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

In my case the 90 watt adaptor got very hot, above 70C (160F)on the surface, enough for cooking an egg.
Also I began experiencing system freezes two weeks ago after upgrading to BIOS A07, and needed to do hard reboots and therefore losing all my work.... and time.

I submitted complaints about the hot adaptor to the certifying UL agency, and told them the problem that DELL is using this low powered adaptor with a machine that sucks the juice out of it, and that they should use a 130 Watts instead.
I wrote to the DELL customer care here in Canada and telling the problems in this thread (throttling, system freeze, hot adaptor) and the problems aknnowledged by the Dell engineers on the DELL community forum thread.
They gave me right away a return number through UPS, and I am a waiting the full refund next week.
I am so glad to be free from this whole nightmare. Who needs to pay for a 2000$ computer and experience such amounts of problems ( esp. the system freeze, and the underpowered system which we got that was advertised to us as a powerful multimedia house).

Anyway, the agency wrote me back and wants a clear photo picture of the adaptor. Since I do not have anymore this laptop (!),could someone write to the agency below. As ma ny people complain, the faster action we will get through this official way.

You may forward your complaints to the certifier of the A/C adaptor below, since they are investigating the problem.


They answered me:


" Your report has been forwarded to me for handling. To assist us in investigating the reported issue, please provide me with photos of the marking labels on both the AC adaptor and the laptop, showing the UL Marks and the product designations for the AC adaptor and the laptop.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and assisting us in maintaining the UL Public Safety Mission.

Shawn Fan (Ext. 62493)" .

Market Surveillance Department
Underwriters Laboratories Taiwan Co., Ltd.
1/F 260 Da-Yeh RD
Peitou, Taipei City, Taiwan 112
Tel: +886-2-2890-7493
Fax: +886-2-2890-7435
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.UL.com.tw

[email protected]

 

Are you posting in the right forum? This sounds more like a Studio XPS 1645 deal. This is Studio 14z forum. I doubt you have a $2000 14z, and the 14z works fine on it's shipped adapter!

 

Actually, my 14z's adapter gets hot and makes noise when the computer is below 75% or so and charging. Dell replaced it once but the new one does the same thing so I've been ignoring it. It's getting up to 135F or so on the surface.

I have an iGo adapter that doesn't get as hot or make noise, so I'm fairly sure it's the stock adapter and not the computer.

 

Have the same exact issue. It is related to the nVidia AHCI driver. Have tried a nimber of fixes. Have a new HD on order but that won't fix it. The only cure is to change the BIOS fron AHCI to ATA and then reinstall clean. Works fine now.

 

Has anyone heard of plans to update the Studio 14z? I'm looking for the newer Intel CPUs and maybe switchable graphics.

 

Sorry, I completely forgot about this thread

WD service & support said, and I quote: "there seems to be a power issue with the drive, we recommend replacing it". Of course I wasn't going to do that, so I finally switched back to Vista and everything works fine, no more freezes. So it's an OS issue, but beyond that I'm stumped.

If you say it works in ATA mode, it's definitely worth a shot. I don't think there's much of a difference between AHCI and ATA mode in terms of performance.

I'm gonna try and contact Microsoft about this, maybe they have a clue...

 

Before I found out that the problem may have been connected to the WD2500BEVT, I ordered another hard drive from Newegg - the exact same model. It arrived yesterday. It was manufactured in Jan 2010 versus July 09 for the old one. Just for the heck of it I installed it and switched the BIOS back to AHCI and reinstalled Win 7 and all the drivers except the nVidia AHCI driver. So far I have not had a single hiccup. Everything is running perfectly. My guess is that the nVidia AHCI driver or the old version of the hard drive was causing the problem. Will keep you posted if the problem reoccurs.

 

Hey I gotta quick question about the CPU upgrade. Was it worth it? I mean like was it easy taking apart the whole thing? Also, doesn't that VOID the warranty?

 

Has anyone had this happen? I have a 14z with the 900p display. Last week for no apparent reason, the screen went dead. I tried reboot and toggling the F1 key, to no avail. The laptop works fine when I connect to an external monitor.

Is the screen really dead, requiring a return to Dell, or did some settings get messed up? I don't think I downloaded or changed anything that would cause this.

Thanks for any insight.

 

It was worth it to me! Less power consumption, zippier performance. Taking apart the whole 14z isn't hard, but I would not consider it easy, either. Lots of things to remove and lots of screws to keep organized. Take your time, use the Dell service manual (which you can download from dell.com), and you shouldn't have any problems if you are comfortable doing these things.

Yes, I presume the warranty would be void if I had a CPU problem, but if something else breaks, like the LCD, then I should be fine because the CPU can't be the cause of a LCD breakage...

 

My guess is, if you get nothing on the display when you first turn it on (and the external monitor is disconnected), then you have a faulty display. There is no setting that would keep the LCD from turning on with the laptop.

 

Ok. So did you have to take apart the WHOLE thing just to replace the CPU? Like did you have to take out the motherboard and all or was the cpu under the keyboard and palmrest when removed? thanks.

 

The WHOLE thing, including the motherboard.

 

Thanks. That's what I'm afraid of. The laptop is only 3 months old.

 

If you were somewhat technically inclined, you could just verify that the video connector was secure. It would require removing the keyboard and possibly the palmrest. Sometimes, just unplugging and re-seating the connector makes it work again.

 

ok thanks.

I have noticed that my 720p screen flickers while its on the lowest brightness and flickers only a LITTLE while on the second to last brightness (AC or battery). Does any one else experience this? It has been like this every since i got it back in October. Should i call Dell? I dont really want to send it in for a repair? Is it a defect?

Edit: It does not flicker on any other brightness setting other than the ones mentioned. I got it as a refurb not new.

 

Has anyone had some problems with DisplayPort?

I'm using a SIIG DP-male to VGA-female adapter (CB-DP0082-S1) and I have some problems when I use a projector. It works on some projects and on almost all monitors (so far), but when I try on a few projectors the computer does not even detect a display. Does anyone else have an issue? I was thinking about getting a different adapter or something.

 

I'll leave that to Dell. I am not afraid to try, but I don't want to risk the warranty. Thanks.

 

Anyone?????

 

Mine does the same thing, but I never really worried about. I just figured that the screen needed to have more brightness to give solid coverage, but I really don't know. The second option doesn't flicker enough to bother me, so I just use that. Mine is a refurb model, but I don't know if that makes any difference in this situation.

 

Ok, good to know. Thanks!

 

I called dell to get a new battery under warranty and they made me check the wattage of my power adapter which was 90W (PA-3E). So they tell me they are sending me a new one and when it came in its 65W (PA-2E).
Did they change the power adapter or just send me the wrong one to begin with?

Also, they forgot to ship me the battery and the package the power adapter came in wasn't even big enough to fit the battery. So after five redirects around India I think I have finally got them to send me another one. Is there some sort of secret number to bypass the BS or is that just the xps techline?

 

Any of you guys/gals have dust under your screen? Its very annoying

 

UNDER the screen or just like around the screen under the plastic bezel? I do not have any under the actual screen. I do get some under the bezel but that can be cleaned off.

 

Is anyone having problems with HDMI output? I connected my 14z to a Samsung TV and the signal stutters from time to time (both audio and video) like for a second or so every couple of minutes. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

 

Is the playback stuttering or is everything stuttering even when looking at the desktop?

If its everything then try a different cable. If its playback trying using the KMplayer with CoreAVC with CUDA enabled. Change the power setting to High Performance.

 

It's the playback that's stuttering. I'll give that a go, thanks for the tip. I was using VLC.

 

Yeah its under the actual screen. I can see little specks and as hard as I tried i cant get them off. Just talked to Dell and they're gonna send me a replacement lcd!!!

 

I've tried a different cable, same thing. I've tried KMplayer without CoreAVC (I don't want to spend the 12$ just to test it works), same thing. It's not a performance issue with the laptop, this only happens only when connected to the TV by HDMI. I'm not trying to play HD movies, it's a regular XVid encoded one. I'm going nuts, is anyone having a similar issue? Any fix?

 

Does that only happen when your laptop is on battery power?

 

Anyone know how to recover a 14z (1440) from a bad Bios flash?

I updated from A03 to A04. My fans starting up during the process, but then locked up my OS and was taking a while. I left it overnight and when I checked it the next morning, it was just stuck on the BIOS boot screen. Gets to 75% and stops. I left it while at work, came home..still the same screen. It's bricked. :-(

Read around a few other forums. I've already tried creating a USB boot disk using WINCRIS. Except, the .exe from dell only extracts a ROM file and not a WPH. Tried renaming it when creating the boot disk but no luck.

As mentioned above, I already have WINCRIS and also have PHLASH16 version 1.7.0.18 (As I've read this is the most common version that actually "works" on the dell studio laptops) Tried holding down END with the battery and AC removed, then powering up the system releasing END. Did it without the END key sequence also. But, both gave the same result; BIOS booting to around 75%, like it has been doing, it reads the USB for about 3 seconds, then stops.

I have tried searching around more forums, but everything I found was for other dell models and did not work. Hopefully someone can help me, I just got it back from the depot for a different repair and don't really feel like sending it back. >:-( Thanks!

 

No, it happens on AC power too.

 

I have a question on the nVidia AHCI driver for the studio 14z. I am running Windows 7 x64 Professional, and when I did a fresh install, I tried installing the nVidia AHCI drivers from the Dell Support site. When I install these drivers, my computer slows to a crawl. It takes about 10 minutes to boot, and just overall performance stinks. If I do a fresh install without these drivers, things are better. So my question is, do I need these drivers? Am I installing something incorrectly?

Also, it seems Dell has forgotten us 14z users, I have not seen a driver update in quite a while.

 

Has anybody noticed, but they don't seem to be selling the Studio 14z on the dell.ca website anymore. Now they seem to only have the "Inspiron 14z" and the "New Studio 14". I guess the original 14z would be the now "Inspiron 14z"?

It's too bad since the "New Studio 14z" is positively clunky, while the "Inspiron 14z" is missing the display port and most importantly the Express Card slot for 3G cards (USB 3G cards just stick out way too much).

 

Something doesn't sound right. I had all these drivers on mine and mine boots up fine. You might want to check your BIOS settings. 10 minutes is way too long of a boot time...I would check mine but, per my previous post, I have a bricked system right now.

 

Still on the US site. As a matter of fact, at the Outlet, there was just a slew of 2.2Ghz, 5GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 8-cell battery units for a bit more than $400 after coupon! That would be 1GB integrated and 1x4GB module, which alone, is worth minimum $170. Needless to say, I snapped them up!

 

What coupon?

 

Dell email coupon -- Spring into Savings, 15% off any laptop or desktop.

 

Exactly where I got mine too; dell outlet and a 15% off coupon. WOOT! Took FOREVER to find one with the ALL of the specs I wanted...

My husband would check daily at surprised me with THE one.

 

Patience and luck are clearly the key to getting a great deal and the specs you want. The real steals are low priced 900p LCD models and 5GB models. Those are what I look out for.

 

If anyone has problems with the movies playback stuttering, I found that my problem was solved by:

1. installing the IDT sound driver (forgot to do that)
2. playing the movie from the hdd and not from another network computer
3. using KMPlayer instead of VLC

 

Does anyone know what Wireless-N half-mini PCIe cards are compatible with the Studio 14z? Forgive me if this question was asked and answered 183 pages ago, but I got tired of reading after 30 pages, and I can't figure out how to search just a thread on this forum.

I ordered a new 14z from Dell, but wireless-N was not an option during the build process, just wireless-G. I'd like to swap out the wireless-G card and upgrade it to N.

I know that the Dell 1515 is the standard N card that is used in these, but will another card work? For example, would one of the Intel Centrino cards work?

Please reply if you've actually tried this. I know in theory it should work, but I'd like to hear anyone's real-world experience.

Also, assuming I can use other cards, is there a recommendation for a card?

Thanks.

-- Cal

 

My guess is they use the 1515 because the chipset of the 14z is not a Centrino/Intel chipset, it's nVidia chipset.

As to whether or not an Intel 5100 or 5300 wireless-n card would work, I cannot say for sure.

 

That makes sense. I will probably stick with using the 1515 since that is known to work. Thanks for the reply.

 

Has anyone had problems with the hard drive randomly spinning down? What happens is I hear the hard drive spin down, and the computer kind of freezes. I can still move my mouse, but nothing responds. After awhile the hard drive spins back up, and the computer catches up.

 

is this ever coming to the uk? it's my ideal laptop

 

Chipicao in an earlier post said: 'The only cure is to change the BIOS fron AHCI to ATA and then reinstall clean.'.

Can anybody confirm that this will solve the random hard drive spin down/click. Also do I necessarily reinstall windows after changing from AHCI to ATA?

Thanks!

 

Some problems i've been having with the dell studio 14z lately:
3gb ram

High cpu usage when there shouldn't be such as
- streaming videos
- flash games
- games such as warcraft that it used to be able to handle
- prolonged video

Also on a side note:
- the fan runs way too often
- it's been heating up way too much to the point where the surface its on can burn you

 

You know, I've been having the EXACT same problem. It started about a month ago.

I always had a CPU Monitor app running, and before, the CPU usually runs around 38 degrees (C), but now, it's somewhere between 50-60, when it's idle!!

Unlike you, I feel like my fan doesn't run enough. It used to run a lot higher before, but not so much recently. I thought it might be the fan clogging up, so I opened it up and checked, but it's fine...

I'm not quite certain what the problem is anymore. Occasionally, the temperature of the laptop goes so high that it just shuts down :/

 

Are you guys using the nVidia AHCI driver? Based on what I searched, it seems like that driver is faulty.

One guy suggested "So I went to the device manager (type "device manager" in your start menu), went to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, double clicked on the NVidia controller driver, went to the "Driver" tab and did a "Roll Back Driver," which put me back with just a Microsoft standard AHCI 1.0 serial ATA controller. Did a reboot, and not a single hiccup since! I hope this solves the problem for you all." (SOURCE: Freezing I've got a studio 14z with a core 2 duo 8600 and windows... - gdgt )

I've gotten quite a bit of hiccups with the nVidia AHCI driver supplied on Dell's support site, but after a re-install of windows (comes with MS Standard AHCI 1.0 SATA controller) and avoiding the nVidia AHCI driver, it seems like everything is running smoothly.