XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

rubber....

 

you need a high ampage usb cable that can charge a 2 amp phone.

 

Bah! Well in that case maybe I'll try to get a replacement trackpad whenever the fix for the coil whine issue is released. Neither the trackpad nor the coil whine bothers me much, but if fixes are available, I may as well try to get them, especially if the new trackpad won't discolor as quickly. I just wish replacing the trackpad didn't require tearing the entire system apart given some of my recent experiences with service techs. Maybe I'll ask for a parts-only dispatch.

 

Now, Dell Taiwan is also offering the XPS 15 with the new Intel i7-4712HQ processor.
http://www.dell.com/tw/en/p/xps-15-9530/pd

 

Thanks for the answer!

 

even if a tech arrived he would never put a finger on my laptop.

 

Hi to all,

I got my new Dell XPS 15 that comes with a 1TB HD and 32GB mSATA for Cache. I also have a new Samsung 840 EVO 250GB mSATA.
I'm planning to removed all drives that comes with the new XPS and replace it with a new mSATA. The new mSATA will house the OS.

First I off the cache system.
Then I disabled the RS from the BIOS.
Then I uninstalled the Intel Rapid Storage software.

(At this point I didn't make any changes yet in the SATA operation from the BIOS since the HD is still present.)

From there, I'm not sure how to make the old mSATA visible from the OS explorer. I need to make this visible before removing the old one and installing the new one.
My purpose of making it visible so I can clone the OS from the HD to the new mSATA using Samsung Data Migration Software.

Anybody know how make the mSATA visible?

 

You have to change to AHCI mode in the bios but then windows will not start anymore. Look at the procedure, it is in a post "flawed msata setup xps 15 9350" something like that on Dell forums.

Edit : link : http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19532474.aspx?pi239031352=2

 

Do you know guys where we can buy a lock for this laptop? I have a Kensington lock but it is too big to enter in the noble lock port of the XPS and noble lock cables seem to be very expensive.

 

My touch pad gives me a shudder-feeling if I touch it with my nails, and that leaves a mark. But then if I rub my finger over it the mark goes. I've certainly got no permanent discolouration, and I use the machine daily.

The palm rest does discolour, but a firm rub with my finger or palm clears it up.

My right click is also exact as you'd expect, but I prefer using two-finger clicking or tapping.

 

First of all I would say go and have a look at the XPS15 wiki .
This will give you the initial idea. I did the upgrade using the exact same configuration as you i.e. mid tier replacement with 250GB EVO mSata and I put another old SSD I had but it took quite some time. Best to read through the link above.

 

I received the mid tier option on the 1st May and there have been some experiences in the past 10 days !! I had to spend considerable time and effort on this laptop ! .

1) Ordered the mid tier option with the idea to use the 840 EVO mSata drives as they are fast.
2) 1st major problem I faced was removing the mSATA which is attached with a single screw.
3) My excitement turned to horror when the single Philips screw got stripped !!
4) Called up Dell customer care and asked them for help , they said someone would turn up but till date no one has. I got a call the next day stating that the part is not is stock and I will be notified when it is.
5) With some luck after looking over the internet for the options of rubberband, Screw extractors, drills, and solder !!! I was able to remove the screw by applying some pressure and unscrewing it. Word of caution of people trying to remove these screws they get stripped very easily . I wouldn't blame my tool as I was using Wera.
6) I had used Samsung magician to clone the drives to the mSATA . Also created recovery disks.
7) After installing the mSATA drive the laptop kept crashing with a lot of BSODs.
8) After a lot of heart burn I decided to go the way of fresh install as I figured out the cloning process even though it had worked did not fit in well.
9) To my shock again I realized that the dell recovery usb wont work as it expected a 930 GB hard drive and wouldnt install on the 250GB drive !!
10) Then there is the whole mess up of Win 8.1 OEM installation. Googling will let you know the pains of trying to install Win 8.1 on the machine you paid for and the license you paid for .
11) Finally after spending considerable time and effort on the above and installing all the right drivers from intel and nvidia, I think it is stable now. I am not getting the BSODs( touch wood) . Most of my BSOD were originating from my Nvidia drivers which made me really nervous doubting HW issues with the card or soldering . But they seem to be quite less now with the DPC_Watchdog violation .I hope its not a motherboard problem.
12) Finally after 10 days I am not sure what to do. I have another 5 days till when I can return the product but there are also so many things I love about this laptop.
On the recently discussed common topics
1) Coil Whine : I have heard it only rarely that too for a small time when it flares up but nothing that really bothers me.
2) Trackpad: I seem to have the smooth surface with the line in between , I doubt it is glass but its smooth for sure.
3) The panel is really good (no bleeding, hairs, or dead pixels till now)
4) Nvidia drivers seem a bit dodgy.
Sometimes I wish things could be simpler and easier if I had gone for the 512GB version but I had to save money also .

Since I learnt a lot from this forum and I have been reading it for a couple of months now I thought I should share my experiences for others.

 

Yes as a matter of fact just don't lose time trying to clone the disk. Get a windows 8.1 pro DVD and do a fresh install, it will not require any license key. You will spare a lot of time and frustration.

Cloning the disk brings a lot of difficulties, like have to make windows work in AHCI, find a software that will work to downsize and clone the partition and so on. In addition the factory install takes much more disk space than a fresh install.

 

Aha !! I learnt the hard way its not Win 8.1 Pro but Win 8.1 Core. I had purchased retail Win Pro but the installation media did not work with my OEM key. Getting the key was also a stretch , I had to install Belarc to get it . The key that Dell has for us is for the Win 8.1 Core ( Also beware there are Win 8.1 Core single language pack - this wont work ).
Yes you need to installation media with the Win 8.1 Core and then the bios does the trick as they have the Windows keys embedded in it.

You are right I thought Samsung Magician would do the trick. It worked last time for my Vaio with Win 7 but I guess with Rapid start and all kinds of recovery partition it messes up things.

 

Really? I don't know, I used a Windows 8.1 Pro from MSDN and it did not ask the key although I have a key from MSDN also.

 

In my search for the truth about Windows 8.1 !! I learnt the hard way that Windows MSDN media are capable of installing both the Core and Pro versions depending on the key. But Windows downloadable installers do not allow as they only download relevant files for Pro or Core depending on the keys provided while running the downloader/Installer .

 

Ahah ok so I was lucky but I don't understand why Dell does not provide the key nor any Windows disc.

 

Search for a SW called as Belarc . You will be able to find your key. It creates a report and will give you your key.

 

Anybody tried gaming over the display port ?

 

In BIOS I changed my settings to "Primarily AC adapter use".. now sometimes my battery goes down to 5% which means my laptop is empty when I need to carry it around. Any suggestions which settings I could use and which are good for my laptop when I use it quite often with the AC adapter ? In custom mode it goes down to 50% and up to 90%. Is that fine?

Thanks

 

Well, manage to clone the OS after fixing the new mSATA in the laptop. Manage to do this after I disabled the mSATA as a cache drive. And using Samsung Data Migration Software (Thank You Samsung). Now I'm happy that I'm working on the mSATA. Boot time is 8 seconds and shutdown at 5 seconds. Next week gonna get another Samsung SSD for storing my data. Enjoy your XPS!!!

 

Coil Whine – Should I avoid buying XPS 15?

I need to order a new laptop in next 1-2 weeks after I get a refund for a different laptop that had problems. I cannot delay the purchase.

I had settled on buying a top spec XPS 15.

However, I have just read through (some) of this thread and there are continued references to “coil whine”.

Does anyone know if this is a problem on a minority/majority of XPS 15s?

Is the advice to avoid buying the XPS 15 at this time?

I want a Windows 8 machine with touch, and on paper the XPS 15 looks the best bet.

 

Well it seems that coil whine is present on the majority of XPS 15 at various level. I was in your situation and received a computer that exhibit some coil noise but at a very low level, I am really sensitive to these kind of sounds and it doesn't bug me. I hear it from time to time in total silence.

What you have to keep in mind is that this laptop is really nice and I don't think there are alternatives except the MacBook Pro Retina.

Some people complain about loud coil noise here but you know, if you have a problem you complain about it, if you don't have it you don't voice it.

I would actually recommend this laptop.

 

Because most people aren't comfortable doing a clean install due to all of the driver installs, so instead they just have an image recovery partition, I guess. The M3800 includes an installer, I guess because they assume business machines/users might have more use for it. The key is retrievable and isn't needed to reinstall anyway since the installer auto-detects it.

Um, yeah.... Do you have a specific question? There's nothing special about DisplayPort. It's just like gaming on a desktop that doesn't have a built-in panel. In fact the built-in panel is also a DisplayPort connection.

I use 50 and 80 on Custom, but I don't use the battery much so I don't miss the extra capacity or have to worry about disconnecting with only 50% charged.

I don't consider coil whine at all a deal breaker, but Dell has acknowledged the issue in their forums and is investigating. An update on an ETA for a fix is apparently supposed to be delivered later this month.

 

I am using the Geforce driver 335.23 . I am having the problem that the Nvidia card seems to disappear from My Rig under the Nvidia Geforce experience Application . I was trying to investigate if having my monitor connected out of the DP was causing some issues. Its quite strange and I haven't heard anyone complain. The stranger part is it shows up in Device manager fine and working normally. After a reboot the card is again available. What I am not able to figure out if it is a driver problem or a HW problem with my xps. If it were a HW problem I should see it always but I seem to have no problem when the card is detected at boot up.
After playing games for sometime the card disappears from the Geforce Experience.

 

Battery settings: I use 50 and 90 on custom. If I need to travel, I drain the battery to <50% so it charges back to 90% - it's a shame there isn't a software function to do that! Battery wear currently sitting at 0%.

 

Agreed. My sister's Inspiron 14 7000 has a "Charge once to 100%" button after installing QuickSet that's intended for precisely the situation you describe. Then again, that system doesn't have an adaptive mode; you either have Primarily AC Mode, Extended Longevity mode, or regular.

 

Well mine was at 0% not charging. Tried adaptive, standard, ac, custom still not charging. Eventually by going so low that the button would just briefly light up made it decide to charge... Custom 90-100 make it charge even if battery has 99% capacity

 

For the Linux users out there: I've found a way of making VLC use the hardware acceleration of the Intel card.

I've installed the following packages (maybe not all are required, this is what I have installed trying):

Now I can play 4k videos in VLC And I presume (didn't check) it will use less battery now.

For some reason, Totem always was fast (so I presume HW enabled), but it renders the video in a quarter of the screen due to an incompatibility with HiDPI.

Is there anyone around that knows more about VDPAU that can explain this change? We can then add it to the wiki.

 

I have a Samsung Ativ S. I tried to send an image to the Dell XPS using tap+send. But nothing is happening. I checked the device in Windows laptop and it says its working properly. Is there any other way to check if the NFC in XPS works?

 

Thanks, that’s helpful info, although if I understand it correctly, the fix is a new motherboard which seems like a major piece of work, and the issue would not be fixed before I purchase a system in next couple weeks (cannot wait).

If they replace a motherboard is that done in my home or back at the factory? I would have a next day onsite warranty, but wondered if this was too big a job to do onsite?

Overall, coming from a different new laptop that I had problems/hassle with, as a non-IT person, buying the XPS 15 with the possibility of there being this coil whine issue seems a big risk in terms potential hassle (especially at this expensive price). This would be my day-to-day PC for next 3 years.

That having been said, there are few (if any) alternatives of the same spec.

 

ANY service work is done on-site if you have the right service plan. I've had several motherboards replaced on various systems (back when I worked in IT helpdesk and supported several hundred.) Dell publishes service manuals for their systems on their support site to show regular customers how to disassemble the entire system in the field, so swapping a motherboard is no problem, especially for an actual service tech.

As for whether to buy the system despite the coil whine, as I said earlier, I don't even consider it an issue that absolutely demands fixing. Sure the system would be better without it, but personally if Dell said that it would never be fixed (as some are still predicting will happen), I would still be very happy with the system, especially because as you say there isn't another PC out there quite like it at the moment anyway. So if you can't wait, buy it now and deal with the service later if it truly bugs you.

 

bah, my new ones got a chip in the rubber coating on the palmrest. ffs. may as well just go for a 3rd new one at this rate but i may call and log the hair in the screen, coil noise and defective rubber but tell them to hold off building me a new one until the revised motherboards released to manufacture, think this is a wise move?

it's that or transplant the screen, keyboard and trackpad from this to the original chassis before I send it back but that seems like a lot of work.

 

How do I make this computer output surround sound (7.1) via HDMI? The option is grayed out on the configuration page.

 

you should be able to bitstream 7.1 or 5.1 if your content is 7.1 or 5.1. You need software to remux stereo content to 7.1

a decent codec pack like CCCP will enable bitstreaming from my experience with HTPCs

 

same is the case with mee i also have returned a laptop due to separate issues of antiglare screen and now paying extra to get this dell xps 15 but i m also worried abt coil whine...plus the retailer i m buying it from says if such a problem comes up in your system it wud be difficult to return this system so i might have to live with coil whine thats why i m worried....alsoo i can get macbook pro with retina top tier at the same price even though in other countries its 300 dollars expensive....sooo i want too ask you guys shud i take the risk or not of buying dell xps 15 when it wud be difficult for me to return it if a fault comes up..also shud i buy macbook pro with retina top tier when i can get it for the same pricee...macbookss are less expensive in my country than this dell xps 15.....macbook also has more resale value overall and no doubt its build better than xps.....but i dnt have any experience with mac????plzzz any comments anybody??

 

The configuration page of what, exactly? When I connect my system to my AV receiver, if I go into Control Panel > Sound, double-click the HDMI output, and go to the Supported Formats page, I see "8" under Max Supported Channels, which is 7.1. However, that doesn't allow you to specify your speaker setup; that's done in the application you're using, or the codec pack if you're using one. How to get your application/codec pack to send 7.1 varies from app to app, but if the app you're using doesn't support specifying a non-default audio output device and you haven't set the HDMI out as default, then 7.1 is probably grayed out because the application can see that the default output device (your built-in sound device) doesn't support 7.1. In that case, set the HDMI output as your default, quit and relaunch the app, and see what happens.

The post above me is correct that you should be able to BITSTREAM multi-channel audio without issues and (probably) even without switching your default audio device. But if you want 7.1 LPCM audio for non-bitstream tracks and/or games, you'll need to figure that out.

If you still have issues, the more information you can provide, the better.

 

If you want a Mac take the MacBook, if you want a PC take the XPS. Now please stop posting the same thing again and again.

 

Agreed - the difference between the two is really not that big. They have practically the same specs, both great build quality (though rMBP is a tiny bit better overall) - they are so close that it really comes down to the OS choice. Mac or W8? That is your call. In addition, with XPS you get touchscreen - but you have a chance of defects. This though, should be covered under warranty. If you are getting XPS/dell and not getting good warranty that's playing with fire . Dell has great warranty service though (but you MUST buy at the time of purchase - aftermarket warranty is crazy expensive!) - a bit pricy, but great. You won't get that with Mac.

 

Another option would be to install Windows on the rMBP. Not sure how good it works out, but it is possible.

 

Hi, ive just got my xps with 32GB msata and 1TB HDD, now i changed the msata to a bigger 250GB and everything is working great.

My problem is trying to boot clonezilla, iam no stranger to clonezilla but it wont just boot up on my Dell, the only thing i see is the login prompt. been trying stable, testing versions, with or without legacy.

is here anyone that have succesfully done a simple hdd clone with clonezilla on this modell?

 

I have used clonezilla in this computer, starting it from a USB stick, after choosing in the BIOS the legacy mode.

 

It doesn't work very well. Off the top of my head, you don't get driver updates very often (and vendor drivers often don't work), the Thunderbolt ports aren't plug and play when running Windows, the NVIDIA GPU always stays on in Windows (which means worse battery life), and of course the keyboard isn't set up ideally for Windows. I would consider running Windows on an rMBP the third best option behind running either the XPS 15 or Mac OS on an rMBP.

Cloning the way you want will be tricky. First, you have to switch your SATA mode to AHCI rather than Smart Response in order to make your mSATA slot usable as an independent device rather than a cache unit. You should also disable Smart Response in Windows first, under the Rapid Storage application > Acceleration. From there, your Windows environment will become unbootable, but should still be clonable.

Then, to boot Clonezilla you probably don't need to switch to full Legacy mode in the BIOS, but you probably do need to enable Legacy Option ROMs, which requires disabling Secure Boot. When you get the system cloned, re-enable Secure Boot, and now you'll need to boot Windows in Safe Mode to deal with the fact that you changed your SATA mode. Go in there, switch the storage driver to AHCI rather than the RAID driver it was using, and then you should be able to boot Windows normally.

Or just change the SATA operation and then do a clean install.

 

After reading through 530 pages, I envy those of you who managed to secure a unit because my order is supposed to arrive today but it has not been received by the forwarding company from China. How sad. Thank for the discussion, folks.

 

Wow, you must be really tired by now.

 

I tried both the ubuntu and debian version, but all i get after booting with usb stick and selecting start from clonezilla main menu is a loogin prompt.

 

the first thing i did with my new Dell was to replace the 32GB msata with a 250GB one, and formatet the 1TB drive with an usb cable and my old computer, then i put all things together, selected AHCI mode in uefi and installed a fresh version of windows 8. everything runs as it should.

but i cant start up clonezilla as i do on my other computers, after the clonezilla screen comes up and i press "start clonezilla" i just get login text.

 

i use macrium reflect free edition without an issue, cloned the 512gb to the 1tb drive.

 

good advice...actually most people prefer dell xps to rmbp because of value for money...i was getting both for same price plus with all the risks on dell xps 15 double minded me.well i ordered my dell xps 15 now lets see wht happens....also i m getting the euro version...can anyone tell which version has more chances of getting defects and cpil whine the USA version or the EURO verison?

 

If you're trying to boot Clonezilla, as I said you would have to disable Secure Boot (and probably enable Legacy Option ROMs) to allow it to boot. I'm also not sure whether Clonezilla supports GPT disks since I haven't used it, but that would be something worth investigating.

Or just use Macrium Reflect Free, which allows cloning of system disks while they're running (as opposed to needing a boot environment).