XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

Enough with the off-topic talk telling us owners whether or not WE should return OUR product or not. That's our decision and this thread is for owners not for long descriptions on why we should return it. Some owner's want and need help with the system and it's hard to find those owner's when someone posts a page long post deciphering Bill's posts that "He never could have helped us" or whatever you're trying to get at

I understand the problems and so the other owners and we don't find them big enough to send the laptop back. Why should we be spammed with reasons why we should? If you don't have/like/want the laptop than LEAVE there's no need for you on an owner's forum.

 

The same here, 15.2 noticeable better. I tried the Belkin N300 Micro Wireless USB, but not that great, I thought that I could reach the speed of N-6300 on Studio 1537, but no near of it.

 

What's a good usb adapter to order then?
I'm hoping I won't need one but my xps is still 5 days away. Given my luck, it'll have wifi issues too. Just hoping for no screen issues

 

Hilariously enough, I ordered this computer at the beginning of the month and now the order says backordered.

 

Ordered it like two weeks ago and it has a 3 week "building" time.

 

Im stuck between the XPS/Inspirion 15r se now. im able to get same processor ram for both, just the inspirion has AMD graphics card also inspirion has blu ray player xps 15 doesnt, same hdd, downside is 6 cell battery against xps 9 cell. Also the wifi issues which is another con! Also both have 1080p Screen.

XPS looks too good though

Price for the inspirion is £879 with free xbox ($1415 USD)
Xps 15 is £1279 (2059) usd

Confused downside on 15r se is battery, and downside on xps 15 is the wifi obviously.

Also is there much difference between AMD 7730m And the Nvidia 650m?

Price is quite significant between the 2 considering both offer the same processor, ram, and 1080P screens, Want to buy it today but dont know which to go for any ideas?? Shall i risk and buy xps 15?

 

No but you should accept that if you don't return it, you're probably not getting a fix. Or if you do, it will be a substandard "fix" like the USB adapter.

As for the screen - it's pretty obvious that's not even a flaw as such, it's just a crap screen. There might be a small variance in batches, but there is certainly a large variance in peoples eyes and perception.

The throttling is just due to bad cooling design, and any fixes here will be tinkering around the edges of the throttling algorithm.

Anyone who bought the XPS knowing of these flaws based on the promise of a fix posted on an internet forum is unbelievably naive. Likewise, anyone who doesn't return it when they have the chance will have to live with it.

If you choose to keep it, fine - but don't deny other people a realistic view of the likelihood of these issues being fixed so they can make an informed decision themselves!

 

Well the technician came out to the house this afternoon and installed the new card, after he left called tech support had some issued downloading the driver. Once the drivers were downloaded the WiFi showed an amazing improvement of “ZERO”!! As expected.

They wanted me to swap the laptop for a new one and I told them no as they would not give me 21 days to return this laptop if it was also inop. I asked for a full refund and after being transferred to two different people and put on hold for 20 minutes I was able to get as full refund. I drove down to the UPS and shipped the laptop back within 30 minutes, bye bye now!!!

I ended up ordering a Sony Vaio S series with all of the same hardware as this DELL; hope I don’t have issues with that! At least they have a 30 day return deal.

Steve

 

You're welcome to post things like that, just do it in another thread.

 

I don't know how long it's been or what to say about your mentions of Dell reps making claims they have made. But, it should take about 6-8 weeks from purchase and it should arrive as an email. Hope that helps.

As far as I understand between A04 and A06 you have a choice to either throttle the gpu or the cpu depending on which bios you flash.

I'm confused though, you say you love it and get on wifi most of the time, from what I understand people that have problems with wifi on this laptop are either having no wifi or terrible wifi. So it sounds like you do not have wifi issues that are related to what has become the issue for this laptop. If you do not have terrible or no wifi then I would suggest not messing with it.. because it sounds like it works for you.

 

Please explain to me how I'm denying people the reality of this situation? I'm not nor have I denied any sort of "reality". This is an owner's forum, for owner's do not come on here and accuse/attack me and the other owner's.

We are well aware of the problems (you know some of them came to be on the old thread as well as specific threads for specific problems). Why don't you go there and "warn" them if that's what you're doing here.

Those of us (the owner's on this owner's thread) are well well well aware of the problems and are aware that they might not get fixed properly. As consumers that is our choice, I am very happy with the laptops the problems don't bother me as they maybe did to you, that is if you have actually owned the laptop.

Anyway enough ranting sorry me keeping a product I am happy with is such a problem to you please forgive me...

 

I'm also keeping mine! The wifi does bother me but i'm still really happy with it. Also the admins of this forum have asked multiples times for owners only to post in this forum or it would be locked and the user warned/banned. Just saying....

 

Brilliant summary of promises to have an ETA of ETA of ETA...

It took me about 2 weeks of those promises to realize that nothing is coming ... - returned it back mid August.

How so many people get fooled by the promises of even any official info that never realize - come on - Dell have no official statement for 3 months after finding the problem (which is easily discovered and confirmed).

 

I was merely defending an excellent summary of several months of Dell's empty promises. I happen to think it was relevant to all owners, old and new. Neither me or anyone else was "telling us owners whether or not WE should return OUR product or not".

It's for owners or prospective owners. I attacked nobody.

As I said, good for you. I'm glad you are happy. The only thing I took offence to was you attempting to shut down a valid viewpoint on how realistic a fix is. Surely that's the main thing owners would concern themselves with?

Again, you misunderstand me. I have no problem with you keeping your laptop. As someone who read all 272 pages, I'm just frustrated at the circular nature of this thread. The same 3 problems, the same vain attempts to fix them. The same "Dell is working on a solution" posts. Over and over again. I don't see any problem with discussing how realistic a fix is.

I'd still buy the XPS today if they could be fixed, but it doesn't take a crystal ball to know where this is going.

 

And your previous posts show you are a prospective owner? I don't see that. Also if you see the circular nature of this thread are you not adding to it by reiterating them?

The fact that Dell is even participating on these forums is wonderful. If Bill had never been here sharing with us the information he did there wouldn't be such disgust that a fix to some problems aren't here yet. Everyone would simply think "Well now it's like any other laptop with a problem" (most laptop nowadays). Because of the information we were given is the reason why there was such disappointment with the problems not the fact that they have always been there. The viewpoints on this forum would be completely different if Bill and Dell never participated and you know that's the case.

Now I'm done this all feels so childish.

 

Contact dell social media on facebook or twitter. Also the rep told me the gift card comes in an email in 2-3 weeks. You should definitely make a big fuss about it.

 

I bought another laptop as I needed it urgently, but I still need a new one for my wife before Christmas and the XPS is still in the running. Otherwise I wouldn't be in this thread anymore.

From what I can see, they aren't anymore.

I don't agree. All that "sharing" has done is make people wait longer than they otherwise would for a resolution, in some cases to the point that it's too late for a return. That's my point, and that of several other posters that you took offence to.

On that point I agree, but you're the one who tried to control the conversation.

 

Ahhh I see it now, want to end the conversation but than point the finger at me. Yes very adult. Just doesn't seem you quite understand my points. So be it agree to disagree.

 

Knock it off. You aren't an owner, and you aren't a prospective owner (if you truly believe Dell won't fix the problems, then you have no intention of ever buying one). You have nothing to add to this thread, and if you continue your arguing and complaining, the mods will shut this thread down (it was already given a "last chance" for this exact behavior).

 

Can you keep me updated on the Sony Vaio S series ? I wanted an xps but after all this story I really don't want have the same troubes that you had guys.

 

It's not normal to have few lucky working machines and majority flawed... Should be the opposite. And a representative who "participates to the forum " just saying "we'll fix" is not very useful....

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

The Netgear WNDA3100 that Lorna shipped me works great with my router ( DLink Dir-655 ). It's only the one antenna so 150 Mbps cap but works well.

 

the USB adapter is a temporary fix...why do people keep saying that IS the fix? I guess the non owners are ruining our fun

 

The problem is that neither owners or potential owners are not sure if indeed that is a temporary fix. Current situation and so called "updates" leads to a conclusion that there might be no other fix. Also the experience of 15z owners says that 15z also had Wi-Fi issue and it has never been fixed.

Many of us don't expect it to be fixed today or tomorrow, but at least we want to know the root of the issue. This knowledge might calm down a lot of users.

All kind of attacks that non-owners have no right to speak in here are conceited and cocky (I refer not to you krayziehustler). XPS L521x is still on DELL site available for full price and it's not mentioned there about the WiFi issue. So as a consumer I'm already being misinformed and cheated. Selling broken machines is unacceptable for such big company as DELL. As non-owner I have no legal tools based on contracting law but that doesn't mean that someone can mislead me before the contract.

I had 3 DELLs in the past (Vostro and two XPS Studio 1640) and I was always happy with it. So I'm not coming here to write it all for nothing or just for fun. I'm already a few years DELL user and I have money prepared to buy next DELL notebook. And because I'm a big boy I'm not going to be hurt just because of current situation and buy notebook from different brand. Every company has setbacks and currently it's hard to find smartphone/notebook with completely no issues. But it's a test of company's maturity, prestige and approach to end-users. For now DELL is failing this test.

 

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

There seems to be a bit of confusion. No, this thread will not get closed. It's an owner's lounge. They don't get closed unless there is no activity in it for an extended period of time. Then it would auto-close.

Yes, it is for owners. However, non-owners and prospective owners are welcomed to post. That is until they become trolls. This is not a place for non-owners to rant about their disappointment concerning the issues with this notebook and Dell's handling of it. Would you like someone coming into your house to rant about one of your appliances or your TV? Yeah, that'd be annoying wouldn't it?

An no, don't think of pulling out the free-speech card. That old tattered, faded and dog-eared card. There really is no such thing as free speech. It's a misnomer. Every society has rules that constitute what is acceptable speech and what is not. So it really comes down to the oxymoron, "limited free speech." Think about it. I mean sure, you can say what you want. But expect consequences for certain things you say and don't be surprised when you face those consequences.

 

In a civilized society usually you are free to express your opinions unless you are rude. Nobody has been rude here

 

I'm not writing about my disappointment. I'm writing true hard facts. Every my post is based on evidences you can seek through this thread.

Also I'm not coming to anyone's house. This forum is a public place and the example you gave is totally a missed shot. This thread is a perfect place where you can speculate about the incoming fix and also warn many users from buying this product until there is no fix. As you can see many users already stated that this thread saved them from buying L521x. Speaking about the problem and stating a little critic about the whole situation is not against any rules. But it seems to bother some people and honestly I don't care. I may not post here anymore - no problem.

 

You might want to look into free speech laws a bit more. Libel, slander, hate speech, media ratings, harm principle, etc.

This thread has saved some people from buying this notebook because the owners are discussing their issues and possible fixes for it. Not because someone pops in and "warns" people. While it is indeed a public forum, an owners lounge is just what it says. So it behooves one to respect the owners and their wishes.

My examples are fine. Why? Consider this; when a poster comes in here (the owners house) and criticizes what people own (the Dell notebook), in effect, they are calling their baby ugly. To them, that's rude. Do it often enough and it's trolling. That's when a mod has to step in and right the ship.

Seriously, though. Do we really need someone warning others not to buy this notebook? There are a number of threads about the issues of this notebook that anyone really doing pre-purchase research will be given pause for concern.

 

Excuse me but I can't agree, now even more. Owners lounge is a place where you can't criticizes the product?! So when I buy L521x I'm suppose to come here and write "Perfect machine!" or I'm not suppose to post at all?

The situation would be different if I already buy something else like Envy 17 and later come here saying "L521x sucks and Envy 17 rulez!". That would be unacceptable. But I'm a potential owner, having L521x on the first place on my list. So I have a right to write about my concerns and what I'm worrying about.

This discussion leads to nowhere. Bill made many posts pushing people bull*** about incoming fix, including statements like "I promise" etc. (yeah I know it's very easy and nice to believe in incoming fix) and everyone were happy and nearly believed maybe there is no issues at all. I came here sharing a very possible theory about Dell trying to convince people to not return the faulty L521x and get free Wi-Fi dongle instead. And I'm a bad character here. Well it's been always like that in the history - people prefer to believe in what is better to believe.

But I respect that this forum, some users and forum leaders don't want me to post here unless I have something positive to say or I own the notebook. It's fine for me, we can both live without each other.

I would just appreciate not banning me for what I wrote. As I said - no more posts from me in this thread. Best regards

 

LOL. Now is that what I said? Honestly. Even the owners have criticized the product.

Warning people not to buy it when you don't own it, in an owners lounge, goes beyond criticizing it and you know that.

Easiest way to understand the POV of the owners is to put yourself in their shoes and consider how you might feel. Don't be so concerned with your desire to "express" yourself. Be more concerned about how your self expression might make others feel.

I don't know why some people always go to this conspiratorial extreme of censorship. This notion seems unique to the internet (given the anonymity it affords) as if unlike in real life, on the internet one should be able to go where they want and say whatever they want unfettered and with disregard to others. The internet is a community with lots of sub communities. Communities being social constructs have rules and etiquette people are expected to follow. Just as in real life.

 

I'm just going to wait until a REV02 comes out.

 

So you could wait until Haswell come out (April 2013)

 

Ive had this laptop for sometime now. Being a student an all i never have any problems at all with it. It works great for me, never notice the wifi issue. However incase i ever do i keep the wifi dongle with my laptop, but havnt had to use it yet. Just thought id share my $.02

 

I'm here to sound off as yet another extremely dissatisfied Dell customer and to let everyone know that the wireless issue has still not been fixed regarding the L521X. My new machine was built several days ago and I just received it. To me it's useless as a laptop due to the frequent disconnects and untolerable slow speeds when it is connected. It's only 20-30 feet from the router on the same floor with no walls or doors in the way.

I had to drop $60 on a wireless dual band usb adapter to have the wireless functionality that this machine should have came with. I'm cannot take valuable time out of my work day chasing down these elusive Dell liasons just to get the run-around in an effort to receive a cheap wireless 150 mbps usb adapter, if anything at all. For those of you who have the time and patience to deal with Dell, I suggest you request a 300 mbps or 450 mpbs with dual-band capability - since that is the wireless functionality you paid for when you bought this laptop. You should not settle for anything less.

Just like the L502X (charging issues due to build) which I owned and experienced myself, the L521X (wireless issues due to build) was released before proper and adequate testing was performed. These aren't minor issues by any means, rather they are integral to the basic functionality of laptops in general. Dell's recent history of pushing out their high-end consumer laptops before proper quality assurance is met comes at our expense. Having dealt with Dell regarding the L520X charging issue, I know how they work and can say to all L521X owners, do not expect any fix beside a usb adapter. This is how Dell will fix the wireless issue - they will address it during the build of the next generation XPS, meaning those with the current XPS 15 are basically stuck with defective units (unless you can get a refund). Maybe by then Dell will finally get it right and produce a solid laptop that will function as intended?

 

Okay thanks for the info and wow...

 

I will Send me a PM in about three weeks if you like? I don’t really want to upset the XPS users with information about the Vaio in the XPS forum. I won’t be receiving the laptop till the following week. I believe one of the biggest complaints with the Vaio's is the heat that it generates. For me it’s not an issue as I use a cooling pad anyway.

Steve

 

Maybe could be useful:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...fficial-2012-sony-s-series-owners-thread.html

 

Do you think if someones tweets Lionel Menchaca we will at-least get some updates...I don't have twitter or I would have done it otherwise... https://twitter.com/LionelatDell
His user name for NBR doesn't have Dell (remember Bill-Dell) in it does that mean his posts are not official dell announcements?

 

Neither Bill's posts are official Dell announcements.
Bill has always said that when a post is an official Dell announcement, he would have it explicitly specified.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

GeForce 306.23 Driver available for download:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windo...n8-win7-winvista-64bit-international-whql.exe
Version 306.23 - WHQL
Release Date Thu Sep 13, 2012
Operating System Windows 7 64-bit
Windows 8 64-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Language English (US)
File Size 175.25 MB

 

Any news whether or not this driver solves or helps the throttling issues?

 

As an owner, it does but only kind of. I don't know all the technical aspects of how it works and everything, so I can't speak to what it actually does. But it seems to work, though it doesn't seem as fast as it should be. I'm not sure what anyone else has to say on this subject, maybe it's just my specific system...

 

Hello everyone, first time posting here, but I have been following for a long time now. I own the XPS15 L521X Laptop like most everyone else here and I love the laptop, except for the wifi issues! I am nearing the extended return time of 28 days and have to make up my mind over this weekend to keep it or send it back to Dell for refund. I like everyone else am disgusted with the wifi issues and even went out and bought usb adapter for the laptop, but then I thought it was stupid to spend 1400.00 on a laptop to have to use a usb adapter so I was all ready to box it back up and send it back. Last night reading the news from everyone like I do every night, nothing new, very mad over this, I came upon another article on google that showed someone found an update for the drivers again. Now I have already done updates on the drivers and nothing has helped, but tonight when I got home from work I figured what the heck, I will try this new one and just see what happens. If you go to the Dell site, under the service tag for this laptop, you will see all the drivers. Under the wifi ones I found the newest one posted on google, it is dated Sept 10, 2012 and listed as "urgent" update. So I figured...why not. Something happened, atleast for me, because it may not have fixed the total wifi issue....BUT IT HELPED, AND ALOT!!!! I was like everyone else, had to be near the router and clear sight to the router. NOW....I just checked and I was at the other end of my house, nearly 60' away, thru one solid wall, and my speeds were FINALLY close to normal. I did speediest.net test and I pay for 8MB speed, usually test at 6 to 7MB, and before this update I could NOT even get signal at the other end of the house with the laptop. TONIGHT....I just tested at almost 5MB at the end of the house!!!! I was shocked, I nearly screamed because something finally worked, then I thought it was just luck and had to test my luck. I then went outside my house, again about 60 feet from the router, this time thru 4 inside walls and 1 outside wall, the speed dropped big time but before I had no test signal at all, this time....almost 1.5MB speed. I then walked thru the back yard, about 50 feet from the router, now thru 1 outside wall and 1 inside wall and hit the test button....holly cow, tested back up to almost 4MB. So, maybe it's not a total fix, or a total answer but I have to say I was so excited that for the first time I was able to get signal where up to this point I had NONE. I can actually go now, after the update, and surf the internet at descent speeds 50 to 60 feet away from the router and thru one and two walls. I did not try distance farther than that, I was actually to shocked to continue. I wanted to share this with everyone. Again, I found this info on google and then went to Dell, listed my service tag for this laptop, and found the "Urgent" wifi update....and it has helped major big time! I hope it helps everyone else because I do really like this new laptop and now I'm really thinking of keeping it, as long as it keeps working like it is right now for the next few days so I know it's not just a fluke! Please give it a try and please post if it helps you. I don't see why it wouldn't since mine was doing the same thing as everyone else's before I did this update. I'm not sure though, why would Dell not have let all of us know this info about the new driver dated just a couple days ago???? Your XPS friend )

 

I have 16mb down service with Comcast. I was running around 4.8-5mb down using my wireless (old D-Link 614+).
An ethernet cable connection to my wireless router showed 8.5mb so given the efficiency of my wireless router I think I may be maxing out at 5-5.5mb down with wireless. I updated to the new 15.2 drivers from the Intel site, brought me up to 5.5mb down on wireless, a 10% improvement. Dell Tech says Intel 15.2 is same as Dell 15.3 driver so I havent downloaded the Dell Driver. If someone could confirm that the new Dell driver is better than the new Intel driver please let me know.
On another note Comcast is sending me a new Doxcis 3.0 modem which thay say should improve speed going to my wireless router, ultimately faster wireless speed.

I really like this laptop and hope we all get the wireless issue resolved to our satisfaction soon.

Any comments on my post would be appreciated.

 

I've got a 50 down, 5 up cable modem at home and the new 15.3 driver cut my upload in half. Got ~17-18 down with both 15.2 and 15.3 but only got .7 up with 15.3 vs 1.5 with 15.2. This was all about 20 feet and 1 interior wall from my router on 5ghz N. I get a consistent 50-52 down and 4.5-5 up on my gigabit wired desktop.

 

I am on my third l521x and after installing the wifi update on Dell Official Site - The Power To Do More | Dell I am geting 15mbps download and 10mbps upload. I was getting 2mbpd dl and 8mbps up on the other laptops...Maybe I got a not so bad one.

My MBP gets 25mbps dl and 15mbps up in the same spot. I'll keep testing it....

 

"Hi Victor,



This email is in regards to the conversation we had with the ongoing wireless issue on your Laptop.

We have been informed that a permanent fix is being looked into and it could take anywhere between 2 Weeks and 2 months to get a fix.

I have confirmed with my Manager that in case we cannot resolve this in that time frame then you can call us back and ask for a refund even at that stage.



Regards

**** *******"


Now i don't know how happy i should be about this considering how much time and patience i have wasted to get this email. But i guess its better then nothing

 

I have also been experiencing terrible WiFi performance with the L521x. Unfortunately, the latest driver (15.3) has not done anything for me. I'm still getting ~1.5Mbps down and ~2.5Mbps up at 25 feet with 2 wood-studded interior walls between the access point and laptop. I can get as high as 5Mbps/15Mbps if I move to the room with the AP and position the laptop just right. I've been using iperf between my laptop and server to make sure there aren't any ISP-caused anomalies. My old HP laptop gets about 52Mbps from the 25 ft location.

I've been following this forum for a couple of weeks and was pretty bummed to see Bill go. Even if there aren’t any real updates, it is nice to see posts by Dell officials so we don’t feel completely forgotten. I let my opportunity to return this laptop slip by and I am worried that I made a $1500 mistake.

 

Hi everyone,

i noticed my laptop is making some sort of noise everytime the hdd is being used( transfering files, booting, etc)

I tried to record with my cell phone, but the quality is horrible.

Is this normal ?

Upload Audio | Listen to Audio | xps15-noise1 | YourListen
Upload Audio | Listen to Audio | xps-noise2 | YourListen

The audio quality is horrible, but i think is possible to identify the tickling every few seconds or so

 

it's probably the optical drive. Mine makes a noise like it's trying to load or eject a cd at random times or when I plug in a sd card or flash drive