XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

Like I said I'd been having that same battle for months. It depends on so many factors that only you can really answer. There are a limited number of manufacturers of the mSATA, and the price seems to be a little higher.

 

Had my SSD option answered for me: Samsung 840 250gb SSD for $144.

250GB Samsung 840 Series 2.5" SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive SSD $144 - eBay Deals, Coupons and Promos

 

There you go! You won't find an mSATA at that price for awhile I don't think.

 

It's not an msata.

 

I know. I'm saying you won't find an mSATA for that price at that size so you are better going with the 2.5" replacement like I did.

 

I had to ask myself the same question and went with an 840 Pro too in the end.
The one mSATA that looked tempting, and wasn't too expensive, was the Crucial M4. What kept me from doing this were concerns about power consumption and noise.
With only the SSD the XPS 14 is totally quiet and stays quiet at all times for endless hours if I want it to. I can also take it with me right away, turn it upside down and so forth.
The term "ultra-portable" makes much more sense with just the SSD installed, at least for me

The one thing that still doesn't work is Intel Rapid Start but, as I don't boot all that often, I haven't taken my time to figure out why.

 

Hi all,

Wanted to say hello!!! I'm a new XPS 14 owner, the model I got includes 4gb ram and the 500gb HDD w/ 32gb mSATA and Intel HD 4000 graphics.

Background... I have a work laptop but wanted to get a laptop that I could use for personal things (quicken/browsing websites/torrents/email/music), nothing serious.

This was a great fit.

I think 4gb ram will be fine for what I'm doing, but have heard updating the HDD to a SSD will REALLY make it scream.

I'm confused with what I should do and have been reading the posts on here (which only made me more confused).

Do I buy a mSATA 250gb drive AND a 2.5" 128gb/250gb SSD???
Do I buy a 2.5" SSD 128/250 and leave the msata 32gb drive in place?
Do I buy a msata 250gb drive and leave the 500 gb 5400rpm HDD in place?

See what I mean lol.

I'm not planning on dumping thousands of movies on to this box, I have a 1 TB usb 3.0 external drive where i store my movies/shows.

I really only care about:

Fast boot times
Fast opening of applicatison
fast opening of files (word/office/images/music/movies).

What would you all recommend i do?

$$$ isn't an issue as i got a refurbed unit so i have more $$$ to work with.

On that note, do you recommend also bumping up the ram $40 for an 8 gb crucial?

Thanks all!!!

 

If money is no issue but you are only concerned with speed over size then get a 2.5" 7mm SSD and leave the 32gb mSATA. If you run out of space down the road upgrade the mSATA. The mSATA replacement is easier than the main drive.

For the RAM whatever you bump get the 1600mhz vs 1333mhz. Yours is probably 1333. The SSD upgrade should be more noticeable speed increase (unless your RST is working properly then its less of an upgrade).

 

What was the quality of the refurb unit? Any dents or scratches?

 

I ordered today, still waiting for delivery.

Currently it's sitting as in production.

I will update as soon as I get it.

Did you get a refurb too? how was it?

 

I guess my question is... what/how/why does this 32gb mSATA operate when there is another HDD in there?

I understand it's supposed to be like a cache (most opened programs/files) would be placed there for quick access?

How different is that than just having an SSD card?

If I buy a 250gb 2.5" SSD would it work in conjunction with the mSATA 32gb built in?

Just trying to understand this better. Also, is there any programming I'd have to do to get this to work right (as far as if i get a new 2.5" HDD do i have to put windows on that or the msata 32gb drive)?

Also, the memory that came with the machine is Module,DIMM,4GB,1X4G,1600MHZ,DDR3

 

Mine will arrive tomorrow.

 

The mSATA can operate in two ways "kinda". One is to act as the cache drive for the 500gb drive and the other as a regular partition-able drive that you can use. There are a couple settings in bios that direct these actions as well as a program released by intel called "Rapid Storage Technology". There is also "Rapid Start technology" which require sperate bios steps and an optional program. There is a difference even though both use the mSATA and have similar steps in setting up in bios but the Rapid start uses the 8gb (4 in your case its the size of your RAM) Hibernation partition, the rest can be used as cache.

I suggest you read this thread for some good links to threads and resources on the subject. Google is your friend also.

You wouldn't want to put your OS on the 32gb mSATA. There's no room to grow once you get past 30gb. I have a couple windows installations and though one is Close to 30gb its still 32 which would be too large. Just use the mSATA as a programs drive. Look at benchmarks on SSD speed degredation when full as well as the speeds of 32gb drives vs 64 vs 128 vs 256 ...

Edit: You can also use the mSATA as a cache drive of say 18gb and the rest as a programs drive. That leaves about 12 gb.

And you've got the fast RAM which is good. Just keep an eye on your RAM usage and if you stay below 4, most people do unless you are running VM's or something, then just stick with it.

 

So in case anyone wants to replicate a Frozen XPS, I think I found a way to make it happen by accident.

Was downloading multiple movies for a long trip (Movies + Barney for the little roommate). And while running uTorrent, it Froze on me. I didn't realize it until I noticed nothing was changed in my download progress. The time was 10:37pm on my clock and the real time was closer to midnight.

Hard reset. Booted up again, and started the downloads. This time it happened again in the middle of an email. Just froze.



Anyone have an explanation as to why it does that under load? I don't see the downloads I had going as an issue since my 5 year old netbook does it too (was about 6/7 movies). I suspect it's the wireless card issue again.

 

Great feedback!!!

So here's what I'm fixing to do.

I'll leave the 32gb mSATA in place and purchase a 120 GB 2.5" SSD.

Like i said, I don't plan on going crazy with media on here (I have a 1TB WD usb 3.0) for that.

I'd think the 32gb mSATA with the 120gb 2.5" SSD would be blazing!

I'll also probably just spend the $40 and get an 8gig ram chip 1600 mhz.

Then this thing will scream.

Is there any benefit (for the caching) to get a bigger mSATA as well?

I can't see me caching over 32gb (and i'd guess it would just update itself with whatever the most recent apps/files you used that day).

Do you like the samsung over intel? I've been hearing good things abotu both.

Thanks again.

 

So i went ahead and bought the Samsung pro 840 128gb SSD.

My question is... how do i get windows onto the SSD?

I am stumped!!! Does my laptop ship with a full windows install or backup? (it doesn't have a CD drive).

As there is only 1 2.5" hdd bay, i can't hook both up at once.

Please help!!!

thanks,

RR

 

how does this one look?

Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 128 SATA_6_0_gb Solid State Drive MZ-7PD128BW: Computers & Accessories

I don't see myself needing much larger as again I'm only using this machine for quicken/web/email/netflix/torrents (Delete after watch).

Also, I use the cloud for a lot of my file storage.

Would using this along with the mSATA 32gb make it even faster?

Thanks,
.RR

 

Received my $435 refurb. It looks like it has never been used. It's pristine inside and out. It's a really solid laptop that looks great.

No wireless issues so far, but I've only had it for a few hours. My only real complaint is the screen. As others have said, it is acceptable, but not great. I wish the text was a little sharper. It's not even close to being a deal breaker, but if I want to complain about something, that's it.

The 5400rpm drive is painful to put up with. I can't believe we once thought they were fast. Can't wait for my SSD to arrive.

All-in-all, it's a super steal at this price.

 

After using it for awhile, the trackpad isn't very good. Two-finger scrolling would not work out of the box. I had to update the driver for that. It also has an annoying habit of scrolling back up a web page while I'm trying to scroll down. It just jumps up a couple screens on its own.

 

Did you follow the instructions in the first page regarding getting the updated trackpad drivers?


Did the refurb unit come with recovery CD's?

I bought an SSD drive and need to put windows 8 onto a usb flash drive so that i can boot from the bios to the flash drive then install windows 8 on the new SSD.

Thanks for the heads up.

-RR

 

Yes, it comes with recovery media. Not sure what you mean about the driver info being on the first page. It's not there.

 

Sorry it's on the slickdeals page...

Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook (Refurbished): Core i5 3317U 1.7GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD, 14" 1600x900 LED, Win 8 $435 + Free Shipping 04-18-2013 - Slickdeals.net

post 2...

2 - the touchpad drivers from synaptics are both very buggy with Windows 8 and randomly stop working, this is NOT Dell's problem, it is Synaptic's problem. It also happens on HP, Sony and Lenovo laptops. Synaptics SUCKS!!

http://.com/?q=synaptics+to...+windows+8

- It's Cypress touchpad Dell XPS uses, "the Cypress pad was sluggish to respond to gestures like scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and tap-to-click" Synaptics touchpad rocks on my Lenovo.

 

Sorry to buy you... I bought that SSD (128gb Samsung 840 Pro) and I'm confused as all hell on how to get it setup.

Dell is telling me the recovery windows 8 media included will NOT work.

How do i get windows 8 onto my SSD? I only have 1 2.5" hdd bay in my xps 14.

Any help would be apprecaited.

 

Just clone it with Acronis. I did just that and it works perfectly fine.

 

How do i get both drives connected to clone?? The xps 14 only has 1 2.5" bay?

Do I have to take both drives out and hook up to a PC?

Also, did you have to change the partition size of the 500 GB drive or the 128gb Drive?

I was reading somewhere that said to shrink them both down to the actual size of data on disc... do the clone... then increase the SSD back to it's capacity?

 

I used an external 2.5" USB case to clone the internal disk. You'd need something external anyhow so I thought this was the best solution.
Acronis can also resize the partition accordingly (as you wish actually). It's very easy to use but I must admit I only bought it after I couldn't find a free solution that did the job the way I wanted.

 

Dell support sure does change their stories...

Now... they're telling me that my machine will ship with a windows 8 install disc that i can put on a flash drive, boot the machine to the flash drive and install windows on the SSD...

seems like the best choice (if it actually works).

LOL

 

I should note that my refurb came with the 32gb ssd setup as a standard drive. The rapid start software isn't even installed.

 

From what I've been told... putting in the SSD drive negates the 32gb mSATA...

I might just unplug it and not use it as I Got a 840 pro SATA III....

Don't want to slow myself down you know?

 

I have not made any changes to it yet. The msata drive is named DataPart right out of the box.

Question: How do I turn off the auto screen brightness?

 

New to the owners lounge. Picked up the Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook for $575.62 with the i7-3517U, 8GB, and discrete graphics. Is there anything I should be worried about or anything I should check as soon as I get it? It is a refurbished product so I want to make sure everything is copacetic.

 

Wow. Do you mind explaining how you got that deal? Even with the 30% off, I can't get it down below $800 for an i7, 8gb ram, and dgpu. I would really appreciate trying to replicate your deal.

Thanks for this explanation. Is there any downside to putting in a large mSATA (256gb) and using it as a boot drive + programs, while using the spindisk for storage of media/files/etc? I understand that mSATA will have slower write times than a dedicated SSD, but it seems like you get a little bit of what's good from both worlds (faster boot and loads with cheap large storage).

Many thanks in advance for responses, and after years of lurking, had to join because of the awesomeness of this thread.

 

+1...

I bought a 128gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD to replace the 500gb Spinner.

Now, I'm thiknking what I should have done was bought the Crucial m4 mSATA 128gb drive (thrown the O/S on there) and used the 500 gb spinner for apps/files.

My no. 1 concern is SPEED...

Is 2.5" SSD faster than mSATA SSD?

will intel RST work with mSATA SSD AND 2.5" SSD or only 2.5" spinner?

man oh man... I just want speeeed

 

I got lucky. I was watching the product pages on Tuesday and one spec'd like that popped up for $709 and with the 25% off it was the price above with shipping and tax. I was worried it was a fluke until it shipped last night, should be here on Tuesday. I am thinking I should have bought the second year of warranty though, I upgrade every 2 years, because I can't get the warranty through Squaretrade. The other question you have, I personally would just upgrade your mechancial drive and maybe upgrade to a faster msata because it has been proven when the hybrid system has been setup correctly and with great parts that it can be as fast as a full on ssd. I am running one of the new 1Tb Velociraptors with a 64Gb ssd in a hybrid mode and it is almost as fast as current ssd's. The problem is the laptop makers aren't putting great parts in, 5400rpm drives and I bet the msata's are slow controllers.

 

I am not sure if the rst will work with 2 ssd's, I would ask Intel.

Check out this write up on the Hybrid system. You can get a mechanical with an ssd to be damn fast.

 

My SSD arrived today. I put it in and started the machine up and got a Media Check Failed error and it wouldn't boot to my Win8 installer usb drive. It will boot to my Win8 dvd with a usb dvd drive. When I did that, it only showed the SSD. It did not list the msata drive. I looked in bios and the bios says that the msata drive is not detected. Mode was set to AHCI. I changed it to the smart response setting just to see if that made a difference but it did not.

So, why would the bios not see the msata drive?

 

When that happens, I load up my Windows 8 ISO from my USB, proceed as if I'm doing a clean install, then when I hit the window that asks which drive to install on, I load the Intel Smart Response drivers (from a folder named flpx64 or something to that effect) from another USB stick and then just restart. It goes away every time.

 

Maybe so, but that won't fix the bios not seeing the msata drive.

 

Now the sound isn't working. I'm beginning to think that the ribbon cable that connects the two boards has gone bad.

I think that I am going to return it. Too many problems out of the box. I guess the price was too good to be true.

 

The main reason why I didn't want a hybrid storage setup was noise. Power consumption and mechanical failure was another issue. The way I have it set up right now I can move the laptop around just the way I want. Most of the mechanical drives are sturdier than they may seem but I didn't want to take a risk.

PS: Wi-fi problem is still present and has been an issue for me since the last round of Microsoft updates. Wonder what's the cause. The only error I can see points towards DNS...

 

That's what I did, I left the 500GB spinner in and got the crucial M4 mSATA 128GB SSD drive. Its fast and I can't tell the difference between the SSD drive (SanDisk Extreme) in my desktop. Speed feels about the same. This site did a review on this situation: Crucial m4 256GB mSATA SSD Review

 

Hi Guys, just got my xps 14 (refurb) and I just cant get the mSata cache to work. I searched here, I googled, all to no solution.
I have the A13 bios pre-installed, and I am suppose to change sata mode to RAID, but it's not one of the options. There is ATA, AHCI and Intel Smart Response Technology.
I tried the Regedit trick, tried the MS bulletin trick to try and get the safe boot under ATA first, all not working for me.

So, please let me know how do I get the RAID option without re-installing windows? I have win 8 btw.
Your input is very much appreciated.

thanks.

 

Under drive options the Intel Smart Response is the RAID. It would be nice if they just called it what it is which is a raid setup, but they decided to call is something different

 

So I got my drive and wanted to amend some things.

I didn't set my drive to AHCI in bios prior to installing the drive. When I booted the device beeped 5 times? continually on a black screen. I rebooted and a bios type screen, warning about my RAID array being jacked came up with RAID options, one of which was to set drives to AHCI. Once the drives were set to AHCI I DIDN'T need to install the raid drivers. I entered bios to boot from USB and windows saw the drives and installation went fine.

About half way to restoring my Windows 7 back to where it was with updates and drivers etc, the boot became very slow. It went from instant to a 15 second wait on the Microsoft logo. I read of others having this issue and isolating the cause is a . So I installed Win 8 which failed three times! I started to think it was the new SSD, but I selected "nothing" (as far as what the new install keeps from the old) during the final install and it worked.

The Ubuntu install has been more painful than usual too. If something could go wrong it has it seems. At least I am getting things ironed out.

 

Hi, so this is my first ultrabook I bought for school. Can anyone tell me how do I charge my laptop properly to prolong the lifespan of the battery? Its integrated and all which means I can't just take it out and use directly from the switch. Also, what do the different lights below the touchpad mean?

 

Plug it in when the battery falls below about 40% and plug it out when it's at 100%. When charging the light at the front is orange, when it is not charging the light is white.

 

Not a problem at all running an mSATA as a boot drive. mSATAs can cost a couple dollars more and I can't seem to find the same manufacturers or options compared to their 2.5" counterparts.

I may have had a unique situation that I needed another media drive for my Desktop and I wanted an SSD (or mSATA) for my OS on the laptop. Money wise it seemed smarter to replace the 2.5" with an SSD and stick the 500gb media drive in my PC. If I got an mSATA I would have a 32gb mSATA sitting around and I would still need a drive for my desktop. I was looking at possibly getting an adapter for the mSATA and using it as a thumb drive.

 

Hi everyone. I just bought a brand new sealed XPS 14 i5, 8gb ram and 512gb ssd from ebay. I've got all the latest drivers on it. The problem I'm having is with my touchpad. The double tap to hold and drag is very inconsistent, this is just by tapping on the touchpad and not clicking any buttons. Half the time it works and the other half it doesn't. I don't know if it's a driver or hardware issue but when I uninstall the dell synaptics driver I have more success in tapping twice to hold and drag but it is a bit flaky and also means I don't have multitouch without the drivers. Can anyone confirm this issue by double tapping and dragging to move windows and icons in desktop mode, your help is very much appreciated.

 

Did you adjust the tapping speed or any other settings with the Dell synaptics driver installed? I found turning the Tapping Speed down under Sensitivity help a little. In the end I mostly use a BT mouse. The touch pads jumping cursor and other problems were more than I could handle.

 

Hi thanks for your input. I've tried all the settings ie tapping speed and so on but to no avail. I'm so use to double tap to drag items, windows and so on, it's most important because that's the only way I'm use to working with touchpads. I need to drag objects in Illustator and so on but don't want to have to resort to clicking buttons in order to move/drag items.

I'm starting to think this is a driver issue rather than hardware. If that's the case then I will have no option but to sell the laptop on which is a shame because I love the design and form factor. If it's not a hardware issue then there's no point getting Dell to replace the touchpad.

Can anyone who uses double tap to hold and drag provide some input or anyone who knows what I mean just test it out on their machine. Is it consistent or a bit of a hit and miss? Thanks