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

Tried to install PC tune up as well, it's asking me for a serial number/activation key.

 

I just got mine 2 days ago and I love it. I bought it as a gift for my GF so it wont be mine much longer. I installed windows 7 7077 and its just great! I will advise if you install windows 7 do the windows update then go to dells page and down vista 64 drivers for bluetooth, the ITE driver(this is the one that complains about unknown device) and the quickset application.













studio xp 1640:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit Build 7077 | Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 (2.66 GHz)| 4 GB DDR3 | 16" 1080p RGBLED LCD | Intel WiFi Link 5300| Dell Bluetooth 370 | Samsung ssd 256gb| 512 MB ATI HD 3670 | BD-ROM/DVD-RW | BIOS REV: A06

 

That's a sweet setup man! I'm getting mine in a day and it's got everything the same except 2.6ghz and I'm putting in an Intel X25-m 80gb SSD (there's a price drop in a few days). I'll be putting on W7 RC1 once I get it.

 

thanks! I know I left the pictures big but I figured since this is an xps 16 thread most people would have 1080 screen to see. when you get the intel can you run some benchmarks, you should post them in this thread( its about the samsung 256 ssd that comes in the dell studio xps 16):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=352730&page=5

you can see my bench marks in there too.

edit: i just check this thread with a computer other then my 30 inch screen and realized those pic sizes were way tooo big!

 

Now I wish I didn't mention it.
Strange that Dell put stuff up there that isn't standard software for our laptops.

 

Alright, I meant to say 2.8ghz not 2.6 lol. I'll post some benches when I get it. I got the 2.8 (instead of 2.93) cause I scored a deal in the outlet with 15% off and it didn't have the samsung 256, so I thought oh well, I'll just get the intel from amazon and install it myself.

 

After a little research, it looks a though they put it in there to try to get people to download it and then buy it.

 

alrit, guys, i just recieved a studio 16 with rgb led, since i already have a studio 17 with rgb led. when i compared the 2 lcds, studio 16 just not as bright as studio 17, i'd say britness on atudio 16 is only 2/3 of studio 17.
then i looked into studio16 bios, there is a brightness setting control from
1-16. i havent seen a brightness control in a dell bios for a few years.
studio 16 has a samsung lcd secxxx while studio 17 has a lg screen.
i dont think samsung wuld produce such an inferior quality lcd as to lgs, it must be dell set the lcd britness setting in bios.

so my point is: do we the studio xps 16 owners start a thread here on nbr or on dell brainstorm , you know to get dell to remove britness setting in bios, i'd rather have 45 minutes battery life then losing eye candys with a low brightness lcd(not that current rgb led screen in studio 16 is bad).

 

Well I recieved my XPS 16 today. And I will say I am impressed. I am used to HP Business class computers and expect alot out of my computers. Well I have zero issues with this computer so far.

I have reinstalled a fresh Vista 64 install, new drivers with some games. I am having no heat problems what so ever, which surprises me.

The keyboard is nice to type on and only has a bit of soft area near the Enter key.

The screen is beautiful and with a bit of tweaking displays colors pretty much as true as I have ever seen on a laptop.

I was worried about the sound but there has been no problems there. The Sound is loud and even. Bass is not as deep as I was hoping but hey its a laptop.

The fit and finish of the computer is perfect. I went over the entire chassis with a magifying glass and could not find any defects. All seams are closed and even, no warped plastic, nothing.

Okay so the only part that is killing me is the fingerprints....dear god in heaven why does every one want shiny computers. Whats wrong with a nice matte finish.

Well back to playing with my new toy.

 

damn well im definately using vista64 ill try to install those drivers for the wifi when im at the computer in afew hours, ill write the exact message and see if anyone can work out why i cant install the latest driver for intel 5300.
Thats for keeping us informed though.

 

I hope I am as fortunate as you, whenever mine decides to arrive!

 

So far it hasn't gone too well with the info provided. LOL

Thx though.

 

congratulations on your new buy, im in the same boat as you, and just love how mine performs.
Zagg have made a invisibleshield for the SXPS16 you can look at the topic here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=374594
or a link the the site here
http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/dell-xps-studio-16-cases-covers-skins-shields.php

enjoy your new toy.

 

oh thats alittle dirty from dell, we buy a premium unit and have to deal with this rubbish.......pull your head in dell.

@ MadBoris dont worry mate all you can do is inform us, its up to dell to make sure its all legit, im alittle puzzled by the new intel5300 driver not installing though, did you install the new ones?,

 

once you delete that IDT sound driver from device manager, you will notice much improved sound quality, no more hollow monotone.
try listen to numb linkin park on youtube after you do that, you ll know what rocks, a true subwoofer under studio 16 hood.

as far as finger prints and dust on plastic e2e, i'd say this is the worst i ever seen in any shiny laptop, even more so than macbook and hp dv7t that ive owned in the past.

 

No, downloaded but not installed. I just installed the OS and drivers the same day the driver came out, so I must have missed the new version by a couple hours.

I am still in the process of loading my machine up with all necessary software and troubleshooting a potential issue with a new Linksys wrt320N router so I need to keep things stable on the wireless client for a while.

I'm going to make a backup image of my drive once the laptop is fully loaded then I will be able to test to my hearts content.

 

Hey sorry to waste anyones time in my question regarding my in-ablity to install the lastest driver for intel 5300 wifi it seems as though it was a user mistake, i somehow downloaded the vista32 drivers by mistake sorry guys.
Takecare

 

User mistake with computers. Never seen it.
Good to know it's ok, now I can give it a shot later.

 

hey mate i tryed to un-install the IDT sound driver from device manager and after it said the pc needed to be re-booted for the uninstall to take effect, so i did that and after the pc booted up windows reinstalled the drivers again is that what was ment to happen or did i screw up?
Thanks for any suggestions mate.
@ MadBoris yeah its all good mate intel 5300 drivers installed without a hitch i wonder what improvements it will make?

 

Yeah, basically he was saying the generic Windows driver sounded better then the IDT driver. I did the same thing but I'm using Windows 7, I'm guessing Windows driver is probably better then one that wasn't really made for W7.

 

I'm having trouble with the computer entering sleep mode even though I've configured it to never do so. I have configured it to never turn the screen off, to never go into sleep mode and I have configured it to not use a screensaver. Any ideas?

 

Great Background Pics can you post just the background pics with out windows?

 

Most if not all of those were standard Windows 7 backgrounds. There are some very cool themes that come standard with it.

 

Does Windows 7 have the standard Quick Launch toolbar? It the most useful part of the toolbar for me; i have 16 programs in a 4x4 grid on it (my task bar is on the left) and can access everything i need while not being intrusive or taking up so much real estate.

 

It has the Quick Launch bar, but it's a little bit different. The whole task bar, in a sense, is the quick launch bar. You can pin any program to the task bar and make it a Quick Launch, if you have any instances of that program open, it becomes a sub icon of the Quick Launch icon. To access any of the instances you have open you simply hover over the quick launch icon which then brings up all of the instances in a small format just above the icon. You can then hover over the smaller versions of them and they will be shown on top on the desktop. If you want to switch to that window, you simply click on it and it's now on the top. I'm a big proponent of the quick launch bar and I really like the format of it now.

Does that answer your question?

 

im finally giving up on studio 16 , its got a awesome sound system, excelent multimedia machine. but that low birtness lcd is killing me and my eyes.
i have to read alot text everyday, even with acesability turned on and in f11 full screen mode, i still find it very uncomfortable.

actually i put studio 16 for sale on ebay the 2nd day i recieved it, last nit i pulled it out of the package to try on it again.
it just doesnt work for me, i wish dell can put in a better lcd on studio 16 like the one used on studio 17, until then ill stay away from it.
i think im gonna misss that subswoofer, even xps m1730 doesnt have a subswoofer.

 

few questions as i just received my laptop:

does your keyboard go in a bit when you type?
how do i get the IDT sound application on my desktop (i cant find the shortcut, that one thats in the dell dock)?
is it work keeping the idt driver? and wouldnt the sound not work if i delete it?
Is there any way to get a higher brightness? as it doesnt seem too bright.
which graphics card drivers shall i get?
how can i tell i which model screen i have?
Any way to make the highest brightness brighter?


also i get crackling a bit when i put music on full volume.

RGB LED screen is great, you cant tell until you compare it to another laptop, i put it next to my sony vaio FW and there is sooo much difference. the RGB screen looks wayyy better.

 

Yup. Thanks. I just hope you can customise it, the way you described it doesnt sound appealing at all.

 

my keyboard is faulty so its getting replaced.

also the dell guy said not to install bios A06 as he gives people HDD failure and the blue screen. my cpu and gpu temp doesnt go over 50degrees unless playing games so i dont mind. he said the next bios should be better.

 

This is very good to know! I will be sure NOT to install the A06 Bios when my laptop arrives.

 

My laptop is good expect i would have expected thte brightness to be higher. i put mine to max (16) in the bios and its still not as britght as my WLED on SXPS was although the colours are so good.

The keyboard is messed but dell is coming tuesday to fix it.

 

My RGB screen seems to be extremely bright. A friend brought over his new Sony with a LED screen and the colors and brightness of the Dell screen were very apparent.

Now my friend is unhappy cause he says his screen appears washed out to him now. I used to think my HP 8510p screen was pretty good, I just can't believe the difference when I place them side by side.

My next mission is to tweak my clean vista 64 install for performance and SSD use and undervolt my cpu.

Best purchase I have made in a long time.

 

does mine seem as bright as yours? i posted pics above.
yeh, other laptops do look washed out compared to the studio, look at those pics
everyone says the laptop is hot, yeh, the bottom is hot as its metal and metal conducts heat. so it lets heat out there and the vents. anyway, on video/music/internet usage my gpu is 47degrees average, and cpu is never above 41degrees so its pretty good.
why would you want to undervolt?
dell dont give you much bloatware, i deleted dell dock, dast access face reg, mcaffee dell datasafe, roxie creater. thats it.

mine just doesnt seem THAT bright as others have put it. id say its slightly brighter then my full hd vaio FW (not the one in pic, its got some worse screen).



has anyone got any methods of checking brightness and the screen model/manufacter.

 

The Laptop LCD tests at 280 nits, which is quite bright compared to standard laptops.

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3540&p=12

It's not good to use as an alternate light source like some of the super bright laptops coming to market but it's plenty bright for me.
I turn it down, with the keyboard controls, just a little above half way for daily use.
Usually black levels start suffering with higher brightness.

 

yeh tht aint very bright, 280nits.... WLED was brighter at like 400 i think. but i dont mind, its bright enough.

those colours though , they are sooooo good.

 

Got my Studio 16 on monday and im very impressed.

after playing around a bit i decided to get rid of dell bloatware and do a clean install of vista x64. i also partitioned my hdd to install xp professional as i have cad software purchased that will only operate in 32 bit OS.
I do have a few minor problems. In vista when i load up firefox the scroll function does not work and wasnt working before the the reinstall of vista. also the @ key when pressed gives me a " character and i have to press shift 2 to get the @ symbol.

I would also like to know where can i find all the drivers for my hardware for windows xp. the screen in xp is squashed and stretched which is something to do with the graphics card but i cant find the drivers for this. Furthermore i cannot connect to the internet in xp as xp hasnt recognised some of the hardware. The dell website only offers support for vista and not xp.
in XP's device manager the are a few entries that have the yellow exclamation mark which shows that the drivers arent installed.
does anyone know where to obtain the drivers for XP for the hardware of the studio 16.

 

My point was that it's far brighter than every other laptop listed in the chart.

I guess I understand when going from something super bright you get spoiled, but usually black levels are a problem there so it's a trade off.

It's personal preference and as with all things it's a tradeoff and if the colors are sufficiently bright and vibrant then it is bright enough for me.

 

Try this Dell Community post

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19260599/19465457.aspx

You might find some of the drivers for WinXP there.

If you only want the display drivers, try this link:

http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/P...ows+XP+-+Professional/Home&keywords=&items=20

Also the reason you are getting a " when you press the @ is because you probably selected "United Kingdom" or something else for the keyboard setup when you installed Vista. Go to Control Panel > Region and Language > Keyboard and Languages and make sure the keyboard language is correct for your region.

 

like i said, we have to get dell to design a new bios with the brightness control setting removed. i would say a 270-300 nit lcd is the minimum requirement to go with 16.7m colors rgb led.

 

ok, when i just got it, it was like 25degrees outside and really sunny, so the constrast full seemed only a little bright.

now its dark outside and i still got the light on, full brightnesss is too much, iv got it 2 bars down.
i think they could make it brighter with the bios but i dont mind.


EDIT: if you didnt know the studio xps has sort of got multi touch (use two fingers like apple)
you can zoom in and out of internet pages by useing 2 fingers and pinching the in to zoom out and pushing outwards to zoom in. like how you zoom in/out with a apple.

anyone else move are tricks the the touchpad? like any way to go back page, forward page.

 

Brand new pair of BOSE IN EAR headphones FREE SHIPPING!!!

These earphones are compatible with all standard plugins for MP3 Players, iPods, Laptops, Portable DVD Players etc....

* Quality sound, lifelike clarity and range
* Comfortable, in-ear fit
* Rest gently in the bowl of your ear (not your ear canal)

Box Contents:

* In-ear headphones
* Three silicone tips (S/M/L) sized to enable a comfortable fit
* Clip and lanyard for additional in-ear stability
* Carrying Case

how good is bose earbud compared to cheap apple ones?

i dont think we will use the pinch zoom feature on laptop screen often, its more for handheld devices.

 

I don't know much about BOSE earphones. I have a set of 2.1 BOSE Companion 3 speakers which produce's incredible sound.

BOSE is basically the Apple of the speaker world. Although any earphones are better than ones you get with your audio player. But I suggest you go for Sennheiser CX300 II's. I have a pair of CX300's and they are great. Haven't failed me once and the bass is mind blowing.

 

thx, i already bought the bose earbud, its only $40 for 1st gen bose in ear headphone. saved $$$.

 

Cool np. Let me know how they perform when you get them.

 

iv had bose, apple, sony and sisenhiser (cant spell it)
the sisenhiser in ear headphones are the best by far. they were £30 from the apple shop when i got them.

 

Mfr. Part No.: CX300-B
Sennheiser CX300 Ear-Canal Headphones for iPhone and iPod (Black)
Specifications

Minimum terminal impedance: 16 Ohm
Frequency response: 18Hz to 21 kHz
Maximum sound pressure level (SPL): 112 dB (1kHz, 1Vrms)
Transducer principle: Dynamic, in-ear seal
Audio connector: 3.5 mm jack plug
Weight (without cable): Approx. 0.14 oz./4.0 g
Cable length: Left: 6.69 in./17.0 cm, Right: 20.08 in./51.0 cm
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ085LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Ng&mco=MjQzMzYyMQ&p=2&s=topSellers

some ebayer sellers has this thing for $15 or less, im ocnfused!

 

dont buy the $15 ones, they are fake, i ending up buying some from a seller at amazon for £4 and they sucked.
people try to grt fakes for them as the a good speakers that sell alot.

yes, they are the CX300 ones. get them off a trusted site or a decent shop.

 

Just got my new 1640 on Tuesday and I have to say so far so good, I think its working quite well and I was able to get the crap off of it that i didnt need. I read the post on vista tweeks but wanted to ask if there are any that really make a difference and worth the effort or is it that i should just leave well enough alone?

 

can anyone give me the links to all the driver updates and such? i just got my xps 16 from dell outlet.

 

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/web/main.aspx

That's all you need.