XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

Smart Connect is off as are wake timers and there is nothing plugged in via USB...

 

I don't know if a perspective from someone who just got the system will help, but here goes.

1. Coil whine. I just got my system a few days ago, and haven't noticed any. I'm usually pretty sensitive to this kind of thing.

2. QHD+ scaling issues -- software issue. I've gone from a 1080p panel to the QHD panel, and, other than Photoshop, the programs that don't support it look fairly similar to how they did in 1080p,but the ones that do are beautiful. Chrome's low-res assets annoy me, but it's usable with the HiDPI flag.

3. GPU throttling. I haven't seen this, but the most demanding programs I run are OCR, photoshop, and a few games.

4. Lower battery life than expected and advertised. I've found I get about 7-10 hours on basic office work, and never less than 5 unless I'm using the GPU or CPU heavily. It's not as advertised, but it's fantastic for a laptop of this performance and size bracket. If you don't care about size, get an external battery or a different laptop.

5. The trackpad is mediocre. I've used good pc trackpads before, and this is not one of them. It does improve with the latest drivers and the touchscreen firmware update, but it's still not good. The only thing I'm disappointed by in this laptop, but it's usable.

Thanks again to JP for all of your info and help to people. I've been reading this thread from the beginning, but I haven't gotten around to thanking you yet. You're awesome.


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Glad I've been able to help. :thumbsup:

 

Do they make a ac 3x3 pcie wifi card to fit the xps15 yet?

the router I am looking at supports 3x3 so I would rather have the same in the laptop.

I don't care if i lose bluetooth and don't mind routing a 3rd antenna either.

 

hey, go to your country's dell website and there you should be able to see all newest drivers.
when i was installing and updating everything on my new laptop that's how i found out about the touchpad and touchscreen updates. by looking at the dates you will see which one was added recently. sadly the "my dell" application just connects you to the dell driver website but does not download the latest drivers and installs them automatically.
one more thing. i've one seen a link in a post to a collection of drivers but just going to the dell website for drivers will serve you well.

 

As of now, I just checked, the oldest drivers are dates October 16th, 23rd, 24th, some are dated December 31st and the newest ones are from January 9th! Hope this helps.

 

Haven't seen any 3x3 AC cards at all, though I admittedly haven't been looking. The fact that your router has it doesn't mean your client needs it though, and the extra antenna typically only gives a slightly better signal, almost never any extra speed -- and your router can still dynamically switch to whichever 2 of its 3 antennas would best serve the client at any given time. You might also find routing another antenna into the display difficult to impossible since unlike other models, you cannot separate the bezel from the panel itself; it's a single assembly. Lastly, I've had issues on other systems using non-Intel Wifi cards with Intel chipset motherboards and vice versa.

 

On the dell website, is the XPS 15 ($1949) is not available to be shipped until March? What's up with that? I was really hoping to purchase an XPS 15 this weekend and dell hits me with a 1.5 month delivery time...

 

Parts delays with the QHD+ panel that were only recently resolved, so Dell is still working through the holiday order backlog on models that were ordered with that display. No offense, but this has been mentioned in this thread about 100 times.

You might find one available in the Dell Outlet though. Search often and move fast if you find one because they don't stay available for long.

 

I think my high pitched noise, which is like modem dialing up or hdd high speed spinning, is loud enough to bother me. Do I have the right to insist a replacement if dell repo tries to talk me into motherboard replacement?

Galaxy Nexus Tapatalk

 

I didn't know if the antenna would be behind the panel or not in this model, I had thought of putting it on the base with it being carbon fibre.

Maybe intel will release an updated m.2 card soon

 

Within a short period of receiving your system, you have the option of a replacement system rather than a parts swap. I don't know exactly how long that period is though. However, chances are that the system exchange option will much longer due to the QHD+ panel delay issues. And whichever option you choose, there's no guarantee of success eliminating the coil whine.

 

For those in the US, Dell has a mystery coupon that has either 10%, 20%, 30% off. I got the 30% off and bought the high end XPS 15. It went from $2350 to $1645, which is a steal. Even if you get the 20% off, it's $1880, which is a bargain. Only problem is it doesn't ship for over a month.

Hopefully the contrast ratio on the XPS 15 isn't as bad as the Digital Trends review says.

 

@techtonic
I can only find the 10% coupon, could you please let me know where to find such coupons?
Thanks!

 

Top hit Googling "Dell mystery coupon": Mystery Coupon

 

thanks you very much!

 

Maybe; however my mobo was replaced for a different issue and the swap took about 30 minutes, in my office. I'd rather go that route than deal with trying to get a whole replacement.

 

Received mid-level unit yesterday.

As I had anticipated, cloning the 840 EVO was fairly straightforward; disabled the RST cache, cloned the 1TB with Macrium Reflect (took about 12 minutes as there was not much data in the partitions), install the SSD, reboot, re-configure for AHCI mode, install Samsung Magician to run OS Optimization and to enable RAPID mode (which is a more effective replacement for RST). I also decided to not to use Rapid Start as its effect was negligible i.e. resume from sleep is almost instantaneous with the SSD.

Overall impressions are very favorable for this laptop. Apart from some niggly High-DPI problems (Adobe engineers should go back to school on that API ) everything else seems to be working well so far, thanks in large part to the advice / tips available on this forum.

 

I am just so afraid that the technical guy might be uncareful and break something or make scratch on this delicate machine.

Galaxy Nexus Tapatalk

 

so i gave up all driver-reinstall-games after 4 hours of trying and went for somtething i NEVER used before in my windows-life: SYSTEM RESTORE! haha! went back to 26/1 where a critical windows update was installed, since then i didnt change anything else. et voila, nvidia gpu is back again, battery life is 8-9 hours on wifi, restart times are normal and weird fan running also stopped. maybe it was the update, maybe the flight to russia. Steve, check about the update and see if that works for youu, too.

 

Same here. I just went thru the same path for my mid-tier and the 840 EVO 1TB replacement, as well as the OS fresh installation today. There has not much thing to complain so far except the high DPI issue for some apps, including Samsung Magician. The funny thing is that, although the 9530 doesn't come with an optical drive but Dell Windows 8.1 installer is only available in DVD. I ended up using an external DVD drive to re-install Windows. Dell needs to do something about this

 

Mine's started making noises from the fan already. Suspect it's either a dodgy fan or it's not fitted properly. Great. Less than a few weeks old Dell XPS 9530 fan making buzzing noises - YouTube

 

I was under the impression that it is very hard to be a "serious" company and make a laptop that has such a high failure/problem/issue rate.
I guess I was wrong! Anyway, I ordered my XPS yesterday!

I was wondering.. if you get a motherboard replacement and the technician scratches the laptop accidentally while he is doing the replacement, are they supposed to replace it? Does the warranty covers scratches and marks made by the technicians?

 

That is probably an assembly problem. I don't have that at all. Contact Dell and they will send you an engineer or if you have mutiple problems occuring, replace your machine.

 

I once had that issue with my old XPS 17 who was replacing my old outer upper and lower case (lots of scratches and denta) with new ones and while using a screw driver he accidentally made a scratch on the new case. so he ended up replacing it as soon as another new one came. I think you should sit right next to him and see whether he scratches anything or not.

 

Just ordered my XPS (midtier). Was able to haggle from $1949 to $1364. Hope it helps for anyone looking to get a good deal!

 

Probably, but then you have the hassle of a second visit, and the risk that someone else could go wrong when your laptop is again opened up and tinkered with. Each time you have to weigh the expected benefit against the risks, unfortunately.

 

Received my top tier XPS 15 last Thursday after waiting for it since december 21st.
I was really happy unitill yesterday afternoon, the system froze all of a sudden, upon reboot the GT750 just refuses to work.
It just keeps on giving me the famous error 43 in device manager.

To rule out my own mistakes I went back to the default Dell Installation from recovery, without much joy.
I've updated all drivers, tried the Dell drivers, the recent NVidia drivers, even the latest NVidia Beta drivers.
I then cleanly installed Windows 8.1, same issue still exists.
Tried if a downgrade to Bios A01 would make a difference, unfortunately it didn't.

I'll be calling Dell support for a motherboard replacement tomorrow I guess.

 

same happened to me, check the last pages, i guess it has to do with a windows update or something on 26th ?? pretty weird. maybe that helps?

 

Where do you find the code to input there? How do you get the 20% or even 30%? Is it just random? Thanks!

EDIT: Never mind I found it and even called Dell and haggled down an order I already placed. Now just patiently waiting for my top-tier model to come in. I'm a light user but I do important work that's not CPU intensive so I'm thinking the battery life should be great.

The hardest part is WAITING....................

 

Another updated alternate for everyone on here who 'loves' their 9530 but can't stop ing about it. Not as powerful as the 9530 but a sweet unit nonetheless

Acer's WQHD S7 Ultrabook finally hits the US next week

 

See on the right of the Mystery Coupon webpage where it says "Need coupon code?"

 

Yeah got it lol......I edited my original post including a great song! haha

 

It's a great one for sure. But for that model the Samsung Ativ 9 is very similar. I think most are looking for a thin and strong 15" screen though.

 

$T6SKRXRV3JQTP - 20%

Hope it helps. But anyone can get 30% if you try long enough. Just add "." inside your email to get more codes.

 

This works for Gmail accounts, but not everywhere.

 

I wish it was a windows update, even on the Dell base installation or the fresh 8.1 without any updates the GT750m refuses to work.

 

The gentleman that did the replacement of mine was very professional and used a padded anti-static mat for work. In fact, I last saw him 4 years ago when he replaced the display on another machine - a good sign that they don't have much turnover. He commented on what a beautiful machine it is. At least here, the techs they send are not oafs.

 

Anyone have the 30% coupon code?

 

Is it possible to get the mystery discount after I received my dell laptop a few days ago? I know they have a return policy so I could return and order a new one but I am not sure what they would say to that. I paid $2400 with tax for mine but only received the 1 year at home warranty. I wonder if they would add the 3 year for free in light of this discount.

 

If it's not shipped yet.. I think you can cancel and re-order. I cancelled my order before to add a discount.

 

Coupons can't be applied retroactively for legal and accounting reasons -- that's what they tell even Dell employees. Once the order is submitted, even if it hasn't gone into production, it's locked with respect to price. But if you're still in the 30-day window, you can return and reorder with a coupon, though -- if it's worth it to you, especially considering the potential order delays...

I wouldn't count on getting the value of the coupon in the form of a longer warranty on your existing system, but I guess you can try whatever you want.

 

Moreover if you have a machine without any issues, the next machine, for which you could wait for 2 months, might have some defect that now it has not.

 

There's a way to get 10% discount from your purchase after receiving your item, of course it must be within 30 days return window. So if I was you, I wouldn't waste another month

 

I also purchased the top tier model today with a 30% off coupon code from the mystery box. Took me 50+ tries to get the code, but eventually got it and saved $700. $2349 down to $1656 + tax. Shipping is scheduled for March 14.

Also, here are some 20% off codes:
CD6TJ?627QWF2T
Q2T5?SLHG?KSL3

 

Hi,

I finally got my 2 laptops. They are in general fine:

• Slight pressure points on the right side of the LCDs (in both laptops) if I move them holding the screen from the left side, but those pressure points are not too strong as to worry about it.
• There is one dead pixel in one of the screens. Still, can live with it.
• The coil noise is present in both of them, and it is noticeable in a silent environment, but it is still very silent overall, like 1/10 of the noise than my previous laptop did even counting the coil whine, so it doesn't bother me much.

I might ask for replacement screens in a few months if more dead pixels appear or I suddenly get more worried about those pressure points.

In case anyone has missed it, there is an interesting thread about HiDPI on Linux: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lin...are/731248-high-resolution-screens-linux.html

Talking about Linux, I had to disable SecureBoot in order to be able to boot my Live USB. Also, had to use the Rufus tool in order to have UEFI recognise that it could boot from the USB. I had trouble with other tools.

And most importantly, DO NOT PARTITION THE WINDOWS PARTITION USING MINT'S INSTALLER. It will screw up your Windows partition (as it did with mine, had to restore it). Instead, use gparted (at an apt-get away, I don't know why it is not the default app).

 

I placed my order on 28 th and still got a later delivery date

 

GF just texted me "a package from Dell" arrived.
Damn I'm just sitting here at work, waiting... (5 more hours)

 

I have organised a bit the information in the wiki about Linux ( Linux - XPS 15 Wiki). Feel free to share your experiences and tips, or even ask questions through the comments.

 

So it seems the only way for me to get the mystery discount is if I return my laptop and reorder. Dell's website looks like there's a restocking fee of 15%. I wonder if is even worth the trouble to go through the process. A few followup questions.
-Has anyone returned a laptop without paying the restocking fee?
-What is meant by putting a "." in the gmail to get repeated discounts until the 30% comes up?
-Seborn mentioined "There's a way to get 10% discount from your purchase after receiving your item, of course it must be within 30 days return window. So if I was you, I wouldn't waste another month". Is this by returning the item or another way not yet mentioned?
-Some businesses allow you to do price adjustments after the fact as long as it's within a certain time frame. Are we sure that this isn't the case with dell?