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

Backup up one page.
edit: oops, thats for the RGBLED, WLED dunno.

 

What ratio is the WLED screen? And will that ratio remove the black bar, given that the movie is the right ratio.

 

WLED is 1.78 as well so its also 16:9

 

oh okay. I just noticed that I got exactly the same system as you, only difference is the 320gb hhd Have you received it yet? if so, how is it for daily use?

 

Your points are valid.

 

[/QUOTE]

If you go to Dell.com and go to the "My Account" section, there is a link to where you can download all of the software that came with the computer if you register on you account. If you don't have an account all you have to do is type in your e-mail and a password!

 

Man, I can't believe how 'cheap' the SSD options are in the US!

Dell Singapore is charging more than 1,200 Singapore dollars just for the 128GB SSD. That's more than 800 US dollars!


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hoodomoo, the Drivers and Downloads page don't have those software I listed. If you are referring to a different Dell page (or a dedicated download website from Dell), then that is not available here (Dell Singapore, Asia Pacific).

 

I have a question for you... Since I had to reorder because of the wrong PowerDVD thing, the sales agent told me they need to upgrade my hdd to 500GB 5400rpm in order to expedite the order. I also need a external storage option and I thought maybe I can order a 320GB or 500GB 7200rpm internal hdd from dell, replace it with the 5400rpm one in the laptop and use that one for external storage with a 15$ cover. Obviously, I need to pay 20$ or more than an external hdd but I will be able to upgrade the hdd speed at the same time. What do you think? Does it break the warranty rules of the laptop?
BTW, SXPS 16 parts on Dell web page don't include these hdds but SXPS 13 parts do. Do you think they are compatible?

 

For a notebook screen I thought it was good. It was noticeably better than my Asus N80. I also liked the resolution a lot. One of the few notebook screens that isn't too high resolution for me.

 

Both screens are 16:9. Most movies are wider than that, so you still get black bars, just not as big as on a more square monitor.

 

i get mine on friday

so has anyone got a studio xps 16 with a WLED screen yet so they can description if its good or not?
eg: are the black deep and rich?
and the colours spot on?
is the screen clear and sharp?
the screen is not grainy?

 

Yes, I think all the gift cards are only valid if you buy with a DPA.

 

If you go to Dell.com and go to the "My Account" section, there is a link to where you can download all of the software that came with the computer if you register on you account. If you don't have an account all you have to do is type in your e-mail and a password![/QUOTE]

There's not much software on there-most of your software is NOT up there. It's also a really buggy site that at least for us early adopters, we couldn't get in at first.

It doesn't void the warranty, although the 1640 is a little annoying in that you have to take off the whole bottom to swap them.

 

I can't find the setting. Where exactly is it please?

 

I got some questions for you owners, I've been talking with a Dell rep and wanted to confirm some things.

On the RGBLED screen he said you don't get a 2.0 MP webcam, instead a 1.3MP arrived right in my quote, he said the screen was too thin to accommodate a 2.0. Obviously the dell site says 2.0MP, I asked him about that and that is what he said.

Also, when I asked him whether the missing discs like powerdvd and face recognition discs actually are shipping with the unit, he said they DO. Is it only certain people that don't get the disks from some bad shipments, or is it everyone and only the people that are re-imaging are actually noticing?

Finally, he also said that the Microsoft Windows OEM Vista64 disc also comes with the system. I asked hoping that was the case which he said it was, but I want to hear it from you guys too.
I wanted to see what the real deal is on this.
Is all this accurate, any feedback appreciated.

Thx ahead.

 

The dell rep was right, RGBLED screen is too small for a 2MP webcam. But I see that as a positive. Besides, who uses a webcam anyway? That's so 1998

A few people here said that the missing disk and Windows CD error was corrected. Although I do not know about the B-ray problem.

 

Hmmm, i bought mine with that and for some reason i got nothing? I bought it this week too!

 

I'm from montreal as well and mine has technically been shipped although I've just been told that my package has been in Texas since yesterday waiting for the truck to be filled up before sending it

Order Date: 2/5/09
Production Date: 02/05/09
Ship Date: 2/9/09
Estimade Delivery Date: 2/20/09 but hopefully I'll receive it sooner than that

By the way, Purolator told me that it takes about 4 days to go from Texas to Toronto and from there it's next day delivery to Montreal

 

To be honnest the main issue is the black levels. Most non LED panels will have better black levels.

Yes the colors do pop, but the hue is incorrect and green is very oversaturated (even the wide color gamut modes of LED TV's don't show as much oversaturation).

The greys are also greenish.

I prefer less saturated, accurate colors on a media laptop. For a gamer laptop people may not care about nuclear colors but this laptop is not adequate to watch bluray films in spite of this being its main selling point.

For Bluray viewing you really want a color temperature of 65K and realistic colors. During films greenery and foliage is fluorescent.

I have had 2 Dell's before (1 LG and 1 Sharp panel) and have seen and tested many other panels, and this one is one of the worst panels.

The only advantage is the max luminance but it is too high for indoor viewing anyway (270 instead of recommended 180) and if you move it down to decent levels the contrast decreases...

 

i do love the computer, it's great more machine than i'll ever need, i got all the disks except power dvd but i can play a dvd haven't tried a blu ray disk, facial rec works just fine no issues with booting, everything is just working great

 

Call dell and explain the situation. Try to get them to change the order price, because it'll save them time + money by just giving you the $150 rather than returning and reordering.

 

This seems all too true right now. [ XKCD]



Edit: Anyone else doing the same thing?

 

my guess is that this is happening when people arent rebooting enough. turn on vista first time, set it up, reboot, install updates, reboot, do them in waves, not all at once otherwise youre going to have registry problems. there are plenty of us with no bsod issues. pebcak.

 

me.......!

 

Unfortunately, the NC-1000 is smaller than the footprint of the 1640.

 

tell me about it!

 

No it's not. There's something wrong if you're getting BSOD from Windows Update, regardless of how you use it. I have NEVER done anything other than install every update and once, and never had an issue.

 

I was interested by this laptop mainly because of the RGB-LED screen but after what you said I don't think I'll get one.

What do you think of the X-Brite FullHD screen found on the FW Sony laptop ? Is there any other laptop with a good screen you would recommend ?

Thanks.

 

Who is Dell using as a shipper in the US lately? My last couple were from Airborne, which is more horrible than UPS.

 

Have you tried calibrating the screen? That may be able to fix some of the issues. I've seen some other LED displays that have grayish blacks. It seems that the backlight is too bright causing the display to not have true blacks.

 

It's actually a good idea to reboot often when dealing with a lot of updates at once. That's what a few people told me. It also makes discovering the problem update/possible conflict component easier if you can narrow it down to 1-3 updates.

 

Have you red my calibration posts with alll the caloibration graphs? I have a very long post on why calibration won't help this screen!

How can you miss a post with so many graphs on the previous couple of pages ;-)

 

I would recommend to wait for the new 16:9 clevo barebone which will come out after the Cebit in Hannover (6-8 March). It will have the new Nvidia 9800 X2 and Montevina Platform.

 

Haha, Is it just me or are these systems taking far longer than others. I buy Dell very frequently but then again, I never bought a laptop before.

 

What is the best way to output my laptop to my TV if the best connection on my TV is S-Video?

 

Link please!

 

He's asking about the Wled screen and I thought you tested the RGB led screen?

 

I have the SAME question!!
Could this ( http://www.amazon.com/EFORCITY-VGA-S-Video-RCA-Adaptor/dp/B000P3UB24 ) be the answer??
I heard that it could have some problems outputing to the TV, does anyone know something about that??

 

Just call a Clevo reseller. I guess the German resellers have more information ready because they are near the Cebit (which is the quivalent of the US CES and the Japanese CEATEC). The new Clevo Barebone will start with 9800GTX and will include the new 9800X2 when it becomes available (same timing as ATI 4870 I would imagine, so anytime in Q2 April/May). But honnestly I don't really care about the GPU. The itneresting thing is the barebone. Clevo usually have very nice barebones. Hopefully with 7.1 through HDMI!

 

puremind, what screen were you testing, wled or rgbled?

 

I think he said it was his RGB LED, and not the WLED. I'm wondering if the WLED have similar results.

 

The discs I received with my 1640 are the following:
1. Works 9
2. Dell Drivers and Utilities
3. Windows Vista Home Premium 64BIT SP1
4. McAfee SecurityCenter

 

Based on my use, the WLED seems to be accurate, but then again I'm no technical instrument.

 

White LEDs usually offer less color saturation, so the colors may be nearer the standard.

The WLED of the XPS 13 has a maximum luminance of 254cd/m² and a blackk level of 0,58 cd/m². The contrast is only 438:1 angegeben werden

Also the Studio 15 had a WLED option (Samsung SEC5411). It had a luminance of maximum of 308cd/m² and a black level of 0,39cd/m² for a very good contrast of 790:1!!! With such a high contrast it is possible to reduce the backlighting in order to improve the black levels.

Hopefully the 16" WLED will be very similar to the 15" WLED. Color saturation should be less, which is not a bad thing.

 

I hope you're right. Thanks

 

Sorry if this has already been discussed but I was just wondering, what accessories does the SXPS1640 come with (with the exception of the charger and CDs).

Is it anything like the XPS M1530 where they included a nice zipped file for the CDs and some people said they got a carrying case too?

 

i cant guage it against a truer setting, but as far as my eyes this wled is fantastic. the color range is amazing - but versus my old dell non led. i absolutely love it. i mostly use this computer for cs3 and light gaming - hl2dm, and it is so sharp. it makes my second monitor, a dell 19 inch ccfl, look like crap.

 

it comes with a dust case, which is good for de-fingerprinting. the machien is new, so they dont offer a made-for-studio xps case yet. the sales guy said it would be come soon, probably by march.

 

good to know, thanks

 

Dell has a link on their site for their thin Adamo laptop that can take you to a video of it... Why couldn't they do that with the Studio XPS like 3 months ago? lol