Dell Studio 1555

In my note the cpu has always lower temperature than the gpu, and the fans seems to goes on when the GPU is at 50-51 C, then they goes off when the GPU reaches 45 C.

 

Apologies, but is it easy to upgrade the DVD drive on the Dell?

Looking at buying one in the UK, though I'm having to skimp on the processor in order to get a BluRay drive and 1080p screen.

If I could upgrade to bluray at a later date, it means I could upgrade the processor to a T6400, or potentially a P8600.

And how easy is it to upgrade the hard disk/RAM?

Thanks This seems like the perfect laptop I've been looking for.

 

Photoshop CS2 works just fine in Vista. Also in Windows 7 RC.

 

The optical drive replacement is a fairly straightforward, if tedious, procedure. You'll have to remove the display unit and palmrest in order to expose it, at which point you simply remove one screw and slide it out. It sounds harder than it really is. Just keep track of your screws.

The hard drive and RAM are very easy to replace. Simply remove the bottom panel by loosening the three screws that hold it in place. The RAM modules are there, ready to be popped out, and the hard drive is held in place by four screws.

 

Thanks Just read about 80 pages back that the CPU is a pain to replace, so I guess it'll be worth upgrading that, and then do the optical drive. The savings of not upgrading the hard drive and RAM are negliable, and tbh, it's probably cheaper to go through Dell for those - 30quid for an extra 2gig ram and upgrade to a 320gb drive.

And finally, is it easy to find third party BluRay drives I could put in? Though I'm not that keen on taking apart the display unit. Maybe I should just get the cheapest model, with BluRay, T8600, and 1080p screen, and then upgrade the RAM and Hard Disk at a later date, as that sounds an easier way to do it. Not sure how much that saves, I'll go look!

Again, thanks

 

Yeah, I'm not sure where it is shipping from. I checked the tracking number and it says it has been delivered to Florida and I'm in Minnesota. Does Fedex re-use tracking numbers and this one just hasn't been updated?

Edit: checked again and it has been updated for my address. They must re-use old numbers.

 

You should theoretically be able to use any 12.7mm SATA slot-loading Blu-Ray drive. I believe the particular Sony Optiarc model that Dell offers retails for around $130 on its own.

 

So no one else has the DellDock.exe CPU useage problem?

Just a side note...My desktop, which is connected directly to the router, never got past 8mb/s on this test, yet look at the score my laptop is getting:



Is it strange that the wireless connection is faster than the wired? Or could it be because the desktop itself was too slow to handle it?

 

Thanks for your help . I've decided just to get the offer model, and adding the 1080p screen, the P8600, and BluRay, and I'll upgrade the wireless card at a later date as I've read it is easy to do.

Unfortunately, updating the base model with just the BluRay, backlit keyboard, and 1080p screen, along with the 512MB GPU comes up to over £1000 . Whereas upgrading the offer model, despite having more RAM, and the 512MB GPU, and a bigger drive, is 200 odd quid less. Heh.

I'm just waiting for a 10% coupon or the like, that with my education discount should be within my budget. 16% discount as opposed to 11% .

Again, thanks for your help . The last thing I would like to know, not to be intrusive, is if you can add bluetooth at a later date?

 

What kind of moron looses their camera IN THEIR OWN BATHROOM?! Apparently me. Party must have been funner than i thought

Well anyways here are the pics i promised. Yes, I am a crappy photographer. If you have any requests for other pictures feel free to ask.

 

@tipoo- Whats ur laptops config?..
and yea even i am having Dell dock CPU usuage problem...its like using 8-10 percent processor at an avg...no idea wat to do abt it...

 

T6500 (2.1GHz core 2 duo), 250gb hard drive, 4GB DDR 800Mhz, Radeon 4570 256mb. I noteiced your base specs are the same, except you have the 512mb card. Whats your Vista score for graphics? Overall score?

I tried reinstalling the Dell Dock, didnt help at all. If anyone finds a solution, be sure to post it!

 

That's pretty close to my build. What display did you get?

 

LG7001. Which one did you get? And which one is the best, second best, and worst?

 

I went with 1080p, but haven't received it yet so am unsure on the model number. Is the LG7001 900p or 1080p?

 

Oh, i thought you were asking for the actual display panel, sorry. Mine was just the standard 720p one, i kind of wish i had went with the higher resolution ones but this one is beautiful as it is.

 

@tipoo- my graphics shows the same as urs...so does the processor and RAM... i got the 320GB 7200 RPM.its pretty fast..and even my screen's a 720p LGD7001...its works fine...
@sonarav&tipoo..lol we belong to the T6500 club...

 

lol, yeah. It just seemed to offer the best bang for your buck, so the three of us are smart shoppers

 

but it kinda saps more power out of the battery compared to those 'P' processors...

 

Yeah, but the P series added hundreds of dollars to the cost, i doubt the power savings would be worth it, and the performance isn't too far ahead. So the T6500 rules the bunch for that price/performance ratio.

Its interesting that the two available graphics cards get the same Vista Expirience Index score, it seems that benchmark only checks the graphics core itself, not how much/how fast video memory the card has.

 

yea true...but also the performance is also around the same, the extra 256MB not making much diff i guess...its weird tht the 4GB is giving a score of 5.0..infact i got even 5.1 and 5.2 sometimes..i expected 5.8 or somethin..
and one more thing..i got a more basic intel centrino sticker..without the blue colour and the centrino "2" written on...not tht i care..

 

You can always undervolt. It will pretty much negate the power draw difference between the T and P series processors.

 

No prob. You are fortunate you got the LG model and not the Samsung. I've read bad things about the Samsung displays.

Exactly. Plus, I got a free upgrade to the 9 cell, so I'll be doing just fine for battery life. I won't be using the laptop for gaming, so I didn't need an insanely fast processor. However, the 6500 will certainly be an improvement from my current Pentium 4 2.8 Single core.

Photoshop (if 7 will install) and compiling programs will likely be my most intensive work on the laptop.

 

Yea!!..undervolting is something tht i am gonna try soon..

 

Thats another oddity about Vista's scores, it measures memory operations per second rather than how much RAM you have in total, which is more important for Vista IMHO.

Can someone reccomend me a good stability testing program? I was running 3D mark 2001 just for kicks, and not even 2 minutes in the fan went into overdrive and the whole computer shut down!

Will undervolting void the warrenty?

 

I plan on doing this.

tipoo, utprabh and others, this is the guide I plan on following:

Undervolting

 

thnks...even I was plannin on using tht guide..but ill let u try it out first and tell us the difference..

 

@tipoo...no i doubt it affects the warranty...its pretty safe and effective till a limit from wat i have heard...but let the notebook geeks tell u more on tht..

 

Alright thanks, I'll look into it later. I've overvolted before, never undervolted though

By the way...

Help?

 

I just noticed Dell has removed the edge-to-edge Display option from the US site. I hope there is not an issue with them because I ordered one last week with the edge-to-edge display.

 

How do you know if you ordered a display with Edge to Edge? Does it state it right in the description?

This is mine:

15.6” Full High Definition (1080p) High Brightness LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera

 

Actually it was an option listed under color choice. Here is mine:

320-8005 1 Ruby Red with Edge-to-Edge Display

It was only offered in Ruby Red and Midnight Blue.

 

Ah, well I got Black Chainlink, so no Edge to Edge for me.

 

the centrino 2 branding is dead
Intel is phasing out the laptop platform name so for now its just going to be centrino and in the future centrino will be associated with their wireless techonology
http://www.intel.com/consumer/brand.htm

 

one question..how do i chk whether my ATI drivers are up to date...i got mine on the 21st so i guess dell wud have updated it...but even then??.
i dont wanna unncessarily download it again just to find out tht its the latest version..

 

support.dell.ca, go to drivers and pick your model.

 

ya i did tht before...dell driver download manager says all my drivers are up to date..so i guess its fine..anyway thkns..

 

hey i just found a new version of ATI drivers...after installing it my vista experience index for the Aero Graphics dropped down to 5.0 from 5.1....lol

 

Where did you find newer ones? The Dell website ones are still the same, arent they?

 

supposedly the dell driver upgrade manager picked up on a newer version than my stock one..i looked mine at dell.co.in
the version is "Driver Packaging Version 8.553.2-081114a1-072190C-Dell"
i dont know if its the latest..

 

Hi to all Studio 1555 owners

can someone post here a link to a step by step on how to uninstall vista and install XP PRO?

RESOLUME - a VJ application runs better on XP

Thanks

 

Step 1: Insert XP PRO disk
Step 2: Reformat and install.

 

You should probably mention that he will either have to set SATA mode to IDE or ATA rather than AHCI in BIOS. That, or slipstream AHCI drivers into the install disk.

 

thanks for the fast reply mate.
the second step: how to reformat? the lappi will restart and install xp?

 

In Israel we have Infected Mashroom!

Thats why i wanted a step by step guide for a newbie...

 

Just boot it up and insert the disk, it may launch from the disk automaticaly or you may have to go into your boot menu or BIOS and select your CD/DVD drive, then go from there.

If all else fails:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+install+windows+xp&page=&utm_source=opensearch

 

http://www.laptopdrivers.net/dell-studio-1555-laptop-download-windows-xp-drivers/#more-682

right?

 

Those are all the drivers for XP, yes.

 

well - looks like another night without sleep.

thanks for the info mates

 

Tipoo, it's a little more complicated than that.

The reason being is that no doubt your HDD is setup to run in AHCI mode. Windows XP does not have those drivers natively available, so you either need to go into the BIOS and change the setting to ATA (but this means you will be stuck with that), or you need to make sure you have the AHCI drivers for Windows XP downloaded already onto a usb key (I think a usb key would work), or you could slipstream them onto the installation disk as Mastershroom said.