---> OFFICIAL: Dell STUDIO 14z Owner's Lounge <---

wouldn't it be under warranty if there is such a huge gap in it that you have to superglue it together?

 

I wiped the Vista OS and did a clean install of Win7 RTM from TechNet yesterday. Everything went smoothly, only needed a few drivers from the Resource CD. My idle battery drain is only slightly higher than it was in Vista, so nothing to complain about there for me.

Some things I've noticed after a day of use..

• I am seeing the occasional "blinking" of the screen that others have reported and didn't exist in Vista.
• My charge light does come on, but it's solid white, goes off at 90% and flashes amber 3x at 100%, which I think is different behavior than Vista - should be amber->white->off.
• The Dell QuickSet app dies frequently when switching between power/battery, or vice versa, so all of the OSDs stop appearing after this happens. Launching the Mobility Center will reload it.
• The Dell Extended Battery option to turn off aero results in a light blue color scheme which cannot be customized in 7, and IMHO is one of the worst colors MS could have picked for the basic theme. Disabling this option will keep the aero color scheme with disabled transparency, but gives up a little battery life, which is fine 'cause I can't stand the light blue.
• I'm having some audio issues with downmixed 5.1 sound from movies that sounds like it is coming out of tin cans on a string, versus the loud and deep audio I was getting in Vista, both using MC. Though the audio sounds OK if I switch to headphones on the R.T.C headphones device, but not through the speakers/headphones device. Still experimenting with all the device options, but so far no luck.

 

Download the Nvidia chipset and 9500M drivers from Dell online and reinstall and you should be fine. If you've already done this once, uninstall and reinstall, which is what I had to do.

 

Do you meen 9400m?

I'm also trying to figure out how to get those mod'd inf files for the nvidia driver, because dell took quite a few features out

 

yes - that was just a typo

 

Well different people have different tolerances. For example, if I found out that my screen flickers like some of 14z's shipped then I would've called Dell right away. Something like this, on the other hand, isn't a crucial flaw and I can fix it myself. Plus, I think a 30 minute trip to the local hardware store beats calling up Dell and struggling to communicate with them for a couple hours.

About the bezel though, it's not really a big gap. There wasn't a gap at all, in fact, but there was some play between the bezel and the lid covering (or the middle layer) and I can hear a click if I press them together at a specific spot. So, being myself, I couldn't help but press that spot every couple minutes and that's what bothered me more than anything else.

 

I have another problem lol...

The moment I hit the power button to do a cold boot-up, it makes a really short beep and goes on booting up like normal.

I don't know if this is a BIOS error since it beeps pretty much simultaneously with my pressing the start button. Anybody else has this problem?

 

Did you replace or disconnect/reconnect any hardware?

 

What kind of hardware are you talking about. Like a portable mouse? Flash drives?

Those yeah, but I don't recall removing any important hardware from within the computer itself.

But I don't know why removing a mouse would cause the button/computer to beep when I power up from a complete shut down.

 

No, I meant the computer's hardware, not peripherals. Weird, usually those beeps indicate some hardware issue (e.g. loose connectors, malfunctioning memory, video card, etc.). Every error code has a specific number of beeps, with specific duration. But might be something totally different, I don't know

 

Well normally how long into the boot process does the beep sound? I mean, I hear the beep as soon as I press the power button. It's almost simultaneous.

 

I probably would keep pressing it as well once I knew it was there, for me I would have called Dell because I am anal that way, it has to be perfect but I can see your point on having to call dell and go through the whole process which they make longer than it has to be.

 

I think I figured out what the beep means, and it's nothing serious. Apparently it's just telling the user that POST is going along fine.

Still, I'm still troubled by the fact that no one else has pointed this out yet. Then again, maybe it's just common sense lol...

 

No, I don't get any beeps, and I'm pretty sure, nobody should. Have you changed anything in BIOS? Was it like that from day one?

 

I have no idea then, and I didn't do anything to the BIOS. I just checked the manual again, it did say that the BIOS will send out repetitive beeps if there's an error and it certainly didn't repeat for me. I checked pretty much everything I can and they seemed to work alright.

Maybe it has to do with whether you turn your speakers on or not? I don't know. It's weird because I never got the beep until a couple days ago and that's what had me worrying. Any suggestions?

 

That seems to have worked, no blinks in an hour. There's also a newer audio driver which fixed my audio problem. So, seems like the Resource CD is way outdated.

 

The dead pixel is surprisingly gone. Hah.

 

Hello all, I'm seriously considering getting a 14Z. Wondering from some owners just a few things.

1. Does this thing get too hot or anything like that?
2. Does anyone do any light gaming and how does it perform (WoW, maybe oblivion, etc.)?
3. Is the battery life really around 5-6 hours with the 8 cell, and if you've undervolted it does it last much longer?
4. Is the P8600 worth it to save battery or should I stick with one of the T's and get 5 gigs of ram in your opinion? I'll just by working on it and occasionally some WoW.

 

you likely won't need the RAM for your usage, but I dunno if you'll need the p8600 either - the t6500 is no lightweight - but you likely will be able to undervolt/get better battery life out of it

 

Stick with the P8600 and 3GB of RAM. If you really need 5GB later, you can buy a 4GB SODIMM yourself and install it in the non-soldered slot. And prices on those will be going down somewhat in the coming months.

 

Is the maximum memory for this notebook 5gb or can it go up to 8gb?

 

The 14z has two memory slots; one has 1GB permanently soldered in. The other can take 2GB (for a total of 3GB) or 4GB (for a total of 5GB) SODIMMs. The only way to get 8GB of total memory would be to install a single 8GB SODIMM into the free slot, for a total of 9GB. As far as I know, 8GB SODIMMs do not exist, and if they do they are bound to be wicked expensive.

I suppose it is theoretically possible to unsolder the 1GB permanent memory, but I don't think anyone really wants to try that, and I advise against it anyway; there's probably some sort of BIOS restriction preventing more than 1GB from functioning in that slot.

 

thx I don't think I will be unsoldering anything and I am sure that 5gb wll be more than enough, I will just wait until the cost comes down for the 4gb module.

 

I'm pretty sure that 5GB is not the maximum.
Well, you can have 8GB total, if you find a 7GB chip (as 1GB is already soldered on the motherboard)
But realistically, it's 2GB, 4GB or in the future 8GB chips that you can add to this computer.

 

thx

How do you like the 14z compared to the XPS M1330?

 

Yes, I am planning to do the same. Right now, 3GB for me is more than enough, so I will buy a 4GB module sometime next year.

 

Even if you could, (and looking at the technical documentation from Intel on the series 4 memory controller on the GM/PM45 chipset, I don't think you can), the price of such a module would be astronomical; most likely more expensive than the machine itself.

 

I just called Dell technical support about the beep I heard and they said it was normal. I can't really say it put me completely at ease since it's Dell after all....

Anyways, I just wanted to ask if other Dell 14z owners check if they hear a small blip sound as soon as they press the power button? I'd appreciate it a lot, thanks.

 

Totally silent for me. Try going into system sounds and turning it off from there.

 

I feel pretty stupid asking this, but can anyone point me to an explanation of the various sound playback and recording device settings? I've been searching but I must be off my google game today because I can't find any comprehensive explanation or set-up guide.

Also, I've just realized that when I press my volume keys (F8 and F9), I don't get any on-screen volume display. The volume adjustment works and if I open the volume panel it does show the adjustment, but I'm used to seeing a volume display automatically at the middle/bottom of the display. Is this normal on the 14z running W7?

 

Windows 7 RC I assume? It's a known problem that the volume display doesn't work with quickset; apparently it is fixed in the final release though.

 

Do you mean when you power it up or power it off?

 

Ah - thanks. I'm running W7 so that does explain it.

 

for the beep at post, try going into bios and there should be a setting there

 

Power on from cold boot.

 

hey finally just received my dell studio 14z. been following this thread for a while and was really excited when it finally arrived. Purolator delivered it 3 days late but I was patient and it was well worth it.

For people that mentioned the unevenness of the laptop pertaining to the front left corner, I have noticed that as well. However, it is only minor and im trying to ignore it. haha its really not that bad but i do notice it.

Also when i bought the computer i really wanted something in black so i opted for the black chainlink not thinking the fingerprint thing was much of an issue. The lid picks up a lot of finger prints! i kinda regret not getting the ruby red now but oh well.
Does anyone know of any clear plastic/acetate protector options to cover the top lid or prevent it from being such a fingerprint magnet? Looks terrible under the light.

I am quite happy with my purchase of this laptop. Old lappy was pretty useless and so ive been researching my options for a while. This is exactly what i needed and its a great size. The screen really is amazing.

My only true complaint is the touchpad. I really cant stand it. I've been working with it for a while but I feel like it seems inferior to the synaptics setup. Physically the touchpad doesnt feel very smooth. Honestly i wouldve preferred if dell made the touchpad the same texture as the surrounding palmrest.

When using the touchpad, at times the cursor seems to be nonresponsive and freeze for like 5 seconds or so. Doesnt happen too often but man it gets annoying. Anyone else havign this problem? Also is there something i can stick onto the touchpad area like acetate/plastic protector?

 

Well, XPS M1330 is a premium line laptop with a US-based tech support, but the problem with it, is that it's pretty old technologically. Plus, because of the 8400M GPU, it was overheating. I couldn't rest my palms on it, because my fingers were getting literally roasted (GPU temp was reaching 100°C). Dell replaced the heat-sink last week and it's running cool again. I'll do a copper mod on it anyways.
But
I like my Studio 14z more. Even though not a premium laptop, it's pretty quite, the screen is gorgeous, I like the flush battery and the battery life, I love the backlit keyboard (I think it's a must!), I love it's weight and shape. I watch a lot of DVD movies, so I love that most of the movies fill the 16:9 aspect ratio screen perfectly, with no bars on top or the sides.
I miss the Synaptics touchpad of XPS M1330, I miss the overloaded keypad keys on the keyboard (where pressing Fn + certain keys would type numbers and special symbols, which is now impossible on 14z: e.g. you can't type special symbols on 14z, like °, ® and so on).

Well, I miss some stuff from XPS M1330, but overall, I'm satisfied with 14z and think it's a great laptop!

 

Thanks, I have to get my mainboard replaced again on the m1330 as the headphone jack cuts out alot and also I am having keyboard problems, but I will hold off on getting it fixed until I receive my 14z notebook.

It is good that you like your 14z more when you come from a higher end notebook. I'm glad that I was able to get the backlit keyboard and the better screen. Hopefully this notebook will last longer than my m1330.

 

I don't have that... the only unevenness I see is that the middle isn't completely tight to the screen, which isn't an issue at all.

I get that sometimes, but I thought it was just my computer lagging since I always try to click something or run something and it lags on me. Not sure if we're having the same issues here.

 

Finally received my replacement laptop.

The only problem I have now is the click at the corner of the lid, but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

I should be able to confirm that later tonight or tomorrow. My 14z has developed one of those annoying Win 7 quirks. Although it is clearly connected to the network, has internet access and my other computers have no problem reading and writing files on it, it insists it can't connect to any of the computers on the network - including itself! If you select it under network, it won't list or open any of the folders.

Since none of the documentation I've found is all that helpful, I'm going to move to a clean install of RC

 

hey, first time poster here. i received my studio 14z about a week ago and love everything about it, right down to the midnight blue color. the color is excellent, but it is MUCH darker than the blue advertised on dell's website, so i thought i'd post this so that anyone considering buying the system could see it in its true form. the lighter blue seen around the edges is just a reflection of the blue sky outdoors. the whole surface actually appears a bit darker than the blue seen in the center of the image, and is generally less gray. it's a beautiful color, isn't a fingerprint magnet, and is classy alternative to the standard black look.

View attachment 37343

 

Re-posting this from the 14z review thread just in case anyone is curious.

I've tested the following games:

• Bioshock: 30FPS, medium
• Call of Duty 4: 30-40FPS, medium-high
• Counter-Strike: Source: 50-60FPS, high
• Crysis: 20-30FPS, low-medium
• F.E.A.R.: 50FPS, high
• GTA: San Andreas: 50FPS, high
• Runes of Magic, 40FPS, medium-high (WoW should perform similarly)
• Street Fighter IV: 50-60FPS, low-medium
• Team Fortress 2: 40FPS, medium-high
• The Sims 3: 30FPS, medium-high

Note that these results are with the 720p screen.

 

After having had my Studio 14z for a couple of weeks, here's an overview of what I consider to be its pros and cons for my use (see sig for my setup):

PROS
-lightweight, compact (other than width, as I'm used to non-wide-screen laptops)
-decent battery life from 6 cell with settings fairly low, on power saver, etc. (estimated 4+ hours for surfing web) but I haven't tested it for real from charged to dying yet, and I just undervolted so it should be even better)
-runs noticeably quicker than most computers I've used, especially running programs like ccleaner that search for files then do something with them
-awesome back-lit keyboard
-decent 720p screen - good enough for me though I hope the 900p is better for contrast since this one seems to be either too dark or too bright no matter what I do, for reading webpages like this site; no biggie for me though
-not missing the cd/dvd drive yet, though I do have a cheap external one on hand for when/if I ever need one (like when I finally get W7 )
-Wireless N works well and picks up signals well; I wonder how the b/g is (anyone get that card?)
-speakers and sound very impressive for a laptop or any computer really, short of having a 2.1 setup with 2 speakers and a woofer (and it'd have to be a good one; my old set and the one I have with the desktop aren't even as good as this besides putting out more bass)
-stays pretty cool and quiet - and, now that I've undervolted her, the fan isn't always running -glad fan is not in back like on other Dells
-Vista seems alright other than a few quirks and the permission screens (first-time Vista user - all my other computers have XP) - I actually like the sidebar and other nonsense but do look forward to W7

CONS
-720p not the best but works for me; mainly contrast seems to be too high or too low, but overall works for me once I'm used to it - considering I almost never touch the settings on desktop lcd monitors and put up with their flaws yet expect more from laptop screens, this is good and definitely better graphics than my old Inspiron 5100 :laugh:
-fingerprints all over the place, but it's mainly the back of the lid I don't like since people see that when it's up; no biggie though - had i known the base black color wasn't a matte cover, i may have gotten one of the colors, but probably not since 40 bucks is a lot for something that doesn't help with performance (plus it does look kind of cool other than the fingerprint grease
-wish i'd gotten the 8 cell but didn't since i thought it would stick out (should've checked here first)
-wish battery meter would make up its mind
-touchpad is a little touchy, but I'm getting used to it pretty well
-looking forward to W7 but mainly due to people saying it's so much better than Vista

 

I decided to paint only my palmrests a highgloss black to match the rest of my chainlink black 14z. After sanding and priming it, I really like the way it was turning out so I decided to also repaint the keyboard bevel and the display bevel, sp that it matches nicely.

Since I haven't applied any coats of the Glossy stuff yet, I'm contemplating if I should just finish it with Black Satin or Matte instead, and also include the main Black shell + battery to complete the entirely unique look. Or should I avoid further risk of damaging the laptop and stick to the original plan for an all glossy black look?

Having a hard time making up my mind. Is it even possible to sand down and paint the chainlink black shell?

 

W7 installs great from a USB flash drive, which is what I did and which is exactly why I haven't had to use my external drive once yet other than to rip a dvd.

First of all, you are insane - and I mean that in a good way. I wish I had the b@ll$ and creativity to do what you're doing. That said, knowing how picky I am, if I tried it and it didn't come out perfect, I'd be pissed.

My suggestion is go with satin. That much gloss will not look good IMO and putting gloss right under where you're palms will be resting is not a good idea in terms of smudging and prints. Matte would look great but not necessarily unique - most business laptops are matte and it might make your 14z look a little dull. I'd actually take it a step further though and go with satin in a color other than black - maybe graphite or charcoal. As for doing the lid, I'd be concerned about wear and tear - the lid would be the most likely to get bumped and scratch over time (every laptop I have has a lot of scratches on the lid). If you paint the lid and the paint starts chipping over time (which I'm guessing would happen, especially around the edges and corners), it's going to look pretty ghetto.

 

I had this after upgrading to the latest audio drivers off the support website. Uninstalling, then reinstalling QuickSet fixed it for me.

 

I think that it is fixed in the RTM version of windows 7; that's more likely what fixed it.

 

Congrats on your new laptop!

 

Isn't the 14z using the MCP79, not a GM/PM45?