Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

I don't understand the question. Lined up with what? They're in the correct places if thats what you meant. Can't see any issues of gaps or anything. Mine is an outlet model if that makes any difference.

 

My refurbished 9550 is arriving soon from the Dell outlet. I know I should check for any scuffs or marks or any other damage/poor construction/poorly aligned ports, but are there any other things I should look out for? Most of the software issues are common to all the computers right? I can just do a clean windows install to get things working better?

Also is there a way to get a clean install of windows 10 for free? Thanks!

 

Yes, you can download the Windows 10 media creation tool

 

of course, thanks

 

For a Fresh Install of Win 10, do you suggest to use all the standard Win 10 driver with maybe Dell Wireless, Intel RST and Dell Audio or install all the Dell driver that are available ?

 

I would suggest installing Intel RST. The wifi will have to be from Dell.

 

Thanks! Just wanted to also see if there's anything else besides the usual visual/build quality defects that I should check before I decide to keep my XPS. Are there any internals or anything else that should make me return?

Thanks again!

 

Mine had some minor scratches (refurbed one from Dell Outlet).

 

Still have the headphone jack issues with Realtek 7765. Dell updated their audio driver as well and I will try it later today.

I'm also have some issues with the Broadcom 1830 wi-fi. Does anyone know if anyone in Canada sells the Intel 8260?

 

I would consider it a waste to install the Intel AC8260. It only has 2 streams and up to 866Mbps gross rate. The DW1830 has 3 streams and shows 1.3Gbps when in the vicinity of my access point. It was actually one of my reasons to upgrade from the XPS 15 9530 (2 antennas, comes with AC7260) to the 9550 (3 antennas). The current MacBook Pro also has a 3-stream wifi card so I suppose you could get that one and then use the boot camp wifi drivers. I have upgraded my older MacBook Pro retina (had 802.11n) to the Apple Airport 3-stream m-2 wifi 802.11ac adapter and it also shows 1.3Gbps in Windows/Bootcamp as well as MacOS. It seems reliable. It also has a Broadcom chip, the BCM94360CD. I am puzzled why the MacBook wifi is reliable and the dw1830 is not so much even though they are both from Broadcom.

I remember reading in one of the threads to disable anything that looks like power savings for the DW1830. I suggest you try that to see if that helps. I did it for mine and I am ok with the wifi this far. Only thing is that it takes a while to discover available networks.

 

My Dell refurb cannot even be called a refurb. Its seems to be brand new apart from 3 fingerprints on the screen.

 

In my experience, nothing works quite as well as an Intel card. I've had trouble connecting to networks with this Broadcom card that worked fine with the low-end Intel part in my Y410p. Maybe it's a driver thing? I'm either on publicly available Wireless-N, my own 2x2 router, or gigabit through a USB-C adapter, so dropping to 2x2 wouldn't be an issue for me. Reliability is far more important than speed for me.

 

I was quite happy with 8260 until today it refuses to connect to my Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter. After switching back to DW1830, it works again...you just cannot have both.

 

Here's my two cents. My DW1830 often pulls 867 Mbps from from my Nighthawk R7000 which is in the basement twenty feet from me in the living room. By comparison, my Intel 7260 AC which runs in my old L502x never gets beyond 585 Mbps.

I would be interested in seeing an Intel three stream replacement.

 

Here's the problem with the Broadcom card: It doesn't ****ing work

It doesn't work with bluetooth
It doesn't work with 5G
I don't care how fast it can be if it doesn't ****ing work.

 

no problems here, 1.3gb 5g, bluetooth mouse works and phones also connected as a backup for internet.

What router do you have?

 

DSL-2877AL.

I think it was choking on that I use a bluetooth audio receiver always + logitech g602 2.5 ghz wireless connection dongle. The card couldn't handle the 5ghz network, it would drop every minute or so and ruin anything I was streaming/downloading. 2.5 ghz worked okay except it made the bluetooth audio stutter.

Since installign the 8260, everything has been working peachy

 

Someone else here or on one of the other forums claimed that these Broadcom chips are a bit fussy so which router you are running might matter. Then again, maybe the card itself is bad. So far I have read so much about so many problems with this machine that I am literally terrified about calling Dell and complaining about my sticky spacebars. After some of these horror stories I would be afraid of sending it back. So, maybe you might just want to substitute another compatible card, whatever you might have lying around or scarf up an older Ultimate N 6300 if the form factor is the same and try that.

 

such a shame the only intel 3x3 cards wider than the m.2 format so it doesn't physically bloody fit!

 

I have a strange issue. I am trying to do a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro using an external DVD drive. When it launches the install screen (which is incredibly small btw) it says there are no drives installed.

How come it can't see the SSD drive so that I can select it as the drive to install to?

 

Ok seriously stupid question. How do I get into the bios? Normally it tells you what f key to press. I Googled it got f2 or f12?

Neither of those seems to work, I tried both pressing the key and pressing it while holding fn also.

Side note my laptop looks like it has good fit and finish no problems I've identified yet as far as the hardware goes. But there is like a piece of hair (short like dog hair) stuck between the bezel and screen, I got half of it out with tweezers but the rest is still wedged in there... Not sure if I should be upset lol?

 

You need intel RST drivers, the ISO's in my sig has them built in along with a few other drivers to get you to desktop and online in one hit.

F12

shame about the hair, I would be well pissed.

 

Sweet thanks GoNz0!

 

F12 it is thank you. Yeah the hair is definitely not cool but everything else looks great so far. Dunno I may or may not call and complain. It's minor and if it were my hair I wouldn't care but don't want to risk a refurbished unit or something. That or somebody opening up my screen just yet.

 

I've just tried the new Dell Realtek A04 drivers and the headphone jack still has issues. This is getting ridiculous. Has anyone had this issue and succeeded in fixing it?

 

Do you guys feel its worth it getting the i7 version over the i5? I'm kind of at a stand still with which one to get. There's quite a price jump... I'm planning on getting a 500-512GB m.2 SSD so that's no problem and in time a 84wH battery. I'm also hoping the laptop will eventually become TB3 compatible with an eGPU docking station like the Razer Core or AMD is working on a docking station for an eGPU...so basically I'd be able to game on ultra with almost all games since I've got a GTX970. I'd part out my desktop if an eGPU option is available...

 

Based on the benchmarks here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-X...HD-InfinityEdge-Notebook-Review.156462.0.html

The i7 and i5 versions are equal for 3d graphics performance. I have the i5 version, undervolted it to -160mv, and overclocked the GPU. I get 4250 on firestrike. Temps are quite low under heavy gaming load (68-75 CPU, 75GPU).

 

Hello, I found this thread helpful and thought I'd contribute my own experience with this laptop.

I ordered one about a month and a half ago. i7/1080p/16gb/512ssd model, as I don't trust 4k scaling in windows just yet and wanted some decent battery life. Overall had a very positive impression; great looking machine that went real fast. I used the machine pretty heavily for game development; programming, 3d modelling, texturing and animation, and a fair bit of Starcraft 2. No slowdowns or lag.

My only complaints:

• Bluetooth didn't work at all
• Hinge is really stiff, can't open lid with one hand like my MacBook
• Battery life claims from Dell are absurd, ended up with 8-9 max, not the claimed 15.
• Power adapter (external) makes an annoying sound when laptop is under load.

After using it for 3 weeks or so, I ended up sending it back to Dell to get the wireless card and power adapter replaced. A week later, they told me the motherboard needed to replaced as well. A few days later, they told me the system was beyond repair. Now I'm waiting for a system exchange - a new or possibly refurbished system - to arrive.

Dell couriered my SSD back to me for data retrieval. I guess I get to keep this? No indication that they want it back. A 500gb NVMe SSD is worth about $400 ... if I get to keep this, it's definitely making all this fuss a little more worthwhile.

Of course, I'm concerned that the refurb system may have other problems. Hopefully things aren't as bad as they seem and the reports of problems here are the minority. Would love to get back to using it and get some cool work done with it!

 

I swear to god man, the broadcom card is like a cancerous tumor in the machine. The longer you leave it in there, the higher chance your computer will explode.

 

I have asilly quetion, Can i connect any bleutooth mouse directly to my laptop without the need of the adapoter the come with?

Also i have a dell wirells 1830 I assume this is the broadcom chip everyone is talking about right?

 

YES! and YES!

No need to use a USB bluetooth adapter, because the bluetooth is built into the wifi card (the 1830) already pre-installed inside the XPS 15 9550.

 

Get a new card. Get a new router. Stop the madness!

 

I agree with that statement.

 

Hi, I need help with swapping out the 2.5'' HDD with a 2.5 SSD. can someone help me?

 

yes

 

How do you tell if the laptop is using 5 or 2.4ghz from the router? I haven't noticed any issues yet (knock on wood) with the 1830 but I've only been using it for a day or so barely because I'm waiting on a new ssd. I definitely can tell the speeds are insane.

Also, off topic, but what's a recommended new router? AC3200? Netgear? I'm still using a dir 655 from like 7 years ago.

 

When you set up an AC router you actually have the choice to set up 2 different wifi networks at once. One of them will be 2.5 GHz, the other 5GHz. 5GHz has greater bandwidth but shorter range. I append the SSID of the network with "5GHz" or "2.5GHz" so I can remember which one is which.

 

@Eason is right, if capable your wireless router will have 2 bands and as he suggested if you turn both on is best to identify them uniquely so you know which one you are connecting to. Not all kit is AC compatible so older stuff may have to connect at the 2.4Ghz (slower) frequency. If you turn the 5Ghz on and some kit wont see it or connect just leave both on and use whatever works.

I'm happy to recommend the Netgear D6400 - its not the newest model but mine has been rock solid - especially for the 9550 using the 8260 Intel card. The D6400 looks ok, has a pretty good range even through thick walls and doesn't have ariels sticking out all over the place!

 

I have the Asus AC3200 and it works really well with the DW1830. 1.3Gbps at short range and full Internet speed almost everywhere in my house.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

There you go. That's a start...

I just gave each of the bands SSID a different name. However, my Nighthawk R7000, which kicks ass, has a new feature from a firmware upgrade that allows it intelligently (so they say) to pick the fastest, strongest, most uncluttered band automatically. For this to work both bands must have the same SSID which kind of defeats the purpose of knowing which band you are actually using.

Expecting that Intel will come out with a beast 3X3 AC card and seeing that the new phenomenal AD standard is getting close, (as I understand) I'm going to stick with my Nighthawk as the newest generation of AC routers cost a King's Ransom!

 

Hi Everyone,

If this has already been asked in this grateful forum and I somehow missed it then I am sincerely sorry to ask it again, I have asked this question in the grateful XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge, as a owner myself, and would like to graciously asked it here if I may as well.

I am coming close to the end of my 3 year warranty on my DELL XPS 15 (9530) and I am only strongly considering getting a XPS 15 (9550) not because of any issues, as this machine has been virtually and thankfully flawless and has & is serving my needs greatly, yet solely because my passion is in photos and I am just wondering how the new 4K display would be vs my 3200 x 1800 one I presently have and would I notice a difference or not?

Thanks a BUNCH,
SD

 

They have http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/tri-band-wireless-ac17265.html

An no it doesn't fit, wider than the laptop can take.

 

We've been at t his for months figuring things out the hard way. A little sweat equity on your part will not only solve your present dilemma but also fortify and arm you for any future issues that may crop up.

 

Keep it related to the topic. I deleted a number of posts.
Charles

 

It is a lot brighter and pictures do look better with the 100% Adobe spec. Also a hell of a lot faster with the NVMe drives for photoshop.
My only gripes the touchpads over sensitive if you fingers hovering a tad close and the screen no longer has a light sensor, I miss the auto brightness as I had a great tweak to overcome it's native dim display with auto brightness on.

 

Hi GoNz0,

Thank you so much for your gracious, detailed and convincing answer as it is very much appreciated.

I guess then it's time to peruse eBay and see what I can get for my XPS 15 (9530) as like I said, my passion is in photo's and if the 4K screen is in fact a lot brighter & sharper and I guess would also get less pix-elated with using zoom at high levels as well, than I am definitely & thankfully sold!

Kind Regards,
SD

 

God damnit the WiFi stops working when I put a USB 3.0 flash drive into the right side USB port. Grrrr!

 

Hey guys, I need help. Bought my XPS 9550 (FHD, non-touch) recently and have trouble with touch pad pinch zoom. Although pinch zoom is working in Microsoft edge as well as file explorer, it's not working in chrome and windows photo app which is really disappointing. Am I missing anything here? Is there a fix, without having to install the synaptic driver? TIA.

Also I liked the media key and the way you can switch them by simply doing fn+Esc, however I was not happy that ctrl+F4 and alt+F4 were not recognized. I did use KeyTweak to remap the keyboard as I won't use media player hotkeys that much. In case someone have same problem as mine, hope this helps.

 

Did you try Ctrl+Fn+F4?

 

Yeah I know that it wasn't as comfortable as I wanted. Anyway, that's not an issue anymore for me with remapping. Do you have pinch zoom issue as well on photo app? Thanks