Who's Actually Happy with their SXPS 16?

Seems like all you read are all the negative posts about the Studio XPS 16. Well I think its by far the greatest notebook I have ever owned, and I have owned quite a few in my time. You never see any threads dedicated to how good a notebook is just how bad. Let this thread discuss ONLY GOOD THINGS about the Dell Studio XPS 16 series.

I love the build quality, the RGBLED screen, the keyboard, the superior build quality. Windows 7 runs amazing on this laptop. Just the whole feel when using it really makes me appreciate it.

 

It's a good product, no doubt. But it does not work as advertise and that is disappointing because it had so much potential to be Dells flagship.

 

Sperior bild qalit????? keboard? eboard does't eve work well as o ca see.

 

Drunk posting? Edit: haha I just found out what you mean, your keyboard is messed. GG haha I apologize.

 

The XPS 16 is a great laptop. It has superior build quality and is loaded with features at a reasonable price. There does seem to be a lot of bashing of it... every computer is going to have its issues, at least CPU throttling is out of the way.

 

Coming from the XPS 1530 (w/the lovely faulty GPU) ~ and Dell gave me the XPS 1640! Which I really enjoyed!

Then, after nearly a month of usage, it had an accidental fall ~ and Dell replaced it with a new XPS 1647 (which I received today).

I really enjoy the 16xx series. It's a nice lappy' ~ can't complain! I love the backlit keyboard. The RGBLED is simply spectacular, the Merlot Red color/"shine" is sweet, I like the way the keyboard types, and the processor moves as fast as it should. Watching movies/vid's/listening to music (the sound is awesome = all cool in my eyes! :yes:

I remain a happy Chicka'......

Cin...

 

Why even post here if you are going to say that? The keyboard is fine!

The throttling is such an over exaggeration. Most users only experienced throttling when running benchmarks simultaneously. Who does that realistically? I can play Crysis MAXED with NO THROTTLING!!!

Yeah I remember reading about that a while back. So glad they took care of you What are you specs exactly? The Merlot Red almost won me over too but I love the black Post some pics if ya can I never can find pics of the white ones or red ones only black.

 

I love this laptop, but rather disappointed it's a love/hate relationship really ,and that is thanks to Dell Engineering and to an extent their support.

 

I'm very happy with this laptop. I only buy Dell laptop for the community support as well as next day support, and so far it's been quite wonderful. True, the throttling issue took a bit of time to resolve but other than that, this is a wonderful product, especially the screen (I didn't know that a reflective screen can look so good), as well as the keyboard, video card and general feel of the thing. I wasn't able to find a comparable system from another manufacturer at this sort of price.

The vent design is quite an interesting thing because any reasonable person would ask, 'how did they drop the ball on this one?!' while the rest of the laptop looks wonderful. I can imagine the marketing/'nice hinge' design team and the engineers discussing things, and design wins out. With a not so new processor, the air may not be so hot, and so it's a compromise the system builders could live with...

 

Balderdash. Unless you've replaced the thermal paste on the GPU/CPU yourself and either have pretty decent luck or a notebook cooler, you'll get GPU throttling on standard stuff after a little while. There's no avoiding it at all on the stock system that Dell ships out.

I've replaced the paste on mine and I use a notebook cooler and so, my temps have remained manageable. But that's not something we should be having to do with a $1500+ laptop. Absolutely shoddy on Dell's part that they have taken this long to try and rectify the CPU throttling, something that should have never ever left their quality control process, let alone be sent to manufacturing as is. GPU is still an issue though and I don't see how they're really going to address this, as it's thermal related.

 

Actually I'm not sure this is necessarily true, because my stock system's GPU temp doesn't go beyond 60 degrees C (usually it's just 52-3 degrees, room temperature at 29 degrees ) when running apps that are not games.

 

I never mentioned throttling in my post. I'm talking about the speakers not being able to perform with 100% volume without distortion/buzzing/crackling.

 

Well there is no such thing as a PERFECT laptop.

 

I love the keyboard! Coming from the same situation as Cin', I thought the M1530 had a fantastic keyboard (despite it's other massive problems). So upon receipt of this one, I was skeptical and sort of saddened that I was losing that keyboard. But, I quickly realized that I had received a much better one. No complaints in that department.

True matt, I do agree with you that there is no such thing as a perfect laptop, but I do also believe that certain things that went wrong with this laptop (CPU throttling-mostly Fixed; Vent design, and even the speaker issue) were avoidable. However, there aren't that many things wrong with this laptop despite the numerous threads, and I'm very happy every time I flip that lid open and watch my lights flicker as I push the power button...

 

The flickering isn't that bad at all. I work from a 100% dimmed screen most of the time and its fine. The speakers could be improved. The crackling is a tad annoying but they still sound pretty good. I listen from headphones for the most part. Its always a good idea to have an external pair of speakers though with any laptop

 

I have some good luck & not so good luck with my "flailing hands" lol
Here are my specs: i5 520 Core Process; ATI 4670; 4GB DDR3; 16" WS 16:9 1080p Full HD RGBLED LCD; Color: Merlot Red ; 320GB 7200 RPM SATA HD; MS Office Home & Student Edition; Facial Recog; Dell Wireless 370 BT; 6200 Intel; 6Cell & 9Cell Batt; Travel Remote (2); Integrated 10/100 Network Card; Win7/64Bit.

I will post some pics this evening. I have to tweak my reinstall. I had a *fail* after clean install & had to do another after Win 7 upon reboot decided to have an issue and perform a StartUp Repair on Reboot & deleted all of my applications I took time installing... *sigh*...now issues w/Btooth also (was working before).

Cin...

 

At first I wanted an Envy but I got the 1647 instead so I kind of hated the 1647 at first. But now I have to say it is growing on me. Good build, want a better VGA than the 4670 but it still can get the job done. I play games but not a fan of the likes of Crysis so I dont have problems now.
Got myself a notebook cooler so I dont see the throtting problems. The only complain for me is it is heavy, I couldnt bring it to school and work like I wanted to, and that were the reason I wanted an Envy ( other than the VGA).
So I can say Im please with this machine.

 

I am very happy with mine. No real issues since I bought it in September. Performs really well (and i have yet to install Win7) and doesn't get too hot. I did notice some throttling after 2hrs of gaming in a small warm room, but that's why I bought a cooler for it. Gaming is a +, not its main purpose. I'd rather have a laptop that looks nice than a bulky one that games on the fly better.

 

No there isn't but I paid for the premium of getting a flagship laptop. I used to have a Inspiron 1520, I had 0 complaints or anything that was wrong with it. I got my moneys worth but SXPS doesn't manage to satisfy as advertised. Like I said I am disappointed but doesn't mean I still don't enjoy using it. It could have been the perfect laptop if their engineers pulled their heads out of their asses.

 

AMEN!! and right on

 

When I pay for something, I expect my money's worth. This laptop hasn't come even close to that. It's quite the shame, with more quality control, some actual testing and non-idiotic corporate decisions on Dell's part, this laptop really could have been quite the killer.

 

Sorry, when I said standard stuff, I meant standard games (i.e. not Furmark/Prime95 benchmarking, or system taxing games like Crysis). During regular usage (non gaming, non GPU use), the GPU doesn't ever go above 60C because it's not being used. However, even playing a game like Bioshock or even older games, you'll immediately hit the 84C thermal limit and watch as this laptop falls to its knees while throttling on something that should be child's play for it to run.

 

This is the best computing system I've ever owned up to date. The system isn't perfect, and I'm sure Dell could do a better job tweaking some of the things ppl complain about and modify some design issues, or use better speakers, but overall, I am very happy with this laptop (on a scale of 0 to 100, probably a 92), and I was fortunate enough to have received a 1640 without many of the problems many others are having. I'm running Win7x64 right now, and it's extremely fast and smooth. I would probably want an updated XPS 16 with the new stuff that's come out...but you can never stay on top of technology...unfortunately. I'm definitely proud of bringing out my laptop now and putting it on the table in a public place XD. The WLED screen I have is amazing, like 2x as bright as my old HP ever could be. The colors are very clear and crisp. Would have wanted a higher resolution, tho. Heat hasn't been too much of a prob for me. I never felt it was too hot, and I also never use it on my actual lap. The keyboard is astounding, and I love the touch and feel of it that I actually love to type on it, unlike some other keyboards I've owned or the frail hp keyboard on my old laptop (didn't feel "solid"). I've recommended the XPS 16 to other friends because I like it so much, is the bottom line. lol

 

It seems like you're having a great time with your laptop which is awesome. But it also seems because you're having a great time and all your parts seem to be functioning as normal that when everyone else says to the contrary you dismiss it because your experience is fine. Not everyone is having the same pleasant experience with the laptop as you are. You can't just dismiss the problems others are having because you aren't experiencing them yourself. The throttling isn't over exaggerated.

On topic, I have a 1640 and like most its a love/hate thing. Looks great, has the potentional to be great but there are so many small problems and quirks that just add up to make it not that great. Especially when paying $1800+. I expect better build quality and especially a better thoughout design. The thermals design on this is atrocious.

On that note, I'm getting a new 1647 this week. Hopefully all the quirks I had before are gone and this can be the GREAT laptop it has the potential to be.


(Have you really tested it? Because even I thought my laptop was flawless, later I actually ran the tests and found out otherwise. I suggest you do the same. Could be an eye opener)

 

$2800+ here

 

i have had a 1640 mfor about 3 weeks. once i got it set up the way i like, there have been no problems at all. i do not game. i use it for everything else though. today i got a 1645 and so far it is superior in every way

 

I have had my 1640 since october it was replaced once or twice, before that i had a 1640 with a 3670 and that failed horribly. I do game and as they market this laptop as gaming capable its annoying when you get a decent frame rate 40-60 then bam 9-12 every minute or so no matter the settings low or high always drop frame rate to 9-12 or the screen and audio will freeze for like 30 seconds and the audio will keep skipping till it decides to kick back in this is all without throttlestop and a 130 watt adapter with throttlestop and a 130 watt adapter its constant 40-60 no drops at all no problems except sometimes GPU will fail it's gotten to the point that tech support is utterly useless and this forum is more help Like i said I LOVE this lappy, but it's become like an abusive relationship you keep making excuses for the reasons you stay and hope that it will get better and that my friend is truly sad

 

I understand that. However if you want better build quality then maybe get a macbook pro? Of course just because I have had an excellent experience doesn't mean there are not issues. My speakers rattle and the screen flickers too. Of course my machine throttles but who is going to run several benchmark applications simultaneously? When it comes right down to it the throttling is NOT AN ISSUE. I am SO SICK AND TIRED of reading about the throttling. The average person who buys a computer isn't going to try and milk it for every penny. All you see here is complaining, complaining, complaining, well I can't speak for everyone but I'm sick of reading it. The majority of the throttling has been addressed by Dell.

Getting back to what you first said, I started this thread with the intent of only good things about the SXPS because every other thread bashes it. Its just so typical that people see this thread and feel like they have to immediately inform people that its not a good laptop however a bad one because it throttles. In case you were not aware the HP envy also throttles. Just check this thread. So let me be clear! Why even post in this thread if your going to say bad things about it? Look around you'll find many threads dedicated for people who want to complain but here your in the wrong thread!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=455493&highlight=throttling

 

paid about $1225 (EPP, incl. tax, shipping, and a 9-cell battery), which was a pretty good deal for the specs I was able to get at the time. yea, as some have noted, I would have expected a better build quality. Maybe use more aluminum instead of plastic? The slot-load DVD was an excellent feature, as is the backlit keyboard. The weight is not too bad; I carry it around to class all the time in a backpack, and that's with the 9-cell on it, too. The microfiber cloth covering they give has also been quite essential when transporting my laptop back and forth and preventing scratches/damage. The lid/screen is slightly frail (easily twistable/bendable)...they could have used something stronger. But when it comes to functionality and my daily usage (which hardly includes any gaming), this is an excellent laptop to have, and I enjoy using it all the time. =)

 

That wasn't the case for me. On my 1640 the keyboard was good, it was very solid, it actually didn't get very hot, it's very easy to access most components from the main panel on the bottom, and even the wled screen was great.

My single complaint was that nothing was done to fix the 1640's throttling, and it wasn't exaggerated. I saw it throttling just using Firefox.

In any case, the 1647 must be great, since it's what the 1640 should've been.

Have fun with yours!

Edit: One last thing I forgot to mention; the speakers are nothing short of amazing. They can be turned up so loud it's painful, and they still maintain clarity.

 

You can't expect to start a thread with the words you used "Who's Actually Happy with.."

That title in itself is insinuating that the majority of the people who own it aren't happy. That and the fact that you made a thread that had to ask if anyone is happy about it also shows that hardly anyone is happy with it. So how can you NOT expect people to chime in with something negative. We don't want others to take a chance and experience what we did.

And just for arguments, I agree to disagree with you about your stance on throttling. Go read the energy star 5 compliance thread. It's more than a user being aware of it or pushing there system to throttle synthetically. It goes much, much deeper than that. Corporate greed and taking advantage of its customers. But I don't want to get into that.


Back on topic. I love my xps 1640 when it doesn't throttle and the speakers don't rattle. I really enjoy the wide selection of I/O. I use the Displayport for my Dell 24" 2408wfp, the e-sata for my 1gb external hdd, hdmi to hook up to my 50" HDTV and obviously the USB for various things including the PowerShare to charge equipment when my laptop is off ( i love that!) I am really impressed with the port selection in itself.

And I can write a book about the RGBLED. Its fantastic!

 

Here's another :what I like: factoid from me...
It's nice that it nearly matches my Dell BT Travel Mouse in Red perfectly! XD <-- XD

Also, I like the ease of use the the Fn + keys to brighten/dim..and enlarge/lower the screen res!

Cin...

 

I love my touchpad and keyboard and of course this screen the overall look of this laptop is just absolutely gorgeous everyone that sees it loves it and wants one, Im not commenting on performance, but I do love this laptop so much

 

Would you guys say that the heat/throttling issue is a deal breaker though for potential buyers? I am torn between the Envy 15 and the XPS 16.

The Envy 15 has no heat issues, but on the Dell the RGBLED screen sounds wonderful.

 

There are quite a few things that I like about this laptop. I was looking for a well built, nice looking, multimedia machine that I could do software development on, would look good in a business setting and could handle occasional gaming.

First let me say that before buying I read all the threads covering the XPS 1645/47, Sony F11, HP Envy and a couple of ASUS machines. So I was well aware of the issues people were having with the XPS 16 as well as the other brands. All the threads I read have a high percentage of posts that discuss problems. Its human nature to want to vent or ask questions about problems. I just don't think that people are as motivated to post if they are happy. I considered that in my decision. I almost pulled the trigger on the Sony F11 and am glad I didn't. I have had good success with Dell over the years and the looks and specs of the XPS 1647 appealed to me. After it became apparent that the CPU throttling issues were addressed for the most part, I decided to buy. My purchase experience was excellent and it was delivered a week ahead of the original estimate and in perfect condition.

I really, really love the RGBLED display. I can see where some might think that the colors are over-saturated, but it looks fabulous to me. Best screen on any laptop I've ever used.

I like the backlit keyboard. It feels and looks good and I appreciate the full-sized delete, home, arrow, etc. keys that many laptops seemed to make smaller these days so they can add a numeric keypad, which I've never used much. I also like a centered touch pad.

I like the i5 processor. It runs cooler than the i7 and has turbo boost.

I like that it looks like an adult's laptop compared to most of the stuff that's out there these days

I bought a 130w adapter from ebay ($34.99 w/free shipping) rather than exchange with Dell because I wanted to keep the 90w that came with it. I've run all the benchmarks with throttlestop logging as suggested by others on the throttling threads and do not have any CPU throttling with the A04 BIOS. I am happy with that. Check out the severe throttling that Sony has locked in on the F11 when on battery for some perspective on this issue.

I am happy with the 9 cell battery time. Easily 3+ hrs browsing and playing movies.

I bought Crysis to give it a good gaming test and was happy with the performance at 1920x1080 with all other settings on high. Not sure how many fps I was getting. I am not a real experienced gamer, but it felt smooth. I'll admit that after an hour or so, the lower left of the screen did get warm. If I frequently gamed for long periods of time, this would concern me somewhat. However, I would use a cooler if that were the case and probably would not have bought this machine anyway if gaming was my primary concern.

 

Thanks for the comment. I'm just not too fond of having to purchase a cooler along with the increased price of the RGBLED. I think I'm probably gonna go with the Envy.. we'll see if there are any defects :/

 

I did not mean to imply that a cooler was necessity. Though personally, I believe that $60 for a nice Zalman 2000 cooler is something that anyone with an expensive laptop should invest in.

I've had bad experiences with HP's, so I wasn't tempted too much by the Envy. I admit, it does look nice. I didn't like the 4GB memory limit with the i5 and the external optical drive though.

 

I can totally understand where you're coming from. In the end I feel like I'd be happy with both.. though the Envy is thinner and lighter. That's kind of the selling point for me right now.

The lack of optical drive will be.. interesting. I don't mind burning all my games and whatnot to ISOs anyways. In the end it'll probably be more convenient Thanks again dude

 

The issue isn't build quality, but lack of testing. This isn't about Apple vs. other companies, it's about Dell doing their own quality control before releasing a product.

And that's where you're wrong. It's not about Furmark+Prime95, it's about GPU throttling that's occurring now in normal games. Nothing insanely intensive or bleeding edge. I'm talking games that came out 3-4 years ago. The CPU throttling was fixed for the most part (albeit, far later than it should have been), but this uncovered another problem: GPU throttling due to bad thermal design of the laptop.

The average person who uses this laptop for any kind of gaming (read: not necessarily hardcore gamer or anything) will definitely encounter throttling.

You're asking a question in an open forum. People are going to respond with their opinions.

There are good aspects to the laptop, but there's also a lot of bad ones, things that should have been addressed.

 

The title is not insinuating that the majority of the people who own the laptop are not happy with it. My intent was strictly to create the thread for people who have no issues and are glad they bought the laptop. If you obviously feel otherwise then post elsewhere. On every forum out there the majority of the material is people with issues, rarely do you read about good things about a product. When people are actually satisfied with a product they don't tend to post good things only the bad things. That is just reality and how people are.

"You don't want others to experience what we did" that's an overstatement! As I said before your average user is not going to have issues with the throttling. Most wouldn't even know what it is. I would tell anyone out there looking to buy a notebook with high performance to purchase this notebook as its great. The throttling is ridiculous simple as that. The 1645 users were affected by it the most and that has been resolved to the point where it WILL NOT AFFECT THEM on daily usage. Now once again if your going to run benchmarks simultaneously then you will experience throttling. If my car makes a funny noise once I hit 120 mph do I worry about it? NO because when am I going to be driving 120mph?

Until you started your 1640 throttling thread it was never an issue with the 1640 series. I hope it gets resolved. Getting back on topic, which laptop isn't going to have issues? I mentioned the macbooks before and even they have their issues. No matter how much one spends he will always have some issues or another with his new computer. That is how it works.

I am sorry you have had a bad experience with your 1640. I hope your 1647 makes you happy and not regret your purchase. I use to think if I was paying a pretty penny for something that it would last for years and be flawless but sadly that isn't how things work anymore. However for the money this notebook is pretty damn close to perfect IMO.

 

No offense, but can you stop stating this over and over when it's seriously not true? People can and do still run into throttling for regular usage (again, not Prime95+Furmark) of the laptop. The numbers have gone down considerably due to the fixes, but for gaming this thing still does throttle due to the GPU now.

Complacence isn't the best thing either. Not to mention, Macbooks and other laptops have had issues, but not as debilitating as this one has been.

 

I don't want to turn this thread into a Throttling war. To each his own, I can play Crysis fully maxed fine.

 

You keep trying to say that the throttling isn't a big deal. It is. Your rigorous denial of the severity of the throttling issue is irritating because you own one of the three SXPS 16s. Yours happens to be the model least affected by throttling, if there even is any on the 1647, which there may not be.

If the "average user" doesn't use an internet browser, I guess they might be able to avoid throttling. I watched my clock speed drop from 2.2GHz to 1.2GHz while internet browsing. Speak for the 1647, not the whole SXPS 16 line.

 

:yes: agreed.

 

Fine!!!! Then maybe a moderator can change this thread to 1647 since the rest of you are so unhappy with your 1645. Here's some advice... RETURN IT or SELL IT!!!

 

LOOOOL... r u serious?? that just might be the worst analogy... ever.

 

I did return it.

 

No its not its the truth! I am sure my system would throttle if I pushed it hard enough but I know I will never so why even worry about it?

 

I would worry about it if I could spend hundreds less for identical performance. Throttling only happens for energy star compliance. Meaning Dell makes these slow so they can make more money, while still advertising powerful components.

That analogy doesn't work at all. Driving at 120mph is a good way to break something, but running a cpu/gpu at its rated speed is what it's supposed to do.

 

I would comment but if you look at my thread history you can find out exactly how I feel...