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

mine arrived 10:30 am , kudos to fedex for morning delivery.
arctic white lid is flawless and so is the entire computer.

 

there is a blue tag at the bottom of laptop says "thank you for shopping @ blah blah", but no more green refurbished tag.
also the screen on the new laptop looks brighter than my old one, myabe the my 1st gen studio 16 has too much dust inside now although i cant really see that with my naked eyes.

 

That's great news about how the white lid is flawless. I can't wait to get mine.

 

just finished 3d06 mark test, scored 6770 for p8800 2.66 + 1gb ati 4670, roughly 50% more than p8700 2.53+512gb ati 3670(4400).

 

would this apply to canada? I'm buygin from there so I would like to make sure that the coupons work. I've looked in the coupon area but it says there aren't any in canada right now...

 

it seems dell studio uses two diferent lcd.
i have had 4 dells with rgb led, 2 dell studio 17 and 2 studio 16,
studio 17 uses super bright 330 nit, my old studio 16 has soso bright 270 nit,
the new studio 16 seems to have a white light lamp, screen is much better than my old one.

 

Well, I finally got my laptop! (after waiting 3 weeks for them to send me a dead one.. and 3 more weeks to get the replacement) I must say I am very satisfied so far with this machine.

It runs very smooth, quick, and silent. It gets fairly warm underneath (nothing which the Zalman NC2000 wont handle) but on the base around the keyboard and touchpad etc. it does not really get warm much at all.. not sure what all the hype was about the temps

The RGBLED display is, without a doubt, beautiful. During my extended waiting time.. I had read some threads about the colors being off or the screen being too bright. Personally I think the colors are amazing, not too much by any means, and the brightness can be turned down very easily ;]

Sound is actually very good considering the size of the speakers. Backlit Keyboard is very nice. Touch sensitive media controls are convenient. Slot load dvd drive.. i like :]

This is a very well-rounded Laptop and as of yet I cannot complain (except for dell making me go through so much to get a working one! lol)

The only slight drawback i have noticed is the power cord (which is about 5-6 feet long) could be a bit longer, but not really an issue.

So glad to be an official member now of the Studio XPS 1640 club!

 

Thanks for the pics, nomoredell...not too many pics of the white lid yet (without a stain at least). Now you need a new user name since you now own a dell.

 

Congrats and enjoy! Just wondering, why didn't you get the Blue Ray drive? I personally couldn't waste this laptops display on just DVD's...

 

I was wondering if I'm the only one getting this 1640 with a T processor ( mine is T9550 ). Need someone to consult me that it wasn't a stupid mistake.
I'm waiting for it to come. It's been 2 weeks ( 2 WEEKS ! ) since I ordered and the page still shows : ORDER RECEIVED. No production yet lol
Very very excited to join this club !!!

 

Well after an awkward process (service tag isnt recognised, got passed around to 4 different people none of which spoke english as their native language, all asking the exact same questions ) ive been told that it is not possible to upgrade to complete care after purchase/delivery.

Im guessing Dell has either revised their policy on this (for obvious reasons) or only allows this option to those of u lucky enough to reside on the other side of the pond (slight resentment )

Argh... Im not given up just yet, but outcome looks bleak

On another note, since my laptops unfortunate decent ive noticed that my HDD is making a ticking/scratching noise, even when idle on desktop. Loading light is momentarily flashin in sync. I cant remember this b4 but then again it cud of been happenin.

Just curious if any1 else's does the same, so i can relax and feel that everthings ok

Its a 500GB (7,200rpm) Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive

PS. let this be a warning to any prospective buyers, if ur gonna dish out this much for a laptop and plan on takin it out often, GET COMPLETE CARE!!!! and a good bag

But also this laptop is rebust enough to handle a pretty horrifing fall!!! So commends for Dell for making a DAMN good laptop!!!!!

 

Hi,
I have a question:

If i buy XPS 16 with cheapest HDD and then buy Intel SSD, will i be able to change it? Are they the same size, same connection and easy to change?

And also, would it break the warranty?

Thanks

 

@Landry

Mine did that, too. I don't know if it's related, but then one day my computer wouldn't boot up. They sent me a new hard drive, but I'd already placed my order for the next one. When and if you get a new one, make sure you ask for a 7200RPM drive. They sent me a 5400RPM drive which would've been noticeably slower if I had switched them out.

~Ibrahim~

@phemark

Yeah. They have this black little casing that you take off to fit inside laptop hard drive cages. Warranty is a good question.....

 

changing hdds or upgrading ram never void warranties

 

I also did not get the blue-ray drive. I do not need it as I have a PS3 for blue-ray for if or when I rarely ever rent.

I have the T9600, 2.8Ghz). I have no heating issues with it. When I am on battery i always switch to power saver and feel zero heat with my 6cell. When on balanced the touchpad gets warm, but nothing that would bother me while typing. Even still that's cause of the southbridge, not necessarily the processor. (I am not undervolted)

Bingo, the only thing is that the part you replace will obviously not be covered under warranty (The HDD you replaced and is now on your desk will be covered while that expensive SSD you bought will not be)

 

and if you buy an ssd from dell, like a samsung one for example it would be covered by a warranty if installed on a dell product. thats what their site says

 

BTW, guys.....Dell Support is just awesome.

I'm using an interim Vostro 1510 while my SXPS gets built. So, the power connector on the back apparently get "desoldered" (that's what the tech said) over time. He replaced the motherboard and even gave me a new power adapter, completely 100% free. I love it.



~Ibrahim~

 

Noticeably slower for what? it's a hard drive, not RAM! I don't notice any difference between my desktop and my laptop with 5400rpm HD.

 

This is a huge misconception....hard drives are BY FAR (BY FAR BY FAR BY FAR BY FAR BY FAR BY FAR BY FAR) the slowest component in any computer, minus a quadruple SSD RAID or something ridiculous. Why do you think people notice such a big difference with an SSD, then?

I guarantee that anyone short of doing of massive calculations on their computer would never (I'm not generalizing, either) feel the difference in a 1066MHz vs 1333MHz RAM speed. Ever. Benchmarks, maybe. Everything else: lololololol. Gamers, regular users, whatever. The difference is minuscule.

I mean, some people don't notice the difference in 5400RPM vs 7200RPM: try big searches on your computer, transferring files, application boot-up time, system boot-up time. These are all very noticeably different. It's definitely there; some people just get used to it.

~Ibrahim~

 

Thanks MrSpock,
I chose to save some money by chosing the DVD drive over the Blu-Ray. I really dont use Blu-Ray's much at all, so I figured the saved cash could be put to better use. Although I was defenitely curious to see how great quality the media would be on this screen with Blu-Ray.. but oh well, i may be able to upgrade it in the future. But regardless.. the screen is so amazing ;]

*oh and a side-note -- if you would like some great 1080p quality high res. wallpaper pics, i recommend checking out interfacelift.com, they have some very nice pics that look stunning on this display*

 

Just received this laptop a couple of days ago and I love it so far. The screen display is so crisp and clear and the sound quality is the best I've heard from a laptop in a long time. The only bad thing is the flat surface keyboard it's hard to get use to it at first, but for $1100 it could be worst. Also the touch sensitive keys on the top are so easy to hit, i'm afraid I might hit the WIFI touch pad by accident and kick me off.

 

So SSD is really a huge boost and is the money worth?

By the way, are you the Ikjadoon guy back from SE-NSE? Coz I still remember your avatar and stuff MrT here, haha, got the same laptop I guess.

 

@sawasdeekap

InterfaceLift FTW! Love that site.

~Ibrahim~

 

Well who ever told you that you can't upgrade or change warrenty coverage is wrong. I was just at the page 2 days ago. I went there via the support center.

 

I would also say try online where you can go in and extend your regular warranty I think there is an option for complete care... If you can't find it I will try to find the exact page tonight.

 

This is a small world. Haha, that's me. I've been waiting forever on the group icons to change, but they're apparently getting closer with it. Unfortunately, my time on SE-NSE has gotten smaller and smaller. My phone is great: sure, I wish I could change things with it, but the time I have versus everything else is getting smaller every day, lol.

SSDs (from everyone I've heard) are definitely a worthy upgrade for any computer user. I mean, the performance increase is more than you'd ever get with a faster processor or faster RAM (more RAM, though, is a different story). Price....that's a battle everyone fights themselves. I am personally waiting for SSDs to drop a good bit (I'm thinking $.50/gigabyte for a very fast one) before I buy because they are such a new technology. There is so much room for improvement that they are only going to get better in every single way in a relatively short amount of time: bigger, cheaper, and faster.

I could see myself getting one late this year or early next, unless I find a great deal on a X25-M G2, lol, before then.

~Ibrahim~

 

Here is the link, you simply enter your Service Tag, and it will give you allthe applicable options availi'! LINKY


Cin...

 

Cheers, ever1

Ya a couple of days ago the irish site had complete coverage listed as services available to existing customers, i clicked it and was prompted to enter my service tag.... bum bum bum still doesnt work, been on to em three times about my service tag and it still is not recognised...even trying to talk to em on the phone was impossible ("sir your service tag is not valid".... i know thats why im ringing!!!..."please let me redirect u"... and the same conversation repeated!!!!!... had to b*tch at the 4th one to stop the loop... is this DELL HELL?

Sorry for the rant... anyway unfortunately i noticed yesterday that this area of the site has changed and accidental damage/complete care is no longer listed in services for existing customers.... and it was yesterday i rang and (after the confusion due to my tag) was told i cudnt upgrade to complete

But fingers crossed theyll sort my service tag soon and ill be able to get complete online.... as they seem to be useless on the phone for anythin other then for buyin the system!!! argh still love my laptop though

 

Being a business owner myself who has to deal with warranty issues at times, I'm having trouble with your relentless pursuit of trying to scam Dell into fixing a machine you broke but want Dell to fix for free. You dropped it, you didn't have complete care but now you take no responsibility for the damage and think Dell should foot the bill for your carelessness. Does that about sum it up?

 

Excuse me? Before you make comments like that you should go and read all my posts!! I have no intentions in trying and scamming dell or getting my laptop fixed for free as you put it, for the simple fact that there's nothing to fix but slight cosmetic damage Which is not covered in complete care anyway. If you weren't such a righteous and looked at my other posts you'd have seen I want complete because the fall could have just as easily been the end of my laptop and now I'm scared I mightn't be so lucky again!!!!! This whole thing of fraud was brought up in previous posts and is something I DO NOT condone and would very much appreciate an apology for your accusation!

 

Let's not forget Overdrive. Hazmat here.

 

No way; Hazmat from OPC?!

~Ibrahim~

 

I'm considering the purchase of a Studio XPS 16 with Blu-Ray BURNER (not just BD reader+DVD burner) but I can't find much information about its technical characteristics, even less about real use information from owners.

Some questions:
- which manufacturer/model is it?
- does the 4x (indicated on online store) mean just BD burning speed? Or indicates DVD burning speed too? Is the reading speed comparable to the DVD burner reading speed?
- any experience from owners?

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry.....I hate to say this; I usually don't. But, did you try searching?

....

I don't have any experience with it, though, so someone else might chime in on that.

~Ibrahim~

 

At first I searched through all main XPS 16 threads (BTW, it's just me that is thinking that 3 (three) "official threads" for the same machine + variants is quite excessive?) and found nothing useful.
Then I searched on all threads and (thanks for the tip) found the one you pointed out.

So, I suppose the drive is this one
http://www.lpc-digital.com/product/PAN-UJ-235A
since searching with less-known (and here problematic) Mat****a name doesn't find any data sheet on Google.
On Dell site there is its manual too: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/P168014/

On paper it seems good enough on DVD too, but I haven't heard any opinion from owners yet.

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=330-5639

5dot Curve Messenger - Fits Laptop with Screen Sizes Up to 16-inch - Black/Red Subtotal $33.99

 

Right....searching the threads was useful, but why limit yourself to just those threads? These forums are desperately overloaded with new stuff, new threads.

Panasonic's site has the exact specifications, too. I mean, when I didn't get hits with Mat******, I logically just put in just the model name and Panasonic came up instantly. I assumed very few makers would use the exact same part number for burners.

Sorry if I'm coming off harsh. But, you're right: these threads can get unruly. But, truthfully, there actually isn't that *much* of repeated information: plenty is new.

 

Hey guy's what's up i really want to get both the studio xps 1340 and 1640 for the core i7 and a small and yet powerful machine with at least a 2.4 ghz and nvidia 210 512vram. The only thing i have a problem with is that i bought an sony sr from best buy with ati 4570 now it's a decent card but so hard to modify the drivers to desktop and i know that the 4670 can't compete with the gtx 260. I want to know when is dell going to give the 1640 or 1645 an Nvidia refresh? Right now i am really hating ATI!

 

I don't think Dell will be putting in beefier graphic cards unless they have comparable power draws with their current set; there might be some leighway (for example, all i7 SXPS 16's come with a 9-cell) so they can put some more oomph, but these laptops aren't marketed towards gamers per se. The Mobility 5000 series is around the corner, but since you hate ATI...maybe nVidia will get their head in the mobile game for mid-end.

~Ibrahim~

 

Well not perse i hate ati, i just don't like the frame rates i am getting and also the digital vibrance isn't that great compared to nvidia. I read good things about the 5890 but idk i am running windows 7 but i read and i see that after a clean install and installing 4570 mobile driver i couldn't get the control panel to work, so then i decided to get the desktop drivers and it worked great. I am just going to get a xps 1340 i just wish best buy would bring out their notebooks already it's killing me. I want to Core i7 but i might have to get the Alienware m15x or the new precision m6400 i just want a machine that run's core i7 with a blu ray drive to copy films, and for me to convert many different audio and video files into different formats. I might get another precision but i don't know. Also i want to know what is better the 1.6 core i7 or the 1.73 i7 i don't think their is a difference between 2.8 and 3.06 much.

 

m6400 is the only computer has both rgb led screen and nvidia graphics.
look at the bright side, dell studio 16 wouldnt be this cheap had dell put in
nvidia chips. there just isnt any new pc games out there, WOW is getting worse every ptach, not that it was great anyways.

 

Hey Nomoredell, i never played WOW, i play fps, and strategy mostly, and arma great military simulation. I agree about the pricing, they want people to buy the Alienware's for Nvidia graphics, I just feel buying a laptop with ATI graphics will diminish it's market survival rate, I play some games on my M1530 that has a 8600GT and it plays most new games great. Yes the precision m6400 has a great RGB LED, i love it, i just need to read the forms when i can how to set the color's correctly. I might go for the M15x, just sucks it is so heavy! I might just get the precision m6500 that is coming out i read here also. I want that core i7, i feel alienware isn't good what it used to be but i never owned one so i cannot judge.

 

Just chiming in here..

I received my XPS 16 on September 7th. I used it for just over 1 week and saw that there was dust underneath the glass cover for the RGBLED screen.

Long story short, Dell replaced the screen for me, all was well.. for about one week. Now it looks like the left screen hinge has come loose so the screen sticks out about 3-4mm on the left side, and the glass rubs ON the chassis now.

I've been pretty disappointed with this laptop so far. The battery wiggles, the hinge is off, screen has been replaced, the subwoofer rattles like a mofo... I'm going nuts. I'll have to see if they'll replace it.

 

I would have insisted on a new replacement if it was still under the 21 day return policy, in fact thats what I did when my first XPS came with a defective screen. If you have mulltiple issues demand a replacement.

 

http://www.digistor.com/Panasonic-Slim-Blu-ray-Burner-Slimline-SATA-Slot-Load

That's the Blue Ray drive.

 

The M15x is an utter failure of a laptop. Go check out the AW forums for more information. If you want an awesome gaming laptop, go for the Clevo W860 (Sager is the major reseller of Clevo). It has individual heatsinks for the CPU (intel i7) and GPU (GTX 280m) with everything unlocked so you can overclock to get maximum performance. It also has an MXM 3.0b slot so you can upgrade the graphics card in the future. Best part is it weighs only slightly more than a Studio XPS 16 and is a lot lighter than the bulky M15x. I'll be picking one up once the new nVidia fermi mobile cards are released in Q1 2010.

 

The Studio XPS 1640/1645 + ATi 4670 Owner's Thread is getting too large and slowing down forum search, so this is the new owner's lounge thread.

Thanks!