Dell XPS 14 L401x Thread

I really appreciate your work/effort for doing the comparisons, but I have a question regarding the second set of photos. It looks as though the right (newer LG?) is washed out whereas the left (OEM) looks normal?

The straight-on picture of the LG looks great though. Also, I'm assuming both are the standard 1366x768 res? Would you mind taking photos of 1366x768 vs. 1600x900 with a window open (Chrome, I guess)? I'd like to multitask with a few windows open and would like to know to what extent I may do so with this 14". Thanks a lot!

 

Hey guys, here is an unboxing video (probably the first)
YouTube - Peter's DELL XPS 14 unboxing
this user also uploaded two other videos of his brand new XPS

 

The reason for that is because the particular wallpaper I was using has that bright sun and the original screen photo was taken during the day on my kitchen table and the new one was taken at night, so my iphone camera for some reason focused terribly on the brightness of the photo on the screen. Hope that make sense... sorry... it's definitely alot better than the original screen. I'll take another one for you at that angle so you can see the difference... sorry bout that.

 

Ah, I understand. I'll take your word for it. However, do you have time to do a 1366x768 and 1600x900 comparison?

 

There's a huge difference as to what the human eye see's versus what a cell phone camera sees. I took a video, which is better, of the laptop being slowly rotated to show the angles, but I can't upload videos here... the comparison new screen to the old screen is 1600x900 resolution, there is no option for 1366x768 resolution. You just have to use your best judgement. The lg quality from all angles wins hands down against the original screen.

 

Ohh, I wasn't aware that the LG doesn't have 1366. Thanks for those pictures though. Rep'd!

 

Thanks guys!!

I was having buyer's remorse after I read a review about the screen quality. I have a Acer my wife uses that the sceen is terrible and I am not about to put up with that from my laptop. My wife does not notice, but my eyes sure do.

I feel much better about the purchase now that I have an alternative panel I can replace it with if I determine is sucks (which I probably will).

 

Somebody asked this question already, but I don't remember seeing an answer. Will the screen replacement void Dell's warranty? My guess is yes, but I want to know for sure.

 

It doesn't void your warranty, unless you damage something whilst doing it. Also Dell wont give support for the replacement part.

See here


EDIT: It's very hard for Dell to prove you did the damage, so long as you replace the original screen prior to any servicing

 

Hey guys,

I am considering Dell XPS 14 among other choices, and I just want to ask about the touchpad of XPS 14. Is it sensitive enough? Does it have multi-touch like two finger scroll?

 

Awesome. Thanks!

 

According to the user's manual, the touchopad has multitouch and detects up to 3 fingers.
You can download the manual here http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsL401X/en/SG/sg_en.zip
pp. 36 and 37

As mine is yet to arrive, i can't say anything about the feel of the touchpad

 

Hi again,
I just received my XPS 14 this morning and I must say that I love it! However, I have noticed that the Optimus drivers are not installed? I went on the Nvidia site to check to see if there were any updates to my drivers and it says I have 0.0 current version installed. So I proceeded to download the drivers, and when I run them it says that it cannot find any compatible hardware. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on?
I am currently running Windows Update to see if this fixes the issue.
Hope someone around here knows what I can do to fix this issue.

Also, the manual that came with the laptop says to charge the computer for at least 12 hours before I use it on battery power. Do I really have to do this? The computer came fully charged and it has been plugged in now for about 4 hours. Is it fine to start using it on battery power?

Thanks for any replies!

 

weird. the current set of nvidia drivers don't support optimus; grab them from dell Drivers & Downloads

 

Drivers & Downloads

I don't have my XPS 14 yet but Dell does have all the drivers on their support site. I downloaded all my drivers for my Inspiron on their site.
Hope that helps

 

The drivers wouldn't update from Nvidia's site. Haven't tried Dell''s site yet. However, I was wrong in saying that the drivers weren't installed at all. The settings just weren't turned on to have the optimus thing in the taskbar etc. I figured out how to get everything working after watching this video:
NVIDIA's refreshed Optimus interface sheds more light on what your GPU is doing -- Engadget

Still wondering if it is fine to unplug my laptop from power even though it hasn't been plugged in for 12 hours? It was fully charged when I took it out of the box anyway. Been plugged in now for about 4 1/2 hours.

Thanks again for your replies.

 

I left mine to charge. But that was because I had to run a few errands so wasn't going to be home. Figured I'd let it do its thing. However, I don't see why not if you really need to un-plug it. Since it's charged I would say it should be okay.

 

just because it says its charged doesn't mean it is. ever charged a cell phone in for 20 minutes and have it look like it fully recharged? then the battery drains waaay faster. im guessing this is the same effect

 

Sad to say I wont be joining the club . It was getting too close to when I have to fly off so I was forced to cancel the order.

Will have to wait till February when I get back to order it. Hopefully it is still around then!

 

I use my laptop outdoors alot and in direct sunlight sometimes... can anyone suggest a good screen replacement for this? I should be getting a matte finish screen right?

Thank you!

 

Check out this thread for more information:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/531042-dell-xps-14-l401x-thread.html

you can get the screen here:
14.0-inch LG LP140WD1-TLA1 Laptop LCD Screen - US$87.00 Shipping from USA.

I think everyone who ordered it is happy with it.

 

Thanks for the reply, but i noticed that screen is glossy. Is there a matte finish one like that?

 

Thanks a lot to the OP, this is a great thread. I was just about to cancel my order for the XPS 14 and get the HP Envy 14 until I saw this thread. It's a great review and the only personal review I could find after hours of googling. made an account here just to say to thanks =D

Now I gotta go through and read all the posts lol

 

Yes, its matte cousin is LP140WD1-TPD1. Same screen but with matte finish, albeit with lower brightness (200 nit opposed to the LP140WD1-TLA1's 260 nit).

 

I just put my 900P screen in Inferno.. its awesome.. much much better viewing angles.. and the color contrast is amazing.. I am much much happier now with my XPS14

 

I thinking of getting the 900p but I was planning on selling the OEM LCD on eBay and maybe I can get like $50 back, but I don't wanna have problems with Dell...I don't think it's that obvious to notice right? If I had to send it in for repair...I'm just afraid that if for example my mobo fails, they might somehow try to blame it on the fact that I had the LCD changed
anyway im coming from an old gateway with 1280x800 so even the 720p would be an improvement for me

also, can someone confirm that the xps 14 has multi-touch? I know the 15 and 17 have it, but idk about the 14...Dell told me that the touchpad supports it but theres no driver for it? Doesn't make sense to me..

 

whats ur cpu? because only core i5 supports optimus, i7 dosen't

 

I have the core i5 processor. I figured out how the optimus works. I didn't have the settings turned on for it to be in the taskbar to let me know when it cut in. The engadget site helped me to figure it out though.

 

Thought I'd take some photos for the ones who might be considering this screen change out.

I popped the bezel back off from around my screen to see if it would be easier to just take off the bezel and then remove the screen. It looks like that's the way to do it. Here's photos of what you are looking at once the bezel comes off. It's really simple. Just remove screws (fingers pointing at them in photo) i did top then bottom. This basically releases the screen from the inside of the lid and the screen will lean forward now. The metal frame around the outside of the screen has two small black screws holding it on. Put a towel or cloth of some sort across your keyboard. When you remove the screws you should now very gently be able to lay the screen face down on the towel or cloth that is covering the keyboard. You now only have to disconnect the two connectors on the back of the original screen. Remove original screen and place new screen face down on towel and keyboard and reconnect the cables. Once that is done just set it back in the lid bracket and put the screws back in and finish up. I'm assuming thats all there is to it, I followed the manual a little too closely and removed alot of other things that now appear to have been unnecessary....

 

Dell released a new BIOS guys (A05). This one supports more CPUs and changes the thermal table, perhaps fan control changes?

 

Can somebody help with this? I would like to order a caddy to replace the DVD drive, but not sure which height I need.

Thanks!

 

Awesome Bill! Thanks!

Now I really wish my laptop and screen would come in!

 

Just a question, how did you figure out that the LG screen is compatible with the XPS 14? Do laptop screens have standard data connectors?

 

Hello,

Dell said they would replace the "grainy" screen on the XPS 14 but support guy can't say what it will be replaced with. He said he didn't know if it would be an LG screen. Is there a part # in the Dell supply chain that I could suggest he check up? Thanks.

 

How bad is the screen on the XPS 14?

Would I see a huge downgraded performance in the screen compared to a Macbook pro 13?

 

the 2009/2010 macbook pro 13 has an amazing screen, it would be a big step down in terms of brightness/colour and contrast.

 

I'm also wondering the same thing. If not found, I'll just open it up and check myself. I wanted to install an SSD and then replace the optical with the hard drive.

 

I'm interested in this also. I have no need for a optical drive. I don't have mine yet so I can't help with size.

 

Don't know if this is the right place to post, but here it goes...

Hey again everyone,
I received my XPS 14 two days ago. I followed the instructions from dell to update the BIOS before doing anything and the update went successfully. However, I am having major problems with syncing my iphone to my computer. I transferred my library over from my older computer and plugged in my phone and it synced fine. However, ever since then every time I plug in my phone it wants to restore as new, or restore from backup. I have tried restoring as new, and restore from backup. Every time it tries to finish a sync it says there has been an internal device error, duplicate file error, the capacity goes from reading as 27.9 to 4 GB. I have been on numerous forums and there have been messages saying it could be root USB hub failure. I don't know what to do. I can't plug my phone into my computer or anything. People have said updating to the newest BIOS has fixed their issues but I am on the latest update from Dell which was released November 22. No luck!

Does anyone know if this could be the computers problem, or a problem with my phone. I really hope its not my brand new XPS 14. I really don't want to have to send it back, I have waited so long for it!!

 

Interesting. I was about to do the same thing, transfer over to the new computer and sync/use that going forward.
Could it be that you have to authorize the new computer?

 

I have authorized the computer. I have tried disabling McAfee. I have no idea what is happening. I had no problems syncing with my other computer. It is heart breaking! Very frustrated! I think there may be something wrong with my USB ports or something. My phone is able to sync fine with my old laptop, but this one gives me "required file not found", internal device error has occurred", "unknown error has occurred"

 

Dunno iif this will work but I had an issue with computer not booting up when usb device attached. "In the BIOS, under the Advanced section should be an option for USB Emulation. Please set this to Disabled and advise if this issue continues."

 

I got the same error message when I tried to sync my Ipad. My ipad storage also showed the same. I had already authorized my computer, so I deauthorized and then reauthorized it. I ended up having to go into my settings in Itunes and resync my media folders. ---A few days later... Ok, so I was wrong... Originally this worked, but for some reason it won't let me sync photos... I get an error message and it constantly resyncs and disconnects... baffled...

 

Update:

My iPhone still syncs fine with my old laptop fine. However, when I try to sync with my XPS 14, I start getting all these error messages. Including "internal device error". Could there be something wrong with my new laptop? Something wrong with the USB ports? Could this have been caused by the BIOS A05 update?

Note: My USB ports work fine for everything else, using external HD, jumpdrivers etc.

Another Update!
I seem to have fixed the problem. iTunes on my XPS didn't like it when I tried to sync photos to it. So, when I unchecked that everything has been working fine. Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit. I just felt it had to do with this specific laptop. Thanks for all your replies.

**
Also, I use my laptop hooked up to an external monitor, mouse and keyboard... is it fine to use the laptop with the lid closed? Or would this lead to overheating issues?
What do you all think?
Thanks again!

 

hey guys i have a few questions about the 14 inch model.
if i connect to my external 1080p monitor will the resolution be 1920 by 1080 and also in the specs page theior is no bluetooth option, i havea bluetooth card from my studio 1645 can i put it in there.Thanks alot !

 

I've got bluetooth 3.0 in mine... US and yeah, you should be able to hit that resolution.


Has anybody found/purchased an extra battery for this thing yet? I got a six cell originally but wouldn't mind picking up a 9 for occasional use. Dell chat support offered me a... refurb 9 cell.... yeah...

 

Core i5 XPS 14 owners...have you notice anytime your GT 420M is AWOL?



I have the drivers installed, and refreshing Device Manager doesn't work. Restarting the computer doesn't help...it's like the GPU has vacation days, and it'll randomly come back eventually.

 

It's happened to me twice already! I thought it was just on my system. LOL!

I re-installed the driver and then it comes back. Not sure what is happening though but like you said, sounds like it has 'vacation days'.

 

hey guys,
I have a question regarding the LG 14" Screen. Is that the best replacement screen for around $100? It seems like from this forum, the XPS 14 screen isn't even on par with the old XPS M1330 I had.

 

It seems to be much better and is a proven working replacement. I doubt you can find anything much better for the $100 or less.