New XPS 15z

Uninstall it. I do that on every new Dell the moment I turn it on.

Microsoft Security Essentials (free, btw) is your friend.

 

Is MSE as good or better than McAfee?

 

Definitely Better.

 

Try the new Cypress Touchpad drivers 2.3.6.33, I think they're a significant improvement. They have currently only been released for the XPS 13, I also didn't see much improvement with the official XPS15Z drivers 2.3.6.26. The link is here:

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

 

In what areas are you perceiving "significant improvement"?

The biggest issue for me is the sensitivity of the touchpad being touched (or even close to being touched) causing the cursor to jump around, sometimes causing focus on another window.

Some said settings weren't being saved, so not sure if that is still a problem or not.

I pretty much just removed the software completely and am running of generic MS drivers, and it's better, but not 100% yet.

 

I just installed that new Cypress driver and the two-finger scrolling does seem to be smoother than it was before the update. I don't use any of the other gestures very much so I can't comment on them.
And my scroll setting for my mouse hasn't reset so far, which I was having a problem with before.

 

Well, some time with my particular model, bought used, has brought a problem.
It does not boot, intsead: whrrr-whrrr, 4X beep. Repeat 4x beat until power button off.
I experienced this, took it apart, put it together, no problem. Now I haven't tried all the parts, but if I knew what the beeps meant, maybe I wouldn't have to. 2 incidentals, RAM was not seated right, fixed, its missing, Many screws inside (4 missing from battery and 1 from wifi card maybe more).
SO my deal is looking less good. Help?

 

well, trouble shot, after beeing a better scientist i finally found that it was hynix? 4gig stick that was faulty. 2x2g from the mbp running this comp right now while i wait for crucial 2x4gig. incidentally 4 beeps repeating may refer to faulty memory sticks, not bad motherboard as said by dell.
thanks all, hope i didn't scare anyone off this comp i like so much.
opening it up i found is much harder than many laptops, but should not be difficult if you use patience and soft hands. and watch a video.

 

I've had an interesting weekend with my 15z. I'm still having issues with the USB ports that Dell was not able to resolve through driver updates so they decided to send a technician out to replace the motherboard. He came on Friday and replaced it with no problems. I browsed the web for a couple hours after he left, and then I decided to play a game. I loaded it up and about 2 minutes later my computer completely crashed. No unusual noises or anything, just the screen went black and all the lights went out.
It turned on again fine so I started a dell chat support session. They told me to try a factory reinstall of Windows. I tried but my computer crashed again in the middle of it. This happened twice. So Dell decided to send another technician with a new motherboard, heat sink, and a new power adapter.
Hopefully that fixes it! I'm guessing that either the first replacement motherboard they gave me was faulty (which has happened to me before on my last laptop) or the technician connected something wrong. I don't know enough about the internal workings of a computer to guess at anything beyond that.
I am grateful that it still runs doing low level stuff-- yesterday I was able to browse the web and watch videos with no problems.

 

This thread is giving me major buyer's remorse.

I just ordered a 15z off the outlet, the i7, 1920 FHD with 256Gig SSD. The price was good, but now I've made the mistake of reading threads about it....

Should I cancel? I just needed a laptop that'll work with light gaming and web dev / adobe apps to tide me over until I have enough cash to pick up a mobile workstation later in the year.

#buyersremorse

 

Honestly, other than this USB issue, I REALLY love the laptop. Its fast, it looks good, and its lighter than my last one. I haven't had any of the other problems that people here have had besides the USB. I only use it for light gaming as well and it works for that.
I think an important thing to keep in mind when reading forums like these is that people are more likely to take the time to post online when they are having issues with a computer than when they're not having issues. There are probably tons of people who have a 15z who aren't having any issues at all.

 

Just curious... what is your Dell XPS 15z's Windows Experience Index ?

Mine got Base score - 5.5

Processor: 6.9
Memory: 7.6
Graphics: 5.5
Gaming Graphics: 6.6
Primary HD: 5.9​

 

Mine rating is - 5.9


Processor: 6.9
Memory: 7.4
Graphics: 6.6
Gaming Graphics: 6.6
Primary HD: 5.9

 

The dell technician was finally able to come yesterday to fix my crashing problem. It turns out that when he replaced my motherboard, he hadn't screwed the heat sink on correctly (one of the screws wasn't in at all) so it was not making contact with the CPU at all. So whenever I tried to do anything that would've heated the CPU up it crashed the computer to protect itself.

The technician said he didn't think that the CPU would have suffered any damage from this, what do you guys think?

Last night I did a factory reinstall of windows to see if that would help with the USB issue. Its definitely helped but I do still have some problems with my toshiba canvio external hard drive.

As far as my Windows Experience Index, mine is a 5.8.

 

Your USB issue is a curious one. I hope it's sorted now. I knew right off the cause of the sudden shutdown. When you see that happen- especially after a mobo, heatsink, or CPU replacement- 9 times out of 10, that's heat related. Sometimes they forget to reconnect the fan power cable. Sometimes they don't torque the heatsink screws down right, or at all in your case (oy vey). As far as long term damage, it should not be an issue. Intel implements a sudden shutdown like that before the CPU enters into any kind of dangerous heat range.

 

Thanks for the reply, Bill. My USB issue is DEFINITELY better. When I first got the laptop, the ports didn't work at all until I updated the drivers. Then it wouldn't recognize devices (such as my wireless Microsoft mouse) till I unplugged and replugged them a few times. I'm not having any issues with the mouse anymore, just with the Toshiba hard drive. When I first plugged it in last night after my restore, it told me several times that the device needed to be formatted (when I know it doesn't). I have read that the power cord may not be able to draw enough power from the computer and that if I buy a USB y cable and use that instead the problem will be fixed (As per this blog post: techieNetizen's Web Log: XPS15z: USB 3.0 incompatibility and problem with external hard disks) I'm planning on ordering one from Amazon and trying that out.

As of now, with that Toshiba hard drive I'm averaging speeds of around 30 mb/s when transferring data. I know it should be operating faster than that.

I'm glad to hear there won't be any long-term damage. One thing I have noticed since the replacement is that sometimes the fan will cycle between a high speed and medium speed every few seconds. I didn't notice this before the motherboard replacement/heat sink issues but it may be that it was happening and I just didn't notice. Thoughts?

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, I really appreciate it.

 

The fan cycling is most likely because the replacement mobo has a more recent BIOS where the thermal algorithms were modified. If you prefer a different fan behavior, you might try flashing back a version or two. The thing to watch if you do that is what happens with the USB ports. Unfortunately our change logs are written by excellent engineers whose primary language is not English, so we tend not to publish them under the "fixes and enhancements" section when they are too full of engineering jargon. So, you won't know if one version breaks USB again until you find out the hard way. It's like software troubleshooting in a way- just keep installing versions until you break something, then revert to the last one that worked.

EDIT:

Didn't read the blog post you linked to, but one thing I can contribute is there are inherent issues with various devices, USB 3.0 and this chipset. For whatever reason, Intel did not bake 3.0 support in fully until the recently released Panther Point chipset. Any USB 3.0 port you see on any PC running a pre-Panther chipset will have implemented a daughter board to connect the 3.0 ports to the mobo. The main problem you run into here, besides random devices having problems, is those ports are not bootable. You have to boot from a 2.0 port. Panther Point fixes that with full 3.0 chipset and mobo support.

 

I think I can get used to the fan cycling, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't abnormal. If it does annoy me too much I'll try your suggestion. Where would I find the previous versions of Bios to try out?

 

A06 and A10 are posted here. If you click on either one of those, you can get to "other versions" toward the bottom of the page. Funny thing is all you can get to is A08 that way. Strange we don't have all previous versions available. If you look at the naming convention of the files, you might be able to poke around on the FTP site and figure out where the other 8 are. FTP.Dell.com/BIOS (navigation in Chrome is a little wonky, so use IE)

 

Thanks! I'm not very familiar with doing things with BIOS but I'm learning!

 

My computer has started doing the same crashing again.
I'm guessing the heat sink must have popped out again or something.

 

Lowest Score 5.9


Processor 7.0
Memory(RAM) 7.4
Graphics 5.9
Gaming Graphics 6.6
Primary Hard Disk 5.9

 

I was trying to clone my built-in LCD on my XPS 15z to a new LG 1080p LCD TV via HDMI.

The problem I had was, the LG TV showed the image on my internal LCD, but was overscanned, meaning the edges of the screen were off the sides.

Normally, I can find the settings in the display properties and adjust for that, but for some reason, I instead got frustrated because the Internal LCD was assigned to the Intel Video and the external HDMI TV was assigned to the nVidia graphics adapter. NOWHERE in the nvidia settings could I find the setting to adjust the overscan. Usually, on other adapters, there is a slider that I can adjust to 0% and the TV image fits.

First, is it normal that my LCD and TV are separated on Intel and nVidia, respectively? I'd be happy to have both on the Intel. We're just doing presentations, etc., so don't need the nVidia power.

Second, shouldn't the nVidia properties allow me to adjust the scan properties of the TV? Where would that be?

Any help is appreciated.

 

I just got a 15z as a system replacement for my studio 1557 (took a downgrade cpu though since my 1557 was a quad core, and had a slot load bluray player, I also consider the non removable battery a negative). Anyways, that aside im assuming this system will run pretty hot judging by the last 40 or so pages. It is the system on the Dell page at the highest price point ($1599) with the ssd, hope i made a good choice accepting? XPS 15z Laptop Details | Dell Canada

Ive read about 40 pages and saw a couple posts about switching out the thermal pad/paste with Arctic Silver. Just had a question regarding that; does the cpu/heatsink only use thermal paste where I can just clean and add paste and be ok. Or should i use a thermal pad?

Also does the 15z use an IPS display? Also i havent read anywhere about anyone using the WiDi (Intel Wireless Display) functionality - Does this work well?

After going through the couple hundred pages on the Studio 1557 thread over the past few years, Im glad theres a thread for the 15z - I love this forum gotten better help here than Dell tech support

 

after i got my system back from Dell Depot, which they fixed a fan issue which causes it to make loud noises when it stops (after the 100th repair) check out the temps again: I'm still having random shut downs (due to temps).

It doesn't use an IPS display. It doesn't look nearly as good as one lol.

 

When I tried to update the USB driver, I got this.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Any solution?

 

“Error 2739. Could not access Javascript runtime action” Fix — Technipages

 

I'm told in the forum that we should remove battery when not in use or always remove battery when plugged in.
A newbie question. I don't see the battery on the back of my Dell 15z, so how can I remove it? Do I have to remove back cover to see the battery? If so, how to remove the cover? Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

What forum recommends THAT? I've not heard such nonsense since the 90's!

Your other questions I'm not sure whether to take seriously or not! You actually think removing the back cover and removing the battery every time you have the 15z plugged in is practical?

If so inclined, you can find the Dell service manual with instructions on removing the back cover at support.dell.com. There are also tips on removing the back cover in this forum (for the purpose of adding RAM or SSD, NOT for removing the battery when plugged in).

 

You don't have to actually remove the battery. In the 15z, it's pretty painful to physically remove the battery on a frequent basis. From your desktop, if you right click the battery meter icon that's stationed in the system tray, you can open it up.

There are several options for you to choose from.

1. Enable Dell Intelligent Display in Battery Mode.
2. Enable Dell Extended Battery Life.

3. Turn off Battery Charging.

The last one is probably the one that you are interested in.

 

Hope I did not run into the Dell XPS 15z deal going at Costco. Not sure how many of know but Costco is selling loaded XPS 15z for $699.99 at many places nationally (Dell XPS 15Z HD LED at Costco - Slickdeals.net. Costco sells the similar laptop online for $1299 (it has 750gb HDD and 720p screen: Costco - Dell XPS 15z Laptop Intel® Core™ i7-2640M 2.8GHz 2GB NVIDIA Graphics 2-Year Dell Warranty

So, here I go to my local costco and pick that laptop.
Specs:
Intel Core i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
15.6"(39.6cm) FHD Widescreen,300-nit(typical)(1920x1080) 1080p
Silver Color
High Definition Audio with Waves MaxxAudio 3
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 2GB graphics
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM(2x4GB)
1 TB 5400RPM Hard Drive
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
1.3MP HD with dual array digital microphones
64 WHr 8-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 with Bluetooth v3.0+HS
9.5mm SATA Slot Load DVD+/-RW
2 year manufacture warranty (My AmEx will extend it for another year).

Total: $758 (incl taxes)

I am torn between deciding these 2 laptops.
Here are some differences
- Envy is third gen Quad core While 15z is second gen dual core (4 thread)
- Surprisingly 15z looks/is bigger/taller than Envy which is compact
- 15z definitely has the "cool" look factor
- 8gb 1600 mHz on Envy Vs 8gb 1333 mHz on XPS
- Colors on 15z are incredible (reds, blues, greens are perfect). Though refreshed Envy's reds are fixed, blues and greens are faded.
- Envy screen is brighter, which is how I like. XPS screen is more like soft white while Envy is daylight bright.
- 2 gb Nvidia graphics card on XPS versus 1 gb ddr5 on Envy
- Touchpad on XPS is awesome, butter smooth compared to Envy which is little rough and hard on clicks.
- Both have 2 year warranty
- Price difference: Envy appr $350 more (I got 40% off on the Envy: 33% off coupon and an additional 10% off)

I hate that XPS does not have Pg Up/Pg Dn, Home/End dedicated buttons (have to use Fn on tiny up/down arrows).

I plan to install 480 gb Sandisk Extreme SSD on the primary drive on whatever laptop I decide to keep. So, not sure if XPS is as easy (as Envy) in terms of swapping primary drive.

15z users, what say? I understand, everything is subjective and I have spent more than 5 hours comparing/playing with these laptops side-by-side.

Sorry for the long rant. Please let me know if anyone has a suggestion/advise/tips/tricks.

Thank You!!


Note: I have posted in HP Envy 15 forum just to get their take.

 

I'm serious.
Here it is.

 

note this is one of my fav laptops i've own..

That being said

I've had my second top panel changed. Again the Chrome trim was coming off. And looking how they install the trim it's easy to see how it comes off. I think if they just super glued the thing it would have better staying power. Also my touchpad was getting kinda weird.

Temps, Network card, etc no problems. I have a SSD in here so the machine still screams.

Thankfully the Dell tech in my area is awesome. Not only did he replace it but he cleaned out the fan and insides and even added new thermal grease to it!

 

I have a brand new 15z that i got for system replacement, Im not really a huge fan of the laptop and would like to sell it for something with a smaller screen. Where would be the best place to do so? it is the most expensive 15z on the dell website with the SSD drive.

 

Well, if you read the majority of the posts, no one removes their battery when plugged in. Whilst I didn't read all 110 posts, there was a FAQ link about batteries, and the question you asked was answered with a YES and NO, but the YES (to remove the battery when plugged in) was only under extreme heat conditions when the battery would basically be baking itself in an overheated laptop. That surely is not the case with the 15z.

Not to mention the fact that the battery is not removable without disassembling the notebook, which would pretty much answer your question with a NO (not necessary to remove battery).

 

Thanks for your reply.
To prevent serious damage, I also was told we should remove battery as quick as possible if we spill coffee, fruit juice, or liquid alike over the laptop keyboard. How about your idea in this case with XPS 15z?

 

I think if you spill any of those in a large enough quantity on your laptop for it to reach the battery (in the 15z)....you might have bigger problems than drowning your battery.

 

A little update on the heat/fan issues I was having-- I started having intermittent crashes again and when I called Dell Support they arranged to have me send it in to the depot. I sent it in last Tuesday and was told it would take 7-10 business days to get it back. So I was pleasantly surprised to get it back on Monday of this week. I would've gotten it back sooner if not for the weekend.
The depot replaced my motherboard, heatsink, and fan and now things seem to be running perfectly.
When Dell support called to check if the repair was successful, I asked if there was any way they could compensate for the inconvenience of having to send in my computer for a problem that was (in my opinion) caused by either faulty parts or the on-site technician's error. They told me that was no problem and that I should select a part or accessory from the Dell website worth up to $50. Its not much but I'm very pleased with their willingness to keep a customer happy.
I am still having the USB issue with my Toshiba Canvio external hard drive but I've come to the conclusion that that is Toshiba's fault, not Dell's. I've ordered a USB y cable because I've heard that the Canvio may need to draw more power from the laptop to function correctly.

 

Thanks for the info. you shared.
Hope most of us won't fall into your case.

 

Still touchpad cypress driver not work good same as default window driver.

 

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it.
And really, this issue was inconvenient but overall I really love this laptop! Being without it for a week reminded me of why I bought it in the first place, haha.

 

Unable to boot from usb thumb drive!!!
A quick question.
I'm trying to install a clean Windows 7 on my babe Dell 15z from a usb drive, but cannot. Whatever I tried on different usb ports - (2) 3.0 usb ports and (1) combo eSata/2.0 usb port, all I got is a black screen with 'Operating System not found'. With the same that usb thumb drive, I can boot without any issues on other laptops/ desktops. My current BIOS version is A10 and is set to boot from USB storage first.
I did search around and found this, but looks like nobody could fix it.
Your help would be much appreciated.

 

What version BIOS is on your 15z? I had the same problem, but normally the USB combo eSATA port DOES work. The USB 3.0 ports don't boot Windows 7 and gives the error you state. I think updating to the latest BIOS helps, but then again, I've had 15z's with old BIOS that booted all USB ports fine, and others that didn't.

 

Once again, my current BIOS version is A10, the latest one.
I think something's wrong with the eSata/USB 2.0 combo port. It never recognizes my (2.0 or 3.0) usb drives, it can see my external eSata drive in BIOS tho.

 

FYI
I fixed it accidentally.
Installed back and booted from the original hard drive and the machine recognized my 2.0 usb drive at combo port. Left the usb drive intact, replaced original HDD by a SSD then booted it up. Done! Now I can install clean Windows 7 from a usb thumb drive.

 

A quick question.
Do I need to install Dell nVidia Stereoscopic 3D driver? What is it for?

 

Hi Fellas,

Did you notice if your XPS 15z makes a high pitched buzzing noise on the left speaker? It can be heard when the processor is on idle mode and it can get really annoying. Could it be the SSD drive? I don't think it's the cpu/gpu fan or the speaker.

 

I haven't noticed that, but I don't have an SSD. The only noise I hear that concerns me is an occasional clicking noise from the left side of the laptop. I can't tell if its the HDD or the fan... which makes me nervous!

 

Hmm if it's on the bottom left, could be the harddrive better clone your drive now using clonezilla or acronis

 

Its hard to tell exactly where its coming from... It usually only happens when I'm watching video which is what makes me think its the fan. However, this was happening before I sent it in to the Dell Depot and they replaced the fan so at the same time the fan making the noise seems unlikely.
I do have everything backed up so if it is the hard drive I won't lose any data!