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

Don't send it in --- request a replacement (you just bought it right?)

They will do a full new order and ship it to you.

 

Yeah like sleey0 said, the item is defective. They have to give you a new replacement system, not a fix. Don't let them push you into accepting a fix. Damn I hate Dell customer service, getting a proper resolution out of them is like playing Russian roulette. If you get lucky you will find a helpful CSR and/or supervisor. BTW how do you like the M17x? Does it seem heavy and how is the display?

 

it is in the control panel called "IDT Audio Control Panel"

 

Anyone know if the Blu-ray drive shipped with this notebook is region locked? Is it the same old DVD region locking crap all over again?

 

Mine is region locked... exactly like the old DVD thing... Which is a bonus considering that HW region locking is the way of the big players (and console games) that I've seen lately... Unlike those, you get 5 changes before it's fixed at your last choice.

Buy AnyDVD (HD) and be done with it...

Al...

 

Thanks for sharing. Do you know the specific brand of your drive? If it is a Matsus.h.i.t.a drive, chance is that no software can bypass those 5 changes, not AnyDVD or any other software. Matsua drives are notourius for that.

 

Thanks....I tried that last night but couldn't find it there, then tried classic view and saw it.

 

I had to cancel too!! Ordered 5/18 and kept delaying and we all know how helpless customer service is! I was almost swearing just trying to get them to stop transferring me. BUT in the end it worked out better! I ordered a refurb with almost the same stuff except for one step down on the processor and I saved a $1000!!!!! And I get it tuesday! I hope refurbs are ok.? I didnt do the scratch and dent... so I'll cross my fingers!

 

Hey folks, I'm having more trouble with this piece o s*** in front of the screen. Sorry, plastic.
There are some marks on it that I'm not able to clean... It's like the problem is with the plastic itself, not dust! Like if the surface of plastic was damaged and turned white. Light from the display is still able to pass by it, but you can definitely see the marks.
Dell is really fooling people when they use the expression "edge-to-edge glass" on their website... Can't anyone do something about it? They are selling something different from what is advertised, something much worst.

 

how do i change the saturation of the screen in CCC?
i can only see it in avivo video which is only for videos.

 

There are two places in the ATI properties for Saturation that I found, and I changed both.

 

Is it true that,if we buy sxps16 at any outlet,the chances are of getting refunded pieces or pieces with few crashes or dents?

 

Whenever you bend plastic it gives that white look when damaged. Did it happen when you removed the cover to get rid of the dust? Hopefully Dell starts offering the SXPS without this cover.

 

no, there's no 20% rebate since a while, now it's only fix $279 which is just a usually offer..

 

This is what I'm referring to:



It's $304 off + a $75 gift card.

 

it's strange, i click on the same page on the same link, it's definitely only $279, and there's no even gift card..
but it doesn't matter too much since neither seems to be a really great offer, like a month ago when it was really 20% off, my customized config was like $200 cheaper, than now.

 

No man, it's not that... There are just white dots! And I didnt used anything pointy near the laptop.

 

Any concrete news about free upgradation for windows 7 after 26th June?
just googled "Dell & win 7" and in some blog was mentioned that,the price of windows 7 might hold the customers from upgrade.So am of the conclusion that,the free upgrade maybe a rumor,Time should tell?

 

don't think so i googled to and got where windows 7 will cost more for dell then Vista did. Also Windows 7 was supposed to come out by October?

 

welp, just ordered a Super Talent MasterDrive SX 128GB for my sxps16. I will post when i have had a chance to review it a bit. i cant wait!

btw, upgrading from the 320gb 7200 RPM drive

 

i would only go for intel,samsung, samsung based corsair SSD's and the new ocz ssds.
they are all pretty good.

 

your comment is super vague. which new ocz ssds? there are 3+ new OCZ drives. and the super talent is a samsung based drive, it uses samsung's new generation 8 channel controller with 128mb cache.

 

Quick question for you 1640 owners: when the lid is open, does the drop-hinged screen block off the heat exhaust vent? It does so on the 1340, and I'd like to know if this flaw is carried on in the 1640.

 

Yes, it's got the same issue.

 

Saying that it blocks off the exhaust would be grossly incorrect. It just redirects the airflow over the screen.

 

Grossly? Let's not argue semantics. The screen is in front of the vent when it's opened.

 

Yes, the screen is in front of the exhaust but if you put your hand there you will notice that the air flows along the screen and doesn't actually get blocked.

 

Yes, the heat does blow out on the screen, but have you ever put your hand over a blower? Even if you aren't completely blocking the exit, you're still making the motor work harder. The air is not escaping in the most efficient manner possible. Plain and simple it's an Engineering mistake. It doesn't make me like the 1640 any less, but it's not the correct way to vacate the hot air.

 

Agreed! Fair and square.

 

Guys, what the hell is Dell Brazil thinking? They don't sell the 1640 here (and so I've got no support here)... I thought that the excuse was the price of the computer that should be around R$ 6,000 (that's equivalent to US$ 3,000). I just went over the website and they are selling the M17x!!! The lowest price is R$ 8,000 (US$ 4,000 !!!)!!!! The most expensive configuration is R$22,000 (US$11,000)!!! You can buy a small house here with this kind of money!
They also sell admo and the 1340.
So do you guys can see any logic in this?? Even Dell Paraguay (poor country near here) sell the 1640... ?

 

Guys in India I dont have the option to get a 9-cell battery,can I get it from states,or is there a possibility of getting one from UK?

Does that battery have warranty?If so,Can I avail that warranty for my country?

Can U guys post the URL of the battery alone,so that,I can tell my sis to get one for me

 

I don't know about different countries but I believe in the U.S. at least (I'd assume everywhere else) the batteries have a one year warranty.

 

here's a link for the US 9-cell

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Power/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=312-0815&mfgpid=200806

 

Wowee.. i finally updated the bios from A06 to A08.. and it seems its producing less heat... esp. near the back left of the unit where the vents are.

 

Anyone noticing that the N Card (5100) doesnt seem very fast? My other laptop with G seems to connect faster. I downloaded the latest drivers from DELL but it seems to be slow? Any thoughts? I am new on this laptop. Thanks for any help!!

 

Jeeze, collection0's comments in his thread have really got me noticing the same problem in my system. Sometimes as i'm typing, my text jumps to whereever my cursor is. I used to think it was due to my thumb, or the base of my thumb, touching the touch pad but i don't think so anymore.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

I just got a Microsoft Bluetooth mouse, but I can't for the life of me figure out why its not working on my laptop.

I'm running windows 7, which is probably the root of hte problem, but there's gotta be some kind of solution....

I've searched for the Dell blue tooth drivers, and I've downloaded a file called ITE IT8512 CIR Receiver, but I'm pretty sur thats not bluetooth...

Where the hell are the BT drivers?!

 

Have you done the BT pairing?

 

I updated the bios to A08 as well. I'm using the 9-cell, no undervolting and no cooling pad. My max temp is 145F for processor running full load.

Also, what is TZ01? That is by far the hottest temp that HWMon reads.

 

Getting Bluetooth working was the only issue I dealt with after installing Windows 7. It worked good for a week but then kept trying to install it after every reboot. I think it did this with the version I was running before RC came out, but I did have some issues getting it to install. Still, I used the drivers straight off of dell to get it working. The ITE Driver is for the Infrared receiver.

 

Mine seems to be slow as well.

 

in europe is the SXPS 16 now with the t9900 with 3,06 ghz DUal COre for 1679 €

 

Hey guys and girls (what few of you there are other than the always-amazing Cin!)

I had a horrible accident at work yesterday involving my Macbook Pro 15" non-unibody. To put it nicely, the aluminum I think is just for show. It bends and flexes like pool noodle if you drop it. Screen cracked, case ruined, laptop dead. I did have insurance on it, so I ordered the SXPS 16" last night. With no interest through June of next year on Dell Financing, my insurance company can take as long as they want and I'll be ok.

I ordered the stock EPP "Best" SXPS 16" with just a few changes.
I kept the P8700 processor, it'll beat the pants off what was in my MBP anyway. I wanted the higher-end 6mb cache 2.66mhz, but couldn't justify it at an extra $125.
I did upgrade the wireless to the Intel 5300 Ultimate-N card, just because I saw some people complaining about the 5100 on this thread. Not sure if it was worth $45 for the half-mini card, but we'll see. I think there were two 5300 options, one that said 3x3 and the other half-mini. I got the half-mini but now can't remember why. I almost got the 5150 WiMax one, but I figured by the time there's WiMax in Kalamazoo, MI I'd have gone through three or four laptops by then
I grabbed that beautiful RGB-LED screen along with the Blu-Ray reader. I can't wait to have something other than a PS3 to play my Blu-Ray discs on.
The laptop came with 3-year In-Home service along with Complete Care. I usually insure my laptops through my insurance agent, so the Complete Care seemed a little wasteful. Does anyone have any input on how good the coverage is for Complete Care? If it covers everything my insurance does, then I could cut out that expense completely. I'm just a little unsure since I've had such good luck with the Personal Articles Policy from State Farm.

Anyway, between the amazing deals they were running and the 7% EPP discount, I only spent $1389. What a deal! Makes me re-think paying Apple Tax for all those years

Anyway, I mostly just wrote this to get some simple answers on my order and introduce myself to the community after being absent (and one might argue absent-minded with purchasing Macs) for so long.

Talk to you soon!

 

Can any of the *new* owners of the SXPS 16 tell me if their machine came with the updated, temperature-lowering BIOS? Or did you have to update it yourself?

 

"Temperature-lowering BIOS"? How can a BIOS cause hardware to generate less heat? It can run the CPU at a lower speed more often. No thanks. It can run the noisy fan more often. No thanks. It can clear the IFU bit (Internal Furnace Unit) or set the LVAC bit (Low Voltage Air Conditioner) in the CPU.

Basically, the XPS 16 is a "warm" design. Nothing can really cool it down without sacrificing performance. It's paultry 2 hr battery life is a testament to the energy the XPS 16 is sucking. Energy becomes heat.

I suppose they could be undervolting the CPU, but that won't make a significant change in the heat generated. I believe the XPS 16 really needed a better heat dissapation design. Maybe two fans? That one heat pipe cooling the CPU, GPU and CHIPSET I think is just overwhelmed.

 

Well, I read some comments saying that updating the BIOS made the XSPS 16 run cooler. The first thing I thought about was the fan, but then, who knows, maybe it's magic
IFU and LVAC: funny

 

Welcome back tauruskazoo! Did you like OSX? I am interested to hear more about the operating system from you. I really like Windows XP but see no need to upgrade to Vista or 7. At this point Operating Systems have all we need, and that's why a lot of people stick to XP. There is no need for a new operating system every 3 years; I wish Microsoft would understand that. Letting 7 years pass between the release of XP and Vista is an implicit admission that this is true, and only did them bad, because people realised that if they could live with the same OS for 7 years, they could live with it forever.

 

For me, its just perception at the moment; i dont keep track of the temps that often since it was never that much of an issue for me.

 

I was skeptical about updating the BIOS since it can lead to so many issues if done incorrectly. After reading through this thread, I decided to take measurement of the temp before and after. I can 100% verify through careful testing that there is NO/NILL temperature improvements! I think it has to do with perception, because I did feel it was cooler, but the numbers didn't indicate so. Sorry guys!

 

Correction to my previous post:

Called and had Dell change the graphics card to the new ATI Mobile Radeon 4670. For the extra $100, I figured it made it a little more future-proof. Same specs otherwise.

I'm so geeked to get back into PCs!