New XPS 15z

To help others change their HDD for SSD:

1 - Don't trim your fingernails for a few days, you'll need them.
2 - Unscrew the eight screws from the bottom
3- Take off the plastic protector from the USB side (photo 1)
4- Unscrew the two screws from the USB side. (photo 2 and 3)
5 - Use your fingernails to take off the bottom lid. This is the most troublesome part. There will be crack noises. Be brave!
6 - then unscrew the HDD, take out the holder from the old HDD, put on the new SSD.
7 - Before puting the lid back on the bottom, screw the USB side screws. Very important to do in this order.
8 - Only now press the lid onto the PC until you hear the clicks. Do check all around, some side may be a little off, and you should press again until it fits.
9 - screw the eight scres back.

It shall take good 15 minutes or so to do that... The price of the compactness of the system. Hope this helps.

BTW, I'm happy so far, just don't like the glossy LCD. I had a precision M4400 and the mate screen is much better. There is barely a dead viewing zone in the M4400. In the 15z off angles (and not big at that) will wash out the screen. My resolution is the 1380 whatever. Preferred the 1440 from the M4400 as well.

 

My new Dell just came in today after the earthquake! So far, everything looks perfect (except for the rubber feet being uneven, but at this point I don't care lol)

 

Hi austinwachukwu,

How is the heat on the left handside palm rest area after SSD upgrade?. For me it is getting hot and uncomfortable as I believe the 7200 rpm harddisk is under lefthand side palm rest area.

I just want to know how is the heat after the SSD upgrade .

Thanks

 

That's the thing of it, there was literally no reason to put that trim on

 

Oh, sorry. I didn't install an SSD. I still have the 7.2K RPM drive...my last one ran pretty hot, but my new one is much cooler. And yes, the HDD is under the lefthand side palmrest area.

 

Hi, do anyone knows how to reset the computer if it freezes or gets bsod? Normally, for a non fixed battery laptop, you can just pull it out, but for the 15z, how to solve the problem?

 

Haven't used intesively yet, and not in my lap, but the temp with the SSD seems to be OK.

 

Normally you just keep pressing power until it shuts down. Never had to take out the battery in a Dell notebook (have owned 4 up to now).

 

I have a SSD and have never felt heat on the left palmrest.. then again, I didn't use the 7200rpm spinner for more than a few hours.

I just got my speakers replaced, sound is great now.

 

Hi Everyone!
I am looking at the XPS 15z vs the XPS 15 and I have a few questions:

1) I read a post by Detusueno that the 1080p resolution was not good for graphic design. I don't know much about tech specs - can someone tell me why? I am a graphic designer and I need a new laptop. I thought more resolution would be better. Can someone explain why this would not be the case?

2) I am leaning towards the 15 because of the wireless issues. I really wish the 15z didn't have them as I'd rather have the slimmer model. Does disabling the bluetooth work for everyone?

3) Is the 15 built better without the issues like the chrome trim and wobbly cover?

4) I do need to take it to NYC sometimes (not daily or even weekly) - is the 15 that non portable? I am a lady - so weight on my back is an issue.

This is my first post here - thanks in advance for your help!
JP

 

What if the computer freezes? Do pressing the power button still works?

 

HI 3dolla.

Did you clone your hdd to retrieve the recovery partition drive? Is it a hassle to use acronis to do the cloning and have them align properly?

Or is it necessary to even clone it since I wont be needing all the extra programs/feature that comes when you do a factory reset. What is the pros for having the recovery drive?

 

Hi mbernstein,
How are the temperatures on left hand side after SSD upgrade?.I just want to know how hot it is on left hand palm rest area before and after SSD upgrade.

Thanks

 

Well, I got the BSOD two days ago, but then again that was probably because I was running out of my school after an earthquake.......I just pressed the power button to power off, and when I got home it booted up in safe mode, and then booted up regularly just fine...but just holding down the power button is my best guess..

 

Yeah and if you notice the new z's that were announced are missing the Trim.

 

Honestly that guy is being overly picky. It's a good quality screen unless you can look at a color and tell me it's exact pantone number . I do not find too much fault considering the price / performance of this laptop. I've owned numerous high quality lcds too

15 is a noticeable amount larger than the 15z. The chrome trim is something I would look out for but the 2 year warranty one these laptops is great. The trim isn't going to affect the functionality of the laptop. I personally haven't really had wireless issues though I don't constantly monitor it. I do watch a lot of streaming video with no problem.

You would have to judge this yourself. I've always bought super portables in the past (the last one being a vaio Z). This is not what I would call "light" but it's fine if I don't carry it around daily. Just check the weight of a macbook pro 15 in an apple store. It's close enough in weight you can judge there.

 

Some of the 1080p panels that were shipped were horrible. I returned mine and bought the HP dv6tqe and the difference in screen quality was night and day. My 15z had noticeable vertical lines in the display, to the point where it was distracting, and the color gradients were really off.

 

Sorry, but I've used the original HDD for less than 15 min. I just turned it on, logged in and then... Changed the HD.

Are yo concerned with the temperature on the top part near the keyboard or on the bottom part where the PC touches your lap?

My only usage over my lap was for about 2 hours installing stuff in the PC. I guess this is kind of system intensive (not that much, but a little), and the PC never felt hot on my lap. The temperature above has never been a concern of mine, I rarely use the notebook's keyboard (use external), but during the mentioned 2 hours, never noticed anything that could draw my atention, so I guess it is OK. Will check tonight or tomorrow and report back if that's your concern.

That said, speed improvement with the SSD is amazing. Wakeup time is a second.

 

I do not have the 1080p, but from what I saw on mine, 15z's screens are definitevely not the best Screens Dell has put out by far. Not a deal breaker for me, I don't do design, but not the greatest at all. Just good enough.

 

Did anyone experience Dell Quickset taking the focus out of the program you are using (say, Word)? Then you have to click again on the desktop to be able to restart typing. I saw this was a common behaviour in other Dell systems with Quickset, but no one reported it here.

I experienced it today and was really mad before I detected it was Quickset. If you unload Quickset, all is back to normal. But what do I miss not using Quickset? Only the on screen controls?

There is a fix on the registry suggested elsewhere, but it didn't work for me. It says to change the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Dell Computer Corporation\QuickSet\QuickSetControl" value from 0 to 1. But in my registry there was a different value, not 0, and after changing it to 1, nothing happened.

If anyone knows about this, I would appreciate some help.

Thanks.

 

When did they announce it?? Link?

 

Major upgrade... please link

 

I thought I would chime in on the couple of 15z's that I've recently received from the Dell Outlet.

To me, the 1080p LCD is fabulous. It is VERY sharp and VERY colorful. If I look REALLY, REALLY carefully, I can see what vertical line people are speaking of. But, under normal use and not actually looking for the lines, I cannot see them and they do not bother me.

To me, I think the 1080p LCD is one of Dell's better screens in recent history. It's bright, thin, and the colors explode. Probably not that color accurate because saturation seems a bit on the high side, but is visually pleasing.

Now, both units had the AUO panel. I have one coming that (apparently) has the CMI branded panel. Anyone know the difference between the two? Also, the 768p display is horrible. It shouldn't even be considered an option. I sent that one back (thank god).

With regards to taking the back cover off, I just did mine today to put in a SSD. I found that if you remove the side with the ports first, then the back, the rest just kind of falls off. I was leery of prying off the front first...seems like something would break.

Overall, it seems like a nice system. The keyboard is a bit funky, but i'll get used to it.

 

Update that sig lancorp!

 

Is the 1080p display identical with the one on l502x, with the vertical line issue?

 

No no no no no no no no no................Lmao, the XPS 15's screen is WAY better than the 15z's. The 15 comes with a B+RGLED screen....much better

 

After I've determined the 15z has passed the muster and that I'm keeping it, only then does it deserve it's place on my sig line!

I go through notebooks like women buy shoes...

 

Lmao, I feel you.......this is my third notebook in 2 months lol

 

Interesting you bring that up. I've had RGBLED screens on Dell's (M17xR2 and one older gen 17" that I cannot remember right now), and I must say that the colors on my 15z screen DO look a lot like the RGBLED screens I've had! Bright, oversaturated (in a good way), etc...

I have not seen a XPS 15 RGBLED screen, so I can't compare. Personally, the ugliness of the 15 turns me off enough to not care to see one!

 

I have seen both and can say with complete confidence that the 1080p B+RGLED on the XPS 15 is eons ahead of that of the 15z (the 15z doesn't even have RGBLED btw, its WLED). The color gamut is that much more richer and accurate and the contrast and viewing angles are far superior. It's very disappointing that Dell chose to not include such a gem with the 15z.

 

Well, the screen is probably too thick to keep the 15z under an inch thin...but then again, there's is flex in the lid where the is space between the screen...so I guess they COULD have put in the screen, but opted not to for some odd reason.

 

Did you happen to ID the panel manufacturer of the 15z you saw?

The reason I ask is that there is supposedly TWO manufacturers of the 1080p panel -- AUO and CMI. I've seen two 15z's with AUO, and both look real nice. I wonder if the one you saw had a CMI? I've got one with a CMI panel that showed up yesterday...maybe later today I will unbox it and power it up and compare.

Thanks!

 

YES, please let us know how they compare!

 

Disappointingly, I discovered the CMI panel is a 1366x768 panel, not a 1080p panel. Looks like the only 1080p panel is the AUO.

Back to Dell it goes!

 

Hi austinwachukwu,

As you are saying the old one is very hot on left hand palm rest area ?. If old one is hot and uncomforatable , how is the new one in terms of heat while you are typing for long time ?. Just give me some details interms of heat comparing the new and old systems with configurations

My laptop runs very hot and not comforatable to keep hands and type for long time.


Thanks in advance

 

There is some heat with the SSD where you ask, but it is nothing major. Looks like it is OK to keep your hand there. But again, I don't spend a lot of time typing with the PC keyboard, I use external. But it looks OK.

 

Hi Austinwachukwu,
Thanks for your info. Can you tell as you new system is with high configuration (i7 processor and 2GB VRAM), is it cooler than your older XPS 15z(i5 processor and 1GB VRAM) system ?

Thanks

 

Well, actually my old system also had 2GB VRam (with an i5). This new one with an i7 runs just a tiny bit warmer on the left palmrest...but it's still at an acceptable level.

 

@Austinwachukwu - As one of the few people that have actually owned both the i5 and i7 models, can you please do a quick comparison of the two, e.g. heat, speed/performance, battery life, etc? Which would you recommend?

Would be immensely helpful for me and those scratching our head on which one to choose.

Cheers!

 

(Arrghhh, so much pressure!)
Lol, but seriously.......there's not too much of a difference in terms of battery life. Surprisingly I actually get a bit better battery life using this......just about 6 hours with wifi regular browsing and typing with no bluetooth...but you can expect the battery life to be the same on both i5 and i7 because they use the same socket and have the same battery consumption....

Again....the i7 runs just a BIT hotter, but it's still at an acceptable level. But the i7 is fast. Everything is just that much snappier, but you should be fine with an i5 if you don't really needed the extra performance. But this might also be attributed to the 8gb rather than 6gb.... I can't tell u much in terms of gaming because both models had the 2GB 525m.....and even with that, I haven't played any games on it tho lol

 

Awesome, thanks. Always enjoy reading your posts .

 

I got a battery issue. The problem is that it can't be charged to 100%. For example, when i just use the battery, it downs to 50%. Then i plugged my laptop, it can reach 72%, but then it jumps to 100% immediately. On the other side, when i just use the batter, it shows 100% at first, but it drops to 72% at once. Do you guys meet this issue and do you know how to fix this issue?

 

No more i7-2620m option on the Australian Dell site for the 15z!?

 

Hi All,

I would like to know what brand RAM people are using to upgrade their XPS 15z laptop?. Please let me know which brand RAM worked without issues in xps 15z ram upgrade.

Thanks

 

Sounds like you have a bad cell or two in the battery. I would contact Dell support and describe the problem.

You might try completely discharging the battery (to the point where Windows shuts down (4%)) and recharging and watch if it goes from 100 to 72 again.

 

I'm using 8GB of G.SKILL DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) and it works great and most importantly is currently the best deal for dependable RAM.

It was $10 cheaper the last couple of weeks, but is still a great value.

 

is it possible to upgrade the ram (just adding 2gb from 6 - 8 or am I going to need to buy the full 8gb) also does adding ramp mess with the warranty at all?



Thanks!

 

Of course you CAN upgrade the RAM (see previous posts on this page, no search needed!), but there are only 2 slots, and they both need to be the same. So, unless you can find a single 4GB DIMM to match the one Dell installed, you're probably going to have to buy an 8GB set, and maybe sell off your 6GB to someone.

The only effect upgrading RAM has on your warranty is your new RAM is not covered by Dell, nor is any issues that arise from the RAM. Everything else is covered.

 

Thanks for the clarification! my next question would be, is there a "noticeable" difference going from 6 - 8gb ? I may wait a bit then swap the HDD and Ram. SSD would be lovely.

 

SSD would clearly give you a better performance boost. 6GB is perfectly adequate for most applications. There are rare instances that 8GB would give an edge, but I suggest wait for a "killer deal" on the 8GB kit and get it then.