Just got a Studio 1555 to replace my 1535

My computer is pretty old; bought it when i entered high school.

It's not THAT slow, but like i'm used to opening firefox and stuff spontaneously; and i tried top open IE on it, and it took like 2 seconds to load.

I'm sure after the format, it'll be up to speed!

Btw, is roxio creator a trial version?? Nero 7's > roxio right?

 

i have always found roxio to be bloated software. I dont think its a trial version.

 

it's not a trial version... but it's a limited version...You can only do the basic things with it. just get rid of it.

 

cyberlink powerdvd sounds very bloatware too. Isn't that what windows media player is for? =S

 

My opinion... get rid of that... and get rid of WMP.... I hate it... get Itunes for music and download VLC media player for video/dvds

VLC uses barely any resources. it's great

 

Alright thanks. Lmao, after my format, everything looked REALLY bad and splotchy. I thought it was the doing of the 720p screen, and was freaking out to return it.

But after I installed video driver; everything fixed itself; whew!

Btw, is there a way I can check the manufacturer of the screen? I can't seem to find it

 

I wouldn't reinstall any of that extra software. ImgBurn is free, and is great for burning ISO images and such. And you don't need CyberLink to play DVDs either.

It's normal for a laptop to actually be a bit slower the first few times it's used; Vista needs a few boots to get itself updated and to optimize its memory management. Now that it's a week after I freshly installed Vista, it's easily 20 seconds less to get to the desktop than it was the first time I booted after a format.

 

alright;

I'm currently installing all the drivers from that CD. I should install most of it right? (cause there are some I don't really know what it is (such as conexant D400?)

Btw shroom, is ur touchpad constantly warm? (its not like hot, but it feels warmish)

Also, I notcied that I have to turn on bluetooth to get a wifi signal? Is this normal?

 

Yes go w/ VLC media player. It plays everything but I do like windows 7 windows media player version. It plays Xvid/DivX now.

 

You should install the drivers from Dell's support website; they will be newer than the ones on your driver disk. In fact, throwing out the driver disk is one of the first things I did.

You don't need all of those drivers. The Conexant D400 is for a USB 56k modem, which you probably don't have. The only ones you'll really need are the chipset, graphics, audio, touchpad, webcam, QuickSet software, LAN, WiFi, Bluetooth, and the latest BIOS revision.

I've also noticed the touchpad getting warm, but not hot. That's normal; the memory and mini-cards are right underneath it.

And yes, Bluetooth and WiFi are both controlled by the radio switch. You can disable one or the other in BIOS, though.

 

alright thanks; i spammed installed drivers on the cd; if anyone acts up; i'll just update it from the site then.

So far the studio1555 is amazing; had some troubles with updates (stupid vista); but yeah, it solved itself on its own.

I'm starting to see the fingerprints on my cover though; it doesn't bother me much; but it might to some ppl.

 

Yeah, that's the one thing I don't love about the Black Chainlink design; fingerprints become obvious in good lighting.

Ah well. Nothing that can't be taken care of by a nice microfiber cloth.

 

Hum... I'm wondering if I should do a clean install when I get my system....how hard was it? stick in the disk and go?

 

Basically. You'll have to hit F12 on the splash screen to select the DVD as the boot device, but after that, yeah, it's pretty straightforward. I also opted to reformat the recovery partition, but formatting and partitioning are entirely up to you.

 

ughh... i don't know what's going on.

I tried installing MSN, iTunes, and Vista SP2, and they all FAILED.

I have no idea what's going on...ugh. I'm sure I downlaoded the x64 versions; yet they still don't work. I restarted and tried again to see if it will work.

 

Service Pack 2 seems to require two attempts for me before installing correctly via Windows Update. No idea why. But after it gets done, everything's peachy.

 

I'm considering another format; something's obviously wrong. I think my microsoft office's installation messed up mad; screwing up everything afterwards? (cause i got like a ERROR when i installed office; but then i could open word and stuff).

ugh..im starting to hate vista so bad.

 

It's not Vista's fault. I've had virtually zero trouble with Vista on all 3 of my machines, and those of my family. That's way more than I can say for XP.

Not trying to sound like an elitist, but I really hate when people just assume everything is the fault of Vista.

 

honestly; i have formated XP a thousand times; and it has never happened to me before. Maybe it's just bad luck for me lmao.

 

It certainly sounds like it. As a precaution, you may want to try re-seating your memory in the slots. Loose memory can play all kinds of hell with a computer.

 

lol, i really don't feel comfortable opening up my laptop; not computer savvy enough!

Okay, just installed SP2, hopefully everything will install properly now!

EDIT: still not working; gonna reformat again to see if it'll solve the installation errors.

 

The RAM is extremely easy to re-seat; all you have to do is loosen the 3 screws on the bottom panel and pop it off. The memory is right there.

 

If after the clean install, it still doens't work; i'll try looking at the RAM. However, I dont want it to void my warranty...will it?

Btw, do we have to update the BIOS? (Or is the CD already current enough)

 

Not at all. It's pretty difficult to void your warranty, actually. As long as you don't break something, Dell doesn't really care what you do to your system. I've replaced more processors than I can count, and disassembled stuff to the motherboard level, and the technicians never notice or care.

But yeah, RAM is made easy to access for a reason.

 

alright, but yeah do we have to update the BIOS as well?

 

Naw... Ram is the easiest thing to do... it's literally plug it in and go. It's as easy as plugging in the battery...

Which version of Office are you running? Any luck with all the reformatting now?

 

office 2007. Just reformated. Installing drivers when it's commericals for big brother, lmao.

But yeah, is the BIOS update necessary? (or is it already updated)

 

The version on the dell.ca website is A06... It should be up to date. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be...

How is it working now?
Have you tried to register your computer for the Win7 upgrade?

 

yeah i did it awhile ago; worked smoothly. Stlll installing drivers. yeah, i'm sort of queazy on flashing bios, so i'll just leave it be for now.

 

Okay, these drivers are pissing me off. This is the second time I instaled the wireless LAN setup, and both time; it's stuck at like 99-100%...Should I just wait for it to move or just close it? Anyone else have this problem?

 

Not sure why you would need to adjust the memory on a brand new laptop. I really hope I won't have those problems when my studio 1555 arrives b/c I plan on doing a fresh install of Vista a day or two after im done making sure all there arent any defects (screen, DVD drive, etc.).

Just curious is there a difference btw a fresh install of the OS and reformatting? Wouldn't doing a clean install first reformat the HDD by wiping it clean then installing the OS again.

 

No offense to Junctioned, but i dont think there are any real problems with his computer yet? Just drivers and annoyances... Drivers always are finicky and take time to get everything perfectly set up. Should be good to go soon by the sounds of it

 

no there's something wrong. My Graphics card dirver won't install now; i think it's some hardware problem...oh god.

 

did it install last time? Just relax....i'm sure it will work out We just need to be optimistic that Dell isn't just a Lemon Tree.

 

yeah, it worked last time...now it won't work this time.

Honestly, I have reformated comps dozens of times, and it has never happened to me before. This is either the doing of Vista (which i'm thinking) or Dell's hardware problem...ugh

I used the Graphic Card drivers on dell.ca and it didnt work; so im gonna try the disc graphic card driver's now...

 

My guess is that it's Vista... because it wouldn't make sense if it worked one time, but didn't work the next....

 

i can see where all the Vista hatin' came from...holy crap its bad compared to XP.

 

The exact same drivers installed flawlessly on my system, and guess what - I'm using Vista.

It may actually be a hardware fault. What hard drive did you get? What brand?

 

how do i check?

The graphics card driver from dell.ca didn't work; but the one on the disc did. Microsoft Office installed properly this time; don't know what happened last time.

Btw, is it normal for the processes to be at 30-60% constantly?

 

hi guys
i'm new here and just wanted to do a copper mod on my studio 1555's gpu. i read, mastershroom took a 14x14x1mm shim...
is this actually the best size? and is it worth it?

greetz,
jonnyjoint

 

I'd say that's the smallest surface area to effectively cover the entire GPU die, although you could probably get away with as little as 10x10mm. As for thickness, 1mm is working great so far, although 1.5mm would probably work as well. The shim cost me a dollar, so I'd say it's worth it.

 

now i'm going to get an 15x15x1.5 shim.
so, 1.5mm is not too thick?

 

Shouldn't be. Just don't force the screws too tight.

 

allright, thx