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

This is about lockups, not the throttling issue or the extreme slowdown when playing full screen flash. Three separate issues.

 

Yes I have exactly the same problems. Computer crashing randomly. Everthing freezes up, the old reliable ctrl alt & delete doesn't work. So have to reboot the laptop via on/off switch. Pretty dissappointed.

 

Why would they send two disks?

 

The New machine is significantly better cosmetically, although under certain lighting conditions you can still see distortions in exactly the same place on the palm rest. Still, the improvement over the first machine is significant and is not enough to warrant rejecting the machine again.

 

I recall it's a 54-pin. Not dead-sure, but pretty positive.

~Ibrahim~

 

Just Mark,
in the printed manual it says:
one express card slot (54mm)
cards supported:
express card/34 (34mm)
express card/54 (54mm)
1.5 volt and 3.3 volt
26 pin connector size

 

Well, there it is.

Huh, I thought this was pin-count, my bad. I guess there is only one pin size, but two lengths.

Thanks for clearing it up.

~Ibrahim~

 

The freezing problem that I am experiencing cannot be reproduced reliably. It happens at randoms times and when I'm doing different things.

I went ahead and removed the Dell Dock program as well and I had no freezes yesterday. I'm going to remove the dell programs one at a time until the freezes go away, that way too maybe I can figure out which program it is that is causing the trouble.

 

I just had a complete freeze when watching dvd. Not even caplock responding. Last time I watching dvd there's a bsod.

I am wondering is it the powerdvd problem. Since windows 7 can natively play dvd, is there any reason to keep powerdvd?

 

I did a clean install without any of the Dell applications and I am still experiencing freezes when watching full screen video. Screen goes black, machine locks up and cannot bring up task manager, only way to recover is a hard restart. It does not happen all the time but it is pretty frequent. I think it is a Driver issue.

*Edit* I also did not install any of the third party software from Dell.

 

I'm fairly sure these are two separate issues (I've experienced both). Full screen flash video can cause an extreme slowdown (not a hang because the cursor can still move, the screen slowly refreshes, etc). The second issue is a hard lockup, with absolutely no response at all.

Personally, I haven't experienced the extreme slowdown since updating to the A03 bios, but there are so many different variables it is hard to keep track.

 

Does this happen with all videos D2K9?

I had the same problem with full screen flash (didn't actually notice it until wife played farmville on the laptop!). Hadn't checked whether it happened with other full screen videos. Mentioned this in another thread, but iaTa suggested using the beta flash (10.1) version which has hardware acceleration support. You also may need to use the modded catalyst drivers (which I did). No freezes since.

One other option is to turn off hardware acceleration in flash videos.

I also have a clean install without any of the third party software from Dell.

 

Dell is no longer offering Blu-ray on any of its laptops. I tried to on the XPS 16, Studio 15, and Studio 17. Dell wouldn't give me any more info. Anyone got the scoop?


edit: Add the Alienware m15x & m17x to the list.

 

Someone in another thread mentioned that there is a major parts shortage on the Blu-Ray drives right now so Dell took them off the configuration options list for the time being.

 

I have my new 1645 with i7. It has full 1080p blu-ray drive and screen. Two questions please. 1) In trying to play blu-ray movies, everything runs fine up to the point where it says PLAY. All of the previews before the PLAY screen run fine. However, the PLAY button will not execute. Thus, the movie does not play. Anybody know what's up? 2) I have a 90watt power supply. I hear that Dell will give me a 130watt power supply. Anybody know about this? Many thanks.

 

I just ordered my XPS 16 with blu-ray drive and 1080p screen 2 weeks ago. I just received it 2 days ago.

 

It happens randomly when watching full screen video on youtube, southparkstudios, xepisodes.com.
I am using the modded catalsyt drivers. How do I turn off th hardware acceleration for flash videos and what is the drawback when turning it off?

Thanks

 

Just right click the video as it's playing and there should be an option to deactivate the hardware acceleration. Don't really know what the drawback is.

I'd recommend using the beta version of flash though - it's worked very well for myself:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/

I found I had to uninstall, reboot and then install the beta version to make it work properly. There's a pdf of the instructions on how to install and check the installation version on that link.

Good luck ... although I hardly ever watch full screen flash movies, it bothered me that it kept hanging so I hunted around for a while to find the fix!

 

I don't understand why they do not allow you to configure with a gigabit Lan Adapter? Stupid.

 

The default LAN in the laptop IS gigabit, they just misprinted it on their site

 

It does come with a Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet Card.

 

Does anybody know if using and external monitor (external monitor only - XPS display toggled off) causes the XPS to run harder (or no difference)?

As a Desktop replacement I am using a Dell 24" LCD 2407WEP, 1920 x 1200 resolution external monitor 98% of the time with my Studio XPS 16 (I have the XPS RGB LCD LED display toggled off most of the time). I use the HDMI port with an HDMI to DVI cable. I calibrate the monitors with the Spyder3Pro at Gamma 2.2, 6500K.

Also the XPS works great when set to "Extended Monitor". I have used this for some video editing with Premiere CS4.

 

Tenax and ikjadoon,

Thanks for the information.

 

willybug - I see in your signature that you are using your XPS for image editing. What software are you using? Are you seeing the throttling problem when processing large batches of RAW images?

I will be using Adobe Light Room 2 and Photoshop Elements 8 for my image editing and really bought this machine to speed up batch processing as well as having a full color gamut display that is portable.

 

I am using PS CS4, RAW 5.6, LR 2.6 and Premiere CS4. I shoot my still images with Sony Full Frame 25 mega pixel DSLR-A900 (100% RAW). Often I have over 100 files open in the RAW converter w/o any speed issue. I am mainly a user of this stuff and not a tech person so I don't really understand the throttle issue (but don't think I have an issue with it). One thing I see a great performance / speed improvement on the XPS when saving images from the RAW converter to jpg (my old desktop w/dual 2.8 xeons took 11.5 sec per image and the XPS takes 2.4 sec). When saving two hundred RAW images to jpg the speed increase / time savings is great.

Also the XPS captures (through 1394) my video smoothly w/o any dropped frames. Yesterday I captured over five hours of video w/o any issue at all. I did some quick editing on one of my clips and it works perfectly (speed / smoothness are great). I use EncoreDVD to author and burn my DVD's and that also works great on the XPS. I am using my Dell 2407WEP monitor with the XPS and also have about every port in use by other equipment.

I use a StarTech ExpressCard Slim (eSata adapter) to connect to my Vantec NexStar external dual bay hard drive dock. Using the dock connected directly to the XPS eSata port will not recognize more than one external drive (using the ExpressCard adapter does recognize multiple drives in the dock).

I have my video equipment connected to the 1394 port. I use the eSata / USB2 combo port to download images from my DSLR-A900.

Over all I am extremely pleased with the performance of my XPS as a Desktop replacement (still image and video editing).

 

"Run harder"? I mean, the only performance difference would be a gain as it might prevent the laptop from throttling.

~Ibrahim~

 

Thanks Willybug. I hope I have as positive an experience.

 

Besides the throttling and system freeze up issues is anyone also having problems where either firefox or explorer will crash?
This occurs daily on my system and I thought the problem was Adobe flash. However with the latest flash updates the problem still occurs. The firefox/explorer crashing is also occurring on my wife's new Inspiron so the problem is probably a Windows 7 issue.

Any suggestions?

 

I received my Studio XPS 16 on December 1st and have been running it ten hours a day with extensive photo and video editing with PS CS4, Premiere CS4 and EncoreDVD as well as other applications. I have not had any crashes or down time of any kind. I am using an external monitor (Dell 2407WEP) and 4GB on an external esata dual bay dock. Also connected to four printers, wireless network and use a wireless keyboard and mouse and video equipment through 1394. Absolutely smooth, fast and no crashes. By the way I love the Windows 7 64 bit backup capability and do a complete backup weekly (backup to and external esata hard drive). Good Luck in resolving your crash issues.

 

Thanks very much guys, I'm seriously considering this machine, but am somewhat concerned over the lock ups/crashes. Although I'm not a gamer per-se, I'm considering the Sager NP-8690 because I want and need high performance for both work & play.

 

I have been using the SXPS 1645 for 1month now and have not had any freezing or Windows crashes the only thing that I have done is reformatted the HDD and did not install the Dell/Third -Party software back onto the computer.

 

Are there any coupon deals right now beyond the instant savings on the site, and is the RGBLED display worth it?

 

Everyone I talked to about the display is that the RGBLED display is a difference maker.

 

I have run a dell 2408WFP thru the HDMI with no problems.
(only had to set sound back to speakers) soon to test on my 42" HDTV at 1080p

 

"the site"? Which site would that be? Dell sells in many countries, and deals and coupons are specific to each country.

You'd have to decide that. There are several posts here of owners describing their experiences with that screen, so you might want to search for them.

 

For the extra 0.4" I think so, but inaccurate white, grainy black and low contrast ratio.

 

Dell. US - the Base price is $1449.00 without any upgrades, after instant savings. I've searched for coupon codes through Bing & elsewhere. Haven't been able to find any yet.

Appreciate that others have described their experiences; will research them.

 

If you look at the top of the page there should be banner saying you can get Dell coupons from this site, if there aren't any current ones then you may have to wait for a new batch.

If the banner isn't there theres also a dell links section on the left under Home : Shop Notebooks.

 

I dont have grainy blacks, or inaccurate whites but that may be because i took some time in calibrating the display... but even before any adjustments were made i'd disagree with what you're reporting. I thought the screen was fantastic from day one, aside from some overly vibrant reds.

contrast ratio is really just a marketing tool and isn't something I'm concerned about. There isn't a human on earth that could see a difference in contrast ratio alone, and anyone who thinks they have or can is just seeing a difference in the quality of the panel and not the contrast ratio.

 

Do any of you use an application to monitor the speed of the system fan? SpeedFan and HWMonitor don't appear to detect its presence.

 

I agree 100% .. i have the RGBLED its beautiful if you can get it for less than $300 hop all over it. behind the SSD its my favorite upgrade.

 

I may have to send my merlot red back (uneven base), On the red, the leather looks more pinkish and clearly doesn't match the merlot red.

I was wondering, on the artic white or whatever its called, does the leather match well? considering asking for that. Although Red seems to be the nicest, not in the pink leather.

 

Do you mean the browser crashes and the machine is OK? I have had Firefox crash a number of times when accessing flash video. I don't have any suggestions.

At this point, I'm happy when its only the application that crashes.

 

I have the red, and it's quite beautiful. Leather is a deep rich red, not at all pink. Post a picture of yours?

 

Hey everyone. First time caller, long time listener...

I got my 1645 on Tuesday last week (820QM 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD).

I recently set about putting a copy of Windows Ultimate 64 on the machine and had a question.

Im pretty sure I had a Windows Experience score of 6.7 when I tried it right after unboxing the laptop. Now I am getting 5.9 with the SSD as the low score. So Im wondering what drivers I'm supposed to be using.

I have tried the MS provided IDE drivers and they run in UDMA Mode 5 (AHCP is enabled in bios). I also installed the Dell provided "Intel storage Matrix" package which replaces those IDE drivers with a device called "Intel(R) PCHM SATA AHCI Controller 6 port". If I look in the "Intel Matrix Storage Manager" application it says the drive is running in an ATA transfer mode it calls "Generation 2". If I run CrystalDiskInfo it says the transfer mode is "SATA/300"

So anyway, I dont remember what drivers were on here with the original version of windows. The system doesn't seem slower subjectively, but I'd still like to know whats going on. CrystalDiskInfo says the drive supports TRIM btw... The drive Firmware lists as VBM24D1Q


Thanks for any replies

Tom

PS, this wide gamut display is stunning once you get the profiles worked out.

 

lol i bet my wife would have loved pink leather on her 1340...

sigh.

 

Guys, when I want to do a clean install on my new 1645, do I use the os dvd from dell or...?
I assume the dvd won't reinstall all the 3rd party apps again right?

 

I don't think this is a Windows 7 issue. My wife got her XPS 1645 in October with Vista 64. We were seeing IE freeze up on the system the first day out of the box. I did all of the Vista and Dell updates and we were still seeing the issues. I upgraded to Windows 7 (with the Dell upgrade discs) and we were still seeing the issue. I've also gone from bios A01 to A02 to A03 and we're seeing no change in the frequency of lock ups in IE.

I've talked to Dell My Support Team three times with no help on this. The third support person asked that we try running IE in no add ons mode. That didn't make a difference either. Just out of curiosity, what common components are in your XPS and Inspiron? Do they both use the Intel 5300 AGN wireless?

 

"I've talked to Dell My Support Team three times with no help on this. The third support person asked that we try running IE in no add ons mode. That didn't make a difference either. Just out of curiosity, what common components are in your XPS and Inspiron? Do they both use the Intel 5300 AGN wireless?"


This probably isnt helpful at all, but for trivia sake, I partially took my 1645 apart after receiving it. I wanted to put arctic silver heatsink paste in all the hot places.

Anyway, Dell puts their factory paste on in the form of solid squares which, I guess, are supposed to melt the first time the cpu gets hot and then become true "thermal paste"

But I noticed upon removing the heatsink that covered the chipset chip, that the solid square of thermal paste hadnt melted at all, despite my running Prime95 with 8 threads for about half an hour.

So I suspect that thermal paste was acting more like insulation in my machine - actually worse than having no heatsink and just air cooling!

Not that you should have to disassemble the machine to get it working properly, but I saw that and wondered if it isnt the source of some of these unstable systems. Mine was rock solid from the start, but then, my chipset chip might have been "lucky"

Tom

 

First of all, I recommend you check out the post in my sig which covers a fresh install with the first page documenting everything seen in the Dell OEM image. Post 2 gets into what you need to install..

I noticed my SSD rating go up after installing the Intel chipset drivers, but I did that as the very first thing, which is even a Dell recommendation. The Intel Matrix software should not be installed with an SSD, it will mask the SSD detection from the O/S and is another layer you do not need.

I am so jealous of your late firmware drive. This is the 256GB SSD from Dell? I have VBM19D1Q and it does not support TRIM. My Windows Experience Index for the drive is 7.2.