? I've seen posts where people love it but after viewing it for myself I like the 1080p WLED much better.

 

RGB Backlighting is a proven, spectacular technology providing a higher quantum efficiency in producing white light. They are bad batches of screens if you are getting bleeding etc... The bleeding is the LCD not the RGB backlight. If you have any of these symptoms, send them back...

 

I know it is talked about a bit throughout the forum, but I had a question. Both the WLED and RGBLED are 1080p, but what is the difference? Is it just more vibrant colors?

Thanks for the help

 

I've had 3 so far, and they all had bleeding on the edges near the silver hinge. Some are better than others, but none of them have had very good colors. They are way over saturated. You can adjust the ATI CCC settings to saturation 80 or 90, but at a cost of other things. I haven't tried those color profiles posted in the RGBLED settings thread. But I don't have a system now to try them with and I'm thinking about canceling my order and ordering the WLED.

 

Have you seen them side by side? There are posts here about lousy color with that screen too.

Have you ever purchased a plasma tv?
You get it home, fire it up and HOLY SH*T it looks terrible. Way too bright, colors way off and cartooney....ugh. Then you take the time to calibrate it correctly and voila...great picture.

The RGBLED screens come out of the box way too saturated and colors way too bright, the screen needs to be calibrated and adjusted. Plenty of info here about it. Then most people find it to be terrific. Yes, there are bad screens from any manufacturer but these across the board statements that the RGB screen sucks and the WLED is great is hogwash.

 

Why are you taking the comments about the RGB LED screen so personally? Calm down..

 

bump bump bump, exactly.... Every TV I have ever owned including my Samsung LED DLP, first thing to do is to get the remote codes for the service menu and once you have the accuracy set, you're golden....