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

I disassembled it again and checked - turns out YES the media button area is flat, but the power button is slightly raised. This is because the device that the power button uses is slightly high. I looked at that panel design and it was manufactured to be higher.

Also you mentioned the silver lining wasn't perfect. I must agree. Some areas are slightly higher (near my optical drive) and also if you push down on a few different places around the palmrest you can hear clicking (where the palmrest clips to the main part of the laptop).

I thought the laptop was perfect. But upon disassembling it, I found a few flaws.

It's still a great machine however. Really dissapointed that I had to connect the backlight on the keyboard myself though

 

It's a had a few problems, I even had a hard drive die, but it's a great bang for the buck. I built the HDX16 up comparable to what my XPS16 came with standard. The price was $1,524 including the $200 rebate. The HDX16 doesn't even have the option of DDR3 ram, which is standard on the XPS16. I know it's had it's problems, but new things usually do when they come out because they release them early to make the public that's begging for it happy. You can pick up my identical laptop from Best Buy right now for $1,050, near $500 cheaper then the HP and it's a better laptop except for arguably the video card.

 

well i bet there are plenty more people that have this unit without problems than those that do, not often do people come to a forum to make loads of positive comments, i am very happy with this notebook, it outperforms the expectations i had for it, is a reasonable price for what one is getting and rivals the viao in the looks department.
I can see why people are getting worked up over this unit.....

 

these notebooks are amazing.. F what people have to say and F people who bash them i love my 1340 and really want a 1640 but dont have any need for it.

 

I see why. Because this is the 1640 thread, and you're also in the XPS/Studio XPS subforum.

And it's a newer machine. Naturally people will talk about it more than laptops released last year.

 

DDR3 doesn't really have an advantage though in these things. Only plus side I can see is that MAYBE in a year or two it'll end up cheaper than DDR2...but then I don't even need 4GB now anyway, and it's not a sure thing it'll get cheaper.

 

Having a faster FSB doesn't give an advantage?

 

Sure a faster FSB is an advantage, but that has nothing to do with the RAM.

 

I'm lost?

I thought the FSB of the CPU and the FSB of the RAM were directly related. I understand that it's limited to the CPU's speed but it was my understanding that DDR2 was only capable of running 800mhz.

*After doing some research I read that there are versions of the DDR2 in 1067 MHZ, but DDR3 is the only to come in 1333 MHZ which doesn't make a difference in this case.

 

exactly. I have had almost zero problems with xps 16 since it came in just over a week ago.

 

Yeah, DDR2 in notebooks is usually 800MHz, but it's got lower latency than the faster clocked DDR3 used in notebooks, so the performance ends up about the same.

The FSB has nothing to do with RAM speeds. Hasn't since at least 2002 (on Intel systems at least). That may predate the Pentium 4, but I can't remember.

 

That would explain some things then. This is my first Pentium machine since the P2 233 I had awhile back.

I appreciate the enlightenment.

 

Ah, well that's been a while! I think I had the same chip in my work computer a decade ago

I was soooo envious of it, 'cause I only had a Pentium 200 at home

 

Yeah, I went from that to an Athlon 650, which at the time was a beast. From then on I had pretty much stuck with Athlon.

It's amazing how far we've come in such a short time.

 

Deos the studio xps laptops have a built in tv tuner?

 

Only entry level XPS 16 comes without TV tuner, although you can specify as an option.

 

What country? When I ordered mine, it didn't have a built in tuner as an option. Not sure if it does now. (This is in the U.S.)

A standard tuner would be cool though!

 

Yeah, I think I had a 1GHz Athlon, but with a horrible Via chipset. Complete garbage (the chipset I mean), so I ended up junking it for a 933MHz Pentium 3. Don't have it anymore though

I'm soooooooooo glad Via's dead as a chipset company.

 

UK, Tuners in the Dell are of the DVB-t (digital) variety, made by Hauppauge I believe.

 

I am torn between the SXPS 16 and the HDX18. I know they are pretty different size wise, but that's beside the point. I like both, though the HDX "fluid" paint job is a turn-off (why not plain black!). It's just that you can get a lot more for the money with the HP HDX. Using one of their normal 30% off coupons, I can get a quad CPU (Q9100), 4GB DDR3, 1GB DDR3 video, and a SSD+500GB data drive for about the same price I have speced for the XPS 16 (I was the SSD option). I think the XPS looks nicer, but I need to keep this for a while and I do a lot of multi-tasking, so the extra power would go a long way!

 

Don't forget that it has an Nvidia GPU too, instead of ATi. The only upside is the 1640 has an LED backlight instead of florecent. Otherwise I'd say that HP sounds much much better.

 

Dell also has DDR3, so conforming to the Centrino2 standard, would of thought the choice would be between HDX16 & XPS16 though, unless you want a luggable!

 

It might for some people, but possibly not for that poster. For myself, I really didn't care what size my laptop was. I would have gotten...well anything from 9" to 18.4" if everything else was what I wanted.

Plus the weight on a lot of these new 18" laptops is significantly less than some older much smaller laptops.

 

Yeah, weight is not a huge issue. While I do venture to a cafe once or twice a week, most of my time is spent at my home office desk (very little travel). I don't game, but as a programmer and designer I have tons of apps open at the same time (Firefox, Thunderbird, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Skype, MS Office, + 10 other misc apps). But you are correct in one way, finding a case for an 18" is a challenge!

If the XPS 16 was a few hundred cheaper for the config I want, then it would be more attractive. But with the HDX offering so much more power for the same price, it's got the edge for me.

 

If you don't care about the extra 2", and you don't care about the florescent screen, IMO the Nvidia GPU and two extra CPUs would make it really clear cut which to get.

I'd LOVE a quad core! I sooooo love having two CPUs at least finally though. Helps make everything feel so much more responsive (besides just having the extra power available).

Maybe next year I can pick up a quad core system with a better GPU...

 

Given the already existing heat concerns with the XPS 16, I doubt we will see a quad version of that anytime soon!

Screen-wise, I actually like the Sony AW Premium the best. I saw it at the Sony Style store, and I just prefer matte screens. The new glossy screen drive me nuts (I currently have an old Dell Inspiron, which actually has a 1080p matte screen). I realize the XPS screen if probably better than the HDX, but with so many people complaining about the RGBLED color accuracy, perhaps not.

 

As an IT consultant, carrying my 4 year old Dell 9300 17" has been a real pain, think the XPS 16 is around half the weight. Not actually received my XPS 16 yet coming end of next week, originally specced up on Dell website, but found one on the Dell Outlet (UK) virtually half the price, the only compromise was the P8400 CPU (T9600 orig) and smaller HDD (320Gb) hope it looks brand new being a returned system.

 

Yeah, the HDX comes in at 8.8lbs. You're old 9300 was probably about a pound lighter. The XPS 16 is 6.5. My wife would say I need the extra weight for exercise! The looks and profile of the XPS are definitely strong points. That is exactly why I have not yet pulled the trigger. Until another 30% HP coupon rolls around, I am just going to waffle back and forth.

 

Might have been my old one, all they to do was replace the HDD.

 

I appreciate your favorable comment about the Studio XPS 1640 packaging. I'm the packaging engineer that designed that packaging. The cushion material is 100% recycled content thermoformed HDPE that can be collected curbside for recycling. The box material has high recycled content, and the maker of the ribbed paper on the outside of the carton uses bio-diesel fuels in their plants. For a prettier pack than the typical Dell offering, it is also very green.

 

While I don't own a 1640, I have seen many unboxing videos online. The packaging does look great, and it's awesome to hear the green efforts going into the design. Congrats.

 

Just FYI: For those who are considering to buy this, I found a coupon not listed on this site, its NB2388. 25% off with purchase of any laptop accessory. You can pickup the 9cell battery and then get 25% off total purchase, which is what I plan to do. Expires 3/22.

 

You are really going to appreciate it then! I've also got a 1705 and a 1720 in the house. They are terrible to lug around. The 1640 is light, thin, and comfortable to carry.

 

if you would of paid attention days ago you could of gotten the battery for $79.99 - 25% now its $189.99 - 25%

 

What is HP's customer service like? Does it come with an in-home warranty?

I'm hoping Dell will come out with something like this. I would be first in line to order.

 

Thanks for posting about it! I hadn't looked to see if it was recyclable since I keep the boxes until the warrranty has expired. It is nice to know it can go in the recycle bin.

I love how much smaller the boxing is... much easier to store. Great job

 

Sorry, I have no idea. I'd guess it's terrible, but then I have just about zero faith in tech support

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=362119


More people like it than not.

 

man, can you tell me how to use this?

tks in advance.

 

Does Dell send speakers, headphones, and sound card with the laptop or in a separate box?

 

If you order them, they will come in a separate box. There is no room for anything else.

 

Yeah. It's one of the optional features that I like about the HP HDX 16t (I'm currently trying to decide between it and the SXPS 16). I don't see any mention of a TV tuner in the "Design" or "Tech Specs" sections on the SXPS 16 web page. Nor does it show up as an option if you go to configure a system. (FWIW I'm also in the U.S.)

Let's approach this another way: does anyone here actually own a SXPS 16 that came from the factory with a TV tuner? If so, how did you order it?

 

could always get a card for the side.. :O what else are u gonna use that slot for?

 

Since two weeks ago, integrated TV tuner is already included in the base configuration of 1640 in Dell Singapore. Several 1640 owners from Europe I think also said they had the tuner card as an option.

 

Color Management control panel. (Type "Color Manage" in Start menu - textbox, it should appear) Associate those icc files with your display device (monitor).

 

whats this all about krionX

is there a way to get the icc files for the RBG ver of the laptop?

 

I've got 2 1640's that I'm comparing side by side. Both are the exact same specs. Running a stress test with the Orthos program I get the following after 30 minutes.

Laptop 1: Core0=71c Core1=72c GPU=57c

Laptop 2: Core0=64c Core1=66c GPU=61c

I have to send one of these back to Dell so I'm trying to decide which one. Do I choose the cooler running processor or the cooler running gpu? Any thoughts? I called for an RA on my first one because of the temps but they talked my into letting them send me a second one to see if it was better. I have a few days before I send one back.

 

I had the chance to do a calibration of my screen using Eye 1 Display 2 calibration device a few weeks back and posted the ICC profiles in this thread. I can't remember which page was that.

My 1640's temps are like your "Laptop 2"'s. I would choose the second one.

 

OK, thanks for that input on Lap1/2

Did Eye 1 Display 2 make a big difference in the 1640 screen? Some of the colors on this screen and temps are the only problems I have with the 1640. Otherwise I think it's great. I've not had any glitches with it at all. What are the best ways to calibrate this screen if one does not have access to Eye 1 Display 2?

 

So why would 2 identical laptops produce such different temp profiles? Could it be an error or lack of accuracy in the Cupid Monitor program?