Dell XPS15 R2 (L502) Thread

Hi,

Just got my XPS 15.

I have to go out now.

Will explore in detail once i am back.

Let me know if you guys need me to test anything.

 

I can suggest this thread to test heat production.

 

I can vouch for LoJack's effectiveness in recovering the laptop in at least one case. It took the police working with the LoJack people only a few days to recover a laptop that had been stolen almost a week prior.

He had already order a replacement system and it took a bit longer to have the equipment returned, but if you live in a high-crime zone and like to know the thieves will be caught, then go for it!

First, there isn't necessarily an overheating problem. People here are just uncomfortable with the decisions Dell and Intel have made.

Second, quad-core if you are going to be doing anything with video editing or encoding, dual-core if it is much cheaper. In this case, the dual-core being faster is going to be more noticeable than almost anything else on the processor.

 

So sir you are suggesting to get the dual core ones? I have been thinking of getting this Laptop cause I wanted to do x264 encoding using MeGui and getting confused if I really want this or not because there's thread about this laptop that it has Temp issues. Enlighten me and sorry for my bad english.

 

cool video... looks really good. I have a vostro as well looking to upgrade soon to the 502.

I'm interested in how word, excel, various web pages etc look on that awesome 1080p screen ... at 100% dpi, 125% dpi. Viewing angles as well would be great.

 

Yeah, I will use it to encode videos, export a lot of RAW files, work with 3DS Max and make renderings...
With programs that use all the available CPUs I'll got advantages from the 4-core configuration.
I've made two quotes (price predictions?) with the XPS 17: the i5-2520 version, adding 9-cell battery, Centrino N6230 and 2-year warranty service comes to cost more (circa +49€) than the i7-2630QM version (again with 2-year service and the Centrino N6230, and the 9-cell battery is price-included; also a more capable 500GB HDD is included).
But because the i7 2630QM doesn't support AES and new Intel Vt-I/O technology (that the 2520 has) I hope I won't be disadvantaged buying a processor without these new instructions if they'll be necessary in the future.

 

No, it isn't a deal-breaker. Just a nice addition, considering the area I live in. The irony is apparent though .

 

Don't forget that you can upgrade the processor later on in the laptop's life, if that's something you feel comfortable doing.

 

If I were in your position, I would drop the 9 cell and the extra warranty, to pay for the i7 2720QM. That way you get your encoding done faster and you have the Intel VT support, just in case you might need it later down the road.

 

For me, the price difference was USD$300. Since I don't have a pressing need to encode video faster, the dual-core was the flat-out winner.

There are no temperature "issues" just yet. The new processors run faster than the old ones, but they also run hotter (but still within the allowable specification). This makes people uncomfortable because it is different than what they are used to.

Don't worry about the AES support. I don't believe there is any reason for you to care about it in a laptop.

As for VT-d support in running virtual machines, you have two things to consider. First, are you planning to run any virtual machines (VirtualBox, VMWare, etc.) where performance a concern? Second, VT-d provides up to about 10% better performance within the virtual machine, so will the difference in clock speeds alone make up for this?

 

What are people's opinions re: Dell warranty on this model? Are they worth getting? Waste of money?

 

With all these heating issues I hear what chill mat would u guys recommend?
Still waiting for mine, ordered on 9th but I see people getting theirs already.

 

I am doing a Blu-ray test right now to see if I can play Cars on Blu-ray with 50% brightness and %100 battery life and see if it plays the whole movie.

 

Next to all these advantages of the 2720QM over the 2630QM I expect the 2630QM to have a lower real world power consumption. I know they both share the same 45w TDP all i7m Sandy Bridge quads do, but that doenst mean real world power consumption is the same. Usually the slower processors in a product line use less power than their higher specced parts.

 

I'll check temps on my system when I get home to get us some dual-core numbers.

Just need to grab Prime95.

 

TrueCrypt uses AES support for hard drive encryption. Not a bad idea to encrypt your laptop hard drive given a laptops propensity to disappear/get stolen. It's not a deal breaker though because most things will still work without hardware support for AES, they'll just take a bit more cpu cycles it all.

 

Or were spec'd lower because they couldn't run at the higher speeds of their faster brethren within the heat and power limits specified.

 

If you want to do a serious test follow indications in this thread

 

Although my new sandy bridge quad seems to run hotter than I'm used to, it's actually not that bad. You can't feel it on the outside of the laptop, the cores are all within a couple degrees of each other and it's freakin fast.

I've been averaging in the ballpark of 7hrs. battery life with they system in my sig set to power save and general surfing and document work. Currently i'm encoding a dvd to wmv while simultaneously ripping another dvd to disk and surfing the internet. Core temps while doing this are in the high 70's and low 80's. Turbo Boost is bouncing between 2.8 and 2.9Ghz on all 4 cores.

For a laptop that encodes video faster than my desktop, I'm pretty happy. It's still not as fast as my dual quad xeon server, but that's not very portable either.

 

So, on a 56w battery at full charge and the screen at 50% brightness with wifi and bluetooth turned on and the backlit keyboard off I managed to watch the entire 2 hour movie (Cars) with 45 minutes remaining on the battery. I like this laptop!

 

Can some one please help me to flip the functions of F1, F2, F3 keys to volume increase decrease.

Please provide details step

 

Any temps for the i5's yet ?

 

That would be awesome

 

Thanks for the test !

 

is anyone having trouble with the optimus software (ie the gpu never turns on and you are stuck with the integrated graphics for everything)?

 

I ordered my laptop on 9th March and its still in production...anyone from PA, USA got their laptop?

 

As far as I remember from 1st gen Core i, this driver actually enables the system to use the Turbo Boost feature. The widget is just an addition, so you can see that working. Go for it

 

Ordered on 8th got today.
I am in MN

 

I promise this will be my last shot at getting feedback on this question: is there any Dell "bloatware" software that people would actually recommend not uninstalling? In particular I'm curious to hear people's opinions on the Dell Stage software. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

I was wondering the same thing.


Also, just for the hell of it I used CPUID Hardware Monitor to check the temps of the dell vostro I'm using right now. Been on it all day surfing for news and L502X info (of course) ... My CPU is a core 2 duo T5270 and both cores #0 and #1 are both hanging out at around 40 C ( 103 F)... this is after 6 + hours online.

Is it unrealistic to hope for similar temps with a i5-2410m , 525m/540m xps 15 ???

 

Ok, just have to say that having the cpuid hardware monitor is pretty sweet. And it only took like 1 minute to download and install. Nice.

 

FYI, just surfing the net with the 2720QM I get temps in the high 40's - low 50's. The high temps you are reading about are when the processor is at 100% load.

 

Haha - you'd have happy customers though!

When I accepted the email quote my reply said that I was accepting it on the basis that a BL keyboard wouldn't be available in the near future. May try pushing on that basis, when a BL keyboard with the keys in the right places are in peoples hands.

Shame they seem get small things wrong, given the things they do well. Like why can't they do a deal with the arctic silver people and use that, if that turns out to improve temperatures. Or apply whatever stuff they are using better in the first place, maybe. Give out detailed spec data for people who want it, even if not on the main product pages where the real people look. Oh and not spam me today with a mail saying that the 'sleek, reliable laptop i've been looking for' is a Latitude, rather than the XPS I just bought!

 

XPS 15 sandy bridge not available any more in Ireland!! !! It's not on the website. Dell rep confirmed.

 

Thanks guys, I'll consider your opinions... Probably it's better if I wait a moment and see the new ASUS/MSI to have clear ideas about what to proceed (I hope they will take down prices!)

 

^ Have a look at this: Amazon.com: ASUS N53SV-XE1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver Aluminum): Computer & Accessories

i7-2630QM, 540M, expandable to 16GB RAM for 899, there's also the same laptop but with the 1080p screen for $1050.

 

They seem to prefer using chewing gum instead of Artic Silver

Interesting route my laptop's taking to the UK - it went from China to Germany, now it's back in China again!!

Shanghai, China 17/03/2011 6:09 Departure Scan
Koeln, Germany 16/03/2011 22:11 Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance
Shanghai, China 16/03/2011 23:40 Export Scan
China 16/03/2011 11:24 Order Processed: Ready for UPS

 

Thanks acruxksa. Had me worried there for a bit.

 

For those who did the clean install did your boot up time increase? I enabled all cores 8 and the boot up was 30 seconds, is it okay to enable all cores for boot up???

 

Ordered mine today (configuration below) for $1577. Let me know if you think I should have ordered something different, paid too much, etc. I guess I'll sell my XPS 1645.

225-0675 1 XPS 15
317-6409 1 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
317-6415 1 8GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
331-1668 1 Backlit Internal Keyboard - English
320-1673 1 15.6FHD TLF B+RGLED LCD L501X
421-3874 1 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
421-3642 1 Basic Stage
320-2120 1 NVIDIA GeForce GT540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
342-2372 1 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
318-0490 1 Elemental Silver Aluminum (WLAN)
420-6576 1 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
420-9691 1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-6436 1 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
330-6222 1 Windows 7 Label
421-1737 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
421-0092 1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
420-9876 1 Cozi-Calendar
421-2086 1 eBay Webslice
421-0757 1 Skype VOIP Application
421-4118 1 WHITEPAGES.COM,Webslice
421-4289 1 Dell Support Center Software 3.0
318-0392 1 Windows Live Wave 4
331-1674 1 Resource DVD (L502X)
430-4038 1 Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
410-1883 1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
318-0151 1 Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
318-0434 1 Roxio Creator Starter, FI
421-4550 1 Power DVD 9.6, 3D
318-0431 1 Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2
430-4048 1 Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0
421-4736 1 Wireless Display Software
410-9452 1 McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI
312-1186 1 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
410-0487 1 Microsoft Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word and Excel with ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
939-4850 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Extended Year
939-4860 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
939-4890 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, 2 Year Extended
939-4870 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
950-3339 1 3 Year Limited Warranty
420-8878 1 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement
928-0892 1 Warranty Support, 2 Year Extended
933-0410 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
988-0099 1 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
927-2357 1 DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
421-4356 1 Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
430-3893 1 No Mobile Broadband L501X
461-2674 1 Special Offer - $25 off

 

Yes using boottimer.exe I went from 60 seconds to 35

 

so its okay to enable or 8 cores for boot up? I entered MSCONFIG in run and I enabled all 8 cores and my start up was around 30-35 seconds.

 

Mine is on default. I'm prettysure it doesn't matter.

 

Estimated Delivery Date 4/11/2011...... ugh!

 

In the UK it's available but no option for 6 cell battery, blu-ray and backlit keyboard. Total mess.

 

Hey guys!

just registered, this is my first post. I'd like to thank all of you for providing so much information and helping me make up my mind.

last night i ordered my XPS 15 with the specs below ( sorry for the swedish)
much the same as alot of other people, i hope i get it soon! =)

this morning i got an email from dell saying they were missing a part and couldn't process my order, seems they were all out of swedish Win7 copies, i got to change my order to a english copy, wich i prefer anyway. They said they were going to prioritize my order too =)




Base
Andra generationens processor i serien Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM, 2,2 GHZ. Upp till 3,3 GHz med Turbo Boost.
Minne
8 192 MB 1 333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM-minne med dubbla kanaler [2 x 4 096]
Tangentbord
Inbyggt tangentbord med stöd för flera språk, Norden
Grafikkort
2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M Grafik kort
Hårddisk
500 GB seriell ATA-hårddisk (7 200 v/min)
Operativsystem
Äkta Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - svenska
Optisk enhet
8x optisk DVD+/-RW-enhet
Trådlös anning
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000 (EUR)
Kablar
European 250V Power Cord
Leveransdokument
Swedish Documentation
Bundle
N02X5M05
Standardsupport
1 year Collect & Return Hardware Support included with your PC
Service och Support
1 års begränsad garanti - hämta/lämna-service
Integrated Mobile Broadband
Mobile Broadband Module - no SIM card included
Order Information
XPS L502x Order - Sweden
Primary Battery
6-cells primärt litiumjonbatteri, 56 wattimmar
Bärväskor
No Carrying Case
Dell System Media Kit
XPS L502x Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Färger, mönster och konstnärliga utformningar
Metalloid Aluminum Cover
Accidental Damage Support
Ingen olycksskadesupport
Online Backup
Säkerhetskopiering med DataSafe Online, 2GB – 1-årslicens
TV Tuner and Remote Control
TvTuner är ej inkluderad
LCD
15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) 1080p with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera
DataSafe
Datasafe Local 2.3 Basic
Microsoft-programvara
No productivity Software selected
Protect your new PC
Inget säkerhets- och antivirusskydd
Power Supply
130W AC Adaptor
Operating System Recovery Options
Återställningsmedia för operativsystemet Windows® ingår inte

 

I hope mine doesnt go the same route lol

Happy to see mine has now changed to Shipped status today! Can't wait!

 

Hi new member here. I seem to be the only one who actually ordered a dual-core i7. Here in Denmark the 2630QM is standard and the 2620M is around 120 dollars more. I chose the 2620M because I hope it will give me a longer battery life and I don't game that much or encode video.

 

Forgot to say I ordered on march 8th and got an e-mail yesterday saying that it will be delivered tomorrow friday the 18th. So 10 days from ordering to delivery. I'm pleased with that.

 

You can buy the 6 cell as an accessory though...