XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

I know. I just wanted to let people know that this did improve my 2.4 GHZ with disabling bluetooth.

 

Not for me. My WiFi slow connections are 30 feet and two walls away from my router and I'm on the 5GHz band. When I'm about 4 feet away I get normal speeds. Dell is in the process of sending me a new display (antenna) and WiFi card (DW 1901) so we'll see if that fixes it.

 

I'm waiting on both as well. The screen is on back order till the 14th. Maybe later but that's the date they are giving. Trying decide if I want to keep it or return it.

 

Maybe they're better with their displays, but the system board for my l521x has been on back order for 3 weeks. They call me every three days and tell me that it should become available in three days...

 

Hi I was thinking of buying this laptop and was just wondering if dell has fixed the throttling and wifi issues? Thanks!

 

Nothing conclusive. Some people report hood machines, some report bad. Who knows how many machines are not reported at all.

 

It's for 2.4 also

 

They're just stalling. It's obviously not on backorder if they're still making the machines and shipping them out. It doesn't take 3 weeks for a new shipment of boards

 

Hi c0derbear thanks for the info. I guess i'll look elsewhere for a new lapgtop!

 

They very well may have a different pipeline ... replacement parts vs production line, and he replace,went parts mays simply not be available.

It is not uncommon form this situation to happen, nor unique to the PC marketplace.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

5GHz generally has a shorter range than 2.4GHz, even if everything is working perfectly. 5GHz doesn't penetrate walls as well.

 

Yes but we are talking 30ft or less.

 

ok so after many hours of testing, ive come to the results that in order for there to be no conflict between the display and the touchpad/keys, the display has to be 1.13mm off of the palm rest etc... the dell nylon/rubber lining does not go high enough and that is why some of us are opening our lids to see that the laptop has opened multiple applications, deleted files and caused havoc..

I fixed this by buying nylon bumber at 1.15mm and sticking them at 5 different places on the display, they measure about 3mm by 5mm ..

But this is only a temporary fix, I told the resolution agent that when he called, AND HE TOLD ME : well maybe you should just have the laptop go into sleep when your close the lid, because now that dell has canceled your warranty, the nylon bumbers may be pushing your display higher than the hinges can support and if it breaks it will be your fault and you will have to pay for it..

SERIOUSLY! what kind of talk is that!

In any case, I am going to send an email to the different sections of dell, including the technical support repair director and etc, if anyone here wants me to add info on their findings or complaints etc , let me know.

also, I just posted this to Dell's facebook page, im sick and tired of their stupidity and them taking advantage of non tech savy people by selling them faulty hardware!

 

Why did they cancel your warranty? Contact Terry-B at the Dell forums (he is a dell agent) .... I understand you wanting to get this issue resolved and I think he is one of the best and simplest avenues now that Dell has all but stopped participating here at this board and on Phone Tech support etc in any way that will actually lead to a resolution. Contact Terry-Bm just search for "xps 521x wifi problems" and he should be the last person that responded...

 

In fact, boom. Re: WIFI problems on Dell xps 15 L521X - Networking, Internet, Wireless Forum - Networking, Internet, Wireless - Dell Community

Send him a private message..

 

I originally bought an xps m1530 in 2008, after having it serviced over 20 times dell replaced it with the xps studio 1645 and a year before my 3 year warranty expired i called to renew it and i was told icould for another 3 years.. Then the studio was replaced 3 times and repaired over 15 times and the depot kept breaking it when fixingother issues.

So i called and said i had enough then they replaced it with the xps 521.. And said ohh the max years of warranty from date of purchase is only able to be extended for 5 years max and im overdue so they will give me the 521 but cancel the remaining 3 years of my warranty...

 

yikes, that's a terrible conclusion to say the least.

 

Dual channel ram is actually intended for using two matching sets to increase throughout.

Using mud matched ram works for some machines, not all, but always at relatively reduced performance.

I believe but so not know that the cos 15 can use mis-matched sticks.


Sent from my brain using neurons fueled by glucose

 

My apologies if this has already been asked, but I am new to the site and I don't know if there is a way to search within threads.

I am looking into expanding my memory from 8gb to 16gb, and just wanted to check beforehand to see if the maximum RAM speed for this laptop is 1600mhz, and if I should go with Crucial Vengeance, or G-Skill? (I am currently looking on Newegg)

 

I'll try to look up the part is used, but ingot a Mushkin set and it is fine.

To replace both sticks is a PITA because you have to take the main board out which requires bout 80% disassembly, but slow and methodical is easy.

Get the disasm instructions from the Dell owner's manual and e patient. Don't lose or misplace any screws.


Sent from my brain using neurons fueled by glucose

 

You will also need to reset the size of the partition that Intel Rapid Start uses on the mSATA SSD.


Sent from my brain using neurons fueled by glucose

 

I'm not using Intel Rapid Storage technology as I have upgraded the main hard drive to a 480gb Kingston SSD.

 

yup so im currently debating what to do, any help would be great. :S

 

I can't actually download the A12 BIOS, anyone with a direct link?
Thank you.

 

Rapid start != rapid storage, rapid start is for fast restart from power down / hibernate.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

While switching to "generic" helps alleviate ever so slightly this problem and I mean ever so slightly, as does dimming the display, the picture still remains unacceptable. Sort of similar to the "we'll fix your wifi by hanging a dongle outside your $2500 piece of hardware". And it still fails to address the pixel grid lines which are driving me crazy.

Anyway, I've set aside my Sunday to deal with Dell. I will report back.

 

Based on my own experience, if you are unhappy with the display you will need to find another laptop. Dell appears unwilling to include a display of a suitable quality to complement the rest of the L521x's performance and technology. Even Dell tech support said I should return the unit for a refund rather than hope for repair/replacement to satisfy my needs.

 

I actually kept the laptop in the end, I took it to work and compared it to a number of laptops in the office HP, Asus and Samsung and they all had grid lines / patterns to some degree.

If you look for it you will find it, having now used the laptop in normal mode (ie not looking for specific things) I do not see them or care.

 

If you get close enough and have good enough eyesight then of course you will see the pixel grid, especially on low resolution displays, but the vertical lines on the L521x display are altogether different - they are not a grid - and despite studying many other laptops on display in retail outlets I have not seen a single one with a similar problem. All you can see on other laptops at best (worst?) is individual pixels, not additional lines spaced out across the screen.

 

There is no such thing called Rapid Storage. Do not get confused with Rapid Start.

 

Of course there is, and the L521x has it. In my opinion it is very good and very desirable.

Support for the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)

Rapid Start is another technology which the L521x also supports.

My L521x had a 1TB HDD coupled with a 128GB mSATA SDD. The SDD provided a 64GB cache for the HDD, giving me huge storage capability and fast read/write access to active files. That's Rapid Storage. There was a further 8GB partition reserved for Rapid Start and the rest of the SDD was used as standard fast storage for my specialised needs for photographic editing.

 

Hi everyone,
I`ve had my xps 15 (750gb HDD with 32gb SSD) for about 4 months now and have had no problems with it...until I tried to install windows 8. It would not reboot, I'm not sure what exactly caused it, but I'm going to simply assume I did something wrong. I have a copy of both windows 7 and windows 8 , but so far I've encountered problems when I try to install either. These issues have mostly involved the SATA operation setting in the bios. I can only get the operating system to install when its set to AHCI, but as I understand it, the default setting is the intel smart response technology. Which I also understand is necessary for the caching on the 32gb mSATA ssd drive with the IRST software to work. I am also a little confused a out the deal with UEFI. So I was wondering if anybody could provide me with some quick instructions/tips on how to reinstall either operating system. And also which configuration works best, caching on the 32gb ssd, or I've heard talk about simply installing the OS on the 32gb ssd? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Oh...and I'm running the A12 BIOs if that changes anything....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

Yes, I think along the same line. I got my XPS 15 for $1478 for the Configuration i7-3612QM/512 GB SSD/16 GB RAM/Blu Ray drive/3 years in-home warranty. It is a dream price for this system. I mainly bought it for running SAP using VMWare. I hope it will work fine. I never play games.

 

DW 1901 is not going to fix. They just replaced Intel card with 1901 and I still have the same issue.

 

Anyone that upgraded their mSATA drive and still use their regular HDD for other files (I currently have 32gb mSATA + 750gb HDD and plan to get 128gb mSATA), is the noise level and heat down than before?

 

Out of interest why are you still here you do not own an L521x?

Move on...

 

Did they also replace your display (antenna)?

 

Personally, I'm happy tdodd's still here. He helped me realize I was not the only one with the same concerns regarding the quality of the display. Also helped confirm that these concerns were not "issues" per say (limited to only a small percentage of machines) but simply the limitations of the screen Dell chose to outfit the L521x with.

 

Hi,
New to this forum and suprised with all the problems people are having with thier machines. I haven't had any problems to date, but I haven't really stressed the machine much yet. I plan to use this machine to do some light CAD work in the future so we'll see how it handles that. One thing that is annoying me, is the Blue-ray drive. It makes noise on startup and randomly at times. I am still running A04 bios. Has the latest Bios addressed this issue?
Anyone find another solution?
Searched the thread, but couldn't find that much on this issue... seems like not alot of people complain about it since it is just noise.

 

Yep.

Here ya go:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/48260492/L521XA12W.exe

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

yes your are correct. It was m who got confused.I have it too. But I us 500GB SSD so it's of no use for me.

 

Well for one thing I have been an owner and can offer informed opinion about the machine. For another, with the exception of the screen I found the L521x to offer a superb combination of build, performance, features and price and I am following the thread in the hope that one day we will see signals that Dell has addressed the screen quality. After all, they have moved forward with other component selection - processor and WiFi card. If they receive enough negative feedback about the screen then maybe they will pay attention to that too.

When I do find my replacement machine I will of course "Move on", unless it turns out to be another L521x. Right now I am still seeking the perfect machine for my needs and at the moment it appears not to exist, but I am keeping eyes on the L521x in the hope that Dell gets it act together. And while I had no concerns with WiFi performance or throttling those are still areas where perhaps I was simply lucky, and until those issues also stop I still have an interest in where Dell is going with this machine and how it is treating its customers.

p.s. As the screen is my only bugbear I think it is interesting to note that there is a custom PC/laptop builder in the UK who will supply the AUO 95% gamut 1920x1080 15.6" display for an upgrade price of just £79 over their standard display offering. Now if Dell would only have done the same thing I'd have been all over it like a rash. As it is I've now made enquiries with them about a custom build to suit my requirements.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/

 

I did just that over the weekend.

I am running Win8 on a 120gb msata sdd, and moved the documents, music, videos etc., directories over to the hard drive.

If I'm doing things that don't use the hdd for an extended period I am entertained to hear the drive head park, and the machine is definitely running cool and quiet - but mine wasn't exactly noisy before.

I am sure that when I run it on battery it'll be dead silent because the cooling policy is passive then and I won't have fan noise either.

 

Thank you very much.

 

No, they just replaced the wireless card. I do not want to send the laptop to depot. What else needed to be replaced along with the card?

 

On the top right of my display, there is a small dot that gets really bright when bright colors are displayed and is medium bright when all other colors are displayed. By bright i mean white, always white except when the color is black.. Wth!?

 

Dell has set me up with a service kit; DW1901 & Display-Antenna replacement. It might be backordered as it has not shipped yet. They are servicing it at my house. I'm told the new wireless card and antenna can make a difference so we shall see...

 

To anybody who has upgraded to Win 8:

Has anybody else had problems? I ran the installer and everything seemed fine until I tried it start it up, and it just gave me an error screen and said it was loading error info. Then, it just shows the SSD rebuilding the data? Has anybody had this sort of problem or do I just need to run the installer again?

 

Did you add Intel RST / cache for helping with files that are stored on your regular HDD or did you just format the drive as one partition?

 

Dell is telling me that the options are screen / antenna replacement with the 1901 card & win8 drivers that are win7 compatible, or replace with new Win 8 machine that includes all of the above. Can anyone confirm that the new Win 8 machines solve the WiFi issue???