XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

Its a update for Intel Rapid Start Technology, check the drivers on Dell website for more details.

 

Exactly. I've bought/returned/sold 5 different Ivy Bridge w/Optimus GT650/640 in the past 2 months. ALL have had some sort of throttling problem. Out of all the 5 I've had, the Dell is the most perfect and unless I go the Retina route, there really are not too many options I haven't tried.

 

useful data point, thanks for sharing (your frustration).

it's wierd, but it's been a long time since I've had something on the "bleeding edge" and I find it strangely fun.

probably because it's my personal machine and not required for my job.

 

Update on the wifi issue. Spoke to Dell today (someone highger up than usual) and he said they were aware of the problem and had been working on it for two weeks. He claimed that a similar situation arose before with the previous xps 15 which shipped with the intel centrino 6230 card and it was inevitably a driver issue which was resolved. He went on to say that Intel are due to release a new set of drivers in September which will more than likely fix the problem as if it was the antenna at fault no signal would be received at distance rather than the intermittent one that people are reporting. I don't really believe his antenna theory but the new Intel drivers is interesting, if true. He estimated about a month to fix it which probably means around two months. For the meantime he suggested I get a USB wifi adapter and they would reimburse the cost. Certainly won't be holding back on the price of the one I buy.

 

Thanks for posting this. I just checked and my critical review has been posted for all to see. Good stuff.

I'd buy that. USB 3 is known to be particular difficult with regards to proper EMI protection.

 

So in theory, can disabling it help with the wifi?

 

I tried disabling mine the other day and it didn't help. I just did it through the device manager but maybe there's a better way to do it that might make a positive change?

 

Recent drivers appearing on the Dell website (iRST + Synaptics + Quickset):

Also a recent 630M/640M nVidia driver but as with A06, for the moment - "file not found" when a download is attempted.

 

I received my XPS on Monday of this week. Some initial comments:

I do not notice much of an issue with wifi (it is slightly worse than other computers and intermittently really bad, so it is inconsistent for me). I also tried a usb wifi adapter and did not experience much of a difference from the internal card. This is in a large house with one router on the main floor and the computer upstairs behind several walls.

I did have a major problem when I upgraded to the Intel graphics driver that is currently on the dell website. I use the mini displayport to connect to a 2560x1440 resolution display. After upgrading, the displayport stopped functioning, no signal at all. Dell support tried reloading drivers, both the intel and nvdia with no success. In the end we had to reload windows back to the factory shipped state.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Additionally, last night I connected the xps to my TV via Widi. It worked great for about 5 minutes and then the xps just shut off abruptly and with no warning. It would not respond to anything. After several minutes, I was able to turn it back on via the on off switch. The laptop did feel a little warm, but I can't imagine it was too hot. I was only surfing the web at the time. Any thoughts?

I have the 8gb, i7, with 32gb msata and 750gb hdd. I plan to upgrade to 16gb of ram, putting in a 128 or 256gb msata, and a 256gb ssd.

 

Hi,
I do not have any of your problems, except the wireless and some noise of the Optical drive that makes when I attach an external hdd or SD card.....the temps are OK. Now I am watching online TV (SopCast player) and a few pages opened, the temps are between 50-60 C./ fan 1600/2500 rot/min.
I did not use mini display port yet, just HDMI that works fine.
Laptop is not warm at all, just a bit on left side where the USB ports are!

 

Would someone mind posting a close up picture of the ethernet port on their laptop with it opened and no cable plugged in? I had been using plugged in ethernet cabled just fine, first time I used a cord that had a protective cover over the release button, the metal piece on the end of the ethernet port snapped off (but the black hinge is still there). Trying to figure out if the bottom base replacement would fix it or if another part inside that port was also damaged. Here is an example of the two types of cables: http://www.techcrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Ethernet-Cables.jpg

Just to be clear: I'm looking for a pic of the ethernet port with the hinge open and no cable plugged in, close up. Much appreciated!

 

Okay guys, I know you are biased but I need to know as I need to order one soon. Dell XPS 15 or should I steer clear of it and get the Samsung Series 7 Gamer because of the issues with wifi?

 

I love the laptop and yes the wifi is driving me crazy but I know they will get it fixed and I'll just use my external adapter for now. Even knowing the wifi issue I still chose not to return it. It's really up to you but I know nothing about the samsung and could have issues also so you might wanna look into that

 

gixer, thanks for the reply. Do you think I should go all out or get the base/2nd model and upgrade it myself with HD (ssd) and more ram?

 

I really am not the person to ask about that. I didn't go crazy with mine 8gb, 32gb ssd,750 spinner, I5 core. I would rather upgrade down the road and that's what i plan to do but what I have is fine for what I use it for. Some of the more experienced people would be able to tell you what you should do. I just joined this forum because of the wifi issue and have just been trying to contribute to the thread the best I can. good luck with your decision. I would post up what you plan to do with it and see what everyone thinks

 

Good idea.

Basically business/personal machine. On the business side, Word/Excel, VPN, and dealing with network equipment, (Cisco stuff), and Microsoft VMWARE. I plan to install VMWARE on it too to play with for education for when I take my exams.

Personal, mostly web browsing, email, some photo editing, and gaming. Gaming includes Black ops, BF3 for now. But I have a primary big desktop for it, just when I go out of town if it can do it I would like that.

 

I don't mind for waiting for the computer but I just find it kind of annoying that Dell actually sell the computers with Wifi issues.
It's pretty much selling a defective product. Excuse my ignorance, but for a laptop that's 1.2k and more. Wi-fi should have been one of the number one things to look at. How did this computer pass the tests is beyond me.

I think if it weren't for the wi-fi this computer could have been the best there is. >.>

 

I bit the bullet and picked up an external dual-band wifi adapter (Netgear N900.) It is the antithesis of discrete -- a four foot long USB cable with a four inch long adapter sitting in a holder that looks like it was designed by Le Corbusier. But it works.

I run the Netgear on the 5 Ghz band, connect the internal Intel card on 2.4 the GHz band and let Windows 7 figure out how to split up traffic between the connections. Internet is fast as blazes. The Netgear is also seeing several more of my neighbours' APs than the Intel card.

This is not ideal, but at least I can connect to the outside world when sitting poolside at my daughter's swimming lessons or in the arena at my son's hockey camp.

I still look forward to a fix to the internal Intel card, so I can ditch the external gadget.

Other than this wifi issue, I'm very happy with the L521X. On my six-year-old Inspiron 9400 running XP, I dreaded software updates; restarting Windows took 5 to 10 minutes with the hard drive banging away the whole time. Restarts on the L521X are a snap. Also, MS Word loads in two seconds, and Excel barely one.

I've come to really like the L521X's "chicklet" keyboard, despite my initial apprehension. I am a touch typist (70+ wpm) and have not liked "soft" keybaords until now. For whatever reason, I now prefer this keyboard over the Inspiron 9400's (Side note: my Dad's ancient IBM Selectric still has the best keyboard for ludicrous speed typing...)

 

I got the Video Card to download just now using this link...

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]


However, when you look at the Driver Version via Device Manager and the Dell Website they are the same exact thing. No difference.

 

That's because you linked to an old driver (A00 8.17.12.96.01) that was released on 6/28/2012...

EDIT: I found the link for the new driver on Dell's FTP server because the link on Dell's driver download website doesn't work... Here is the one relased yesterday (August 15th): ftp://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER00399909M/10/Video_nVIDIA_W74_A00_Setup-2RWDM_ZPE.exe

EDIT 2: Regarding Bill's absence, he has been active on the forum... just not in this thread. I wonder why

 

It is the same driver only different name. I already knew the one you posted was the same on the Dell L521x Drivers page but just to confirm I downloaded the one using your link and it is the same exact driver, nothing is different.

-

 

@Bill or Anyone that can help

So I absolutely love this computer, except I too have this wifi signal deterioration issue. Only worse, I got this laptop new but not through dell and can't change the ownership of it so says phone support (I spoke to them for over 3 hours today and was transferred to 15 different departments and no one could help me transfer ownership of this device so that I can use the warranty this device has to possibly get it fixed/replaced by Dell. Anyone know of a solution? Bill? Help?

 

Re wifi issues, I purchased a XPS 15 (L521X) several weeks ago and found that on wireless "N" the throughput was so bad it was not useable. On "G" however it was not so bad but the throughput was nowhere as good as my Dell XPS 15 L502X using the Intel N-6230 card.

I contacted Dell and they came out and repalced the Intel N-6235 with the 1901 Dell wireless card and now perfect with throughput that equals the L502X machine.
The Tech. had issues with the drivers off the website but strangely the drivers for the 1901 card are on the Dell support disc and these worked with no problems? Not sure this is a general fix but it worked for me!

 

the upgraded one has the Samsung 830 512GB SSD...buying that one alone is $650 us, add that to the base model and its cheaper to go through Dell....and you get 16gb of Ram too...upgrading that yourself is a pain in the rear as you have to remove damn near the entire guts of the PC...

In the US the 2nd model is 1699 (+650 SSD and 100 16gb Ram ) =2450 while dell sells that config for 2299. IF you want to Max out, getting the last config is the cheapest option. Unless of course you already have an SSD or go for lower capacity like 256gb.

 

Transfer your ownership using the Online Website. If you don't have the original owner info, simply put your info there.

Ownership-Tag Transfer | Dell

 

I'm glad you manage to enjoy your new L512X. But what you noticed (above) has absolutely nothing to do with the L512X itself. That kind of performance has been had during the last two years, with current processors, additional RAM and, especially, SSD.

Turning off Windows 7 startup animation and disabling the log-in screen would bring the time "from power to desktop" down further.

 

How do you do that?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Please post this question in the Windows forum. Or PM me. (The question has nothing to do with L521X.)

 

Anyone? Anyone? Pleeeaasseee

 

Here is the image if helps much.
I removed the bottom cover and I am pretty sure that is part of it. So , if you change the bottom cover the problem is fixed.

 

Hmm...has anyone else had this fix implemented with successful results? I know ballercb4 had the 1901 wireless card installed, but the tech that installed it couldn't find the right drivers for it. It sounds like we could be onto something here...

 

Yeah I was supposed to have the card sent out again but dell opted to give me a new system instead -_- so lets see if the wifi is solved or not and if it is not I am going to request for the 1901 card I was pretty much guaranteed it would solve the issue by tech support...the only reason the drivers didn't work is because the on site tech was full of himself and didn't want to follow instructions he even told me Macs are better lol talk about promoting your employer ... Now I just need to call dell about swapping the hardrives with my old XPS 15 I don't have the time to reinstall everything again and set it up No Thanks!!!!

 

We don't have an ETA yet, but we will at some point. My advice to you, if WiFi is a deal breaker for you personally, would be to either go with a competitor's system or take the XPS and use an external USB N adapter while you wait for us to figure it out.

The card will have no impact. The LCD might. The fix MIGHT be cut in at the factory before the field fix is in, but I think the time between the 2 events in either direction won't be but a few days.

Our antenna is not routed in the lid, per se. It is however routed in the plastic center hinge cover, which comes kitted with the lid. I believe this is the same way as the MBP. Pretty sure I saw someone post a pic of the Apple antenna, and it was routed in their plastic hinge cover and not up to the logo, but I could be wrong.

Kinda wrong. Kinda right. I don't work in the "marketing department," but I did at one time. The CMO was my boss's boss (fun fact?). I actually work in product marketing for the End User Computing business unit. My team mates all work on the central marketing messages, value proposition, customer segmentation for messaging, concept brief, and all the marketing functions that take place before a product launches. I am unique on this team, as I do the social media strategy for consumer and small business products, excluding Alienware with no single platform as my responsibility (Inspiron, All in One, XPS, Vostro, CSMB tablets and convertibles). The kind of activity you site is more along the lines of something public relations would do. I did public relations for Dell in 2008, and it's not my bag. We have people much more talented in this area than I.
Regarding keeping bad publicity from Dell, the way I message is almost the polar opposite. You will rarely find me commenting on a complementary post beyond a heartfelt "thanks for the kind words." We learn very little from feel good stories told internally compared to hearing the straight dope from customers about how our products do not satisfy, so I don't spend much time reading or passing on the lovey dovey Dell promoter comments. Public Relations does that just fine. My job is to keep it real with our product planners, engineers and our customers.

First sentence- placement may actually be part of the problem. Jury's still out, and man, they're taking forfreakingever. Third sentence- So spot on. Not all systems are affected, which, as I've said a few times previously, actually adds layers and layers of complexity to the situation.

I know more, and wish I were allowed to share, but I think doing so spins customer speculation off on frustrating tangents, because no matter what I reveal, you don't have the whole story. Partly because we won't release all the details and partly because we're still evaluating causes at this point. We simply don't feel like we've found them all yet.

Nope. I've personally seen at least one system swapped for an identical config. First system had bad WiFi, second didn't.

So, you are talking about a couple of things. One is how we handle the fix and one is about how we handle the messaging. On the fix side, we still have to find root cause before we know what parts need to be replaced. That will go a long way toward deciding whether this is "fix on fail" (call tech support) or proactive field replacement (PFR. We mail, call and email all owners about the fix.) I'm leaning toward the former based purely on guess work and experience. This is not a safety issue, and it does not affect all users, which are 2 of the primary considerations for PFR. An example of a PFR was the exploding Sony battery issue a few years back (2006-ish). That was a safety issue, and we knew by PPID exactly which batteries were defective from Sony. So we went the proactive route.
As far as messaging goes, I have a place holder for a Direct2Dell blog post that I've had to move out twice already while waiting on a fix. So, I'll be writing that post and putting my name on the by-line. I'll link to it here and on the wireless testing thread as well.
Additionally, I've already got a rep who is going to personally handle all parts and services dispatches for the fix here on NBR for the members. We'll make this as painless as possible for you guys, since you're among our favorite customers (seriously).

No sweeping under the rug. I wrote that response for the rep who posted it. Sounds like me, doesn't it?

Poppycock! If I had a nickel for every time some tech or supervisor says "checked official emails from engineering" I'd be sipping mai tais in Hawaii instead of working for The Man. The truth is we need better messaging for the front line techs about this, and I'll follow up.

...

He's speculating or working off bad info. This won't be a driver fix. If it were the driver, we'd probably have it in hand already. The USB adapter suggestion is the most valid and useful thing you report his saying on the call.

A USB adapter should outperform the current internal antenna. I'd try a different one as a work around while waiting on engineering.

You need a new bottom cover.

For everyone else: THE BOTTOM COVER IS NOT PLASTIC FOR PETE'S SAKE. IT'S MAG ALLOY WITH SILICONE COATING.

I kind of disagree. For it to be "Dell is selling a defective product" it would have to be an issue seen on all systems. So far, while WiFi is the number one complaint on ratings & reviews and in the contact centers (despite what techs may tell you), it's only been reported to us on less than 5% of all units in the field.

Lorna should be reaching out to assist with the transfer. This is an easy one for her. I sent your post to her.

That's interesting and confusing. We sent out a batch of those cards for testing, and no one reported any improvement. The problem with that option is it can't be the permanent fix. You lose WiDi and some Intel Smart Response functionality.

Another fun fact. If I type "P R" without the spaces or quotes, it comes out "Google Page Ranking" on NBR. Like this- PR

 

Thank you so much for the update, I was getting very antsy!!! :S

Now, I know you said you don't have an ETA multiple times, but it would really help me out if you, personally, could provide your best guess for me.

Again, thanks a lot Bill!

 

Hi djs415,

Sorry for the delay in responding to your inquiry. I am happy to look into the transfer of ownership on your behalf. Please contact me privately and provide your contact information and the service tag #.

Thanks,
Dell-LornaM

 

Do you have any way of tracking or knowing how soon your replacement will arrive? I am on the fence in deciding whether to buy now or wait it out, and I was really hoping to find out before my wife's birthday gets here.

If your replacement works, I will gladly take the chance with Bill's statement that only 5% of systems are reportedly affected. If it doesn't work, I will have to assume that the wifi issue is being severely under-reported.

 

Thanks Bill and Lorna for getting back to me. I appreciate your help so much. This WiFi issue is the only thing holding this laptop back from really being the best right now.

 

Don't read into things, he said effectively that 5% of delivered systems are reported to have the wifi problem. That does not mean that 95% of the systems don't have the wifi problem, it only means that 5% to 100%-N have the issue (N being the number of systems with no Wifi issue).

Just trying to keep expectations real, not "dis" on things, FYI.

(while I'm looking forward to fixed Wifi myself, there's no way I'm sending the machine back for a different one - i'm a non-OSx guy and I feel the XPS15 is the best package at this time in the non-OSx field, excepting WiFi at the moment).

 

Too bad you were not there when my review (verified owner) went under that "rug" you are talking about.
I wasn't surprised though - it's not the first time, but please do not tell that ALL reviews are making it through. I'd assume the volume of bad reviews got to the point where you had to get a few slip through. It's not going to hurt the ratings much, yet it would shut the speculations up - esp here on NBR, because now you have one to point out that got through.

It would be funny - yet it somehow is not...

 

I'm just going to pop in here and say that I loaded the A06 about a week ago now and haven't had any issues with the battery or fans acting any differently than with A04 or the two beta versions I tried in between. I've been using the system for everything from photo/video editing to browsing so I think I've covered the gamut excluding gaming...

Good luck!

 

It's not naivete, it's different priorities. The throttling has extremely limited impact to me because my primary use is not application (combinations) which trigger it.

A solid, well constructed device which has the potential for lasting 5+ years and doesn't make me cringe when I look at it and use it is a much higher priority.

I have a high confidence that this could exceed the usable lifetime of my (still running) Lattitude d630 from 2007. It's absolutely a more durable housing & display.

 

@ Bill

So for those of us that got shipped a new wireless card through tech support should we return the original card or new one? I received the Dell 1901 today and still have the wireless problem. I was also informed this card does not have WIDI so considering the problem has not improved should i just keep the original card and send the 1901 back?

 

Wait. Only a small % of people have the wi-fi issue? o.o
If so, then I can see Bill's point. But if not, I still think it's rather pointless to sell it until the problem is fixed.

 

It would be nice to know if Dell is still working on the throttling issue.

 

Only a small % reported the problem. The rest of the people might have the wi-fi issue but have not reported it. Maybe they have not realized that it is a problem based on their used of the system or maybe they do not have a problem at all, but not way to tell. That is how I understood it, I could be wrong.

 

I have the problem, I have not reported it. I'm more than certain this is the case for at least 50-90% of the others out there. Either they don't have the knowledge or are using the system in a way not to notice.

The only place I reported was on this forum out of convenience...DO I want to take my time to call Dell, stay on hold, speak to a first level tech who probably has not been informed of the issue and would complete a service ticket that will result in nothing?

I'm awaiting the fix patiently like the rest and will report when the fix is issued...I'm willing to put a beer on it that the volume of affected systems will increase dramatically once there's a fix available. If Dell wanted to get a better idea of whose affected, they should make it easier for everyone to report (i.e. a simple email including service tag). That would effectively give you a more realistic idea of how many broken systems are out their instead of pure conjecture based off limited sample size.

 

Has anyone tried to use different bands on the WIFI? Like force G instead of using N? N is already a weaker signal band and G will reach much further and I am curious if that would make a difference?

 

The last time I spoke with dell they set it to only G and its was no better for me. So after the wireless card was changed in mine still no wifi and a technician is coming to replace the LCD. I know its still not going to help but the agent didn't want to hear that and will be sending someone out anyway. Just another way to waste my time that I don't have

 

Simple, don't be there.

If you said no, and they said they're coming anyway, they can waste a tech's day on their own nickle.

 

I told him it wasn't going to work and directed him to this thread and he basically said we can't move forward without having the tech replace the screen and guaranteed it would work after. lol. I will find a way to be here and will inform the tech about this thread before he wastes his time and let him decide what he wants to do.