The DELL Studio XPS 13 horror thread

Heh. Thanks for the "encouragement" . I have yet to experience any problems on my unit and heat was less of an issue than I imagined it might be so I am happy I suppose. I'll probably end up being mad at myself though if nothing goes horribly wrong after one year but before four .

I'll probably be installing Windows 7 later today to recomplete my tri-boot setup.

 

sorry for souble-posting but post gost lost amongst the big 1340 owners hread. any help appreciated as dell tech's just say reinstall which i hav down once already

 

Here is a new review on the Dell Studio XPS 13 Ultraportable Notebook - very positive!

http://hothardware.com/articles/Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Evaluation/

 

Ok! RECEIVED MY refurb 13 today, absolutely gorgeous, came with A03 , I update to A06 bios, LED scren is vibrant, no scratch, no dead pixel, system is fast, but of course it runs pretty hot and fan is always on, not too annoying but noticeable if I'm in class.

Here is the question! when laptop is on and I move it, what is this awful buzzing grinding noise coming from the hard drive? I know its shock mounted, is this normal ? its like when I tilt the laptop, like carry it around, if anything BUT flat, the computer or rather the HD compartment has this very much audible buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................... is it bad or ..?

 

ok, I listened intently, its not grinding, but a buzzing noise , the sound level goes up and down at different angle of laptop movement...........anyone experienced this?

 

yeah, i get the same thing depending on where and how much pressure i apply.

 

have u had any problem with it?... im thinking if its something I should be able to live with and keep or return cause something may go bad..?

 

I haven't had any problems, I just try not to hold it that way. it doesn't always happen, I just tried to recreate it, but its not making the noise. I seem to remember it happening when I hold the laptop one handed at a certain angle.

 

I'm having hard time getting it to much noise. If I move it angle it somewhat rapidly I hear a short and quiet "ring" but I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it (nor do I move my laptop much when it is powered on XD).

 

I think whether or not a person would like the Studio XPS 13 is probably more subjective. I initially was sent a lemon and I kept getting BSOD randomly. It kept making a humming noise every now and then which tested your sanity. Sometimes I felt like I was the only one who heard the humming noise but thankgod one of my friends noticed it as well. So Dell sent a replacement laptop and took the old piece of sh*t one back. I really love the machine now.

I upgraded from the DV5-1132TX which had a 9600M GT 512mb video card. The DV5 was really a powerful machine and the 9600M GT card is absolutely stunning in how it crunches through games and applications. However upgrading to the XPS 13 I really didn't feel the downgrade in performance on the gaming side. Left 4 Dead runs as smoothly as it does on the DV5 albeit a slight drop in the FPS (5). Tom Clancy's Hawx runs smoothly at 4x AA 4x AF. Fallout 3 runs smoothly at 2x AA 4x AF. Crysis runs smoothly at 2x AA and 4x AF. DSC BlackShark runs smoothly at 4x AA and 4 However for some reason Velvet Assassin really choked the system with any AA or AF on, even with them off it runs a little slow. Perhaps the game itself is crap? This really is great as when I had my m1330 you could game well for 10 mins but as soon as the laptop found out you were intending to game for longer it started to whine as all the fans came on, you would get slow downs and the laptop would heat up really badly.

My battery seemed to last 2 hours and 50 mins at 80% brightness and in power saving mode.

Things that I like about the XPS 13:
-the ability to change from power save to SLI performance mode is really good. Most of the time when I use the laptop for browsing I run it in balanced power mode which runs the graphics in power save mode and the laptop is amazingly cool. I can easily keep it on my lap and the under side is cool and does not heat up at all. It also is really quiet. With the DV5 whether you game or not it really got hot and every now and then you hear the fans kick in to both annoy you and cool the system down.
-Great performance. Good performance on gaming and full HD bluray DVD's. Once you find the right video drivers it performs well.
-Design is really awesome. It is very solid no flex at all.
-Keyboard is wonderful.
-LED screen really makes a difference. Once you go LED you cant go back to LCD it just seems dull.
-Isn't it great that you can access the hard drive, memory, wireless cards, heat sink and the fans just by unscrewing 6 screws? It's great that they have designed it so the whole base comes off and you can access everything.

Things not so good:
-IDT software
-Installing video card drivers for the 9500. I found it a pain trying to upgrade drivers as sometimes you had 9400+9200 as one driver and the other came up as 9200 with a yellow exclamation mark. Then sometimes only one came up. But once you find the right driver that installs nicely and performs well just keep it and upgrade only if you find the driver causing a problem. Sometimes I found some of the drivers causing problems in games where they were not in sync and you get sort of slow downs in areas of the games like vertical sync problems.
-Wish they had the remote like the m1330 came with.
-Wish dell would send more accessories with the m1340. Even the m1330 came with a great sleeve that magnetically would close, a high quality ear phones which was really awesome and the leather booklet and cloth to clean the laptop. The m1340 came with itself and some cds. I guess the recession is hitting Dell?
-fingerprints.

I also found that the laptop was more stable after upgrading to A06. I have had 0 freezes/BSOD's or anything since I installed A06. I think most of the problem with unstability is due to the IDT drivers. You just have to either disable the stacsv.exe service and set it to manual enabling it whenever you listen to music or just uninstall it and let Vista install it's own drivers. I actually found the sound quality better with the Vista drivers and Vista enhancements like Bass Boost and Low frequency protection. It really improved the bass on the mp3's I played. Something else I noticed is if you even move the laptop slightly up or down you get clicking noises from the hard drive which worried me at first but I have absolutely no problems with the hard drive.

I really like the XPS 13. It really solid and worth the money. I think with Dell updating drivers we will see more stability as they iron out the issues.

 

I'm not sure if I had the same problem as you guys but I had something similar where I would get a high pitched whining noise when I moved the laptop around..

I opened it up and found out that a sticker on the fan was getting "hit" as the fan span round, so if you think it might be that kind of sound you might want to open up the bottom panel and see if there's a sticker or something that's getting hit by the fan as it spins.. All I did was peel it off (didn't look like a very important sticker) and the noise was gone.

 

I still have that slightly whining noise..if i move the laptop a certain angle, strange , though it seems to have subsided a bit, ill give it a few days and see.

NOW! i was siging praises of my macbook how the built and quality's good.. and now when iplug in the ac, it says NOT CHARGING, apparently there are quite a few of this problems w/macbook going around, either the circuitry and or the battery problem.. sigh... off to Genius bar I go now... will leave 13 on and see how stable it is...

 

I have the same noise every few seconds.

My refurbished configuration has the 500 GB SATA Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor.

Can this be related to the free fall sensor? I tried living the laptop on a flat surface but I still hear the sound once in a while. It's like a small clunk noise but not loud enough.

Can anyone confirm if this is normal?

 

I have the 320GB with the free fall sensor and I don't get this noise.. so no, I wouldn't guess it's normal.

 

I have a new 500GB HD model and as I said, I only hear the noise during rapid movements (which probably isn't good for the laptop) and even then I didn't notice it until this thread was created.

 

I've noticed when there is a CD/DVD in the slot drive, i get this weird buzzing/sawing noise when i tilt my laptop up and down. Does anyone else get this when they have a CD/DVD in their drive??

 

Not sure if this is a logical explanation, but after searching online, I have this hypothesis, but that depends on #1 to be valid.

1) My buzzz or whining noise seems to be coming near the upper left quadrant (near the vent) 1/4 of the laptop. is the hard drive there or sorta near there? If not there, could it be that the sound of hard drive is channeled out there?

2) If #1 is true, then my guess would be that, our hard drive all have free fall sensor, which is the motor that will move the reader away from the platter away when it detect laptop in an accelerated motion. I picked up my laptop and rapidly rotate it around 360 degrees, and the buzz, whining noise was quite pronounced. However, if I do the same but in slow motion, such noise did not occur at all.

Could the buzzing, whining noise have come from the free fall sensor motor rapidly pulling the reader needle away from the platter? since in slow motion, such noise was not present? But then once again it sorta depend on where the hard drive is, which I have not opened up the laptop so no idea.

 

look at the bottom two threads

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/03/13/seagate_ships_momentus_7200-2/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=212591&page=3

It does not mention whining buzzing noise specifically, but wont be surprised if a motor make such noise. I just did the same experiment again, the buzzing noise ONLY comes up when I rapidly move my laptop at an angle, which would simulate sorta free fall. At other times, no problem. Thoughts?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Studio-XPS-13-Notebook.14081.0.html

found location of the hd, guess there is a slight possibility that the HD noise could be channeled to the back.

 

@howard911s: I was thinking the same thing which is why I dismissed it as a problem on my unit (aside from the fact that I can barely hear it even when making that noise XD). From my impression the people above were complaining the noise also occured when the laptop was tilted but not moving as well which I haven't been able to reproduce.

 

mine only make the buzzing noise when tilted fast, tilting slow is quiet, and the HD is located on the same side as the vent, the motor sound can easily be channeled out through the vent. Just short of calling dell support, which probably know less than you and me, I'm guessing its the free fall motor...

speaking of which, sudden thought came to mind, I did order a M1530 long long time ago, with 200gb 7200rpm HD, I returned it cause of that same buzzing whining noise. Now thinking about it, that one had a free fall sensor too XD maybe I returned it by mistake hahahaha

 

Heh, yay for accelerometers?

 

ok, proves I'm right. Called XPS support, his opinion is it's a fan noise and there is nothing to worry about. Unbelieved, I opened up the laptop, turned it on and produced the same motion, VOILA, fan was NOT even moving, the buzzing noise came from the hard drive itself when I tilt it in fast motion but not if I do it slowly.

Now, can anyone find out if this buzzing noise is the sound of a failing hard drive or the free fall motor in action?

 

Guess what, dell says its hard drive mechanical problems, and they will be sending me a new seagate 320g 7200rpm HD @_@

 

you guys think I should accept it and swap it out or c/b to cancel it and just return the system since I Just got it 2 days ago?

 

Everybody with the 7200.3 Seagate 320GB 7200rpm (ST9250421ASG) drive should make sure the firmware on it is updated to DE17. The M1530/1730 and a few other model's download pages have this update under SATA Drives, but not the 1340/1640 for some reason.

This is the drive that came with my M1730 and its the same on in my Studio XPS 1340. This update should make the drive quieter. The heads should make less noise.

People should also remember that the 1340 is NOT a silent computer, if you want a silent computer, go get a Mini9 with no moving parts. A 7200rpm HDD in a laptop is going to make some noise, spinning and write head noise. That's just the nature of physics.

Either way, I'd update your drives to DE17 firmware if they aren't already. Otherwise I think anybody getting a replacement HDD will be annoyed when the new one arrives and it sounds exactly the same.....


Seagate 320GB 7200rpm DE17 Firmware Update Link

 

Hey THx TIM for the link, let me update it now. Does your xps 13 have that strange buzz/whining noise if its on and u move it at a tilted angle? Even though dell tell me its probably defective, I still kinda think its the motor moving fast sensing laptop is travelling to fast when i move it.

 

I haven't experienced that on my XPS13, but I've experienced what you describe on my old Thinkpad X60s. In my case it was the fan, it would be noisy as hell, but if I have the laptop tilted at an angle it'll be fine. I started applying sewing machine oil to it regularly when I clean my laptop, and it's been fine ever since.

 

i'd love to do that, but my HD would fry hahahh, I'm starting to think if i should just return it and wait for another opportunity.........spent 2 days trying to diagnose this and have 2 term paper due arghh

 

What the hell, somehow my eyes thought you were talking about a fan >_<

HDD, time to replace it after the term paper.

 

woohoo...Called dell to return the laptop, they offered to next business day a new seagate 320gb 7200rpm HD to me PLUS image already on there, save me time to reinstall stuff, plus $35 credit back, bringing my rig down to 690 shipped. with P8600. 4 GB ddr 3, 320gb HD nvidia 9400, bluetooth and LED, can't beat that! I can endure a little heat ha!

 

Hi,

Im looking for a honnest person who could buy the 9-cells battery for me and ship it to France. The current price 80$ is ridiculous.
Please contact me.

 

OK - this isn't exactly horror as my XPS 13 in general works fine.

BUT. I'm hearing some noises I don't like. I think its from the gpu as the noises only occur when I'm in performance mode and giving it some heavy graphic to work with.

It comes and goes and sounds almost like a short circuit. At least it sounds "electric". Has anyone experienced a similar noise from the gpu?

This is just a noise issue - no BSOD and performance seems fine.

 

correction. Now I got a bluescreen referring to one of the graphic-files.. That hasn't happened before. It was during a startup of a game, so I guess it might just be a driver issue.

I've switched to the latest nvidia drivers and now the performance seems a little lower than with the dell a06 drivers. But hopefully they're stable.

 

My dell studio screen as gone 90 degrees ccw, how do I fix? Also the view has increased in sizes. Help!!

 

hmm sorry to report that I have returned my xps 13, at school wireless card's so weak that my asus netbook and macbook can both have reception in the area xps 13 has zero wifi reception, plus the broken hard drive...sent it back.......next!

PS: go to bestbuy and look at the studio xps 13 review, whats the deal with people saying dell telling them its the wrong motherboard used?

 

Just opened my Studio XPS 13 from the Dell UK Outlet.

First impressions were very good but having read this thread I realise that both hinge lights should be illuminated. My left one isn't working.

Do you guys think I should follow this up? One poster above had a tech open his screen and one spec of dust turned to many. Should I just leave it or should I call Dell?

The fan also runs all the time which is a bit annoying. Power saving mode doesn't appear to clock down the CPU. Any ideas?

 

Sorry mate, this laptop runs hot, that's just the way it is, either fan running or the whole thing will fry...might fry anyway..... and hinge light.. you paid for it, of course follow up on it.

 

This really dampens my buying mood over this lappie. It's got decent graphics horsepower but plagued by overheating, bad design and high latency issues. What a shame. Guess I'll go for an HP or Asus.

 

People have varying experiences. You either know you like the laptop within the first day of usage or you hate it and there are 50 things wrong with it. I'd say very few have had the laptop truly overheat however and I'm not sure what you're referring to regarding design (can't speak regarding latency issues). Asus's lineup is pretty nice as well and I nearly got an N81Vp-C1 before ending up with the SXPS (primary deciding factor was warranty).

 

Well, I guess you're right. Overheating can be fixed by an update BIOS, and the design flaw I'm talking about was the screen blocking the heat vent at the rear when tilting the screen past 90. Then again, if the heat problem's been fixed by the BIOS, I guess it'll be OK to have the screen open beyond 90 degrees. I'm also eyeing the N81vp now, but I like the aesthetics of the SXPS13 even more. I heard from XPS 13 users are hoping for a BIOS fix to the current audio latency problem as it did with the A07 update to the XPS 16. If Dell manages to fix it, then I'm sold!

 

The vent isn't really blocked by the screen but rather the hot air is merely deflected. E.g. at ~100 degree angle, 1 of the four air vent "strips" is "blocked" by the screen (air hits the bottom of the screen but is still free to escape as a small gap is present between the screen and the vent). If I open the laptop is open at a ~150 degree angle (the farthest it can open) then 3.5/4 of the vent holes are "blocked" at which time much of the air is deflected upwards. Currently I'm curious what Asus's N81Vp-D1 will bring as the N81Vp-C1 already has high end specs. The only things I can think of for improvement would be possibly monitor resolution or a smaller form factor (as it is rather large for a 14.1" screen size from what I've heard).

 

That was helpful. Never had the opportunity to inspect an SXPS13 up close, aside from online pictures.Well, at least the hot air has room to escape. Otherwise, it'll be disastrous for the notebook. Never knew there would be an update to the N81. I checked at Newegg earlier and the N81vp-C1 has been discontinued. If it can retain its ATI 4650 card on its present form factor or even smaller, that would be very sweet. I guess the only changes would be the specs if not the resolution or form factor.

Is the Dell 1515N card on par with its counterpart the Intel 5100?

 

But what will they change with the specs? It already has one of the best CPUs and GPUs out there for a 14.1" screen. Hopefully they don't make it worse .

And regarding internal heat, my current GPU temps on high performance are 55 degrees Celsius and 62 degrees Celsius with my CPU temp at 57 degrees Celsius.

 

How is the heat for you guys 13? any improvement? freezing and death?

I'm looking at this also...it has reappear at the bb website, not sure if there are any real fix vs the old overheating one other than 500gb HD and bios update?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9358063&type=product&id=1218090589096

 

I just got my SXPS 13 yesterday. First impression was overall good. The keyboard is amazing, no flex in the keys at all, and it has a very solid feel, and the satisfying crunch sound when typing. The lighting accents are very pleasant and don't feel the least bit overdone. The LED screen is actually too bright for my taste, as I like a very rich black, but that's not at all a con for this laptop. As contemplative buyers may suspect, it is a dust and fingerprint magnet, but you'll live with it. As for heat, it hasn't been an issue for me at all really. The laptop has never gotten extremely hot, and after using it for about 9 hours the past 2 days, I haven't had a BSOD once. Running Windows 7 currently, and all of the software and hardware seems totally compatible. Some people have also complained about the DVD drive being noisy. Mine is actually more quiet than the one in my desktop, oddly enough.

Overall my only gripe is that the screen has a very small spot in one corner, the size of 1 pixel, that is black. The pixel isnt dead, because if I turn the laptop sideways I can see that the mark is on top of the screen glass, and I can see the pixel underneath it and it is the right color. After 10 minutes trying to remove the blemish I gave up, as it is in the corner and barely noticeable anyway. In fact, I have a hard time finding it now.

 

How is the fan noise? so no ovverheat? I really really love this laptop , I had 1 refurb that died from bad hard drive, (return), another one from Bestbuy, previous one advertised with 320gb HD (froze and died)... I really should just skip it altogether but 899 for 2.4 ghz and ddr 3 ram and 500gb is too attractive.. im torn between this one and

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...7?skuId=9366651&type=product&id=1218092150636

 

Fan noise is well within reason. At it's highest setting it's inaudible over music or games. Heat isn't too bad. The laptop does get warm, but if I were to compare the heat, I'd say it feels like a warm bath when I put my hands over the laptop. Somewhere around 45*C at it's hottest.

Concerning the laptop you linked: My friend bought it and doesn't like it. He says it's too heavy, too large for college, and it has pretty bad heat issues, ironically. The processor is also quite a bit weaker.

 

Hey james, I bought the 899 bestbuy studio xps 13 just now, the one with 500gb HD. I found a warranty sheet stating that this laptop comes with 1 year warranty, I ccan carry this studio xps 13 into bestbuy any time during the 1 year and they will take care of any problem!