Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

Are your programs still open the way you left it? If that is the case it's just hibernate

 

Update time!

Yesterday I received a new Dell XPS 15 unit in the mail to replace my faulty one. Can't tell if it's refurbished or new - it looks new. So far so good, everything is working great. The screen even seems a little better than my previous unit, suggesting my last one may have been faulty. I'll post an update here if anything goes wrong, but so far it seems like Dell has made everything right.

Also, what's up with the thunderbolt dock? It's got like, the worst reviews.. I guess I should pass on it?
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=450-aevm

 

Nahh, everything closed! Lol. It's random and doesn't happen as often anymore

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

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This is exactly what I'm trying to do!! I have 512 evo instead of a 900 something 2.5 ssd. Did you end up doing this install? Is so please share how!

 

Well they are the dell premiere backpack m and premiere m sleeve

https://www.google.com/search?q=del...ms-tmobile-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8


I got the backpack and the companion from eBay for half price.

I like them both. They work well together the back pack has a slot for the companion the wire passes through to the laptop sleeve.

Even so they aren't amazing. The 6 cell battery can't even charge up the laptop once. I like it better for a big cell phone back up battery.

The back pack is nice

The sleeve is the coolest part. Not question. Look it up on YouTube. It color codes with the backpack.

Its a weird material kind of a rubber cardboard which Sounds cheap but it's awesome. And it has magnetic ends. Its also a wedge to put the laptop on.
So it's a set of 3 things built to fit together which is nice.....1 Must have the sleeve. 10 stars
Once you have it the
2. backpack is nice. Any back pack works it's nice and it matches.
I feel like there are better backpacks and worse. Before this I had a msi backpack for The g72.... I feel like that was a little nicer but it's similar. Its a 7.5 backpack out of 10
The companion is useful. I use it most when I'm in Starbucks not near a plug. I leave the backpack with the companion by the plug and use my laptop unplugged while the companion charges

I got the companion for 80 dollars. I'm not sure I would do that again even at that discount. That said I use it regularly. It doesn't have amps to power the xps at 130w so for gaming you are just like on batteries still. I will give the companion 7 out of 10

The companion is sort of a precursor to many usb c chargers out or coming out that will blow it away. But I went ahead and got it instead of a usb c one on the thought that I could use them both someday. There's a plug for each

 

I have a 500 gb mx200 and a 1 tb mushkin 1 tb reactor.

Both a step nicer as they are what's known as mlc drives.

Where as a ultra ii is a planar tlc drive known as being less durable and just out of date.
Where as a 850 evo is 3d vnand tlc which is totally up to date but it's advance is it will be in larger sizes.

 

The key to this install is you will have to change the bios setting to ahci from raid.
Then reinstall Windows completely on your New m2. Drive.

Or new nvme drive. So right now it's on your hdd you need to use the dongle and just reinstall it.

 

Hello guys. I just ordered my Dell XPS 15 9550 with UHD 4K display and 512GB SSD. Ordered from Dell and waiting for delivery. Decided to give this model a try after not being too impressed with my old Dell XPS 15 9530. Quick question: If someone could please tell me what to do as soon as I get the laptop to avoid bugs and issues etc and to check for defects/hardware defects? Thanks. Forgive if this has been posted before by someone else. Thanks

 

You will find a huge thread in this forum about 9550 hardware defects, amazed that you missed it tbh.

 

You are going to get a bunch of different answers to that, most of them very good, but why don't you just use it for a while, do the updates as they are presented, and then see. Some of us, particularly those who are not ready to do clean installs haven't had many issues at all.

 

Anyone know where I could source the 56wh battery? Dell has been absolutely no help and said part numbers 62mjv and m7r96 are no longer available.

Thx

 

Hi SamDeng2,

If you don't mind, what didn't you like about your Dell XPS 15 9530 that you're confident the Dell XPS 15 9550 will not have or resolve?

Thank you kindly,
SD

 

Many thanks! I will def get the sleeve first!

 

Just got my XPS 15 9550 UHD/16GB/512SSD with RAID and it doesn't work out of the box. As soon as I connect to wifi, it freezes, then bluescreens with kernel_security_check_failure. I've tried updating wifi card drivers, video drivers, bios to no effect.

Heres an image of the problem. I've wiped the ssd and reinstalled Windows 10 (AHCI) with the same results.
http://imgur.com/a/mwlA4
Any help? I haven't seen this issue yet.

 

Hi SD,

With the 9530 I had massive throttling and poor battery life. Couldn't really use it to play even moderate titles and battery life never lasted more than 2 hours. I'm not 'confident' so to speak but just willing to give it another shot.

 

Hi SamDeng2,

Thank you kindly.

I figured it would probably have to do with either the GPU for gaming, the infamous coil while or the possible reported WiFi issues.

I myself never game so I definitely cannot comment at all on any so-called throttling, yet I did learn that the 750m GPU was definitely not designed with gamers in mind, as it is the same exact one that Apple used in the latest MacBook Pro 15 and their known for making computers for professionals and definitely not gamers.

As far as your very dismal battery life, what size battery did you have, as I have the 9-cell and I can easily get close to 8 hours on minimum brightness and just doing office tasks and browsing the Internet?

I guess I must of definitely also gotten very lucky with my unit, as I purchased mine in August of 2014 new on eBay, and either I am deaf, which I'm constantly told I'm just the opposite as I have never heard the infamous coil whine, just the occasional fans kicking in.

Believe it or not, I do a lot of photo viewing and I have in fact been strongly contemplating on selling my XPS 15 9530 and either getting a XPS 15 9550 or Yes your reading right a DELL Alienware 17r3, as I have been reading that its 4K matte display is one of the truest & best displays out for viewing of course videos, as it is in fact a gaming rig and for photos as well, which is what I always look for and need in a computer, yet I just greatly need to get by having a Christmas lighting Alien computer for my professional photo work and my main computer.

I guess with the DELL XPS 15 9550 having the 4K display and better GPU then its 9530 predesessor it might hopefully work out just great for you, yet for me, I would truly like to compare the 4K matte display vs 4K glossy display vs the 3K (9530) glossy display to see if it would be beneficial for me to upgrade to one of them and more importantly, if I would in fact really see a difference or not.

Best of Luck & Kind Regards,
SD

 

Yes, it finally fixes the problem No more lags on my Microsoft 3600 mouse and Wi-Fi on 2.4Ghz band, even under high network load. It's a good day for 9550 owners, no more whining about 'bad wifi card'. This Wi-Fi card also works perfectly with Blackhawk R7000 and with Aerohive / Cisco APs on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands.

Please, don't waste your money 'upgrading' wi-fi cards anymore.

 

Not to mention there is a trick using the Group Policy Editor (Windows Pro version have it, you can download it for Home versions) to modify the limit bandwidth reserve in the QoS Packet Scheduler to speed up web browsing.

 

What do you guys think about about the location of the webcam? Awkward or not?

 

Yes, it is awkward. I have to explain to people so they don't think I am talking down to them.

 

MikeBravo - can You tell more how to download Group policy editor and make it?

 

I have a Dell XPS 15 9550 with an i7 and when playing games, my 960m GPU is steady at 90C when on ac power and around 85C when on battery power. My BIOS and all drivers are up to date.

I contacted Dell tech support, but they did not know if 90C was too high, and did not have a max temp specification. They also did not offer any suggestions regarding power settings profiles or adjustments to driver settings. I've tried multiple adjustments, both for ac and battery and it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Scanning the internet, most people seem to think 90C is too high. However, I did an online chat with NVIDIA support and he stated 90C was ok at load, but not ok if it is constantly at 90C. I took that to mean it should cool off after playing a game. NVIDIA also doesn't seem to publish a max temp for the 960m, but I did find two different FAQs on their site. One said "Graphics card temperatures typically range from 40°C to 90°C." Another FAQ said "NVIDIA GPUs are designed to operate reliably up to their maximum specified operating temperature. This maximum temperature varies by GPU, but is generally in the 105C range (refer to the nvidia.com product page for individual GPU specifications)."

Can anyone else confirm their 960m runs around 90C, with no throttling, when playing something challenging like Witcher3 or a bit less, like Far Cry 3? Sorry for the long winded first post - just trying to keep from frying my laptop!

 

That's too hot, the GPU will be throttling itself at that temperature. What are your CPU temperatures like? Open it up and look at the heatpipe; make sure it's not bent and it's making contact with the gpu and ram

 

I have seen the premiere m backpack for 40 on Amazon so it's actually cheaper than the sleeve
It is a good combo.
In fact I will edit it with a link to it for everyone.

The sleeve I bought full price from Dell.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00O2..._SY340_QL65&keywords=dell+premiere+m+backpack


I feel like this is a steal.

The backpack is a bit busy with so many compartnents.


The zippers are super large and durable. The zippers have a black with red stiching which matches the sleeve


The same seller has the premiere m briefcase for 40 also and that's even a bigger steal.

And the premiere messenger. That could be better fit for me who doesn't want to carry a lot.
But I already have the backpack.

 

It's terrible. Mine is very dark also. I don't want to buy a webcam though

 

It's for Windows 10 pro only not core/home

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

It's more on the awkward side. It's not terrible, though.

One hint... Play with the monitor angling... If you lower the lid a bit more, it helps with the camera positioning, it becomes more natural.

I guess it's the price we pay for this 'borderless' display ;-) Cool things are not always that usable...

 

I would call it disastrous
The problem is not only the strange angle from which is capturing you when you are sitting while you are at the desk, but also if I am laying in the bad and keep Laptop around my chest (and adjust a screen angle accordingly), the camera will capture more of the keyboard that anything else....

 

I guess if you use the webcam a lot you could buy something to sit on top of the laptop instead.

 

That is terrible, unpractical, complicated and ugly solution.

 

it may be terrible and ugly but far from complicated

 

Lets not be like Apple fans, defending mistakes Dell made. This is a serious design flaw, and for me, it is not acceptable to, buy, carry around, connect... external camera. How is not complicated and unpractical to have camera attached to the top of your screen connected via USB cable to USB port. This might even work if you keep your laptop on the desk, but if you carry it around and use it on you lap/chest its hardly even possible.

 

Return it and buy something else if that's how you feel, reviews mention the location and the fact people look up your nose so it should come as no surprise to anyone.

I do not defend it and do not like it but in the grand scheme of dell **** ups this is a minor one!

All I do it open the screen a bit more..

 

It's not a surprise, but if we criticize it instead of justifying it and looking for a workaround, they might consider solving this problem with the next generation, otherwise why would they bother.
Every Laptop has some flaws, I think that now, once most of the software issues have been fixed with numerous driver/firmware updates, 9550 offers the best package on the market, but of course it is still not perfect, and camera location is definitely one of its flaws.

 

If you google 'gpedit.msc', there are several websites that you can get it from. (Microsoft doesn't want you to have it. They want you to upgrade to their professional versions of Windows. The one I used was: http://drudger.deviantart.com/art/Add-GPEDIT-msc-215792914 and had no trouble with malware.

You can also find the instructions for installing it at: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-...home-premium-home-basic-and-starter-editions/

I installed and configured it on all my machines that are running the home version of Windows (all the professional versions and above have it already installed by default) and did the necessary configuration on my machines running the pro versions.

My experience thus far is that the faster and more powerful your machine and the better the network card (such as our 9550's) the better this modification works. That is, on a good many, but not all, of the websites that used to take a second or two to open, now more often than not snap open instantly. However, on my older, slower machines with older network cars, such as old Dell D830 running an Intel 4965 that I often use as a test bed, the difference is not nearly as noticeable, but still does help.

I noticed also that when I am downloading, particularly large files like 'ISO's', which on certain websites used to only download at a maximum of 4 Mbps, not often surge to up to 10 Mbps.

Of course, you have to remember that factor too is who your ISP is. I have ComCrashed (Comcast) who notoriously throttles customer network traffic using some bizarre, Machiavellian protocol that defies understanding----even though I pay for 75 Mbps service.

Also, I regularly test and change DNS servers as well.

Hope this helps.

 

I disagree; this was a design decision, not a flaw. To get these super thin bezels, they had to move the webcam out of the way. For me, it's a perfectly acceptable compromise.

 

I agree about the webcam, perfectly fine where it is at. Isn't gonna kill me. I have the 13 9350 but it's the same position.

 

I was able to convince Dell to schedule a replacement for my motherboard, which has the 960m as part of the board.

Can anyone else confirm they are running graphically challenging games on the XPS 15 (ac powered) with GPU temps throttling into the 70s vs. the steady 90C that I'm seeing?

I just read an extensive review of the 9550 i7 version on notebookcheck.net and their review model GPU remains a constant 87C when loaded and on ac...very close to what I see on mine. I have a larger SSD than their test model; doubt that has any effect, but that is the only difference between their test model and mine.

 

Same, I don't care. But personally, I'd prefer a full bezel-less screen without any webcam (neither the Dell logo) than this weird design. The bottom bezel is really large, and the webcam position choice have no added value but "having a webcam"... (and a poor quality). It could be better to sell it as an accessory (with a real good quality), or integrate it as a removable device.
People use their webcam maybe 0.1% of time on average, so is this really useful ?

 

Could anyone with the FHD screen take a look at the following image and tell me if they can see any of the bars between 17 and 25?
http://gonedigital.net/wp-content/uploads/AVStest-black.png

On my 4k version they were invisible, even after adding an icc profile (could only see the first two). Just curious if the FHD is the same.

 

Congratulations, you would get away with a repaste, instead you are going to let a butcher rip apart your laptop and probably destroy it in the process!

 

I think it was asked before, no one does on any model it seems. odd considering the adobe certification?

 

Hey I'm with you, i don't even use the webcam

 

The image for me is all black except for the words 'reference black' vertically under row 16.

 

Thanks - that's a big help. Full hd, right?

 

Yes.

 

Actually, I'd probably butcher it worse than the tech. I know the tech, he has repaired a previous Dell laptop and does an excellent job.

How about publishing the temp of your 960m when running a graphically challenging game or benchmark. That would be helpful to me.

 

I don't use it for that, and I would get the tech to do a repaste, buy decent paste for him to use.
All the chips used in laptops are the better binned chips as they run a lower TDP than any other so it isn't a bad chip, just a ****wit on the phone at Dell for suggesting a board over a repaste.

 

I agree that a repaste makes sense and should have been the first suggestion from Dell. However, the reason I keep asking for someone, anyone, to post the temps of their GPU while running a benchmark or graphically challenging game is because I keep reading conflicting information.

I keep hearing "90 degrees is too high!" Yet, in an online chat with NVIDIA, the tech said 90 degrees is ok with this GPU. However, he wouldn't tell me what the max temp should be because apparently, it is laptop dependent. In a review at notebookcheck.net, they noted their test laptop ran steady at 87C and they made no further comment. I've seen two other posters on other forums state their 9550 runs at 88C and 90C.

So, again, I'm getting plenty of "that's too high" remarks, but it does not seem like my laptop is an isolated case. I have even read NVIDIA's FAQs and they list "normal" operating temps of their GPUs from 40-90C with "most" having a max of 105C. I suspect they are referencing their standalone desktop cards, but it is not clear.

I'm really trying to understand if it is a design issue, thermal paste issue, hardware issue, some sort of software setting, or perhaps - it is simply not an issue at all and some Dell engineer decided that 90C is ok on this laptop. If others are running a graphically challenging game or benchmark, while on ac power on their 9550, and seeing their GPU throttling itself into the 70s, that would be useful information to me, but so far, I can't seem to find a post that will verify this.