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

yeah, i don't think i am too sad i didn't get a m17x anymore. of course i always want cutting edge gpu's, but i don't game much anymore so this thing is fine. doesn't seem like the fit and finish is as good as Sony or Toshiba but it is good enough i think. i often complain about my dell machines, but that's because i am extremely picky. my gateway and Sony are much more solid and trouble free but i cant complain too much.

 

I finally received my 1645 yesterday (ordered 11/8)

I was showing it to my girlfriend tonight and for some reason she told me that I can change the brightness by pressing the Fn button and the up and down arrows. I tried it, it worked, but then everything on the screen looked washed in red, and it went dark. I am going crazy now trying to get the screen to turn back on and I can't seem to figure it out. Anyone have any ideas? All that time waiting for it to come and now I can't use it.

 

update: I took the battery out and put it back in and it seems to be working now.

 

I finally received my Studio XPS 16 w/ the following specs:

I7 720|RBGLED|ATI 4670|256GB SSD|Bluray Burner|4GB RAM|W7 x64

Original Order Date: 9/24/09
Delivered Date: 12/08/09

Anyways, has anyone with the Bluray Burner had any luck ripping DVDs with AnyDVD? Whenever I insert a disk it gives me the error about it being possibly a region locked RPC2 drive.

The drive is labeled: Mata (Panasonic) BD-RE UJ235A.

I did a search on the forums and didn't find any results. If anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

John

 

Not sure if anyone here can help (not saying that they can't, I just know I can't) but you might wanna try AnyDVD's forums, they might be able to give you advice.

 

I've been reading a lot of complaints here with regard to the Studio XPS 1645 and I have to admit it's a bit unfortunate. My experience with the system has been overwhelmingly positive, but I feel as though I'm in the minority here. Now don't get me wrong, there is obviously an issue with throttling that may eventually be resolved by Dell, but outside of stressing the system with gaming, other consumer complaints seem to be minimal.

I just wanted to throw this out there so that people seeing this thread don't jump to the conclusion that the machine is an utter disappointment. I've been using my 1645 for software development using virtualization and the experience has been wholly positive. VMWare instances run like a dream!

As my signature suggests, my only real complaint thus far is the surface of the laptop, which is a fingerprint magnet... though I knew this before purchasing the system and I'm sure as the novelty fades, so will the enthusiasm with which I'm currently removing any smudges. The screen is absolutely stunning!

Other random notes: I use a Zalman NC-2000 cooler (awesome!) and an external mouse.

 

A new BIOS Update is out for the XPS 1645. Go get it...just installed...have to see how it goes.

 

Does the new bios do anything for the throttling?

I myself ordered an XPS 1645 last week (i7 820QM, 6GB RGBLED, Bluray etc...) So I'll see how it goes when I get it. I also happen to have a 130 watt power brick on hand so I will be able to run comparison tests right out of the box.

 

Thats Good news. I also use the Zalman NC-2000 cooler. But I am worried that the metal edges will scratch my glass coffee table.

Did you try playing blu ray? any luck?

 

Not trying to answer for Alemaker, but when I 1st start playing the blu ray, it plays in a shrink window, only expand to full screen when I do so myself.

I also notice that when I hook this up to my 50" pioneer elite Plasma, there are black borders all around the TV and not complete fill up the screen. I was using presentation mode by windows key and "p" key. Any other alternatives to display out of the HDMI output and fill the full screen?

 

Hello everyone. I've just updated my BIOS to version A03.

I noticed that my screen got less brighter (maybe the new bios reset my gamma settings?) and I've also noticed a slowdown in my system. It takes longer to boot and I noticed that the icons on my desktop take some time to load, just like when you use a less powerfull computer...

I wonder if anyone had the same effects...

my i7 is a 820, 4gigs of ram..

 

Dont tell me they downclocked the CPU to get rid of the problem?????

 

how can I check that?

 

FWIW, I haven't noticed a slowdown.

I did notice that the screen wasn't as bright, but that was easily remedied with Fn+ArrowUp. My guess is that the BIOS update changed the default brightness, since mine was previously set to 100%.

 

C:\bench>CHKCPU32.exe

CPU Identification utility v2.06 (c) 1997-2009 Jan Steunebrink
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
CPU Vendor and Model: Intel Core i5/i7 Quad i5-750/i7-860/870 B1-step
Internal CPU speed : 1729.0 MHz
System CPU count : 1 Physical CPU(s), 4 Core(s) per CPU, 8 Thread(s)
CPU-ID Vendor string: GenuineIntel
CPU-ID Name string : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 820 @ 1.73GHz
CPU-ID Signature : 0106E5
│││││└─ Stepping or sub-model no.
││││└─ Model: Indicates CPU Model and 486 L1 cache mode
│││└─ Family: 4=486, Am5x86, Cx5x86
│││ 5=Pentium, Cx6x86, K5/K6, C6, mP6
│││ 6=PentiumPro/II/III, CxMII/III, Athlon, C3
│││ F=Pentium4, Athlon64
││└─ Type: 0=Standard, 1=Overdrive, 2=2nd Dual Pentium
│└─ Ext. Model: Extends the Base Model to an 8-bit value
└─ Ext. Family: Extends the Base Family value

does this mean that something were downclocked?
I rebooted several times, and still, the boot time has increased, and I when my desktop appears, it first appears all blank
then my task bar appears, first all blank but the start button. then my systray loads, then my desktop background appears, and then the icons images, one by one, starts to load.
Before the update all happened at once and quickly without noticing the loading of each one of the icons...
get

 

Okay, so I got my machine today. Looking at a lot of posts on here it seems people aren't getting theirs for a long time, in some cases months. I think it may be a record for the length of time mine took to get to me. Ordered on the 1st December and delivered today (9th) all the while having an EDD of 8th January.

Anyone had a better case?

 

Wow that's encouraging, I ordered mine on the 3rd so maybe it will get here much sooner than expected

 

A03 Bios = The only thing that I notice is that the brightness has been lowered everything else is just fine so far for me. no issues with the start-up or desktop icons.

 

I'm in the UK - ordered mine on the 26 November, with an ETD of 4th Jan...then without warning it was marked as shipped on the 6 December, I've received the call from Syncreon today and it should be arriving on Monday 14 December...not too bad.

 

Overall, I get the feeling that the majority of people here really enjoy their SXPS 16, but might be disappointed that there are so many issues with it out of the box. But that's what I would expect with a product that is this bleeding edge.

I REALLY like this laptop so far, and have experienced very little to no problems. All issues I've encountered so far are either because I've screwed something up or because I'm unfamiliar with Win7. The laptop is super sexy, runs cool (except the brick), is responsive and am generally VERY pleased with it. I figure a few of the bugs that are hitting home for people (ie. Power Throttling) will eventually be solved by Dell.

There's my 2 cents... just thought I'd throw in some positive feedback as well.

 

Hi All,
I just posted the same question on the “AC Power ...” thread. As someone who’s been following this forum since the days of the “shipping issues”. I’m still reluctant to purchase the machine as I’m assuming the throttling issues are not “Just for Gamer” issue. I’m mainly going to be editing HD Video’s and hence my need for the combined power of the i7 CPU & GPU acceleration (both supported by software). Has anyone tested this? I’m assuming it’s easier to note issues while gaming (fps). However, I’m assuming this issue might (or most likely) exist in intensive HD Video Editing.
Am I wrong / correct? Would love to receive some feedback on this with an emphasis on HD Editing and DVD / Blu-Ray authoring. With that in mind, I was considering the 820 CPU, 8GB memory, RGB LED and an SSD.

Happy Holidays.

 

I like the design and external build quality + superb LCD.
I was also expecting good performance
I've paid for the i7 core and ATI graphic and I want to use 100% of that not on maximum brightness !

 

Looking at getting the XPS16 w/i7 soon..any good coupons/deals floating around for use right now...or wait till Jan. CES for something newer?

 

Yeah updating the BIOS resets all the settings (that are stored in BIOS apparently). So keyboard and screen brightness, and the wireless radio setting are set to the factory default.

 

BTW - this is the solution to the audio issue

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/a8a262c0-1bcb-4a14-af29-61377e077184


Now my rep is saying there is no Soundblaster X-FI DVD available for Win 7 64bit - madness

 

order: 11/30
original est deliv: 12/29

just went into deliv prep status
new est deliv: 12/15

w00t!

 

I don't do HD video but I did do video work professionally for a number of years (quite the video gig about seven years ago). I was doing weddings, training and education material and using two Sony VX2000 minidv camcorders. I was using a Dell 650 Work Station with dual 2.8MHz Xenos and a Canopus DV Storm capture card.

Long story short, two days ago I received a call with a request to remix some material I shot seven years ago. Sure enough I found my original mini DV tapes for that job (lucky me because with a few hours of editing I could pay for my new XPS). I connected my VX2000 to my Studio XPS 16, i7-820QM, 8GB Ram through a 1394 cable and captured 45 minutes material (X 2) from a two cam shoot. I edited the material as requested and prepared a DVD for review (used Adobe Premiere and Encore DVD CS3).

I have to tell you I am absolutely blown away and amazed at how smooth this computer works for editing a dual cam shoot. Two hours of captured material w/o dropping a single frame. Lots of effects, transitions and audio blending (when I did this work a few years back it was never this easy or smooth - guess that's progress). W/O answering the question on editing HD, I have to tell you I am totally amazed and love editing mini DV from my VX2000 on the XPS. This thing is fast and so much fun that I expect I will do much more editing of material for my own pleasure (hope that helps).

PS, I purchased the Studio XPS for editing digital still images from my Sony DSLR-A900 25 mega pixel camera.

 

Just got the notebook today and have played with it for about an hour. Have two issues, wondering if one is normal --

1) Does anyone else get buzzing from the power supply? Like literally, click a link in a browser and the power supply will make a buzzy noise. its the slim 90 watt, for the record

2) I think there is dust or something between the screen and the top layer... any ideas? i'd think if i get warranty service to fix that it might just result in more dust.

Thanks all.

 

Well, I figured it out. Basically the drive came set to "Region Free". When I tried to play a regular DVD in Power DVD it said it couldn't be played because the drive didn't support the region. It said I needed to change it from "Free" to USA/Canada. It also said I could change the region 5 times so I went ahead and changed it. Now AnyDVD works fine! Hope this helps someone else.

John

 

I tried last night, it's working.
Mine is also M a t s h i t a BD-RE UJ235A

 

@Willybug, Thanks for the detailed answer. I think you have given me the green light I was looking for (especially as I’m getting the same setup you purchased). Off topic, any public links to your photos?
Thanks again.

 

has anybody had trouble downloading the new bios. I've tried to download it a few times throughout the evening and it keeps timing out.

 

Just flashed Bios A03 and it did not reset anything on my machine to factory default. Keyboard,screen brightness, wireless radio, all the same as I had them, so not sure what you all are seeing. Boots up just fine too.

 

Thats encouraging news. I am also in the UK and looking to order a 1645. Whats the spec of the UK version? Does it use the same chipset PM55 and wireless card as the U.S./Canadian version?
Getting this info from Dell UK is impossible.

 

Base spec of the UK version is pretty much identical to that of everywhere else. Yes, it uses PM55. Not sure about the wireless card, as someone said Dell fobbed some POS on them instead of the Intel wireless card.

 

Ive noticed with the new bios, the screen dims just slightly after a while of inactivity and gets bright when i start doing stuff again. Anyone notice that? as im pretty sure it wasnt doing that before.

not that its a big deal, even thought its a bit annoying when i noticed. When your dead tired from doin hw all night, having things flash dim bright dim bright at you isnt good for the headache i got goin on.

 

tell him this:

Dell P/N: 0C961H



i have a 1645, shipped with Windows7 64 installed i called Dell, told them they couldnt charge me $30 for something i lose when i re-install using their provided discs. i told them it's not on the OS disc, it's not on the drivers/utilites disc, not available for download, and I'm gonna need that serial too, or my $30 back, kthx. it came in a box, from purolator 2 or 3 days later.

 

Is there any design difference between the i7 version and the normal XPS 16 - which makes it more efficient at handling heat?

Also, if you are not in need of a more poweful GPU then the 4650, in what ways is the XPS16 worth the extra £300'ish compared to the i7 Studio 17?

 

Yeah I just noticed this too, it's actually a Windows 7 feature not the BIOS. It just didn't work correctly with the older BIOS, I guess they didn't expose the brightness control to the OS before. You can modify the brightness dimming in Windows power plan settings. I just let it do it when it's on battery.

 

Mostly build quality is higher, the non-XPS line is pretty cheapo. Also XPS is supposed to get better tech support.

 

kimhi, most of my work was obtained by "word of mouth" and recommendations from a previous job. While doing good work and providing services "word of mouth" will keep you extremely busy. Actually I have left a shabby domain online only for my personal background posting and for pasting links (site is over six years out of date and will be removed in the next few months - most stuff is not viewable w/o an invite and the total link). http://wdcgraphic.com/ One thing you may find of interest on my site is the photos from the "Location Shooting" tab (shows two VX2000 cams with home made teleprompters). The teleprompters were quick and cheap DIY equipment which worked great.

I have not done any video work for the past six years. Although, with the capability of serious editing on my Studio XPS 16 I expect some of my old passion may surface again.

 

After the bios update i noticed there is a new option "dim the display" in power options... it wasnt there for me beforhand.

 

hi...

iv'e some question about this notebook

i've an m6400 who i've sell today....because i want a notebook with an i7 820q...

now , i must choose between

xps 16

i7 820q
2x2gb pc1333
hd4670
monitor rgb led 1920x1080

and

m6500

i7 820q
2x2gb pc 1066
m7740 ( like an hd4860 )
rgb led monitor 1920x1200

the m6500 is a professional pc ok...but i work for a 70% with photoshop and 30% with 3d program ( cad , 3dstudio )...

question:

- the xps mput pm55 chipset ?
- the temperature of the cpu are ok ?
- the body is solid ?
- for you , what's the best choice for me ?

 

I saw a youtube video on a review on the system - which stated the leather back - is really cheapish and that it wears out easily.

Also, do you happen to know if the i7 models still have the same heat issues, as the non-i7 versions?

 

I'm sorry but I'm not following discussion (too much work)
Anyway I recived my XPS today, just a month before the EDD!. Really nice piece of hardware. Unluckily i can't test it until sunday. Too bad!

 

Any chance the bios update fixed the 4 button at once issue?

 

What on earth were they doing with the leather to make it wear out?

 

I wouldnt say that.. i have the leather and i find it quite nice... i was expecting better but its nice... feels durable also.

Heat issues have been discussed prior in this thread.. look back for more info as you require but yes.. heat apparently is no longer a major issue.

 

So I have 3 stuck pixels on my screen now. As well, there's significant backlight bleeding on the left hand side of the screen. When viewing a "black" screen, it's noticeable on the left hand side.

What should I do? Anyone else have these problems?

 

Call tech support and they will dispatch a technician to exchange your screen.