I hate this Dell Studio XPS 16 SO MUCH. How do you guys deal with this heat!?

This thing gets so hot, after 30 minutes of use it is unbearable to hold on your laptop. The touchpad also gets untouchable hot after a bit too. I keep getting this annoying this with my keyboard where as im typing it will go back a couple of characters and mess up whatever i'm saying, and I know i'm not pressing the touch pad either! I was supposed to get a $150 gift card, and I'm waiting on that to buy a cooler for the laptop, I was thinking of this one
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/464
since it can be found on the dell website and it will allow me to keep the laptop on my lap but that still does not mean I will be able to operate the extremely hot touchpad :\


I am sorry to sound like such a hater against this laptop, but I have not had one good experience with it yet.



PS - I also undervolted quite a bit too!

 

Return it.

 

I dont think I can. Its been over a month :\ Thats why I made this topic, I was just wondering how everybody else here deals with their Studio XPS 16

 

I did have the same problem, but might solution might be crazy since it's a laptop. With this issue, the only way I resolve was to use it on the table or anywhere but your laps.
Good luck!

 

You should *never* use a notebook on your lap without some sort of barrier. Not only do they get warm normally, however when you have them on a material surface (IE your lap) chances are you will suffocate it. This in turn increases heat, which can then burn your lap, and it also reduces sperm count in males.

Get even just a bit of wood to place between your leg and the notebook. Seriously, never operate it on your lap without some sort of barrier >.<

Notebook coolers are especially useful. Even with my beast I can use it on my lap, keep it cool AND not burn my legs =-P

 

I've been having the EXACT same issue. my text will jump to where my cursor is but i don't think i'm touching the track pad!! I'm going to try to mess with the sensitivity but i don't think that the issue (I hope it is)

AND not become sterile!!

 

YAAAY!

 

You have that problem too? Oh my god it is so annoying. Cant type on aim, do homework on word, it messes up so much stuff. Its not the mousepad either.

Thats why i'm getting this pad
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/464

The touchpad becoming really warm will be annoying, so will the area around the touch pad, but I guess I will just have to live with that :\

 

I never had that keyboard/cursor issue. I got my 1640 first week of February. Perhaps only some batches/units bought from a certain period/region exhibit this defect?

 

I bought mine in May :\

 

This is again because your suffocating it though. It's not the touchpad getting warm, it's the components UNDERNEATH. When they're better cooled, it shouldn't be half as warm. I had the same issue.

I had the touchpad issue before, but it somehow resolved itself. I dunno whether it was an update, or because my hand kept accidentally touching it =-P

 

stop being a baby.

problem solved.

 

Very helpful. Rep+!


Now, let's try and be a bit more mature. Didn't your mother ever teach you, nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all?

The temperatures on these machines ARE extremely warm. When my GPUs were overheating it actually burnt my hand to touch my DVI-D connector and the plastic underneath my screen. It's not "being a baby" - it's trying not to cause yourself bodily harm from the heat emitted.

 

gonna give the same advice me and others have given in other threads:

try to get some space between the bottom of the machine (where fans are) and whatever surface you're placing it on. I put 2 thin books on the rear side of the laptop, raising it just enough to give it some space and the temperatures went down dramatically. I also had that problem where the touchpad would get unbearably hot and once i did this, problem was solved.

dont know if your already using it but others have noted that the lift provided by the 9 cell battery is enough for this to work.

hope this helps.

 

and i got mine two days ago... don't know if it's a batch issue.

I was just about to say that it might be me and the way i type but it just happened to me again, right now, as i was typing. And this time i was pay attention.

It's DEFINITELY not me touching the pad.... DAMN IT, i was really hoping that's what it was... CRAP, now what?

 

Thanks for that advice, I will try that, gonna get me some things to put on the side to raise the laptop. I hope that pad which does not cool but absorbs that heat will keep the laptop less hot than before when I get it; until than, I will use your method, thanks.

Now, all i have to do is wait to get that stupid $150 gift card that dell still hasnt sent me to order the pad for the heat problem.


But than I still have the keys going back a couple characters issue :[

 

Here's what i've tried (just did this today so i don't know if it's working just yet): I changed the "Touch Sensitivity" settings in the dell touchpad control program (you can just double click the touchpad icon in your task bar). For some reason, the default setting was very close to the "light touch"... i moved it closer to the "heavy touch" side.

So far no problems, but again, it's only been a few hours. Hope it works though, you should give it a shot.

EDIT: it just happened to me again (twice)... so i don't think my suggestion worked. DAMN IT!!

 

I bought the 9-cell battery just because of this. I lay my 1640 on my lap, too. The 9-cell will raise it off a little. And every little bit helps!

All the best!

 

Guys, can you please check your hard disk temperature using HDTune program, I'm curious after reading this thread. Many thanks before.

 

I'm quite surprised nobody's mentioned laptop coolers. I've had my 1530 for about 18 months now, and have gone through 3 of them so far. They're not very expensive, so I'm not upset (but I am a little annoyed). They've all worked, but the previous two were not particularly sturdy. I just got a logitec unit, seems to be working well.

Bottom line is your laptop gets hot because design constraints prevent it from moving enough air across the hot bits. Extra fans are the answer, and, aside from the extra wire you have to keep up with, really aren't that bad.

That said, I actually had acceptable results from a sheet of corrugated cardboard cut to size. Insulation and a smooth surface get you half way to your goal.

Personally though, I'd recommend STARTING with the Logitec cooler. It's very nice so far!

 

I have one of these for when I'm using the laptop on my bed. Maybe I'll get one for the couch.

Levenger Lap Desk

It keeps much of the heat off my lap.

 

I had the same problem until i realised, that this was because it has a different keyboard-layout than my desktop. i was used to a larger right shift- key, so everytime i pressed it, i accidentially pressed the up-cursor, which really messes up everything, of course...