XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

UPDATED TO VERSION 03

v02 was still Crashing. So updated to v03 where I merged some DLL files from Dell's original software. Haven't had a single loss of sound.

Installation instructions are the same.

Be sure to disable all sound enhancements except for Dolby Home Theater; and in control panel, the DELL AUDIO menu is now available.

Uninstall your previous driver, then download and run CCleaner and do a registry clean to avoid string conflicts. Then follow the instructions provided previously. In the compressed file, instructions are available as well.

LINK: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...e Theater v4 for DELL XPS 12 v03 12102013.zip

Quick overview of installation:
1. Uninstall existing Realtek Audio driver
2. Download CCleaner and clean your registry.
3. Reboot into option 7 to disable driver enforcement.
4. Install DTPC.msi and ONLY select "Install Assets".
5. Update the audio driver through Device Manager and look in folder #2 under /Vista64/ --- Accept the install when warning message comes up.
6. Go to Control Panel and run Dell Audio to bring up the sound options.
7. Under Speaker/Headphone, turn off MAXAUDIO and SRS
8. In the Advanced tab, under Jack Information, uncheck the "..popup dialog" box option. Close the Dell Audio menu.
9. Go to your Windows Start menu and type Dolby. Click on Dolby Tuner and Profile Creator.
10. On the row that shows ALL TUNING + PROFILE, click on Import.
11. Go to Folder #3 and choose the "DJKLMNOP XPS 12 v03.inx" profile.
Done

By the way, 16bit 48000hz sounds best in version 03

Sorry for the constant updates. Otherwise, enjoy!

 

Go into device manager and disable it under display adapters. Obviously this unit has a better graphics card which you want to be using anyway, the only reason you would want to use the hd4600 is to save battery life, I'm trying to find out at the moment how it can always be set to the 750m. For some reason you can only tell it to Render with the 750m, no-where which I can see allows you to set it to be used for Display aswell. You can find out which graphics card you are currently using by running "dxdiag".

This configuration of GPU's may have some impact on why that noise occurs, since after disabling the GPU the noise is sufficiently less.

 

XPS15 and M3800 are the same machine except for the GPU. The difference in weight is because the M3800 can be configured with a smaller battery and without a 2.5" HDD. I've been told the consumption is pretty much identical for the two GPUs. Note that if you choose a model with a 2.5" HDD you can only have the smaller battery (which will have 2/3 battery life of the larger), so it's a compromise between disk space and battery life. There are lots of posts in this thread on battery life, plus the notebookcheck.net review also provides values.

 

Hello, everyone in this thread. I've already seen the previous 200+pages' replies and really appreciate your efforts towards the new xps 15 which really helps me a lot to decide whether to buy it or not. But here I have another question regarding the msata slot in the top tier model. Will this msata slot be compatible to the Samsung newly released 1TB EVO msata ssd or more simply will it be compatible to the future larger msata ssd storage? 512g is a little bit small for me since I would like to put both windows and linux system into it and still keep some space for the other media file ( I cannot always carry the external storage with me right?) Would some one here so kind to give me the answer? Much appreciate!

 

Yes its a standard mSATA

 

The only POSSIBLE reason I can think that the 1TB unit might not work is that it's likely to be a double-sided card, and if the mSATA connector isn't high enough off the motherboard to allow the chips on the underside to fit, it may not fit. However, I believe that double-sided card support is mandatory for mSATA, not optional, so I'm fairly confident it will be fine; someone will just have to test to confirm, or just flip their current mSATA card over and see whether the chips clear with the connector still at the right height even though obviously the card won't fit into the connector upside-down.

Be ready to shell out serious cash for that 1TB unit though; I'm seeing the 512GB units going for ~$500-600, and you know the 1TB version is going to have a higher cost per GB just because it's the biggest and best on the market.

And yes you can always carry external storage with you. The Seagate GoFlex Slim is ridiculously tiny, or if you only need a bit more storage, there's always that SD card slot for essentially internal storage.

 

here is a link to a 20 second recording, made using my galaxy s4, so its not great, but i think if you crank your volume, and at about 12 seconds you hear the whine, and at 17 seconds it disappears, or thereabouts...anyway, this is my attempt at conributing. if you hear nothing, then i could just be losing my mind

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qt9ilorbn3arok6/My recording #2.wav

*EDIT - I will add that this noise alone would not make me want to return my machine, its hardly noticeable, but it makes noises like a machine with moving parts, and i thought there are no moving parts, at least on the ssd models...and i know a bunch of you have addressed whether this noise is a deal breaker, or a return-maker, or whatever...im just throwing it out there so others might say whether thats the noise they hear too...

 

I also need a lot of storage INSIDE my laptop (nothing external)
so I've been thinking about this too
But after some consideration, I told myself I'd be crazy throwing out +$1000 for 1TB of storage that in the end will be half filled with files that do not benifit from an SSD setup (wether I'm watching a movie from SSD or HDD, doesn't really make a difference)

I'm going to order the mid tier version and replace the SSD with a 480GB one ($500) That's more than enough for OS, programs and RAW's for use in Lightroom... If you can live with a 3-4h battery life though (which to me isn't all that bad)

And if you still really want to spend a lot of money (and ending up at the same price point as a rMBP with 1TB SSD) I'm quite sure the 1TB mSata Samsung just announced will fit just fine

 

Thanks for your extreme fast reply! Actually I'm more confused whether the motherboard will be able to recognize the the huge space of 1tb msata ssd with the current msata slot. It seems that we still have to wait for the real product to come out and then make the final conclusion.

 

I hope that the Samsung team really takes the height issue into account (but why not? They are experts and they should have been thinking about the situation where people want to replace the old 32g msata with the new one in the same slot). The price is exactly a big problem. But selling the original 512g one may save you 1/3 of the money. I think we have to wait for the final price given by the samsung and the review from the other to see if it works fine and is worth to buy. (in addition, good wish for the other manufacturers, Plextor, Crucial and etc. come on! you have to catch up with samsung!)
Thanks for the recommendation. the SD card solution is great(cheap, light and enough space!) . Definitely boost my determination to take the top tier ( the battery is awesome!)

 

Yes, that's true. Also headache for me. After thinking for a real long time, I think for me I would take the top tier ( attracted by its large battery!) I would try to change my habit of using the laptop, put more movies and music into my desktop computer to be adapted to the 512g storage. ( It is totally FREE! XD) $1000 for 1TB is nonsense for me as well. wait for the final price of samsung and hope the price may drop gradually.
and you mention a rMBP with 1TB SSD?! incredible! I'm sorry but I can't find this model on the official web page of APPLE. where do you find this informaiton?

 

At least in the US store, choose the most expensive 13-inch or either 15-inch rMBP option. In there you'll find an option to upgrade to 1TB.

 

I'm pretty sure it will be 2 512GB cards in a RAID 0

 

Oh, thanks, I see the horrible price. Never be the fan of Apple. For me, A computer which you can hardly repair it or make some small changes by yourself is a boring electronic device. Believe in the future improvement of Windows and Linux.

 

If memory serves (and I'm too lazy to look it up), the latest-generation rMBP has its storage chips soldered directly onto the motherboard; there are no more cards. The RAM and now even the CPU are definitely soldered on in the latest generation, though. But you can confirm storage if you look at an iFixIt teardown; just make sure you're looking at the right generation.

 

In a few months, the price of Samsung's 1TB mSATA drive will drop to significantly, making upgrades a lot more affordable and it's already very easy in the Dell. Unless you need it right now, you'll end up paying top dollar. Apple products have never been good for future proofing, though they do keep their value well if you plan on reselling it. Personally, I prefer to keep my laptop for as long as I can instead of selling it.

 

Does this one have wifi problems like the previous generation?

 

No and if it does it is definitely not widespread. I owned the previous generation and this laptop with the same network configuration blows that one out of the water.

 

Not after getting the 16.6 driver from Intel's site.

 

I placed another order today and the estimated delivery date is 30th January, is it true that the shortage of screens causes the delay?

 

I believe a few posts back in this thread or the XPS 15 thread somebody was told that there were several components that had shortages. There's also the load from production of the orders from Black Friday and people trying to get Christmas presents, which would push lead time out all on its own even if parts shortages weren't an issue.

 

I get your point. But normally people expect to receive the item several days after online shopping. If there's something that delays it, a week or two would be acceptable. But a month and a half...that's ridiculous.

I just hope they're making conservative estimation.

 

They are completely crazy, it's almost 2 months, in this market 2 month are a huge time, maybe in January come out some new competitor

 

Standard production time is 7-10 days, and Dell's delivery estimates are usually 7-10 days later than you'll actually receive it. That's been my experience over several years, at any rate.

 

Maybe I'll give Dell a call sometime this week. Although my order still shows an estimated delivery date of December 27th, I'm rather doubtful. It's been stuck on "Pre-Production" for a week now. It's a little disappointing, given the whole "Delivery before Christmas" push they had going here...

Not to mention, they sent out 15% off codes to EPP / VIP members yesterday (I don't know if that's a local thing), so I could've gotten a better deal, too.

 

I think you can still cancel if your order is in pre-production if you'd like to resubmit it with the coupon. 15% of an XPS 15 is a decent chunk of change, though of course reordering would likely push your delivery date back, possibly substantially based on what others are seeing. I guess it depends on whether you'd rather have the laptop sooner or pay less.

 

They send even to me a 15% off codes to EPP / VIP members, so if Dell misses the 20 December target I could cancel the order (I got almost 19% off with Cyber Monday + VIP members) because I have to change my delivery place, but the actual -100€ + 15% VIP members is practically the same deal.
It seems that I can add another 10% off with another VIP members discount, but usually Dell cancels orders too good with some trick...
My unit is on "production".

 

That's what I've done. I hope they won't cancel my order. I have just used the vouchers they have sent me via email, and the website hasn't complained of incompatibilities between them.

 

So your deal has been 1999€ -100€ - 15% - 10% = 1453€

Please, keep me updated about your deal, because if Dell does not delivery as intended, I could cancel my order to change my delivery place.

 

It was about time I got any advantage for studying in the university for so long

 

I wanted to give an update on my order for others that are trying to figure out what their Costco order status is. I ordered mine (top spec) from Costco on 12/3 and it has just said "order received" the whole time. I wrote to Costco yesterday asking for a status update. They told me Dell's website shows a delivery date of 12/20 (in production status). I then asked them how I could check that on my own and they gave me the dell order number so I could track it (also need the billing zip code). Apologies if others already knew this, but I had no idea you could track your Costco order on Dell's website (I think they are better at status updates than Costco is). Unfortunately, Costco doesn't give you the Dell order number unless you ask them for it (at least I couldn't find it anywhere on my Costco order). Now I just hope that Dell's website would be updated to reflect the delay if mine was affected by the parts supply shortage...

 

I had to crank the volume in my laptop all the way up and press my ear up against it to hear anything in this recording! I'm not sure whether that's because the noise is really that soft or because I have difficultly hearing whatever frequency it is. Anyway, I perceived it as extremely soft and faint, particularly in comparison to your sniff sound at 8 seconds. While I don't hear my XPS 15 make this sound even with my ear pressed against it, to me this sounds so faint that it's hard to see why you're complaining; you'd never hear it unless you were trying.

 

Actually I can hear it pretty well. Can't tell if it's annoying or not, but seems possible if it's that "loud". Where did you record it from? Like, just above the plug, from a "head" point of hearing, or where?

 

I feel your pain. I will also be dual-booting (Win8 and stock Debian, if I can get that to work) and 500 GB fills quickly when you start by partitioning the thing in half. I'll probably install Linux in a small-ish partition and store media files on its own partition between Win8 OS and Linux OS, accessible by either. And rely on my 2 TB external drive to swap out data as needed. Not as convenient as having limitless space on my portable machine, but I will be routinely connecting to that external drive for local back-ups (in addition to cloud backups via UbuntuOne) anyway, so it's not much of an inconvenience to have to pick and choose what I want on the laptop at any given time. I just need to reserve enough space in the Win8 partition for PC games.....

 

Which you should probably not do anyway. I usually create one partition for every OS, and keep my data and media separate in a third (or third and forth) partition, in a partition accessible to both OSs, and unaffected by reinstalls, etc. Of course, that means that you may end up with more space than needed in one place, and less in another. But that's what gparted is for...

 

I can hear it pretty well too. I think it would drive me batty, honestly. I really hope mine doesn't do that. I've never had one of my laptops make a sound like that (that was noticeable, at least).

 

thanks, but I wasn't complaining, I was responding to a fellow posters request for someone to record this noise. but thanks. maybe next time you hop on a forum, read all the posts before making accusations. and if you could read, you would see I wasn't complaining, I was describing the circumstances of the noise, the method I used to record, and the general area where it was coming from.

 

I used my cell phone, a galaxy s4 to record...placed the microphone of the cell about an inch from the keyboard, right next to the G-H-J keys, as that's where it sounded like it was coming from, and stopped the recording once I was satisfied I captured both the start of the noise and stop. but it continually starts and stops, so just put that recording on a loop, and that's what I hear.

if im watching tv with the machine on my lap, I cant really hear it. if the tv is off, yes, I can hear it, and yes, it is annoying...no moving parts + noise concerns me. and trust me, I was listening and listening for this noise when I first got the machine, as may other posters were describing a whine, and I was worried, but I had no noise whatsoever, that is until I posted about yesterday, or the day before.

so after owning for exactly 4 weeks, the noise appeared. make of it what you will. as I said before, if this were the only issue, id prally keep the machine, but only after maybe learning what's causing the noise, and being somehow assured that there isn't underlying damage that is either the cause of the noise, or that will be caused due to the noise down the road.

high hopes.

 

You need to include the fact this is only a recording of a 3-seconds sample. When you actually sit in front of the machine, and the noise is correlated with the thing you do on the screen, the visual stimulation "helps" you recogonize the noise. It is like the difference between someone randomly whispering in the background and someone wispering everytime you click mouse to run a program. It is hard to ignore in a quiet room.

 

As long as it doesn't start smelling funny...

 

OK, for whatever reason when I play the WAV file normally on my computer the level is so low I can't hear anything. I opened it up in an audio app and had it auto-adjust the gain and it had to adjust the gain by 30 dB to normalize it. No wonder I didn't hear anything! I'm not sure why other folks were able to hear it but I use Linux so maybe there's something about this WAV that its audio processing libraries don't like.

Anyway, now that I can actually hear what you recorded at the proper level I can hear what you're talking about clearly. My XPS absolutely does not make that sound, ever. Since clearly not all of them have this issue if it bothers you I'd go for the motherboard swap.

 

I heard the noise in the WAV perfectly using VLC in Ubuntu (and the volume to the maximum).

 

I also posted the recording with the hope that I could get confirmation that this noise is what others were referring to way back on this thread. I have already been granted a swap of machines...yesterday...but that is because my cell phone will not connect via usb to the machine.

im glad you can hear the noise, and others as well...it was a crappy recording, and I feel vindicated, somewhat.

 

Thanks for the reattach. From the install instructions: "If you want to use it, you must do the following:
1. Go into Windows Mobility Center and turn off vivid mode.
2. Download the attached zip'd ICM file and unzip it to C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color
3. Go into Color Management (Start, type Color Management) and add the profile. Set it as the default profile. In 7 you had to change the system defaults as well, but I haven't seen a need to do that so far in 8/8.1.

If you leave vivid mode on, it will corrupt this profile and everything will look very red. I don't know why that happens, but don't do it.
This calibration was done for 180 cd/m, which is approximately 60% brightness on the dell. It looks good at all levels regardless.

This was done with a spyder 3 pro, so I didn't have as much at my disposal adjustment wise as I would with a 4 or an iRite. Oh well. It looks good for what it is. "

I think I am unable to disable vivid mode on my top tier model. After reinstalling Windows 8.1 (to remove the bloatware) there is no setting for vivid mode in the Mobility Center (only 6 options show up for me)

My screen has a noticeable red tinge both before and after installind the custom calibration file.

How can I remove the red tinge or vivid mode if its not showing up in mobility center?

 

Thanks Ashers.

Could I get some more input to these questions.

1. I noticed the M3800 QHD models actually say IGZO, so can we assume the XPS 15 QHD models are also IGZO (even though it isn't stated)?

2. There was many mentions that the XPS 15 and M3800 are basically the same, the difference is the M3800 has a Quadro K1100M and has ISV. But are the weights of the machines the same? Since Dell lists the XPS 15 as 4.44kg and the M3800 as 4.15kg

3. Which graphic card has lower power consumption? I looked up the 2 cards and Nvidia lists the K1100M with a consumption of 45W. Couldn't find concrete evidence for the GT 750M.

4. For the battery life, roughly what would the average value be? For those that have the machine, if you could list how intensively you use it.

5. Which model (32GB + 1TB or 512GB) would be better, if my intended use is for Computer Science Graduate studies, programming, possible web development, skype, watching 1080p movies (rarely), a Ubuntu Home VM (Hyper-V), a Windows 7 Pro VM, and maybe a Ubuntu or CentOS server VM? As well as wanting to get about 6 hours from the battery based on my uses. Note: if I get the 32GB model I am going to immediately swap it out for a 256GB and leave the 1TB in. When the 1TB mSATA SSD that was mentioned a couple of pages back reaches about $500 to $600, I might upgrade to that regardless of which model notebook I buy.

6. Based on what I intend to use the laptop for as listed in number 5, which machine would be better for me regardless of cost, the XPS 15 or Precision M3800?

7. Should I wait a month or two before purchasing because of the coil whine problem?

8. How is the wireless? Any problems like disconnects, etc? Can it use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz concurrently?

9. Does the posts about the touch screen not turning back on affect majority of the users here?

10. Which 256GB would you recommend for my uses the Samsung 840 Pro or Crucial? I read good things about both, but I also read that the Samsung has a lower life expendency for the flash roms.

11. Do most programs work fine on the 3200X1800 resolution without having to drop the resolution? Some programs that I care about are Office, Firefox, Chrome, Eclipse, Aptana, Hyper-V, Visual Studio, Media Player Classic Home Cinema (part of CCCP codec pack) and Skype.

 

Vivid mode is a "feature" of Dell QuickSet. If you didn't reinstall that when you wiped your system, you don't have it -- but good riddance IMHO. I didn't reinstall that either. Can't explain the red tinge unless that's maybe built in, or perhaps as I mentioned it could be that a calibration performed on one particular example of a panel won't be perfectly applicable to another example of the same panel.

1. Yes.

2. The weights aren't different; it's either an error on the website (wouldn't be the first) or the weights were measured using different specs. But identically configured M3800s and XPS 15s will weigh the same. Also, the weights are given in POUNDS, not kilograms as you claim. A 4.44kg laptop would be awfully heavy....

3. The power consumption should be the same or very close since it's the same silicon, just with Quadro features unlocked on the Quadro. A quick Google search turns up an official 50W figure for the GT 750M, which could make sense because it's clocked higher.

4. Battery life is all over the map. Some people are only getting 3.5 hours, some are getting 8. Depends on the battery size you buy and of course what you do with it as well as how you set up your Power Options, display brightness, Wifi power, etc. Consensus is that the battery life is merely "average" compared to other notebooks -- not ridiculous like desktop replacement models, but not as high as typical laptops (though those wouldn't have as powerful components as this either).

5. Not sure what you want to hear here. The 512GB SSD is obviously going to be a much faster system since everything is on an SSD, plus you get the larger battery that way. On the other hand, the 1TB model will give you more storage overall, especially if you replace the 32GB unit with a full-size SSD and reinstall Windows and your apps onto that. Depends on whether you prefer storage capacity or battery capacity, I guess.

6. XPS 15. Nothing you're listing would take advantage of the Quadro card.

7. No. No guarantee it will be solved (like I said, I've had several laptops in this performance bracket that exhibit this noise), and if it gets solved later, you can always use your warranty to get a replacement motherboard if it actually bugs you. But although I notice it and sure life would be just a tad bit better if it weren't there, it doesn't bother me enough to want to risk a potentially incompetent Dell tech tearing my system apart to swap a motherboard even if I knew the replacement would fix it.

8. No disconnects after updating to the Intel 16.6 driver. NO wireless card can simultaneously use the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands to create one bonded connection if that's what you're asking. That said, Intel (or Microsoft maybe?) does have a Virtual Wifi Miniport driver (not sure if it exists on Win8) that lets you split a single hardware Wifi card into multiple virtual cards to be on multiple wireless networks simultaneously (even on the same frequency) but it's a total pain to configure and use because it's command line only, and development never went very far because few people seemed interested. But even with that you wouldn't be able to combine those separate virtual connections to get one fast pipe anyway; it's designed to let you be on multiple separate Wifi networks simultaneously.

9. Haven't had that non-responsiveness problem myself, but two people have already confirmed that simply disabling sleep mode on the touchscreen in Device Manager cures the issue if it does appear.

10. The 840 Pro isn't available in mSATA, so you'd have to replace your 1TB unit if you wanted to install that. If you're referring to the SM841 (which is based on the 840 Pro) vs the Crucial, either one would be a good choice. The Samsung will likely be faster (though finding the SM841 aftermarket will be tricky), but Crucial will be cheaper. There's also the Samsung PM841, based on the 840 Evo, which is somewhat easier to find aftermarket, and THEORETICALLY that unit won't last as long as either of the other two because it uses TLC rather than MLC flash, but it's too early in the technology to know whether that's a real issue.

11. Hyper-V might be a problem because if it's anything like RDP, it doesn't do DPI scaling, so you might have very small text and graphics in your VM conosole windows to contend with no matter what the guest OS is. Chrome seems to require a hack to work correctly and even then it's not perfect, but Firefox works ok. So does Office. Media Player I think scales the OSD just fine, but is that really important to you? The video plays fine. Not sure about the others. And someone already mentioned that an awesome app called Dexpot allows you to create multiple virtual desktops, and one of them can run at a lower resolution with no scaling even while the main one runs at native resolution with scaling, so you could always put apps that have problems with scaling onto that secondary virtual desktop. Dexpot is free for personal use too.

 

Unbeknownst to me, the company I worked for has ordered a number of these machines for fellow employees - unfortunately before they were ordered (and delivered), they did not converse with me with regards to suitable models and as a result the 'mid-tier' ones (2xHDDs + smaller battery) were ordered. For a majority of the workforce, this should service - but with regards to replacing the two HDDs (1xmSATA and 1xtraditional HDD) with a new SSD and increasing the 61WHr to the 91WHr Battery - what are our options?

From what I understand the battery is not 'user-replaceable' - is this 'Dell speak' for not easy, or literally going to be impossible to source an aftermarket (or Dell warranty) 91WHr and replace due to Chasis restrictions etc? I do not intend to run two HDDs, and simply upgrade the two to a quality SSD.

Cheers
TC

 

Take a look at the XPS 15 Owner's Manual on support.dell.com to get a sense of what's involved in replacing the battery. It's extremely easy. The hardest parts will likely be finding the right Torx screwdriver since Dell decided Phillips heads were just too easy and then actually ordering the 91 WHr battery from Dell Spare Parts. I don't know that anyone has done that yet, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible or even difficult.

Then you'll need to flip the SATA mode in the BIOS to AHCI to use the mSATA unit as an independent disk rather than a cache.

 

Thanks so much for the prompt reply - you've put my mind slightly at ease jphughan . Read pages 18 (replace battery) and 20 (replace hard drive) it seems easy enough - though its obviously only showing one HDD, I assume the insides of ours will be different, I just hope not to fundamentally different that it makes it impossible..

However, looking at both the AUS and US sites for Dell Spares + Upgrades - there are no batteries listed under the XPS 9530 (or other XPS's for that matter) - am I over looking something :S?

 

Thanks a lot for the help jphughan. I think I will go with the XPS 15, now I just need to choose between the top tier or mid tier. I'll need to research Hyper-V and high res, since if it is like you said I maybe need to get the 1080p model and buy a mSATA drive.

As for whether storage or battery is more important to me, I want to say that they are equally important. I would want at least 1TB for all my programs and possibly for my school files and to have Windows Backup backup my system periodically. I would like to have at least 6 hours, but it isn't like I won't be near a power source since I will be near one for majority of the day.

For the 512GB mSATA that comes with the top tier model, what model/brand is it?