XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

What do you mean by "legit". Dell are offering it as a fix, and for at least one member it has worked, so that's as "legit" as it gets, don't you think.

 

What I mean by legit is that is it working because for a year we have been offered many "fixes" to no avail. So, it is best to proceed with skepticism I have been hearing this for a year...so it is in my best interests to see if everything is working as stated because I don't have the time to say yes to the fixes and then troubleshoot with dell. Are there any other members who have received the fix? I just asked for advice I don't see any problem with that...

 

Hey,

I am considering buying this laptop to mainly use as a video editing and rendering machine (Premiere Pro) as I travel away from my desktop a bit. I have read a lot of articles stating various issues with it, but these are all dated 2012, and most of them say they are hopeful they will be ironed out soon. I was wondering if the issues still exist. I believe the issues were with wireless and cpu speed/heat.

I apologise if this question has been asked before, 551 pages is a lot to go through.

Thanks.

 

In theory there may be a WiFi related fix in the pipeline, maybe. Unconfirmed.

There has been no changes reported regarding cpu/gpu throttling and heat management.

 

thanks for the quick response.

with this in mind, do people recommend purchasing this laptop?

 

i think it depends more upon your intended use, honestly.

if gpu-throttling is going to be a problem, probably not

if guaranteed wifi performance is a requirement, probably not (although that MAY, MAYBE, very MAYBE changing) ... and an external USB adapter is a workable band-aid (if ugly).

otherwise, other than the expected infrequent issues, it seems to be a fair machine (if expensive).

 

Just to let you know guys, the issue has not been fixed. And it wont be in the XPS l521x.

I dont know about other countries but in Germany Dell is now offering it with Killer Wireless-N 1202. They are hoping to mask the issue - a change in the chip is much much easier than redesigning and changing the f** up antennas.

You dont buy a laptop, especially a 15 inch one, to have it as a desktop.

*Just my opinion after returning mine...

 

Anyone tried the new driver?

Driver Details | Dell US

 

Fair enough, it's just your use of the word legit suggested that either those (including myself) who either have this "fix" in the pipelin or have indeed had it done, are either having an "unofficial mod" or simply making it up. I can assure you that neither is the case.

 

Bit of a bold statement given that at least one member has had a resolution last week and confirms it's working, and another (me) is about to have it done.

 

Neil: I am hoping for you to have good results, but that would still only make it a reported success count of 2. May be enough for me to call dell though and see about scheduling mine.

 

I am a bit late to the game as just receiving two of these last week - but to clarify the remaining issues:


I constantly have issues with my touchpad having moving the cursor as I type or not scrolling when I use two fingers or not allowing me to hold down a mouse button and move the cursor at same time - the settings seem to conflict each other and I have not found a proper spot that makes them work well

Does the touchpad resolution some of you have had replaced fix this? Or in other words why are the touchpads being replaced?

ALSO

regarding the heating - I have noticed when my i7 2gb graphics card kicks in the CPU gets very hot - I am okay with this if its within spec and doesn't overheat - is this the case? or are people having issues with them over heating?

AS FOR THE THROTTLING

is it noticeable? What type of throttling are we talking about? is it all the time, only some of the time?
Thanks!

Good luck with that I am in the states and can't seem to get the repair done - have tried a few times

03/21/2013 02:51:21PM Agent (Hitesh_231092): "I apologize but there is no known issue with the hardware of the system, Still If you want then we can replace the wireless card of the system, but location of the antenna can not be changed."
03/21/2013 02:51:53PM Greg: "why are other people having the hinges replaced? there are MANY reports of this online"
03/21/2013 02:55:35PM Agent (Hitesh_231092): "I have consulted my supervisor and but we have not received any such updated, Greg, We can replace the card with any other card available, or I can transfer the chat to my supervisor."

-they have replaced one of the wifi cards with the killer one - does seem better then the centrino - not sure if its perfect im using speedtest.net to test but it seems inaccurate

 

its 11:41am here, tech will be here around 1 to put in the new lid/lcd ! ill update.

 

I've spent most of the morning with a tech on the system looking into the thermal throttling of the GPU and into the wireless drop-outs.

The new wireless drivers I posted above help - but the tech tweaked some settings on the card.

Re the thermal throttling of the GPU - they are going to try a new GFX card & different fan tomorrow.

My machine got so hot during testing the battery was disabled by the hardware. took 20 minutes to cool off before normal service could resume.

 

morty:

the cpu gets heated by the gpu because they share a single cooling solution. suboptimal and insufficient to run both at/above stated freq's.

throttling happens only when one side of the equation heats up, specific behavior will vary by the applications loading the system. current BIOS favors pulling down the GPU in freq first, which for gamers is pretty much the death of game-play.

i've also noticed that current iTunes playing HD content will do so quickly also, I have a hard time imagining how inefficient iTunes on Windows must be to do this since VLC can do it without issue. Could be content-specific though, the movie I was watching was the MTB flick Where The Trail Ends. It played most smoothly using the NVidia GPU, until it heated up. It played the longest before tanking using the Intel GPU. Neither could play the movie to completion.

 

Yes, I had it. Got the display replaced.

 

Yes had same issue. It was caused by the new wifi driver A03 for Win 8. Had to downgrade back to A02 and no more issues.

 

Please do tell us if they change your antennas. I don"t believe they will distribute Killer-n cards like candy if the issue has been sold. I will stand corrected if someone posts a picture of standard and updated antenna config.

Anyway Dell might be thinking about our health Cutting out the wireless so that our brains don't get so fried...clever - they might beat Apple with that attitude

 

Had a contract engineer out today to replace the mainboard & fan.

I applied some AS5 (rather than the dell gunk - which was badly applied) while it was out and this helped some - but the underling overheating problem still remains - it just takes a minute or so longer to get there (on full stress test).

The GPU throttling still lingers about the 240hz level after 5 minutes of stress.

Battery thermal shutdown happens @ the 6 minute mark.

Awaiting a call from Dell today.

Underling problem is that the laptop is not fit for purpose.

Given that it's a premium machine, if they can't get it resolved, I'll be pushing for a gratis upgrade to a new (working) model on release.

Just wanted to add, I'm using an i5 based machine, it must be murder for you guys on an i7.

 

Hallo everyone,

I do not own my own L521x atm, because I'm still not really sure whether I can cope with the reported issues of the notebook.

I just asked a guy from the german cs rep about this an he confirmed that all XPS 15 ordered right now (in Germany) will not only have the new Killer WiFi card but will be also equipped with the improved hinge.
Of course you cannot be 100% sure that his statement is definitely right, but at least he didn't deny the changes.

 

If you game, as it is, I'd avoid this machine like the plague

 

After speaking to another chap @ the indian call centre. . .

Their reasons for the overheating seem to be overwhelmingly pointing towards that the nVidia card is not suitable for gaming!

I asked for this in writing and they back pedalled quickly.

They are now collecting my laptop and sending it off for analysis.

To make their life easier, which games do you guys have problems in particular? I need to give them a reproducible case.

 

I just bought the laptop about 2 weeks ago and ran into the throttling issue with the gfx card. I called today and finally after about an hour of convincing the rep, they are coming out to replace the Heatsink and fan.

However my throttling issue isn't that bad, I see it throttle from 700mhz to 615mhz and so its still pretty usable. I just want to see if they have a better HSF solution or if them repasting the CPU/GPU will help.

I have the Dell 1901 wireless and it seems to work fine for me.

 

Hi,

could you help me to confirm a very weird behavior of my L521?

I used Dead Pixel Locator to check for dead pixels and noticed a visible PWM flickering with the AC-Adapter present (settings: black screen, brightness mid-level).

Without the AC present the screen doesn't show this behavior. With AC it looks like a faulty regulation in my view. I'd like to hear your opinion on this. Do you notice visible pwm flickering with the AC-adapter present?

I made a short video of the display (the camera shutter amplifies the effect, but it still shows the modulation of the LEDs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8mQp-zxJv4&feature=youtu.be

 

The tech replaced the lid a few days ago and ive been testing it. Although the version number on the lid box was A00 meaning it was not a revision, it still outperforms the previous lid, I can now see my networks across my house and even my neighbours's networks are visible. the range is not as 100% as other laptops but its a big improvement. I will be going to my local coffee shops and restaurants that have wifi and test the range where before , id get no signal. One thing that has remained is the killer N card randomly dropping the connection, it has been doing that since I got it

 

Less than 3 months until summer. Any news, leaks, rumors, or speculation about a new revision (or new model entirely) featuring Haswell microarchitecture?

 

I could easily repro it using Counter Strike: Global Offensive. But any graphics intensive recently released game will do it. Just crank up the quality so the GPU is working harder.

I've found however using a stand that raises the computer up definitely helped the overheating issue. The stand doesn't cover the entire bottom, it's this one:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VnATL-XIL._SY300_.jpg

I doubt it eliminates overheating but playing CS:GO for 45 mins didn't cause any noticeable throttling.

 

Hi, i just ordered this laptop and this thread has scared the crap out of me! Has anyone had WiFi problems with the Killer Wireless-N? If the problem persists, wouldnt this
Amazon.com: Edimax EW-7811Un 150 Mbps Wireless 11n Nano Size USB Adapter with EZmax Setup Wizard: Computers & Accessories
fix it?
Thank you

 

sirzoffman:

Using a USB adapter will "fix" you ... as it has it's antennas outside the machine casing. If you're happy with that, then no worries.

The Killer-N seems to work the best of the available internal wlan cards, but it still suffers reception/transmission range limitations, in theory caused by the antenna placement and lead routing within the machine casing (lid / hinge).

There is a rumor going about that Dell has a redesigned upper assembly coming out, which addresses the issue, so you MAY get lucky. Maybe.

Good luck,

 

Lets hope i get lucky... thanks for quick reply!

 

Hi all I just picked up a XPS 15 from amazon, its the I5 model. This was a warehouse deals so I got it for a good deal and couldn't resist . but my questions I see some reviews say it includes a blu ray player. I find this hard to believe. Can anyone confirm if 1579 has a BD player.

Thanks


Specs
Dell XPS 15 XPS15-1579sLV Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 6GB DDR3, 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 8 64-bit

 

Some do, some don't. Depends on the spec.


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

hi guys.

I am getting a BSOD on an intel driver? Anyone else having this issue. Am downloading the new wireless driver so hoping this may fix it.

Also has anyone else had this hinge replacement as yet? Waiting to call up dell to get mine done (may as well) but would like to see what success people had who have requested them

 

since the tech replaced the parts, my laptop will randomly stop charging, and does not detect the adapter being plugged in, the green led on the adapter is green and does not change. Ive ran the dell diagnostics while the cable was plugged in but not detected or charging and the the diogs said power adapter not plugged in. everything is up to date on the laptop. 10 minutes ago the laptop told me the battery is low, even though its plugged in but it does not detect or see the charger, when I looked at the charger the green led had turned off. Unplugging the adapter from the all and back in made it work and charge the laptop. What more can I do to troubleshoot this? Its a 90w adapter dp/n 06kxkh

 

Call Dell tech, or you could try to go back to factory settings first.
I got lucky and replaced myself the parts I got. When the job is done I call them to pick up the old parts.
The tech guys, for them if just a job and if you get a contractor who has over ten jobs in that day, he does not care about your laptop, just put them together power it up and if is OK is another job done....
Now the LCD has to be replaced and I would like to replaced myself. Whenever they changed it, they scratched it. They are using a screwdriver to attach the LCD to the base, but there is no need, it is very easy to attached it if get it in the right position.
When I try to explain them, they say that have 14 years experience in this field....

 

ok so I moved the power adapter a bit and then the laptop told me nothing was connected to a power source, I looked at the adapter and the light was green, unplugged all elements from the adapter and unplugged it from the computer, the green led stayed on for 3 minutes, even thought nothing was plugged into it... waited for the led to turn off, now im plugging it in and out and even though the green light is on, the pc isn't "feeling" the power... going to leave the laptop plugged in, but unplug the adapter from wall and plug it back in in about 10m..

yes im trying different wall sockets


its been 15minutes and the green led on the power adapter is still on bright, it turned off for a second then turned green again.. still not plugged into anything.
ok so just figured out that even if you unplug the adapter from the wall and leave it plugged into your laptop, itll feed off the the laptop battery to light the led but even at that, now that everything is plugged in (wall/laptop) the laptop still is not charging or even sees that its plugged in. but because the power adapter led is green, does that mean the adapter knows its plugged in and not the object at fault?

ok so the laptop is now charging, to test a theory, I kept the power adapter plugged into the laptop and unplugged its socket cable to wall socket and the green led on the adapter turned off.. I tried this 7 times and all 7 times, it turned off and when I plugged it back into the wall, the green led came back on and the laptop said charging.. so now I guess the adapter could also be at fault? someone help pls

 

The green light will stay lit for some time if there is no drain on the charger.

I guess the conversion circuitry has some capacitive bits and bobs in there.

Despite what the laptop icon shows, is it taking any charge at all?

Is the battery now flat?

Either way it's not right - Give Dell another ring.


Re the overheating issue, I've spoken to a friend who had the 17" version of the XPS, and after three laptops Dell refunded him.

Mine is being collected tomorrow - with the reproducible case being BF3 (also with synthetic solution)

 

ok so I moved the power adapter a bit and then the laptop told me nothing was connected to a power source, I looked at the adapter and the light was green, unplugged all elements from the adapter and unplugged it from the computer, the green led stayed on for 3 minutes, even thought nothing was plugged into it... waited for the led to turn off, now im plugging it in and out and even though the green light is on, the pc isn't "feeling" the power... going to leave the laptop plugged in, but unplug the adapter from wall and plug it back in in about 10m..

yes im trying different wall sockets


its been 15minutes and the green led on the power adapter is still on bright, it turned off for a second then turned green again.. still not plugged into anything.
ok so just figured out that even if you unplug the adapter from the wall and leave it plugged into your laptop, itll feed off the the laptop battery to light the led but even at that, now that everything is plugged in (wall/laptop) the laptop still is not charging or even sees that its plugged in. but because the power adapter led is green, does that mean the adapter knows its plugged in and not the object at fault?

ok so the laptop is now charging, to test a theory, I kept the power adapter plugged into the laptop and unplugged its socket cable to wall socket and the green led on the adapter turned off.. I tried this 7 times and all 7 times, it turned off and when I plugged it back into the wall, the green led came back on and the laptop said charging.. so now I guess the adapter could also be at fault? someone help pls

 

I don't think it's the adapter, it's more likely the tech left something not quite properly connected internally on reassembly.

Or it's software. Part of the Dell system software on the machine changes how the battery recharge is managed, "Desktop" mode vs other I think (I can't check details right now as my machine is at home). If the setting is to Desktop mode then it will NOT always just charge the battery. This is done to prevent excessive wear on the battery chemistry. You CAN tell it to force a charge. You could also SHUT DOWN (not sleep or hibernate, but shut down) windows and I believe then the battery should charge also. I think you can get to this setting via the Mobility Center in Windows, and also via power management.

The green light on the wall-wart is not something that tells you much of anything, other than the adapter has a bit of electrons in it. The light goes out more quickly when plugged in to the notebook after removing it from mains source because the notebook drains the capacitance more quickly than would happen without the notebook plugged in.

If adjusting the recharge control via Mobility Center doesn't do the job, you either need to disassemble/reassemble the machine yourself to make sure everything is properly connected, or you need to call Dell.

 

-I know about software, its not software or settings.
-it does this while turned off, on, in bios diagnostics.
-the adapter led stays lid if the laptop is not charging and the adapter unplugged from wall.
-adapter led turns off if laptp is charging and I unplug adapter from wall
-doing an image back up now while its charging. Its been 8 hours and windows image bckup is at 50%

Update: if I slide my fingers on the closed laptop lid. I can feel an electrical feedback vibration...

Its no longer doing this.

 

Definitely sounds like improper rebuild to me.

 

The laptop seems to be charging fine now. Ive unplugged and replugged it. Crumbled the cable straightened it..etc.. wish I could easily find out if its the adapter or laptop but I guess I have no choice but to go buy a 98 $ universal 90w laptop power adapter and try it out when the laptop stops charging. I think that would be the quickest way to determine it..

 

Take your notebook with you to the store and try a floor model power brick before buying one, is my advice.

Also, if you have an older Dell around, even with only a 65w adapter, it'll run the machine and charge it if the machine is powered off. I do that with the brick from my Lattude d630 (I leave the Lattitude's 65w brick at my office, keeping the good 90w brick at home).

 

yeah, this is the only laptop I own. Bought a 90w +usb charger rocket fish adapter for 71$ from futureshop. I can return it in 14 days. it charges the laptop fine so now I just have to wait for the laptop to stop charging...

 

so far the laptop has been charging fine, seriously, wth. anyway, its max charge now sits at 96% ....

 

Hi all!

i want to buy one dell xps 15 L521x but i don't know if the wifi issues are still exists.

i see dell has put three different Wireless cards on l521x (Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Card, Dell Wireless 1901 802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth v4.0 and Killer Wireless-N 1202 Card).

Can anyone told me which of those 3 card is better?

 

The Killer-N seems to be the most reliable / best performer, HOWEVER whether Dell has fixed the (assumed) case design that interferes with the WIFI signal has yet to be conclusively proven.

It's still a throw of the dice whether the machine you get functions as expected, in that way.

There have been a very few (2, 3?) people on this board who have reported having the lid/hinge assembly replaced and having the wifi performance improve as a consequence.

 

thank you c0debear for reply.

i read here Re: WIFI problems on Dell xps 15 L521X - Networking, Internet, Wireless Forum - Networking, Internet, Wireless - Dell Community the user "cjlflstn" wrote than the problem located to antenna, not to Wireless card.

I love the design and specs of l521x but the wifi issues make me to wait. Maybe Dell preparing a revised version on l521x? Who knows...

 

I've just received a new unit, and it appears the WiFi problem is fixed.

This is my second machine. I ordered one as a work computer last September, and a new one recently (ordered March 20, delivered April 4) as a personal system. Neither were ordered as quick-ship systems, and both took real time to get delivered, so I believe they were both newly built and not shipped from stock. I'm located in Canada, but all systems ordered here are built in and ship from the US.

The older machine had the Dell wireless card, and always had trouble connecting, getting good signal levels, and getting good link speeds. WiFi would also drop each time I connected a Bluetooth mouse.

The newer machine (with the Killer card, obviously) appears to have much better performance. My previous typical 36mbps link speed is now at a constant 130. Signal levels used to be very poor and often dropped, but are now consistently at a 60-75% level and the connection is solid for hours. So far, no drops when I connect with Bluetooth.

Based on the information in the last 30-40 pages of the forum, I'm concluding that newly-made systems are shipping with the hoped-for physical changes as well -- e.g. hinge change, lid change -- given that folks who've only swapped the card haven't had huge improvements. To be clear, though, I see no difference in appearance of the lid or hinge (though there are some other differences -- see list at end of this post).

My wireless testing isn't scientific, of course, but we're talking all the same WiFi access point, and the machine in the exact same location under very similar conditions. The variables are network card, network card driver, OS (Win7 before, now Win8), the laptop's enclosure, and any external interference. I will post again in a few days if the network side of things changes at all. I will also try some other locations, though I have less usage time there.

I have noticed a few other changes between my old machine and this one. (I'm doing this for the serious compulsives out there, but as a hardware manufacturer myself, I can tell you that some of these could definitely be batch-to-batch variations as opposed to real changes):

- Expected changes (e.g. Windows 8 sticker on metal panel on bottom of machine -- though it's a shame it's not etched like the Win7 one on the old system)
- Bottom material slightly different -- a bit harder than older machine
- Alignment of bottom materials better than old machine (rubber to metal alignment)
- Touchpad seems a little easier to use than the old machine (not as jumpy)
- Touchpad has a slight looseness, where tapping lightly on the bottom of it (that is, not an actual click) makes a small noise (old one did not) -- this bothers me
- On the touchpad, you can now keep one finger on one of virtual buttons while moving the pointer using another finger on the upper part of the touchpad. Old machine would not do this (pointer would not move until lower finger lifted). Once your finger goes above about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the pad, it seems to think it's off the "button" and reverts to the old behavior (Synaptics drivers for HP laptops with one-piece touchpads allow specifying a "button height" -- looks like that's here now, but in fixed-size form)
- Key texture is nearly identical, but new keyboard paint has slightly more friction
- Rubber screen surround is slightly better installed than old one
- Hinge is quieter than old one
- Hinge has a slightly different feel than the old one, but still has the three great characteristics the old one did: 1) solid, no vibration position-holding when up (unlike M1710/M1730); 2) self-closing at end of travel (though now lightens up a bit earlier); 3) openable without holding down laptop base.
- Screen appears just a bit different. Old one seemed a little less bright, but seemed to have slightly better off-axis performance -- I never really saw the screen door effect, BTW.
- No stuck/dead pixels at this point (old one had a single hot pixel, solvable with mild pressure -- reappeared three times, fixable with pressure every time)
- Bottom row of keyboard: some keys seem to "catch" on their upper edges (within the keyboard, not on the surface) if you press too hard low-down on the key -- this may go away
- KB backlight looks better -- less light spill from key edges
- Closed-lid to body alignment is just a smidge off -- about 0.5mm high on the left side when closed (rubber screen surround forward corner to palmrest), flush on right side. Old system was completely flush. This may go away
- SD card dummy insert protrudes slightly (width of a sheet of paper) from side of machine, old one was slightly closer (silver and black parts are sonically welded, so I can probably tweak this). Insertion and removal feels different
- Dropdown for Ethernet port fits better than old system

I will also post regarding keyboard marks on the screen, once I've had it for a while. Old system got marks, but they were all finger oils: Fully removable every time. Would be nice if this is fixed.

 

Would you mind running the cpu & gpu tests to see if you throttle.

Gpuz to monitor

Prime95 to be run alongside furmark.

Should be evident in 15mins.

J

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