Dell XPS15 R2 (L502) Thread

If I don't go for the recovery disc, would it mean that I would need to create my own, to make any sort of restore, or does the laptop come with the OS disc and I can freely do a fresh reinstall at anytime?

 

It won't come with a win 7 installation disk if you don't order it. Dell creates a recovery partition on the hard drive and you can make a recovery disk from that. I always buy the recovery disk, and then when my product arrives, call them up and tell them I wanted all the disks for every piece of software factory installed. They will ship them next day for free. I do this because I always either do just a fresh install or swap the hard drive for an ssd and then a fresh install, both being without all the bloatware dell installs automatically.

 

For me a Blu-ray writer was a must. Blu-ray is clearly going to be standard in a couple of years. I would personally bypass the color lid and go for the Blu-ray writer. I would also think about upgrading the wireless card.

 

what does a blu-ray write actually do? And will upgrading the Wireless card make a difference in speed?

 

A Blu-Ray writer (burner) will... let you make Blu-Ray disks with your stuff on it. But unless you're planning on using them heavily for backup or you're making movies, a DVD burner is just fine.

For wireless N networks, the card actually does make a difference. More antennas means more simultaneous communication channels, means more can be sent and received simultaneously. Although the internet connection is more likely to slow you down than the wireless card, so it might not be worth the upgrade unless you want to watch video on another computer on the network or to transfer large files across the network.

 

Thanks for the response. I went ahead and purchased the Dell XPS 15 the $1299 model with a few upgraded specs with i7-2720QM Processor, 640GB HDD, 540Mw/2GB Graphics Card, 1080p screen, blu-ray, backlit keyboard, and the 9-cell battery and the rest standard. all for $1409.99 before taxes, I thought Dell did not charge Tax???

 

Computer purchases are too big for states to ignore, so Dell's been charging sales tax for years. Amazon and some other online retailers, who more typically deal with smaller items, have been able to get away with it. Though it could be that your state was added more recently.

 

Couple of questions guys and gals.

1. Does this laptop have CPU whine?
2. When is it available in the UK
3. How good quality is the stock display, viewing angles are important.
4. What is the battery life like? Enough to watch a full 2 hour movie?
5. Any idea of cost in the UK?
6. Does it have backlit keyboard in the UK?

 

All good questions, but since nobody actually has one in their hands yet, they're a bit tough to answer.

 

Oh right, I just saw a massive thread and thought everyone had one!

 

It should be available in the UK now, as Dell offers the same stuff all over the EU, and its available in Germany.

 

So when are they expected to Ship?, I ordered Mine Yesterday on Friday. I really hope they ship fast so i can test it out. If any of you guys get it early you should Post some Dell pics here

 

Still have "Pre Production" in the order status in My Account...and I ordered the first day it was available. Anyone get further along than me yet?

 

No, unfortunately for us, it's only become available in Germany.

 

Mine moverd from "Order Processing" to "In-Production" in less than 2 hours after placing the order. I ordered it on 2/24. My EDD is 3/21. I am in the US.

 

Same here.

 

Here is the info of my order:

Order was placed on: 02/23/2011
Estimated Shipping Date: 03/01/2011

It's in Production now and I am not sure if it will be shipped out on 03/01/2011 or not as it's the date I got from Dell's order confirmation email. No status under my Dell account yet.

Sean

 

What country are you in? I ordered mine at 9 am on 2/22/2011, the morning of the release here in the U.S. and my estimated shipping date is 3/15/2011.

 

Does the Soundblaster X-Fi option add more speakers/subwoofers compared to the Waves Audio?

 

How's this configuration? anything I'm missing?

-2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz
-NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
-6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
-640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
-15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) and Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam & Facial Recognition
-Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
-Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0
-56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
-Backlit Keyboard

also can someone explain what's the difference between i7-2620M and i7-2720QM? how come the 2620QM is 2.70 GHz and turbo boost up to 3.40 and it's $30 cheaper than the 2720QM with 2.20 and turbo boost up to 3.30? I really don't understand why it says the 2720QM for smart performance? I just want someone to explain all this for me, thanks.

 

The 2720QM is a quad core with 8 threads, the 2620M is a dual core with 4 threads.

 

Ok thanks, I didn't know there was i7 dual cores? I thought all i7's were quad??

 

On the mobile side there are a number of i7 dual cores. Looking back at the first round of processors and this one, it looks like the dividing line for the mobile processors is the L3 cache: >= 4 MB is an i7, less is an i5. And on the desktop, the dividing line is the number of threads (e.g. quad-core has 4, with hyper-threading has 8): >4 threads is an i7, 4 or less is an i5.

 

What are peoples's thoughts on the nVidia GT 540M in these machines?

I'm thinking that if the new HP DV6 that is supposed to be available today does not offer a 1080p display I will hold out as long as possible to see if Dell offers a coupon on the XPS 15 because I have a $500 coupon I can use on the new DV6.

My concern with the XPS is that the ATI 6770m 1gb card in the new DV6 has faster specs and uses DDR5.

I'd like to have a 1080p display and the faster video card so I'm crossing my fingers that the DV6 will have both.

 

I am here in US too. The system was ordered for me by a guy from Dell Executive Customer Support Team. He placed the order on 2/23/2011 and it took him two more days to get the confirmation. I know the 03/01 shipping date is kind fishy, but it's the date on the confirmation email I got. I am really happy to get a new XPS 15 R2 as the replacement for my dead Studio 1537 and I do not mind wait a little longer.

Sean

 

Well I'm thinking about getting the L502 laptop. Coming from a Macbook Pro, I can't justify spending almost $1000 more for a new similarly specced Macbook Pro.

I customized an XPS 15 with i7 2720, 1080p, 4GB ram, 500 @7200 HD, and nvidia 525 for just $1249.

I will upgrade the RAM to 8GB after because I can get a kit for around 80 bucks.

I'm undecided on the video card though. The ONLY game I play once in a while is Starcraft 2, and even my current Macbook Pro with a 9600GT plays it fine. So I'm thinking the 525 will be good enough. WIll the 525 suffice for 1080p movies and streaming?

I'm 95% sure the 525 is fine...but wanted to make sure.

 

Even the HD 3000 is more than enough for 1080p...the 525M is almost as fast as a HD5650.

I suppose your Macbook Pro had a 9600M GT or a 320M, the 525M will be much much faster.

 

so what games can i play with the specs i ordered for my dell xps 15???
i7-2720QM Processor, 640GB HDD, 540Mw/2GB Graphics Card, 1080p screen

 

I would think any game you want. Just on some of the games you might have to dial the settings back a little bit to get it to run as smooth as you want.

 

Anyone know what difference the extra 1Gb of Memory the GT 540m has? (Most laptops with the 540m have only 1Gb as opposed to Dell's 2)

 

Due to the mediocre performance of the GT 540M, you probably won't notice a difference at all. Most notebook gpu's can't fully utilize 1GB as it is.

 

Is Facial Recognition worth to get for $20? does anyone have facial recognition on their laptop? how is it??

 

Many people on this forum have said that its just a software and you can install it afterwards, so no.

And I have the software on my Studio XPS 1645 and it works half the time, and sometimes it just doesn't. i guess because of lighting, angles, ect. But i heard that the new XPS systems have a newer version which is supposed to work better. So i cant comment on that. Sorry.

That's about all i can say about it. Hope that helped a bit.

 

Yes you did help, thanks!

 

The facial recognition software is something I liked on the xps I had just before I returned it. I did buy it on the new one ordered, although I don't think you have to buy it because I asked for the cd's after my purchase and they sent me the cd for it on the xps I didn't order it on. I like it honestly. It will take some time to recognize your face, especially under different lighting conditions. After only owning the laptop for two weeks, I pretty much had no problems with it detecting my face immediately and going straight to my desktop, which is quicker than entering in your password.

 

Does anyone know what the battery life is on the new XPS 15?

 

Hmmm...L502X still not available in the UK :-( Bet Blu-ray writer won't be an option or backlit keyboard for that matter :-(

 

Click here

according to AT it gets very good battery life and if we get the 9cell then our results should be better than his. 6 cell would get slightly worse.

 

By installing it afterwards, do you mean it comes on all driver CDs shipped with the XPS, even if you didn't select it?

Or possibly the installation is there but you'll need a serial that's only available if you ordered it?

 

The test system AT used was a 17" laptop with the associated 17" LCD as well. The end result is that everyone is expecting great battery life from these new laptops and their Sandy Bridge processors.

Only question in my mind is whether Dell can deliver. We won't know that until they actually begin shipping..........fingers crossed.

 

Well basically all the computers with sandy brige should have the same components so it should perform the same with regards to battery life as long as the switching graphics applies to all computers made. Of course i believe in the 3d 17inch dell ppl are saying there is no switching graphics i could be wrong i just briefly skimmed the thread.

 

If you order it with your laptop, then you won't have to do anything, its all ready to go from the 1st use. And what i said is based solely what i have read here on the forum, my laptop has it from the factory. You can install it afterwards by downloading it from their site (the facial recognition software's own site, not Dell), you can check prices here. But have a look at what NoSlow5oh has said.

 

Im no expert and i haven't been reading the thread about it as im intersted in the XPS 15, not 17. But the reason there is no switchable graphics in the new XPS 17 w/SB is because of the 3D screen. The 3D bit uses the GPU all the time, even when you are not watching something in 3D. That is the main reason why people hate the 3D screen.

If Dell were to offer a non-3D 1080p option, then they would be able to use Optimus technology, but until that happens, there is no Optimus on the XPS 17 w/SB+3D

 

If you ordered it from the factory it only makes sense it came preinstalled. Maybe someone who fiddled with it can tell if you can simply install it from the supplied disc without ordering.

What you might be able to answer however is whether the version you bought has the EcoAware / PowerSmart feature (the one that changes power plans based on if it sees your face or not).

 

Did you look into the security of it? That is, if I held a picture of you in front of your laptop, would it unlock the computer?

That actually sounds useful. I didn't request the feature because I thought it wasn't going to be worth it. I guess I'll look into it as an aftermarket add on.

 

I've looked it up already, wondering about that myself. Have a look:

FastAccess FAQ - Can someone break into my account using a photograph of me?
FastAccess FAQ - Under what conditions COULD someone use a photograph of me to gain access to my account?

You can buy the basic FastAccess, or a bundle that includes EcoAware through Dell:

FastAccess Facial Recognition Software : Software & Downloads | Dell

FastAccess and EcoAware Software Bundle : Software & Downloads | Dell

Or simply through the original maker of this software, SensibleVision:

https://stats.sensiblevision.com/us1/fa/

(FastAccess Pro is the same as the Dell bundle, apparently.)

You're welcome

 

Well my laptop is a year old and has the old version. And in the start menu it is only FastAccess, no Pro or EcoAware. Maybe someone else on this thread, who has who has an XPS 15 can help you out more. Sorry.

 

Thanks for trying. There might be a way for you to check on that though -

"If you elect not to enable EcoAware / PowerSmart at the time (......) you may always do so later in the FastAccess management console under the "EcoAware" or "PowerSmart" tab at the top."

See if there's anything like that, it's from the Dell version FAQ.

 

Is there any truth to the rumor that if you order 6Gbs of RAM, you're getting a 4GB stick and a 2Gb stick, and that if you do that, the RAM will not operate in dual-channel mode, only single-channel? I heard it was better to order 4 or 8 Gb, as both RAM sticks will be the same size.

 

Well the reason I asked if the facial recognition is worth it or not is because I already have one on my laptop right now, and it's really slow, it takes forever to detect my face, so I was wondering if the one that comes with the dell XPS is the same or mybe a better software, you know I just dont wanna sit infront of my camera waiting for it to detect my face, I'd rather just type in my password, that takes like 2 seconds lol...soo yeah hopefully you get my point.