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

You should definitely keep it plugged in; its basically a back up UPS if anything ever happens to the power.

I also dont know how big a deal that chronic heat would have on its lifespan.. esp. when you compare it to discharge and charging.

 

So i got rid of pretty much all the "bloatware" that I can find on the Add/Remove Programs list. Would you guys recommend I do a re-format anyways? Would that increase overall performance, including in games?

 

Not really. Personally I do a reformat. What you might notice is initial start and loads a little faster. After game started, you would not notice any performance difference. I don't trust the Add/Remove functionality, nor that everything Dell loads would actually show up in Add/Remove. Also, there is the reinstall partition I don't need and would rather have the space. If you're not a fanatic about every bit of memory and disk space and speed you want, reformatting is a waste of time and hassle you don't need. If you are a fanatic, well, you probably wouldn't be asking this question.

 

I'm planning on reformatting at once when mine arrives, but have you guys had problems reinstalling anything? The webcam facial recognition? Also, where do you find these third party drivers for the ATI card?

 

I have a 9 Cell available for you Canadians. I am in Mississauga for this coming week. PM me if you are interested.

 

Why no P9600 CPU option on the 1640 but it is available on the 13? The P9600 looks to me like the ideal processor (power, 6MB cache and 25W TDP). Why is Dell not offering a P9xxx series CPU on the 16? Arg!!

 

I had another question about my XPS1640. In the past few days, I have experienced issues connecting to my wireless network in my house. If I am in the room with the router, or the room right beside it, no problem. If I am up one level in the kitchen it takes about 5 minutes to connect, or doesnt connect at all. Same goes if I am one level down in the basement where my room is. No other computers in my house have issues with the wireless network in ANY room.

I have become really really frustrated with this, and am considering calling Dell to ask for a refund. Has anyone else had issues with their network cards? Or did I just get stuck with a faulty one?

 

Its an Intel Driver issue. Mine stopped working completly called dell they remote removed the driver and reinstalled it.(Uninstall it in Safemode) Then reinstall in regualer windows. There Xps support is top notch thow if you call. Quick easy and simple

 

Do you know which manufacturer is the OEM supplier for the (128GB) SSD come with XPS 16?

thanks.

 

Aside from the screen saturation and sub woofer not working, I have one problem that has to be fixed, otherwise I must get another laptop.

My laptop won't boot when my Seagate FreeAgent Go is plugged in. It sits at a black screen and blinks. My Gateway works fine and Desktop too.

EDIT: Still not resolved

 

Awesoome to hear. I really like this machine and would hate to have to return it. So just call and follow the prompts to technical support?

 

Samsung.

 

Call this number

1-866-398-8977

I'm pretty sure that's the direct XPS tech line. It'll save you some time.

 

Ya I just looked it up. Thanks

 

yea then theyll connect to your computer from www.dell.com/dc3 and remote remove it and reinstall. The xps service line is awsome never had a single problem with there service

 

In what applications can the multi-touch be used? I know firefox, but what else?

 

Any browser , Photoshop, Windows live photo gallery thats all i know

 

Still can't boot from internal hdd while my external seagate drive is attached. The drive is brand new and I've tried two of them and they work on the laptop but only if you plug in after boot. Other computers boot fine with the drive attached.

This has nothing to do with boot order as I moved the drive to last and even disabled it from booting, all with no luck.

 

Quick question, does the 1640 have a coaxial output (S/PDIF)? I have a set of Logitech 5.1 speakers and I am wondering if I will need to buy any sort of adapter / external audio card in order for them to work.

 

SWEET!

was checking my status at 8am this morning.. nothing changed..

HOWEVEr...just checked and

"Your order has been shipped and is on its way! "

how about you imake? i hope yours on its way as well

 

Mine went from Production to Delivery Prep this morning. Ordered last Thursday night. Told the Sales Rep that since I'm leaving to work abroad in 3 weeks I need the laptop asap or I wouldn't purchase. Not sure if that helped but I'm quite pleased to see it's near the shipping stage already.

 

Oh man, thats awesome; mine is still in Production, which is no biggie in the grand scheme of things i guess.

What are your specs btw? Im wondering if some extra components delay the production: i did the 1080p and 256GB SSD options on top of the base unit.

[Edit] Well i just got an email saying that it was delayed at least 5 days; so, something must be up.

 

I regret not going for the 256SSD for $400 bucks upgrade at dell. I instead got the 320gb 7200 rpm thinking i'll upgrade later.

i know it's still too early to upgrade - but the same 256 SSD is going for like $700 retail. wow. I guess my regular HDD will have to hold me down for now.

 

Eh, the 7200RPM drive's fine, and just think what flash drives may be available in a year

 

The 7200 is quiet as can be, I have to struggle to hear it.

 

So I called Tech Support last night to try to fix my wireless network problem. They didn't re-install my drivers like was mentioned. They changed a couple settings on my router, so that my network card could connect better. And it worked, my computer was able to pick up the wireless signal MUCH faster than before.

So then I decided to play some TF2. I get into a game and I'm lagging terribly. So I think that it might be because of my router settings. So I go back in, and change everything back to the way it was before. Get back into the game, and low and behold, no lag. So I keep it that way until the morning.

I wake up in the morning, and turn my laptop on to see if it still has issues (my room has the WORST connection in the house, but only for this machine. My school laptop connects fine and dandy). And once again, I cannot connect to my router. So I call Dell AGAIN. This time they put me on with a "specialist" who basically tells me that because my network card is an 802.11n, and my router runs on a g signal, it's going to have issues. BUT, my school laptop is also an n connection and it has no problems.

"Oh there is one exception sir. If your card has 'Real Link' capabilities it will not be affected by the n to g switch."

"Well why the **** didn't you put that in my laptop"

"I'm sorry sir, but you will possibly have to just upgrade your router to an n connection"

I'm officially fed up. First off, I don't feel that I should have to upgrade a router that works perfectly fine for EVERYTHING else, just so I can connect my Dell to it. And secondly, why is Dell putting low-grade parts in their computer in the first place. I'm calling Dell and getting them to refund me my money.

I'm going to either buy a $1000 desktop, and a cheap laptop, or I'm going to go to MSI or somewhere else for my laptop needs. Never again Dell.

 

Do you have the 5100 or 5300 card?
Are these cards N draft ONLY?

 

dude... that sounds like a y.p. not an m.p.

 

So, you're going to have a desktop and 2 laptops? That other laptop must be pretty recent if its running an N WiFi card. How many do you need?

 

Well my school one is the other one running the N card. It's a pretty basic Toshiba Business style laptop. In about a month or so I have to give it back to my school, or buy it out for $500. So I'm planning on giving it back to them.

And what do you mean by "m.p." and "y.p."

 

I believe my problem and your problem.

 

Ah ok. I see. So it's my problem that my router is a year or so old and has suddenly become incompatible with ONLY my Dell laptop?

 

Is draft N the final version of the n wireless system?

 

no, it's a draft

 

What is left to change?
EDIT: "802.11n is expected to be finalized in June 2010'
"The draft is expected to be finalized in November 2009 with publication in December 2009"
hmm


Is draft n supposed to work as well as the final version?

 

Well, I guess you could say that it's *supposed* to, but as it's basically an early version it probably won't as it's quite likely that they'll make some changes before it's finalized.

 

Options like the P9600, blu-ray writer, 1600x900 WLED, 4670 GPU, etc. will eventually become available, probably before July. Of course that doesn't help if you need it now.

 

yeah, don't expect to be able to buy an SSD like that for $400 anytime soon. I returned mine and ordered a new one when they added that option.

 

yeah, recent as in within the last 3 years.

 

It just seems weird to not have those options now. The 16 has the shortest list of CPU options I think I have ever seen for a Dell.

 

Does the 1080p screen saturated REDs bother anyone else? They just look pinkish and really bright.

 

Get your screen calibrated.

 

wow..sucks to hear that yours got delayed...

i upgraded mine to a 128gb ssd and took out blu ray drive.

i dont mean to rub it in...but is pretty crazy how it took them a day shipping from US to here in toronto...im expecting to get it tomorrow.

 

I read a thread a while back, from a guy that appears very knowledgeable about screen calibration. And it was pretty in-depth, I didn't understand much (lol). He claimed the problem could not be corrected with calibration, and would only lead to other problems.

I'm 99% ready to send my 1640 back for a full refund and probably get a Sony FW, or something else.

EDIT: also, I spent several hours in ATI catalyst control advanced trying to adjust each channel R G B, and was able to reduce the reds, but at the expense of the brightness of the screen, and the blacks/whites were messed up.

For anyone that's interested in seeing what I'm talking about, here's my custom ATI color settings to reduce the reds but results in less screen brightness:

One of my custom recommended settings:
Screen brightness (via fn button) on MAX
ATI Catalyst - Color:
Red: Brightness: -22, Contrast: 70
Green: Brightness: -38
Blue: Brightness: -32

 

Hey guys, thought id say hi, just had my studio XPS 1640 arrive in the mail afew hrs ago.
First impressions are.........WHOW, very tidy unit, fast, stylish and cant wait to test out the HD3670.
Very impressed with Dells service so far, i ordered it exactly a week ago today so im quite impressed to have had it arrive so quickly, i have been recieving regular phone calls from the service centre updating me on progress. And am very happy with what was included in the box, for example i ordered it with vista 64bit and also recieved 32bit cd as well as the 64bit, little things like that impress me.
Well as you can tell im excited.....time to go put in acouple of games and see how they handle.
Takecare guys

 

I calibrated my screen and created ICC profiles for it, and it corrected the colors for my screen. You can try using the ICC profiles I posted a few pages back.


To make it work though, prevent Catalyst from applying those custom screen settings (at startup), as it would mess up the calibration being done by the monitor's ICC profile.

 

In ATI, there is an option to reset to system default and no custom colors. I've tried it and your settings still hardly did anything to the reds.

Just check out ebay.com, or youtube, in the logo, it's almost pinkish red, very bright, with the default screen settings that shipped (and even with your settings on my system, unnless I'm doing something wrong).

Can you try these settings in ATI and goto ebay to see if the logo is not a as bright:
red: brightness: -22 Contrast: 70
Green: brightness: -38
Blue: brightness: -32

 

QuadAllegory, which browser are you using? I had that oversaturated red with pinkish tint before calibration, but after I associated the ICC profile with my screen, it fixed colors as they should be (at least in Firefox, Photoshop, Lightroom, and other color-aware applications). Windows is still oversaturated with colors (e.g., my wallpaper is oversaturated even though it's colors will be muted if I view it in Firefox or Photoshop).

If you're using Firefox (or Safari, as these two are the only browsers that honor color management), enable the color management in about:config. (It is disabled by default). Then restart Firefox.

 

Windows 7 will have better OS level management for wide gamut displays.

 

How does this graphics card compare to the Nvidia 9600GT??





also, how does the WLED 1336x768 monitor compare to a WXGA+ 1440 x 900???