XPS 1640 Windows 7 Thread

Hi All

I thought I'd post my experience using Windows 7 on the XPS 1640. To start here are the specs for my 1640.

P8600
4GB RAM
320Gb 7200rpm
1080P RGB LED
Blue Ray
Intel 5300 Wireless
Dell 370 Bluetooth


Installation was a breeze. After install Only two things required drivers. The SM bus which worked using vista 64 drivers and the infrared port which I couldn't get working. I also installed the bluetooth utility and Dell utility.


Quirks:

• The hotkeys on top of the keyboard all work but you don't see an onscreen display
• The brightness adjustment resets back to full brightness (which is eye searing btw) after reboot. Adjusting it up or down one degree gets you back to where you set it before.

Anti-Virus:
I tried all three of the Windows 7 anti-virus apps that's recommended by MS (Norton 360, AVG, Kaspersky). AVG and Kaspersky both caused a lag when you are moving through folders in explorer. Norton (to my surprise) works best so far, with some modifications like turning off browser protection which was killing Firefox.

Other Apps:

I've installed and tested MS Office 2007, Visual Studio 2008, Adobe CS4, Nero 8, iTunes 8. All worked flawlessly. The only thing I couldn't get working was GPU acceleration in PhotoShop which worked for me under Vista 64.


Update:
Well it looks like I'll need to talk to tech support in the hopes of getting PowerDVD Ultra to play blue-ray disks.

There are some stability issues. Visual Studio 2008 froze on me once. Couldn't even kill it with a shutdown. Same with word but a end process took care of it. I'm not sure if it's the software themselves or perhaps Norton causing issues in the background. I'm going to disable Norton and try it for a few days and see how it goes.

 

Thanks, KoshKosh. Keep this post updated.

My 1640 will take around 2 more weeks before it would arrive. Once it did, I'll also try putting Win7 in it.

Did you also experience those BSODs with your Vista 64, which is why you've installed Win7 instead?

 

That's exactly why I gave Win 7 a try. One of the Vista updates generated my BSOD and at the time i didn't feel like doing one update at a time and trying to figure out which one caused it.

 

Hey KK..

I had the same BSOD on mine last night upon delivery...

This morning, I gave it a final attempt and it actually booted into windows fine. Everything seems to be running as normal. I'm downloading several game demos to test out gaming.

Planning to do a reinstall of Vista or W7 in the weekend.

 

Yep, I've got Windows 7 installed on mine as well. The only problem that I have so far is that the Dell Bluetooth drivers don't seem to be working well. Either that, or my bluetooth card is not working properly. How is yours working KoshKosh?

 

My bluetooth works fine but you have to install the bluettooth software for Vista 64 that is provided by Dell, otherwise it's finicky.

 

For some reason whenever I boot into vista rather than in windows 7 it won't let me change the resolution past 1440 by 1050... yet it works perfectly in windows 7 and will allow me to chose 1920 by 1080. Could I have some help here?

 

It looks like ATI removed the Catalyst drivers for Windows 7.

Anyone knows an alternate link to download that?

 

I think you need to install the ATI drivers from the Dell Drivers page.

 

I think you are missing one of the utilities -- might be QuickSet, but I am not 100% -- I had to download it from the Dell Drivers site to get the OSD to work.

 

When i installed windows 7 my wireless was so slow on the this> I then reinstalled vista. I had the BSOD problem with vista also.

 

Well so far so good. The only thing I can't get working is Blue Ray playback with the software provided by Dell (Power DVD 8.1 deluxe) The software itself says it can play BR disks eveb though Cyberlink's website says you need ultra to playback BR.

 

Does your PowerDVD disc say "for Blue-ray playback"?

 

Yes the disk from Dell says it's Power DVD 8.1 dlx for blue ray playback. I'm guessing it's got compatibility issues with Win 7.

 

Anyone installed Windows 7 on a 1640 with the TV Card ?

I have and now I've lost the TV card as a device in device manager.

Anyone know which drivers it uses ?

Thanks.

 

Well, I had problems playing back Blu Ray from the start. When I put a disk in the first time Power DVD asked me to update, I said sure, it crashed during the update. So I called Dell, they wanted me to pay $69 dollars to fix my 3 day old laptop because I didn't have the PowerDVD disk. Finally they realized it was preinstalled and sent me the disk. I installed it, put a disk in and it started to play it but I couldn't click on the menu's to make the disk play. So I ran the update for PowerDVD. My computer locked up completely during the update. After 10 minutes I did a cold shutdown, tried to reboot and nothing. The hard drive is shot. I have a tech coming out to replace it whenever they get around to it. I'm thinking about switching to W7 as well. This is my home laptop and I won't be installing VS on it or anything like that. It'll see browsing duty, BR movies using the HDMI out to my HDTV and Games. Would you recommend me switching to 7 or XP instead? Or should I just box it up and get my money back? The laptop itself is great, but for the money I think it should work out of the box with no issues.

 

I think the DX 8.1 version (that comes with 1640) is different from the "Deluxe" version on Cyberlink's website. PowerDVD DX is the customized version for Dell. (Even the menu is simplified and stripped down to basic functions.)

 

And you think switching to an unsupported OS like XP or a beta OS that won't have qualified software or drivers for a year, will make things better?

Issues are a part of computers and software. Try fixing your Vista install, and once you master that you can move on to other things.

Anyone that is doing a direct upgrade and expecting Windows 7 to be a usable operating system is a bit ignorant, when Microsoft specifically says it's not to be used that way. It's nice to play with but if you really have to rely on the laptop, it's not wise. There are all kinds of unsupported drivers and can be many bugs still, like losing data. If anything it should be set up as a separate partition, if you don't know how to do that then you really have no business messing with a beta in the first place.

I hope you guys are providing feedback to Microsoft so these things do work in a year from now when it actually comes out and will be worthwhile.

 

Thanks for calling me ignorant knowing nothing about me. Yes, I know how to partition a drive, I do it with every machine I build.

I bought a new laptop, it doesn't work, I like the internals but there are obvious software conflicts abound. It's my home laptop, as stated above only used for browsing, watching movies and gaming.

Thanks for your input though, it's greatly appreciated.

 

I said...

"Anyone that is doing a direct upgrade and expecting Windows 7 to be a usable operating system is a bit ignorant, when Microsoft specifically says it's not to be used that way."

So if that applies to you, then yes it is ignorant but you're argument isn't with me it's with Microsoft who says it's "for testing only". By the way, Ignorant isn't derogatory when I use it. I use the word according to what it means, the word means "lacks knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified".

There is nothing wrong with being ignorant, everyone is ignorant on something at one time or another, there is only some thing wrong when knowledge is presented and someone instead chooses to still be ignorant.

Besides, I was replying to someone else, and anyone else, that is as not as capable as yourself and who doesn't know "obvious software conflicts abound".

 

I guess your reply seemed aimed at me seeing that you quoted me, my apology if you weren't intending that.

 

I was wondering, is there absolutely any way to transfer your programs and files to Windows 7 when you do a clean install? (So I can dual-boot)

 

Guys, today I installed Windows 7 here and it's great.
The performace seems to me a lot like vista, as everything else. But the distribution of things (like the windows on the task bar) are much better now.
One small problem I have is using the scroll function in firefox. It seems to work everywhere else... Any ideas?

 

If you mean the vertial scroll on the touchpad isnt working for firefox then there is a solution that worked for me.

I went to the synaptics website and downloaded the drivers from them. The Dell driver is from 9/25/08, not sure why they are using such an old driver.

Now I can scroll in firefox just fine.

So far Windows 7 RC1 is working well for me. Had a slight video issue but the latest ATI windows 7 drivers fixed that.

 

Ok man, i did that. But didnt you noticed that with that older driver there's no 2 finger zooming? And no circular scroolling also?
The price is just to high, I'm installing the dell driver right away.

 

I am not sure what your talking about. the driver I got off the synaptics website has all the functionality of the Dell one and fixed my firefox issue.

Sorry it didn't work for you.

 

Rebellion, Im sure its the same driver... Released on 9/25/8. Theres no way to zoom in using 2 fingers. Didnt you now about this functionality of your touchpad or does it still work?

Another thing, what would you guys recommend regarding the video? Catalyst 9.2? 9.4? Maybe a modified one? Please, I wanna play some games!

 

I'm running 9.4, video and games are fine.

 

Again sorry it didn't work for you. I have full functionality with my touchpad.

I mainly use a BT mouse but do use the touchpad from time to time.

I am using the 9.4 drivers with no problems at all.

 

I ran an upgrade from Vista Home Premium x64 to 7 RC x64. Everything seems to be working fine so far. No more OSD for hotkeys but I never cared much about that
Kinda disappointed that the mute key from the hotkeys on top doesn't work anymore
All the apps I wanted are perfectly compatible. A few of Dell's bloatware that I hadn't gotten rid off were in compatible and thus removed. Don't mind that at all

The only reason I upgraded was because I've never done it before. I always clean install on my desktop as well.. even when installing Windows 7 builds

I'm getting the latest ATI drivers right now. Is there anything else I should get?

 

That's got to be from the upgrade, because from a fresh install my hotkeys work great.

 

Windows 7 fresh install also, all hotkeys work great.

 

I'll try reinstalling the drivers for the hotkeys then. Maybe it will work then

I've had this long standing issue with the wifi where if I use the hotkey to disable it and then put the system to sleep, on recover wifi refuses to start again until I reboot. Doesn't seem to happen on Windows 7 any more so its all good

 

what kind of battery life are you guys getting using windows 7? this might be the deciding factor in me getting this laptop.

 

So far the only issue I have with Win 7 is pretty small. When I use my laptop it's usually on a desk plugged in and I use a mouse. I have the Synaptics program set up to disable my touchpad and buttons when it detects an external mouse. For some reason, once you plug something in a USB port and unplug it, it stays there in the device manager. Synaptics recognizes that I've unplugged it, but Windows still sees it plugged into that port which leaves my touchpad disabled. The only way to re-enable my touchpad is to go into the Device manager and disable the two HID Pointing devices where the mouse no longer is being plugged in. It's a weird and small quirk, but that's the only issue I have at all.

 

I used to have that problem on Vista when I enable my BT. For a couple of seconds, I had no touchpad usage cause I'd be syncing a Sony Ericsson BT phone which can act as a BT HID basically rendering my touchpad useless
I ended up disabling the "disable when other device is connected" feature

 

My issue is also minor, and also has to do with the touchpad... Every time I reboot, the "dell touchpad" loses the configuration I did. So every time I have to configure the touchpad for a faster speed, since in the default configuration I have to move my finger at least three times to get from one side of the screen to the oder...
Do you guys think dell will release a version of the drivers for win7? (Dell Touchpad, QuickSet...)

 

Windows 7 did a good job of picking up drivers, but it did need a little help and I did have a couple of problems:

3670 drivers on the Dell support pages ( http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R219810&SystemID=STUDIOXPS16&servicetag=&os=WV64&osl=en&deviceid=19714&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=3&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=6&fileid=312826) didn't work properly for me, but a quick visit to the official ATi website resolved this with the latest Windows 7 beta drivers as someone above had to do. Now the ATi Control Centre works perfectly.

I also tried to install the IDT audio drivers ( http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R214419&SystemID=STUDIOXPS16&servicetag=&os=WV64&osl=en&deviceid=16518&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=3&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=303562) which caused an error which I still haven't resolved, although Windows 7 found some drivers of its own which are newer - I was just expecting the Dell packaged driver to include a software utility.

Still having issues with my Bluetooth, but I'm starting to think I don't actually have a module..!

Tried to install Norton Internet Security 2009 but unfortunately it threw up an error, so at the moment I'm having to make do with the free version of AVG. I'm going to image it now before anything happens to it and then have a play with some of the tips and tweaks on the forums

 

I'm running Windows 7 on my 1640, no worries at all.

I'm wanting to find a tool that will allow me to overclock the ATI Mobility Windows 7 drivers - I could do so with my old Vista catalyst package.

Does anyone running Windows 7 have a tool or the knowledge to overclock the Windows 7 Catalyst intallation?

 

I just installed 7 and its absolutely amazing. Has Microsoft finally made a good OS again?!

It's nice and simple, the changes seem very well tuned. The customizing, like the desktop background images are nice touches.

The task bar is great, its kept very tidy and is still simple to use without to many extra clicks.

Best of all, it took me less than 20 minutes to get it reformated and setup. Reformatting for XP used to take me like 10 hours to get it formatted, installed, and drivers setup. 7 was an absolute breeze. I can't say enough good things about it so far, I hope it stays that way.

One small annoyance is that the show desktop button is the right side and not the left side, my muscle memory is going to take years to figure that one out. And I can't seem to find a way to get gadgets to be anywhere other than "always on top".

Aside from no visual indication when pausing, muting, or changing volume etc, my ability to scroll with the track pad seems to have vanished.

I did install the synaptic drivers, what has gone wrong?

 

a few problems: artecmedia tv tuner steams video fine but has no sound;
dell travel bt mouse doesnt work, cant install vista x64 driver on win 7;
eject led light doesnt work, mute buton doesnt work from time to time.

both win 7 and ie8 need to be a little bit refined.

 

so are you guys saying that you don't need any drivers for windows 7 except maybe the synaptics, ati, and i guess hotkeys.

What about the chipset drivers, audio drivers, system utilities.... stuff like that?

 

The Windows 7 RC build 7232 that I installed on my 1640 took care of ALL the drivers for my notebook's components. So after the Windows install, none of the devices under Device Manager had any missing driver.

But of course if you need the additional functionalities provided by the Dell-provided drivers (example, ATI Catalyst, IDT audio control panel, Synaptics control panel), then you still need to install those separately.

 

Thanks for your reply! makes perfect sence

 

I'm having a similar problem. I even went back to vista 64 and i still cant use the scroll feature of the touch pad with firefox (let alone the circle scroll feature) Is anyone else have this problem

Oddly, it's only a problem in firefox... IE and other windows programs scroll fine.

Any thoughts?

thanks,


EDIT:

The best solution i can come up with. Oddly, the latest drivers on synaptics web site are older than the ones from dell. For me, if i just change the settings on the synaptics touch pad to disable circular scrolling... that lets it work in firefox. Sucks that you have to forfeit circular scrolling for all applications just to get linear scrolling for one... but thats the way it is for me.

 

I have this issue since getting my 1640 last February. (I found no fix for it yet.) IMO it's a Firefox thing. On everything else, the touchpad scrolling works.

 

I agree, it's definitely a firefox thing. But I cant stand using a browser without scrolling from the touch pad.

For me, disabling the circle scrolling on the synaptics settings allowed me to do vertical and horizontal scrolling.

You can give that a try, unless you more attached to circle scrolling...

 

Thanks. Yes, the scrolling works on Firefox with the circular scrolling disabled.

 

how can i install the idt audio driver and program
i have sound but i can't install the program

 

Wow, that's awesome Dell.

Make a Windows 7 32/64bit category to download drivers on their website, then take the 64bit option away...

:/