S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info. and Updates

Couldn't agree more.

 

Quietcat, you clearly don't understand the concpet of running a business

 

You clearly don't understand the concept of consumer rights.

 

not sure if you noticed, but the bios isn't ready yet, so the whole purpose of the PM system is so us NBR users get first dibs on the 130W adaptors, and we get to keep our 90W adaptors, a recall is more than likely going to happen

recalling all of the 90w power adaptors right now its utterly pointless as most users have no clue what throttlestop is (not offence unclewebb, you're awesome)

 

We got conformation on our fix, yet people are still complaining
its a never ending road...

 

Hi i'm new to this site, and i have been looking at reviews for the XPS 16 laptop. Compared it to others with specs and what not. Figured with the warranty that it is the best buy. So... I ordered it yesterday thinking it was a slam dunk. Then i discovered today about the throttling issue. Am i being optomistic in thinking they might just put the 130w charger in there since they know of the problem?

 

What semblance said was a recall of sorts .

People should get sent out a 130 watt adapter and let dell decide if they want people to send the 90watt ones back.

The 130 w adapter will still work with the current bios without throttlestop but will just pull 90 watts max and be alot cooler.

 

Yeah I got all that, i was just curious if it was posted anywhere or heard, if all new shipments would be sent out with th 130w instead of the 90w so later i wouldn't have to go through the trouble of getting a new one. it ships like in a week so i'm hoping they do the right thing.

 

^agreed ... a recall would be bad for public image (think Toyota); for all the people who don't have this issue, a recall would be pointless and just make them/people thinking of buying a comp not like dell, whereas with the PM system everybody on NBR who have been really involved get the adapter they need and are happy that dell is listening (granted, they are still probably mad at dell that the computers weren't perfect, but they are probably really happy that dell is actually sending someone out to go through all the posts on this forum). It's a win/win.

My only question is, and I'm sorry if there is no answer to this yet/if this question should be held till later (I've been scolding enough on this forum haha):
Bill or anybody --
When getting the replacement adapter either through the PM system or eventually just through dell customer service or whatever, will you have to pay? I'm not a huge gamer and I am ok with just running games on battery (that's supposed to make it work pretty well right?) so I don't think there would be really too much of a point in having to pay for a new adapter (sorry if anybody thinks I am cheap), but I would obviously prefer if my comp could run up to its full potential and would definitely get one if you don't have to pay.

ps that is something that would make people mad: dell giving them an adapter that doesn't allow the computer to work up to its full potential and then making people buy the better one.

 

no you won't have to pay extra, Dell has already sent adapter to a number of people for trials etc. and you will get yours for free

 

"For all the people who dont have the issue"?

Everybody has the issue.

Maybe you should be working for Dell.

Then again maybe you are.

 

I.e. people who aren't heavy gamers, video editors, etc.
I wish I was working for dell... then I wouldn't have to shell out the full 1200 bucks (which is still a really good price i guess...) to get a computer that is flawed...

 

isn't that what dell is going to do? or something of the sort, they are going to send out 130W adapters once the bios comes out, at the moment its utterly pointless to get people worked up about a 130W adapter that won't increase performance (my 90w adapter doesn't even get that hot, it only gets warm)

semblance wants dell to stop producing the 1645, which doesn't make sense

 

Funny, this isn't even my first experience with Dell power issues. I still have a first-gen Studio 15 that had SO MANY issues with the BIOS, power, and ATI drivers when it first came out.

But here I am again, with a brand new Dell and the prospect of hours on the phone with overseas TSRs yawning before me. Luckily was was able to re-find this thread and discover that a BIOS update is in the works and a mere PM can get me on the list for a replacement 130W PSU.

When I was first doing research on this laptop (before Christmas), this thread (and the similar DCF thread) were the first few hits on Google, and so I was able to keep abreast of the issue's development. It's worth mentioning that neither thread shows up in the top five hits when I search studio xps 1645. That would say to me that there is not an easy enough way for the semi-professional user to be notified or organically discover that there is an issue robbing him/her of 40% or more of their system's potential performance...

Perhaps an email blast sent out to buyers of the Studio XPS 16, notifying them that the issue has been acknowledged by Dell, will be posted soon to Direct2Dell, and can be followed along with in this thread or the DCF.

 

All I can say is re read semblanse post again.



Of course it does not make sense to stop production of 1645 if you are Dell.

If you are consumer it makes perfect sense.

You are obviously taking dells side.

 

^Well maybe you should too if Dell is sending someone to this forum and actually paying attention to everything that everybody is saying and trying to help.

 

how is stopping production a viable option to consumers? what about people that actually want to buy the laptop, Spec'd had a good idea of letting the consumer's know that the machine has a throttling problem and that a fix is underway, why stop the production of the 1645 for a few weeks when it would cause more trouble than anything?

When i bought this laptop, i knew of the throttling problem and a large amount of consumers probably couldn't care less

 

Another good idea, but we have to ask ourselves why this not happening?

What makes users of NBR and DCF so important over all the other owners of this system?

Everybody who bought this laptop needs to be informed now by (email or phone or letter) and production needs to stop until issue is resolved.

 

where do you find the service number so you can pm bill?

 

well at the moment its NBR users who are returning laptops etc causing dell problems so they are the main priority before more bad publicity gets out

 

bottom of your laptop, in the middle'ish, really small

 

That was my exactly my point.

 

ya i sort of agree with you, make the people who complain happy, BUT eventually (soon) they should make sure everyone gets the fix

 

@quietcat

You guys seem to forget how big Dell is. It's not impossible to stop selling the laptops immediately (if they were catching fire, sure), but that seems to be an extreme solution, especially in regard to the current solution (A07+130W) that Dell is providing.

The laptops are fundamentally broken, but it's not like it's a dangerous hazard or is irreparable....

~Ibrahim~

 

Thank you!

 

Just remember that A07 is not here yet.

Current solution is 130w + throttlestop.

 

Right. All we have is Bill's word that this A07 is coming. Whether to believe him: well....he did send me a 130W adapter for free (as he'll be sending everyone else in due time!) and he's never lied to me before.

However, you're right: nothing's certain.

~Ibrahim~

 

There will not be a charge for the replacement adapters, nor for shipping back the original 90w adapter (if that is how it is handled).

 

ikjadoon, seriously, your too laid back all the time....

JK lol

 

So... Any answer if newly placed orders on the SXPS 16 will come with the 130w instead of the 90w to atleast stop the bleeding a bit? Because i just ordered one yesterday...

 

All SXPS 16 are shipping with the 90 watt adapter until the BIOS is released..

 

Thank you. Well atleast i'll know to not be expecting a posibility of getting a 130w with my rig.

 

Hello Todd Dell

Bill mentioned that he would not answer questions with data from Killawatt.

"Killawatt findings- We use different tools and methods to measure total power draw the system takes from the AC adapter, so I will not be addressing any questions or counterpoints based on findings derived from Killawatt meters"

Can you suggest an alternative to using Killawatt?

 

very true!!!!

 

When I say "I'm no engineer," I do not mean to be flipant, so don't get me wrong. I'm just not that familiar with methods used to measure AC power draw. I think unclewebb or someone of his level of knowledge might be able to name alternative methods. The engineer mentioned our method on the call, but I do not recall. I think it has something to do, basically, with the fact that readings on the adapter side of the DC-in jack are not a truly accurate measure of the amount of power draw, and it is more acurate to measure from the motherboard side of the jack.

 

To address how the adapters might be replaced, it may be a recall, but the part that would be recalled would be the AC adapter. Recalls are usually for safety reasons, and there is no known safety defect with the AC adapter. We have options on how to handle the exchanges.

We want to make this as painless as possible. For instance, if we immediately sent out an email and snail mail blast, posted to our website, and issued a press release, we would ship X-thousand adapters in Y days. If current line of sight to supply is less than Y days at the rate of X-thousand per Y days, we would have a backlog. It takes time to procure the amount needed.

There are also questions of regulatory compliance in several different countries. If we made this big campaign and could not fulfill anticipated shipments, we would have an even worse backlog.

I have read somewhere on the internet before that massive backlogs cause more pain, and as I said, the idea is to do this as painlessly as possible.

In light of the fact that customers posting on this forum and ours were the major driving force that provided the impetus to make a change, it's only fair we use the existing inventory to fulfill orders here first, right? And your replacement adapter is in that inventory (provided you are in the US or Canada), quietCat. We thank you for your contribution to our effort to do the right thing.

 

To a Dell poster,
Do I have to wait to receive my laptop, or can I already request a new adapter with my purchase number? thanks.

 

Good question. Didn't think of that.

A day or two before the BIOS posts, if I get a heads up in time, you can PM me your order number at that time, even if it has not shipped yet. I would check the order details first to see what adapter was shipping. If it's a 130, I will let you know. If it's a 90, I will ship you a 130.

 

Really, you are better of getting a 90 watt power supply with your new computer in the long run. Then you will receive the 130 watt for free, and have an extra 90 watt adapter for travel, etc. The system runs fine on the 90 watt if you are doing basic tasks.

 

I agree, AC power draw is irrelevant since the PSU rating of 90W is on the DC side of the power supply. I disagree that measuring from any point other than the DC port on the laptop is better though since if there is any additional DC to DC conversion on the motherboard, it's not going to change whereas the power supply could be swapped for one that is more efficient and causes a lower wattage reading due to better ac to dc conversion.. These power supplies get HOT and that is a good indication that they are not terribly efficient. Inline current measurement at the DC input would be 100% accurate.

I am somewhat convinced that dell has finally decided to admit this is an issue and they will resolve it. We just need to give them a little time. Take the fact that they now have staff actively participating in the threads as a sign that they are not ignoring the complaints. I think it would be in our best interest to back off a little bit and let them get this figured out and repaired. We work fine with the throttlestop app and a 130W PSU so it isn't like there is a massive urgency to push them to release code that causes new problems... How annoyed would we be if the bios update randomly bricked 10% of the laptops? and it did so because we tried to force them to bypass parts of their change control and QA process? (Mind you, how their QA process missed this is of concern)

Thanks for keeping us in the loop Bill, I think you will find that a little communication about these issues will go a long ways to keep people happy. An update is still an update even if there has been no additional progress on the issue.

 

Far as I know, you need to return the 90W adapter to get the 130W for free. I did.

 

@Dell-Bill B

Earlier you posted that your inbox is 95% full with PM's requesting the adapters. Would it be fair to clear your inbox of all requests the day before the BIOS releases and then everyone can then follow what was requested originally to request the adapter then?

 

Seriously I waited 2 month for my exchange and it got auto canceled.
Dell failed to satify me every single time.

 

I planned on it. I am going to read them all to make sure there are not any unrelated matters.

 

ahem, What about the compensation part ? I bought this system for some gaming and all. So, itz like purpose of this laptop wasn't severed for last 2 months. I had to stick with by Desktop.
Keeping a product with manufacturing defect and not returning it, is whole lot of stress. We don't know weather the problem will be solved or not. Blah.
Good thing is, Dells gona be out with a solution.

 

Thank you very much. It is great how closely you monitor this forum. I will check and keep an eye for that.

 

keeping the laptop was your choice, Dell doesn't owe you any compensation, you should be happy they are even fixing the issue.

 

For real.

WTH do you want? Be happy we are getting a fix. The Latitude peeps didnt even get a proper fix yet as I understand.

Edit: You think Toyota customers are going to get a free turbo charger in there cars?

 

You could say they should do it in Goodwill. A class action law suit would had costed them even more. Something like this.



Edit : Whatever.

 

Woot! what dealer did you go to?