XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

Maybe its solution for wifi problems too?!

 

This means that non-wwan xps have antennas? or the antenna is the wwan card itself?

 

I'm having serious wifi problems. Its been a discouraging journey. I bought a L521x and it had wifi problems. Then I replaced it and had the same issues.
Finally, I decided to buy the L421x instead. The first day I didn't notice too much of an issue. It was when I went one room further away from the router that the issue became apparent. I own a XPS 13 and have had no issues with dropping Wifi or loosing signal all together.

Should I replace it or return it?

I bought the i7, 500gb model from amazon.

 

I have to say -- not knowing the details -- my first impression is that there is a router issue. Even with the 13 performing well, I would give that router a serious once-over if you've had 2 15s and 1 14 with connection issues. Any other data/observations you can add that would help rule out the router?

-Matt

 

Yeah I ordered a new router Wednesday. Should be delivered either today or tomorrow. Hoping that's all it is. I own a Linksys e2000 right now. I bought the Asus rt-n66u.

 

You're in luck, since I have been looking to replace my M1330 with something. I haven't bought an XPS 14, but I've used one a few times now since, after a few misfires, I'm back to looking at new notebooks. Here are my brief impressions:

Keyboard - Markedly worse ergonomically than the M1330's, in my opinion. I find the keys to have less tactile feedback, the spacing is less conducive to fast typing, and I make more errors. However, I did find the keyboard at least average, or maybe slightly above-average, as far as new notebooks go. The keyboard on the HP Folio 13 is superior, IMO, as is Lenovo's chiclet keyboard.

Display - Display is...OK, I guess. The contrast isn't that great, and I can see lines on every other row vertically, so it looks a bit screen door-ish. I've noticed a lot of displays on notebooks have this problem lately. Horizontal viewing angles were OK but vertical were not great. M1330's display never had great vertical either, but I found it to be a bit narrower still on the 14. I'd say the display is passable for basic use, but I feel it looks worse than the M1330's display.

Trackpad - I prefer real buttons with my trackpad, but the 14's trackpad seemed to be one of the better 'clickpad' style ones I've tried. Considerably better than that on, for example, an Asus Zenbook Prime. Also leagues ahead of the very awkward one on the Lenovo X220.

Weight - It's definitely heavier than my M1330, although the thinner profile gives a different sort of feel when holding or carrying it. I'm not sure if the 14 feels bulkier overall, but I'm leaning towards yes, which is ironic given the 'Ultrabook' designation.

Overall - It seems like an OK, but not optimal replacement for the M1330. The XPS 14 is faster and flashier, but for my main use ("productivity"), it almost feels like a downgrade due to the keyboard, weight, and display. I go back and forth about that impression, though. I think I've decided to see what the XPS 13 refresh holds.

 

Anyone from Dell on this forum?

Can that issue of not being able to boot from the SD card slot, be fixed with a BIOS update?

 

Announcement:

My final post on NBR as a Dell representative.

 

I did get my XPS 14. The WWAN model cannot be bought with the NVidia 630, which is what I wanted. Per my previous post, I thought I had a custom one coming which did have both...but Dell messed it up. I got the standard i7 with NVidia, no WWAN.

So, before even booting the XPS 14, I opened it up, clonezilla'd the 500G spin drive to a Crucial 512G M4, pulled the Samsung 830 mSATA drive and cannibalized the WWAN card from my m1330 as well as the antenna structure and installed it all in the XPS 14. For those who may question, the I/O controller card will handle both mSATA and PCIe minicard (not both at once, of course as there is only 1 slot). Earlier controllers/cards would not handle a switch due to a pinout issue even though mSATA and PCIe mini-cards are physically compatible

On the m1330 WWAN card, it's a Dell 5720 Verizon card. I had to scour the internet for about 4 hours before I finally found a set of drivers that would load. The XPS 14 is NOT an approved machine for this card, and the drivers from Dell's site will not load unless on a Dell approved model whitelist. Google T500Dell5720.zip if interested. Getting the antenna in was interesting. The XPS14 WWAN model has a different lid, apparently due to antenna placement and routing. The non-WWAN XPS 14 does NOT come with the needed antenna, so I pulled it from the m1330, squashed it flat between 2 layers of duct tape, then placed it within the base of the XPS 14. It works fine after also loading the VZAccess Connection Manager software, however the signal of my franken-WWAN is a bit attenuated compared to where it should be.

No physical modifications have been made to the XPS 14, and warranty should not be voided (according to what Dell-Bill has said elsewhere)...all can be put back to factory original in a matter of about 5 minutes, not a mark on the machine to identify anything ever happened. The original HDD and mSATA were never even booted and are stored for now.

General thoughts:

I hate the trackpad. The trackpad is a case where form overtook function to its detriment. Really like the physical buttons on the m1330. The trackpad on the XPS 14 is too big, no defined button area, and I really have crush it to get a left click sometimes....I'm gonna break this thing in the normal course of use because I have to index finger punch it before it will finally recognize a single or double click sometimes. It's also far less precise than I'm used to for general pointing. I continue to play with the settings hoping to find a sweet spot, otherwise I may have a lemon here. Or, maybe I just need to re-learn how to use a trackpad.

Screen. Much better after turning off splendid mode. Nearly as good as the m1330 screen when in the sweet spot and at full brightness, but the viewing angles are really second class. Only marginally better than what you should get on a machine half this price. If you are used to an LED-screen m1330, you'd better lower your expectations...a lot. It is very usable straight-on, however.

Keyboard. I really don't care much for these chicklet boards all the rage currently...again form over function. I type about 75wpm, and so far I'm down probably 10 on this keyboard. It is workable and I can get used to it. I miss discrete Home/End keys.

Booting: I've heard boot-up concerns, so I timed it. 26.5 seconds on m1330 with C300 SSD. 30.5 seconds on the XPS 14 with M4 SSD. Time is cold boot from button press to login-screen visible. Acceptable for me, I really don't even notice the 4 seconds difference. YMMV. Sleep/wake times are fine for me, but I haven't clocked it.

On gaming: I've only played Diablo 3 so far, but it runs just fine, usually 30-40 fps. Quite playable...but I have to use an external mouse or my hardcore monk will simply die. I'll load Skyrim soon.

I really miss my fingerprint reader. I also miss a real VGA port - needed for business meetings on projectors, as HDMI/DP just isn't that common yet that VGA can be eliminated...I have to add to my bag an adapter.

I've notified Dell of the order problem (or I was at least mis-led by the sales lady), I'll see if they can do anything about it. I'll continue to use this machine for a few more days to see if I can get used to the trackpad or replace it. In the end, I may keep this machine...I don't know of any other that's better suited to what I want: Portability, good processor, modest gaming capability (Intel HD is NOT gaming...sorry), and connectivity anywhere anytime - price is not a major concern for me. I'm a road warrior for work, and this machine will be both my work and play when traveling.

I don't mean to seem too critical of this machine...it's a good enough machine to get the job done. It misses the mark just far enough that I can't be overly excited about it, either.

-NP

 

!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

I got mine like a week as=go and I dont see the big problem with the screen? Mine is MONITOR\AUO103E is that the same one everyone else has?

 

Replaced my Router...still having wifi issues. Contemplating returning it, but their are no good options. Maybe I'll just replace this one.

 

Hi there, i have driver issue!
I had the pre-installed driver on my machine, then it notifyed my an update, so i downloaded the latest WHQL from nvidia website and tried installing it. These driver should be certified for my VGA but i still have an error. The problem is that now i don't have driver installed at all so my 630m is running full-frequency and causing heat and power consumption even when i don't need all the power.

2. the graphic card is detected.
3. i only tried installing as the administrator (right click on the .exe file)
4. i can't even choose because the installation program stop me before it.

Now i'm using 306.02 beta driver but the Dgpu has top frequencies all time and battery is drained fast!

The real issue is that i need to cut down the frequency of the 630m in order to save battery and get less heat.

Can anyone help?

 

Hey guys I am a new owner to the XPS 14. I just bought it 8gbs of ram and an m4 256gb, should have done my homework on this because it is wayy to fat for the laptop. So instead I put my Samsung P810 from my desktop into this guy and I am able to install windows and everything, but when I restart it, it wont even load windows and just keeps rebooting. I took the Msata out.

 

Has Dell at least acknowledged there is an issue with wifi connectivity in the XPS 14s and 15s? Or are we all yelling into deaf ears?

 

Maybe a hint of an answer to your question -- I was quite astonished to see this response from a CSR (outsourced?) on the Dell Review page:

New XPS 14 Ultrabook Backlit Chiclet Keyboard,HD+ & Long Battery Life | Dell

At first blush, I thought I was looking at an XPS 15 owner-comment, but it is what it is: an XPS 14 owner complaining about wifi, and someone (obviously not a technician) at Dell saying "we are working on a solution." At the very worst, it means for sure the bosses of the CSR staff on the review boards are not moderating/censoring what their employees say!

-Matt

 

FWIW folks, replace my router today as well, not b/c of the XPS 14, just decided to try something new so I could run less equipment. Had an older DLINK DIR-625 upstairs, MoCA devices between there and basement, and a DLINK DIR-601 running in the basement off of the other MoCA. Just wanted to reduce complexity. I opted for the new DLINK DIR-645 Whole Home Router w/ SmartBeam. Reviews were staggeringly good, basically a 2.4ghz that beats most of the 5ghz, but you got the range of 2.4ghz out of it. Hooked it up, shut down everything else. My wife's V131 is rock solid all over the house, places that were previously serviced by roaming on the DIR-601 are now 4 and 5 bars, streamed 1080p youtube video w/ no trouble. Amazon HD content on the DVD player, previously had to run wired off the MoCA/DIR-601, now runs seemlessly off of the DIR-645 located on the opposite end and 2 stories up. So, long story short, the router performs as advertised and smokes the old setup.

That being said, the XPS14 is horrid. Can't even get a connection in the basement, right next ot my wife running her V131 full tilt. Closer to the router, it's blazing fast and stable. But there is no doubt in my mind there is a major issue w/ wifi on this XPS model.

 

Hello everybody, i've just got my new xps 14 and i can't find any information about first battery use...It was fully charged and i wonder if i have to do any cycles "fully charge\discharge" now (like some other manufacturers advise), or discharge and charge it for 12 hours for the first time? It would be great if anybody helped me, i'm newbie in such things..

 

Those things were good 10 years ago with batteries with, so called, memory effect. Have no worries to use your battery like it was 1 year old from the early beginning.

 

I agree...my XPS 14 wifi has been very poor. I've made the following changes which have each incrementally improved it such that it is now working pretty well.

1. Disable N mode - the Intel wifi cards have notorious stutter issues in a mixed environment with N-mode available. Control Panel -> System and Security -> Device Manager -> Network Adapters -> Intel 6235 -> Advanced -> 802.11n mode Disabled.

2. Disable Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level - From command prompt run as Administrator:
"netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled"

3. Congestion Provider Control - From command prompt run as Administrator:
"netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp"


My TCP parameters now look like this:
C:\Windows\system32>netsh interface tcp show global
Querying active state...

TCP Global Parameters
----------------------------------------------
Receive-Side Scaling State : enabled
Chimney Offload State : automatic
NetDMA State : enabled
Direct Cache Acess (DCA) : disabled
Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level : disabled
Add-On Congestion Control Provider : ctcp
ECN Capability : disabled
RFC 1323 Timestamps : disabled

It won't fix the situation if you are lacking bars of connectivity, but that wasn't my problem. Give it a try and let us know if you see an improvement. If not, you can always return these to their default state.

Regards,
-NP

 

I put a 2.5" 512G M4 and removed the mSATA in my XPS 14. Here's how:

You must have a 7mm drive. The M4 can be modified to 7mm if you are working with a 9.5mm drive.

Unscrew the 4 screws, remove the plastic ring. Next and most importantly:

*** THIS IS CRITICAL: The case w/o the ring flexes just enough to short a 5V regulator and burn it up. Get some heavy duty shipping tape and affix it to the top of the case (The very thin metal part with the label on the outside) with little cut-outs for the screws...this will prevent the short from happening. The official 7mm M4 (if you can get one) has tape/an insulator already installed with a VERY thin plastic ring...but the ring really isn't needed. In this mod, you will set aside the plastic ring for posterity.

You will need to get 2.5mm shorter screws, or shorten the originals. There are several ways to shorten the originals...cut them with a side cutters, hold with a pliers and bench grind them...etc. If shortening the originals, you won't be going back to 9.5mm unless you get some replacement screws.

Lastly, reassembly.

***This modification may void your Crucial warranty, and failure to affix the tape will certainly result in killing your SSD. It may be better to contact Crucial to get a 7mm SSD or ring if they are selling them if you don't already have the drive.

-NP

 

Thanks, I will try those tonight and see what happens. I also read some stuff last night about some kind of power management feature that might not be compatible w/ certain routers. Something called PSP (Power Save Polling). It was info from a Dell community person, who I'm not sure really knows what they were talking about since this persons regular suggestions seemed to be to make changes that pretty much crippled certain features that SHOULD be working, but maybe that's the only answer here (like disabling N mode). I really don't want to do that, the whole point is having that speed. I also don't want to have to shut down battery saving features. Ultimately, if I have to, I'll just put the MoCA back in place with one of my extra routers as an access point and live w/ it until Dell/Intel figure this out.

FYI, I seem to have plenty of signal strength, sometimes even more than the V131 seems to have...but just no connectivity (to the router admin console or to the internet). So I think you are spot on w/ what I have going on. Looking forward to trying these settings.

...more to come.

 

If you'll forgive my caveman reasoning, my gut feeling is maybe there is also an interference issue -- perhaps one that the XPS 14 is more susceptible to than your other machines. It seems unlikely, but I'm wondering what would happen if you tested the idea by turning off all your wifi devices except the Dell and tested performance. I realize when people mention "interference" it's from other routers, but it sounds like your particular home setup is crowded with several devices on the same channel. Just a random thought.

-Matt

 

There are definite oddities with the wifi. I can assure you it's not interference affecting my deployment. I'm well over 1000' from anybody when at home - I don't even see any other networks most of the time, and if so only 1 bar when I'm outside. I check my wireless logs periodically, and have never seen anybody else attached. Believe it or not, I don't even bother with wi-fi security at home because of location, so security settings are not the issue, either. When this is the only machine powered up using wifi at home, it does no better than when in a densely wifi-wise populated area. It's as if the internet just stops working for several seconds, then it will burst or slowly load for a bit, then stop again. Youtubes won't play, games disconnect, simple web pages sometimes load or don't. The above changes seemed to help for me. As always, YMMV.

-NP

 

Definitely a possibility in my case. Crowded neighborhood. The visible wireless networks seem to come and go, but plenty there. And I've got plenty of devices (n and g) going, 2 squeezeboxes, table, phone, dvd player, and 3 laptops. But if it's only the Dell XPS14 having problems, then even if it's interference, my gut has to say design flaw...either in the XPS case/antenna design or in the Intel 6235 card. Could be the integrated bluetooth, just the card itself. If some of these setting changes don't help, first think I'll try is your suggestion to shut EVERYTHING else down. Just the router and my XPS14 up. And see what happens. After that, I might have to try swapping the 6235 for the 6300 (3x3) in my E6510 and see what happens, but I've read about issues w/ using a 3x3 card when you only have 2 antennas. Hopefully won't have to go that route.

In the end, it's just and annoyance for me. I can always bring another AP up. It just pisses me off.

UPDATE #1: @NullPronto, tried your setting changes, my TCP settings running that netsh command now match what you posted. It improved things a tad, but not significant at distance. As you said, no change in my reception/quality, but it seem to improve (maybe double) my thru-put, but at the furthest distance, just a speedtest.net test yields .25mbps up to .5mbps using your settings. At another location, results were similar, 2-3mbps vs 5mpbs. With other laptops, I test out well over 10mbs, sometimes 20mbs when I run the same speedtest.net check.

Mike, will try your suggestion on interference later, for now, must eat!

UPDATE #2: @Mike, so, shut everything down. Very telling. Better, but still nothing to get excited about. Definitely a reception issue (case, antenna, card) w/ the Dell XPS. Tested from 4 locations in the house. DIR-645 never moved, upper front corner of house. Only did some online bandwidth tests (speedtest.net and speakeasy.net).

Location 1, 15 feet 1 wall, next room
Location 2, 40 feet 3 walls, same floor, opposite end of house
Location 3, 35 feet 2 walls, 1 floor down, back of house
Location 4, 60-75 feet, 3 walls, 2 floors down, back of house, as far apart as possible

Basically, 1 and 2 there was no difference between the V131 (Intel 1030 card) and the XPS14 (Intel 6235). Both tested out at 15mbps+ consistently on both test sites.

3 started to show a difference. V131 kept 15mbps+, XPS14 dropped to 6-8mbps.

4 was still bad, but better than last night. V131 still gets 15mbps, but is more consistently 12mbps. XPS14 can't even get 3mbps in this location, typically more like 2mbps.

Gonna be having a little chat w/ Dell support I think, see what they are doing or planning to do.

I'm really more irritated w/ myself for just now finding this out. With 2 routers and the MoCA between, I had never noticed this before. It only bubbled up after I reduced to the one new router. What a pain!

 

Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook Video Review - YouTube

Dell XPS 14 review by techbargains.

 

Thanks! BTW, does the forum "like" link/button do anything????

-Matt

 

Wow, just stumbled onto the most interesting site -- Dell Laptop Parts | Dell Parts | Dell Laptop Repair | Dell Repair -- which is apparently a depot for Dell computer parts. But what I found incredibly useful was the TOTALLY FREE repair manuals for the XPS 14:

Dell XPS 14 (L421x) Repair Manuals | DIY Installation Videos & Service Guides

Looks like a SUPER resource (pictures included) for anyone who wants to replace the RAM, HDD or mSATA SSD, etc.

For kicks, here's the link for replacing the wifi card, for anyone who's so inclined:

Dell XPS 14 (L421x) Ultrabook Wireless WLAN Card Removal and Installation

-Matt

 

Well, I'm clearly on a tear as I continue to look for reviews and other owner's testimonials. Came across this "newish" unboxing from some kind of Canadian contest (the host says "prOH-cessor"...is that Canadian for "prAH-cessor"? LOL).



Seriously, something I found helpful was the occasional shots of the screen in action, especially from the side (not bad). But doh...catch the reflection of the giant DROID on the host's t-shirt at 1:27.

EDIT: OK, in hindsight it's a crapload of propaganda, e.g., "11-hour battery life," "it's super light and razor-thin." And let's not forget, "its carbon fiber base..." Sorry dude, not sure about Canadia but down here IT'S SILICON!!!

-Matt

 

Those have been out since the release of the laptop... Nothing new. Sorry!

 

Ah yes but (don't mind me, I'm going into "defensive" mode -- I do it all the time with my wife, even if it NEVER works), I've read every page of this marathon thread, and I'm 99.23% sure it wasn't mentioned (nor the battery indicator in the underside grill, for that matter). Actually, this is kind of an odd "owner's thread" but it's all we got as far the 14 is concerned! But I get where you're coming from.

In any case, I hope some other newbs will find it useful.

-Matt

 

Maybe it was posted in the XPS 15 thread... Seeing as they are almost the same laptop

 

Josh, did my wife put you up to this? You're reasoning JUST like her...

Actually, I'm more an Asus guy. I'm really surprised to see how candid Dell is about owner-modifications, and so I guess it makes sense there are sited devoted to helping with it!

-Matt

 

Hahaha, very funny!

That is one of the nice advantages of owning a Dell I guess....

 

just got my xps 14, it replaced my M1330

now I'm looking for a nice sleeve, like this one: Freiwild H306 Sleeve 33 cm für MacBook Pro grau: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör
Unfortunately, it does not fit with the XPS . Anyone some suggestions for a similar one?

 

Hello everybody

I am new on this forum. I have been lurking this thread for several days since I am really considering buying this XPS 14 but I still need some advice.

My current laptop is a 3-years-and-3-months old HP Pavillon dv7 : 17,3" / 4Go RAM / 250 GB (5400 rpm) / 3.1 kg
I have never experienced big problems with this laptop but the HDD is not sufficient anymore (even with an external HDD), the sound is getting worse and worse and the laptop has now become awfully slow. Nothing strange of course, considering the lifetime of the laptob.

I will have to travel a lot during the coming year, so transportability and battery life are two main issues for me but I don't consider to switch immediatly to a too small laptop. The 14" is then the bottom of my size range.

Even if slighty overpriced in my country, the XPS 14 appears like my dream laptop, after reviewing all the similar models. My main concern is the screen & display of the laptop. My only point of comparison is the old HP : apart from difficulties to use it outside (reflections) I am quite satisfied with its screen & display (the current resolution is 1440x900 and is nothing more than OK for me). I know you guys have discussed a lot the issues of grainy screen, contrast, viewing angles, ect but I am interesting of knowing what would be the difference for me, switching from this "antiquity" to the XPS 14. After all, it is just a matter of perceptions. I find the viewing angles of the HP Pavillon very good but I have nothing to compare with it. So, a much better screen &d display overall?

I spend a lot of time in front of my laptop for working, web surfing, typing, studying but also video editing (15h/months), watching many videos and constantly listening to music. Is the display a dealbreaker in this case?

Second question : I plan to buy the "worst" version available (i5, 4GO RAM and 500 GB + 32) and maybe add 2 or 4 GO RAM from the DELL online store. Is 4 GO really not enough, considering what I have just explained? What about 6? I have customized many desktops but never a laptop : would adding strips of RAM in the XPS 14 be fairly easy?

Thank you very much in advance for your answers =)

TVV

 

OK - can anyone help out with a rather frustrating problem I'm having with an xps 14? Just for a change, this isn't a wifi problem - that's working fine - but a 'freezing' problem. Almost every time I use Zune or WMP on this machine, within a few minutes of launching the machine locks (i.e. freezes up), with the only 'solution' being power key forced shutdown. I am getting the old "The speed of processor X in group Y is being limited by system firmware" error, but I'm not sure if this is responsible for the actual freeze. Speedfan indicates CPU temps of 58-60C, which is a little high, but not that bad.

What's frustrating is that this happens ALMOST every time I run these programs - every now and again it works correctly for no obvious reason. I should also say that I'm using an external monitor (Dell U2711), which might have a bearing.

I've tried everything I can think of, so it's time to ask some real experts! Any ideas?

 

hello everyone,

I just recently bought my XPS 14 and had a question about the hardware. When I tilt the laptop from side to side, or shake it, I can hear something loose inside. The noise seems to be coming from the underside in the area of the battery LED indicator. Does anyone know what could be loosened their and if this is a normal noise. Thank you for your time.

Ren

 

Hi sorry this is the only way I could think to ask a question...don't quite know how to message people. My Dell XPS 14 has had 4 blue screens in the past two hours and three more over the course of the last week or so. It has also frozen twice. I talked to tech support but they told me I had to wait 24 hours to see if it happens again. I have noise issues never went away and a screw randomly fell out of my machine sometime since I got it. Is there anything I can do? I told tech support all of this but they were unhelpful.

Thanks a million!

 

I found the same so removed the cover. It's the two speakers - they're on some kind of pivot and supposed to move slightly. Nothing to worry about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hey guys,

Would you recommend upgrading to a SSD? Is it worth the money? I have a normal HDD in my XPS 14 at the moment.

Btw, are there any good news or solutions about the WiFi issue already?

Thank you in advance.


Chris

 

my XP 14 died last night - plugged in HDMI cable from sleep, black screen with cursor arrow stuck - forced shutdown - backlight not functioning but could just see login screen - then nothing - power drained over night and now only blinking/ solid charge light - not operational green LED and no boot what so ever - Prob PSU or mainboard - Dell coming out tomorrow. Impressed with their premium support line - straight though to a tech! Hope data integrity is not affected as not back up recently

 

There's a new BIOS update on the downloads and drivers page - now to version A09. No real idea of what the changes are though.

 

I tried yesterday to download it (kept saying not available) before my unit died (unrelated) - looked like Windows 8 compatibility?

 

I've noticed a few times recently that when new downloads are available you can't seem to actually download them for a few days. I just updated mine to A09...

A word of warning, if you changed your boot mode to AHCI it will blue screen after the BIOS update, as it seems to change it back to IRST by default - slapped wrists Dell!!!

I've noticed they have added EUFI BIOS options too. I've re-set mine to AHCI and from Legacy to EUFI in the hope it eliminated the Win7 logo hang at boot. It doesn't. In fact, no noticeable improvements with anything so far.

All the more annoying as I just got a new Core i5 HP ProBook 6470b at work and that thing boots in 8 seconds from off. Wish I'd gone for another business model instead of falling into the Ultrabook marketing trap.

Ultrabook = £399 laptop specifications in a £999 laptop chassis. Seem to be paying for the Apple-esque styling/materials and the slimness. Said it before, if I bought again now it would be another Latitude or an EliteBook. Pah.

 

Well I really hope they speed up the boot otherwise I think My money wasn't well spent - I hope they will repair mine tomorrow

 

Already fixed.

 

I swapped the 500GB hybrid with a 128GB Samsung SSD 48 hours after I got it. Phenomenal difference. Feels like a completely different machine. Can't recommend it enough. It also means you don't have to muck around with that strange little 32GB SSD cache drive. Maybe I'm slow-witted but there's something I just didn't 'get' about setting up Intel Matrix when I reinstalled Windows 7... Doesn't matter - the 32GB SSD makes a nice little backup drive for my docs.

I didn't go with the Dell 512GB SSD option because it adds $600 to the price and $100 for the Samsung sounded a little more in my budget range.

Also very easy to swap the drive: took me about 8 minutes. Remember - if you do swap the drive make sure the SSD is only 7mm high (low profile) since most drives won't fit.

 

Though my performance has been improved, it wasn't perfect yet, so I hunted and found a couple more changes to give a try that have shown an improvement for me:

1. Disable the Microsoft virtual wireless ports. I had two of them. I know my way around windows pretty well, but I'll admit in this case I have no idea what they do. I've not seen any side effects from disabling them. They may not be visible in your manage wireless networks box.

2. I was looking at my event logs and saw thousands of networking status events. As a result, I disabled my WinHTTP Web Proxy auto-discovery service. Since I don't need that service, I have no issues with disabling it.

I haven't used these additional settings long enough to state my results will be good over the long term or in varied situations, but right now it seems to be working really well - the best it has so far. Since I'm largely stabbing in the dark on this...let us know your results if you try it.

-NP

 

Not sure if this helps but on my xps 14z you can assign certain programmes to use either intergrated graphics or the Nvidia graphics or let the system choose.
so you could choose whatever prog you need and set it to use Nvidia only