Dell XPS 14 L401x Thread

I ordered a new screen last night. $83 total. Hopefully I'll have it sometime next week. There's another guy here at school that has my L401x and hopefully I'll go to him after I get the new screen in and get a few pics of before/after.

If you wake up the laptop from sleep mode, sometimes you can catch the battery life on sleep mode... haha Here's what I got:

 

Where did you find the screen for $83 shipped? I will probably order one within the next month and so far everything I've seen is $93+

 

http://www.papatek.com/Panel-14-Inch/39234.html

 

One thing I've noticed.
When people's bezel breaks, is it up by the P on XPS? Because on mine, its already slowly cracking by itself, I haven't even taken the bezel off or anything. I contacted dell chat and they won't send me a replacement. I have to buy a refurbished bezel for like $15. I'm wondering what's the point of a 1 year warranty if I have to buy replacement parts that are breaking on their own???

 

Hey Everyone,
How do you uninstall the freefall sensor? I uninstalled 'AccelerometerP11" from Add/Remove programs and restarted. However, the taskbar popped up with a big warning stating : "ST Micro Screen Detection Sensor isn't compatible with this version of Windows."

Did I uninstall the wrong thing? Or do I ignore this message?

Thanks.

 

to my understanding you uninstalled the driver for the accelerometer, or atleast its application. the freefall app uses that.

i think uninstalled the wrong thing.

 

FOR SALE: LG LP140WD1 14" HD+
I have this awesome replacement screen (lightly used) and no more XPS 401x to use it with. It's for sale. Contact me john_libra at hotmail with an offer! Worked excellent in the laptop and truly worth the upgrade.
John

 

I understand the i7 processors support VT-d, but i don't know how to enable that in the BIOS. Is there any setting for the same? I just find the Virtualization option in the BIOS and that enables VT-x only.

 

I have a core i3 with optimus working fine and dandy, i think his Nvidia GPU is just DOA.

 

-Go into the mouse properties>
-look for the "device settings tab" with the red synaptics icon next to it, click that>
-Hit settings>
-Expand Scrolling>
-Go to one finger scrolling>
-enable vertical, horizontal and circular scrolling>

The circular chiral scrolling is far more ergonomic and a lot easier to use with far less wrist movement.

BE HAPPY!

 

I'm seeing random stuttering and staticy sound for a couple seconds about every 3 minutes when playing games in DX9. I really can't seem to find a cause for this. Happening a lot while I'm trying to play Dragon Age 2 and it's only in DX9 mode. Same thing happened when I played through Dead Space 2. Using the latest beta drivers from Nvidia but it also was happened when I had the current release drivers.

The sound will start to get some static in it and then it'll stutter and chug for a little bit and then go right back to 60 fps. I don't get it.

I'd LOVE some help!

 

Have you tried to uninstall the freefall sensor driver? According to some it has helped. Otherwise, are you using a 130w AC adapter or the 90w?

 

Does anybody know the part numbers for the TV Tuner and for the Blu-Ray burner for the XPS 14?

Thanks.

 

I just installed my new LG screen lastnight.

Wow, anyone that has a stock screen really should consider buying this LG screen. The viewing angles on it are incredible!!!! The color is simply amazing too! I did crack the bezel though and break and few tabs. I'll probably be contacting dell for a new bezel, but all you can see is a hairline crack down by the bottom corner of the screen. Well worth a new screen. All I did was cracked the bezel off and popped in the new screen. No need to take a part the entire laptop.

 

I can't figure out how to disable the freefall sensor. I uninstalled that Accelerometer app but it made no difference.

My system came with a 90W adapter, should I be using the 130? I have the Nvidia 420m.

 

I recently formatted my notebook, so I would like to know if there is a way to recover my Cyberlink Power DVD license to install it again. Anyone knows how to do it?

 

I called about the burner and parts told me they don't sell it. I was like, "huh?" . So I did a chat with parts and they told me the same thing. This was about a month ago.

 

Sorry, I have the quad core/425m and I get a prompt stating there could be performance issues when I plug in a 90w adapter. You should be good with the 90w.

For the sensor there is a driver, but I do not know if it is safe to uninstall, so you might want to make a restore point before attempting it. It is under System devices=>ST Micro Accelerometer. Not sure if this will fix it or not. Maybe someone else can chime in that was having stuttering issues.

 

Yeah, I uninstalled that program for that and it made no difference. I'd get a new hard drive but SMART reports that the drive is fine so I don't know that that's the issue.

 

Sorry, just noticed you were the one stating that uninstalling the sensor helped with your games (on the previous page or one before it). Did you find out that wasn't the cause?

 

Is there a link for the download of Web cam Application (not drivers), I have already downloaded the drivers from dell website. My XPS L401X did not come with pre installed programs so no DVD. Any help will be appreciated.

O.S Win 7 Pro 64 bit.

 

read the last post
http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/531042-dell-xps-14-l401x-thread-27.html

 

I have tried exactly as instructed, I got the following error. Please someone can upload the application, and provide a link.

" An application error has occurred, please contact customer support"

May be my system is not registering because I am in Asia Pacific region. And on Dell Thailand website there is no My account. Just asking for help from someone who buy the same system will factory installed programs, or have already downloaded the web cam application.

Thank you.

 

For anyone thats trying to OC the GPU. After I did a clean restore of my laptop yesterday. I was unable to get the new Ntune to work. It would blue screen my laptop. So I got rid of that and downloaded EVGA precision. Program works amazing. Really happy with it. I'll hopefully be contacting Nvidia regarding the OC'ing of this 420m to make sure they think its safe as long as the temps don't rise too much. Yesterday I was messin around and I got my Graphics core clock at 800MHz and it ran just fine, didn't get above 71C... I just feel like OC'ing the GPU that much is not good, regardless of temps staying low...

 

Yeah, that was me. It appeared to have fixed it but after playing a few other games, I realized it was still going on.

 

Hi, I have seen the touchpad driver (15.2.7) has been updated for the XPS 15 in other thread. However I don't see the update in XPS 14. Does that mean we won't get the driver update any more because of it's discontinued. sigh....

 

What's a the best/good way to get dual external monitors working on the XPS 14? Port replicator or docking station? Or maybe just an HDMI to DVI for monitor 1, and a display port to DVI for monitor 2?

I have 2 Dell monitors that have DVI and VGA input's. Though, my desktop is using the DVI connections, so I might have to make the XPS use the VGA connections so I don't have to disconnect the desktop from the monitors each time my wife needs to use the laptop with the monitors.

Advice welcome.

 

Make sure you use internet explorer, it failed on me multiple times with chrome, and worked without any problem when I switched to IE.

Whoa, that's nice, even 10 Mhz higher than my 425M!

 

Thanks Neubeehunhun, I have already tried it on IE and it gives me the same result "An application error has occurred, please contact customer support". Is to so difficult to provide the program who already have it. I have tried to search on Google without any luck. Any help from any one will be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

You live in Thailand? Maybe it has restriction for people outside of US. Try connecting with a US based proxy. Or contact the US customer service.

 

A few questions about external monitor:

Never though I would connect to an external monitor when I purchased my xps 14, so I didn't pay any attention to the options. But now I have a huge sony HDTV laying in my house(my dad bought it for his spa but didn't find it useful, so he brought it home), and we almost never watch TV. So I thought using it as a external monitor when watching movie and maybe some gaming would be cool.

So which cable do I need to connect to the TV?
Does my system support WIDI? Specs on my sig
Does larger screen make things more blur, under same resolution?
Which one would handle the audio output, the xps 14 or the TV?

Thanks!

 

an hdmi cable is your best bet as it carries audio and video. just make sure the tv has one. your laptop definitely does,
you cant use widi, you need to have an intel graphics chip, to the best of my knowledge the i7s either don't have it or can't use it.

 

Oh that's true, I7 740 doesn't have an integrated GPU.

Any suggestion on which hdmi cable to purchase? I searched on amazon and found there are quite a few variations.

There seem to be the most basic one labeling high speed 1080 hdmi cable, and ones with ethernet, and ones supporting ethernet, 3D and audio return.

Should I just go for the one with most functions since the price doesn't vary much?

This is the one I'm looking at.
Amazon.com: AmazonBasics High Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet / 2.0 Meters) - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Audio Return [NEW MODEL]: Electronics

 

looks good to me. thats the first ive heard for ethernet over hdmi. seems like a very good idea but i don't know how many devices have support for that.

seems like a good teal to me, i picked up a 15 foot at target for 50 bucks and thought that was a steal (considering that "'best' buy" has a 3ft for 50, lol)

 

Hi Neubeehunhun, is it possible for you to do me this favor, to zip the file (Web cam program) and email it to me at [email protected] I will be grateful.

 

I'm not sure if this is legal or anything around that line, but I uploaded it to mediafire so you can download it here

Also download and use it at your own risk, Pappusrkr, I won't be responsible if you later find a trojan or virus in your computer.

 

Thanks a Million man its working like a charm. No Virus or Trojan.

 

Hey Everyone,
I am currently using the latest drivers that Dell has on their website for the Nvidia GPU:

Released 02/22/2011, Version 8.17.12.6639, A04

I have noticed that using these drivers the flash UI is no longer blocky, or pixelated. However, the video on some sites still are. However, I have noticed that the Nvidia GPU no longer kicks in for Flash video no matter if it is HD or not. It says that the GPU is not active.

Is the GPU kicking in for the rest of you?

 

Mine works fine, do you have optimus?

Try the latest driver from nvidia itself.

 

Ok I tried the actual driver from Nvidia itself. The one from January 18, and Flash video still does not make optimus cut in. I know it is working because it kicks in when I play video games. It used to work, I don't know why it isn't working anymore?

 

if you have optimus, you need to go the optimus control panel and set iexplore.exe (in Program Files->Microsoft Internet Explorer) to use the integrated intel gpu. right now, flash seems to have some serious issues with the current nvidia drivers.

 

did anyone notice that dell.com no longer sells our XPS14? Is there any reason that it's discontinued?

Also, my HD crashed the other day and would no longer boot, just had it replaced and these idiots sent me a new HD but with a wrong recovery partition that would keep throwing endless errors on first boot. I finally gave up and just reformatted everything and installed fresh win7 without any Dell bloatware. Now though I am missing some drivers and not sure what they are.

Windows update did help find some of them, but still some are missing. I have resource CD, but have no clue what's installed and what's not. I show 3 Base System Devices and one Unknown Device.

UPDATE: EVERYTHING IS INSTALLED, RUNNING GREAT NOW.

Thanks

 

Anyone look into replacing the dvd drive with a second hard drive (SSD)? I've seen kits to replace it on MacBooks, I'd love something similar for my xps.

 

Guys, has anyone else installed a backlit keyboard on a non backlit machine? Mine won't light up. I'm too tired to remove the new keyboard now and check what the part# was. It was not easy to remove and replace that keyboard! There as an additional connector for the backlight, and I inserted it with the metal contacts facing down, as was shown in the replacement guide. Everything works in the replacement keyboard, except when I hit the backlight button (F6) the backlight will not come on.

 

Probably just have it upside down. Same thing happened to me when the Dell tech came to replace my broken keyboard. It all worked aside from the light. Can't remember if it's supposed to be face up or down though.

 

Hi guys, I'm getting a new laptop soon and I was just wondering - how is the battery life of this laptop now?

Also, what is the approximate weight?

 

Are you getting XPS 14? If yes, it's no longer on dell.com site, they took it down for some reason (discontinued?!)

 

It's still available in NZ. I'm iffy about getting it since it looks rather thick and heavy, and the battery life seems questionable.

I'm not particularly worried about the SB refresh, since I'm sure the current generation will be more than enough for my needs.

 

Ironically it's the sandy bridge that makes the new XPS so much more power efficient than the previous gen. People are reporting 8hrs+ doing word processing while I could barely get 4hrs on my xps 14 with maximum power save(to the point sometimes it'd lag reading a simple text document).

You should probably shoot for an xps 15 if you're concerned about battery life.

 

The XPS 14 is available in india too, but no SB processors, same old config, etc.