Dell Studio 15 1558 Thread

sorry for double posting but is there way to keep every single drivers up to date without checking software number everytime?

 

Get everything up to date once, don't bother checking again unless you've got a problem. Newer version doesn't always mean better.

 

Did you ever used a sony laptop before or just desktop? Its hard for me to overlook the dell studio 1558 problems because i see many people mention its frustrating even in the dell support forums.

 

Hey people 1080 is a totall awesome screen on dell 1558.... The icons and text is not unreadable.... its very good and excellent to watch blu ray rips if you have the Bluray disk drive installed too....
There are no problems with dell support if you contact them by E-mail as its monitored well enough and you dont each customer support in my country- india which is pathetic even for us.... lolz

 

Hey guys how many hours are you getting on your battery life?

 

I guess I'm just wishing that there's notification whenever new software is available like filehippo, which doesn't cover all the updates we need...

 

You can also get it with a new I5-580 ... and a blu-ray burner ... and 1080P ... number pad ... all for a pretty good price ... tempting ...

 

is the i5-460 and i5-580 that big of a difference? I will upgrade the graphics card to 1GB because this is only way get to 1080P for $100. Then the 320gb 5400 rpm to either 320gb 7200pm or 500gm 7200rpm. Also upgrading the color of laptop to coconut white.

Also, what is the battery life of the dell studio 1558?

 

is it true that vlc player sometimes causes damage to the speakers in a dell 1558 laptop? many friends of mine are complaining about it although i haven't encountered it yet.

 

VLC player causing damage the physical speakers? Not if you crank up the volume, in which case any media player can damage the speakers. It hasn't happened on my 1558, and I hope it never will.

The only complaint I have with VLC is that, every now and again, it takes a long time at start-up to "rebuild the font cache". Of course, this has nothing to do with damaging the speakers.

 

when you increase the volume in your vlc player there comes a time when the volume scroll crosses 100% and enters the red bar stage. This is when its inbuilt (vlc's) software amplification comes into work whick leads to sometimes a crankling voice (generally from poor quality videos/audios). Long term output of this kind DOES damage the speakers..... so only soln. is if the audio is inaudible even at the highest volume better use headphones/earphone.

 

My brother recently got this machine with the i7-720 processor. When I looked at his machine last night and when into the resource manager, it's only showing 4 cores, not 8 like it should be with the hyperthreading that this processor is supposed to have. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix?

 

Hey, next time you search the Dell support website for updates, select "More Filter Options" and in the drop down box "Release Date" select "0-30"
This will give you only the updates released in the last 30 days which narrows things down a bit. Once you've done this you can add it to your favorites in your browser and check it every now and then.

 

the i7 720QM has 4 cores with 2 hyperthreads each, hence 8 virtual concurrent processors.

the i7 620M, like its i5 brothers, has 2 cores with 2 hyperthreads each.

so, if your apps don't take full advantage of all 8 hyperthreads, which is the case today, the 620M (or the less expensive i5 580M) may be more cost-effective. the i7 620M usually clocks higher and generates less heat (32nm vs 45nm).

i personally am not too "hot" about the i7 720QM, using it on my Dell 1558.

 

I believe there is a BIOS option that needs to be turned on to get hyperthreading. ie 8 virtual cores.

Couldn't find any documentation on the available BIOS Setttings.

Regards,

Mike

 

@Kaso - please read and understand a person's post before replying. I already knew everything you stated, and was looking for advice on how to get the computer to be able to use all 8 threads, as it is currently only using the 4 cores and is apparently NOT hyperthreading.

@PanamaMike - I'll get him to look into the BIOS option and see what he can find out. Thanks for taking a look for me.

 

Call/e-mail dell care before tweaking anything in BIOS, if you must pls just dont change anything related to frequencies.... burned my motherboard once(on desk top though and anyways these settings are locked in dell).... there are 2-3 options related to different Intel technologies in the bios when i last checked it... make sure you have the latest bios version - a10 and pls ask/look at dell as they know the best and as far as my system is concerned (i7) even it shows 4 cores only... never bothered as it never lagged in anything i had Intel speedstep disabled in the bios but it only limited the frequency to 1.73 (turbo boost was disabled)....


Let me take a look at my lappi's bios again and will check you back if anything can be corrected.... till thn if yu can contact dell

 

CHECKED - BIOS(f12)>advanced>VIRTUALIZATION- it should be enabled

 

CPU-Z on my Dell Studio 1558 shows "8" processors. Having great fun will all 8 running (or, at least, pretending).

 

What is the battery life on this? I heard the battery life was pretty bad. But what is the standard battery life for a 15.6 laptop these days?

 

6 hours on my 9-cell i7 hd5470 in power save, just browsing text/picture heavy websites, no video. 3 hours streaming flash video (hulu, netflix, etc).

 

Battery life depends on many things...6 cell vs. 9 cell battery, the size and brightness of your screen, wifi on or off, bluetooth on or off, the demands you are putting on the processor, etc. However the average battery life is 2 to 6 hours.

 

URGENT !!!!!!

I just recieved the windows installation disk from Dell and the problem is that when I tried booting up with it the DVD rom started making very loud noises and started to vibrate... it wasw very freaky and its new... what should i do?? Is it normal ?

 

This disk is not balanced, the sticker or paint on it is as such that the disk will vibrate at high speeds.

You can try and re-seat the disk in the drive, sometimes that will help. If that doesn't work and the vibration is serious enough, you could try connecting an external DVD ROM.

Mike

 

Are you sure the Virtualization turned on hyperthreading? I think there should be a separate option. AFAIK virtualization is for Virtual Machine support.

Also, saw you have a few laptops listed in your sig. Can you tell me how the Studio 15 screen compares to the 16 XPS?

Regards,

Mike

 

Not virtualization, that is for running VMs with better hardware support... Look for a reference to Hyperthreading.

 

6 cell: 3 hours. 9 cell: 5 hours. Max time, first year, "average" workload.

Your mileage varies with system, battery and usage pattern. I have seen a ThinkPad X200, with C2D and Ubuntu, last 10 hours on a Panasonic 9-cell battery. There may be other (rare) impressive cases. But if you want your laptop to stand in for your living room TV/stereo/game equipment while you're on the road, well, maybe 45 minutes.

 

If I want to upgrade my DVD-ROM to BD-ROM... Any suggestions for aftermarket slot-loaders? I guess I could go through Dell, but I'm thinking it would come at a price premium. Thanks!

EDIT: I mean for BD playback with DVD burning.

 

Anyone still having random freeze problem with their laptop?

I just got mine about 6 weeks ago (but was away and only started using it last week). The problem is still there after bios and video driver update. However last time it froze was 5 days ago, so there may yet be hope.

I just finished talking with the technical customer support at Dell. It will be definitely be my last computer with them. After making me run hardware tests, they concluded that my laptop was OK and that the problem was software. However the software support isn't free and was going to cost me between 150-300$

Very nice. Told him I had the problem right out of the box, yet he said "Yes but its probably because of the automatic windows-update"...

 

Tell them they are required to provide OS support under the OEM license. If automatic updates are causing the problem, Dell has to support that. They tried that same end run around with me. I restored to factory image multiple times just so they couldn't cite that as a possible cause of my problems.

 

I have had two crashes since purchase (one where no response from system and one where display driver error). Only thing different that I was doing when these occurred was using a wired connection instead of my usual wireless - but doubt that is the cause. I also had an issue where Photoshop CS5 64bit would not close properly. Per Adobe Forums: CS5 crashes on exit; ATI OpenGL driver..., I downloaded the newest 64bit ATI version (not the version that has 32-64 in it) at https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/920...mobile/10-8_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc.exe and my Photoshop issue is resolved and so far no other crashes. So not sure if resolved or not.

Also, per this thread: Studio 1557 freezes, can't control+alt+delete to gain control - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community, there is a known Microsoft issue that can cause a freeze and the resolution is at: A computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 stops responding randomly. I have not tried this as I am seeing if I have any more issues since the ATI driver update.

Like stated in above post, Dell owes you support though. I have not called them yet because I hate their troubleshooting methodology. But if the issue pops back up on my side, I will give them a call. But so far all is good since ATI update.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I use PS CS5 64-bit on my 1558, but no problems so far. I will update the ATI driver, to be on the safe side.

 

Thanks for the info. Actually, they called me back later on this evening! I had mentionned a weird buzzing noise coming from my power adapter. They were supposed to send a new one. Then the tech called back and said it could be a problem with the motherboard that would ask too much from the powersupply, so he said they'll be sending me a new board. Honestly, reading most of the replies online about the 1558, it seems a new motherboard rarely fixed anything, so I am doubtfull. I especially hope that it doesn't make things worst. This is my main laptop at the moment and I really need it for serious work.

Actually it hasn't frozen since last Wednesday for the moment so I am wondering if I shouldn't play it safe and wait until installing new hardware.

I really regret not having done better research on this particular model before buying from Dell

I will give that hotfix a try if it freezes again later on.

 

Thanks. I will definitely take it up with them again with some stronger arguments, and like you say, if needed I'll restore back to their factory image.

How's your laptop working? Still getting random freezes?

 

There was no option related to hyperthreading ... may be its not bios thats the problem then....
XPS 16 and studio 15 have same sized screen but in XPS (its my sis's) the screen is by default full HD 1080 (1920 X ....) while my studio is 720 (1366 X ...).

XPS also has a better graphics card so it definitely performs better. And XPS is better than studio in all respects esp. keyboard and finish. Screen wise i liked XPS may e because i dont have studio with full HD.

 

They said that they would replace the DVD rom

 

Anyone ever find their Studio 15 randomly takes itself out of sleep even when the lid is closed over?

 

I'd be surprised if it's not managed in the BIOS. All of the Dell's I've read about have a BIOS option for Hyperthreading. I haven't had one in front of me to verify, but this is what I've read. Would be nice if another 1558 owner could chime in. You could try downloading one of the windows gadget System Monitor II

Thanks for the input, that's good to know...

 

Any brand, any model that appears on this forum has some sort of widespread "catastrophic" bug. The majority of people who buy the computer never look on this or any other forum, so the bug reports here are extremely biased. Researching the 1558 would have led to the conclusion that there was a problem, but it's fixed and no longer an issue. You might just be unlucky and have a unit with a totally different problem where none of the previous solutions are working.

 

Laptop bios is very limited, never seen hyperthreading option it laptop bios. Studio 1558 has only very basic settings in bios and no hyperthreading.

 

Yes its definitely true that online you will mostly find people complaining about problems, while the satisfied customers just happily use their systems. However the problems with the 1558 did seem quite widespread for a while. I guess they fixed it?

I am unsure as to what to do next. My laptop actually hasn't frozen in a week now. A new board is on the way from Dell, I'm a bit scared that a new board installation might bring in more trouble? However I didn't really change anything since my last freeze, except the video card driver, so I doubt the problem vanished on its own.

I guess I will wait a few more days and see how it goes. The powerbar also makes a bit less noise now, depending on the days. Anyone had that buzzling sound with it? It really was similar to a hard drive noise when the head is seeking.

I'll update later on when I have news. If nothing freezes and I can trust my computer again I'll be a satisfied customer. The laptop itself is awesome.

Thanks for your help

 

I was having problems with my 1558; the video display would become unstable causing me to have to reboot my computer. Dell replaced the board, called within 24 hours to make sure my problem was resolved, updated my bios and drives, and called again within 24 hours to make sure my problems were resolved. I have not had any more problems and I am very happy with my 1558 and with Dell's customer service.

 

Keeping aside their post sale before delivery service and attitde even i am very satisfied with Dells customer care - esp. tech support. I have few dells as you can see in my signature (not all mine even the one's owned by my family (mom dad) ) and seeing my this experience ..... which is almost a decade of a satisfied customer.

Only this dell - studio 1558 is the one that gave me true problems from their side .
!. Delivery took almost a month.
2. Faulty DVD drive.

But if i look at this small list i would say its nothing when compared to problems faced by customers from rival brands (Mac not included). And their tech support has been fabulous over the years....and even now... considering the fact that they replaced the drive within 2 dayz... no questions asked... just replaced it !!!!!!


But yes i do hate dell studio in black..... its such a mess full colour... lol... a fingerprint magnet.. Please buy a different colour.

 

So, I had the laptop freeze again today! Again, when I was giving my class, froze right at the second slide. Maybe related to video out (connected on projector)?

I will give Dell a call when the new board gets there and see what they say about it.

 

Oh boy! My 1558 (i7 QM) gets really hot at the touchpad and noisy when the fan kicks in. My "problems" are nothing compared to yours.

I do not consider my 1558 "mission critical". I have it on my desk to do certain specific tasks. I carry a much lighter, much more rugged, much more reliable laptop around to take notes, check news, do emails, and -- like you -- give presentations. This laptop lasts 8 hours on battery. It is not a Dell. nor a Mac. And it is not outrageously expensive.

 

Actually, I have an asus eee which I usually use for presentations and such. I normally don't carry this laptop around too much either.

But I did use it last time since I didn't have time to copy my presentation on my small netbook. Since it froze, it did get me curious as to if it was related to using a projector.

Well I think its pretty much confirmed today, it froze about 5 times during my class, very very annoying to say the least! I will not use it again for sure for presentations. However I have yet to see if its just a problem of using a second monitor or projector.

Hopefully Dell can do something about it :|

 

So, while I haven't yet fixed my problem, I had ordered (weeks ago) a SSD and optical bay to replace the CD drive in the laptop and use two hard drives (with SSD as main)

Now I kinda regret ordering all that before fully testing the system, but nonetheless I should have the optical bay this week and be able to install it. Hopefully the system will have enough power to drive it :| But in my previous search I remember someone on this forum having mentionned such a setup. Any updates?

Also, anyone knows if it is easy to install two different operating systems, on these two drives? I was thinking of installing my main OS (windows) on the SSD and Ubuntu on my other disk drive.


I am still waiting for the motherboard sent by dell to arrive... Computer only freezes when connected to an external monitor so, at least I know that.

 

Bios A11 out for those interested.

Fixes and Enhancements
Fix "After flash BIOS, system will auto shutdown in Clarksfield CPU + above 4GB RAM" issue

Drivers and Downloads

 

Thanks for the update. I wish Dell had better descriptions for their BIOS revisions.

 

I am one of those people. I have had the i5 since May and it has never locked up, crashed or freeze. I initially ordered an i3 and the fan kept kicking into high and they replaced it with the i5 and ATI card. I am currently running Windows 7 Professional x64 and and I am problem free. The CPU on the i5 runs cooler than the i7 does.