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

Does anyone else's 1640 seem to almost lock up or get extremely slow when trying to eject a CD/DVD? I just went and opened my lid and pressed eject on the DVD and it was taking for ever and was almost freezing. I just reset it and took the DVD out before windows even got up. This has happened a couple times, wondering if I'm the only one.

 

haha, I am officially an owner of xps 16 now! Gorgeous laptop. And no severe overheating problem at all.

 

I am happy to report my refurb 1640 RGB is awesome. The little text takes a some getting used to but going back to a lower res screen is like returning to a DOS prompt, big and blocky. I have found that using Google Chrome and using the touchpad to 'stretch' the font size works perfectly. Multi-touch has evolved to something other than an Apple product. Just remember the next time a friend wants to know if Dell Refurbished products are quality, refer them to this post.

 

Err .. The screen my laptop came with had a problem. The one they sent the first time was fine
Just call tech support and tell them that they've been sending you faulty screens and you want them to check the screens before sending it to you. Tell them to stop wasting your time by sending faulty replacements.
That should get you the part you need immediately

 

I'm on the latest ATI drivers for Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Build 7100 (RC) and it seems perfectly fine to me.
Someone tell me, is there a reason why we should get the drivers off the Dell Site? ATI will release the drivers as well right? Dell just takes the drivers made specifically for a graphic card model and then releases them, right?

 

I was wondering what kind of speed others are getting with the new 5300 B/G/N card

 

My ISP blows goat chunks. Roadrunner is good so no wonder your doing well. I'll give it a shot.


Well mine is similar, the location is only 3 hours from my home though.

Whats the deal with Windows 7 anyways? Is it worth the hassel to upgrade/reinstall?

Also, anyone notice there CPU and OS idle at 50-55% after installing Adobe Master Collection CS3? It's getting annoying... temps now idle at 50-52C for me also. Used to be 45.

 

Check what is using the CPU. I had this problem and it was the IDT Sound driver, it was using 50% of the processor. I deleted it and let Windows 7 find it's own driver and it sounds better and my processor idles at 0-2%.

As for the deal with Win 7, it's all personal preference, but I love it. I will buy it when it comes out, and I haven't payed for a Windows OS in a long, long time.

 

Check it out... what's eatting my damn memory? lol

 

Is there any reason why the scvhostis consuming so much ram on the Dell? Its not nearly this bad on my Vista Business 32bit vaio.

 

I'm not even sure what that is...

 

What is svchost.exe?

Applies to all editions of Windows Vista.
Which edition of Windows Vista am I using?

Svchost.exe is a process on your computer that hosts, or contains, other individual services that Windows uses to perform various functions. For example, Windows Defender uses a service that is hosted by a svchost.exe process.

There can be multiple instances of svchost.exe running on your computer, with each instance containing different services. One instance of svchost.exe might host a single service for a program, and another instance might host several services related to Windows. You can use Task Manager to view which services are running under each instance of svchost.exe.

To view which services are currently running under svchost.exe

1.

Open Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar and then clicking Task Manager.
2.

Click the Processes tab.
3.

Click Show processes from all users. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
4.

Right-click an instance of svchost.exe, and then click Go to Service(s). The services associated with the process are highlighted on the Services tab.

 

I'm going to be changing out my hard drive to a SSD this weekend.

I use True Image for backups, is there any reason why I couldn't or shouldn't create an image of my entire existing drive and restore onto the new SSD drive?

Don't know enough about SSD to know whether or not there would be any conflicts.

Thanks!

 

It should just be like changing to a regular HDD.. which make/model are you using?? Also, how come you didnt get the Samsung when ordering?

 

Because I'm an idiot ! Changed my mind an hour after ordering and Dell said it was already in production and I couldn't change the drive to an SSD. So I ended up ordering another 1640 with the SSD which I'm finally getting tomorrow. Am going to swap the drives and then put the other one on evilbay.

Long way to go about it, but still cheaper than buying an SSD outright in the end.

 

For now I guess you can get the Windows 7 drivers, but ATi doesn't support their mobile hardware traditionally. They don't have official Vista drivers for example.

 

This is the svchost that is using 120k



This is the svchost that is using the 52k

Not to sure what these programs are that are using up all that memory, but they aren't running. Or they may be in the background...

 

Wow Dizzy, you have the market cornered on 1640's!

I was thinking about selling mine, but with you selling all yours in the same state I have no chance.

 

Well I just ended the processes and then restarted the computer and it seems to be better. Idle at 1-8% CPU

Anyone have the same issue with the CD/DVD drive? When you try to eject it seems to almost freeze the computer or take it a very long time.

 

if it is a brand new ssd, you should be fine. if it is a used SSD, you should low level erase everything that is on the drive, as they get slower the more they get filled up. also make sure your defrag your current hdd a few times before creating the image, as it will transfer a hell of a lot faster. never ever defrag your SSD. gluck

 

Geez! I can't wait till my studio xps 16 gets here >_<

*makes withdrawal noises*

I keep lurking this forum to get my fix..but i can't wait!!!

Arrgh!

 

I just ordered my 16 a few days ago. Had to call them to get bluetooth added. Also, whats the deal with the computer not having an ethernet port standard?

I think I'll play around with Vista for a few days, then when I have time I'm going to clean install Windows 7 on there. Maybe do some undervolting too, I would have bought this beauty weeks ago but I was really concerned with the heat problems people are reporting (especially around the keyboard/palm rests). Comparing temperatures on NoteBookCheck.com I found that while the average temperature of the XPS 16 and the MB Pro are similiar, the Pro has significantly cooler palm rests.

I am getting pretty antsy! Hopefully it goes through production fast (and gets to me without problems)!

Specs: 2.53GHz / 4GB RAM / 250 GB HD / RGBLED Display / 8x DVD R+W

I also noticed an option for McAfee 15 month subscription for free (as opposed to the 30 or so days they give you by default). I haven't heard anyone point that out yet, and I'm curious how many other people took the option (or why they didnt).

 

Mine came with McAfee for free for 15 months, but it doesn't work with Win 7.

 

It should, at least in the U.S. I haven't seen a computer for years that lacks Ethernet. Only device recently that doesn't have it and should I've seen is the Wii (had to spend $30 extra for it).

There are better options for less or free, so personally I wouldn't want it.

 

What A/V would you recommend then? For Vista/W7?

Also, I'm in Canada, so some of the options are different. I don't take anything for granted anymore, just because its available in the states.

 

Avira's software's gotten excellent reviews from multiple publications, and it's free (or the pay version is still cheaper than Mcafee...despite being better software!)

 

This is I'm sure a stupid question, but here goes so be nice. Is the PowerDVD that comes on the 1640 a trial version or is it a full version? I just used it for the first time today and when I inserted the DVD it said that it wasnt the correct region (what the hell is that) and that you can click to correct it "5" times. So I guess it means that it is only a trial but I'd like to know for sure. It sucks if you can only play 5 movies before it shuts down..........

 

It's not trial.

You can only change the region of your disc drive 5 times.

What's the region of your DVD anyway?

 

It shouldn't be a trial. Harley, I apologize for not getting back with you yet. I have a family emergency going on. I'll be home this evening and hopefully my ISP will cooperate and I'll help you out.

 

that dvd is not using north america format. either the dvd u put in is from a foreign country or it just wasnt formatted with north american ntfc.
i forgot where to change the region thing for dvd drive though. there is a setting in windows you can change the default region.

 

The PowerDVD DE version that came with the 1640 is not a trial, but its not really a full version of PowerDVD. It's more like a "lite" version, probably made exclusively for Dell (DE? Dell Edition?).

The region has to do with the DVD player itself, not with PowerDVD. Every DVD player is supposed to have a region code, that ensures (the DVD/movie industry) that you dont buy a cheaper DVD movie from, say, Asia and play it in a US region DVD player (there are region free DVD players and hacks, but thats another topic on its own).

When you first use your DVD player, it will ask you to change the region from "nothing" to one of the region codes. It also says you have 5 chances to change the region code, before it locks to the last chosen region. Unless you really need to change it to watch a different region DVD, you'll probably never change it again (if you really need to watch a different region disc, there are other ways to accomplish that without changing the region on the player).

 

I'd rather lick the parking lot of the local chinese restaurant before using Mcafee.... yum!

 

one of the rubber stoppers on the palm rest fell off today. anyone know the best sort of adhesive to reglue it back on?

the dell tech support guys are morons. they said they needed 'approval' to order the part to mail me a replacement. im guessing that a rubber cement would be best...

 

Recently got my SXPS 16 and am loving it, but have an issue:

Formatted my drive to get a clean Vista install, then put in Windows 7 for fun.

But I notice that when I reinstalled Vista, I was missing at least one particular desktop wallpaper, which I happened to really like. For some reason it wasn't part of the reinstall disc.

Dell seems resistant to giving me the wallpaper via their customer service, which I think is outrageous given the amount of money I invested in this.

Call me particular, but I would like that wallpaper. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get it? It was a gray background with darker to the lower right fading to lighter top left, with a dark gray silhouette of a wispy tree in the lower right corner.

Thanks for any help,
-chris

 

there is a huge problem with intel 5300, once it got disconnected, it will not reconnect to the network itself. i have to remove the previous network settings and log in with a new network to reconenct to internet.
its weird noone has reported this?
intel 5100 & 5300 are really messed up products.

 

No problems here. Sounds like it may be operator error.

 

Hey not a problem I figured that you were busy, whenever you get around to it that will be fine. Thanks

Also how are you getting such high download speeds through RoadRunner?

 

How is the parking lot of a local Chinese restaurant any better that of a local Italian or French restaurant?

 

Dunno, but Verizon was burying lines in my neighborhood today!

I always download from RR well, it's the upload cap that is BS. It's not really the service when it's working that's the problem, it's how often it's slow or not working at all.

 

There's a chance of Kung Pao Chicken, or Orange Chicken.

 

In case anyone's interested...

 

try here (found via Google):

http://benyouhui.it168.com/thread-908397-1-1.html

the wallpaper you're looking for is jolie_Paltrow_1920x1080_wallpaper3

 

Excellent, thank you very much. They added a couple logos to the bottom corner, but I can probably live with that.

I was very disappointed with customer support in this matter, and was not able to find the image myself.

I appreciate the help.

 

Just checked it out.. holy it does use 50 odd CPU :| is it doing
I'll remove it but I have no idea how to config 5.1 surround sound with jax remastering hax on using the default Windows thing.. may be there is an update for the IDT software.. I'll look it up later tonight

Update:

Hope this helps.

 

Its probably some other software that is messing it up. For example, I use Handbrake to encode my videos.. but, it messes up my network connection and i ALWAYS have to restart my system to get WiFi working again; so, i set up a queue and run it overnight so i dont have to bother with WiFi cutting out.

I have the Intel 5100 on my SXPS.. and Handbrake gave me the same WiFI problems on my other laptop with the 49xx chipset.

 

hey guys, what program do i download to monitor temperature on my laptop?

 

yea, i had old dell 1510 driver in the hard drive, i just put old hard drive i used in studio 17 right into studio 16 w/o reinstalling the OS.
i just started to use studio 16 3 days ago since i couldnt sell it on ebay.

 

Why would Handbrake do that? HOW would Handbrake do that? That's kind of disturbing, except could it be maybe heat related? Like since it's hitting the CPU hard, and maybe the wifi card is being overheated or something?

 

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Here you go.

 

Hey, that dude is me!
I just posted it a feel pages back...