Dell XPS 15 R2 - L502x - Owners Lounge

Do you have the ebay link to the caddy yr using? I wanna chk it out.

 

Not I, only had one BSOD while playing a game, and I think I was not getting good air flow, I usually now prop up the back with something, they really ought to make laptops with little legs that pop up like they have on regular keyboards.

 

That is a good speed increase. I may have to update to 0009 i think.

 

12.7mm SATA 2nd HDD Caddy FOR ACER HP DELL ASUS DV25 | eBay

 

Actually, my grandpa had an 11-year-old IBM ThinkPad laptop that did have legs to prop it up. I have the 9-cell battery, so that does the same thing and improves airflow as well.

 

I have never had that problem.

 

Really? I have the same card and I have never had any problems with it. Of course, I use a 2008 Netgear 802.11g router, and I never bothered to upgrade to 802.11n because the range is perfectly fine for my medium-size one-story house, and I very rarely transfer files over the local network. Therefore, as long as the speed exceeds my 18mbps cable Internet connection, that is perfectly fine for my use.

 

Does anyone have the links to guide for a fresh install and the order of drivers installation for L502x...???

Thanks

 

Heres a guide by scott, its for a 17 but just replace the files with the ones from the l502x support page and it'll work just as well. You can also find this guide in this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/576836-dell-xps-17-l702x-clean-install.html

When doing a fresh install, driver installation order does make a difference. If done in the proper order, things tend to be less stressful.

Here is my suggestion:

1. Confirm you have BIOS A06 installed.

2. Install Windows 7 x64

3. Once the Windows install is complete and you are on the desktop, start with the most important driver first, the HM67 chipset: Chipset 1

Now... I do the rest in this order:

A. SATA Management SATA-II/III

B. USB 3.0 USB 3.0 Board

C: Intel HECI Management HECI

D. Motion Sensor Freefall Sensor

E. Touchpad TouchPad

F. ALC665 Audio Audio

G. If you do not have the 3D system, install the Intel HD video first Intel Video ...then the Nvidia driver Nvidia 550/555
If you have the 3D compatible system, install ONLY the Nvidia driver (first), then install the Nvidia 3D emitter driver 3D emitter

H. HD webcam Dell HD webcam

I. Gigabit ethernet LAN

J. Wifi card (this driver supports most Intel cards offered with the L702x) Intel WLAN. If you have the Intel 6230, now install the Bluetooth 3.0 Intel 6230 BT3.0

K. Lastly, the Quickset driver Quickset x64

Note: It seems Dell does not have the media card reader/writer driver listed when I looked so it is attached below. It can be installed at any time as it is not critical.

At this point, you should have all the important devices working and your system will be wanting to get its Windows updates, etc. Once all this is done, you can add any additional drivers and/or software for anything additional you may have or want such as the Intel wireless display (non-3D systems only), TV module (if purchased), webcam software, audio upgrade software, face recognition software, DVD/Blu-ray software, etc.

* If installing the face recognition software, make sure the webcam central software is installed first or you may have issues

 

Thanks for the info.....
I am done with the complete fresh install....and drivers installation too....but how do I get back Skype and other softwares those were pre-loaded (though I dont need them badly but just for the information)....I have all the cds and dvds for other things but for that....

 

you download them from their websites? they would be newer versions anyway...
I only had intel turbo boost monitor, Office starter edition and roxio installed, no other SW preinstalled

 

But those softwares are integrated ...isn't it? Skype with HD calling and all...further I dont even remember which all softwares were there....

 

You can download skype from their site dw its not "integrated" apart from skype, roxio, office, dell support center and mcafee thats it i think. But go to my dell downloads, you can re download them there. There should be a driver for turbo boost monitor and also intel wireless display from dells driver page of the xps 15.

 

I had to download Skype and the Turbo Monitor from the L501x drivers and downloads page (Skype was in the Applications drop down and the Turbo Monitor was in the Chipset drop down). They still don't show up for me in the L502x d&d page (or on the My Downloads).

 

So this software is ACTUALLY better than the one on their site....what I mean is that I am better off downloading from dell website or skype's?

 

I don't think it matters which site you get it from. I just downloaded it from the Dell site because I was updating some drivers awhile back and was there anyway.

 

If the version is the same then theres no difference from either site.

 

Someone has done a video of Windows 8 running on an XPS 15.

Windows 8 Preview - YouTube

 

I probably won't really notice a major difference in speed, it's more than likely all in my head, but for $13 it was worth it for me to try. It's weird that the max transfer speed is 72mbit. This card is 300/150 in 40mhz width and 144/72 in 20mhz width, and the one I ordered does 300/300 in 40mhz width. Also the new one does 5ghz, which my router supports. Only issue is that my wife's laptop does not have a wireless N adapter, so I may try to use my old wrt54gs for any clients on 2.4ghz.

 

I tried it via VM within windows 7 so I cannot really comment on the speed, but the interface seemed weird to me, I could not figure out how to exit things, other than hitting the windows key or alt-tab. Maybe I was totally missing something.

 

Thats what he said in the video. I dont know if i like the GUI tbh, youve got a app screen and a desktop type screen?? Im not convinced, the other question is how much memory will all this eat up.

 

Question about laptop performance.
I have the XPS 15 L502x around 4 months now, with the following specs.

Components
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Elemental Silver Aluminum
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1080p) and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam & Facial Recognition
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030 & Bluetooth 3.0
Backlit Keyboard - English
JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2
Accessories
Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial
1 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Yr NBD On-Site Service
Also Includes
XPS 15
Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0
No Mobile Broad Band Selected

Honestly I was never impressed with the speed of the laptop, especially when multitasking. I usually have a lot of programs running such as Visual Studio Professional, Adobe Illustrator, Windows Mail Live and Chrome open with about 20 tabs. Sometimes when I switch between using Adobe Illustrator and Visual Studio, it would takes around 5-10 seconds before I can actually start using the program that I switched to.
Am I expecting too much from this laptop? I get better performance from my athlon desktop with a 2.4 Ghz CPU, approx 4 years old.
I ran the dell diagnostics tool and everything is good.
When check Memory usage its around 2.6GB of the 3GB

CPU usage is usually very low under 10% and the laptop is in High Performance mode and plugged in.

Even unzipping files using pea zip does not feel any faster than on my desktop.
Even Start > My Computer takes at least 5 seconds to open when I have other stuff open.

Can you tell me what is the bottle neck and why my laptop runs like crap?
Is it the memory? The 5400 rpm HDD? What would you recommend I upgrade first. I am on a tight budget though so SSDs would be out of my range.

 

It sounds like you are running out of RAM, so it is resorting to using virtual memory.

 

I uninstalled all the unnecessary Dell stuff, other than quickset and the webcam monitor program. Maybe your AV is slowing things down. I run a stripped down config of Avast 6 free and malwarebytes together.

Your hard drive speed is really only a factor when opening programs. Once they are running they are loaded into memory. An SSD would help with loading and boot times.

I would point the finger at 3gb of ram. Do you have one 2gb stick and one 1gb stick? If so, I would replace your 1gb stick with a 4gb. If that's still not enough, replace the 2gb with a 4gb as well. Or just pull the trigger and get 8gb all at once. Memory is so cheap right now, you could get 8gb (pair of 4gb) for around $50. Computer memory upgrades for Dell XPS L502X Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com can help you figure out what kind of ram to get. I usually buy stuff from newegg.

 

Thanks buch3r and Sgraffite.
buch3r, I never opened the back compartment of the laptop, so I have no idea of the memory configuration, but based on your and Sgraffite's feedback, it looks like the next step would be for me to invest in some RAM.

I actually uninstalled Mc Afee right after I got the laptop and installed microsoft security essentials.

I will look into upgrading the memory

 

Question: Does l502x support 8Gb modules sodimm ddr3 - 2x8Gb=16Gb ?

 

Pretty sure that 2x4gb is the most it can take, but I will double-check.

From crucial:
Memory Type: DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 PC3-12800, DDR3 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 8GB
Slots: 2
Each memory slot can hold DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 PC3-12800 with a maximum of 8GB Kit (4GBx2) per slot.*

 

It is 100% memory issue, with ram so cheap pick up 8GB from Crucial.

 

I see on Amazon the Corsair memory seems to be identical in specs to the Crucial brand, except a few dollars cheaper, any pros and cons in choosing one over the other?

 

Get 8GB of ram for $35-40 (doable in the US at least)

 

I just upgraded the wireless network card from the 1000 bgn to the Intel 6200 and the Wireless icon/light next to the power button blinks occasionally. I don't remember this happening before, is the card losing connection?

 

Definately caused by only having 3GB RAM, I have 4GB and use a CL10 16GB SDHC card for ReadyBoost and have no issues swapping between programs, as the cheapest option uou could upgrade the 1GB stick to 2GB, with 4GB RAM in dual channel will definately make a difference

 

thanks guys for the help, I have purchased this on Amazon Amazon.com: Corsair 8 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9: Electronics
Corsair 8 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9

Hopefully I will get it in around 2 weeks and I can test it out.

 

So, the 6200 seems to be working ok, but the wireless status light keeps flashing on and off at random, anyone else using this card with this laptop?

 

New wireless driver and Bluetooth driver available on support site!!

 

I need a gigantic favor from a XPS 15 user with Blue-Ray Combo (not writer)

I'm currently stuck without an OS, Neither Windows 7 nor Ubuntu/Fedora would install. The errors I get for each has no solution.

I really need the unpacked drivers from the "CD11_WIN.exe" file on the Dell Drivers website to possibly attempt to install Windows 7. Since I can't boot into my XPS 15, I can't extract the drivers with any other computer. Sadly, I don't know anyone with a XPS 15 with blueray combo.

Once you run the "CD11_WIN.exe", it should unpack in C:\dell\drivers etc. I would really appreciate it if someone could upload the unpacked driver in a zip file.

Drivers and Downloads

 

Smart move to go with 8gb instead of 4gb...

 

I've asked the same question and members here pretty convince it is able to take 2x8GB .. see http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/605129-question-about-8gb-ram-xps-15-a.html

 

Has anyone tried using the Dell XPS 15 L502x laptop with Windows 8? I am thinking about download it to try it, but want to make sure that all of the drivers work before accidentally screwing up my computer. Do I have to do a clean install, or can I do a quick-upgrade option that keeps all of my files and software?

 

See post 2321 by Risco in this thread a couple pages back.

 

May I know L502X is sata 2 or sata 3? I plan to change a ssd if it is only sata 2 then I'll buy sata 2 ssd to save some bucks

 

The primary HDD port is SATA 3, but the ODD and eSATA ports are SATA 2.

 

New Intel Network Drivers (WiFi) available on Dell website effective 19/Sep. Fixes apparently include wifi internet connection issue post sleep mode. Anybody checked if it is working?

 

Yes it works!

 

Hello. So I've had my xps since April, and it worked fine until two months ago. Wile play Star Craft 2 my xps suddenly froze. At first it was just that game, but them it started happening in all my other games.

After anywhere from a minute to thirty minutes the xps would freeze, and i would have to press the power button to turn it off. Or it would just blue screen.

Now I'm get a massage that says that the Nvidia card had a sync failure. I've contacted Dell, but the have been absolutely no help.

Has anyone had similar problems?

 

By the way my laptop is a Dell XPS L502x with an i5-2410m 2,30GHz and 6.00gb of RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 540m

 

do you have the exact error message? could be drivers..

 

I check online and i have all the recommended drivers installed here are two of the massages that i received

ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xC0000005)

this said it was some problem with my kernel memory

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0xFFFFF8880D589FF8, 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000001, 0xFFFFF8800F3A9046)

*** nvlddmkm sys-Addess FFFFF 8800F3A9046 base at FFFFF 8800F2900

this was another one that had to do with the nvidia card

 

Recently upgraded from a Studio XPS 1640 to the L502x (bargain from the outlet store) and very disapointed with the screen quality. Admittedly it is the lower end TFT rather than the 1080 LED I had on the 1640 but there is no black level as such, everything is light bleed. This results in a very very narrow viewing window. I have logged a ticket for Dell to check but they want pictures and its impossible to capture well on photo. Attempt attached!

I'd welcome views if you think this is normal for the lower end screen or am i asking too much? it was such a good price I'd rather not have to return it.

 

Hey Guys....just now I installed the latest version of CPUID (for monitoring temps)...as it supports the sandy bridge model too...but now I am unable to monitor nVIDIA GPU temps....like it just vanished from the laptop...
I reinstalled the exe and restarted the system too...but to no avail...did anyone face the same issue...any suggestions for better monitoring softwares...cause I found none...