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

I cannot believe Dell still cannot figure out the science behind HEAT DISSIPATION in their laptops =(

I was considering the XPS 13 but it probably suffers from hot palmrest and poor battery so Adama will have to be IT lol (*fingers crossed*)

 

While I'm patiently waiting for my XPS16 to show up, does Dell send the reinstallation CD as well? I always like to start off with a fresh install without any bloatware.

My sis-in-law recently bought a Inspirion 15 and upon first bootup, there were like approx 60 processes running and bootup to desktop time was nothing short of underwhelming! I ran msconfig and managed to clean it down to under 40 and uninstalled several other 'trial' programs before the laptop ran like a new laptop.

Bloatware sucks. Or maybe its a conspiracy against consumers so retailers can rip them off further by offering a "$70" fee for "fine-tuning"!

 

Fragster, the sales rep I spoke to said they do, but in the event it's excluded you can contact customer care and they'll send out the discs for free. When I got my M1210 a few years ago it came with everything.

 

Why both 1340 and 1640 are in the same thread? They are not just different size notebooks. They are completely different inside (different chipsets, video cards). The only thing they have in common is leather stripe on top Split these thread in two please.

 

The GPU is apparently the very reason for the two different power supplies.

Yes, enough to put it over the 65w edge apparently. Hopefully the 9400m will run appreciably cooler as well.

Presumably the stock 65w power supply is not as big as the one posted by vishank. (Maybe he can flip it over and report the output power rating on that huge thing?)
But in any case, I'd expect igo's "everywhere 85" (70w) to work with the 9400m version of this laptop. On the other hand, dell's auto/air ac adapter (the one I already posted a link to) looks to be as good and is significantly cheaper.

 

I second this. Would also make things easier for those of us perusing a thread for comments on only one of the two models.

 

It seems like they must be behind with the 1340s

I ordered one on jan 8th and it's still in the build stage. I haven't seen an instance of one shipping yet, while I've seen lots of 1640s that have been shipped.

Anybody else that ordered a 1340 any further along in the process?

 

I agree. Let this thread continue as a 1640 thread, and can we please create a new one for 1340 owners? Thank you!

 

Wow... Mine was $2058 CAD. Everything the same, except for the 9500, (9400) and I went with Vista Home (I have 3 copies of Ultimate here... I used to date someone who worked for MS, can you tell?)

I can't believe my machine was so much more (even with the dif in the dollar) than yours, with less! You got a great deal.

 

The 1340 Thread has been created here: (All you had to do was hit the New Thread button at the top) Oh, you may have not been able to based on your post count.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=345794

Here it is: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=345794


Cin

 

More Pics PLZ....maybe with the bottom opened up to see inside components? maybe a cool Video Review!! Its saturday Peeps Come on!

 

I'm really considering the 1340. The price is still a bit much for me though.

I'm considering downgrading to the 9400 card but I wasn't sure if it would be enough to handle video up to 1080p.

 

Yeah, in my experience the Canadians get a bit worse exchange rate than is warranted. I am an American temporarily living in Toronto and I have seen prices shift faster than the precipitously falling exchange rate would suggest...

 

You can find pictures of both machines with their *ahem* bottoms exposed, at the Dell support website under the manuals and then Service Guide section.

 

Looking at the review temp pics, does anyone know why is the touchpad so hot (105F)? Its warmer than the left side of the palmrest where the HDD is located. The GPU, RAM, and CPU are near the back of the unit.

The only thing below the touchpad is the sub and wireless parts.

 

dear 1640 owners:
is this system use-able since it is so hot? I mean, I already ordered one and if it is so hot that I cannot put my palms on, then I guess I will be canceling it. please advise

 

Same here.

 

Well there is a silver lining, you're less likely to leave fingerprints on the glossy surface now.

Does anyone know who builds the Studio XPS 13/16 for Dell? I mean they're probably the one who also designed the models with approval from Dell of course.

 

Safe to ASSUME that whomever designs the models is in the Arctic circle.

 

I just looked at the HP HDX 16t owners thread and a couple of guys who just received their HDX 16t have complained about the heat on their units. The fans were also configured from the factory to run constantly (I wonder why). It looks like the XPS 16 is not alone when it comes to heat issues. Maybe the same company which designed & builds the HDX 16t also designed/builds the XPS 16? Is it Asus, Compal, Clevo?

Anyway, it seems like a cooler might be the only way to go. Quite a few people use coolers with good results. The XPS 16 got two editor's choice awards, so it can't be too bad. As for this system being "use-able", I think that's subjective.

 

I've never used this cooler [ http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1283496 but I've heard a lot of good stuff about it. It's a bit expensive but will definitely last. Also scored 4.9/5 on the customer rating.

 

I just checked the link & the product is not listed.

 

Should work now... I think

 

just ordered a new 1640:
ordered: Jan 24th, 2008
ESD: Feb 12th, 2008 (so looongggg!)
Spec: core 2 duo 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, WLED LCD, 2 years warranty+completecare, 2nd day shipping
price: 1k6 (i got a 7% discount EPP hehe)
crossing fingaz, oh well it stresses me out a little bit knowing some people say this 1640 has heat issues, i hate hot laptops!!!

 

I bet you get it before your ESD. What are you going to use it for?

 

aaronmcc, I am going to use it for gaming, multimedia stuffs, autocad, ...however, I still hate hot laptops LOL, I dont want it to be hot because this is an expensive machine

 

I can understand that . At least for stuff like gaming and autocad you would be able to use a laptop cooler if you needed to. I hate to think a laptop cooler would be *required* but I'm afraid it will be.

 

why would a laptop cooler be a requirement? this is ridiculous. Some people said "get an external mouse and keyboard because this thing is HOT!", but I disagree. This is a laptop, and it should behave like a laptop. If we need those things for a laptop, then why even bother buying? we can get a sick desktop with the same price =) lame =)

 

Would the intercooler affect the temp of the surface of the laptop? Like the palmrest.. and touch pad, i still cant figure out why that touchpad is 105F! Thats a full 20F warmer than my current laptop (according to NBR figures).

 

Man, I think my bluetooth just got shot on my lappy. All of a sudden my bluetooth mouse stopped working. Changed batteries, nada. Changed function of mouse to wireless. Works fine. Hmm.

 

Uh oh....that's not good news to hear.

 

Is there a driver you can reinstall or something?

 

Any chance it was the heat that fried the bluetooth module in the laptop?

 

Tried a reboot and a re-pairing? Users have reported pairing problems with dell bluetooth mice in the past. I assume you have the dell branded logitech 5 button bluetooth?

 

I got it fixed. I tried to reinstall driver, no go. I tried to reinstall mouse, no go. I did system restore, fixed it. Dunno what the problem was.

I actually have the Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000. The mouse is pretty sweet and the fact it can connect either wirelessly via a adapter or via bluetooth is convienent. Also, the mouse matches this laptop masterfully with its silver and black accents . It actually has aluminum buttons so would prolly match the m1530 as well.

 

Vishank - I don't recall you commenting on the heat issues others have noted. Are you finding it to be a deal breaker? Or not a problem? Scanning the forums for other brands, it sounds like this is becoming a common issue. Thanks!

 

Do you notice a difference in performance between bluetooth and wireless?

 

Ultimately for me, I have decided it is not a deal breaker. Everything else on this thing is great and I cannot let something like that bother me. I just need to make sure I keep my palms off the rest more when typing...which is not an issue...just a change in habit.

 

Well, perhaps some of the lucky owners of the 1640 could try playing maybe Crysis, or FEAR 2 demo on their lappy and see how this baby performs/heat?

 

Earlier you mentioned there were flaws in the build quality. Is this pretty minor? On the whole is it built very well?

 

Other than them rushing through mine, it is built well. It is solid and it does not feel like cheap. I am still going to get them to swap mine due to their lack of care.

 

I do notice that the trackpad heats up as well as the palmrest. I however, do not find it as much as a dealbreaker (the screen itself kind of makes up for it). As well, I am not going to carry it around not as much as I think. I have already disabled the trackpad since I have a bluetooth mouse. I am just disappointed that I did not get all the accessories that I should've got with this laptop. As well, there is a little bleeding on the screen from both sides which I assume is from the screws they use to bolt the screen down.

Not really. The main advantage would be that I don't need any adapter sticking out of my laptop if I use bluetooth.

 

So Studio XPS surface temperatures are quite hot
Kindly please post CPU,GPU and HDD temperature using HWMonitor.

 

I have a Dell 90 Watt AC adapter that I used with my Dell M70.
Will it work with the SXPS 16?

 

Holy crap....mine just shipped (still no email yet but web shows order as shipped with today's date).

I will be doing some casual gaming (Fallout, CoD) and hopefully, the 3650 doesn't disappoint. I think it should be pretty fair since it's supposed to be similar to the 9600 which my friend has in his HDX18 and he can play most games at 1440X900 (med settings) fine.

The only thing that has me on the border is the 720p screen which I ordered. 1080p was too high for me (ex XPS Gen 1 owner here) so I'm hoping that 720p screen is enough. Of course, I have a 24" Dell LCD that will be primary display when the lappie is docked.

On the same note, does anyone know if the screen is interchangable should Dell release a mid res screen in future.

I got a great deal on this ($1270+taxes) with 2 yr warranty, B/T, upgraded Wi-Fi card and a $100 Dell giftcard on top of that so I'm not looking forward to return this.

 

If you pull up your invoice which is usually on the left side of the order page it will have the tracking number on it on the top right side. Let me know if you shipped from a plant on the east side or west side USA. Also what chip did you get.

 

^ I got the base P8400 ..under tracking , it says .."temporarily unavailable"....I guess it just got shipped out today so makes sense. Maybe by tomorrow, it will get updated.

I live in Sacramento so if they shipped it from Nevada (I think they have a distribution center for CA), then it should come pretty quick.

Hah...just noticed your sig and I guess we have pretty much the same specs

PS: Estimated delivery date is Tue ...woot.

 

You should call dell to get the tracking number. Chances are it will never be updated until you have already receive it.

I have ordered from dell before and never got the tracking number updated on the order info. I had to call

 

CPU : 42 C
GPU : 52 C
HDD : 42 C

 

Ambient temp?