XPS 14 UltraBook Owners Lounge

Yes, both support 1440P.

Just sold the XPS that I received last week. Came upon a MBP that I couldn't just pass up.

 

I just upgraded to Windows 8.1 and ran into the same problem I always had when I tried using original Intel display drivers. I can't change my brightness anymore and, the worst part, is that now I'm getting "driver had to be recovered" errors rather frequently (never had this before on this machine).
It seems like Win 8.1 installed the most current Intel driver anyhow so I'm more-or-less out of options here. Did anyone find a note about Dell's 8.1 support? Display drivers (Intel) have been bad on this machine since I've bought it.

 

Uninstall the current intel graphics driver and download the one from DELL. It worked for me
Only issue right now is the watermark "Secureboot not configured"

 

Dell posted Windows 8.1 drivers recently, but I can't get the Intel video driver to install. It tells me that my computer isn't supported. I tried contacting Dell, but I just got a canned "I see you're having problems, but you're out of warranty" message. Can anyone else get it to install?

 

Thanks a lot for this! That's just the info I've been waiting for. The driver installs just fine over here. What I did though was to turn off driver signature checks, just to be sure.

 

I uninstalled the Windows 8 version of the Intel video driver and the new one let me install it. I've lost brightness control though, it seems.

 

That means it's still not installed correctly (or just some generic driver from Windows update). The Dell driver has working brightness adjust (of course!) although I get two scales. One, on the upper left corner, is what I've always had since getting this machine. And a second one now, right in the middle of the screen.

 

For some reason, Dell's installer was adding the driver to the driver store, but not properly setting up my computer to use it. I went to Device Manager > Display adapters > Intel HD Graphics 4000 > Properties > Driver > Update Driver > Browse Computer > Select from list, and then picked version 10.18.10.3262. After it finished installing, I had brightness control again.

 

Go into the BIOS and enable secure boot.

 

Okay, I read a hundred posts or so and got some info regarding this laptop.. After reading lots of reviews, I'm planning on buying one but have a small dilemma. I have a couple of questions and I hope you guys can help me out here..
1. XPS 14 is $1049 on the Dell site now- i5-3337U, the 630GTM, 500GB+32GB HDD, 4GB RAM, Killer Wireless Card and also an Anti Glare Display. The new Inspiron 7000 15"- $1099 model has a Haswell i7-4500U with GT750M, 16GB RAM, 1080p display, 1TB HDD without an SSD. I'm not really going to need 15.6 inches and its a little too heavy at ~5.7 pounds. On paper, the Inspiron seems like a better choice( Haswell= bettery battery life+ i7; the 16GB RAM is overkill anyway) But if the performance and battery life of both these are similar, I wouldnt mind getting the XPS itself. Please advice on this.
2. Also, is the performance increase noticeable from 3337U to 4500U?

 

Right now, I don't that $1049 is a good deal for a XPS 14.. As much as I like this computer, it's actually "old tech" and I don't believe it's gonna be selling much longer before Dell discontinues it.

Between the XPS 14 and the Inspiron 7000 I think I would get the Inspiron 7000: sweep 1080p display, faster i7, faster GT750m, 4x the ram and it is aluminium also. It lacks the SSD, but on the XPS it was only used as a "cache" drive, so I don't think you are losing much there.

About the CPU.. the 4500u should be a bit faster and use less power than the i5.

 

Just bumping my old question with a new concern. My XPS keeps freezing on me and it happens more often during heavy loads like Streaming Youtube or Torrents (Joke, it really isn't that heavy a load).

Has anyone combated this issue or are we all just ignoring any crashing/freezing?

Whenever I get this problem (about all the time as you do too) I right click on my wifi and click on troubleshoot. It will reset the adapter for me, and if that doesn't work I would just turn wifi on and off.

 

I find that strange.. my XPS 14 has never frozen while doing heavy tasks, using Linux though (doubt this could make a difference). Oh, when I said heavy I really meant heavy, like compiling a Linux Kernel for over an hour, it gets quite hot!

However, I only have the base model: Intel only graphics card, Core i5-3337U. I doubt that the i7 gets warmer (they are both rated at 17W TDP), but the NVIDIA GPU could be a problem I guess. Do you think it's a temperature issue?? If it is, may you could try reaplying the thermal paste?

If it's not a temperature issue, next that comes in mind: RAM and Hard Drive. Anyway, I'd just RMA it.

Good Luck!

 

The only time mine crashes is when it gets a BSOD related to Intel Rapid Storage. It doesn't happen often though.

 

,

ok I should have clarified, that by heavy load I meant internet traffic. mine crashes when I'm skyping, or streaming of downloading torrents. for example, I was downloading 2 movies the night I posted this and it froze 3 times during that process, requiring hard reboots.

 

You should really RMA it.. something is definitively wrong. If you are not willing to RMA, here's what I try:
-Exchange RAM: if you have another DDR3 SO-DIMM, this a very fast test to do.
-Clean Install on a different HDD: it's a bit more time consuming, but if you have a spare HDD sitting arount, it's worth a try.

If you don't have a spare RAM module and/or Hard drive to try out, RMA it! That shouldn't happen

 

this isn't the first time with this issue, I remember earlier in this thread others had the same. problem. If I RMA it, it will be a wifi issue and the same will happen again.

 

Hi everyone, long time lurker here.

I am getting a refurbished XPS 14 that I picked through the Dell Outlet. It has the i7, 8gb of ram, 630m, Killer wireless card and the 5400rpm HDD. Hope it was a good deal at $697, possibly $627 if more cashback goes through. I'm coming from the Studio 1535 that I've been using the last 5 years.

I know there were some issues with this model such as the glass seperating from the screen, track pad, wifi, heat etc. I know I'm missing some. Can someone make of list of things to go through to determine if the laptop I got is good?

Secondly, how should I set this laptop up to make sure it's running as efficiently as possible. Is a clean install beneficial? I can get Windows 8 pretty cheap but I'm afraid drivers won't work properly. Did Dell make drivers for everything to run on W8?

Lastly, I'd like to eventually install a SSD. If I do it down the road could I do it easily without losing data that's already on the HDD? Would setting everything up be a PITA?

Thanks in advance

 

thinking of replacing my 32 gig ssd with a 128gb and leave the 500 gb hdd in, or get 256gb msata and remove the hdd to save battery. Does anyone have any idea on how much battery life I will save by just removing the spinner hdd? mydigitalssd is having a black friday sale, not too often these go on sale. I run linux so I dont care about cache or losing my windows install.

 

Hello All,

I am planning on buying a Dell XPS 14 ultrabook with 3rd gen i7 and 8gb RAM and 500GB sata with 32gb SSD.

Can you advise if there are still any known issues with this machine...?? I am buying from ebay for £799 refurbed with 1 yr warranty.

Thanks in advance

 

I would recommend looking on dell outlet for one as the price would be better than that

 

Looks like Dell released some updates for the L421X recently - any brave souls try these yet?

A15 BIOS (12/6/2013)
- Improve System BIOS stability (!?)
- Driver Details | Dell US

nVIDIA GeForce GT 630M/640M Graphics Driver (12/10/2013)
- Improve display quality and power management
- Driver Details | Dell US

 

I didn't know about these so I will give them a try tonight when I get home from work.

 

I would like to replace my wireless card in my XPS 14 with a 802.11 ac

Anyone have any suggestions? What has worked for you?

Thanks

 

I think the way to go is to get the Intel 7260. On the XPS 15 there is at least one person with one of those: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...s-15-l521x-owners-lounge-586.html#post9310780

 

Thanks for the suggestion.... I see the Intel 7260 ac is very inexpensive and that is the route I will take.

 

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Whelp, I installed them too - all went fine, even seemed to get better battery life, so no complaints there.

However....I am on my second instance (first was a couple months ago) of
checking media [fail]
boot device not found

The only way to get it to boot is change back to ahci (from irst) then windows runs its auto repair....anyone figured this issue out yet? I suppose it could be the msata drive failing but software config is more likely the culprit....

 

It is software related. The Intel Smart Response software is the culprit and I tried for many moons to figure it out but I gave up and disabled it altogether. At first I thought it was the install order, so I followed the Intel guide on installing smart response and rapid start coupled with the Dell guide for the correct order in which to install drivers, no joy. I put an 840 Evo in there as my main drive and so now I don't need to bother with none of that Intel stuff.

 

Thanks for the response - my mSATA M500 is already in the mail, and the dell tech is due for a second visit...really an unfortunate solution as I was actually somewhat impressed by the cache drive performance and this has really soured my relationship with Dell after numerous successful outlet purchases.

 

Another driver update from Dell - Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 Wireless :thumbsup:

 

I tried to load the new "Dell - Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 Wireless" driver mentioned above. It got half way installing and just stopped..... anyone else load it up?

 

Update on my plight - last time the dell tech left, he had put a screw through my wifi antenna (without telling me), and "forgot" to install heat transfer pads on the main heatsink...completely unacceptable.

Dell's response was initially to exchange my system (thankfully), but refused to give me a configuration that had an SSD (instead of the combo HDD/SSD which started this whole mess). After a few days of regular updates that things were moving forward with my "new" XPS14, they let me know that they couldn't find the correct configuration XPS14, so I would instead be getting an XPS 15 (9330) with better specs (and, of course, the dreaded hdd/ssd combo)....that was last week, and I'm still waiting for my system to ship.

It's too bad, because my XPS14 has been pretty good for the last couple weeks with JUST the M500 SSD in it. I have a feeling I'm going to like the form factor of the XPS14 a LOT more than the XPS15 that I'm getting - 15.6" screens are just a bit too big, especially with the size of the bezel that Dell usually uses. Also a little worried about the battery life - pushing all the pixels of a QHD+ (orwhateverthehellitis) is going to take its toll.

On the bright side, I AM looking forward to trying a touchscreen laptop full time, and an i7-4702HQ with 16gb of RAM, GT750M and super hiDPI screen is a pretty decent performance boost for a development machine...

Anyone made a similar switch and have any feedback on what to expect?

 

I noticed the same thing ... reboot and try again :thumbsup:

 

Just noticed that Dell is blowing out the remaining XPS-14 stock for $649

XPS 14 Ultrabook ... this model is being discontinued :hi2:

 

A few things i noticed:
1. After installing bios A16, Sata speed gets set to 3gb/s. If I revert to A15 Sata speed gets back to 6Gb/s.
2. Sometimes they have issues in the Hard Drive format of the drivers. I always use update format of the drivers.

 

Interesting side effect ... I will check out my SATA speed tomorrow with Bios A16

 

You are correct ... I switched back to BIOS A15 and my SATA speed is now 6 GB/s :thumbsup:

 

No accelerate button appears in intel rapid storage UI.
So I follow dell support's intructions down below
Can't activate Intel Smart Response acceleration - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community
But there is no intel rapid storage option rom pop up on boot.
Any solution?

 

It sounds like you may have done a clean install and didn't use the Intel RAID driver. Unfortunately, at least as far as I know, if you don't install windows with the proper raid driver (and install into the raid array), you will not be able to use Intel Rapid Storage without reinstalling.

 

After upgrading to windows 8.1, my laptop constantly kept getting BSOD so I did perform a clean install with F6 intel raid driver. And the accelerate button no longer appeared.

 

Dell has 3 new configuration options for the remaining stock of XPS-14 laptops available with a $550+ discount :thumbsup:

XPS 14 Ultrabook

 

Hi all,

First post

Im due delivery of an xps 14 (i5 3rd gen, 8GB ram, 500GB HDD) this wednesday from the dell outlet store. After reading parts of this thread im going to upgrade the hdd to and ssd and therefore have a few questions.

1: Is the Samsung 840 (128GB) evo still the best SSD to go for or are there any other decent models for a similar price. I can see the 840 for around £90
2: In terms of the physical install is it easy to do? I have the link for the following guide: Dell XPS 14 (L421x) Repair Manuals | DIY Installation Videos & Service Guides
3: Before i go ahead and swap the HDD out do i need to do anything else? I already have Windows 8 on my gaming pc so was just going to download win 8 again and create a usb stick. Alternatively if the xps 14 comes with win 8 on disk i can borrow my mates external dvd drive and use that.

Any other drivers, config, setup i should be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

 

I bought one couple of weeks ago. This one is with 512SGB SSD, 4GB ram.

The only issue I'm having is wifi which disconnects while on Skype call or downloading something via torrent.

I'm using latest drivers from Intel website, but it still does this. I talked to support guy, and he told me that if I send it in warranty to replace the wifi card, they will replace it with exactly same wifi card (Intel centrino 6235 i guess).

Has anyone with this specific wifi card managed to make it work without dropping connection?

For now I am using wifi card from old dell studio 1558 laptop, but it does not have BT.

// chall3ng3r //

 

The XPS 14 and 15 are known to be quite picky with wifi, and the Intel card doesn't seem to work. What seems to work best is the Killer 1202 Wireless. I have also read somewhere in this forum (I believe in the XPS 15 thread) that the Intel 7260 does even better. I'd get another card... not much else can be done I'm afraid.

 

Thanks very much for the hint about the recent firmware update! I would've probably searched for years!

The wifi has been free of issues for me (Intel, with different access points) but the graphics driver still bugs me. It has been bad in the beginning and it's still not "stable", even now.

 

Will the following work in my XPS 14 (L421x)?

Intel 7260HMW IEEE 802.11AC, dual-band, 2x2 Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth 4.0 Mini PCI Express combo Adapter - 867 Mbps+300Mbps - Internal - OEM

Thanks

 

Thanks Patrick for your reply.

Yes, I've been waiting for some updated driver from Intel, I hope they do update it soon. Meanwhile, I searched for alternate card I can buy. As you suggested, Intel 7260 seems good choice, but I want to be sure that someone have used it with XPS 14/15 without any issues.

// chall3ng3r //

 

Bought a refurbished unit and cannot get the built in webcam or microphone to work. The webcam does not even seem to be listed in device manager.

Any ideas?

 

I've had my XPS 14 with the original Intel wireless card for 1.5 years. After increasingly unreliable wireless connectivity and performance (some driver update along the way really made things worse and I was never able to get it back to how it performed "optimally" - which was lousy to begin with) I finally saw the light and bought an older atheros AR5B195 card for 8 bucks on ebay and have had far fewer problems since. the only mistake I made was not uninstalling the intel bluetooth drivers before removing the card and putting in the new one. This caused me hours of agony trying to get bluetooth working with the atheros card until I noticed that the intel bluetooth services were still loading and interfering.

In any case, the wireless range is definitely better, albeit not as good as my older xps 15, but what really has improved is the stability of the connection. No random dropouts or failure to connect automatically after sleep. Even my BT mouse works better.

BTW, I found that it worked better with the black and white antennas plugged in to the card in the reverse orientation.

I hope this helps others. I really like this laptop. and hope to keep it going for at least a couple more years.

 

I never experienced any of these connection problems. Not with AVM Fritz routers, nor with my Asus RT-N66U at home. The range isn't perfect, yes, but the connection has always been stable for me.

Some days ago I had to swap the palmrest/enclosure unit due to an accident. I always liked the build quality from the outside but it's even nicer from the inside! Very nicely done, very sturdy construction. Just some very few plastic clips, everything else held in place tighly by screws and bolts. That plus the weight of battery and screen really explain why this machine is comparatively heavy.