Dell Studio 1555

hi everyone here , is there any way i can install the newest 9.6 graphics drivers for my 4570 , mobility modder does'nt supports HD 4xxx series and dell has decade old drivers on the drivers download page

 

Hi guys! I bought an HDMI cable and finally connected the lappy to my 50" plasma 720p HDTV. Well, it's a hybrid stuff from Hitachi (semi-full HD of 1280x1080 50PD9800)
Display: Without changing anything (resolution set to 1366x768), it displayed on the TV, it's great but (sadly there's a but) there is an black frame around the laptop screen: 10pix top and bottom and around 20pix left and right, therefore not occupying the full screen of the TV. I tried lower resolutions (1280x768 and 1280x720) and the frame is still there. Since 720p = 1280x720 so it should be full display.
- Of course I tried the TV modes: Full mode (acc. to the TV manual, it shows 95% of the size); Full1080 (100% of the size) but no impact on my frame.
==> Any idea on how to remove this black frame?

Note: I think it's about the video card, because using HDMI TV input with DVD player doesn't display any black frame.

Sound: it's almost perfect. Computer sounds, video playback are fine. I just don't have sound when I watch for instance TVUnetworks (that uses I guess Windows Media). I still have to figure out why.

That's it for my short HDMI review.

Plasma TV's don't like permanent images (like my black frame) because of image retention.
cheers,

 

Hey everyone...Just got my Studio 1555 today! I love it love it love it love it! I was very impressed by the build quality, i expected less from Dell but this thing is up there with any other laptop I've seen. I love the Spring green colour, the only thing i regret is not bumping up the screen resolution but its still very good. Did i mention i love it? There wasnt any crapware that starts up with the system, which is nice. I have yet to check everything thats installed though. Vista is quite snappy with 4gb of RAM and the Radeon 4570 graphics card, I'm pleased to report. I also just registered for the free Windows 7 upgrade just now.


Just one thing though, DellWebCam.exe was eating up all of one core on my computer, so i stopped the process. Did anyone else have this problem? Any fixes or workarounds? Thanks

btw if people care enough i'll post some pictures.

 

What is the benefit of the intel card over the dell card? I bought the dell card with my system as I figured they did pretty much the same thing.

 

There should be a setting in the Catalyst Control Center unde the "Digital Panel" heading in the tree on the left side. I think you need to be in advanced mode.

Anyways, I can't remember what it's called but there's a slider bar that adjusts the scaling of the picture for your HDTV. Try messing with that.

 

its faster, the default is a 1x1 card and the upgraded one is a 3x3 card, thats receive antennae x transmit antennae if i can remember correctly. Shouldnt make too big a difference though, for most people who's internet connection itself is the bottleneck.

p.s the dellwebcam.exe issue sorted itself out.

 

Centrino basically faster, more range and could create a personal network (PAN).

By the way I did find that the 1555 came with very little bloatware I was very surprised. But I still did a clean install and got rid of the restore partition.

 

what should the PCI Express link state power management be set to? On battery, i have it set to maximum power savings, but what about when its plugged in?


p.s speakers seemed to be one of the concerns with the Studio 1555, i think they are fine. They are loud enough, just dont expect to use this as your sound system for a party. They do sound a bit tinny and hollow though, maybe that can be fixed by messing with the EQ.

 

While you're plugged in, you might as well set it to maximum performance. No sense extending battery life while you're hooked to AC power.

 

I got my 1555 today and i love it!

But i seem to have a problem and thought i'd ask here before calling Dell.

It seems that where and however i enter my Service Tag-number om Dells site it just says "Not valid". Even if i let the site scan my machine i says "Not a valid Service Tag".

Does it take a few days for Dell to update their database? Or have they simply forgot to put in my tag number?

 

Weird, i just got mine today too and it works perfectly everywhere. I would call Dell if i were you.

 

Hey guys iv gotten a few fingerprints on my screen since getting my 1555 last week. I was just wondering if there is a certain way of cleaning it that works the best, I know iv read in the past not to use anything like windex, if anyone knows any tricks id like to know

thanks in advance!

 

I just use a breath of hot air and a microfiber cloth. Hasn't failed me yet.

 

Haha alright thanks, I just thought of another question i had, i recently installed windows 7 and I remember since i had the 5300 card my dell came with a program where I could transmit my own wifi network, however since I reinstalled everything I cant seem to find this software anywhere does anyone know where i can download it?

 

If it's what I'm thinking of, it should be available from Intel.

 

yah iv looked all over their site, but all i can seem to find is drivers not the application itself, iv looked on google and i believe its called my wifi if anyone has any other places to look it would be appreciated

 

Can any Studio 1555 owners here give me some feedback on the keyboard and trackpad? I am considering a Studio 1555 and have heard mixed things about how sturdy the keyboard is. If I were to get one the primary use would be word processing, web surfing, and gaming. (And by "gaming" I mean old school DOS and Windows games). How comfortable is it to type on?

I really like the touchpad in the new MacBook Pro's but (of course) the Windows drivers provided by Apple limit its functionality. Can anyone compare?

 

When I received mine, it took two days for their system to recognize it. I couldn't register for the Windows 7 Upgrade until 2 days later. After that I was able to use my service tag on different parts of the website. But the "Upgrade or Extend Warranty" section still doesn't accept my service tag. I called Dell and the rep told me since my system is still quite new, to wait a week or something and then try again.

 

Hey can anyone tell me if this T?JHXNQQC0SDWW 25% off coupon is legit?

I got it to work after chatting with a Dell guy, but the lack of information about this coupon on this site frightens me haha. Don't want to find out I am getting worked by some fake Dell site.

 

It's legit. I used it for the laptop I'm using right now. It expires on August first I think. I think it only works on the $599 model after you have customized it up to $550 worth of upgrades, totalling atleast $1149. Once you've put enough upgrades on it, the coupon will be effective. This is all before tax of course.

 

Awesome man, thanks a lot.

 

Anyone here actually use the Facial recognition software? Is it useful/reliable? What are your thoughts on it?

I was also wondering if anyone is willing to share it. I found a thread doing a search here where someone provided the link for the download, but its an old thread and the file has been taken down.

 

I think this has been asked before, but why isnt Vista SP2 showing up in WU? All the other updates are done so it should be there now, is it being rolled out through WU yet?

 

This happened to me before. Some people stated after a couple of updates and reboots it finally shows up. I did all that and it still didn't show up so I just went ahead and manually downloaded the SP2 setup and installed it.

 

Was it worth it? By most reviewers accounts, it actually decreased performance across the board. Plus, if I'm going to be getting Windows 7 in a few months, why bother, right?

 

Honestly, I haven't noticed a difference whether faster or slower, and yes if you're planning on using Windows 7 in a few months then you could just wait it out. I'm upgrading aswell in a few months and if I would have known, I wouldn't have researched the issue of why SP2 wasn't showing up in WU and bothered go through Microsoft's diagnoisis of what may have caused the problem lol.

 

HDMI connection to HDTV

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'll try playing with the settings tonight

By the way, I found a document I'd like to share with you:
http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/HDTV_Setup_Guide.pdf
It's a manual describing how to use Catalyst Control when connecting additional monitors or HDTV.

 

i manually downloaded SP2 because the update wasn't showing up in WU for me either. honestly, i haven't noticed any performance upgrade. if anything, it has gotten slower. before with SP1 my cpu would idle at 1-3% and now it's much higher than that. i rarely see it go below 10%...not sure why. can't wait for the windows 7 update though because i'm really disliking how much of a resource hog vista is. btw this is with a P8600 and 512 MB ATI 4570 and 4 gigs of RAM

 

The keyboard is one of the best and most comfortable I've ever used. Good snap and travel, yet quiet and only needs a light touch to press. The touchpad is excellent; it's a Synaptics model, same as used in the Macbooks. You can take advantage of two-finger scrolling, multitouch button emulation, and stuff like that with this little program:

http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scroll/downloads/list

I love it. It takes three or four manual logins to get a good feel for your face, but since then it hasn't failed me.

http://www.filefront.com/13955941/Dell-FastAccess.zip/

 

Thanks a lot Mastershroom

Well thats good to hear. I'll have to set it up and see how it goes.

 

I want my studio 15 now! sick of waiting. Up urs FedEx. Rant Over

 

Just installed and updated the facial recognition software.

I'm really surprised at how accurate it is. My brother was trying to get it to login with his face and it wouldn't do it. Friends have said we look a like too lol. Then I walked up from behind probably about 4 feet back and it recognized me and logged in. Pretty neat. The only cons about it is that it does take about 10 seconds to boot up the webcam at the login screen. Anyways, I like it. Thanks again Mastershroom

truebullfan, I understand that feeling lol. The wait will be worth it though!

 

hey streetmagus, how did you update the software? everything runs great, but when i try to run the update it says it's unable to update because the folder is read-only. when i try to remove the read-only tag from the program folder, it won't stay undone...i think it's because it identifies it as a system file. i have 64 bit windows vista btw. did this happen to you as well?

 

Once you update FastAccess, it starts the webcam much quicker, and doesn't give you those annoying color bar test patterns while it's loading.

It updated just fine for me on 64-bit Vista.

 

It didn't happen to me. I restarted after installing the software then I updated and restarted once again. I am also running 64 bit windows vista. Not sure what the problem you're encountering is.

 

Is it worth getting the SP2-update for Vista? I heard game performance etc takes a hit.

 

I know the feeling, i ordered mine the Wednesday before last, it was dispatched on Saturday or Monday, and aparently they came, but no one was in the hosue... but i was and im sure they didnt come, today i got a letter, that they are delivering on Monday.... BAHHHH

 

No difference at all in performance, and it has some important security fixes. You should download it.

I'm willing to bet that anyone who says they lost performance just thinks they did. Placebo effect, you know. They hear that it kills performance, and then they believe that it's happening to them.

 

Try running the 'Check for updates' as an administrator. It didn't work for me if I didn't do it.

 

How much does the Dell FastAccess face detector thingy bog down startup time, if any?

 

Thanks Mastershroom you've been a huge help.

One last question before I get my Studio. How bad is the 720p screen? I don't need to have a fancy screen as I would be using my system primarily for word processing, Internet, and old games... Is it really worth the upgrade to get the 900p?

 

Is the speed and range increase only for N networks? My Verizon FIOS wireless router only supports G anyway. If it actually boosts G performance I might be interested since my internet connection over FIOS is blazing fast.

Also just wanted to say in general I've had my Studio 1555 for a week and so far everything is great. I had to manually install SP2 as Windows Update refused to find it automatically. For those on the fence about the screen resolution I am loving the 1080p screen, I've watched a couple Blu-ray movies on it and they look awesome. The text is very small but I like it that way.

Only problem I've had was with PowerDVD hanging one time. Seems like its kinda junky actually, can anyone else recommend a better program for playing Blu-rays?

 

How much will regular use of battery for some period of time in a day affect the life of the battery?..
For example if in a day i use the battery for like half hour and then charge it again and then again use it later for another half hour and so on...
Is it better to keep the "disable battery charging" on so tht the battery runs out completely throughout the day and then only charge it completely at night or something?

 

I would want to get it for the extra space it can provide. It really helps.

 

The only thing i regret about my purchase is not upgrading the screen, i say it would be worth it. The standard 720p screen is fine, its just that i could use more desktop real estate, and i can see individual pixels without much effort.

 

Sweet, Intel is dropping the price of the platform in this laptop

http://laptop-review.eu/Content/News/intel-talks-notebook-plans-for-the-second-half-of-2009.html

 

If you frequently drain and then recharge a lithium-ion battery (the type found in this and almost every other recent laptop), it can quickly lose its ability to hold a charge. The practice of completely draining and then fully charging a battery is advice that applied to nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries and, to a lesser extent, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Lithium-ion batteries last longer if you charge them often, a little at a time, to maintain a minimum charge of about 40 percent capacity. So no, dont let it completely discharge before you recharge it, that only helps for older batteries.

 

What's a better combination?

2.8 GHz processor, T9600 w/ 256MB 4570 card
or
512 MB 4570 card w/ 2.53GHz P8700

Which will give me a better gaming performance? They both cost the same to upgrade and I'd assume similar power consumption under a small load.

 

If its gaming performance you want, go with the upgraded graphics card. Most games today are graphics card limited, not processor limited.

p.s speaking of which, CCC tells me the Radeon card has 2gb of video memory, presumably drawing it from my system memory. How do i limit the maximum memory it uses? I dont think i need to, since all my memory is accessible right now, but just curious.

P.p.s, I just got FastAccess (dells facial recognition software) and i like it quite a bit. If anyones planning on ordering the studio 15 soon though, dont get it with the software! you can download it for free afterwards, its 50 dollars from dell.

 

install the facial recognition program in a different folder (for example - C:\fastaccess ) , try upgrading then and it will work



someone please reply to my query of upgrading the display drivers to the latest version 9.6 coz mobility modder doesnt supports 4570