Dell XPS 15 R2 - L502x - Owners Lounge

Unfortunately I have not found a store that sells it with the 1080p screen So far I have only found it available in Currys so if anyone can suggest any stores in London (closes to Oxford Street) it would be of great help xD

Also, is the 720p screen that bad even when compared to other 720p screens on 15" laptops? I have never seen the 1080p (And most probably never will ) so it might not be so bad for me

 

Yes, the 720p can be horrible. As far as it has been reported on Notebook review, Dell uses an absolutely horrible Auo Optronics 720p screen or a much better LG 720p screen. The 1080p screen is also made by Auo Optronics, however this screen is the best one you can buy on a laptop under $1.5k.

 

Thanks again for the info...so for comparision, is the 720p at least as good as the Dell Latitude E5500? ( Latitude E5500 Laptop Details | Dell [The latitude I have has the lower-end display])

 

The E5500 uses a 1280x800 display, not a 1366x768 display, for its stock screen.

I've seen this screen. The colors aren't great but the contrast is definitely decent. And no image griddiness.

It's better than whatever 720p you'd get in the XPS.

 

Thanks for the info So any suggestion for a laptop that is close to the XPS 15 in terms of perfrmance (especially graphics) from these stores (Must not be bigger than 15" [smaller is better] and less than 1000 EUR xD ):

iPads, TVs, Laptops, iPods, Cookers & Dishwashers | Currys

Home Page - Micro Anvika

 

Sry for double post....don't know how to delete....

 

I have the 720p screen and think its great, I might have one of better ones.
il upload pics later, still a great laptop dont listen to the nay sayers. Il upload pics later, because this whole think started because one person uploaded terrible pics of the 720p screen.
I do miss the higher resolution tho,I used to use a 900p desktop monitor. but the colours and contrast are great viewing angles arnt.

 

It started way before that. This same thing was the case back when the L501x was being sold.

 

Will the difference between the LG Panel and the AUO 720p be very evident? (I will be able to see the laptop before I purchase so I'll make sure that I like it)

 

Yes i know, the pics were of the l501x.

 

I have the AOU screen and ive attached some pics of the viewing angles in low light conditions.
Left and Right angles are ok but Top and Bottom are poor,
Dead on the screen is colourful and contrast is quite good.

 

I had the 720p screen too and it wasn't that bad, I was even using it for my photoshop work.

 

Thanks for the pics I think that I wouldn't be dissapointed with the screen considering that I have never seen the FHD (and the AOU isnt as bad as I imagined xD ). The only fear that I have left for this laptop now is portability. Is it light enough to carry around every day ? (I think I would still buy it but it would be better )

 

This is only my second day with it :L
I put it in my messenger bag today and it wasnt to bad in terms of weight but im planning on buying a well padded backpack should take most weight off .
And pics are misleading, its smaller in person even with the 9 cell.

 

I'm glad you're happy with the 720p screen. I thought I'd be, but wasn't. Honestly, I felt like most laptops I'd owned had perfectly adequate screens, but I hated the AUO screen that came with my first 502x. I returned it and got the FHD from the Dell Outlet for just a bit more money. I'm glad I did.

 

This will be my first laptop so I cant really compare it

 

There's also the chance that there are two different AUO screens. B156XW01 and B156XW02. I'm not entirely sure of this though, but there has to be something that results in a screen this bad: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...oes-l502x-need-full-hd-cable.html#post7483123

 

I couldn't find a post on this, but does anyone know what the best route to connect my XPS 15 1080p display to my Dell 2007wfp monitor? I know I'll have to get a mini displayport to dvi/vga, but I don't know if it matters which end I go to and where I can find an affordable cable that's long enough.
I'm doing a lot of photo editting and I want to see how it looks on both screens to make sure I get a decent looking photo. I know there's the whole color balancing w/ Spyder etc, but I can't really afford that right now and the XPS 15 is obviously glossy while the 2007wfp is AG.

 

Ok, so about 2 weeks ago I bought the XPS 15 on dell outlet for $609+tax, which I thought was a steal for a GT540M, i5 processor, 6gb ram, etc.

BUT, the screen...

At first I thought the people on the forums were just being picky / over-hyping the 1080p screen. Not true. I had the 720p LG screen and even still something was just off about it. My previous laptop was a Vostro 1400, which had a 1440x900 screen. Switching to a screen that was 1 inch bigger but had fewer pixels... my eye just couldn't adjust. I returned it to the outlet and was able to snag one with the 1080p screen for $750+tax (after 15% coupon). Ill report back on that screen.

 

Well, I've been using my XPS 15 for over a week now, and I have to say the touchpad on this thing is not so good.

The biggest issue I have is with tap clicking. Every so often when i tap to click, the click doesn't work and the cursor jumps to the bottom of the screen. I don't remember ever having this issue on my Asus netbook. I've been playing with the Synaptic settings but can't seem to fix this. As someone who loves tap clicking, this is pretty frustrating as it happens a lot. Does anyone else have this issue?

Also you need to tap on this thing pretty hard to get a click. And when moving the cursor around it will frequently get stuck. I tried increasing the sensitivity setting but it was already one notch from the most sensitive. I think this pad is just pretty dull as far as sensitivity goes.

Of course there is also the issue of the cursor jumping while your typing, but I also had that with my Asus netbook and I have a feeling that's a common thing with all touchpads. I did try playing with the setting that's supposed to help with this, but it just lowers the sensitivity of the pad which is already too low.

Overall I'm pretty unhappy with this touchpad and even having thoughts of sending the laptop back. just because of this. Like I said, I've used an Asus netbook before this and before that an HP laptop, and the touchpads on those were fine for me.

 

might be faulty, mine works fine. I love its oversize compared to my netbook I had before. Everything seems smooth on mine, athough the only gestures I use is the tap and sometimes two finger scrolling.

can you try one out at a store to compare? Maybe I just haven't tried something better yet.

 

good call on that one. you will realize the night and day difference of the new screen.

 

Hi guys Im planning to order a dell xps 15.

How bad is the experience with 720p? the specs Im getting are: XPS 15 L502x 2410m - Nvidia GT540m - 720p screen - 750GB 7200RPM- 6GB RAM - Back Lit Keyboard - 6230 Intel WiFi and Bluetooth- JBL with subwoofer.

 

If it were me I would get 1080p screen and go with gt525m and 4 gig ram. Would almost equal out the price of the screen. Plus, for what dell charges for the upgrade to 6 gig of ram you could get 2x4gig from Newegg or somewhere. Unless you can afford the screen too...if so just get the 1080p with your original specs then all set.

(just an fyi I had both 720p and 1080p at the same time recently and the difference was very very very clear)

 

You are missing everything that is absolutely necessary with the XPS 15. You need the 1080p screen and a second generation i7 quad core.

Don't get the 720p. Downgrade your GPU to get 1080p screen;

 

thanks for the advice. I will definitely consider your advices. Is there a big difference between the 1gb 525m and the 2gb 540m? Coz I occasionally play games like call of duty and starcraft II.

 

Most will tell you no noticeable difference, though I believe the 540M is ~10% faster?? I got the 2GB 540M simply for resale value in the future.

 

I recently bought the 1080p B+RGLED screen and I intend to use it to watch my HD movies and TV shows. How would the picture quality compare to my 50" Panasonic plasma screen (TX-P50V20B, here's a review of my tv: http://www.avforums.com/review/Panas...ma-Review.html)? Because if the picture quality on the Dell is as good as the plasma, I may consider using the laptop as one of my primary ways of viewing my files, if not I'll just stick with my TV.

 

Do not buy the XPS 15 with the 720p screen
You're wasting your money doing that, especially if you have the option to get 1080p and you skip it.

The 1080p screen is the most important upgrade, because aside from a big quality difference, it makes your computer a lot more usable because you can fit more onscreen. 1366x768 is the same resolution you find in 12-inch laptops, and restricts you to one window open at a time.

Don't sacrifice the 1080p screen for anything, not a processor, a GPU, or RAM. The screen makes far more of a difference because it's the only thing that can affect general usage (multitasking) as well as performance-intensive usage, and it makes a very big difference in how you can use your computer.

Realize that none of the upgrades will ever make as much of a difference that the screen does. You'll never notice more RAM, a 12% faster GPU, a 6% faster CPU, or any of that stuff. You WILL notice the screen upgrade, and the screen upgrade will affect everything you do with the computer and not just performance-intensive stuff. You would be a fool to skip the screen upgrade for anything else.

GT 525M vs 540M.... 12% difference. It won't be make-or-break. You can make more of a performance difference by changing graphical settings than you'd get by upgrading this card.

The 1080p screen is a must-have. The quad-core, not so much. It helps in CPU-intensive games, but the screen is 10-fold more important.

 

So is this a better option?

XPS 15 L502x 2410m - Nvidia GT525m - 1080p screen - 500GB 7200RPM- 4GB RAM - Back Lit Keyboard - 6230 Intel WiFi and Bluetooth- JBL with subwoofer.

I read somewhere that you can OC the 525m card to 540m speed, is that true?

 

That's a much better config. You've got the important upgrade (screen), and the popular upgrade (backlit keyboard)

Yes. The 525M can be overclocked.

Also note: coupon code 932N$0ZCCHWZB9


You also might want to check out this deal:
http://www.onlinecomputercoupons.com/get.htm?coupon=351404
Coupon code: 4VB4CC3X7BJ4F6

It's $949 including the 1080p screen and i7-2630QM, but for the other upgrades you have to go select them.


However, this deal doesn't look all that much better than just selecting the $1099 model from Dell's website which includes the screen and i7, and using the $100 coupon code.

 

Yeah Im availing the 100$ discount. BTW can you manually upgrade the ram on this laptop? coz later on I might want to make it to a 6 gb or 8gb ram. How many memory slots are there on this laptop?

EDIT: I also considered the $950 coupon but Im on an $800 budget and Im already pushing it on the latest specs that I want. =/ And I didn't get the backlit keyboard, although its a cool upgrade but I dont really need it for my overall experience.

 

Yes, you can manually upgrade the RAM for cheaper than Dell charges you.

Upgrading from 4GB to 6GB is $40 to buy a 4GB module to replace one of the two 2GB modules, and upgrading from 4GB to 8GB is $80 to buy two 4GB modules to replace each of the 2GB modules.

 

ok thanks for the info. =)

 

Yeah, that's the standard price. Sometimes you can find better than that. I got 8 gigs for 65 from Newegg, and recently I saw the same RAM for 50-- check in to slickdeals forums or a similar bargain site. Once you've upgraded you can sell the DELL RAM on ebay and get about 15-20 bucks back.

 

My XPS just arrived today, just 6 days after ordering it and much earlier than Dell's delivery estimate (August 3)... and HOLY CRAP I'M IN LOVE

The 1080p screen is better than my desktop's 24" LG, the audio quality is great and the standard keyboard is so awesome I'm only using chiclet in the future... HD webcam is pretty good, trackpad scrolling isn't finnicky...

I got the 2630qm i7 and my prime95 temps barely go over 80c. Idle and video temps are in the 50's.

I'm about to take out the hard drive and replace it with my Intel 320 SSD then install Win7 Ultimate to make this thing truly perfect

 

I'll be getting an XPS 15 as a replacement for my overheating M1530. The system is a huge upgrade all-around compared to my old M1530, despite the lack of a 1080p screen and a backlit keyboard.

Once the system arrives, I was asked to call them back so they can ship out my 9-cell battery. At this time, he also said to ask him about replacing my keyboard with a backlit one.

Now, I don't want to push my luck too much and I'm really happy I'm getting this computer as a replacement for my M1530 which has just been a hassle.

Getting an i7 2.7 ghz (dual core; faster than my previous 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo), 2gb GeForce 540m GT, 256gb Solid State hard drive, 6gb ram.


My questions:

1. If I wanted to, how would I go about buying and installing the 1080p screen, assuming it doesn't cost too much for me?

2. If they don't want to upgrade the replacement with a backlit keyboard (not a problem), then can I buy the keyboard and install it myself?

3. I really loved the convenience of my fingerprint reader on my M1530. Any ideas here?


Thanks guys. Really excited to join the L502x crew.

 

Hey, the keyboard was a little messed up on arrival (it wasn't "snapped in" at the middle) but my dad fixed that.

Now the edges are starting to kinda curl towards the center. You have to look at it to notice, but it still bugs me. Any advice?

 

Does anyone else have this problem?

 

I don't know why this happened but when I activated my office 2010 purchase it finished installing then there was nothing there, I een searched for word and nothing came up, there were no programs under the office folder.

?!

 

Hello guys, I was wondering if anyone is having this issue as well. I keep my brightness at 3 bars and when I have a dark background it dims and when its on a white background it gets brighter. What can this be?

 

Disable intel power savings technology.

 

If you are in a position to negotiate, ask for the 1080p screen. The backlit keyboard can easily be installed.

 

I purchased 2x4gig (8gig total) 1333 RAM on newegg for $49 shipped. Like was previously mentioned check slick deals and sign up for newegg emails. Probably overkill with 8gig ram but for that cheap why not.

 

@ kicker4106,

All you need from the L502X is the CPU of your choice and the 1080p screen. Skip the Intel 6230 mini card. I sold mine because it had issues with my router and my connection etc. It's not just me, most have connectivity issues with that card. Save up and upgrade to the Intel Ultimate-N 6300.

Other than that, everything else is pretty easy for you to upgrade later on when you have more $$$. So order your base config, include the 1080p, CPU choice you can afford, and if you want the 9 Cell. BluRay or not is your choice.

 

@keebz: My philosophy (if I can call it that), and I know this worked for me though past performance does not guarantee future results, in getting a replacement was that I didn't have to be fearful of pushing my luck. Dell designed the overheating M1530 (in my case the SXPS 16), and they are required to match or exceed all the specifications of the computer they are replacing. This worked for me, though I was dealing with the the Executive Support Team (reached by emailing [email protected]). I would certainly agree that the 1080p screen is a must-have with the XPS 15.

You could get an external fingerprint reader ( http://www.amazon.com/Eikon-Digital-Privacy-Manager-fingerprint/dp/B001BCC0YA), though that certainly lacks the convenience of having it integrated in the computer.

 

I need to connect to my school's projectors, any one knows if the Apple Mini Displayport to VGA adapter works for the L502X?

Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

 

I don't think "most" have had issues with the 6230. I recall some had issues, but I thought they all had solutions. FYI: My 6230 has worked great since I installed it.

 

Yeah, that should work, however, if you're just buying it now, I usually go with Monoprice. They're much cheaper and have all the cables you could dream of.

 

The apple connector works fine, but the dynex one at best works just as well for 1/3 the price. I paid 10 bucks for it.

Anyone here know someone in the market for a quad core xps 15? I need to sell mine (work just bought me a new latitude). Its only two months old. Listed in the for sale section of this website.