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

Well that part is wrong there and no it is not playable, that'd be like watching a slide show. If you got to youtube there is a guy playing on Very High with a 3650 and it's running smooth, i'm bored so i'll find it for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxeF2Z-gXt0 and another vid that is during the day so you can see more of the game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAIooM3B1LA&feature=related

Keep in mind these ppl usually use fraps which can slow down your game by 20fps or more sometimes. Age of Empires III runs at 100 fps and using fraps it went down to 20fps!!!

 

What the i thought the 3670 could barely play crysis at 1.8 fps and this dude on youtube is playing it at what 30fps? confusssed! is the 3670 better/newer than the 3650? howcome ati's website doesn't show its mobile video cards in order from lowest performance to highest?? is there a website that does? srry guys for all the questions i just need to know wall this before i buy because i'm really tight with money right now and i'm stuck with a toshiba a135 my dad bought 2 years ago...

 

The website comparing them side by side was user sent in benchmarks, and the res on the vid is 800x600 while on the other thing is 1200x1080. So that makes a differnce! ATI's website sucks, just take my word for it, the 3670 is newer then the 3650 and almost the same as a GeForce 8700 GT. It is also close/the same as the GeForce 9600 GT. This is a good laptop, not much more i can say about the gpu!

 

thanks hoodomoo

 

welcome... omg... i just noticed... when i signed up for this site i spelled my own screenname wrong! It's usually Hoodoomoo instead of hoodomoo. I forgot an o!

 

Is .53 GHz difference worth the $450 upgrade for the T9800 processor? When talking about demanding games like Crysis or FC2.

 

Hello all! I have resently purchased this marvellous laptop myself. I have a problem thou,,, It came with vista premium x32, and I installed x64 vista.
The problem I have is with the webcam(driver). I install the driver found on dells driversite.. it installs successfully, but the driver software does not exist. Looking in device manager, I can see that the driver is installed, but again no software anyware... not even a "creative" folder in the programfiles folder.
I am hoping for help with this from you guys.

 

haha thats funny
soooooo....hmm........howcome there arent many videos about this laptop on youtube? and howcome dell doesn't really advertise it on its website? is like a small little button on there site...kinda wierd. They didnt make this a BIG debut...

 

Hi guys! thanks for all the info's. i've read all of your messages from page 1 upto this point.. you guys have been really helpful! my aunt from nevada just received my sxps 16 unit. am residing here in manila philippines and hopefully she'll be able to send it to me right away coz i really cant wait! Hope you guys can also help me if ever i encounter some prob with my unit.. Thanks again, Happy Valentine's Day! =)

(sorry for my grammar, am not fluent in english..)

 

The upgrade is not worth it, you'll end up with a hotter laptop and shorter battery life for a mere 1.88ns less of fetch time (over simplified example) not to mention the price difference...

You'll only notice the difference in processor intensive applications, unless you use CAD applications or other simulation programs you'll barely notice the small gain

 

Are you looking in the proper folder? should be Program Files(x86)

*edit*
I re-read your post, you only installed the driver for the camera and not the software you need to download Dell Webcam Central
not sure if there's a download link yet but here you go
http://dell-webcam-central.software.informer.com/

 

yeah i thought that myself, there is only like 3 vids i saw, one is bad and the other two are in german or dutch or something? Even the gpu (Radeon HD 3670) there are not vids for? When i get mine i'll post some vids of it!

 

Have there been any coupons for the 16 yet? Or coming up?

 

I saw a coupon that says "20% off XPS Laptops" and i believe that includes the Studio XPS

 

I think that was for desktops only

11% [I think] for student discount and DPA isn't too bad [but a 15-20% coupon would be nice]

 

there was a student discount? I didn't know that, and DPA is nice... but i just checked and the one i saw is gone now.

 

http://www.delluniversity.com/

 

dell student discounts are on delluniversity.com

basically they give 7% to anyone that went to college, got accepted to college, or is a parent of a student in college, all college alumni, and anyone who just lies and said they did.

 

Would the T9550 and the T9800 produce the same amount of heat? Their both 35W

 

First, I wouldn't obsess about the heat between them as much as the $200 or whatever it is.

The higher frequency CPU of the same family will by necessity use more watts and will be hotter, maybe by 1c or so but not enough to be making decisions based on heat between them.

They are not both using 35 watts, the TDP is 35 watts, as I understand it.

 

haha... what does "hoodoomoo" mean? or stand for?

 

I'm beginning to wonder if the college discount is stackable w/ my epp discount? any ideas?

 

I got my studio xps 16" today with WLED
the screen is so crap that im going to call dell to return it tomorrow.
once i played a movie i saw how shocking it was .
the colours are pale, the are not deep and rich and dont stand out at all. the blacks are weird, they get all horizontal lines in them.
the only good point about the screen is that its bright.

my fw11e (1600x900 LCD) as way better colours then this WLED screen which shouldnt be true but it is.
i played the exact same movie on both laptops and the zps had thin horizontal lines on the screen where ever black was. and the blacks are black, they are more grey. ad the colours are crappy at any brightness.

i dont advice anyone to get this screen.
il be investing my a sony vaio FW just like my bros as its decent.

 

Should've got the RGBLED, most reviewers say it is amazing.

 

i didnt have an extra £150

but i am getting a sony vaio with 1920x1080 and dual lamp LCD. my bros normal (single lamp?) 1600x900 has nice rich colours, so the dual lamp version should be nice. and also the 1920x080 should be nice to look forward to.

 

i wonder if you have a different screen in yours than my wled. mine is the exact opposite, its not at all washed out. no lines through the black...

something similar happened with the 1530, some people got really crap lcd screens in theirs. it might depend on where the factory orders its parts. which was your shipped from, and it there a way you can you check what lcd you have?

 

probably not, they are basically the same thing, the colleges get the discount in the same way the epp works. but from what ive read here, if you haggle on the phone, they may buckle...

 

Guess what? I received an email from Dell telling me that my order was shipped! However, when I clicked on "check order status" it still says it is in production. I totally don't believe it has been shipped because how can it be assembled and tested and shipped within one day? Is it possible? I was told the ship date was next Wed. I am tempted to call Dell but can I trust what I am told? I can't resist, I will call the french line and "fingers crossed" for some good news. How bizarre! Has anyone received news of shipment when it was not the case?

BTW was your system without an antivirus installed? Also, MS office was not included, it would have been something extra so if you paid for it, you should have it.

Are you happy with your laptop?

 

Total opposite here. Last week I ordered a hd212 headphone from Dell US, and this monday I got an email saying that it had been delayed. One hour later I went to check my order status: guess what?! It had been shipped! hehehe
Crazy, hum?
Got the headphones two days later.

One other thing. For those of you who have had the chance to use the eSata connection: does it need a reboot to work or it is plugnplay?

TKs

 

I'm extremely happy with it, the monitor is a bit disappointing while watching blu-rays but other than it's fine for everyday use. Had a problem when using the webcam on msn (with some effects) where I would lose connection to the internet, wireless would work but not the internet... weird... I also need to figure out how to make the hdmi display in full screen when connected to an hdtv... but other than that I love it!

I had absolutely no bloatware (except for dell dock), no virus scan either.

I think your order is probably getting ready to be shipped, you should get a tracking number by monday hopefully, maybe even sooner

 

Who was the person that said they succesfully installed the ATI drivers?
Im Getting my SXPS 16 in a few days and would like to know how they did it, i looked for the post but couldnt find it :S

 

Just using my 1640 for the first time tonight. This is the hotest notebook I've ever used. Including a couple of Sager/Clevo power-houses.

I like the keyboard, not the best I've used, but better than the last couple I've used on Dells.

Holy crap the 1920x1080 makes for some tiny text. Raising the dpi mucks up graphics and web page layouts, as it always has. I really think something in the 1650x1080 range is better in this size notebook so that you can leave the dpi at the standard range and have a reasonable text size. That being said, I owned a 14in notebook for a year and used 1920x1200. I had headaches all year and didn't realise it was because of this. I'm a programmer and was using the notebook 8 hours a day like that.

I installed Vista 32, btw, so I could use SteadyState to supposedly enhance the SSD performance.

 

I want the RGBLED screen but from some reviews on this site and other throughout the internet, I am hearing the text is too small. Can someone that has used the studio xps please tell me if this is true or not.

 

You can easily adjust the Windows fonts' DPI setting to make them larger.

 

I heard if you change the DPI setting it starts distorting things on the computer. Can you just tell me in your opinion if the reports are true that the text is small, and also do they have the SXPS 16's in an outlet or dell store yet. I am close to ordering one but I need to see it in person, to test out if its light enough for me to carry around once in awhile.

 

Only the font size is changing. And it doesn't look distorted at all. I also don't understand how this that distort other things.

Do you have a Windows Vista PC right now? Try to increase the DPI on your existing PC. Decide if you think it's distorted or not.

 

Thanks alot for answering. I have downloaded a dell webcam software, but I do not think its for the studio xps 16. Does anyone have a link to the proper dell webcam central software for vista x64 ?

 

yes, it's tiny small. You'd better have at least 20/20. Yes it distorts things. It's worst in IE. If you are a web developer, or a user of the web, for that matter, it will through off proportions and in some cases make images less clear. It's very much not ideal. But you won't be worried about that, you will be worried about the burns on your hands.

 

Well, when i was in 5th grade i was signing up for a popular website (i don't remember which one) and i was creating a username. back then i didn't think of things like Red_Sox_Fan17 or anything so i put in Hoodoo, a name of a mountain near me, that was taken, so moo rhymed so i put that in. later on i just kept it because it was the same for multiple site, like Daedalusx64.com great site...

 

its not really 'dell' webcam central. its just sitespeed rebranded. you can download the real version here:

http://www.sightspeed.com

or for the version it came with, go here:

http://www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat

 

I use the same resolution on a 24" monitor, where text size looks natural. So yes on a 16" it will be small.

The best DPI setting I have found for compatibility is the basic 120. For some reason that works best compared to anything custom I've tried in the past. I wish more developers developed for DPI changes as certain hardcoded applications do have some issues when they don't expect fonts to grow in size.
Along with this Icons and Icon spacing an be customized to make things look appropriate for it's size on the desktop as well.
The suggestion of using 120% dpi now, before getting it, was a great one.

Another option is while browsing the web, hold down the control key and use the wheel mouse to change zoom/text sizes.

The benefit is pixel precision, pictures/graphics will look as smooth as silk.
Unless ofcourse you look at 640x480 pictures, which will be tiny. Web devs that still hardcode websites to 640 or 800 pixels width should be shot, I can't be troubled to look at a matchbook with huge borders on the side.

I don't really believe in the notion of "too much resolution" as some people may say, you just have to learn to adjust some settings making things larger while taking advantage of the pixel precision it brings. But it's personal preference. You won't find these laptops in stores to look at, I've tried and I couldn't. You may be able to see other laptops at 1900x1080 although quite rare because the screen technology is new, at least laptops weighing of 6.5 lbs should be easy to find at the store.

 

I kind of disagree with everyone saying that the text is too small. I really like it at 96dpi but it does feel weird every time I go back to my 22inch where the resolution is 1680x1050 I feel as if I'm back at 1024x768 lol

the trackpad is multitouch so you can zoom in and out with it

 

does anyone have recommendations for a nice sleeve for the sxps 16? I already have a bag but it would only fit a 13inch laptop and I really like that bag so I won't be getting a new one (unless I find a really nice one)

I found this
http://www.arkitip.com/curated/krink_sleeve.php

but it's a bit too expensive for what it is..
These guys have some sexy bags but again I'm not sure I'd pay that much for a sleeve....

http://www.hard-graft.com/shop.html

 

I don't know about sleeves but I love my Swiss Gear backpack, but they aren't half price on Dell anymore. I only paid $35 when I got mine.

 

Hello! thanks alot for answering!
I installed the software successfully.
But its not the software which was on the fabric-shipped vista premium x32.
That one had alot more features, such as you beeing able to tape video and ofcourse take pictures and stuff like that. The software I installed is only for talking on video via the internet. Mabye someone of you can link me to the fabric-shipped webcam software for Vista x64 ?

 

Well, it *appears* that my order has been shipped. The order status page now says it was shipped on Feb 13 with an estimated delivery date of February 17th, which is Tuesday! Woohoo!

 

Great! I'm happy for you, you're gonna love it!

 

I completely agree about screen space.
Even 1920x1080 isn't quite large enough for me on this screen
Yes at the default setting of 96 dpi the text is too small for me, but then my vision is not 20/20 either. But I've always upped the DPI, even on my desktop monitor. Never had an issue with it.. usually only custom DPI might cause problems with hardcoded applications, but I haven't encountered one of those for years. The old windows version would give you the option of "small/large" font size, and that would never cause any application issues.

I use solely firefox as my browser and the ability to override even hardcoded font-size pages has been the best thing since sliced bread. ctrl +/ctrl - will make any page readable at any font size or layout size you prefer.

Font and text size can always be adjusted to fit your resolution. But you will never be able to increase your resolution and desktop space if you're stuck @ a lower res screen.

 

again, that other program isnt really a dell program. its creative live cam.
http://www.mylivecam.com

you can download it in the media downloads:
https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Login.aspx

 

My order was shipped on Feb 13 with an estimated delivery date of February 17th too, which is Tuesday! I second that Woohoo!