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

that's the exact deal i got, about 2 months back. 15 month Macafee and bluetooth headset, at that time the base price was 70,000 now its 73,000.

Well, i won't recommond this laptop. It's like for a good brand and looks you got to sacrifice better performance and design. May be i am just envious to envy lol

 

My Studio XPS 16 Laptop is the best computer I have ever owned (I have seven high end computers in my home w/ dual Xeon processors). I did have the lock up issue but it went away a month ago after loading bios version 7 (I loaded version 8 this morning). I run the heck out of my laptop as a desktop replacement and also have the 130w power adapter (called Dell and requested - had to send the 90w back). I don't run games and have never loaded a game on any of my computers but run all of the applications in the Adobe CS4 Suite (heavy with PS CS4, Premiere Pro and After Effects). I also have peripherals plugged into just about all the ports (i.e. external dual bay esata hard drive dock, 24" Dell Flat Screen monitor, 1394 equipment, wireless keyboard and mouse, contour shuttle pro, network printers and scanner, etc.) All work flawlessly. I get a lot of information from reading on this forum but gather that many come here because of issues they have encountered (so you don't read about all the things gone right - only issues). Many of the forum users are very advanced and doing things that the average user would never think of (while some are not so advanced and trying things that they don't understand and therefore getting into trouble). I am still running with the original Windows 7 load from Dell (do the regular updates from Microsoft but it is running great). I agree that we are reading about a lot of issues and heaven help you if you require help from Dells tech support (Dell's tech support is the worst I have ever encountered). I did contact Dell's tech support for a minor issue and it took me two days to fix several new issues they created after allowing them to connect remotely to my computer (they did not uninstall anything but installed updated drivers and applications over existing which caused many new errors on start up). At the end of the phone contact they always go into a scare and pressure sale mode for software warranty, extended hardware warranty and Dell update software with antivirus protection. The worst part is if an owner calling for help is not experienced Dell Tech Support scares the heck out of them and probably makes a sale on something they don't need. Bottom line, I think you might get a miss read from this forum (but also some informative information from some experts), the Studio XPS 16 Laptop is a great machine, Dell tech support sucks / worst / lacks in depth technical knowledge / lacks integrity.

 

I don't know, this system has been all fine and dandy for the Adobe CS4 stuff and video/audio editing that I do, but try to play a game, which the specs should be able to handle, and it goes right down the flusher. I should NOT have to take apart my computer to put new thermal paste on my system to get it cooler, I shouldn't have to worry about my screen going bad because of bad venting. All that stuff should be worked out before it got sent out.

My opinion, Dell is selling Alienware, and if you play games on any other system you aren't using your laptop right in their eyes. I think they just want to move gamers (light gamers or power gamers) to the Alienware, and are creating the way to do it with these systems.

Might be a little conspiracy/big brother-ish, but that's my take on it.

 

everything well put.. except one thing.. DELL INDIA support is awesome and they have a separate toll free line 24x7 just for XPS series of laptops (1800-425-2066) and the tech guys out there seem to know all abt the system and issues (i have had my first system replaced due to screen/motherboard issues, and got a free 130W adapter after i left a complaint abt throttling (beleive me they called me to acquire the shipping adress of the laptop!!).. well if you are in INDIA i dont think i can recommend a better system.. wat i can recommend is to wait for the GPU update and ALL IS WELL!!!

 

any news on advantages and drawbacks of A08 BIOS???

 

well dude. . . lets say i slightly agree with you.. the gaming part of the laptop isnt wat i expected from this system... so guys if you wanna game on this system better wait for the GPU upgrade..!! but if you are a light gamer/ more cpu workloader then i say no need to wait JUST GO FOR IT!!!!!!

 

@Goodwood8 and TheMystro, It just as willybug said. If you are looking for a good multimedia machine, this is the one. But why would some one spend more money on i7(ment for gaming) if i5 would give better multimedia performace and battery life.

If you are looking for a decent gaming laptop, look else where.

 

I am passing on this computer. Excessive heat in a consumer electronic screams a class action law suit. Throttle issue aside, I have kids running around and if they ever got burnt after I watch a 90 minute bluray I would be very pissed and litigious.

 

advantages = system temp will stay around 80c
drawbacks = both CPU and GPU throttle at 79+ range to keep the temp's low.

 

IMO, I cant believe anyone that could get their money back on this computer, wouldnt?? Anyone check out the Asus G73JH. Its a monster. If I wanted the ultimate multi media/gamer laptop, this is it.


http://www.2dayblog.com/2010/02/11/asus-g73jh-x1-17-3-inch-gaming-laptop/

 

So it didnt fix anything besides that sound issue?

 

Hey guys, i'm still on my 1645 as I will return my laptop either tomorrow or the day after (i'm going to try and get as much use of this laptop as possible before being laptoplesss and moneyless)

So, I had Dell send me the 130w adapter, and for some reason they shipped me two of the same adapter. Why is this? And am I going to be charged for it?

 

Hello all!

I just signed up for these forums after reading this thread, of course after ordering my Dell XPS 1645. I wanted to thank everyone for the amount of important feedback, both negative and positive which helped me stay current with important details!

I ordered March 11th, and confirmed today that they are still sending out 90watt adaptors in Canada, which I insisted be replaced with the 130watt model for the initial shipment.

I also ordered the Zalman NC2000 cooling pad as recommended in these forums for this laptop. If anyone is interested in it I highly recommend checking out www.directcanada.com to order it for the cheapest price, or if you'd rather order from a larger retailer then check www.newegg.ca who currently have it on sale ($25 off the black model).

I do have a slight concern with the shipping date listed as April 19th, when I ordered March 11th, did anyone else receive their laptop earlier than the shipping date listed for you?

Also, the laptop I ordered came to $1429CAD before taxes and included free shipping... Is this a good deal?

Dell XPS 16 Obsidian Black
Intel Core i7 720-QM 1.6GHZ-2.8GHZ Turbo
4GB DDR3 1333mhz
ATI 4670 1GB Video Card
500GB 7.2k HDD
15.6" WLED LCD 1080P 1980x1080 w/ 2.0MP cam
Creative X-FI HD Sound
Bluray Combo Slot Load Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Thanks

 

i'd say its decent, mine was 1300 with 320hdd and 1600x900 screen rest the same.

EDIT i had no bluray either, so its actually quite good IMO

 

Goodwood, to be honest with you, I really, really like the laptop. Would I recommend it in its current state to someone else? No, I wouldn't. Firstly, Dell screwed me over with the M1530 (purchased Jan 2008) that had problems with the 8600m gt Nvidia card, but they didn't really do anything about it. All they did was change the mobo/heatsink several times, and hoped the thing didn't fail again, which it always did (and as I game a lot, it failed very quickly after the repair). Ok, the card defect was mainly Nvidia's fault and Dell did give me this XPS 1645 as a replacement (though only after +2 years of m1530 woes/unsuccessful repairs) but I still can't look at Dell in the same light anymore. Frankly, they could have given me the replacement just so I didn't take my money back, which I believe I could have, because they sold me a defective product (1530). So then I received the 1645, and started to learn about its problems.

Now learning from the m1530, you'd think Dell would get it right with the 1640. Overheating (although due to the defective card) was the major problem with the m1530, so maybe Dell would focus on making this thing handle heat better? Wrong. Arguably,It took them a revision (to the 1645) and maybe even two (to the 1647) to get the heat dissipation O.K. and even then the screen is still blocking the vent!!! Fine the heat is O.K., with the 1645 and the 1647, but it would be a LOT better if the screen simply didn't block the vent. How Dell could have honestly let that design pass is way beyond me. Then you have the CPU throttling issue, which I will admit was just fixed to an arguably satisfactory level, but only after +4 months of people waiting/complaining (Thanks a lot to all those people). And now it seems like a side-effect of the fix, is a little more heat, which causes GPU throttling...which could have been avoided if the vent was better thought out in the first place...See things just start to compound...

As I stated I really like this laptop (I also got it as a replacement so, it's difficult to complain too much), though Dell would have really had a virtually perfect multimedia/gaming laptop (for looks, performance, size, and build) if they had gotten a few, pretty obvious things things right in the first place. If I had the easy option of returning this thing now and getting another laptop, I would do it. Would I even consider Dell? No, I wouldn't.

Despite saying all this, if you're not a gamer, this laptop's fantastic. But I still wouldn't buy it if I weren't a gamer. Because I'd feel like I'd be allowing Dell sell me something that doesn't work to its advertised limits, even though I know I would never stress it that much. It's for me to decide how hard I want to stress it, and not Dell's choice. So extremely long, and overblown story short, I wouldn't buy it (in its current state) if I didn't have it now, and I wouldn't recommend it either. Hope that helps

Sorry everyone if this is way too long and "rant-like." I couldn't help it and I'm just giving my opinion .

 

Also I have a quick question regarding undervolting: is it still recommended with the I7 processors?

 

Im pretty sure there is no current way to undervolt i7s or any i series, at least that i no of...

 

ok, thanks!

 

So when the GPU refresh comes out.... Is it possible for us to replace this laptop with that although paying a little more is no biggie????

 

Well guys, I dont know. Honestly.
I've already ordered my laptop, they said it would be there in a weeks time ...
If the G.P.U refresh comes by then, thats great. I'll cancel my order and ask for the one with the new G.P.U, but considering that they anyway take time to get things listed in India (they dont even have the 1647s with the i5, How much i begged the Dell people to give me an i5 processor, but they couldnt do anything about it)

Im a little worried with the state of my current laptop, the amount i overuse it, I wouldnt blame it if it failed right now, in fact it failed just yesterday, when it didnt on for about an hour. I got freaked, plus this overheats so quickly and becomes so slow so quickly its a pain to use.

When it comes to games, I am a complete, COMPLETE strategy gamer, and from my experience strategy games generally dont require amazing GPU configs, as long as decent games work exceptionally, im fine. Tbh, the most recent games i have played are aoe3, warcraft and spore, as long as games of those level work really well, things are good.

The only thing I wish, was that the GPU was not soldered into the mobo, so incase i ever wanted to play high demanding games in future, I could upgrade it.

Dell India support is amazing, my sisters mother board failed, the next day it was replaced, and ive had experience with HP support which is terrible terrible terrible. My alternative to this laptop was the HPs new envy, which doesnt have a (goddam) disk drive. Plus, like I said, HP service sucks.

Thinking of it, the only choices I had was, DELL, HP and (an overpriced) APPLE. Apple is a bit toooooo expensive here, so I ruled it out. and between the Dell and HP, I think i'd go for the dell, to be specific, this laptop. From what I see, most of the issues originate from heavy games, which I dont use.

But then again, if im paying so much, should there be so many problems ?

I dont know :'( What do you guys think ?

 

Dude why the double post???? I think people will respond if the post is this big in the first place!!!

Anyways... I think you should give the Sony F series a look.... That also has the same specs and if you ask me much better. Sony laptops in my opinion will not have any issues for 2 years... But then all sorts of problems creep in..... That ll make you really pissed....

Whereas DELL on the other hand have given us this b-e-a-utiful laptop that is full of problems.. So thoughout the life-span of this laptop we will be braggin about it and it will be no biggie as they ll tell the media it is some ANTI-DELL movement and all the post we put up in DELL FORUMS ll be deleted in no time so the new comers ll not knw about these issues.....

My uncle recently bought the VAIO Z Series laptop and it is probably the best i have ever seen.

ONLY 1.3 kilos and it packs an i7 processor n 8GB DDR3 (out in SINGAPORE)

Common dell, i am not telling you should also come up with one.. But if the laptop you have created had gone through enough TESTING(i dont think they did any in the first place) then you would have come across these problems:

1. HENT DISSIPATION ISSUE (HEAT VENT)
2. CPU THROTTLING DUE TO INSUFFICIENT POWER
3. If you would have solved that with the 130W and the intake of more power then you would have then come across the GPU throttling- the main reason for this being the HEAT!!!! AND GOTO 1 again......

ALL THESE GUYS HAVE TO DO IS CHANGE THE VENT DESIGN AND I THINK NO.... i KNOW THIS LAPTOP WILL BE THE BEST IN ITS RANGE.....

Come on DELL..... What is taking you guys to open your eyes and see the design flaw..... I think i ll send a mail to MICHAEL DELL.... Or if anyone is good @ drafting emails do and send a mail addressing all the issues of the laptop (mainly the improper HEAT dissipation).....

A what ever happened to BILL n TODD who used to be there... N now puff.. they are gone once the CPU throttling had been addressed.

----- A really frustrated owner of the XPS 1645......

 

Well sorry for the double post, it wasnt intended, dunno how it happened, lol.

yeah i checked out the viao ... its like over 2200$ (?) yeah. so, there we are. back to this laptop with several issues. I dont know, i really think you guys, who are having so many problems with it, should seriously send a letter/email to the Dell people. Either everyone sends a letter, asking for the same thing or one letter is sent from everyone's side. Seriously, if they have any sense whatsoever, they will do something about it.

 

The best part comes after that. Some rep will call you and ask what is the problem you are facing and wil propose to send a new laptop which is of no use to me as it also will have the same stupid design flaw..... Instead if they call this STUDIO XPS LINE off and offer them all an ALIENWARE laptop free or some 500$ extra also i wont mind... They then will have to sit and redesign the whole laptop.... IMO i think it is best that this laptop has two seperate vents like its i7 counterpart PRECISION..... And also the vent to be repositioned or the monitor repositioned.... Then this ll be a gem of a laptop.... But i cant understand what is taking them these many years to do such a small task......

@ DELL: To Bill or Todd: Make me a manager or something... I ll get this laptop going out of the assembly unit like HOT CAKES.... I am damn serious..... Isnt there even a single person in all of DELL who thinks that it is a stupid design to blow the i7+4670's hot air directly onto the screen or are you guys followers of APPLE or something???? If i was having the RGBLED screen i would be seriously pissed off...

EDIT: Sorry for the harsh words on the forum.... My feelings got to me.....

 

Hey, guys!

Seems like a few people keep talking about a GPU refresh which, in my opinion, is severely needed! Is there any info regarding when this will happen and what GPU they will be moving to? Thanks in advance!

 

It would be either 5650 or 5770.
I think with a GPU referesh(30 Watts TDP,40nm) and i5 (35nm, far lower TDP)this body design will work well.

 

they already added the 5650 card as an option to tha studio 17s... so im guessin the xps 16s should get an upgrade within a few weeks with the 5770 as well.

 

You know, seriously, if you hate this system that much, why dont you ask for that? SERIOUSLY, just shout at those reps, forcing them into giving you an alienware and you paying the difference. Or like I posted before, write Bill or Todd a mail or something, atleast that way you can vent your frustration

 

my wife received her 1645 xps I-7 chip with 8gigs. She also got bluetooth and microsoft bluetooth mouse. The first few days the bluetooth mouse was OK. It is now locking up and also locks up the touchpad periodically. She would have to reboot computer. She switched to a wired usb mouse and everything seems fine now. We would like to continue bluetooth. Anyone had this problem and found a solution?
She is NOT a gamer.

also, her dell 90watt charger seems to get hot but not the laptop yet. Should I try to get her a 130 watt charger from dell.

 

Neilk47.

Yes to the 130 Watt adapter.

If you haven't already done so, install Bios A.07; to go along with it.

Sorry about the Bluetooth, I haven't run across that one.

 

Device Manager (make sure BT is on), find the BT Device and go to its properties, last tab should be something about turning off the device to save power? Uncheck that.

~Ibrahim~

 

Good Morning from the UK

So took delivery of my lovely red XPS on 1st Dec 2009 complete with Blu Ray and 1080p screen.

Already had the following work done

1. Fan replaced in Jan 2010, sounded like someone has stuck something in there but nothing would be found

2. Full keyboard replacement in Feb 2010 as my keys just seem to detatch themselves from the keybard membrane and fall off

Now I occasionnally boot up to no sound and either reloading the sound drivers or numerous reboots returns the sound to the laptop

Ahhgh!!!

I am seriously thinking of giving this back and and getting something else

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

Hey everyone!
Just got my 1647? today. I'm not sure what I have. Don't know how to tell if its the 1645 or 1647.
I do have the i7 processor and all the other goodies. One thing I'm unsure of though is my display. I ordered the HD+ Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1680x945) W/2.0 MP display yet when I look in the resolution settings how come it only says 1600x900 max? Is this HD+ crap just a gimmick? Or do I need to update some drivers?

much thanks in advance!

 

Yeah.... I think i ll do exactly that.... But what if they bluntly say that they cannot do anything to solve this issue and we will have to wait till any update is there on this issue...

 

1600X900 is the size of the smaller screen. It was probably a typo, my first order (which I had to cancel due to ordering other wrong things) said 1680X945 as well, but it's definitely not the right screen size, 1600X900 is correct.

If you have an i7 720QM or 820QM, then you have the 1645. If you have an i7 620, then you have the 1647. Quad-core i7 = you have the 1645, dual-core i7 or i5 = 1647.

Hope that helps.

 

Thats the worst they can do right ? so whats the harm, I ask. Its not like they are going to come and kill you or take away your laptop if you complain right ? I think they might appreciate it. Whats the harm ?

 

awesome. Thanks for your help! I have the i7 720 so 1645 for me. Glad to hear I didn't yet screwed by Dell yet again. Up next it ordering a replacement 130w power adaptor.

 

Hows the system working for you uptil now ?

 

Yeah... But then comes the problem of WEIGHT....
Alienware is like 4 kilos odd.. And the XPS 16 is 3 kilos....

Feeling this itself is kinda heavy to walk around with..... Cant imagine the ALIENWARE.... SO i think if they can give me my money back i ll go for the SONY F series or the ENVY!!!

AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE!!

 

These Sony and HP laptops are hard to find in India so I guess you dont have much of a choice. I love my SXPS. I had 0 issues till now except for the heat/throttling issue.

 

I have no experience with the Sony F, but I do have quite a bit with the Envy 15.

I received mine (with the i5-540M and HD5830) and immediately had to send it in to be repaired. The fan on the left side was extremely loud and sounded like it was scraping something.

It took HP 3 weeks to replace the fan on a brand new system. During this entire time, I had to keep calling to check the status of the machine. I also had to fight with them to have the 21 day return policy changed to start when I get the machine back, since it would have expired under normal circumstances by the time I got it back. It took 2 hours to finally get somoeone to agree with me, and then the best they could offer was a 15 day extension.

About halfway through the process, a tech support person asked why I didn't get the machine replaced instead of fixed. I *did* ask that the first time i called up, but was told that they will not replace it, and need to try to fix it for up to 8 weeks before replacing it, despite the fact that I received it brand new and broken.

At first, I was given an ETA of around one week. The tech support person assured me that this was a simple repair and I'd have it back "early next week." Well, I called up and was told that it would be another week. Then I received an email basically saying that HP was working hard on my machine and would expedite my order to accomodate me, as a customer. Doesn't say much, does it? I called up HP and it took 3 reps to figure out what the email was. And that was after 2 transferred me to someone else because they flat out didn't know.

It turns out the email meant that there was a potential delay on my system. I spent the next day or two calling HP and asking what was going on. Eventually, I was escalated to a case manager who said she'd call me back the next day with information. Nothing happened, so I called her back two days later. She told me that there was a backorder on the part, and I'd have to wait a bit. After talking about my other options (which she made clear were nonexistant) I resolved to simply wait. Late next week, it finally shipped back to me.

When it arrived, I finally got a chance to play around with it and found a multitude of issues. The screen does not latch to close, which is fine, but they put these rubber stoppers along the bezel of the screen that make the screen bounce up and down if one does not hold it closed. The right side of the palm rest made a creaking noise as well, and was easily pushed inwards by normal weight of a wrist. The keyboard, while nice, was extremely smooth and that, of course made typing a little awkward.

The screen was one of the two worst problems. It was very grainy and seemed a little dim. The worst issue, by far, was the trackpad. I tried every fix and trick out there, but it was still horrible. It was so bad it made browsing and simple dragging and dropping a real challenge. There were a few smaller issues, with the "slim" battery they recommended (and which sounded great) being heavy as hell, the throttling issue, etc.

3 days after receiving the machine back, I sent it back for a full return.

Overall I'd say the Envy is a horrible machine, and there's a reason I have been told to avoid HP at all costs. While the specs may be nice, the actual build and design of the machine is subpar at best.

After returning the machine, I started to wait for the refresh of the MBP's, but now since that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, I'm looking into other laptops, and the Dell Studio XPS 16 is one of them. If only it had a good enthusiast level card (5830 or 5770 would be good enough for me!)

 

Thats what I think. Whichever brand of computer we buy, we may or may not get into issues. Its all about the luck lol...

 

Hmm, since a few days the brightness of my RGBLED screen is not functioning anymore. It stopped functioning after a reboot/crash when my lappy was connected to an external screen via Displayport (a Dell 2408). When I press the Fn + brightness keys I still get the little menu/slider popping up and moving, but the actual brightness is not changing...

And when I scroll the Windows 7 brightness slider in Power Options nothing is happening either..

Any thoughts anyone?

 

Do a power flea. That might help.

Steps: Turn off pc>Disconnect any peripherals>Disconnect Ac Adapter>Take out the battery>Turn over the laptop and hold the power button for 30 seconds>Put back the battery and Ac adapter and start the computer and check.

 

Has anyone else encountered BSOD's once in a while randomly when in the My Documents folder?
Have had my replacement for 4 days and its already happened twice
Never happened with my first XPS 1645
Any solutions?

 

Yea, I dont think they are going to give you your money back ... nope not gonna happen lol. Its very very doubtful, maybe if your lucky ... Well, if the Alienware is heavier ... well I dont know what to say, every machine has its ups and downs right ? ... Maybe you could just go for a studio 17 instead ? Just a thought. but Im guessing they are heavy too, eh ? and from my experience with HP (currently typing on one) ... not all that great. their service, no doubt sucks. you have to send your machine to them. I cant imagine doing that. and viao, amazing. but are you kidding me ? F series start at 1,30,000. thats like almost 3000$. Willing to shell another 1000$ for the same config ? go for it i'd say ... but what exactly are your issues with the Dell thats making it so unbearable ?

 

Exactly what I did (exactly as described above) and it worked for me. Whatever you do don't let support load new drivers over your old ones (will cause conflicts on boot up).

 

Glad it worked for you friend.

And support, I only contact them for hardware issues.

 

Anyone have any idea delivery of this laptop to Dublin-Ireland will take,it was shipped on the morning of the 18th ?

 

Hey bipul, hows your laptop working for you ? I have the exact same config (just no blu-ray) and ordered it ... but can still cancel. An honest opinion would help

 

Well Dell has decided to give me a full refund of my monies once I threatened them with the Sale Of Goods Act, coupled with the pics I sent them showing them the poor build quality of the Studio XPS that I received.

Now the problem is what laptop to I buy???

Do I go for another Dell and hope I don't get my fingers burned again or do I
go for another manufacturer

Any advice will be greatly appreciated