New Dell Inspiron 14 7000 / 7437

The one I received 2 weeks ago came with win 8 not 8.1.

 

I have the same 14 inch model due on November 7th. Did yours ship with 8.1? Have you done the SSD update yet? I have a BP4 MSATA drive on the way and I will post pics of the install. I didn't wand to wait for more 5mm SSD options to be released.

Look forward to the pictures of the install. Newegg has the BP4 for $99 right now. It's tempting.

 

I just received mine today. Bought it on Oct 26 and it shipped from New Jersey yesterday and was delivered today. Great laptop for the price. Screen and size are great. Keyboard is actually ok, though the silver keys make it difficult to see if different lighting. Wish it had an SSD option, taking apart most of the computer to put an msata drive probably isn't for me. Unfortunately I can't even find any 5mm SSD drives yet. The seagate 600 5 mm one , I dont think its in stock from cdw.

 

I know this might be a little too much for this laptop but how does VM Ware work on this? And can this handle 720p video-editing? I really love the design and battery life on this one but i'm confused among XPS 14, the 15" Inspiron 7000 and this. Please advice.

 

Inspiron 14 7000 7437 (comment not applicable to 15 in. 7537 which layout and space inside is different)

I was testing with a few options on SSD., and just to try out, I cloned the system to a standard size ssd spec'd 7-mm height (mine look like 6~6.5), surprisingly the bottom cover of laptop "almost" seals perfectly (all screws ok, all clipped well, no gap). There's only a very small part on edge of the bottom cover "out" a bit (i'd say less than half thickness of a girl nail), and most people wouldn't notice if not told.

Well, that is a workaround if someone needs badly SSD performance but can't risk messing up to get access to mSata. I will go through msata in a few days.


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No... I still get the Windows 8 not 8.1 (ordered on Oct.18 and arrived on Nov.1 ) , running on temporary standard ssd.

The battery is "modular" and taped together (as one battery), some might say it is replaceable but in fact that's not easy for general users. It usually lasts some good years and I'm not too worry. Options are likely that we can send back to Dell for a battery replacement, or able to find later on eBay and do it by ourselves.

 

There were some errors appeared during Windows setup after clone /migrating HDD (in original factory state) to SSD. Reboot a few times, it seems not affecting at all and running everything smooth so far.

and, mSata pictures will be posted here.

 

I really wish Dell would have added what seems like an extra 1mm to the chassis to have room for a standard size ssd in there. I was looking at order one of these but price I got a similarly spec Yoga Pro 2 for $1199 with code($1499 original). Now I have to help that the yellow screen issue on the Lenovo is fixable or livable.

 

Wow thanks. I think I'll try that way. Funny when I looked at the bottom of my computer, it already has that small buldge in the same area of the hard drive and I haven't even opened it up yet.

 

An option for using a regular SSD, is in the case of the 840 EVO to just take it out of the casing and install it bare. It will fit that way.

 

Wish I would have known that! Mine(14) is arriving today, 4 days early, MSATA comes tomorrow...

 

Yeah thanks for for that tip. Looks like it should fit. There is no thermal tape anyway in the samsung drive so I guess removing the case shouldnt matter much

 

Yeah the case serves no functional purpose on the EVO's.

 

Has anyone been able to find a 2.5 inch SSD with a height of 5 mm? I found 5 mm high one, but of course it wasn't 2.5 inches

 

Well I got the best buy version of this laptop for $929 which comes with:

Core i7
8gb RAM
500gb HDD

I will be performing surgery here in 2 days and adding the following:

Plextor M5M 256GB
Amazon.com: Lite On Plextor M5M 0.85-Inch 256GB mSATA Solid State Drive (M5M 256GB): Computers & Accessories

Intel 7260 AC+BT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106190

This will put the machine at $1160 for a pretty much stacked configuration. I will try to put a video together on how to access the msata slot but it seems pretty straightforward.

 

I also installed a Bulletproof MSATA in my 14, but I seem to be the only one not clever enough to get it running.... What are the next steps? The drive is now recognized in the Intel Rapid Storage Tech utility but not in Windows. I plan to clone my drive to boot from the MSATA.

 

Here is a picture of the internals with the battery removed. It is super easy to remove as it only has 2 screws. Then all you have to do is unclip the speakers, take out the screws with the arrows, remove the ribbon cables, and the wifi card. Then just flip the board over and the msata slot is underneath where the right speaker is.

 

I was able to install the samsung ssd pro in it. Unfortunately I couldn't remove the case, as it has pentalobe screws which I stripped. I was able in install it without any problems. Everything fits. There is a tiny bulge mentioned before but there was a slight buldge before had. It was easy to clone with the samsung software but the recovery drive isnt cloned. The laptop is extremely fast and close to perfect.

 

I ordered a Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE250KW 250GB 2.5" SATA Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) which is supposed to be 0.28" or 7.11 mm. Hope it works like yours. Maybe I'll have better luck with the screws.

 

I think all the samsung ssds are the same size. There is a smaller cushion underneath the harddrive which I peeled off. I read the evo drives use torx screws instead of the pentalobe ones .

 

Hello everyone,

I think I found a solution regarding a slim (5 mm height) SSD. Please check attached data sheet: http://www.seagate.com/files/www-co...00-ssd/en-gb/docs/600-ssd-ds1780-1-1304gb.pdf. It is a Seagate (ST120HM001 for 120 GB) but the problem is that it is very hard to get, maybe it will take some more weeks to order it.

I also have a question... so yesterday I noticed for the first time that there is a strange sound coming out of the loudspeakers (at least I think that it is coming out of them) whenever I am scrolling. It sounds like something is buzzing or humming, but only when I'm scrolling. Did anyone else notice that noise? I can only hear it when it is very quiet in my room.

 

For those worried about the 5mm SSD it is really easy to install the msata drive. It's as simple as removing some screws and removing the ribbon cables. Other than that just get an EVO and remove it from the casing.

 

Have you actually done it?

My main concern is something not working properly when I put it back together.

 

I just finished. I will post a screenshot with the Plextor M5M and 7260 AC once I finish installing Windows 8.1 Pro on the SSD.

 

I'm looking at the Samsung 840 evo. There are 4 threaded screw holes on the bottom and sides and 1 super mini torx or philips screw on the bottom. It's the single screw that holds the case on I assume?

 

Haha was it as easy as you made it sound?

 

It was beyond easy. I had a harder time getting the damn laptop to boot win 8.1 off the usb stick than taking the laptop apart and installing everything.

 

And here is the M5M and 7260 AC upgrade:

 

I am planning to take this path as well, can you please let us know what tweaks you had to do to boot from usb and any other instructions we need to know to move/install OS to msata?

 

I didnt manage to get my case off as I didnt have the specific pentalobe screwdriver. From the online reviews there are around 4 scews I think, some behind the sticker. Also someone mentioned to slight noise even using the trackpad, thats the mechanical harddrive. It was gone after switched to the ssd.

 

Pretty sexy. I wonder if having the mSATA SSD in there will effect the heat of the machine at all.

 

So in order to have the machine boot from a usb stick with Windows on it you have to use legacy boot mode instead of EFI boot mode. When you hit f12 and boot options come up you just select the other boot option and turn on legacy boot. After this all the drives currently connected will appear on the menu. The 8.1 Pro USB stick was created with the ms win7 usb creator tool.

Also in the bios the msata port will be labeled as secondary drive in the boot priority options. Also once you get the drive running you can turn on intel rapid storage in the bios instead of AHCI. Make sure you install the intel rapid storage driver as well which can be found from the intel web site.

As far as the AC card the driver that comes with the machine already has the AC version of it. If you do this later on you do not need to get another driver as it will recognize both the bluetooth and new AC card if you stick with the 7260.

 

I hate Win 8.1! It is one hot garbage compared to Win 7. Basic stuff just runs slower on my machine vs Win 7. Plus Dell has no drivers available for Win 7 for this laptop. The machine will refuse to wake up from long idle unless I do lid closing, but if I just leave it there it won't wake back up.

 

Have you updated the Intel HD Graphics driver directly from the Dell website? That solved the not waking issue for me and others. Personally I have no problems with 8, and 8.1 made it a whole lot better, I have the 7537 and the only part limiting performance is the HDD. Also, there would be no point business wise to test and support drivers on their website when very few people will actually put win7 on this, I don't see any other manufacturers doing this either.

 

That's why it didn't ship with 8.1.

 

I reinstalled Win 8.1 and found all updated drivers made for 8.1. SSD speed went up now with the new rapid storage.

 

Ok so I finally got the machine running perfect with Win 8.1. I have also done a proper UEFI install with secure boot. This is basically what you do:

1. Download rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way
2. Download gparted live GParted -- A free application for graphically managing disk device partitions
3. Get Win 8.1 ISO (the method that is posted in the forums for the retail version works if you use the generic key and once Windows is installed you can change to OEM key)
4. Make sure your machine is on latest firmware
5 Download Win 8.1 drivers for the machine from Dell website (pick the "All related drivers for your Product" and download every single one)
6. Create bootable Win 8.1 USB stick with the "GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer"
7. Create bootable gparted usb stick as well with same option as above (you are going to have to turn off secure boot to load this one)
8. Boot into gparted and erase all partitions on mechanical HDD (normal windows install partitioner does not see all of them that is why you have to use this one)
9. Turn secure boot back on and boot into Win 8.1 installer and install windows
10. Install all the drivers and initialize volume of mechanical HDD in Windows and format

By doing this there is no need to select a boot drive from bios and system boots faster with EFI.

Note: If you decide to do the wireless AC upgrade you do not need different drivers as the ones included on Dell website will for all 7260 cards.

 

Has anyone gotten windows 7 to work on the this unit dual booted? If not I'm returning it and getting a Macbook pro.

 

I don't understand you people. Why get a laptop with a touchscreen and want to downgrade to Windows 7?

 

Just Plain Stupidity

 

This forum isn't helpful at all. To the two posters above who can't read I said dual boot. If you aren't aware people use these devices for home and work use. No government agency is upgrading to windows 8 anytime soon so yes I want to DUALBOOT my unit with windows 7. If you don't have anything positive to contribute keep your meaningless comments to yourself. Its not your PC so why do others have to be stupid just because they aren't using it the way you are? Some people....

 

Folks,

I just noticed this at my local Best Buy tonight, and I bought the only one they had in stock. All seems good, but if this alleged "IPS screen" is actually "IPS," it is unlike any "IPS" screen I've ever seen.

Bottom line, it has "viewing angle issues" -- it really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really darkens when viewed off-angle. There is definitely a "sweet spot" right in the middle, but just push the screen back a bit, and it'll get really dark with just a very minor angle change.

Otherwise, it does seem to have IPS quality to it -- when viewed off-angle, it doesn't "wash out" like a TN screen, and it still has all of the vibrancy that you expect with an IPS screen off-angle -- it's just that the brightness is far, far darker than when viewed straight-on.

I think this is what the pictures that were posted earlier showed -- especially the way-off-to-the-side shot, which was very dark.

So, what's going on here? Is this what other folks are getting? Does Best Buy have a better price because they ordered it with a funky screen?

All of this said, I've only had the thing out of the box for about an hour, and I've been uninstalling bloatware (not much on the thing, mainly McAfee) and installing my programs, including Classic Shell to rid it of Windows 8 metro nonsense. I haven't changed any "display" settings, though I don't think anything would change this screen behavior. I started out with it at its default brightness, which seems to be "full blast," so I've turned that down, but it's still darkening by the same relative amounts at the lower brightness settings.

So, please let me know if you're seeing the same thing. I didn't notice this with the display model, but I don't think I did a really thorough look at it. So, I'm definitely wondering what you guys are seeing.

Thanks!

Oh. And this definitely has Windows 8.0, not 8.1, which is fine with me.

thoots

UPDATE:

Well, I've definitely found a bit here and a bit there that mentioned that this has an IPS screen -- I found such things while I was researching the notebook at Best Buy -- but either I was reading wrong, or someone was writing wrong. Bottom line, this just isn't / can't be an IPS screen. It does appear to be a pretty good screen to begin with -- colors seem to be accurate, it's nice and bright, and things seem to be generally crisp and good. But I bought it based upon believing that it had an IPS screen, so I'm pretty disappointed. I've compared it to a real IPS screen (Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro), and the Y2P just beats the pants off of this screen. So, I suppose this is why the thing was selling for a few hundred bucks less than competitors with IPS screens -- bucks saved on the screen.

I do rather like the computer -- with the i7, 8 gigs of RAM, and the 500GB hard drive, I'm happy with what it can accomplish. Yes, I want the capacity, not the speed -- I'm kind of tired of living with tiny little 128 GB SSD drives. I'll definitely have to sleep on whether to keep this or toss it back to Best Buy.

thoots

SECOND UPDATE:

Well, "easy come, easy go." After writing the above, I started the Windows Update process, with 59 (or was it 69) updates to install. Not once, but twice, it stalled at 78% in the "Configuring Windows" process after the reboot after the initial installation. Each time it was about an hour until the stall, and then another hour to complete the reversion back. So, that was four hours down the drain. Beats me what was going on -- did I do something to "break" an update somehow? All I really did was install a very few programs -- Classic Shell, Free Commander (file manager program), the HP mouse software to use an HP WiFi mobile mouse, and a little game, "Solitaire XP" to double-check how its size looked on the screen. I plugged a USB thumb drive in to install the programs, and I viewed a few picture files on the drive and played one MP3 file. I uninstalled an Amazon.com thing, the two McAffee things, and the Microsoft Office sales demo thing. So, if any of that "broke an update," well, heck, just get this thing away from me.

So, since I'm unhappy with the screen, I'll just take it back and let Best Buy and/or Dell deal with the Windows Update thing. I did a restore back to the factory default, and packed it up, ready to go back.

In the end, the screen was really quite good -- it certainly fooled me at the store enough to think it was an IPS screen, and I found enough online to suggest it was indeed an IPS screen. But, obviously that's not the case, and next to a real IPS screen, it's certainly down a few notches. I was happy enough with the keyboard, as a touch-typist. Yes, any notebook keyboard is a bit of a compromise, but I found it entirely useable. I loved the styling and the physical thing it is -- a quality-built, thing of beauty. Give it a real IPS screen and ditch the Windows Update nonsense, and I'd be very happy with this computer.

And that's my story. The search continues....

thoots

 

Can't comment on the Best Buy configurations but the two highest end models direct from Dell have IPS screens (i7, 750m, 1080p 1TB and also the 256GB SSD option), mine doesn't darken at all when viewed from any angle. So I can only assume your's did have a TN panel. Did the specifications say it was 1366*768 or 1920*1080?

EDIT: Just realised this is the 14" inch thread but yea the FHD screen should be IPS

 

The only models that have IPS are the Full HD 15in and 14in, the rest HD 15in, HD+ 17in and full HD 17in have TN panel but the TN panel on the Full HD 17in is actually as good as the IPS panel

 

Well, this is absolutely, definitely a "Full HD" screen -- 1920 x 1080. But it sure as heck can't possibly be an IPS screen. As I mentioned before, it doesn't really "wash out" as such when you get off angle, but you definitely see the kind of TN "shadow" as you move around the screen, or move the screen out of a relatively narrow "sweet spot" where you get relatively even brightness. So, I would call it a pretty darn good TN screen, but, again, next to a true IPS screen it is very obviously second-rate.

However, if there truly are configurations with IPS screens, that might well explain why I read that "this model" has an IPS screen -- without describing the exact configuration, someone could write about its IPS screen, very truthfully, but that's just not the configuration that Best Buy was selling.

thoots

 

Hmmm. I returned the 7437 to Best Buy, mainly due to the WIndows Update problem. Heck if I'm going to spend hours trying to troubleshoot that -- they can just have it back.

So, while they did whatever the heck they do for a half-hour when you return something, I scouted around for something -- ANY FREAKING THING -- that had an i7, 8GB of RAM, an IPS screen, a backlit keyboard, and a sizeable hard drive instead of a miserable little SSD. And if it had a bigger screen, so much the better. But I DO NOT WANT a ten-keypad at all -- I don't like that "work on the left side of the notebook" configuration.

Hustling along, I would probably like the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro with the i7 and the 256GB SSD, but I know they didn't have that in stock. Then I happened upon a Sony Fit 15A -- 15-inch screen that THEY ACTUALLY SPECIFY RIGHT THERE IN WRITING that it's an IPS screen (What a feaking concept!! Tell us what it actually is!!), 8GB of RAM, 1TB + 16GB SSD hard drive, and a backlit keyboard with no ten-keypad. Bigger, heavier, more powerful is what I'm really looking for -- I've got tiny little ultraportables, but I want a relative desktop replacement machine, and the bigger the screen, the better.

So, anyway, I see a bit of that "TN shadow" in this screen -- not quite as much as in the Dell, but it's definitely there. Once again, pulling out my existing Yoga 2 Pro (i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD) and setting it up next to the Sony shows that the Y2P's screen is just plain vastly superior to what I guess is a new generation of ultra-crap, cheap garbage "IPS" screens. And thus, perhaps the Best Buy 7437 DOES have an "IPS" screen -- but it sure looks obvious that the industry has come up with some cheap-garbage "IPS in name only" screens. Something just IS NOT RIGHT if you go off-angle and see a heavy veil of darkness cover the screen. All you really have to do is angle the screen back just a few degrees away from a "good" angle, and watch that black veil descend down from the top of the screen.

To me, that just shouldn't happen. That's not what "IPS viewing angles" are about -- you should be able to go to off-angles virtually without any change to the screen brightness at all.

But, these new/awful screens just change dramatically once you move away from a rather small "sweet spot," and then this "TN shadow" or "veil" darkens them substantially. I guess you can tell it is "IPS" because the image doesn't "wash out" like a TN panel does, but they do darken an ENORMOUS amount.

To be fair, a "good" IPS panel like the one in the Lenovo Y2P does show a VERY SLIGHT dimming when you move off-angle, but it is barely noticeable. Whereas, meanwhile, these new/awful "IPS" screens darken MASSIVELY.

Anyway, so I think I've come full circle now. I think the 7437's screen was actually quite good, when viewed straight-on, but the Lenovo Y2P screen is just buttery-smooth and just clearly better all around, compared to it. If I hadn't been stymied by the Windows Update nonsense, it probably would have gotten the job done for me well enough. The Sony is quite a bit more money, but I would say it has a better screen and better keyboard than the Dell, along with "better" stuff like discrete video RAM, double the hard drive space, and so on. And I'm happier with the bigger screen plus the oh-so-rare 15-inch keyboard without a ten-keypad. And by gum, I just successfully got through the Windows Update routine on it a minute ago! So, hopefully I'll be able to soldier along with that just fine. And I hope I've helped the conversation here a bit -- I sure thought that the 7437 was a pretty neat machine, overall. Enjoy!

thoots

 

I don't think there are any display manufacturers that currently make a 14" 1080p TN screen.

 

The one I bought from dell is definitely an IPS screen or equivalent, much better then my lenovo x220 screen. I don't know if anyone else had the same issue, but I changed the harddrive and also the wirelss card to ac now windows is deactivated and asking for a new code which is annoying.

 

Yes, I would just call this my first experience with what I sure consider to be “a new generation of sub-standard IPS screens,” which have what I would call “TN screen shadows” that darken the screens when viewed off-axis. To me, these screens utterly destroy one of the two advantages of IPS screens over TN screens – “true” IPS screens should not show any substantial change in brightness when viewed off-angle, and they should not “wash out” when viewed off-angle. These screens are OK in terms of “not washing out,” but especially this one in particular is absolutely no better than any TN screen in terms of the darkening “shadow” effect when viewed off-angle.

Again, just go to any Best Buy and look at this Dell notebook – adjust the screen’s angle so you get the best, most even brightness, and then push the screen back from that point just a few degrees, and you will see a “shadow of darkness” descend from the top of the screen down to the point where it will completely cover the screen as you keep on moving it farther back. Then, go find a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro notebook, and try the same thing – you simply won’t see this kind of “darkening” happening at all.

So, yes, call the Dell screen a “full HD” IPS screen – but I’m utterly dumbfounded by the massive “TN screen shadows” it produces. Just like any TN screen ever made, you have to keep your vision within a very tight area in order to enjoy a bright, evenly-lit screen. Let's just say that you can buy competitive notebooks with far, far better "IPS" screens.

thoots

 

I have the IPS 15" model and have none of these issues. Could the 14" panel is manufactured by someone else.

 

That is entirely possible. Anything is entirely possible these days.