Dell XPS15 R2 (L502) Thread

I'm wondering same thing. Looking back, I think both are sata 3 ports. I'm wondering which location is closer to the cpu/gpu. Would prefer to put the mechanical drive further away from cpu (i'm guessing on the optical bay).

 

The optical drive is further away from the cpu/gpu and might be a little cooler than the hdd, although both have fully encapsulated surroundings to keep the heat away.

 

Ports 0 and 1 are both SATA III. I would assume that means the hdd and optical drive.

 

Both are SATA II I think, but the SATA interface for both is SATA III.

 

thanks for the replies NoSlow5oh!

 

Removed my faulty BluRay drive (easy - 1 black screw under the access plate on the rear). The drive is this one in the UK.

Hitachi CT30N

 

Ordered through EPP weekend deals and used $100 coupon. Also got Dell Streak add-on for $89.

1 225-0675 XPS 15
1 317-6408 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
1 317-6414 6GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
1 331-1668 Backlit Internal Keyboard - English
1 320-1673 15.6FHD TLF B+RGLED LCD L501X
1 421-3874 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
1 421-3642 Basic Stage
1 320-2118 NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
1 342-2372 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 318-0490 Elemental Silver Aluminum (WLAN)
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label
1 421-1737 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 420-9876 Cozi-Calendar
1 421-2086 eBay Webslice
1 421-0757 Skype VOIP Application
1 421-4118 WHITEPAGES.COM,Webslice
1 421-4289 Dell Support Center Software 3.0
1 318-0392 Windows Live Wave 4
1 331-1674 Resource DVD (L502X)
1 430-4038 Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
1 410-1883 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
1 318-0427 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
1 318-0434 Roxio Creator Starter, FI
1 318-0138 JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
1 430-4047 Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 and Bluetooth 3.0
1 421-4736 Wireless Display Software
1 410-9453 McAfee Platinum, 15 Month, MUI
1 312-1186 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
1 410-0487 Microsoft Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word and Excel with ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
1 939-4850 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Extended Year
1 939-4860 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
1 939-4880 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year Extended
1 939-4870 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
1 950-3338 2 Year Limited Warranty
1 420-8878 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement
1 925-4561 Warranty Support, 1 Year Extended
1 933-0410 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 988-0099 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
1 927-2357 DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
1 421-4356 Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
1 430-3893 No Mobile Broadband L501X

Order Subtotal: $1,049.49
Shipping and Handling Total: $47.00
Shipping Discount: -$47.00
Tax Total: $83.60
Total Amount: $1,133.09

 

Yep, couldn't turn down that deal. I upgraded to backlit keyboard 6320 Wireless and 8GB RAM (it's only 60 to upgrade and aftermarket 8GB would be approx $80).

I debated upgrading the CPU but I think the 2630 will be fine for development for my wife.

Looking forward to installing the G.Skill Phoenix Pro 120GB SSD I have waiting for this machine. Should be a scorcher.

My only real concern at this point is configuring the right DPI, etc on the 1080 screen to work for my wife, but I'm confident she's going to dig it.

 

I'm sure it already been addressed but.....

Does the i7-2630QM support optimus... are quads optimus friendly ???

I'm trying to decide between two configs... what do you think ?

The basic model: $954 (after $70 coupon code)
i5-2410m, 525m, 4gb ram, 500gb hd, 1yr warranty, 1080p, wireless-n 6230,
6 cell batt, BL KB.

or, for $30 more...

The Premium Weekend Sale: $984 (after $70 coupon code)
i7-2630QM, 525m, 6gb ram, 640gb hd, 2yr warranty, 1080p, wireless-n 6230,
6 cell batt, BL KB.

It sounds like performance and heat won't really be a concern with the i5 and i7 for me because I am far from a power user. Just looking for a nice new laptop to all the basic stuff on online pretty much.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

The new i7's do support Optimus. Only the Clarksfield i7's (previous generation with only 3 digits in the name) didn't. You'll get slightly lower battery life on the i7 quad core though, just due to the fact that it has more cores and a higher idle wattage... so you gotta decide between performance and battery life. (if you really need battery life, get the 9-Cell battery if you don't mind it sticking out the bottom)

I myself would take the second config, because you get a CPU upgrade, warranty upgrade, HDD upgrade, and RAM upgrade for only $30 more.

 

Just my $0.02:

I would go for the upgraded one with the i7-2630.
Yes, quads are optimus-friendly.

i5-2410 vs. i7-2630: There's so much more power in the i7 IMO... so even if you weren't to use the full potential, you could get stuff done much faster, but really depends on what you're doing I guess

And for $30 you're getting +2GB RAM, 2yr warranty, BLKB, +140GB HDD

Seems like a no-brainer to me to get the upgraded one...

But if you really don't think you'll need it, well... it's ONLY $30... lol


EDIT: Sorry for repeating what was said above... I didn't refresh for a while and didn't see... lol

 

Would this be noticeably better then the best i5?

 

I wasn't sure either .... I just double checked intels site the i7-2630QM is a quad.

Another question...

The whole B2 or B3 stepping thing...

If I were to somehow receive a B2 instead of a B3... are i7's effected more by the "bad" B2 rev than the i5's ???
Are only desktops effected ? (read that on one of these threads not sure what to think)
Are only computers with dual drives effected by it ? (again, read on one of these thread lol)

Not a big deal... was just curious what you guys think.

Thanks... again.

 

All SB CPUs ending with QM are quad cores.
If you are ordering a new gen XPS it is impossible for you to get a B2 as they are not used for them.
The only "bad" part of the B2s are the SATA ports, which have nothing to do with CPUs what so ever.
desktops and laptops were potentially affected.
only computers that used 3 or more SATA ports or ones that used SATA 3 were affected.

In short, don't worry about it.

 

Here's the one I was thinking of: i7 2620M

Intel® Core? i7-2620M Processor (4M Cache, 2.70 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR03F, SR041


I'm trying to decide between that and the i5 2410. Both are dual core, and the i7 is $264 more. I'd like some opinions, do you guys think the i7 is worth the extra money? I mostly surf net, some gaming, do school work, play music and videos. i7 just sounds cooler than i5 ...though 264 dollars is considerably more. Right now my total for the XPS I'm building is just a hair under 1000 which is a nice price at my spec.

What do you guys think?

 

The i7 has a faster speed, a larger L3 cache, and supports faster AES encryption (the i5-2510M has AES too). If you're going to get the i7, go for one of the higher starting prices, you'll get a lot more than just the i7 for the same increase in price.

 

Guys, I know that this maybe slightly (or very?) OT or findable via search, but:

DELL finally updated my order number tracking (on their website) to include correct information (instead of N/A) for the Bill To and Ship To fields.
Does that mean that there is a chance they will ship it out soon, or is it just a part of their processing process (it has been in production for few days now)?

Sorry for the seemingly stupid question, but my last computer crashed on me and I have nothing to use right now and a need a computer ASAP for school, thus the reason to ask this question here and now.

Thanks for bearing with me on this OT question. Sorry.

 

I am sorry in advance if this has been addressed already: When the configuration on sale is offered with 6GB RAM (Which is what I ordered) it comes with a 2GB + 4GB module. I am NOT going to pay Dell an extra $60 for 2GB more. My concern is whether or not I am benefiting from the RAM being Dual channel, Triple channel, or if I am stuck at Single channel since the modules do not match.

If I AM stuck with my RAM running in a single channel, how significant of a downer is that for my performance?

 

I am now dissapionted I didnt get the TV tuner. As it was explained to me by a couple reps it was only good for a coax connection and didnt have OTA HD reception. Now to find out that is not the case :/. Anything I can do at this point?

 

Is it worthwhile upgrading the i7-2630QM to i7-2720QM? Disregarding the higher clock speeds, the i7-2720QM has aes and vt-d. Vt-d imo is worthless in a laptop. (earlier in this thread some posts misequivocated the tech. vt-d != vt-d) Software supporting aes acceleration can be viewed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES_instruction_set
Is there any reason I ought to get aes acceleration? Any new apps or future needs I am not accounting for at the moment?

Occams_Cat or anyone else with Adobe CS5, I want to know whether the 525 or 540 gpu will render faster with gpu acceleration enabled versus software only rendered by the cpu.

In the Adobe Premiere Pro menu click Project>Project Settings>General. At the bottom of the general tab window see the Video Rendering and Playback section. Are you able to change renderer from software only to Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration? If you do not have this selection available you will need to manually enter in the gpu into adobes approved video card list. Instruction guides are found on google and youtube.

After you setup and enable gpu acceleration could you do any back to back tests of cpu vs gpu for example:
does live preview with several color filters and video streams render in realtime playback w/ gpu?
any speed increase encoding h264 720 or 1080p w/ gpu?

I just would like to confirm if the 525 or 540 gpu will actually offer increased performance when enabled with MPE.

 

Mine arrived home this morning! Although not happy after looking at Dell's website that the same config I bought now comes to £95 cheaper... it's been two weeks!

 

Micron C400 128 gb SSD available for sale @ $245 shipped:

MTFDDAC128MAM-1J1 Micron 2.5 inch 128GB RealSSD C400 SATA3 Solid State Drive(MLC) - SSD Solid State Drives - SuperBiiz.com

 

Does the XPS 15 include UFI or UEFI BIOSs?

or is that something that DELL is not implementing in their laptops as of yet?

 

I've had my XPS 15 for about a week now.
Overally, I'm pleased with the fit & finish of the machine. It's speedy as well.

I do have a couple of issues and I'm curious if anyone else has them too.

1. I cannot get a blu-ray movie to play using PowerDVD. The drive recognizes the blu-ray disc and I can read the contents in Windows Explorer.
I've made sure that the drivers on the machine are the most current. I've also tried downloading PowerDVD 10 Ultra (trial version) without success. I get an error message that says the disc contains an unsupported format.

2. I'm not impressed with download speeds using the 6230 wireless card. I have 10mb service at the house and Speedtest shows that I'm getting about 1/2 of that. My wife's Toshiba netbook does better. I made sure that the drivers are the current ones listed on Dell's site.

I apologize if this has already been discussed in this thread....it's a big one!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
config:
i7-7270qm
1080p LCD
6gig ram
blu-ray reader/DVD writer
~
Did not do a fresh install. Deleted most of the bloat via control panel. Replaced McAfee with Norton Internet Security.

 

The 6230 in a POS. My test was .010mbps. Installed a 6200, test ran 9.89mbps.

 

When did you place your order? I noticed you can't pick any kind of Blu-Ray drive at all now though...odd. Also noticed 6GB RAM is standard.

 

Hmmm, mines running at 1.2MB/s off the bat without any tweaking between 2 W7 machines through a N router and a cr@ppy powerline wireless homeplug repeater rated at 85Mbs. Should be a bit faster going directly though the router. Wireless - I find it's a black art at the best of times

 

Ive had no problems with the 6200 card or 6250 as a matter of fact. I installed the 6230 in my son's M11x, same issuses, SLOW. These slow speeds are recorded 2 feet from the router. I emailed [email protected] because I didnt want to send a 2 day old laptop back to Dell. Tech will be at my house to replace the card and palm rest. Im hoping it's not a bad batch.

 

This is one thing I really miss about Macs. Windows 7 actually makes it pretty hard to move your \Users directory to a drive other than the boot disk.

 

Could you guys with crap 6230 performance try the latest drivers on the Intel website? They should work fine.

 

I seem to have the same version as Dell website

 

Bummer. I upgraded to the 6230 because I was never impressed with the 1000's performance. At least I got Bluetooth...

What model hard drive did you guys with 500GB get?

 

Thats the drivers Im using. It's the card. Bluetooth works fine, WiFi, not so good.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but the driver of the Dell website seem newer than Intel

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...-N+6230&ProdId=3315&LineId=1784&FamilyId=1783 (Intel)

Drivers and Downloads (Dell)

 

Has anyone used this HDD? I have it in my Studio 16 (1645) and it works great. I assume it will work fine with the XPS 15 R2?

Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 32 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Solid State Hybrid Drive ST95005620AS

Says it is designed for any SATA standard laptop PC so I assume it will work fine?

 

Are you guys using the 5ghz channel??? I get HORRIBLE speeds on the 2ghz channel but the 5ghz channel gets great speeds after I set the security on my router to WPA2 personal for the 5ghz channel (I left the 2ghz channel set to mixed security). I just got 30mbps down and 11mbps up in my bedroom about 20 feet from the router through some walls and a fireplace.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1213328971.png

 

I am wondering this too.

 

Do you have a lot of neighbors using the 2.4 GHz channel? It's possible that this card is particularly susceptible to interference on that channel.

 

I've had this same issue with my Xbox and using the N over wireless. If I used the N over 2ghz band the throughput was God awful. If I used the 5Ghz N band the throughput was great! I think you might be experiencing the same issues. Worst part is that I purchased the Xbox with builtin wireless. Only problem is that it only supports the 2ghz band! Crazy MS people.

I haven't tested my 5ghz N band yet. I'll test that tonight when I get home. I'm curious now to see the throughput. Just be aware that the 5ghz band can't transmit as far as the 2ghz band. (unless of course you already knew that)

 

It's not only neighbors but other devices in your home as well. A lot of 1-3 year old cordless phones run off the 2.4GHz spectrum. Working for an ISP, I can't tell you how many times customers would complain of internet or phone problems when using both. It's becuase they were on the same channel and frequency so close to each other, the interference was bad. Luckily, I've never ran a cordless phone off the 2.4GHz band. I chose 5.8 a couple of years ago, and I just bought a DECT 6.0 1.9GHz set to replace it seeing as I didn't want anything close to my 5GHz band. It may be possible in an apartment complex when running on the same channel to get a decent amount of interference. Almost all 2.4GHz routers default to channel 6 that I know of. I own my house, but I can still see about 10 wireless connections from the surrounding houses. I personally have never had interference issues with my 2.4GHz band, but I know a lot of customers who have, and most of the times it was becuase of the reasons I explained above.

 

I do, but I have used inSSIDer 2.0 to check all their channels and have switched my channel to channel 11 which none of them are using.

 

So what have in production > ship dates generally been so far? I've ordered, now I want it! I'd expect with the slick deal effect they got a lot of orders this weekend.

 

Hi

I just received my dell Xps15. Specs: I7 2630QM, 4GB, 500GB HDD, FHD,...
I had a question about the left palmrest. Is it normal that it's constantly vibrating? My hand gets half paralysed by that vibration..lol. It's really ennoying. Does anyone has the same problem? I think it's the HDD that lays there...
But my other laptop (sony vaio FE21) had absolutely no vibration from his part.

Now at this moment, with only one internetpage open, the temperature of the cores is around 60 degrees... Hmm...?

 

I have the same kind of DECT cordless phone that you have. Also, just to make sure I totally unplugged the phone as it was right next to the router. The problem still persists on my 2ghz channel though.

 

Yup, no worries It's a standard SATA drive and all that SSH part is irrelevant.

 

Yes, that's where the hard drive sits. You can see it clearly here Documentation

My advice would be get a SSD Problem Solved.

 

Does anybody know the difference in battery life between i5-2410m and i7-2630qm?

Will there be a significant difference when surfing the internet and listening to music etc?

Planning to get the 6-cell battery since I don't like that big 9-cell but I still would like to get at least 3+ hours of battery life. Would that be possible?

 

This is hilarious. I have just been looking online obsessing over my wireless options for the L502 !... I log back on here and the n6230 is catching hell lol
I'm totally confused.

My question(s) about wireless. (this IS ultimately related to a shiny new L502X... eventually lol)

The best wireless plan that I qualify for with my current ISP provides for:

Downstream Speed: Up to 1.5 Mbps
Upstream Speed: Up to 384 Kbps
IP Address: 1 Dynamic

Question:
I have no idea how bad that is. I have definitely seen higher transfer rates. Is this super slow ?

Question:
Considering the limitations of my ISP plan, will I be able to tell the difference if I have better spec'd laptop wireless n card and wireless n modem/router ???

(the better wireless card being either the n1030 or n6230 option in the L502 along with a good, either single or dual channel wireless n modem/router depending on which card I opt to get)

Example:
My current laptops (a vostro 1400) wireless card: Wireless 1395 802.11b/g PCI Express Mini Card
My current router: 2Wire 2701hg-b.

Current wireless transfer speeds (via testmy.net) 1MB and 6MB download test avgs:
Download: 994 Kbps (124 kB/s)
Upload: 279 Kbps (35 kB/s)

Question:
What do you think ? Will the L502X and a wireless n modem/router give me some better numbers ?

Thanks for all the great info on here !!!