S-XPS 1640 and 1645 Bottom Line!

The bottom line is that this laptops are not worthy to buy!

1. Throttling Issue (No real fix so far)
2. Random freezing (Speculations about driver fix)
3. Brightness control stops working randomly (remove batery to fix)
4. Sub-buffer rattles (nobody knows why)
5. Stereo leaks between left and right (no fix)
6. System runs extremely hot (1645 a little bit less than 1640)

All-in-all nice looking and feature complete laptop with a lot of issues.

My advice: stay away... I have to live with mine, but if you just thinking to buy it... think twice!!!

 

think your missing flickering perhaps? on the rgbled screens

 

I had 1640.. replaced for 1645... haven't noticed flickering... however on the 1640 it happen to me couple of times that the whole screen become red.. not solid red! I could still see what is on the screen but the back light was red.. very weird!

 

The stereo does not actually bleed across the channels like people think.

What is actually happening is that SRS is attempting to simulate Surround Sound by inducing delayed echos on the other channel. It does not work well.

You can turn that off.

 

All of the issues you listed are affecting what seems to be a minority of owners (flickering included) I think the only reason to stay away for now is the throttling.

 

popping sounds from speaker

 

#4: The "attempting"... very well said. The issue is issue. Maybe not if it can be turned off

#5: I didn't compile the list from issues that are present on my system ONLY. Each and every issue has affected other peoples as well. Is it minority or majority won't matter when it happens to YOU my friend!

 

Agreed. My 1640 has been working fine from the beginning. No lags, freezes, audio problems, throtteling, heat issues, display problems....

The RGBLED display just rocks....

However, I would not buy the 1645 due to the throtteling issue.

 

Agreed too. Mine Dell SXPS 16 works just fine so far, i hope it will don't know about audio problems thou, i think i have it too, but sound is good enough for me

 

Arrogant and assumptive remarks when someone has different experience or opinion to your own makes me question the whole point of your post (you might also consider a spell checker). You are clearly upset so contact dell rather than whining on a forum.

I am happy with my 1645, amazing screen, runs cool, responsive. So perhaps I should post an equally pointless thread to counter yours?

 

I received my 1640 yesterday as a replacement for my 1530 ( after owning for 2 years). And, I used it for a very long time yesterday.

At no time did it run "extremely" hot, or really "hot hot" at all.

Coming from a 1530, and the faulty GPU....This lappy' is a blessing for me. I have no qualms so far, nor do I expect to. : )

I don't look for "problems" with my laptop...When, or if ~ I run into them, I deal with them at at time.


Cin...

 

I would have to say the same as motoKnGhT. My SXPS 16 is working great under normal conditions.

While it does have some throttling issues when Furmark and Prime95 are running at the same time, I don't usually push the laptop anywhere close to it.

As for heat, my Zalman NC-2000 keeps it cool. At most, the CPU would be at 70C (with Furmark/Prime95, WITHOUT cooler).

 

Never intend to upset anyone here. However I will only tell you that I stay behind my words because they are backed up with actual experience and actual knowledge. I have deal with hundreds of laptops in my life and most of you surely did not.

Just take it easy. This forum is not about you and me. Its about laptops.

 

Not taking sides are anything but when I get my laptop which will be my first how do I know if its running too hot?Were would I check to see whats normal and whats not?

 

I said that it's a minority issue not because the afflicted users don't matter but rather because it's not a system issue. It might be an isolated hardware issue which you should take up with Dell and Tech support rather than attempting to swear potential users off because of an issue that cannot be reproduced with reliability. As others have said your posts contain many assumptions.

 

If you're getting a 1645 it idles at around 50-58C (This is my personal experience not hard fact) during gaming with TS enabled + 130W adapter it's not unreasonable to see upwards of 80C I peaked at 93C playing Crysis for a few hours straight on my sofa. As for others declaring the laptop has "heating issues" this is simply not the case. People need to understand that the 1645 is using first generation quad core processors. Things are bound to be hot, until the tech itself improves. It's a performance machine and it's a bit unreasonable to expect it to run as cool as some other machines. That being said I haven't messed with the default thermal paste or bought a cooling pad and I think this laptop cools itself quite well. During normal use it's comfortable and during gaming...well it's a given things will heat up.

 

Mine is running at 30-40C when idle and at 60C when gaming. I reduced the core voltage using RMClock and my 1640 is usually on the Zalman NC2000 (fans low when idle and high when gaming).

My Latitude D630 does not need a notebook cooler and never gets hot. However, playing Crysis on it won't be much fun

 

correction... throttling fixed!!!!! almost

 

official fix from dell ? or a home brew ?
Thanks

 

My 1640 ran so hot it was uncomfortable to use. I applied AS5 to CPU and GPU, put it on a zalman nc2000 and undervolted it. It was still uncomfortable to use whilst gaming.

Without undervolting it also throttled whilst gaming.

In the end I just sold it, I was sick of the problems.

I have now just ordered a studio 1749 in the hope that the larger chasis and newer design will alleviate the problems. I will be heavily testing it and any problems returning it straight back to dell.

And to anyone telling me I should expect it to run hot, I have owned plenty of laptops and know what a laptops are capable with a good cooling solution.

My Vaio CW running a P9500 and overclocked nvidia 230m produces almost no heat on the topside of the laptop and very little on the bottom. I can actually game with it on my lap without cooler.

My clevo m860tu has a Q9000 and GTX260m overclocked and doesnt get as hot on the topside and doesnt need a cooler or undervolting.

Dell always puts aesthetics over function hence the poorly designed exhaust vents, southbridge directly under the trackpad etc.

 

Aside from throttling my 1645 has been an excellent machine. Dell is set to fix this properly (I've received my 130w power supply and am awaiting the promised BIOS update).

Case temps for my 1645 are what I would call cool, CPU idles 45-50C at 23C ambient. This is the coolest running laptop I've had in a while.

 

I have the 1645 and this is between my 10th and 12th laptop during the past 15 years and I must say I'm quite happy with it. And I'm not experiencing issues # 2-6 and for issue #1 a fix is on the way we've been told.

My main criticisms would be a slightly noiser than wanted fan, and a small design issue of the battery.

 

Mine works fine and it doesn't run too hot at all.
You are wrong.
Guess what? YOU are in the minority and YOUR opinion is no more valid than any others. Oh and by the way, I've owned and used more laptops than you will ever come close to owning.

You. Failed.

 

I will not go into any further polemics regarding the temperatures that this laptop is getting. Hot, cold doesnt matter for me... I already send it back to dell... maybe somebody that is reading this pick it up from the outlet... not my problem any more!

This is from notebookreview.com (this website official review)


For comparison for all those "warm" people i will say: the minimum temperature to fry an egg is around 140F.

So after all... there is a bright side!

 

Folks, the forum rules are really simple...

This goes for the OP as well. Trolling and flamebaiting are not acceptable and there is no reason for it. If you are satisfied with your purchase, then wonderful. If you aren't, make use of the Dell Tech Support line or Dell Web Escalations.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. So, either learn to disagree or leave it at that. Any further posts which violate the forum rules will result in appropriate action.

Thanks.