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

What adjustments do i need to make on this panel to receive the cleanest output from these speakers?

The speakers in this computer are not great. you need to add a set of speakers, like with a desktop. A sound dock will work nicely.

 

The colors on my screen are horrible. I read a post where a guy had his screen replace and that new one was a lot better.

How can I send mine in for a replacement and still have time to test it before my return period expires? Should I ask for a full refund and then place a new order? I'd like to change the processor and add the 256gb SSD anyway.

 

If you want want to change the processor and add the SSD, your best bet is to return for a full refund. Then, after that is all complete, place a order for a new one with what you want.

Be sure you have it returned, within the 21 days, of date of invoice~!

Dell Return Policy:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=018


Cin

 

Do you mean the date they shipped the item, or the date they billed me?

 

The date you were actually billed/charged for your lappy...Usually when it's about to ship



Cin

 

Cool, that was the 2nd, so I have a little time left.

1) What department should I call for this, the resolution center?
2) Should I ask for a refund and then a few days later make a separate order, or should I try and get it done all at once through one rep?
3) Will they give me a full refund without the restocking fee?

 

To make touch pad scrolling work in firefox: uninstall the dell touch pad driver and download the driver directly from synaptics via http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers

 

thx.
i vl try now..

 

The laptop is pretty sweet though I should warn users that I got a 10/100 Ethernet card instead of a 10/100/1000 as I should have recieved
Along with this, my left hinge's cover is slightly open, I didn't receive the Vista and Centrino 2 labels and the backpanel is incorrectly fit.

I've reported all of this and it seems the local Dell (India) had no idea about the ethernet card and had to talk to the motherboard's manufacturer for clarification.

This case has been going on for 2 weeks now and I'm supposed to get an update tomorrow. They have floated the idea of sending a new motherboard but I swatted that down since I don't want them opening up my system here.. I'm sure they'd break something in there causing more issues

I have requested for a system replacement and they said that they'd see what exactly is to be done. I would have to reinstall all my applications (unless they allow a hardware swap) but at least it would fix all my issues

Hope all Indian users ordering a Dell (and who have ordered Dell in the past month) have a look at their LAN cards
If you're not sure how to check, please feel free to send me a message

 

I can't PM you cause of post count, but how do I check mine?

 

um...you didnt get badges on your laptop? return that mess and get a new one

 

If it is me you are referring to ( thread), i said the new screen is slightly better. In fact, I had to look hard to tell the difference.

 

NBR crashed last night in the middle of my reply (404's)

Here is what you need to do if you intend on returning:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/returns_entry?c=us&l=en&s=gen

Contact Numbers:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/byphone_ord?c=us&l=en&s=gen

You will want to advise that the lappy is not living up to your expectation and would rather return for a refund, and you will visit purchasing at a later date. When you are getting your return in order, the Rep will most likely advise you that you can be charged the 15% restocking fee. Just advise it's not working out for you.

And, once you have the return complete...then you should purchase a new laptop...At least that is what I would do. I would rather have everything cleared up, and the order new..vs. having an open issue on a returned lappy.

Hope that helps.

Cin

 

can someone provide me with the make and specs of hard drive provided by dell? and can i upgrade the hard drive to this:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4306125&Sku=TSD-1000H4

????

 

That's a 3.5" HDD, it's for a desktop not a notebook/laptop.

 

lol ok .

 

ive got a question about the battery.

Do you guys leave the battery in at all times or take it out when connected to the power adapter for long amounts of time?

I want to maximize the life of the battery, so should i take it out?

 

Here is a great guide on batteries, please take a look at it:

Notebook Battery Guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846

I leave mine connected to the brick all the time. Either way...eventually it's going to lose it's *juice* eventually..little by little.


Cin

 

The laptop should be smart enough to not charge the battery when its full. It prob checks it on start up and decides whether to charge or not.

 

Guys, serious problem here: DUST!
There are at least 4 black dots in my screen... One of them is right in the middle! Very annoying!
Currently I'm in Brazil, but the lappy was bought in the US. I have an international warranty, so I called dell. The guy who answered me said that I would need DELL CARE to correct something like this, but I disagree... The other issue is with Dell Brazil. They do not produce the 1640 here yet, so there are no parts in the country.

I would like to avoid more tiring calls, long waiting, and possibly no service, so my question is simple: do you think I can clean this myself? If I open it, will it close again?

Tks, people.

 

I have a few in mine to but near the edges and corners it dosen't really bother me ( That much ) but if it gets to the point were its rediculos im removing the plastic and getting a peice of glass cut to the dimensions and sealing it on there myself

 

Just did a battery test of my 1640 with Balanced setting. Dell Battery doubler enabled lowest brightness bluetooth off. I was just browsing the web and youtube and these fourms. And talking on msn and got 2:15 when i got critical warning. I wonder how much longer the 9 cell would give me

 

well, on my 1340 9cell i get 6hrs+ so maybe ull get 4.5-5hrs+?

 

i use power saver option when theres no power(where i live in india thats about 14hrs a day) and i can get on average 3.5 hrs with the 6cell battery, im more than happy with that concidering it doesnt have a intergrated gpu' i do think im going to get the 9cell battery though as this will really push powersaver mode to perhaps close to 6 hrs.

 

Hey guys, since we are on the subject of battery life.
I have been using my XPS 1640 for a few days but only use it when its plugged in/charging.

Today I am using it running off the battery but I have noticed that game performance is significantly lower while doing so.

Is this normal??

 

Catalyst control center throtles down the gpu when on battery for maximum life

 

4.5 hours would be awsome but realistically i think ill get 3.5

 

Ohhh, I see now. So it's completely normal to get significantly WORST performance when running off only the battery?

 

You have to remember i have the RGB screen so that uses a little more juice. But i don't use powersaver because i feel it throtles down the cpu to much. I defiantly am going to get the 9 cell when its available in canada. Then i can have my 6 cell in my backpack as backup and have my 9 cell as my primary battery

 

i can order you the 9cell state side and send it to you, ive done this for 2 other members here.. email me [email protected]

 

If you want then you can open PowerPlay in CCC and change settings to Maximum Performance on Battery also. Considering lower battery time.

 

Is anyone experiencing slightly jumpy divx video playback using WMP on these machines? The videos are perfect on divx's own player, but there is a slight jumpyness in some frames when played through WMP.

I've tried google, but haven't really gotten a clear answer.

 

Hey guys,
I've been lurking on these forums for a few weeks and I finally pulled the trigger on an M1640 on Friday. I upgraded the screen, the 8700 Processor and bluetooth and squeaked out with a 9 cell and tax for ~$1700. My question is if Dell's drawn out lead times are legit? The initial order had my battery arriving 3/26 and the laptop 4/13 but the battery shipped Friday and is set to arrive the 18th. Should I expect to receive the laptop sooner than the one month Dell is quoting? If not, I may pursue a cryogenic option, similar to Cartman and his Wii

 

I got the same problem with the system I received last thursday. I called dell last night and they are sending a tech to replace the motherboard.

 

From what I've dealt with, both of my computers shipped weeks before I was told they would arrive. Hopefully the same will happen for you.

 

It should be checking continuously, and almost instantly start charging if need be.

On my new laptop it Windows lets it get down a few percent before charging. Not sure if that's true for all laptops or not, probably.

 

Just wondering if anyone is using an eSATA HDD enclosure and what types of read/write speeds you are getting? This connection is just plug and play, right?

And, are these things powered by the eSATA connection? I know the larger 3.5 inch models are AC powered (which is why im not interested in these).

thanks

 

As I understand it, eSATA doesn't provide power.

 

I hope Dell includes the SXPS 16 on the deal days sale. There was a rumor they would be but there are only two days left...

 

Correct. I have a 2.5" enclosure - USB 2.0 and eSATA. When using with USB cable, no power required - with eSATA I have to use the AC adapter.

 

OK. Thanks. I might just stick with USB2.0 since im just going to use the Ext. HDD to archive my CD collection as ISOs.

 

I'm very interested on this... What model do you have? Where did you bought it? How much?

 

Great to hear. I have build 7057 x64. About to install. Very curious as to if you upgraded over Vista, clean installed or dual booted?
TIA,
J

I haven't done a whole lot on it yet though and only have a couple apps installed. So, I'm not sure how great the stability is yet. But 7000 is super stable (not 1 bsod) on my desktop.[/QUOTE]

I used Win 7 build 7000 from release on my inspiron and not only were there no bsod or one singular stability issue. It ran faster than xp home basic had from clean install on same laptop.. Crazy.

 

Yeah, USB speed is fine for me. I get real-world roughly 20MB/s, which is plenty fast for me. CPU utilization is higher, but it's not really an issue for most uses even on my 2003 system. Of course, I remember it wasn't that long ago when that was a phenomenal transfer rate for a hard drive Heck, it still blows me away that we have drives now that exceed 100MB/s sustained read/write (seemed like stuff plateaued around 50MB/s for ages).

 

I got my Zalman NC2000 cooling fan 3 days ago and i love it! my 1640 sits perfectly on it.

Sleek design incorporating a high quality 3mm thick aluminum panel with a fine curvature and great cooling performance. made from Premium aluminum, and has rubber grip strip to prevent the notebook from sliding. Throws out COLD air and not just fans spining. Extremly quiet, easy setup (just plug usb from cooling pad to laptop click power button on the side and your done! I use it mainly like a docking station when im doing computer related work for several hours. my laptop never gets hot anymore...not even warm --you could feel the cold air venting out to your pawm as you type.

highly recommended. make sure you get the new one ...the "NC2000 ( it all black and made for 16inch note books.) t(he NC1000 is an older model)

I got mines from amazon $69.71 Free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-ZM-NC2...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237310672&sr=8-2

 

Your wish came true. Look at the deals page, and the preview of tomorrow (Day 9) shows the SXPS 16. Now, the config is unknown, but could be interesting!

 

very interesting......bestbuy has the studio xps 1640 in stock for $1099 but i currently own the 1340 and its great laptop but shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so tempting

edit; seeing as all of the other dell deals on laptops have sucked so far your better off ordering from bestbuy

 

I noticed Bestbuy 1640 config has a ATI Mobility RADEON M86XT graphics
Feature 512MB discrete video memory for lush images.

Is this better than the Radeon dell uses?

 

i do not know anything about ati cards ive always been a nvidia guy

 

M86XT et ATI HD3670 have different names but they are the same card!