XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

The other HDD would be the mSATA card, which you should be able to see in the manual. There aren't two full-size HDDs in any spec. The manual seems to be based on the mid-spec that you'll be getting, considering it does show the hard drive.

I don't think you'll find the battery ever listed on the Accessories site purely because as you said, Dell doesn't consider it a user-replaceable part, even though it's easy. You'll probably have to call them up. I've gotten laptop graphics cards that way in the past for systems where that definitely wasn't considered user-replaceable, though it did take several transfers between several departments, so prepare yourself.

 

Thanks again jphughan! Before I start blind - does anyone with the 'top tier' model care to look at/or know that 91WHr battery model ?

 

To have a shot at 6 hours of battery life you'd pretty much have to get the top-tier model, which means the only way you'll get 1TB of internal storage is the just-announced Samsung 840 Evo mSATA card, scheduled to launch soon for an undisclosed but sure to be enormous price, probably around $1K if I had to guess (and you'd be losing the amount you just paid to get the 512GB unit unless you resold that). Otherwise, consider a 2.5" USB 3.0 external hard drive for your media needs. They're fast, small, bus-powered, and almost as good as internal storage from a convenience and performance standpoint. Or you could buy a large SD card.

Currently the 512GB mSATA model is a Samsung SM841. The 256 is a Lite-on/Plextor M5M.

If Hyper-V worries you that much I can test it on mine, let me know. But I'd rather get the better hardware and use Dexpot to work around it if there's a problem than get lower-spec hardware for that one app and lose the benefit everywhere else, especially since chances are the app will be updated. Also keep in mind that you'll need 8.1 Pro for Hyper-V, which most XPS 15 specs don't have, so either plan to buy the XPS 15 through the Business store or buy the 8.1 Pro Pack separately like I did.

 

Sadly I currently lack the Torx screwdriver required to open up my top-spec unit, but I don't think the battery supplier name is printed on the battery itself -- and even if it were, that wouldn't help you on the phone with Dell. As far as Dell is concerned, the batteries are all Dell batteries.

What MIGHT help you is the Item Number, which on my order is 451-BBEL for the battery. But usually Spare Parts wants the part number, which is a 5-character code that isn't shown on orders, unfortunately.

 

Yeah unfortunately thats what I was after, the parts number - thanks anyways my friend! They are closed now (in my country), but will endeavour to call tomorrow and update .

 

Good luck! I'm headed to bed myself since it's 1:30 AM my time. But the part number won't be printed on the battery anyway, so I wouldn't wait on that.

 

i also have the touch screen problem just like you guys, when i have that problem i open a program call "My Dell" i believe everyone has that.
once i open that program "my dell", my touch screen comes to life again, no need to sigh out or restart.

for this matter i don't understand why........

 

For the ones undecided. I received my top tier XPS15 yesterday and luckily have none of the problems mentions above.
(Ordered Nov 15th, machine went to Germany.)

I would like to get rid of all the recovery partitions and reinstall, but UEFI is still some mystery to me (I've been tweaking BIOSes for 20 years)


What is the best way to reinstall the XPS from scratch, with the built in 8.1. pro product key ?

Thanks in advance.

 

Not so easy.

Your screen is plugged into and configured via the hd4600. The nvidia piggy backs andonly does 3d rendering and only when asked to. At least that's what i thought i had discovered.

 

Yeah I saw that aswell, disabling it does do something though , since it no longer renders the Display from that card according to dxdiag and other tools.

Apparently with Nvidia Optimus Technology, the only way to do it is re-install windows or if the BIOS had a function to set the default graphics adapter. But the A01 BIOS doesn't have that function. Common Dell !

Has anyone still got noise after re-installing from scratch (no dell drivers)?

 

Use an app called Rufus to build a UEFI-compatible bootable USB stick. Boot as normal (make sure the boot option says UEFI in front of it), and install. It will auto-detect your embedded 8.1 key. You just need an ISO to build the bootable USB drive. Here: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

Reinstalling Windows won't change anything about how the hardware is configured. I suspect there's no option to turn it off in the BIOS because the Intel GPU CAN'T be truly turned off due to the hardware design; other Optimus designs that allow that likely had muxers/switchers that actually did allow each GPU to be physically connected to the displays. You also have to use Dell's driver for the Intel GPU because the one on Intel's site won't install on Optimus systems, or at least not this one.

 

For my Windows 8 and 8.1 UEFI installs, I've just formatted the USB drive to fat32 and then copied the ISO contents (not the ISO file itself) to the USB drive and it has worked fine. I don't have the link handy, but I found this on the eightforums website (post by Brink, I think). No additional program needed. I never had to mess with diskpart for this. Just my preference, anyway.

If you want to install in BIOS mode, you can use the MS windows 7 USB download tool to properly extract the ISO onto the USB drive for BIOS mode booting.

 

That's interesting, I'd have thought you'd need diskpart to at least mark the partition active, unless maybe you'd done that before. I made my flash drive manually as well (in fact I've got one that will boot Win 8.1, Win 7, as well as the Rescue Tools for each, all in UEFI or BIOS mode), but some people don't know how to mount ISOs (though Win8 now has built-in support for it!) and Windows also won't format a volume drive larger than 32GB as FAT32, so that could be an issue depending on the size of flash drive you're using. I just recommend the path of least resistance to people by default because the more advanced people will typically find information on their own anyway.

I also went back and posted the EightForums link. Top hit if you Google "Windows 8 UEFI Bootable USB".

 

Good points. I can't remember if I had to mark the partition active or not. I don't think so, but I'm not positive. Totally agree about using the most simplistic approach. I didn't think about people not already on 8.x with built in ISO mounting capabilities

 

Sounds like the Samsung 1TB mSata will be $860 US. Samsung unveils mSATA version of the 840 Evo solid-state drive | Reviews - Peripherals - CNET Reviews

 

Interesting that cost per GB decreases as you go up the capacity ladder, I would have expected the other way around especially since Samsung doesn't have any competition in the 1TB mSATA SSD market at the moment. Still awfully steep though.

 

My order just got moved from 18.12.13 to 23.01.14... oh dell.. oh dell.. what are you doing to me

 

Weird. When I play in VLC (or any other app) on my Linux install (now Fedora 20 beta) I have to crank it up to max volume to barely hear it. The level meter (in playback apps that have one) doesn't move at all indicating the recording level was much too low. If you use the "play" command line app to play it (you'll need to install the "sox" package to get it) does the level meter move at all?

Anyway, here is a version of the sound file with the gain bumped up 30 dB so I can hear the noise at a normal level without the computer's volume at maximum. I may have bumped the gain a bit too much as you hear a lot more of the background noise but it makes the noise very clear.

 

(Sorry to others, this is offtopic). Are you sure pulseaudi does not playing any tricks on you. as it has volume for sinks and volume for specific client/program. The second determine the actuall volume. So you could turn the sink volume all the way up but still not hear anything because the client volume is low...

 

Thanks for the response. Yep, I'm sure. I'm looking at level meters that measure the signal level within the audio data itself, not the output volume level. This isn't my area of expertise but it appears to me that the recording level was too low for the noise when it was recorded. Maybe the app on his phone doesn't allow him to adjust the mic gain (or automatically adjust the gain itself) to better pick up soft sounds.

 

Some people on this thread have mentioned that they are having issues connecting to servers via Remote Desktop because the remote server's screen appears too tiny to use within the Remote Desktop window. The remote desktop client I use on Linux doesn't have this issue because it will scale the remote computer's window to whatever size I choose. According to this blog post and others the remote desktop client in Windows also has this ability either directly in the UI for Windows 8 or by editing the RDP file for previous versions. I don't use Windows myself, but maybe you guys could give it a try to see if it works for you?

 

Same situation, from 19.12 to 24.01
The "funny" thing is that on the website, if you order now, the estimate date of delivery is 09.01

There is something wrong there...

 

My thought is they realize nobody would buy a laptop two months in advance.
That, or they delayed ours a bit longer to make sure they can 'make' the new deadline. I choose to believe the first option.

Same here, should've been delivered December 10th (which might have been a little on the optimistic side).

So much for delivery-before-Christmas*


---
* "under the condition that we can deliver before Christmas"

 

I hope for them is not the first option, otherwise it means Dell purposefully cheats on their customers.

In my specific case, I will move to another country on the second week of Jan. Hence, I cannot wait for the delivery of the 24th. I bought that pc because I was assured it would have arrived by Christmas. Now they pushed it by more than one month, are you kidding me? I sent an email both to the general customer service and the rep that made my order. I will be forced to cancel my order if they don't find a solution, and I am tempted not to buy it at all then...

 

Wow, that's a significant delay. That's such a long delay I wonder if Sharp is making a change in their panel production process. My wishful thinking is that they are correcting the white -> yellow color shift for off center viewing and I'll be able to get a replacement... I can dream, right?

 

I got so excited when I read this....but it's a no-go. It does work, but it only allows you to SHRINK content to fit a window, not EXPAND it. Even if it had worked though, the fact that it's not exposed in the connection GUI means I'd have to have an RDP file for every connection I wanted to establish, or manually edit a template in Notepad each time I wanted to change the server I connected to -- or any other setting. Even that might have been acceptable, but inability to zoom content makes this a non-starter, though even if it were possible it wouldn't look nearly as good as actual DPI scaling performed on the target.

There IS a hack that allows you to enable DPI scaling on the target, but it's a registry tweak you have to apply on each target you want to enable it on, which isn't feasible in an IT environment where we're constantly going to various servers -- and even if we were willing to do that, you shouldn't be going around performing registry hacks on servers anyway.

The proper fix for this is going to involve two steps: an update to the RDP client to allow specifying DPI scaling for the connection (or even just "Use my local DPI scaling setting for the remote session"), and then an update to the RDP host function on those targets to allow them to respect that request without a registry hack. Anything else like GPU scaling/zooming is just going to be a less than ideal workaround -- though I admit even that would be better than what we've got now.

For me, I can actually use RDP without scaling. Things are tiny but not completely impossible for me to read, and while I wouldn't want to use that setup for any length of time, it works in a pinch, which is all I'll probably need since I don't use my built-in panel much anyway. If I get desperate though, apparently Dexpot can bail me out.

 

I guess you probably see 09.01 on the purchase page before you actually pay.

After you configure your system and accessories, you'll see a much delayed date.

I placed my order yesterday and it showed 30.01.2014 in the summary and order detail.

 

I just ordered today and also saw a similar change from an expected ship date of 1/15 to 1/22 when I actually paid.

 

if you want another example of the noise, i've just recorded what i get on my laptop

http://z.mk/e6vq

I put the power supply in at 6 seconds - notice how its perfectly quiet before

 

Your noise seems different / quieter than the previous poster's... But my XPS doesn't make that noise either.

 

Thank you for the contribution! Same question: where was the microphone here? This one seems even more annoying, since is "scratchy"...

 

I can confirm mine makes this same scratchy sound. It actually sounds like a hard disk when its doing data-intensive work. I noticed it only happens when its plugged in. Usually happens to me when the computer starts to do some work. More interestingly, it does it when im scrolling up and down in firefox. Although it does not happen in IE. This also happened on my old Inspiron 6400 and sometimes on my W510.

 

mine is scheduled for delivery on 18th dec also. so far it does not show delayed, i hope they dont delay mine as well. they have already f**ked me over when they canceled my first order without my say so. i ordered it on november 9th and was scheduled for dec 6th, i had to place the order again on nov 30th

 

Ok well, I'm in the club of delivery with mega delay too.
My date is switched from 20/12 to 20/1, so I must cancel my order because on 20/1 I'll be somewhere else...
This is a big shame, seems that Dell is unable to do what the others simply do, if you haven't a product, you must just place a write "not available", without continuing to rake orders with fake delivery dates.

 

The problem went away after turning off Rapid Start, but after a Windows Update and mandatory restart today, the sleep problem has resurfaced. Rapid Start is still off, but computer doesn't enter sleep.

 

Can you "play" silence on the audio device. Does this change anything?

 

I ordered mine on the 1st dec with est delivery the 18 I have a email saying it was shipped on the 6th of dec so figures crossed it arrives before Xmas I' live in the uk

 

I don't know if you have ordered the FHD model or 3200X1800 models, but if you have ordered a 3200X1800 model I suggest to check your order detail because there are 2 dates, the first that you seen in summary of order status says a different date from the other that you see if you check the order detail.
For example in summary I still see 20/12/2013 "in production", but if I check in details I see 20/1/2014.
(I have ordered 1 December too, but my delivery date now is 20/1)

Edit: I miss the part where you say it's shipped.

 

Thanks. I just ordered the top spec from costco on Dec 9th. I wrote an email to costco for Dell order# after reading your post.

 

For those wondering I just chatted real quick with a Dell Parts representative. They said the part number for the 91WHr battery is 7D1WJ and the price is $159.99. The rep said that it was not in stock at the warehouse so it would have to be special ordered so there might be some lead time on it. I have the reps email and phone extension if you have trouble.

 

For the sake of curiosity, do you have a UPS that you can plug the Dell power supply into and does that make any difference in the noise?

 

i called costco, there is one 15 minutes from me, to see if they had a floor model of any xps 15, to see if i could bring my phone in to try and connect...but, no surprise, they do not have a floor model of the xps 15, so as it stands, i cannot try out another xps. ill keep trying to find a way to resolve this before i get the new machine, although that seems like a waste to me, maybe ill just wait till the new machine arrives in 2014. i will have 10 days to return my current machine as a swap...so i will have some time to compare the two, and make sure the new one doesnt have the problems we have seemingly all encountered on these things

 

I ordered the mid tier model with the 1tb from the dell site
I believe my xps is shipped as I have a tracking number thru the delivery company

I did not understand your question I hope this helps

 

Judging from the fact that this machine seems to disappoint the customers with all kinds of small problems which are, although not critical, but not acceptable for a notebook at this price, Dell might have received too many returned machines and have realized that keeping releasing would cost them more.

Maybe, just my wildest guess, they're slowing down the process. By doing so, first, they can have more time to solve the problem instead of sending out machines and immediately receiving them back. Second, those customers who are not patient enough for the over-one-month waiting are likely to be those who are more picky, who might return the machine because of small unsatisfactory. Thus, by delaying the delivery, they solve the problem of too many returned models of XPS 15 9530.

 

I disagree. A pure parts shortage is far more likely than slowing production (especially in the holiday season) and makes sense; Apple had product launch delays due to display shortages too, and it's not inconceivable that another part could be in short supply. But more than that, I think you're drastically overestimating the amount of returns Dell is getting. Even among the people complaining about various issues, few have actually returned their machine. This forum is also virtually guaranteed to be populated by pickier people, and people are far more likely to post complaints (seeking help from others) than praise for the sake of praise. Given that most of the people here seem to be at least happy enough with their systems to keep it, I would imagine that an even greater majority of the non-forum population buying these systems are keeping theirs as well.

Additionally, I would argue that the pickier people would be MORE likely to suffer through delays, because if their pickiness led them to this system above all the others, they'll be unlikely to want to switch to something else after they'd already ruled those systems out for one reason or another. I picked this system because it had a unique combination of features, so if I were told I'd have to wait 2 months, I'd wait it out because no other laptop satisfies my picky needs the same way this one does. Other people who might have ordered this machine because it looked cool or had some features they liked are more likely to be satisfied just as well with an alternate model, and therefore THOSE are the people more likely to cancel their order in favor of something else nearly equivalent when confronted with a long delay.

Picky people are generally willing to wait in order to get something exactly the way they want, especially something they'll use for years. I waited an extra 2 months to order my car and my office chair the way I wanted them rather than buying off the lot/showroom because none of those models had the precise option combinations I wanted; with the chair the manufacturer didn't even MAKE the spec combination I wanted, but I worked through enough people and got a deviation approved. The immediate gratification crowd are the ones who know they can't always afford to be picky if they've got to have it RIGHT NOW.

 

I fully agree. I first ordered my XPS back near the beginning of November. After Dell messed up twice, I finally got my mid-tier XPS 15 last Monday... aaand I sent it back Yesterday. Now I'm waiting for the Top tier to arrive from Costco, which sounds like it might not be for a while with the parts shortages.

Meanwhile, I've been looking at all the other brands, and I have yet to see anything else that has what I need. Most of the time, it's the weight that kills it. In the few machines that are light, the battery life isn't reported to be very good. In those with half-decent battery life, there's no dedicated GPU. And pretty much every single one of the very very few that are still left has a numpad.

 

This machine is far from disappointing. I've only heard a couple of minor problems here. The only problem I've heard that I'd say is a big issue for someone is the issue with Samsung phones not being recognized and I'd guess that's a software / driver issue that will eventually be figured out.

I'm a one of those nuts who's always looking for the "perfect" computer. Of course no computer is ever perfect; no matter who makes it there are always some things that could be better. I'm nutty enough that in the last year or so alone I've purchased and used extensively not just this laptop but also the MacBook Pro with retina display and the high end Asus Zenbook UX51VZ-XB71 with the retina-class display. (Plus several other computers that fill different roles.) They are all excellent and powerful laptops, but in my opinion this XPS 15 is the best of the bunch overall. Are there a (very) few things that are better on the MacBook Pro than on this computer? Sure. But there are a few things on this computer are better than the Macbook Pro. When you factor in price for similar specifications, versatility and expandability this laptop beats the MacBook Pro easily. The Asus is a little worse than the MacBook Pro and the XPS 15 in many aspects so it's not quite in the same class. And no other laptop that I have seen is even in the same ballpark. In my experience, the XPS 15 actually has fewer major problems than the MacBook Pro so it is currently at the top of this class. The only way the MacBook Pro wins is if you absolutely must have OS X or if money is absolutely meaningless to you so you can buy the much more expensive top end model and can buy a whole new computer if you need to upgrade the memory or storage.

So I don't at all agree that this laptop is disappointing.

 

Fantastic - you are a gentleman and a scholar! Just got off the phone myself with Dell Parts (here in AU) and I got the usual 'price is not in our system, give me your e-mail and I will contact you in 3-4 business days) however I did not get a Parts # so your a life saver .

Now I just need AU to get their act together, get pricing and then I'll order, remove the mSATA and replace 1TB with new SSD and I have myself a top-tier model . Thank you to both Erasmus354 and jphughan!

 

It sounds like you have some of the details confused, either in real life, or in your post.

The bigger hard drive replaces the space of the 1tb HDD, not the mSATA drive. That's how it fits the bigger battery (HDD takes up 2.5" of space that gets replaced). The top-tier model does not have an HDD and only has a 512gb mSATA ssd.

 

Sorry yeah - brain fart. I need to remove both the 1TB HDD and mSATA (mSATA is replaced with SSD mSATA) and the HDD space becomes used for the larger 91HWr - that's correct now haha?

I will post pictures etc of the upgrade for others once done .