Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

Thanks and great scores you have there, i think you are very close or maybe better than m17x or asus w90 owners.

 

bpat,

replacement systems arent eligible. only new system with a new licence for windows are eligible. Joy of joys. AND i missed out on the £50 pre order.

 

@ hikkoo,

Do the hyper X really make a difference? They're £48 for 2x2gb CL4 here. so i went for some basic kensington stuff at £31 for 2x2gb CL5. But can always whack that on ebay if the hyper will give a worth while performance increase!

 

Nope. I was wrong. No Win7 for us on the M1730.

I don't think it's related to just the order date.

Technically, a system replacement--brand new--will have its own COA. Keep in mind, it has be stamped onto the bottom of the machine.

Anyway, the problem is with the model number. XPS M1730 is not listed when you try to apply online, because the supported models are 1330, and 1530. I think it is discrimination, but on grounds of Dell confidence with Windows 7, which is current an unsupported OS on the M1730 laptops.

And Bpat, don't worry about the 9800m GTX results on Notebookcheck.net. That's the -last- info. to rely on given that the test was done on a superior CPU. Besides, Notebookcheck, while good, is far from gospel, ditto for 3dMark06. 9800m GTX is stronger.

 

I have problem with setting maximum CPU speed. I installed RMClock, maximum performance mode is choosen with maximum settings:

But CPU's speed doesn't changes:

I changed a lot of options but no result.

 

Very nice scores bud!

 

How's the 190.40 driver working for those who installed it? I installed it yesterday and have had 2 blue screen reboots so far playing CODWaW.
Both times times is happened about 15min after game play.

 

@Gadget:

So far, no issues with 190.40. Then again, no gaming.

 

I tried

- nothing.
Notebook Hardware Control 2.0 - when I change profile to "Max. performance" - error (RMClock switched off):

Also there's no difference when I choose "High performance", "RMClock power management" or "Dell recommended" (and change options in RMClock):

 

Okay. I got my machine just now.

I got a new backpack, and some other accessories.

Meh. I guess you were right, BatBoy.

However, the new laptop doesn't have the Blu-Ray RW drive, and it doesn't have bluetooth. I have contacted them with the problem.

 

Let us know how it looks/performs Kade. Does it have that nice bright orange lookin Refurb sticker on the bottom

 

I have 2x 2gb sticks that i'm going to sell when my replacement 1730 arrives if you are interested, I live in Kent so it's not a problem sending them to you.

Regarding my replacement, I got a phone call today and the guy said it will be delivered before the 13th. Fingers crossed all will be good with the replacement.

 

I used this app some months back and it worked pretty good. I see they updated to a final version. May be of use:
http://www.driverheaven.net/nvmodtool.php

 

BatBoy,
The machine's actually spankin' new. Really fresh and new. This'll sound mighty odd, but even the parts inside have that new smell about 'em. And yeah, they're all fresh and new - not a single refurbished sticker.

I've also been given two more years of NBD support warranty, meaning I now have four years worth of support up until summer of 2013.

Plus, I got the new XPS bag, now I have 2 m1730 bags and 1 M1710 bag, which I keep for sentimental reasons.

I've also been given a Dell wireless booster and another d-link USB device.

All of these things are apparently brand new.

My only objection:

No Blu-Ray Writer. I am tempted to get the one out of my old machine and plug it into the new one.

As for the bluetooth - well, it was added by my friend, so I simply took it out of the old machine and plugged it up into the replacement unit. Ditto for the internal cellular device, seeing as the new and improved Dell version that was sent to me is external, and requires the external pci-slot, and looks really f'ugly.

 

Its here! It's brilliant! The backlit keyboard is brilliant! The build quality is superb! The gamer panel is brilliant, tho i cant turn off the fps on screen in fraps... which is annoying.. I only want it on the game panel!

I know it'll die at some point on me, but so far, loving my m1730!

 

have you run 3d mark yet ive got same setup just curious

 

if you go to the fps tab on fraps and disable screen overlay it will only display on logitech lcd

 

cheers clax!

Spent the whole night updating the thing with drivers! Will run benchmarks tho, eager to see what i can hit now!

 

The replacement laptop is working fine, and that faint, somewhat static noise that I've been hearing from each replacement GPU whenever the frame-rate increases is completely absent. This was also the case when my old machine was still running on its original GPU.

Yeah, it seems to be doing well. I'll just wait for customer service to fix up the Blu-Ray writer mistake and things should be good.

To Gadget Boi:
Seeing as I have COD World at War, I decided to give it a try with the new drivers. I have to say that it's working fine with about 5-10 FPS gain under the new drivers. Keep in mind that I have not updated my copy with the new patches - still at 1.0 - and I use single-gpu configuration. If you'd like, I can also do the test in SLi, but do let me know. FYI: I ran the game on my old laptop for a good two hours, seeing as it is a good game - no problems to report. Sorry.

 

Great news Kade Storm, enjoy youre new Beast

 

OMG, is this thing powered by majick?! The fans are so quiet, and at full load on L4D at 1920x1200 everything on high, the GPU didnt even raise in temperature!!

Can anyone recommend a temp program so i can monitor? just cant believe how cool they feel after that!

 

i use everest and hwmonitor

 

I run three programs... Speedfan(with all fan controls turned OFF), HWMonitor, and an LCD app(I'll post it up later since I'm not at my M1730) that among other things reads Speedfan ratings and displays them on the LCD... I can monitor my GPU temps in real time, and the values are identical to the ones on HWMonitor.

 

@Kade: Excellent! Personally, I would yank that Blu-Ray and send the other back with the drive they sent you.

@Evil: Nice its working out! HWMonitor is all I use. Its a low mem app and wont impact anything while making calls to the sensors.

Now if Chief and Bpat find some resolution we should be good...

 

Thx Batboy, i also asked the rep for the M17x, or the M1730(same specs) but for compensation after all the phonecalls and mailings etc...with the 9800gtx sli.
He didn't know if it was possible, but he's says i only hope you never call us back again yes of course we want lol, after you can give me a good working system without any failures.
He also sayed that there was only a small percentage of m1730 owners worldwide with problems (maybe only the people here from this owners lounge ? )

 

Man, I feel bad saying that I had zero problems on my beast and I had it for 1 1/2 years so far, I hope I don't jinx myself. But guys good luck getting your nightmare issues resolved.

Batboy, congrats on the M17x you are getting as a replacement!!!.

 

Yeah but do you play with SLI on at least 4-6 hours daily? I push the beast quite consistently, so I'm never really surprised when things start to fail.

 

What they want us to believe... Sometimes I feel as if Dell XPS Reps don't have a clue that only an 'Enthusiast' would purchase the M1730. It's only a given that we tend to understand out systems more than most and can easily recognize when something is amiss...


@jesse: Thanks dude.

 

Not daily, but sometimes I have played up to 6 hours straight and this is 4 to 6 days out of the week.

 

Batboy you previously offered help with getting another graphics driver to work on my system and I guess it's about time I take you up on it.

I get 11531 3dMark06

The driver is 179.24 I believe this is the stock driver that it ships with and no other driver has been as reliable.

Like other m1730 owners I experienced some problems running other graphics drivers with terribly slow right clicks, poor performance, game crashes, etc.

I don't want to play around with the registry. I just want something that works, if it reduces temps or increases performance then I'm happy.

Most of the time I have SLI turned off due to the drop in temps that I get.

One other question.... while I remember. Do all Nvidia CP's require you to restart your computer to enable/disable SLI?

 

Jesse. i too hit the gaming 4-5 days a week and can easily be on there between 2-4 hours. Those L4D session can get addictive! I'm fully expecting this to break down within 3 years, but i'm not worried. if i built a rig and it did that, i'd have to pay for new hardware. At least with a dell under warranty, you just get things replaced.

Besides, i dont want this replaced at any time! its gorgeous!! And think i've worked out why it turned itself on automatically over night.. bloomin windows updates..

 

@bloodroses, have you download the new bios anf drivers for the gpu from dells support site. I had to burn the bios to a disk to install it on the cards. And the new 186 drivers just installed nicely. Can now disable and enable sli at will with no reboot.

 

Batboy, congrats on your new system! I was just looking at the specs, that's amazing. Hopefully when this laptop fails during it's next 4 years I'll get a huge upgrade like that.

So far I haven't had great luck with dell systems living through their warranty periods.

 

I think someone reported higher temps with the new bios in a previous post.

The last time I saw a dell driver posted it was a beta version I believe.

 

@Evil, give this one a shot (190.40) details in my post here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5159473&postcount=1716

 

Cheers batboy! you're a legend as always! I seem to be reading good things about the 190 drivers! Guess i'm just nervous as its a new system! but will give them a whirl!

 

Yeah, with that one, I didn't even have to use a modded INF if memory serves. That driver really rocks.

 

do i hagve to do the whole uninstall, boot in safe, ccleaner, driversweeper etc, etc stuff? Never had to do all that before! But then maybe i've never been doing it right before!

 

I would. It just ensures everything is installed cleanly. There is opinion out there that with the current drivers it is not necessary, but I tell you what - uninstall normally via CP and then install new driver and then restart. then use a tool like ccleaner to scan the registry - see if anything pops up... uusally a few left overs will be there.

Now if you are on XP - that's another story completely. You'll need to sync up with a XP user here. XP is really picky about how you do a clean install.

 

Has anyone else had problems with the 190.40 drivers other than Gadgetboi?

 

btw, has anyone ever had a GPU or CPU fan fail on them? i OC-ed my CPU to 3.2GHz in the bios but i have RMClock set to not go higher than 3.0GHz, just to get the fans to stay on all the time. GPU/CPU idle temps plummeted of course. this is perfectly safe to do in the long-term?

EDIT: Especially seeing as how my system is on all the time?

 

Thanks Kade, I am in good shape I get 50-91fps consistently with Sli. I ended up lowering my video card OClk settings and now everything is running pretty good.

 

It looks like the 190.40 version doesn't handle the OClking as good as the 186.24 version. Once I lowered my CC and MC, I haven't had any blue screens. I will keep testing/tweaking to see if I can work it out.

 

BatBoy,
I was thinking along those very lines. BUT. . . it's the warranty that concerns me. I want them to rectify the warranty on my new service tag, which only covers an 8xDVD-RW. What do you propose?

EDIT: I just got a call from customer care, was kindly put through by my technical agent, so good move on their part. They've confirmed the parts and the software. I'll be receiving my Blu-Ray RW drive.

Also, it makes for an amazing tale. You managed to get an M1730 after a failed M1710, which alone is a big thing, then you get an M17x after a failed M1730. You do have mind-control pegged down! Hey not to mention, you've got one of them 'legend' stories going - two generation upgrades through warranty. In three years, you've managed to execute some very unbelievable negotiations with Dell.

Hikkoo,
I do have the s-video slot, and so does the old laptop. Why yours wouldn't is a puzzle to me. Perhaps they don't have those with the 9800m GTX? And you're right about the new smell. Although I am very O.C.D. about new machines. I hate new because then you only get to watch it get ruined over time. I don't even want to install stuff on the new computer because then the HDD performance will slowly go on the decline. Although it is nice to see Dell offer up something genuinely new.

Bpat,
Don't let their funny talk and doubts change your stance. Take on BatBoy's approach and let this be 'their problem' rather than 'your problem'. It's their protocol, and they can at least bend the protocol enough to meet your needs. All this stuff about how many laptops works and how many don't is pure hearsay, on their part, and on our part. They can be bluffing, and we can be exegerrating facts, but there is no documented proof as to how many M1730s are functional and how many aren't. If I was to take this forum as a sample, which is quite a decent number of members, I'd get more than 70% problems. But. . . hey, it is still not a legit study, just a collection of user experiences that can't account for every single M1730 owner.

Point being that you should continue the fight, and tell 'em to compensate you in every way possible. If this next system fails, demand an M17x. Hell, if they can't compensate you enough now, then once again, demand! Let them work out the kinks in their plan, protocol, and strategy. There's nothing literally stopping 'em from pleasing the customer/consumer - protocol is nothing more than an easy branch of excuses for them to ward off certain customers that might be easy to manipulate.

Gadget Boi,
No prob, mate. I guess you got your problem sorted. I'll take heed of your observation about overclocking with the new drivers.

 

Good advice, dude.

And lawl@compensation!

 

wow, did they forget to put that in?

 

Question: What are the advantages of an m1730 over a studio 17 besides the graphics card?
-- Is it a better build quality?
-- Does the graphics card help with things like watching movies compared to the lesser one that comes with the studio 17?
-- I rarely play games and have the option between a studio 17 and m1730 price doesnt matter
-- I like the better specs on the m1730 but i just dont like the look.
Thanks

Lets assume that both systems are maxed out

 

just did the 190.40 upgrade. did it wrong to begin with had had "generic" there! retired and its fine now! PHEW!

@knlmwq - the M1730 is a premium gaming machine and nothing like an inspiron! The build quality is superb. The graphics cards are TOTAL overkill for merely watching movies!

If i were you, get that new 17.4" thing dell are doing with a basic graphics card. midrange will play games merely ok, but fine for most. M1730 is for people who want 1920x1200 full screen, ultra high with nothing less than 30fps!!! Why pay £2000 for something that you'll only watch movies on! madness sir, madness!

 

Perhaps. Although people seem to be utlising the DVI-port more often, so why put two when they can stick with one? I like 'em both.

 

I am receiving a m1730 as a replacement (t9500, 500gb, nvidea 8700 dual sli, 4gb ram. So price isnt an issue. I was told that i can get a studio 17 if i wanted instead. Im not sure what the specs on the studio 17 would be but i definetly want the 1920*1200 as i had that on my last laptop. I like the fact that the studio has a hdmi port and looks better. Would i be crazy to turn down the m1730 for a studio? I did try to play tombraider underworld on my e1705 witha nvidea 7900 gs and it couldnt handle it. Would the 8700 duel and/or the studios graphics card be able to handle it?

I was told that the studio 17 would have 1920*1200 so they are even in that regard