New Owner XPS 1640 - need advice.

Hi All,

I got the Studio XPS 1640 a week ago in India, VIA a friend in the US. It has the following specs -

- Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3M L2 Cache)
- RAM 4GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm
- 15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p FHD WLED LCD W/2.0MP, XPS 1640
- ATI Mobility RADEON M96XT / 4670 - 1GB
- 500GB 7200RPM Free Fall SensorSeagate Hard Drive
- Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Edition
- Integrated 10/100 Network Card
- BluRay Combo Drive
- Integrated High Definition Audio 2.2
- Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGN Half Mini Card
- 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery
- Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)

I am waiting for the Windows 7 upgrade pack to arrive...

I went about the XPS forums here and saw a few threads about the issues faced in the XPS 1640 laptops.

I need some tips on the following -

1. Can ppl out there let me know things I should be knowing or issues which I can rule out before actually starting to face them?

2. I will be installing Windows 7 on this machine (would be going in for either Ultimate or Professional, will upgrade the license for it). Any tweaks etc which are specific to using Windows 7 on this XPS?

3. I have noticed the heat issue (on the palm rest, maybe due to the HDD being just under the touchpad...). Any solutions to make this a bit tolerable?

4. And what about Drivers etc...? Will I be able to get everything from the DELL sites (Drivers site, SmartSource site ) or do I need to arrange them from else-where?

5. For the ATI Mobility RADEON M96XT / 4670, should Iuse the DELL stock drivers from DELL site, or download from ATI site, (After DriverHeaven MOD tool)?

Guys, if possible do advise me on how to get the max out of this machine... I did spend big bucks on this piece of work, so expect the same like wise.

Thanks again!

Chetan.

 

here are my answers to the best of my ability:

1. Heat - It's a known fact that's been beat to death here. Your laptop will get warm if the power plan is set up right, but it won't get burning hot. One area that gets pretty toasty is at the front of the laptop, just below the touchpad. This is where the Southbridge is and it doesn't have any cooling measures.

2. No tweaks for Win7 that I know of. Win7 runs pretty darned stable out of the box and it's kicks Vista's butt.

3. Buy a laptop cooler if the heat is too much. I found that by simply placing a riser at the rear to lift up the area where the fan is helps to allow more cooler air to pass through and thusly making the laptop cooler. Also, as I stated in #1, set up your power plan right and you'll find the laptop doesn't spin up the fan as often.

4. Most, if not all of the needed drivers are to be gotten from Dell. I DI however have an issue with video drivers as far as where to get the correct ones. Microsoft's Windows Update touts the latest driver, but I had problems with it. I used ATI's and it seemed better. Dell I am not sure of, but you can compare version/date released info to find the right one.

5. See #4

To get the max amount of performance out of this is all due in part to whatever you stocked it with in the first place. Lot's of RAM and a fast processor are biggies and really, if you have that, the machine will perform well. This isn't some high end gaming machine mind you unless you spent the oodles of bucks to get the highest and fastest hardware for this machine. If you feel you need more perfornace, go with the Alienware laptop.

I run CADD and graphics software on my machine (typically I have CADD, photoshop, internet, mail open all the time) and I never see an issue. occasionally the fan my spin up a little mroe frequently, but I don't get crashes or unexpected errors.

 

Thanks for your 2 bits, jmorv. I know this is no kick a$$ gaming laptop, but it still should perform at a mediocre level I guess, with ATI M96XT and the 4 GIGS of RAM...I hope so tho!

Anyways, which version of AMD ATi drivers are you using? Also, did you face the Hard Disk whine issue others have reported in here? And how have you configured your power options, are you using notebook hardware control for this?

Thanks again for the help!
Chetan

 

How do you like the 1080P screen? I have a 17 inch laptop with the 1080P screen ... I could not imagine doing that on a 15/16 inch monitor. Thoughts?

 

For the 4670 drivers, I always mod the latest official version of the catalyst 9.10 at the time of this post), dell is often a few version behind. You could notice some performance increase depending of the games, but mostly bug correction for new games. ATI (AMD I mean) has stated that their are fully compatible with any gpu's. Driver Heaven is giving an easy software to do so.

 

I believe I am using the latest from ATI per recomendations from others here. I didn't mod the drivers (clueless when it comes to modifying stuff like that), but "out of the box" those drivers work fine for me.

Hard drive whine wasn't an issue, it was the "clapclick" sound and I figured out it was due in part to the power options that were set to balanced. A quick change to high perforamnce and the sound when away (using the power options built into Windows 7).

 

Congrats for your buy.
Even I'm waiting till xmas to buy from USA through my friend.

BTW, how much it cost you in USD after tax and what warranty plan you have bought ? If you have not bought at least 3yr warranty, your warranty is not valid in India.

 

The 1080P screen looks breathtakingly good... You are right about the better display adaptability (horiz / Vertical ratio) for the 17" screen... But since I intend to carry this m/c around a bit so had to compromise because of size.

 

Good if u wait! U should be getting discounts around that time. I needed ths now sohad to get it.

My full cost for the config was just about 60K INR. The 3 year warranty was costing a lot...

I actually got the ownership transferred to India last week and still need to confirm about the warranty status for the same. Will surely post in when I get further details about the warranty.

 

just a point you really dont need ultimate its BS not too many exciting and worthwhile features added unless you really want Bitlocker or you feel you have to have every option available (no matter how useless...lol )

professional is more reasonable because of xp mode( more business oriented) but if your not using old programs that wont work on anything but xp again useless...definitely no good for gaming

home premium has the best bang for the buck has all the features a normal consumer would need and is 50- 100 usd less

 

Thank you khurana. But what was the amount in USD in total after tax ?
Anyway hope you followed the following way to have a valid warranty in India ...
1. Place an order online (with 3yr warranty) and give your friends address in USA
2. Dell will dispatch it with your name but to your friends address (care of address)
3. Your friend brought it to India
4. Apply for address change

 

I intend to use my laptop in my professional environment (I am a JAVA developer by the way). So would need to do stuff while on domain etc and all the networking things up and running. What version of 7 would suffice this?

 

I would get professional Ultimate is just a waste and as i said in my post Professional is more suited towards Businesses not sure how Java runs but if you can only run it in xp mode that would make Professional the way + domain just ultimate is a waste of money was the point and common users wouldn't need anything higher than home premium

 

This was $1247.33 All Inclusive (+ I got a free 2nd Business Day delivery). The warranty is 1 Yrs (which I have confirmed, is still valid in India.)

 

Thank you for your update.

But 1yr warranty of USA bought Dell product is NOT VALID in India. May be India customer care ppl may not have updated information. I had online chat with Dell sells representative @ USA 3 times and all said me, for warranty to be valid in India, you MUST HAVE to buy at least 3years warranty from Dell. And I'm really surprised how India Dell people are saying it is valid in India.

Note that, I'm not saying you are wrong, but I have doubt on these representatives.

 

Hi URPradhan, don't know who is right or wrong! Either of them needs to correct information at their end.. Anyways, my DELL TAG ID was updated for India, and they have checked warranty for the NEW DELL ID. So I guess they would be having accurate info!

Anyways, since you are still buying, play safe and get that 3yr warranty, is all I can say.

Take Care! C.