XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

Good news !!


i got to work fine finally

did a clean install with dell drivers for intel graphic card

official drivers for nvidia card and killer n wifi

in regards to intel rapid storage/ start i found in this thread back at page 132/ post #1319

a good guide and everything is working as it should now

Thank god !

i think i will go for win 7 soon and keep you posted on that .

the most i got quoted on battery time is 5.10 hours at 95% as it says now

and thats on power saver with only the browser open and screen at less than half brightness .

any thoughts on how to get more juice out of the thing ?

and oh .. i made up a plan with 65% proc power .. but it doesnt go past 5 hours i would say

cheers!

 

Less than half is still somewhere between 150 and 200 cdm, that's very bright. The "default" for offices is 140cdm, cinemas even go down to 120cdm (more than bright enough for me during the daytime) -> 20-30% should be 80-130cdm on this machine.

 

Hi all,

I have a quick question regarding windows 8. When I got the laptop it had Win 8 installed, but I didn't like.. so I installed windows 7, after formating the whole Harddrive. Up to windows 7, you used to get a Serial Number sticker, so you could grab a windows 7 cd, put your serial key and install it.

With windows 8 you don't get any Serial Number, but it seems to be embedded in the bios.. if I ever want to install windows 8 on my XPS, how would I proceed without having the recovery partition?

Thanks!

 

Does anyone else experience throttling issues with the nVidia GPU?

Mine throttles back once it reaches 80'C and this is really hurting gaming performance.

I'm reading and asking at a couple of forums and also grabbing tools like Nvidia Inspector - suspect it's going to involve something like a driver from Nvidia + GPU BIOS hack to modify the throttle temperature...

 

Download it from Microsoft. The key will self-activate when it's installed.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply. I've looked into the microsoft german web, and everything regarding windows 8 is paying... is there actually a way to download it directo from microsoft without paying for it?

 

I download it from my company's MS volume licensing site, then use my own key. Give this site a try...

windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

 

I did the same thing and I've heard, but cannot yet confirm, that you'd need to use a Dell / OEM Win 8 installation because a retail will look for a retail key.

I've downloaded a Dell Win 8 ISO, but can't yet get the thing to boot from my USB key. Once I do, I'll let you know!

If you're able to get hold of a retail ISO following Cowboy's advice, let me know if that works too.

 

Way back in this thread are the instructions how to boot from USB. You need to copy some extra files over, for the EUFI to recognise it.

 

Hi, thanks for the answers!

I'll wait until Windows 8.1 is out and then will considering doing the switch... until then, the 1 out of 100 days I need to use Windows, it will be 7

 

Thanks, but I think I've done that. I think it's my USB stick - it's 32GB and neither this laptop nor another (Latittude) will boot from it. I used the Rufus formatting tool.

I'll try to get hold of an 8GB stick (I only have a 32GB and 4GB and Win 8 won't fit on the 4GB!)

 

holla mates

again .. im geting a maximum of 5.05 hours of battery in win 8 - and that the most i ever got ..

what do you think ? should i contact dell to have a technician have a look see ?

 

Been awhile since I posted guys,

I've been experiencing the sleep of death more than I usually do lately. Usually when it's completely black and asleep, I just touch the power button for a second and it springs back to life. Now about 3 times in the past 2 days I press the power and nothing happens after waiting 1-2 mins. I eventually have to hold the power down and let the laptop restart.

anyone else experiencing this issue. Besides the internet dropping out, sleep of death, and the glossy screen, it's been a great laptop so far.

I recently purchased a 2 year old 23" 1080p LCD LG monitor online for $60. It's nice to have a monitor hooked up to it to increase productivity. Makes it easier to follow along with video tutorials as well.

Thanks

 

You can do that setup, that's what I did. I got a Crucial M4 mSATA 128GB for boot drive, use 500GB for storage.

 

Hello!

Im desperate and looking for some help please!! Im really not very good with computers or technology, actually Im a doctor from Costa Rica and Im only good with my hands (surgery), i mostly use my computer for accessing internet literature. Ive just both a XPS 14 ultra book, itel core i5, 4gb memory, 500 gb hard drive plus 32 gb, solid state hard drive, 1gb NVIDIA, and windows 8.

I was very happy with my purchase until i have noticed that wifi connectivity really SUCKS......big time! I have been reading some posts here from october 2012 on how to correct this for good, by downloading some drivers from dell. Im begging for some help, because this is very confusing for me. Those drivers you refer back on 2012, have been updated or something like that?? I cant find those on the links you wrote back there (Page 90, 91, 92), when i go to this links there are new ones, and i have no idea if this will fix the wifi problem.(Qualcomm Killer Wireless-N 1202 Driver,Intel Wireless LAN - i6235,Dell WiFi + BT Driver,Intel BT Driver,Intel Smart Connect Technology Application,Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver)

Like I said, Im REALLY bad with computers, but you guys seem to know every th ing there is about it. PLEASE let me know if some one can help me, I am desperate!! A computer which I cant access adequately to internet is useless to me, I have had this computer for 1 week, with this ty wifi connectivity. Ill leave my email address just in case, some one could help me.

Ill start reading, computers for dummies in the mean time....jaja... THANKS in advance!

 

Hello!

Im desperate and looking for some help please!! Im really not very good with computers or technology, actually Im a doctor from Costa Rica and Im only good with my hands (surgery), i mostly use my computer for accessing internet literature. Ive just both a XPS 14 ultra book, itel core i5, 4gb memory, 500 gb hard drive plus 32 gb, solid state hard drive, 1gb NVIDIA, and windows 8.

I was very happy with my purchase until i have noticed that wifi connectivity really SUCKS......big time! I have been reading some posts here from october 2012 on how to correct this for good, by downloading some drivers from dell. Im begging for some help, because this is very confusing for me. Those drivers you refer back on 2012, have been updated or something like that?? I cant find those on the links you wrote back there (Page 90, 91, 92), when i go to this links there are new ones, and i have no idea if this will fix the wifi problem.(Qualcomm Killer Wireless-N 1202 Driver,Intel Wireless LAN - i6235,Dell WiFi + BT Driver,Intel BT Driver,Intel Smart Connect Technology Application,Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver)

Like I said, Im REALLY bad with computers, but you guys seem to know every th ing there is about it. PLEASE let me know if some one can help me, I am desperate!! A computer which I cant access adequately to internet is useless to me, I have had this computer for 1 week, with this ty wifi connectivity. Ill leave my email address just in case, some one could help me.

Ill start reading, computers for dummies in the mean time....jaja... THANKS in advance!

 

To check to see what Wireless card you have go to start, type device manager, and go down on settings and open it. When it opens, go to Network adapters and if it says "Intel WiFi xxxxx" then donload this Driver Details | Dell US the first one.

 

Call Dell support and say your Wifi is broken and you need immediate replacement. That solved my problem completely since a few months ago.

 

Hello,

Which operating system do you prefer with XPS 14 ?

Windows 7 64bit or Windows 8 64bit ? Which one is more stable?

 

I'd doubt many people have tried several OS's on a single machine. Out of those who have tried I'd guess 4 out of 5 had some "terrible" problem with the OS.

Win8 usually is a little faster and less ressource-hungry than Win7. You'd have to live with its new UI though (at least until 8.1 comes out or you install some sort of mod). Both are absolutely fine.
I prefer Win8 due to its smaller footprint and the improvements it has. I'm even one out of the 5 people in total who think the new UI is faster than the old start menu

 

Hey guys & gals,
Noob here, just ordered my XPS 14 (got sick of waiting for the Haswell refresh due late July) and jumped on Dell Outlet's $600 off coupon. Got the maxed out Core i7, 500GB SSD, "Killer" wireless (??) etc. and Windows 8. I noticed this board doesn't have any stickied posts related to the XPS 14 so I figured I'd post and get any noob questions out of the way and see if there are any tips and tricks for the out of box experience.

I think first order of business will be to reimage the machine with a clean Windows 8 install and self-select the appropriate drivers for each component. It's been a while since I last ordered from Dell and I'm not sure they include any physical media--so here are the questions:

1. Any recommendations on how to install clean Windows 8 from a USB? Are there any drivers I will need to load and install via F6?
2. Are there any drivers that are preferred over the official Dell drivers (i.e. Synaptics touchpad, Nvidia Verde/Optimus, Intel graphics, wifi etc.?)
3. Any tricks getting the OEM Dell Windows product key to work with a clean install?
4. Any issues regarding the UEFI BIOS?

If there are any other tips you would recommend for a new owner I'm all ears. Looking forward to the unboxing!

Thanks in advance!

 

You can't even order the XPS 14 in Canada for the last few weeks is it being discontinued?

 

The XPS 14 is still available in the USA ... Dell just released BIOS update A14 :thumbsup:

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-14-l421x/fs

 

Here is a great deal from the Dell Outlet :thumbsup:
XPS 14 Ultrabook at the Dell Factory Outlet

$600 off any Dell Outlet XPS 14 Ultrabook priced at $1705 with coupon code Now $1105

•Previously Ordered New
•Sliver anodized aluminum
•3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i7-3537U processor
•8GB memory
•512GB 2.5 inch Mobility Solid State Drive
•Skype™-certified HD webcam
•14-inch HD+ 900p Truelife Infinity display
•NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 630M with 1GB GDDR5 VRAM
•Killer Wireless-N 1202 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO and Bluetooth 4.0

Coupon code: K6RJTP62QL0FFB

 

is there a Solution for the wifi?
when i go in me room i get a poor wifi speed

dell xps 14 i5
invidia gt630

 

If you already have the Killer Wireless N adapter there's not much you can do. If you have the Dell 1902 or an Intel one, ask Dell to change it for a killer one.. it will be a bit better, but wifi on this thing is just bad.

 

Agree, get the Killer and that will make it more usable. I really wish they would have properly fixed this.

 

Hi all,

Specs:
i5-3337u
8gb ram
630m 1gb

Recently picked up one of these bad boys refurbished from the outlet site. Enjoying the purchase so far, but I've been having some heat issues. My fan is pretty much always running, even when I'm not doing anything. I installed hwmonitor and when I've only got a browser open, my CPU runs in the 140s-150s F (60s C). Vid card is in the 130s C (50s C). Under full load, I get up to the 190s(90C) on both. Are these temps normal?

Also, I took off the back lid and noticed that there's some electrical tape blocking a good 1/3 of the vent. Could this be causing my heat issues? Do I need the tape there? Pictures here: xps14 lid.

Thanks in advance,

 

Anyone have suggestions on how to backup and recover this thing?

 

I purchased a used monitor off craigslist today. It's an Asus VH236H 23". I am using my Dell XPS 14 that has hdmi and mini displayport out but I have the hdmi in use for a second monitor. I got an iCan brand mini displayport to HDMI male cable because the guy at Canada Computers told me it should work. I tried out the cable and the Asus won't even detect a signal from the Ultrabook. In Windows 8 I can see in the display is listed in the screen resolution menu but it's greyed out and says "disconnect this display". Do I need a display adapter that's powered or something similar? Perhaps I'm not enabling some setting on the Dell XPS?

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

I bought the Monoprice MDP to VGA adaptor, which is also certified for the MacBook Pro Thunderbolt port. I was worried it would be Mac-only (all-white paint job) but for $12 shipped it was no biggie. Plugged it in and it works without a hitch!

 

Congrats on the new XPS 14 Ultrabook.
Go ahead and remove the tape covering the rear vent ... you should see much lower CPU temps :thumbsup:

 

So just an update on my 2-23" monitors. I have gotten the xps to power both monitors but apparently it can only do 2 monitors at a time, so the laptop monitor gets turned off with the intel graphics settings. Sometimes when initializing settings or restarting I get banding and flicker on the bottom half of one of the monitors. I usually turn the monitor off and on and that fixes it. Is there not any hack or trick to make the xps screen display via intel 4000 graphics and have my other 2 23" monitors powered by the nvidia? I was thinking 3 screens would be great for my web dev work with tutorials on the smaller xps screen. I was aiming for video tutorials on the xps, work on one 23" and seeing my output on another 23".

 

A couple questions:

I'm looking to get this, I found it for $900 with the 630M which seems like a good deal. My main goals are having a great keyboard and great battery life. How is the keyboard on this? Does it have flex when you push down in the middle of it? Are there any 'open' issues with the XPS 14? I've heard about cooling issues and I might be gaming a little bit on this when I'm away from my desktop but nothing too hard core, and I'd probably put it on a cooling pad. How bad is the fan noise? I've also heard bad things about the WiFi connectivity. The model I'm looking at has Advanced-N 6235, is this any better than what people are having issues with?

tl;dr my questions are:

-Keyboard flex
-Fan noise
-WiFi problems

 

Still under warranty so I called up Dell. After some generic troubleshooting, the rep agreed to send out a tech to replace some hardware. Ended up replacing the motherboard, heat sink, and fan. He also pulled the tape off and stuck it to the board directly, instead of blocking the vent.

Now, at idle, i'm still in the high 50s. But under load, I don't poke over 75. I'm more or less satisfied with the result. Anybody have any experience replacing the thermal paste? Is it worth the trouble?

 

I don't how it is under windows and/or with the Nvidia Graphics cards, but I can run 2 external monitors + the notebook one (so, 3 in total) using linux on the intel only machine. I tested with an HDMI to DVI converter and a mini displayport to DVI converter. Tried both with 2 Dell monitors and 2 Samsungs, all of them were 24" 1920x1200. It's great!

 

I'm not a huge fan of bumping, but do any of you owners on here have any thoughts? Also, how is the screen?

 

This thread doesn't seem to be very active anymore, so I wouldn't expect much. However, I'll give it a shot.

Keyboard flex:
It's chiclet style keyboard, so there's not much to flex. The only issues I've found are 1) the keypress distance is a bit shallow and 2) there are no dedicated page up, page down, home, or end keys. As to the former, it might take a bit of getting used to, but it's no game breaker. The scrolling keys are tied to FN + up, down, left, and right. There's definitely no lack of room in this keyboard, so I'm not sure why they decided not to have them. Again, it takes some getting used to, but it's not terrible.

Fan noise:
I'm a bit biased on this one. If you refer to my other posts, you'll see that I seem to be having some cooling issues. Still working with Dell about whether this is normal or if it's something that they can fix. There are a couple other posts in here about a few people having the same issues, but it seems that we are in the very small minority. Anyway, as to my experience, the fan noise has been my biggest issue. Frequency-wise, my fan is on about 95% of the time. Intensity-wise, the fan doesn't get too loud unless I'm doing cpu-intensive tasks. With normal use, it's a light, but noticeable, whoosh. Under load, it gets louder, but that's to be expected. From the lack of general complaints, I'm hoping this is just a problem with this particular laptop that can be fixed, and not the whole line.

Wifi problems:
I had read in the reviews that wifi might be spotty. So far as I can tell, the three variants are a Dell wireless card, an Intel Centrino wireless card, and the Killer Wireless-N card. The last of which is supposed to be the best and not have any issues. I have the Intel Centrino and luckily, I haven't had any problems with it thusfar. *knock on wood. Not sure if that's just me, or they patched it. If you can get it, I'd go with the Killer card.

Hope that helps.

 

Getting no answer doesn't necessarily mean the thread isn't active. Apparently the issues are always more-or-less the same so there's little to discuss after going through it several times.

Fan noise for example was very important to me and I was more than satisfied with what I got. The machine will run for at least a whole working day and won't turn on the fan a single time during that period.
Only if I start something like a game, process several large photos or a video it may come on. Even then it's not very loud or distracting.

One thing I'm not too keen about, which is not "special" to Dell in any way, is driver support. They don't come as frequently as they could and they often don't fix the issues people are having.
Luckily the standard Intel drivers work well for chipset and wireless but they won't let you change brightness if you pick the genuine graphics driver. Only the Dell driver works here and it's quite old, actually it was already old when they released it. Guess you can't have it all.

 

If you look a few posts back, I've been having some issues with temps on mine. Dell even took it in and changed the fan and heatsink (again), according to them its "OK". And the new screen they got me (had some light leakage on it) has a dead pixel in the middle, so its really annoying...
I have an I7 which still goes over 90 degrees under heavy load over time, and surfing the internet and checking email its at 60-65 degrees.
The keyboard also gets hot, which annoys me...

I'm gonna turn my in and wait untill September to see if they are releasing a new xps 14 with a haswell. If not, I'm gonna get a xps 15...

 

Swoop! I was hoping you would reply. Unfortunately, I was hoping you had better luck than me and might have a fix.

Anyway, as an update, Dell called me up after the hardware swap and asked if my laptop was still getting warm. I said "yes" and the tech said he would talk to his supervisor to see what they could do. Fast forward to today where they tell me I should send in the laptop and they'll run tests. I'm hesitant to send it in since I'm not sure what they can, or more accurately, are willing to do and I don't want to foot the bill for shipping. Regardless, I'm going to sit on it for a couple weeks since I need this laptop for a test. Guess I'll see how I feel then.

 

There is absolutely nothing they can do, the laptop has a poor design regarding heat transfer (IMO), they have changed the motherboard 2 times and the fan and heatsink 3 times on my laptop, and one of my favourite tech guys from dell came to the office the other day, before I sent the laptop in, and even applied the thermal paste really good, but it made no difference. Temps are still high. It's really upsetting, as the design and keyboard on this laptop is amazing.

What kind of warranty program do you have? you should not pay a dime for shipping it, as it is dell's problem that the laptop keeps running too hot.

 

The heatsink doesn't have a poor design but a very poor size if it has to handle both the Intel CPU and the Nvidia GPU. It's absolutely no problem to run the CPU on its own for example.
One thing I though was missing is some sort of (thermal) connection to use the massive metal base to dissipate some heat.
Guess they could've done better in that regard.

 

"poor design" as in: the heatsink is not made to deal with the amount of heat the CPU and GPU is producing, not that it looks ugly

 

Yes, so read on what I wrote previously. It works fine for the CPU alone. My machine (without Nvidia GPU) stays silent throughout the day and doesn't even get noisy when the CPU is under heavy load (can be heard, the noise isn't that bad though). So it seems to handle that very well.
In combination with the GPU it may be way too much though, especially with the "radiator" being the same size for both heatsinks... (that can't work out well, no matter how you turn it).

If they had used a larger heat dissipation area for the heatsink and used some of the machine's body to dissipate heat also I'm sure you wouldn't hear anything.

 

Purchased from the outlet store and got the standard 1 year "Enhanced Support" which includes "Premium Hardware and Software Support" and "Next Business Day Support". I've been poking around on their site for the specific details and coverage, but I can't find much besides my coverage period.

Also, I guess I jumped the gun about shipping; I just assumed that they would make me pay to ship it out to them I haven't followed up on it yet because I'll be needing the laptop for the next couple weeks.

 

Can anyone confirm that the XPS 14 can support 1866Mhz RAM? Someone on this thread said that they had put it in, but they didn't go into much detail regarding whether the motherboard downclocked it or not. Also, wouldn't the increased speed be worth it, considering the fact that the XPS 14 only has single channel RAM?

 

I keep Blue Screening every now and then. It's getting annoying, anyone else having this problem?

It only happens when I put it to hibernate from the power key.

 

I have white blemishes showing in the lower right screen area, the lower center, and a couple other faint ones. Only noticeable on white backgrounds. Its annoying and laptop is still under warranty so they are coming out Friday to replace screen. Anyone else have this issue?

 

And screen was replaced with another one that had similar issues...fantastic. Another tech will have to come out. I will keep sending them out until they get it right.