===> The Official Studio XPS 1640 Owner's Thread<===

Why don't you like the touchpad?

 

i doubt the design of the fan vents are problematic. have you guys checked to see if the vent in the back is an intake vent? if it is than the whole discussion is irrelevant. also, for those of you with heat problems, i suspect it could be from owning a 2.5 or higher. i think its important that when there are variables that you guys specify which options you chose. for instance have only the rgb owners been experiencing backlight bleeding? and has anyone not had the sound imbalance problem?

 

Can you guys use it on your lap for long periods of time without it being too hot that you have to take it off?

 

also, anyone have any problem installing ubuntu? everything working?

 

Just curious, how long has it been since you sent the first email to them?

 

The 1640 that I have been using for a few days runs very cool. I am typing this on my lap after at least 2 hours of heavy use. It appears to be running cooler than my 1530 and many degrees cooler than my 1730. I am very impressed with this system. At this point this will likely become my primary portable system and my Precision M6400 will remain my desktop system.

 

which processor are you running?

 

i looked at the service manual, and yeah it is the heat vent rather than intake vent. it does seem strange to run the heat up the monitor, more so for dust than for heat damage. the design is pretty similar to the studio series, does anyone know if the studio 15 has this same fan vent?

 

It seems to be in an odd location for me, and i do not like the inset click button especially the left click. I am sure i will get used to it. The Keypad is fabulous to type on.

And to further the conversations i have the base model but it is not hot at all after 2+ hours of use. I did get a blue screen on one of the windows updates but upon the restart hit the repair button that prompted and then next restart went without a hitch and subsequent updates have been good.

I am very pleased.

 

some of you mentioned skinning the part where your hands go, can you point me to how one skins their notebook? i am not loving the fingerprints at all, i wish dell kept the aluminum of the xps

 

I have the T9500 at the moment. I am thinking about testing out an X9100. I am using the X9100 in an Latitude E6400 right now it runs very cool in that system.

 

Got Windows 7 64bit installed and everything is running great. The ATI beta drivers installed without a hitch (thanks for the link!). Had to search for a few missing drivers for unknown devices in device manager but found excellent info on the windows7 forum.

The bottom of the laptop doesn't get too hot. The trackpad and right in front of it seem to get the worst. It is just hot enough to be uncomfortable if you stay in contact with it. The front of the laptop is very narrow and I would imagine that there isn't much air flow around it on the inside. And I've got the P8400.

The enter key on my keyboard isn't working right. You can push on each side and it goes all the way down without working. You have to hit it in just the right spot for it to work. It is really annoying so I've got to contact tech support about it.

The 720p screen is the perfect size and I can't see any flaws in the display. My 1720 is 1920 x 1200 and I am dreading having to go back to looking at it.

 

I just received my xps 16 2 days ago and so far it's working like a charm. Well, except for the Bluray capability which is somewhat of a disappointment. Wasted sometime trying to figure out why my machine wouldn't play a Bluray disc, not realizing that a lot of the software out there needs an update to run the most recent blurays. So figuring that PowerDVD DX was some cheapened down bloatware I uninstalled it, hoping to find something better. Well, lo and behold there was nothing better out there without costing another $100 (even to try), but then I was up a creek without a paddle when I attempted to find the "power dvd" disc that the manual stated I should use to reinstall the program.

It looks like they only threw in the basic Drivers CD and OS CD. I got help from support via online chat without a wait and they are supposed to send me both the disc for Power DVD and Roxio. In the end I figured out the Factory Restore function and did a clean restore back to "default factory settings" which got Power DVD back. This time I tried upgrading the software but like others have stated I have a feeling that this version does not play BR.

My bluray drive can browse the discs just fine thru explorer and see the disc title, but no media player on my laptop will play the disc. And I was so looking forward to checking out high def on my beautiful 1920x1080 screen!

Well, powerDVD seems to play DVD's just fine at least.

I primarily got the laptop for work, graphics and gaming though. I've yet to try video/photo editing on the machine or install any games. But so far my xps 16 works great, doesn't get hot at all and I'm loving the backlit keyboard.

No blue screens or crashes so far and it able to detect any hardware I throw at it. No time yet to really install all the drivers for my periphs though.

Running: xps 1640 Vista, P8600 2.4G (got P to reduce heat), 4g, 320g 7200rpm. 1920x1080 RGBLED @ 120dpi font size

 

I've ordered my 1640 (and it's set to arrive in 2 weeks). I checked the order details from Dell's website, and there's a listed item named: 1 PowerDVD for Blu-Ray. (So I'm assuming the PowerDVD SHOULD be able to play Blu-Ray.)

What do your order details say?

 

It's has only been 24 hrs. I will give them a week and then maybe call New Dell(hi).

 

hello, i am from Germany, i read some threads about the studio xps 1640 since October, i ordered a studio xps 16 at 10.01.2009, but it is still in phase 3, in production today , have anyone infos about that, why it is so, is it normal?

 

Probably is :-/

Which one? The PS3 version's pretty amazing looking, although I didn't think the game was all that special. (I'm not into 'spastic' gameplay which the Call of Duty series kind of is.)

It's absolutely the system's main (only?) vent, NOT an intake. And it's irrelevant what CPU you've got as far as the vent goes, because regardless it's getting blocked.

It doesn't go up the monitor. It just gets blocked.

Mine didn't come with a PowerDVD disc (among many others) either. It sounds like we're in the same situation. I think the version of PowerDVD they installed DOESN'T handle Blu Ray at all. I did do the update. Tried playing stuff before and after installing it (I think it's basically a 50+MB full program), and it doesn't acknowledge Blu Ray discs at all, other than being able to eject them.

Someone else mentioned their order (that they don't have yet) says "PowerDVD for Blu Ray". What does your order say? Mine is just "PowerDVD 8.2 for DVD"...which is maybe the problem. Except I think I actually got PowerDVD 8.1 anyway, which may or may not have something to do with it.

Supposedly I'm getting discs today. I'll see if I can finally play Blu Ray then. But the GPU and vent issues have me very nervous.

"PowerDVD 8.2 for DVD" or something along those lines.

 

Just got my Studio 16 today, and believe me, the photos just cannot do justice to the visual appeal that this laptop has, although it is the last thing that someone like me is concerned about.

I also was pleasantly surprised today to find out that the 3 mic/headphone jacks can be separately calibrated to become a full fledged 5.1 system. Awesome!

For everyone curious about what drivers dell is giving, I, in India, got the following discs:

1. Audigy Advanced MB
2. Dell drivers and utilities already installed on your laptop
3. Microsoft works 9
4. Vista premium re-installation dvd
5. (The biggest surprise of them all) Windows Vista Hindi version

Also, I got my laptop 3 days before the expected date!

 

I just ordered my system and am actually worried about the issues.. But even then the screen and other little upgradation of 1530 made me shift towards this system. It will be of great help if you can answer my few question.

1. Most of you has been using this system for quite some time and i could'nt find one detailed review of XPS Studio 16.
2. As my main concern is gaming (and i dont wanna get a desktop) so 3DMark scores, FPS of some games (COD,FEAR,etc) will help a lot..
3. I was wondering whether I can install XP on it (i am kinda used to XP even though i will also keep Vista and Ubuntu. Might even try out 7)

 

For the review and the 3dmark score - check out this link: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4764

I can't tell anything about XP on the Studio 16, since I also ordered mine recently : ).

 

Same question as getbiks -- can the 1640 be downgraded Win XP 32-bit without too much of a hassle? Which version of the XP software would I need: the full version, the OEM version, an upgrade version... or does Microsoft or Dell "owe" me the software since according to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-xp/future.aspx, Vista Ulimate and Business come with downgrade rates (though MS refers me to the OEM, and Dell simply says 'no'...)

I am debating on ordering the base model (P8400, no bluray, 1366x768). Thanks!

 

Just finished installing the latest Ubuntu 8.10 32bit. No problem here. Everything works without any hack.

It looks like I'm going to keep this one. OSX 10.5.2, Vista and Ubuntu all on one machine. It's a keeper.

 

wow... good to know tht ubuntu is working without any hacks..
but wat about XP.. anyone?

 

Congrat's Glad its all working well for you! 3 day early too, a bonus w/in itself!


Cin

 

I went whole hog and got the new fandangled display, and the 128G SSD. After waiting several weeks, it finally arrived yesterday.
The display has a fine blue line running through it from top to bottom. Looks like the display is broken, but no visible damage to the laptop or case.
First boot is ok, but uninstalling Google gets the dreaded blue screen.
Reboot wants to run the repair utility. Then the repair utility aborts saying it can't recover.
Reboot again, this time select 'normal start'. It starts up and I can surf the net.
Then I look at the C: drive through 'my computer', and it says total capacit 109g. I paid for a 128G solid state harddrive. It looks to me like this unit was returned by a prior customer, and or shipped from Dell with a damaged SSD.
Then the laptop crashes again, surfing the web.
Reboot repair utility fails again.

Shipped it back to DELL today, after spending half an hour going through automated phone system and end up with a south american fellow with a barking dog in the background answering the phone.

Never Dell again.

Hallo SONY VAIO

 

I went whole hog and got the new fandangled display, and the 128G SSD. After waiting several weeks, it finally arrived yesterday.
The display has a fine blue line running through it from top to bottom. Looks like the display is broken, but no visible damage to the laptop or case.
First boot is ok, but uninstalling Google gets the dreaded blue screen.
Reboot wants to run the repair utility. Then the repair utility aborts saying it can't recover.
Reboot again, this time select 'normal start'. It starts up and I can surf the net.
Then I look at the C: drive through 'my computer', and it says total capacit 109g. I paid for a 128G solid state harddrive. It looks to me like this unit was returned by a prior customer, and or shipped from Dell with a damaged SSD.
Then the laptop crashes again, surfing the web.
Reboot repair utility fails again.

Shipped it back to DELL today, after spending half an hour going through automated phone system and end up with a south american fellow with a barking dog in the background answering the phone.

Never Dell again.

Hallo SONY VAIO

 

The screen's obviously defective so you'll have to send it back for that, but the drive space sounds about right for its formated capacity. Something else was going on, which may or may not have had anything to do with the hard drive.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned but Dell now allowing 10% off coupon on the 1640
so with EPP at 6% and 10% plus three for two years warranty, very nice, but no Blu ray burner yet. :-(

 

I just checked my order page with Dell and it says: Cyberlink PowerDVD DX 8.2 for DVD

So that might be the problem, if the software won't play bluray. They're shipping me the discs, but it'll do me no good if it can't play bluray to begin with. On the cyberlink page when I checked it said that only PowerDVD 8 Ultra could play bluray or something like that. But at this point all I can do is eject the disc via the program =)

Nice thing was that my order arrived 9 days before the ESD.

And this thing runs much cooler than my still running 6 year old Titanium Powerbook G4, so I'm not concerned about heat. I only wish it had the same 1" height as the TiBook though!

Darn it, I want my bluray!

 

I just found out that my motherboard is apparently bad, so I'm opting to return it and try again with another one, hopefully I'll be able to squeeze out some upgrades as well. At the least, I hope I can get a working model.

 

Did the motherboard fail Dell's diagnostics or something?

All I can do is eject the disc too. Theoretically I should be able to play Blu Ray tonight...IF the discs they sent were actually correct...

Darn...I guess if Blu Ray gets working, than my two concerns are the blocked vent, and the inability to install non modded video drivers.

 

have u tried other blueray players... obviously cyberlink powerDVD is not the only software to play blueray discs

Edited : To name some Arcsoft,nero showtime,powerdvd, Windvd 9

 

That's pretty good! ...too bad about the bluray though. And, EPP should be matching and beating the Dell home site pricing


Cin

 

No. I'm not going to spend $100 or whatever to replace something that's supposed to be included with the system.

 

ofcourse u should'nt.. u should demand the correct version from Dell.. but then again..atleast download some free trial and check whether ur blue-ray drive is working properly or not..

 

Try e-mailing Arcsoft for a 30 trial of "TMT BR"...they'll send u a 30 license key and a link for a download.

They originally had the free trial download but then took it off their website but were still honoring e-mail requests from potential customers.

Try doing this.

 

Well I could, but I don't know why...I mean I need the full program.

 

yes.. but do u wanna sit idle until u get the full program.. i mean com'on.. u just bought ur system.. with one of the best screen u could get in today's market.. just download some trial s/w and enjoy ur blue ray movies.. and in the mean time.. also fight ur legal battle with dell.. they will give u the full software..

 

For testing purposes. There are a lot of people out there that simply prefer TMT over PDVD any given day (and better CS) and if you both software, u can test with both and then decide whether to stick to PDVD or TMT is worth the extra $XX.

I have PDVD OEM 7.3 (with 4407 patch) running on my HTPC and while it works for most HD/BR movies, there are still some movies it simply can't play at all. My friend has TMT and he can play the same movies fine.

Reality is as of now, there is NO single BR software that's a complete solution for PC BR drives. And the reason why several HT enthusiasts end up getting a stand-alone BR player for simplicity and better h/w support.

 

Well, I guess, but I'd rather not gunk up my clean install of Vista with an extra Blu Ray player (that could even do weird things with codecs), plus I don't even want to bother setting up the system if Dell can't get me the discs I need :-/

Hopefully tonight though. I should find out in a few hours, I guess!

But...that vent bothers me. What a terrible design.

(EDIT: This was to two posts back...it keeps looking like I'm responding to the wrong post )

 

I can't confirm whether XP will run without some hair pulling. But I've seen the 3670 listed in the ATI Mobility Radeon Catalyst Mobility 8.491 Windows XP. So at least the video card part won't give you much grief.

 

What's that? The only mobile reference drivers ATi lists on their site that I can find (supposedly) only go up through the x1900 series of cards.

 

Update: I called Dell product support. Explained the steps that I took to evaluate the problem. I was then disconnected. I called back. This technician connected my computer via remote assistance. He said that he does not "see" any problem. Unfortunately, he did not have the ability to "hear" the problem.



They have sent me a return shipping label.



Goodbye, for now

thraak

 

I thought it weird that the first tech support guy I called didn't even bother to run diagnostics beyond poking his head into error reports, then you brought this up, so I called again, got someone else who made me go through everything and so far the issue seems resolved. Thanks for bringing this up wolfpup, it didn't it even cross my mind at the time.

 

I'd like to try doing this, just to see a bluray disc actually play on the gorgeous 1920x1080 screen. But at their website they require a whole registration process with your serial number/etc that I'm not sure if it's worth going thru the trouble not knowing if they will even give me a trial key.

All the other players I've looked into have no trial versions to play bluray. If I have to pay another $100 for some software that actually works I might as well have gone out and bought a bluray player =)

 

Oh. Help. I was laughing so hard when I got the packages today.

Okay, I got two packages. One contains two driver CDs-which are the one thing I don't need, since it's all online and gets outdated anyway.

The second package had a lot more discs, including most of the missing ones (and yet another driver disc).

However, it did NOT include anything that plays Blu Rays...just another copy of PowerDVD for DVDs.

This, after three people told me this would include Blu Ray playback software. Do I contact them again? Just give up and contact them to get my money back? I don't know, haven't decided yet.

 

Oish ....Try one more time, call them and have them overnight the right one's to you. Have them send you an email confirming the right ones.

If at first you don't succeed try again, is how I look at things...But, it also depends on how patient of a person you are. And, you have been fairly patient.

Cin

 

has anyone else had the sound balance problems? also where are you guys seeing that 10% off coupon, i tried all of mine and nothing works on the epp or home site. its weird that my machine i ordered last week has only one day eta as a new one off the site, it would be with it to cancel and reorder for 10% more off!

 

Ya, I have noticed it as well with mine. I don't know what to think of it. However, I do have some external speakers connected to it and if I was out and about, would probably use headphones.

 

Trye this link for the discount (it may be built in), not sure if it's still availi...
http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/...-core-2-duo-processor-226ghz-and-16-wled-lcd/

Try here also:
http://www.xpbargains.com/st_deals.php/Dell_coupons.htm

Cin