S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info. and Updates

It sounds simple, but in reality we would need multiple call queues. Due to the various laws each country has for handling computer and electronics export laws in many instances (most actually) wouldn't allow techs in one country to dispatch to customers in another country.

I am based in Austin, TX and I had to go through special training / certification to get rights to send parts to Canada. And that was a few years ago so I'm not even sure that's still valid for me. And the U.S. to Canadian shipping rules are pretty lax as far as international export laws go.

 

@Todd: Do you have any information about the 1647?

 

Plz put me on the pm-list as well

 

Yup, that's me, so you know I'm not faking because no one would claim to own that ugly mug.

I am going to put a comprehensive post together on the adapter procedure in a bit and ask atlstang to update the front page. I realize I had said Brad or Todd would get with you guys yesterday, but after talking with the guys, it's pretty much an overload to ask them to handle all the requests. We are going to divide the task up somehow. For all the customers in countries outside the US and Canada, sorry, but we do not have dispatch rights anywhere else. You will have to wait until we pull all the regions together and get them to commit on how they will be handling. Once we have that information (closer to the BIOS posting date), you will likely see a front page post from Lionel or Brad on Direct2Dell with the details. I will drop in a link pointing to it on this thread.

 

HI Bill-Todd,

Add me to that list as well please.

Thanks for all you hard work. It is really appreciated.

Marc

 

It's being looked at separately but a lot of the work that went into the 1645 research should make the turn around time a lot shorter.

 

I thought dell was coming with 5000 series aswell, can anyone confirm that?
BIOS A06 mentions something about new videocard support.
then it'd be sure a good wait for the Dell XPS 16
too bad I have mine already

 

@Todd i sent a PM to bill, but i guess ill say it here. The new users coming in wanting to be on the pm list, wont be able to deal with you guys directly as this forums wont allow pm's til a certain post limit is reached. Is it possible for you guys to setup and email for those users here? At least they will have a form of contact to get the issue resolved and will most likely make them feel much better.

@Mahathey, the envy and xps are both great. Though both laptops have very different design goals. Where the xps 16 is the general Desktop replacement, the envy is a thin and light notebook first with tons of power. So you sacrifice power on battery, and usb ports all on one side and no optical drive. But wow is it thin and light even with more power. the envy build quality i think is a bit better, and attention to detail but that is in my opinion. Both laptops are amazing, i would evaluate what you need exactly in a laptop and see which fits best as they are designed with different intents.

edit: gdog the bios indicated a possibly mobility 5700 series card coming.

 

How Ac Adapter Shipments Will Work

When we get closer to the BIOS release date, and not before, please, I will ask atlstang to update the front page of this thread to let you know I am ready. I think I can handle all the volume of requests from NBR members.

What you will need to do is send me a PM with your service tag and current shipping address, which should include your name. Optional information you can include, but will not be needed, is your email address and daytime contact number.

For those of you who cannot send PM's for whatever reason, you have time to reach the minimum post count before the BIOS release if you get crackin' on some conversatin' now. As an alternative, there are no minimum post count requirements on the Dell forums. So you can register there and send a PM to Brad or Todd. I know a mailbox would be easier, but I'll just say getting that setup at Dell is a stretch and leave it at that.

For those of you outside the US or Canada, we have no way to dispatch to your countries, so you will need to wait until the regional teams at Dell are up to speed and have messaging out to their frontline agents about how to handle the calls.

So, please just hang tight for a bit until A07 comes out of testing and gets web posted. Thanks.

 

oupss. post edited

 

NVM. See Bill's post on the last page.

~Ibrahim~

 

Can we keep the 90w Power Supply as a compensation?

 

added to main page, thanks bill

also gone for the weekend, if any more updates pm me, and ill get to it sunday/monday

 

Absolutely. I know I am sending mine out with no items to return. I think Brad and Todd are doing the same. No clue on how tech support will handle.

 

This is great! Thank you Bill.

I've been lurking and keeping up on this issue. I ordered my 1645 on 1/18 and its suppose to ship on 2/8 which doesn't look as it will happen since its still in pre-prod today. Hopefully it will ship soon so that I can participate.

Thanks again!

 

Bill, thank you again for your help on this matter. I suppose we can post until we reach the minimum. Any chance a moderator could set up a thread to just post until the minimum is reached. Spamming a meaninful thread to reach the PM minimum seems a little sub optimal.

 

I think the alternative suggestion of registering at the Dell forums is pretty easy. On the day of launch, you could register and PM in one shot there, unless you're just so mad at us you don't want to join our forums.

 

I'll just find something to argue with you about until the thread gets closed, jk jk.

Thanks Bill, a huge thanks. That light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a train.

 

Its great to see that an active effort is being made to satisfy the consumer requests. Too many times we find that there is little attention given after the final sale is made. I applaud your efforts Bill to get us solid information even if it took time.

From a hardware standpoint it takes real guts to say that they are solving issues proactivly before a class-action or some other mandated response. Hopefully the designers can use this experience to improve further models and avoid situations like this in the future.

Thanks again for your hard work.

 

So what adapter are we receiving? 130-watt, 150-watt, model number?

 

130W, PA-4E.

It surely runs a lot cooler than the 90W.

~Ibrahim~

 

Finally I see something's coming up as a solution for the throttle issue but will it really fix it permanently is still a question mark for now. There's also one question that I would like to ask, is the replacement for the adapter works globally?or just some of the regions?

 

Charges the battery faster too. =)

 

Is that what Dell-Bill said? Because he hasn't said which one is being sent out as far as I've seen. I'd like the 150-watt myself.

 

How long are we expected to wait for, for those of us in the UK? i hope its not too long.

 

Bill, I currently have the xps 16 in production with an estimated delivery of 2/25. Assuming the bios comes out before the 25th (just an if), will I have any options for getting the 130w supply as well? I know that you had mentioned the factory cut in, but assuming that doesn't happen do I have any option for getting the adapter or will I need to wait until I actually have the machine, then call up and wait another week for the adapter as I wont have a service tag. Obviously this is all based on the assumption that A07 is released before then, which obviously I know you don't know.

Thanks again though

 

@Bill,

Am wondering if I should install the A06 bios that is on the website?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5837441&postcount=1985

I think they did testing and they found 130W is enough? Bill previously mentioned that Dell's engineers found something wrong/inaccurate about Kill-A-Watt meters and they use their own in-house machines to test?

Has anyone, though with the Kill-A-Watt found readings significantly higher than 130W? Just curious...

@all

Bill stated that he doesn't want PMs, YET. I think he'll want PMs after the official announcement.

~Ibrahim~

 

Keep in mind that a 130 watt adapter is rated to deliver 130 watts DC to the laptop and how many watts it draws from the wall will be more than that so Kill-a-Watt testing, even if these meters were 100% accurate which they are not, is still comparing apples to oranges.

A true 130 watt adapter combined with a bios fix should be enough. Some systems depending on their specifications and options might be very close to that number when running the Furmark + Prime95 synthetic test but for any normal application or game, 130 watts should be OK.

 

The part numbers on the motherboard are different? I am pretty surprised to hear that. The socket used for the i7-620M (which i have noticed is no longer offered on the dell website) and the i7-720M have the same socket number and compatible chipsets according to intels website. The socket number is PGA988 and compatible chipsets are HM55, PM55, HM57, QM57, and QS57. I assumed these came with the PM55 chipset as it is most common. This socket is still the same for say the i5-540M. The fact that the RAM comes only in 1333Mhz also suggests that it is the same, so I still wonder. Can you tell what the chipsets are specifically for each model?

I also agree the CPU is the core issue here, but the behavior is the same: CPU reaches threshold -> CPU throttles down for any of the i7-i5 processors, so the algorithm should be the same or similar (which you have already mentioned I believe that the turnaround time should be lower).

 

I sure hope it runs cooler, my 90W practically burns my hand when I pick it up.

 

Ok, I will wait. When it will be time to, will you please tell us who at Dell we should join in our country in order to obtain that new adapter ? Thanks.

 

Thanks, but to be honest this makes me worry a little. It took 3 months to find someone like you from dell.. I doubt any of the EU 'agents' will sign up here on NBR and inform us like you have been doing. Or will they contact you?

 

Great to hear that this situation is almost fixed! It seemed like that day would never come.

 

Can someone enlighten me what this magic number is?

 

I just like to chime in on the 130w adapters being enough. What unclewebb says is absolutely correct. What we noticed with the killawatt was the bios was throttling power at the wall to 90w +- a few w. Which due to effeciency is obviously the computer didnt get 90w. But the early adapters got way to warm, and would seem the wattage was lowered via bios to keep the adapters cool enough to not kill people. The 130w on the other hand seems to be a much better adapter and should be able to supply the rated output no problem.

This has always been the solution we believed to be correct, and its nice to see dell engineers agree after so long. Everyone should be able to get enough watts to sufficiently power the system without the adapter burning down their house.

I dont know if the engineers know more or not, as bill/todd might not know or care to discuss, but this is what we found to be pretty conclusive. Other issues aside that is.

 

I would like to take the time to say thank Bill, Brad, and Todd for finally taking the initiative to set things right. I think you and everyone else will look forward to getting past all of this and going back to enjoying our devices and potentially buying more in the future.

You probably stuck your neck out for some of this to happen, and it's much appreciated. I also work in the technology industry, so I know how it can be when you want to do the right thing but sometimes can't due to obstacles in the organization or just waiting for more information. It's frustrating on both sides. However, it's good to see that progress is being made. It sets people's mind at ease that they haven't been forgotten.

 

Don't worry, I tested the 90 and the 130+TS on MW2 and after 5 minutes the 90 was burning hot. The 130 was hardly warm to the touch. Which reminds me I need to donate some $$ to unclewebb before all is said and done. Encourage all to do the same even if you didn't use the program since this is what made getting a new bios + adapter from dell possible. Thanks again.

 

Wow, this has been a long ride with too many nights spent on this forum. It may be premature to thank Dell until we see the results but we we can thank Bill, Todd, Brad and the great initiative by Ibrahim & Unclewebb among others who acted professionally and for the commnunity throughout this process.

Few requests on my end, please don't focus on the past...If the fix is satisifactory please move on. I understand some people just like to fight for a cause and once it's gone the they ask "What do I do now"? Second request, we've waited 3 months, what's another week or 2...no need to rush the gates. Give it time, verify the results. Last request, if the fix is satisifactory please move on!

 

I believe it's 10 posts. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I'll donate tonight. I don't even have the laptop yet, but I'll install TS on my desktop to get the donation link.

 

Awesome, thank you

 

My life will be complete when I can get off these forums.

It's been fun, learned a lot, but life has some more important things!

@atlstang/unclewebb

Thanks for the clarification, guys. 130W is solid, then.

@magic#

Yeah, it's 10. Or you can just register on Dell's forums.

~Ibrahim~

 

It looks like us that are outside the U.S are going to have to wait for some time sadly

 

ikjadoon: Totally agree man ! to much of my fre time is wasted eagerly watching for thread updates. Will be gald to get off this However at the risk of sounding homo and chance of a email addy for a couple of you guys that have really helped me incase I have a couple of computer related question I need help with ?

 

@ikjadoon - Was your captured laptop instrumental in getting some of this stuff rolling? If so, thanks for taking the risk for the rest of us. Also, will you be getting it back or will you just keep the replacement you got?

 

I have 10 with no pm permissions.

 

Is there any way for you to speed this up as well? Or is this 'distribution to other nation offices' not in your hands?

 

It will come keep posting dude

 

What will xps owners talk about once this is fixed?