**The Official Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7 "Owners Lounge"

Dell provides an OEM installation disk. Some call it a recovery disk, but it's not a recovery disk in the "classical" sense of the term. The disk is a full Windows 7 disk. It will install on any Dell machine. The difference between the Dell OEM disk and a retail disk is mostly in how the software is activated:
- Retail disks require a product key and product activation on any machine
- Dell OEM disks pull product key and activation information from the system BIOS, meaning any recent Dell machine will activate quietly and without issue.

You *could* use the Dell-provided disk on a non-Dell system, but then you'd be prompted for a product key.

tl;dr : The disk Dell gives you is just as good as a retail disk, and it's not limited to just a recovery disk.

 

Hey thanks a lot!! that was sure very informative!! THANKS AGAIN!!

 

Thats exactly what I thought.

 

The CPU throttling issue made Engadget today:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/dell-facing-massive-e6400-and-e6500-overheating-and-underclockin/

 

"Throttlegate." I love it. (Not being a part of it, just the name )

 

Hey everyone... I ordered my XPS1645 two days ago (EDD 12/21 - keeping my fingers crossed) with the 20% Bing Cashback (still working for those who are asking, I just checked) and had a couple questions.

1. I looked through the other threads and couldn't find a consensus on what the best sleeve for this notebook is, especially considering the 9-cell adds extra depth to the back of the laptop.

2. Is anyone using a cooling pad with the laptop? I know it gets warm, and wondered which products are recommended. The pads on Dell's website were getting mostly mixed reviews.

Thanks!

 

Cool. Any way to get around the perpetual loop of failed attempts to scan my system?

 

The Zalman ZM-NC2000 gets very good reviews on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012WXFO8...e=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B0012WXFO8

 

@ Kaushikpai,

Hi,

I am guessing that you have ordered your SXPS 16 from India.

I have also ordered one for myself from Dell India Site.

I have one question: Are you also experiencing issues with your order, like they have cancelled my order once and have delayed it by 20 days without any notification.

Regards.

 

Clean/reset your internet explorer cookies and history. Close then open then try again. It worked for me alright.

 

There is only space for one HDD. if you choose to remove the burner then you may get a chassie for an additional drive.. i have heard of this but not seen it done.

Dell is using the samsung PB22-J drives in the XPS series and for most of its other product as well... they are a good ssd with above average performance... some say it lags behind intels X25-M and the benchmarks for the most part support this, also keep in mind that the X25-M is more than double the price.

 

The seem to be shipping quickly now.. having said that alot of ppl are still waiting. my guess is 2 weeks.. about the 15-18th

 

Ah thanks, that is exactly the information I was looking for. Since there is only space for one HDD, I am pretty torn between getting a 500GB SATA or a 128GB SSD for $50 more. Do you know what type of 500GBs are in these Dells?

 

Seagate 7200.4 Momentus drives...

 

does this thing come with lojack? i cant seem to get a firm answer from dell

 

Talk to your rep on the phone and push on the 256gb ssd.. i got mine for $300 and in my opinion it is the best upgrade you can make given this is generally the chokepoint in most systems.... i also took the 6gb 1333 ram but if i had to choose i would take the ssd hands down.

 

Same result. Does it matter that I repartitioned my drive?

 

Wow how did you get the 256GB SSD for $300? It's a $450 upgrade in Canada. I got my rep to take $100 off my order but I still don't feel like he gave me a very good deal. Maybe you can connect me with your rep. I'm located in Toronto and I'm very tempted to re-order my XPS from the US side and have it shipped to Buffalo because right now they have free upgrade to 6GB 1333 ram. Their upgrade to the RGDLED screen is only $250 as well, not $400. Decisions decisions..

 

Thanks!

It's suppose to come with 1 year lojack. I see it heavily advertised in the system specs.

 

No, I have repartitioned my HD and I am able to access, the only thing that I noticed is that it took like 2or3 days of trying before I gained access. You can either try waiting or talk with Dell tech support. It may be possible that they need to update your info at there end for you to gain access.

 

Flushed everything (cache, cookies, history, etc.). Rebooted and tried again and *poof* it worked.

Thanks!

 

How is the battery life on the 1645s with normal use?

 

about 2 1/2 - 3hrs

 

i will dig up the info tomorrow and pm you...I want to call him and give him a heads up first... my rep gave my buddy the same price i got which was about 2600 plus tax for rgb ssd bd burner and 6 gb ram and 3 yr with complete care... if you dont want the same spec im sure he will give you a deal.

in total i got about 900 off list

 

Bing 20% CB is a better deal.

 

anybody that received there's already, did you get windows 7 in the box?
Mine did not come with windows 7, Does anyone know how I can get it?

 

i use my dell discs with my gateway and sony laptops, works fine

 

i must have gotten yours, i have 2 discs in mine

call dell and yell

 

He's essentially right. OEMs ( all OEMs install a Microsoft-specific patch in the BIOS with Dell's "factory key". The windows disc doesn't care WHOSE factory key it is, as long as there is one which it considers valid. That's why the OEM Ultimate key that leaked earlier this year was such a big deal, as it will work on ANY Ultimate PC built by an OEM. Microsoft doesn't distribute different images of Win7 to the different OEMs, so they're all interoperable. If you install a Lenovo copy on Win7 on an HP machine, you'll probably have a bunch of redundant drivers, but no harm done.

 

what do you mean?

even if i DBAN my drive and install a retail copy of windows something could eff up??

 

Yup, I'm in Tdot too. I didn't hesistate, had my friend in Detroit order it, the dell.ca site is crap, way more money + less options (check .com), Tax in Michigan was only like 6%, so even if I pay duty at 13%, thats a 7% hike on what I would pay in Canada BUT I would pay $500 more for the same config from Canada and even with that, at the time, no Blu Ray Burner or 16" edge to edge RGBLED was offered.

My order reached Detroit yesterday and is already flipped with UPS and in Windsor after midnight. Plus you can get your friend to do the bing thing and get more off now. You may pay $400 less for a better config but with more hassle perhaps.

 

no, he's saying that u could install it just fine and it will work properly, but you'd have a bunch of extra drivers that are dell (or whatever OEM the recovery disk is from) specific

 

Got my laptop finally!

The screen looks damn nice but being that I have never seen an rgbled screen before how do I know I have one? the packing slip states

"MODULE, LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 16, FULL HIGH DEFINITION, LOW COST, 1645/1647"

and the product codes is 0VCRJ

no mention of any rgbled in there.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm planning on doing. Would I still be covered under the warranty though if I move it out of the country I bought it in?

 

Does anyone know if it's possible to downclock the ATI 4670 Graphics Card? Some people have told me you cannot change the speed of a laptop's graphics cards.

I might want to do this so the laptop will run a little cooler for most app's and then I'll move it back to its factory settings when I need more power and don't mind the heat for things like playing games.

 

The GFX card should run pretty cool in 2D mode...what kind of temps are you getting that you need to adjust the clocks?

 

Thanks for your reply DeathWalking.

I have the XPS 1645 on order. Some people mentioned it can get a little on the warm/hot side, but (correct me if I'm wrong) from what you're saying it sounds like that is only when used intensively in 3D mode.

In your opinion does it get uncomfortably or irritatingly warm/hot when the ATI 4670's resources are called upon in 3D mode?

 

If you're in the habit of leaving your hand right behind the exhaust vent, you might have a slight problem with this laptop. Other than that, the palmrest gets slightly warm. That's all the heat I notice with this laptop.

 

I have noticed that im only able to see 2 applications only available to download....

 

Nothing of this sort till now with me... My EDD still Says 16th Dec.. i hope the dELL ppl keep up to their original EDD... i'm not sure though..

 

How? 3468 pre tax x 20% = 693.60 for a total of 2774.40

I paid ~ 2600

 

I have 5 applications:

1. Facial Recognition (3 different versions)
2. McAfee security software
3. Roxio
4. Cyberlink
5. Webcam Central software

Maybe you can contact Dell and see if they will add whatever you do not have.

 

I ordered one on 3rd october and still i haven't got it....my order has been canceled 5 times....now the edd is 7 dec....but still the order is 'in progress'. i doubt it'll be delivered even on 7th

And srry to dissapoint you Kaushikpai, you were not the first cutomer in India....in october, this system was displayed on the site but only for a couple of days.
Now, after 2 months of wait, they r giving me a backpack and mouse as a compensation

 

@anky1645I have gone thorugh same hassles. They cancelled my order too and added the noise isolation ear phones in the new order.

Did you fight for your compensation or did they provided it by themselves.

@ kaushikpai
Dude, i would recommend that you check with your Sales Rep too. They will keep your order in Production till EDD-1 day and then cancel it without notification, and will give you a new order with the EDD of next month.

Wishing the best of luck to all awaiting their laptops.

 

I had to fight for it...initially they were giving the noise isolation earphones only.....but now its backpack and mouse after 2 months....hope i finally get it by this weekend....this wait has been killing me

 

ok, i got this thing... dammit

was wondering if anyone had any issues with dead pixels in the rgb 16". in my left lower corner there are about 30 or so dead pixels or something in between the glass and screen, and a stain looking mark too. it is hard to notice but now i see it well now i know it is there.

also, does anyone run cupid hw monitor? why cant i get the gpu temp on it?

not really too impressed so far, lots of freezes and jerky stuff going on. i dont know, pretty depressed about this screen issue...

 

It is possible we are not talking about the same currencies. Are you talking U.S. dollars? If so, I just spec'd out your system on Dell's website for U.S. $2,618 pre-tax.

 

I noticed the freezes too. Can you ctrl-alt-del out of them, or do you need a reboot? I needed to pull the plug and yank the battery.

What type of user account are you working out of? I have a hunch that they are only happening in standard user accounts instead of the administrator account because of a buggy video driver.

 

I have no dead pixels to report. At least that I can spot yet.

No jerkiness or freezes yet either.

In photoshop the save for web command is ctrl+shift+alt+s

For some reason it is not working on this computer? Is there a limit to how many buttons you can press?

 

I think so, when you get it - register it etc. usually worldwide (Dell HP etc.)