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

The facial recog sw's reliability improves the more you use it, so while at first it was definitely slower than typing in my password, most of the time now it's faster. It's only when I'm in a poorly lit room that it fails to recognize me, but I've learned not to bother waiting to see if it will recognize me in those situations and just type in my password.

To download the facial recog software, you have to register and then go to your downloads page at Dell which will be https://smartsource.dell.com/web/main.aspx

As for the touchpad issue, Quadron - have you installed the touchpad drivers from the resource CD or from the Dell website? The website drivers are more current and solved some glitches I was experiencing with the resource CD drivers on W7.

 

i can't get my system to run the system checker. I'm fairly sure I have activex enabled - how do I check?

 

Has anyone tried playing a game called Stepmania on the 900p 14z? I'm getting black lines flickering from top to bottom... I'm running on Windows 7 with up to date drivers. Any idea?

Oh yea, theme hospital also runs with poor colors for some odd reason?

 

What browser are you using? I could only get the system checker to work under IE.

 

I should have known better.

First laptop doesn't have backlit keyboard, replacement laptop doesn't have backlit keyboard so finally they just ship me a backlit keyboard to install myself.

The keyboard gets here today and I'm looking at it while I'm at work. All I can think is, "Wow, that connector is really small. I bet it's really easy to disconnect on accident."

So I get home and open up my 14z (the first one I received btw, not the refurbished POS they sent me to replace it) and sure enough, the keyboard just isn't connected, haha.

Maybe that should be something tech support thinks about? I can't believe I didn't. All the years in tech support and the first thing I ever told people was to check the connection. How soon we forget =P

 

So now you own three keyboards? If you're thinking about selling one of them, I'd be willing to buy it. I wanted to experiment with a keyboard to try reducing the light that shines underneath each key.

 

He'd only have 2, one he has to send back.

 

I have 2 laptops and 1 extra keyboard. Everything is getting sent back to Dell except for the original laptop. I should see if they even want me to send in the "defective" keyboard though. If they don't I'll give it to someone on the boards for shipping cost.

I'll let you know.

 

Ok so Dell wants me to "properly dispose of" the "defective" back-lit keyboard. First person to get me a prepaid shipping label gets it.

The package weighs 1lb according to the UPS tag on it currently.

GO GO GO!

You can either PM me on the boards or email me mattATfosterDOTcom

 

I did install the touch pad driver from the website. But at the same time, I'd really like to be able to have side-scrolling functionality. Do you have side scrolling functionality with your current set up?

 

Okay, I got a prepaid label!! PMed you! But I need your email to send you the actual slip to print.

 

Yeah, and it works pretty well, but sadly not as well as the mac multi touch

 

bought my 14Z in best buy (came with 320 GB HD, Wireless N and 8 Cell battery for 700, no 900P though ), loving it so far.

One thing, anyone get shorter battery in windows 7? I really love W7 too much to go back to vista but I'm kind of shocked at losing an hour - an hour and a half, I'm hoping I'm just missing so i'm drivers or something.

 

Considering windows 7 hasn't been officially released yet, I wouldn't be too worried

 

Yes. I have no problems with my touchpad.

 

Guess I'll be using Vista for travelling then and windows 7 for everything else, good thing I dual booted lol.

 

Yea received my laptop
Will post pictures and review later!

I will also install Call of duty 4 and Left 4 Dead later and let you all know about performance, gotta find a Cd drive for COD4

 

1. Not sure if you have noticed but the indicators are now on the taskbar on the bottom right, where all the little icons are. It shows you an icon that only comes up when you have either of them ON.

2. The Optical Drive eject key I agree. Could have been something else more useful (can't think of anything right now). The Menu key I tend to use it sometimes when I'm working quickly and doing repetitive things. Sometimes it's easier to just move your finger a little bit to get to a menu and then a little more to get to the arrows than move your hand down, right-click, and move the mouse to the item and click.

3. That I can relate to but it's not a biggie for me. Shortcuts I would use those for were copyright, trademark, and other symbols I would regularly use.

4. I actually love the way the keys are organized. I guess it might be because Im coming from a Sony VAIO desktop that on the keyboard I would have to press the Fn + key to get to Del, Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End keys. Now it's very simple and they are lined along the right vertically so there is rarely a mistake pressing the wrong key.

 

That was really fast, hope you enjoy your new computer

 

It doesn't seem better on Windows 7 RTM than it did on RC. I haven't undervolted yet though (not that I should really have to). On the other hand, I haven't heard of anyone, on any OS, getting anywhere close to the claimed 6.5 hours under any kind of real world conditions. If a computer won't do word processing, spreadsheet and light wireless surfing for the amount of time claimed, then in my opinion it doesn't meet the claim.

 

Have you guys actually tested it to run 6 hours, or are you just reporting what Windows is showing there? Because I did 2 real tests, one before undervolting (got 4 hours) and one after (4:30 hrs), but nowhere close to 6 hours. This is all under Windows 7 RC 64-bit.

 

There's no real standard for battery life testing, so people just turn the machines on after adjusting the settings to make them run the longest. they'll likely just leave the machines on, no input, nothing, and report how long the computer waits until it shuts down and needs to be recharged.

 

From what I understand, W7 isn't getting the same life as Vista. Pherhaps this will change with updated drivers/etc.

In the meantime, you may be able to extend it by turning off BT and running in powersave mode. On the macbooks, BT is quite a drain.


YARR!
}:^)~
BlueCapt'n

 

4 hours is enough for me - anything beyond that is a bonus (a much appreciated one) so I'm content for now. I do hope it gets better though, as I don't think this battery will last forever.

 

Can someone give me a quick summary on the 14z? I might be taking an unopened Toshiba A505-s6965 back, and have been thinking the 14z might be a better fit for us because of the size and there are some issues with the Toshiba that some people have that are making me rethink our purchase.

1. Does the fan run all of the time?
2. How loud is the fan? Would it be bothersome in a quiet room?
3. How hot does it get in the palm-rest areas?
4. How hot does the bottom get? Too hot for extended lap use?
5. Is the model at Best Buy considered any good, especially with the lower screen resolution?

Besides having no optical drive, are there any other issues or quirks that I should be considering before I possibly get this? Thanks in advance.

 

I posted this on the undervolting thread a few days ago. RmClock bug iii, #3: VID/FID jumps

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=276661

In short, Windows and RmClock are fighting to throttle your CPU. The fix is to assign a OS power plan, then set the processor states in that plan to the SAME value. i.e., min processor state = max processor state = 100%. Windows will stop throttling your CPU and the RmClock voltages will stay.

 

1 + 2. The computer runs very quietly most of the time, with the fan running slowly unless needed, and extremely quietly otherwise. To give you an idea, i can't hear my fan right now for the hard disk, which itself is idling at the moment.

3 + 4. I've been using it for hours without getting uncomfortable. The palm rests don't get hot at all for me, the bottom gets warm but never uncomfortably so.

5. The lower screen res is one of the complaints that people have about the best buy model, but not as much as the back-lit keyboard. That being said, a lot of people are reluctant to order the 900p screen anyway, saying that it's too small for them, and a lot of the people that have purchased best buy models are purchasing back-lit keyboards separately for self install, because it's worth it.

not really too many quirks to speak of, it runs fine, save for a trackpad that bothers a bunch of people, but these have easy fixes, and it's been running perfectly for me since I've gotten it.

 

The answers to 1-5 are 1) no, 2) not very and no, 3) not very, 4) not very and 5) yes; provided, however that you undervolt. Both temps and fan intrusion are greater if you don't undervolt, although still not objectionable.

Issues/quirks: Aside from the random mfg defects experienced by some, the only issues I've heard of have been OS or software related and not hardware related. As for quirks, well it doesn't have built in media card support and, er, that's about it.

 

Agree with what others have said, it is pretty quiet and barely gets warm. I already recommended this laptop to several friends. I believe this is the best price+specs combination multimedia laptop currently on the market. Go for it I think you will not regret it.

 

I have to 3rd, or 4th (not sure how many have answered this already) what they are replying.

1 and 2: The fan is pretty quiet to me. There are times when I can hear it if I start paying attention but it's nothing bothersome. Nothing compared to my Sony VAIO desktop. The highest speed (and loudest) runs on my 14z for only 2 or so minutes before it quiets down again.

3 and 4: Heat is not a problem with this notebook. I do notice it gets WARM, which it should being that it's working and helping me do what I need to do. But not extremely hot to where it becomes uncomfortable. I've managed to put it on my lap and even stomach (umm...sometimes I lay completely down on the bed with it on top of it haha), but haven't experienced anything more than a warm feeling inside of me (I tend to think of it as LOVE for my 14z )

5. This I cannot fully answer. I've tested the BB model but I myself needed the screen real estate for my type of work (graphic and photo).

FINAL STATEMENT: Nonetheless, I believe the 14z is the BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK. Removing the OS from comparisons, a MacBook would cost a couple hundred dollars more for the same specs; I compared the 14z to a new Sony notebook also but realized I would be paying 300-400$ more for something similar...I don't think the Sony offered the 900p screen resolution. And like some said, the back-lit keyboard is a must if you tend to work in dark environments. It makes using a notebook soooooo much easier. Even if you know where all the keys are, it still helps and it makes the 14z look a tad more fancy.

Just my $0.02

 

New BIOS revision came out yesterday! Get it while it's hot (A03)

 

Sadly, my first 14z was scratched sometime between where it was made when when it got to my house, and being anal.. I opted for a replacement. The replacement exhaust wouldn't work, and it'd idle at 60C. It shut off the first try to dl hwmonitor, and got Extremely hot on the bottom. Now I'm going to college and waiting on the third, and wondering when it'll end.

But from my first 14z, I really like it. I bought 2 4gb trans whatever expresscard ssds for like 18$ and they shipped yesterday. (newegg was out but this other place I found on google shopping had them for $4.99 and $7 shipping, so.. I think it's actually slightly more. As in the past 189 pages, I'm not sure that I've found an overly negative review. Possibly the lack of more usb ports (it is a laptop) but I've been happy with the dell support.

Once again I stress buying through epp, since imo, their tech support is better.

 

Anyways, I looked, and couldn't find it within 2 minutes of searching, so I was wondering if there was an update log for the a03 bios? One thing I'm hoping for is boot from expresscard though , if that can be added with bioses.

 

DON'T INSTALL A03! I can no longer adjust my brightness! I will be calling Dell in the morning, that is for sure.

Edit: I can't change from within Windows, was able to when I was in the BIOS. Reinstalled QuickSet, tried using the "Windows Mobility Center" still no luck.

 

Yeah, and now the backlit keyboard doesn't work either. Don't install A03.

I think it's best if you edit your original post.

I wonder why it creates a backup of the current BIOS, if it cannot restore it later!

---------------------------
Phoenix WinPhlash64
---------------------------
The current system BIOS is the same version (or newer) than the version you are trying to flash, so the BIOS will not be changed.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

I think Phoenix guys should start working on A04

False alarm: backlighting and brightness both work for me. It's just that the BIOS update has reset the function keys back to their default functionality, so it's all good.

Zak, if you changed the function keys behavior before, try changing it again in BIOS first, and see if it solves your problem.

 

I'd really love to have a trackpad that functions properly. :-0 You say it's an easy fix. Please explain.

When I installed Win7, the default driver worked pretty good. Definitely better than it did after I installed the dell driver. I uninstalled the dell driver and restarted. Windows 7 reinstalled the trackpad driver, but it still had all the same problems. Jerky... etc...

Wait one sec... I might be onto something....

I went into the uninstalls found that there was an additional program installed called "Dell Touchpad." I removed it and then went into device manager and uninstalled the PS2/Mouse driver... and now I am restarting.... dum... dee.... dum... duh... dum... dee... duhhh... And the verdict! FIXED!!!! WAHOO!!!

Except that now... I don't have side-scrolling functionality. Which is a major pain in the petuky! At least my mouse is functioning smoothly now, which is more important. I was about to give the 14z the boot because it was barely usable.

Still does anyone now know a way to enable side-scrolling functionality without updating to alps/dell's crappy driver? Thanks.

 

(Update on painting my 14z)

My clear coats have been left to cure for the past 3 days. I'm still not finished, but I am already in love with how it looks. The clear coats really brought the paint to life.

Best of all, when I handle it, there are ZERO fingerprints anywhere! Here are some close-up shots of what it looks like now. (I'll be lightly sanding and applying rubbing compound, so the end result should look even better.)

 

Quick review of the studio 14z after one night with it

Unboxing : I was very surprised by the size of the laptop! I've always handled 15.4" sized ones and the studio looked very very small. The midnight blue is a sweet color, much better than I thought. No fingerprints yeh

Setup : Everything went smoothly, took about 15 mins to setup everything. Battery was almost fully charged and windows reported 4h30 hours on 50% brightness and Dell recommanded settings, not bad.

Look :
The bad : I have some glue/plastic seams where the battery is sitting under the monitor, it's quite small and doesn't bother me much. The keyboard has quite a lot of flex, but its very local. The power cord is on the right side and is very long, it could be annoying when using a mouse. But that's a very very minor issue.
The good : The colored lid is beautiful! So is the laptop overall! I like the curved aspect. Doesn't look cheap at all, doesn't creak very much and looks very sturdy. I also don't have an uneven laptop as others have reported, yeh.

Touchpad : No problem with it, no jerkyness, no jumping pointer etc. The sidescrolling sometimes doesn't work, but i suspect its my finger going too fast. The only time it got a mind of its own was when for some reasons I had two fingers on the touchpad at a time. Next time the mouse arrow starts jumping, look down and see if you are touching it with two fingers!

Speakers : The best speakers i've even heard on a laptop. One of my friend has an XPS 1330 and it's not even loud enough to be heard in a small room. The studio 14z can get pretty loud and the quality is quite good. I also like to have 2 headphones output. Very handy when you want to show something to a friend and not have everyone else listen.

Weight : 4.4 lbs with 8 cell battery Probably close to 5lbs with the power unit.

Performance : I have the 2.1ghz core2duo which is more than enough for me. I can't say it's the fastest processor i've seen in a laptop because we own a Macbookpro with a 2.4ghz penryn and an imac with a 3.06 ghz core2duo, but from what I've seen, opening applications is very quick.

Fan : The fan is not very loud when the computer is under low stress. It got pretty loud when I was transferring files over the network and when installing programs. Again, I come from macs that are almost silent (but they overheat quite bad lol) It's easy to hear the fan in a quiet room, but I couldn't hear it in the tv room with people speaking.
Vista : Takes about 50% of my total RAM, can't wait for W7

Tonight I'll try to install COD4 and L4D without the DVDs

 

I'm curious. What is everyone else's WEI score in windows 7? Mine is a 4.3 on "Gaming graphics". In Vista, I had a 5.0 on the processor.

By the way, I installed a Toshiba Alps touchpad driver for a Quizmo. And viola! Smoothness + side-scrolling. Here's the link. http://www.driversdown.com/drivers/...7.102.302.101-Windows-Vista-64bit_82765.shtml

 

For anyone looking for a slim messenger bag to carry their 14z, check this one out for only $7.95 ($44.95 retail) with free shipping at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Slim-...=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1250782216&sr=8-1


I actually decided to just buy the black version, which cost me $20. But for anyone who doesn't care about the green colors, this is a STEAL if you ask me. Once I receive my black bag, I'll offer a mini-review if anyone wants one. Anyway, LowerPro is a pretty good company so I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Oh and if you want something bigger with more space, theres this model for $14.95 (list price:$59.99):

http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Messe...=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1250782662&sr=1-1

(I found these deals at the fatwallet forum)

 

@enoya34 - I can't seem to fully grasp the color of your laptop - is it black on the inside and the outside? Earlier pictures seemed to give it a cobaltish tint.

 

It's completely black. I hadn't fully applied my clear coats in the earlier pics, so it looked really dull, almost like a ThinkPad. This is my first time painting anything, so I didn't know how much of a difference the clear coats make. I'm also using this crappy camera on my Blackberry. I'm going to try and borrow a camera for the finished pics.


Sidenote:
-I screwed up 2 of the rubber feet on the front display bezel, so Dell is sending me a brand new set for free. So if anyone has missing rubber feet...

-Also, I called Dell when my laptop wasn't booting up after reassembly. They said they couldn't help me cause I opened it up, so I figured it out and fixed it myself. I called Dell back to make sure I didn't void my warranty, and they confirmed that as long as you do not damage anything while you open it up, then full warranty remains in effect.

 

Backlighting works for me, but changing brightness still doesn't. Are you using Windows 7 or Vista?

 

I'm looking into designing my own custom skin to cover up my black chainlink fingerprint-loving lid. It's cheaper than ordering a new complete lid from Dell and it also allows me to brand my 14z with MY COMPANY name. Found several sites but currently all is pointing to this one:

http://www.aspoke.com

Anybody have prior experience(s) with them?

 

Last night I did the ultimate powersaver test. I ran it with the screen off, using Windows remote desktop, so no power used by the keyboard or touchpad either. Wireless off, bluetooth off, undervolted. The core temperature never went above 35 degrees and while the fan sometimes came on, it blew cool air.

And for light surfing it still only gave about four 1/2 hours!

 

anyone know any good canadian deals on laptop bags for the 14z? Also I preferably would be looking at more of a school bag with a laptop slip section, double strapped

 

Windows 7 RC 64-bit, no Dell software, only built-in Windows functionality.

 

Thanks to everyone for answering my questions on the 14z. Lots of responses and much appreciated.

 

looking forward to you cod results

 

5.3 on Aero. Gaming graphics with the Dell 179.62 drivers got a 4.4, but if you're adventurous, the latest Nvidia 186.03 drivers get a 5.5.