Dell XPS15 R2 (L502) Thread

Found it now, thanks. It's interesting how this Creative software runs without a proprietary DSP unit (i.e. EMU10K1); apparently these algorithms are light enough to be handled by modern CPUs. OK... EOT

 

Delivery guy just dropped it off. Boy does this thing look way better in person.

 

if anyone received his XPS 15 with GT 525M, can this one please run a 3DMark 06 standard Benchmark, either in 1280x800 or 1280x1024? Many thanxxx!

 

I just checked my settings and the SoundBlaster X-fi is what made the difference for me. Once I enabled it I turned on "enable bass boost" and boosted it up 75% and the I put the EQ on "rock". It sounds great now.

 

Can any Canadians out there tell me how long it took to receive their XPS 15s after having it marked "shipped"?? Also, where are you located? Thanks!!! Can't wait to get this rig

 

Theres a decent equaliser in the waves settings, you just have to dig a little deeper through the menues.

 

I'm getting my xps 15 tomorrow! I'll run 3dmark 06, vantage, and 11.

Dell sent this as a replacement for my studio xps 1340. Here are the specs, I can't complain since its free!

Intel Core i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
4GB, DDR3, 1 DIMM
500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
15.6HD TLF WLED LCD
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 and Bluetooth 3.0
56 WHr 6-cell Battery
Backlit Keyboard

 

So I'm pretty set on getting a l502, np8130 is still on my radar, but the xps is looking nice. I have a question for you guys. $1500 is my max, including tax, shipping, etc, and I don't plan on putting any more money into this laptop in the future, at least for quite a while. There's two setups im thinking about, either get an i7 2720qm and stick with the internal optical drive, or go with an i5 2410m, and get a caddy with a small ssd, 80 gb or something, and get an external blu ray. Both set ups would have 6 gb ram, 640gb hdd, and 540m. what would you prefer? I'll do a tiny bit of gaming, but not much, that's what the 360's for. Would the ssd be such an improvement it would be worth having over going with the 2720qm? I know it's still up to me and my personal preference, but any input would be helpful, I'm so indecisive right now, reading up as much as I can haha

 

Your best deal is going with the $1299 option, then adding the i7 2720 for 30 bucks more. Get the ssd later as prices are about to drop on them due to sata III's being released. Use the factory 640GB and put it in a external usb 3.0 encolosure. You'll have your internal Blue-ray you can swap with a hdd later if you chose.

Make sure you get the FHD B+RGLED Screen. This is only included in the $1299 option. That's your best deal.

 

Just to clarify for others, the $1299 option only offers the FHD screen. FHD is available with all XPS 15 configurations.

 

Finally took the plunge and got a new laptop after my HP with a faulty nvidia card died on me (yet wasn't covered in that damn settlement.) Can't wait to get my XPS 15! HUGE upgrade over the piece of crap below.

 

Yeah, the 1299 is the one i configured with the i7, among a few other things. Getting the i7 right now and the ssd later would be the best and id do it if I could afford it but just the laptop will max me out. already have an external hdd

 

How's the performance of the 525m with that 1080p screen ?
GPU heat ?

Thanks

 

Be sure to use this coupon code at checkout
6B5L8RX93SG1FT

 

That's for the student/epp site, which I'm niether of, so it doesn't work. Plus, on the student site you can't configure the 1299 starting point, which saves you 220 automatically, so that plus the 70 off coupon makes it come out to about the same as the student disount plus the 100 off. Unless im being thick and doing something wrong

 

I'm really interested in how the 525m is going to perform... any tests and measurments (games, vidoes and heat while surfing/streaming video/gaming) would be appreciated
Your config says 15.6HD... thats the 720p screen right ? FHD=1080p ???

Much thanks and congrats !

 

You can go to dell.com/epp and select " If you don't have your member ID, click here to enter the store. " and then select XPS-Performance on the left side

 

Don't you need a member id to check out and get the discount?

 

no, just a random company name.

 

Really? Right on, that will help a lot. I'm guessing it wouldn't work if you ordered by phone though? I'm gonna call tomorrow and see if I can lower the price, if not, ill definitely go epp route.

 

They probably reserve the right to check if you are actually a member of the company, even if they don't usually do so.

 

I'll also do max heat (prime95+furmark), idle, and temps while playing bad company 2.

I should be getting the 720p LCD, guess I'll see if it's as bad as everyone claims it is. At least games can run native resolution and get better fps than the 1080p.

 

Hello everybody,

I received my laptop yesterday and I plugged it to a 22" Samsung B2230H external monitor, using 1920x1080 through HDMI. I have connected this external monitor previously using a VGA cable with my last laptop and it's amazingly good. But with this XPS15 connected through HDMI, the colours are very, very bad, and you can't practically read anything.

Have any of you had this problem?

Cheers!

EDIT: I have taken a screenshot of the external monitor and pasted it to Paint. I could see the text defects perfectly, and when I moved the mspaint windows to the XPS15 screen, the text is shown very clear. Maybe that helps. Gonna start with a format though.

 

its not bad really. just the 1080p is really nice so everyone makes it sound bad. You will be fine.

 

I provided no name, nothing at all and got the discount.

 

Online you do not need to provide a company name. If you call in then you do. AAA works as the company name. I called my order in and was able to get a free upgrade on the memory - you can haggle with them on the phone.

 

Well this isn't quite the same thing, but when I first plugged my old desktop into an HDTV via HDMI, text was very hard to read and the colors were all off. Though you're using an actual computer monitor, so I wouldn't think that would be an issue. Unless the monitor is configured to think that the HDMI port is TV-style content, so you may need to check on the monitor's settings. Something is obviously going wrong between the video card and the external monitor where the signal is screwed up or the monitor isn't interpreting it correctly.

 

Can you take a photo - with a phone or something - so we can see? Might help spot what kind of problem it is...

 

How long is it taking people in the UK to get their machines?

I ordered one a few days ago and finally just got the confirmation e-mail (my bank had originally blocked the payment *grrrrr*). The website said with the new processors, there would be a 20 day lead time, but the date quoted in the e-mail is the 10th May, some 48 days away!

So are people getting their laptops quicker than the estimated date, or is it really taking this long to get them?

 

Exactly, that was it. After touching the Samsung's panel configuration, I found out it had the AV-mode ON, so I switched it to PC mode and it automatically fixed the text and the color degradation.

Thank you very much!

 

I ordered 9/3 was told 10-15days, EDD is 31/3 my order status changed to "in production" a couple of days ago so I'm guessing it's on track for that. Haven't heard otherwise but I've learnt to take everything Dell says with a pinch of salt.

 

Hi.
I just got my new XPS with i7-2720 processor.
I wanted to try nvidia optimus tech, so I turned on the nvidia monitor from the nvidia control panel (under “view” menu, “display GPU activity icon in notification area”) and run ie. As expected, no application was listed in the gpu monitor for just browsing. Then I went to you tube to play the 1080p avatar trailer. Still nothing, I could not see the ie icon in the nvidia monitor.
I then went to the nvidia control panel again, under 3d settings and noticed that the auto-select option for internet explorer under program settings tab always has the integrated graphic as option. It says: auto-select: integrated graphic. Bottom line, it seems that for ie auto-select always uses integrated graphic.
If I force ie to use the nvidia gpu, I can then see the ie8 icon on the nvidia monitor when I run ie. But the point is that I expected it to switch automatically!
Could you guys please try this out and let me know if you actually see the gpu activating when you fire a large video within ie? My flash and ie versions are 10.1 and 8 respectively.
I still have the stock build, did not re-install w7 yet.
Thanks a lot,
Stefano.

 

I hope someone can help me out here, I am trying to play some games and the games do not recognize my Nvidia Graphics card only the Intel Video Card? Does anyone know why? I have the GeForce GT540M with 2GB.

 

I might have missed it, but I am sure someone can answer in 2 seconds. I have an express card slot in my Studio XPS 16 which I have a smart card reader installed in....same thing in my XPS 1330. Does the XPS 15 (Sandy Bridge) have an Express Card SLot or do I need to order an external USB Smart Card Reader?

 

XPS15 hasn't express card slot

 

Hi:

Would the XPS 15 R2 support the i7-2920XM? I mean, in the next years, if I get this processor on eBay for example, would I be able to install it to this laptop without problems?

 

I posted this in the owners' thread, but just in case anyone reading this knows.

 

My suggestion is to call dell. Something is toast.

 

i just got my xps 15 and everything seems good so far except the space bar. when i press the space bar it makes more noice then the other keys. The other keys are close to silent when i press them but the spacebar is about 2 to 3 times louder; like if one of the springs have been worn out or probably loose. Does anyone else have this problem.

aside from the space bar problem, i love this laptop. the sound is great and the screen is amazing. i'm coming from a DV6T quad core (which i have to return due to the Intel chipset problem). The XPS is a much better laptop then HP DV6T quad core in terms of build quality, sound and screen.

by the way, my specs are i7-2630qm, 6gb ram, 640gb 7200rpm, 1gb 525m (i rarely play games), 1080p display.

 

Thanks. Just got off the phone with dell. Motherboard failure. yay

 

Ordered on 3/18 and it shipped today. According to tracking I should receive it tomorrow 3/25. I chose the 7 day shipping and it is being shipped Fedex Home Delivery from Chicago.

 

Wow, 7 days from ordered to delivered would be incredible. I ordered mine last night. I hope I have the same luck.

 

Hey, has any system from the new XPS series ever been offered in any color other than silver? I know they offer those design studio...tattoos, I think they call them... Not interested in those, at least not for $85. But silver, while not ugly, just seems like such a "meh" color nowadays. I've heard it looks better in real life than in pictures, though. And I know I like the way the inside looks. Still, I would have preferred a darker external color. Oh, well.

 

If dell replaces the motherboard, I would have the tech check and keep an eye on the other devices. The bad thing about motherboard failures, is they are connected to all the devices in the computer, and any electrical spike/surge can damage other devices in the process. While he's replacing the motherboard, give him some decent paste to put on the cpu and gpu instead of the "less than stellar" factory paste. You can turn this bad thing into a good one!

 

Thanks stonetrap. I have no idea why my order is so much longer then.

 

I actually got a call today that my order placed on the 19th will be shipping this weekend, while the EDD was April 8th. Compared to my previous order which was placed on February 26th and hadn't shipped by March 19th despite an EDD of March 23rd

 

Ordered 3/18 also. No word from Dell yet re shipment. Curious: on the Fedex website, does it show a Dell reference number in addition to the Fedex tracking number? Is it the Dell order number? I've heard of some systems making it to the shipper before the Dell site updates....

 

The Fedex reference number is the order number on my tracking page.

 

Any info on how gameplay is on your configuration would be appreciated !!! Some temps would be great as well

 

i got mine yesterday, this thing is indeed fast. and screen is simply gorgeous