What happened to the RGBLED Dell XPS 16

Hey guys,
Does anyone know if the Dell XPS 16 will be getting its RGBLED screen back? I find it kind of strange that they took it out after they introduced the ATI 5730.

 

I JUST called into Dell Canada and talked with a person about re-doing my order. I asked him about 10 times if he was positive about the RGB screen being discontinued and he was very ademant about that fact. First he said it was out of stock and I said I wont be placing my order until they had it available and he said they have discontinued it. I was also surprised to learn that the Bluetooth module apparently IS usb and not embedded...I also questioned him multiple times if that was correct and he said it wasnt embedded because of Windows 7 compatibility. Another person on this board assured me it would be embedded and the fact it said "usb module" on the canadian website, was a mistake. Guess I'll find out when I recieve the unit.

Price before GST was: $1529 for the configuration thats in my SIG.

Originally I configured an online order for $1629 that included 8GB of ram and a 9-cell battery but I actually want the 6-cell because it sits flat and i could only get that by calling in.

I also asked multiple times about the 130watt adapter and the sales guy didnt know anything...im pretty sure it will be the right adapter though as they have been shipping 130w ones for a month or more now i hear. Lastly I tried configuring with a different cpu to try and save money and decrease power consumption and heat but was told the 5730 only comes with i7 systems. I tried to get the dual core i7 but they quad core was
actually cheaper.

In the US do you guys actually get to talk to a white person who knows anything about computers? Or is it always east indians who sound the same regaurdless of who you talk to?

 

The following has been been neither confirmed or denied by dell:
The RGBLED was axed from certain configs of th SXPS16 because of the increased power draw for the monitor which resulted in more severe throttling and required issuance of 130W adapters to all RGB owners. So basically it's a CYA move, the throttling was worse and more noticeable and harder to fix on RGB systems, so the solution was to get rid of them.

 

Wow, you call yourself Canadian? Nobody likes outsourcing but there's no need to generalize against a group of people like this.

Dell would rather send me an Alienware replacement than an XPS 16 with RGB LED, so that's a pretty good sign that the RGB LED is gone for good. At least for the next little while.

 

Sorry i was just frustrated talking to what was apparently five differerent people and wasting over an hour of my time on what should have taken five minutes.

 

the WLED is not bad =)

I'd probably still order the WLED even if they had RGBLED option.
Although, I don't like the fact they've made the XPS 16 to be 15.6" now...

 

I know...I have the RGBLED and it's gorgeous...

It should now be called the XPS 15.6

 

About the BT, I don't know what the precise question was, but the BT module in my SXPS 16 is clearly internal, right next to the wireless card. On my old M1330 and perhaps on others like this one, the data bus that the BT card uses is USB.

In other words, it's like those 450-in-1 internal card readers: while they typically sit adjacent to the optical and hard drives, they are connected to a USB header internally, and so they are USB devices as would, presumably, the BT card be as well.

As for the RGBLED, I have the regular WLED and mostly use external monitors anyway, but the Full HD WLED is certainly sufficient for when I'm in the field, though if I did Photoshop and video editing in the field then perhaps it would be a greater concern.

 

I have only ever used LCD screens so I'm sure the jump to LED alone will be a big difference. I do watch HD movies and play games but dont do any sort of picture editing/creation. I was using an Acer 243H TN 1080p LCD before getting this laptop so I'm expecting the laptop screen to be nicer.

 

Based on this comment, I'm not sure if you completely understand what these screens are. WLED and RGBLED screens are still LCD screens. It's just the backlight that uses LEDs. The WLED screens lit by white LEDs; and the RGBLED screens are lit by red, green, and blue LEDs. Older/traditional LCD screens use CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) for the backlight.

 

yeah, true, it's still LCD, don't let the LED-marketing-bullsh*t fool you
for instance OLED is a new technology, but there are not many laptops with OLED screen yet..

 

This. The difference is the backlighting.

LCD displays work by blocking out the light coming from the backlight. By filtering through red, green and blue of the white light, you can get to all of the colour spectrum, well, most of it at least.

The problem is getting that white light properly white. WLED backlighting isn't quite white, there's peaks and troughs in various areas of the light spectrum, where pure white light should be uniform throughout. This means that colours aren't as vibrant and you can't display as many, as if you're filtering through all of the red frequency, but that red frequency isn't as as vibrant as a pure white light would provide, your colours will be off as you can never filter through as much red to mix into a colour as you should be able to. RGB LEDs provide a purer white, and so purer colours.

 

With proper calibration of course (which is the case with the XPS 16XX)...

 

if anyone is looking for a XPS 1645 with the RGBLED screen there is about 20 in the Dell Outlet right now.

 

16" RGBLED screens are still being sold on the Australian Dell site...

 

Same for the UK site...

And I'm about to unbox mine!

 

can i get your cali settings?

 

This THREAD helped me a lot. Read and follow the post made by iaTa. The profile he links in his post (Mark's V2) is the one I use and is really the best one that has come out of that thread (IMO). The installation, also in his post, is quick and easy. Hope it goes well.

 

The WLED from what i have seen dell has been using AUOs and boy those look so ugly and washed out. RGBLED rocks its amazing.

 

Is it reasonable of me to think that, due to the lower power consumption and heat generation of the newer 5730 card, the RGBLED screen may come back?

Cuz, an RGBLED coupled with the new i7 processor, 8 gigs of ram and a 5730 card would be a sweet system.

Does anyone have any kind of answer from Dell on what exactly is happening with the RGBLED screens? are they totally discontinued? are we hooped?

the sxps 16 is still an attractive offer without the RGB screen, but with it it is an unbelievable option

 

Wow its a good thing I stumbled upon this thread, I have been looking for answers regarding why I can't purchase that exact same 16" screen that I have been hearing so many great reviews about. I couldn't tell you how long I have been on the phone with dell talking to so many different people and none of them had a clue why, not one bit of inof to why I could no longer purchase that screen with an studio 16 Dell sucks!

 

Yeah, that's pretty lame of Dell.

Have you tried calling the Music City (formerly known as the Jaguar) Sales Team? Maybe they can coax one. Dell, Extension 2169173/2169174 (pick one).

~Ibrahim~

 

This doesn't sit well with me, this whole disappearing RGB nonsense. Obviously the first reason is because I can't get one, but also because Dell still advertises the RGB screen on the XPS page.

the single strongest point of the sxps 16 is the RGB screen. Everything else can be gotten elsewhere in a laptop for comparable dollars - Dell obviously is aware of this. It's downright deceitful of Dell to dastardly dis-inform, defraud, and double cross us deluded dupes!

I'm all cool with the fact that problems happen. We are all aware with some of the SXPS 16's design features, and I fully understand that sometimes recalls happen because components do not work as imagined for some reason or another. - or stock shortages. I get that.

But, Dell - Come on here, guys. Be cool about this whole thing - friggin' tell us what the story is. Are you short of stock? Have they been discontinued? Just tell your sales people, and let it be. If it has been discontinued, stop advertising it!

- however, as I said... this doesn't sit well with me. It seems to me that most likely Dell doesn't know themselves what the long-term status of their RGB monitor is. Dell is either grappling with a design change to deal with the throttling issue, or is grappling with a supplier who is trying to produce enough of these things on time.

How else do you explain the remaining vague advertisements for it on the SXPS site, the lack of any sort of statement from Dell about its disappearance, the total unfamiliarity Dell phone and chat reps have with the situation?

I'd say this thing is definitely coming back to the SXPS. It has always been its strongest point. If it turns out that this whole time Dell has just been riding the residual popularity of a since-discontinued fan favourite... well, then to hell with Dell

 

This is quite unfortunate. I spoke to a dell representative on their "chat" service, and I was told that the RGBLED Screen is only available on their Studio 17 notebook

 

I even registered on this site just I could post the following message to Dell:

I own a Dell Studio XPS 16 with a RGBLED screen. The computer has all sorts of problems. It crashes every time it I try to bring it out of hibernation or to restart it. I have to reboot constantly. It runs too hot. I've had to replace the keyboard. It's been back to IS a dozen times. But I love the screen sooooooo much that I put up with all the hassles. In fact, I don't know what I will do if this computer dies because I could never go back to lesser screen.

Dell, please bring this exact screen back. I hope you read this, Dell.