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

So no one has gotten a Blu Ray to play? Did they just not actually include software to play Blu Rays? (!) Or is there something else going on?

Not sure if I should wait for these discs to come, to see if they actually include something that will play Blu Rays, or if I should do a chat with support about it ahead of time :-/

 

I haven't actually had any blu-ray drives before (except my PS3's blu-ray drive), but have you tried putting a BD disc and see if Windows Explorer can read it or recognize the drive as having a BD disc in it?

 

Yeah, Windows sees it fine, and in fact one of the main actions if you right click the drive is 'Play in PowerDVD'...except Power DVD doesn't seem to recognize there's anything there.

I'm really suspicious at this point that Dell isn't actually including a version that can playback Blu Ray

 

Hopefully there's a fix and that this is a largely isolated problem, not one of those major bugs that hit all early adopters.

 

It really does sound like the drive's absolutely fine, and windows is reading it properly, but the Dell software included can't play Blu-Rays. Which is, frankly, silly. I don't suppose anyone who's got the 1640 has already got a license to PowerDVD Ultra or WinDVD + BluRay that they can try out? (Unfortunately there aren't any working trial versions that I know of)

 

In your order invoice, did it tell you which version of powerdvd they gave you? On my order, it said PowerDVD DX 8.2 for DVD (I dont have Bluray on my system). My guess is that they sent you a version that cannot play Bluray.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what it says :-/

I think the version actually included may be 8.1...but geez...are they just not including software for it? Or did they screw up on mine?

So far no one has said they've gotten this working...

 

Call them again and talk to them. They will send you a Bluray compatible powerdvd. They offered it to me when I had a Studio 15 w/ bluray a month back. I just returned that system though, so I told them no.

 

Well what I hate it, I can't really even test this until I get the discs. I'm not sure I want to call again until I get them, in case they actually sent the right ones this time. I mean I didn't get any PowerDVD discs at all, and surely they'd have the sense to send one that supports Blu Ray...right? I'm being too optimistic

I hate this 'cause if I have to send this back I don't know what to do. I don't want to have to get one with a florescent screen

 

So apart from that one issue, how's the laptop?

 

I just reliezed that Dell built this lappy with a intel core 2 duo, isn't the intel centrino a better choice?

The reason why i asked was cuz they put that cpu at the bottom lol

http://www.intel.com/products/laptop/index.htm?iid=prod_nav+lap

Bwt, would my fan stop more often if i didnt have the 2.8ghz cpu, is it over kill?

 

yours should be intel centrino 2, which is a new version. It can also be called core 2 duo, so dont worry about it!

 

Oh cool, ok, but what about my fan kicking up all the time, is my cpu over kill?

 

is your system running cool or hot? what's the temperature?

 

its cool maybe because im in canada with snow right now, but the fan keeps on spinning, so annoying!

 

I wish i could put xp on here, anyone know how???

 

you can't install XP on this thing...for now. Since it is still too new, you'll need to wait for a while for XP's drivers to come out. I also think that this system isnt that bad, it's powerful enough to run vista flawlessly =)

 

I love my xp tho lol,

So I guess theres no fix for the fan noise?

Btw, I have a special xp cd that works on vista 32bit drivers, so i'll try that, but not for 64bit

 

wow, talk about an inauspicious product launch. Did no one at Dell's executive level even try to use a production model for a few days? I was on hold with XPS sales (literally) while perusing this forum and just hung up. You hear that Dell QA?

The least they can do is support these early adopters as quickly as possible with whatever software, updates and drivers they need to actually start USING their brand new top of the line laptops.

Question - does anyone know what the fundamental differences are between the Dell consumer line (Inspiron, Studio, XPS) and the business laptops (Vostro, Latitude, Percision)? Has anyone considered one of these machines?

 

you guys are making me think of cancelling my order for a 1530...scary

 

But talking about a 1640?

 

Personally, this is why I always wait atleast a month or so after a new product line launches, so that I dont encounter glitches in the systems like this. BSODs, heating issues, no blu ray software, etc make me hold on a purchase. Plus I am waiting for a 9 cell battery, more colors, more resolution options, a bigger SSD, etc. Mostly just the colors and no leather though!

 

I think he means that he has ordered a 1640, but is considering canceling that order and buying a 1530 instead.

If its not too late, I would cancel and wait a while to purchase a 1640 in a month or so. It looks like a sweet laptop, but I am not willing to deal with the growing pains of a new laptop line. I will wait for the early adopters to get all the bugs out for me (sorry! )

 

That's probably a good tactic. I had a Lenovo T400 right from the launch, and there was nothing but problems. And the support people weren't trained yet to handle the issues. The system restore partition was even buggy and failed on several occasions with different users. I even had similar BSOD after doing a windows update! LOL.

I think this is pretty typical for new product launches from most manufacturers and can take a bit to iron out.

It's the pains of being on the bleeding-edge.

 

Both files are already installed on the computer. I'm hoping for new drivers quickly.

I"m having better results with the Microsoft ATI drivers. Still getting the error but not as much. If you want to try them they are available as an optional file from Microsoft Update.

I opened Catalyst Control Central Installer and uninstalled everything ATI. Reboot and then run Windows Update and let it install the ATI driver.

 

Why not just download and install a driver from the AMD site?

 

UPDATE::

After a total failure with BSOD last night upon delivery, I tried restarting my laptop this morning and it actually booted up fine. I suspect after the Windows updates, it was trying to load a driver but kept failing but finally, it loaded the drivers fine this morning.

I took out most of the bloatware but I'm thinking of a reinstall anyway. Downloading Fallout3/CoD4 demos right now.

Will try gaming tonight.

 

Its typical for any new type of technology, computers included. I dont expect a product line to come out perfect. Nothing is perfect but it will get better with age.

I wouldnt say the 1640s are bleeding edge, but they are a very nice piece of lappy!

 

Agreed...mine's a keeper, considering I only paid $1270 for it. Waiting on the Dell $100 GC now.

 

Yeah, wait a month or two...more options, fewer bugs if any (hopefully) and maybe even another gift card offer.

I've waited 4 months, I can wait another month.

 

I wish! I would probably be more likely to jump at the offer if the GC came back, and maybe a good coupon code!

I have been waiting for this thing since they were announced too, so it wont kill me to wait another month or two to get what I want.!

 

Can anyone tell me what warranties they have been getting with their systems? 1-4 years and what about the accidental coverage? I am just curious to see what the majority of people are getting.

I remember reading in either this thread or the 140 thread, that if you call Dell with your order, they may not give you a monetary discount, but an extension of the warranty. Any truth to that?

With all these issues, I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

I got 2 years for mine. I had a XPS Gen 1 before and I never had any problems with it...sold it a year later. I also had a Dell 24" monitor that crapped out in its second year. I had no problems in Dell sending me a replacement (newer model than original).

Unlike some people, I've had a good experiance with warranty coverage with Dell so the reason why I opted for a 2 year for my XPS16" since I'll be keeping this for a while.

 

I plan to take 2 years since in about 2-3 years I plan to upgrade to a Core i7 notebook. If something goes wrong after 2 years, I'll have more of an incentive to upgrade.

 

Maybe its a Vista thing then. In windows 7, I can install drivers from AMD site fine. I installed the Windows 7 Beta driver on this laptop right now.

 

Maybe I'll hunt around for hte Windows 7 driver and try that on Vista. It's not really anything to do with Vista though, it's an ATi/laptop manufacter issue. For some stupid reason the laptop makers don't want you installing reference drivers. At least in the case of Nvidia, they've been fighting for years to let people use reference drivers, and only just recently have finally expanded that program out so it's almost universal. That might also be why even prior to that Nvidia's reference drivers worked fine, when they weren't supposed to. (Technically they were blocking it in other words, even though actually it was easy to get around.) But ATi's never been good with drivers, so...

EDIT: And that's another thing... actually now that I think about it, someone else recommended sticking the Windows 7 drivers on Vista, as they don't remove mobile support from them. But the thing is, I'm wary about whether that will still be the case once Windows 7 officially launches. They may pull support (or be required to pull support).

 

Ya, that is impossible to tell. I just thought that since it worked in Windows 7, it would work in Vista. As you may tell, I am kind of new to the laptop scene, lol. Never really had a laptop before.

 

it sounds like most the problems are all software problems. all of that would get smoothed out, but is there anything physically problematic or bad going on with the machines you guys received?

i wont cancel my order for some bad drivers or firmware that will just get updated. if dell sold these machines with huge hardware failures, incompatible parts, or poor craftsmanship, then those are deal breakers for me. ive got 2 weeks till mine arrives, so all your input is valuable.

 

The only problems with mine so far:
1. Unbalanced sound - right speaker more louder than left speaker
2. Backlight bleeding - Seems to be much worse than when I first got it.
3. Finicky BT - Could be a driver problem though.

 

The sound problem would bother the hell out of me. Has anyone else been experiencing this? No offense vishank, but I hope its just a fluke on yours! What does the backlight bleeding mean? Can you post a picture of this? I'm trying to google it now. The bluetootooth problem I hope is just a driver problem, thats my keyboard mouse and headset right there...

 

Since I am using Windows 7, I installed the Dell Bluetooth driver for Vista on it and it seems to install fine. However, last night, my mouse d/c all of a sudden and now I cannot get the bluetooth mouse to connect. This is the second time i have had this problem, the last time solved with a system restore. However, not any more.

Backlight bleeding means when you have a black screen, you can see light leakage; in my case, its from left and right sides of the screen. It has gotten progressively worse since I got the laptop.

 

Are you using the 32 or 64 bit version? Could you post a link to the the drivers you are using?

Thanks!

 

it seems strange that a similarly priced xps 1530 costs more. which makes me think that the studio xps is not a replacement for the xps line but a whole new line. if thats the case, maybe newer models of the xps line are coming out. does anyone know more about this? and please dont bring up adamo, i could care less about the adamo line.

 

I've still got a few weeks until mine arrives (hoping Dell ship early)..

But reading these threads I'm getting scared of all the problems... Hope I haven't made a mistake ordering this laptop...

 

The Purolator computer just called me and told me to stay home tomorrow and expect a new addition to the family.

 

You can get the drivers from here:
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=39069

Both x64 and x86 versions are available!

 

I think classifying complaints as problems is over reacting. I've been using my 1640 for the last two days and I can tell you I have no problem whatsoever with it. I am still trying to decide to keep it or stick with my current HDX16t. I've done a clean Vista installed, Ubuntu and now I am waiting for Kalaway to install. If I can cramp all 3 OSes onto this laptop it will be a keeper!