New Dell Studio 17 announced (Studio 1745/47)

I decided to send mine back in favour of the i7 model (waiting on delivery). The Core2Duo was probably fast enough but I have a disorder that makes me want to be able to score high results in synthetic benchmarks

Will re-installing Windows from the supplied disks install a clean copy of windows or will it have all the dell crap on it?

Has anyone had any success in over clocking the graphics?

 

because i'm using ubuntu, the win7 is quite fresh.
i just installed firefox, pidgin and some other little programms, nothing big (besides 3DMark06). i don't even have a anti-virus software installed (mcaffe demo got uninstalled)
well, i'm rarely in win7 so i don't mind XD

 

ok, its enough!
i uninstalled the driver for the graphic card in ubuntu 9.10 (64 bit), seems like it crashes far to often >_<
the normal display works (without acceleration) so i'll just wait for the linux core 2.6.32 to come to ubuntu, it should fix the problem with the radeon 4650 as far as i know

 

I didn't do a reinstall of Windows 7. But I did make sure to build the system without added software. No antivirus, no wild tangent, no productivity software. I then uninstalled what I didn't want and used a registry cleaner. That's all I ever do.

Just reran and got this 3DMark06 score 6986.

 

How much CrapWare is initially installed on the studio 17? As I have mentioned in another thread, I plan on completely wiping it clean the minute I get it. I will upgrade from Win 7 Home to Win 7 Prof. (free through my school)

Are Will I need to install separate drivers from Dell in order to get everything working right when I do? (i.e. backlight on keyboard or whatever)

 

Backlight on keyboard I'd imagine is hardware only. Windows will probably find drivers for everything for you except the video card.

 

I`m getting the i7 with 1gig radeon, and will be using ubuntu. what problems have you had?
have you tried getting the newer kernel debs? http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.32/
or newer driver from ati?

 

Gah, was going to order the studio 17 - after reading the review which came out today - only to my horror to see - the RGB led is not offered in the UK, while it is in the US ! I mean, I was sad I couldn't do the SSD option, but the RGBLED SCREEN TOO!?!?!??

Anyone know someone in Dell who has an idea when RGB led will come to UK ?

Oh God.. SO cheap too on US..£850 for the i7, full 1080 RGB Led etc etc with 3 years warranty IF SOMEONE KNOWS of a reliable way I can get one to come to the UK by ordering from the US Dell - please let me know!

 

Link to review?

 

It is on the main page of NBR.com

 

Thanks, i rarely go to the main page, just the forums. lol

 

I know what you mean
The review is really nice. Has me assured I made a good decision.

Even the temperatures are allright, except for the little hotspot above the touchpad. And the battery life, more than 4 hours (screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 on the balanced profile). Impressive!

 

Having owned both the very cheapest version of the Studio 17" (returned to Best Buy because I wasn't satisfied with the screen, and I thought it had a Radeon graphics card, turned out to be intel graphics which felt a little twitchy while playing Civ 4), and now the 1080p i7 version, I thought I would share a few thoughts.

As commented earlier, I find the 1080p screen to be rather innaccurate regarding colors. In particular, picture of people with a slight amount of red on their face sometimes results in them getting a "sunburned" look - all the colors are somewhat oversatured by default, you notice it most in that situation. I had to buy a $250 screen calibration unit to normalize the colors for photo editing, and that almost returned colors to the level that the 900p screen had. And it's not a perfect solution, as the calibration only applies (for some reason) to photo editing and viewing programs, not to icons on the desktop or anything else. Which is kind of a bummer. If you're doing photo editing and don't want to buy a screen calibrator, sticking with the 900p screen may well be fine. Both screen give pictures with a bit of a "glossy screen" effect, which is great for certain photos, but not great for softer photos.

However, that one big issue aside, it's a very nice screen. The viewing angles are much better than the 900p screen. I'm known for being overly picky, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but on the 900p screen I felt there was some color shift just in the amount that my head moved while sitting in front of the laptop. No similar issues with the 1080p screen - the viewing angle is way better, IMO.

With Windows7, it comes with the font dpi set to 125%, and it's much better implemented than windows xp. It's nearly seamless - no weird sized menu bars or anything, the only time I notice is that in IE some pics can be a tiny bit blurry (because IE sizes them up 25% in correlation with the dpi setting), and sometimes pics outside of IE show up on my screen surprisingly small because they aren't boosted in size like the fonts are.

However, both these minor drawbacks are more than made up for by how smooth everything else is rendered. The fonts are way smoother than normal. The window edges, menus, etc - it's really nice looking.

The glare off the lcd is also much less noticeable. I suspect it's not a matter of a better antiglare coating (as it's still like a mirror when the display is off) as much as it's a matter of the screen being able to go brighter to compensate for and overcome the brightness of glare. Nonetheless, it's notably better, IMO.

With the 900p screen I would find myself sort of hunching forward to be a little closer to the screen. I felt that same way with my laptop before that, so if you haven't ever this probably doesn't apply to you. But I don't have that feeling with the 1080p screen.

On other topics, I *love* the backlit keyboard. Oh man, it is just fantastic - haven't fumbled around to find keys in the dark or dim light yet.

When the laptop was just sitting on my desk the other day it seemed to get rather warm just sitting there (by the touchpad), but when I actually used for several hours yesterday I didn't even notice. I was sometimes doing some processor intensive stuff (exporting RAW image files) but no heavy graphics card work.

On the 900p machine I had a problem where I really loved the touchpad (still do - best touchpad I've ever used), but sometimes when typing my palms would hit the touchpad and the mouse would jump around, which was irritating. Hasn't happened with the 1080p machine - I think it's because the 9 cell battery gives the laptop more of an angle, which is just enough to keep my palms away from the touchpad.

The dvd drive is really noisy while reading a cd or dvd, and often stays noisy when there's a disc in the drive, even if it's not being read.

The fan noise is pretty quite. Depends on your temperament I guess - when it comes on you can hear it in a quite environment, but it's hasn't bugged me. While it comes on and off and seemingly random times, the noise it makes I found soothing. It's definitely not a dead quite machine, but if you had it at work the guy in the next cube over would likely never hear it either.

For laptop speaker, the sound it puts out is amazing. I'm used to crummy, terrible sound from laptops, this is way better by far. I would put it on par with my $500 stereo set from Target that was purchased in the 90's and is about 4 feet wide.

The sound controls work fairly well, though I would still rather prefer a manual switch - sometimes if you adjust the volume in a game the little sound volume box tries to pop up over the screen. Didn't crash the one game I was playing, but was annoying.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

When I ordered the Studio, Dell lied to me and told me it supported RAID1 with 2 hard drives. It clearly does not. I couldn't find a way, technical support couldn't find a way, someone else who owns one says it doesn't. The BIOS doesn't have a setting for it. I even asked 2 different people at dell - sons of es.

Also, it arrived with 1 stuck red pixel halfway down, 2/3rds right on the display. When I contacted customer service, they told me I would have to contact technical support for that kind of problem, but that the Dell policy is you need 6 dead pixels to return the machine. Great. UPDATE: I contacted Dell technical support and to my surprise after I checked the monitor by hooking it to a 2nd external monitor, they agreed to take the laptop back and fix it! It's like a 2 week turnaround process involving me mailing it in, which is a PITA, but is at least consistent with the warranty option I chose.

I had some concerns about the "chainlink" color when I saw the picture of the machine. Those concerns, as the person who posted them expressed, didn't end up mattering. If you put the closed laptop on a desk and stand up above it, the pattern is so subtle you cannot even distinguish whether there's a pattern on the black screen backing or not - could be pure black and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. As for the pattern on the inside around the keyboard, you can make it out from 6" above the keyboard, but it really just blends in somehow. And I say this as someone who really didn't like the looks of either chainlink design in the photos. The back of the screen is glossy and kind of a fingerprint magnet, but I think the chainlink design makes them somewhat less obvious to the eye.

I'll probably come back and add in more info as I think of it. Hope this helps some people.

 

Nice review of your system Paul. Thanks +Rep

 

I was under the impression you were unable to do upgrade the graphics card, that it was soldered to the motherboard. Can anyone confirm this?

 

P.S. Oh yeah, I still play Starcraft on occasion. I tried playing on my Studio last night - the colors on the menus and intro video are wacked out. Random rainbow colors all over the place. I did a search, and apparently it's an issue with Windows 7 no matter what the machine or graphics card. Just an fyi.

Also, the game locked up on me 3 times. Whole computer just completely locked up - no mouse, no task manager - nothin'. Sound continued to play for a little while then stopped. I set the shortcut to windows xp compatibility mode, and while that didn't fix the colors it fixed the lockups for the moment for the hour that I played after that.

 

Nice review - did you have an RGB led or a normal LED screen?

 

Nice review Paul, thanks a lot. The quality of the speakers and the above average battery life have me excited. These are 2 things that DO matter to me, and that i wasn't expecting as a big plus.

The screen colour has me worried (i got the 1080p), but i'm hoping it's not as bad or that i can get past it. I don't have access to a calibrator either.

My studio 17 is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so i'll be posting my thoughts in the next few days!

 

Nice review, Paul.

You're right about the viewing angle on the 900p. You have to watch the angle of the lid to get the best picture. I find it bothersome when watching a movie. You have to put the lid straight up to get the best picture and it just isn't comfortable to me that way. I don't have a problem with it browsing the itnernet or gaming.

 

yesterday i installed this driver and now it seems to works well ^^
http://support.amd.com/de/gpudownlo...px?type=2.4.2&product=2.4.2.3.32&lang=English

with the driver i got from ubuntu "hardware drivers", 2 of 3 startups freezed the laptop completely for me (couldn't do anything but hold the power-button)
but with this driver the 3 startups i did since went well and the ubuntu effects and everything is back to normal (haven't tried anything 3D yet)
i don't promise anything but it seems this fixed it


btw, now i know for sure how to enable the sound in ubuntu 9.10:
got the answer from here: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/75137

don't know if all of this is needed but it works great ^^

doesn't seems like the review is there anymore... (or maybe i'm just blind...) can someone please post the link?

 

The review is here:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5419

 

yeah, i'm stupid >_>
thx

 

Does anyone know who I should contact to find out if RGB Led screens are to become available in Dell UK anytime soon?

 

You could always try the Dell UK Sales team, but I'm afraid they won't know much either.
I'm afraid you'll have to decide: wait for the RGB or get standard screen.

 

Nice to know. If I had any freezes the first thing I`d do is get ati`s as they are newer. As a side note for future reference, try alt+sysrq + REISUB if you exeperience any more freezes.

btw for sound, did you have to add all of that or just the dell-m6 bit? someone replied saying thats all they needed thats all...

 

if you tell me where i can find "sysrq" and "REISUB" on my keyboard...

thats why i wrote this... don't know if only dell-m6 works, didn't test it (and don't want to, since it works fine. "don't touch a running system" )

 

lol sorry I cant see properly my right eye is swollen and weepy after I poked it by accident today )
alt + print screen key then. so hold alt + prntscrn and while holding type each letter in sequence. R E I S U B.. its a small part of kernel isolated for when things freeze... could also install openssh-server and login to shutdown.
Did you have to add anything to xorg after you installed the ati drivers? other than the aticonfig --initial command

 

... ok, i'll try next time ubuntu freezes, but i hope there will be no next time
i just did what was described in the install-pdf and it worked. no additional tweaking was needed

 

Review Update - As previously mentioned, I have the Dell Studio 17" with i7 processor and 1080p screen.

I played hours and hours of Civilization last night. Not exactly the most taxing game to say the least, but with my 900p Intel Integrated Graphics it still has had lag and stutter. As expected there was none of that with my current laptop that has a with a real video card, at 1920x1600 with graphics settings maxed out (well - it's Civ4, so "maxed out" isn't exactly taxing, lol).

But the interesting point is that the area around the touchpad didn't get any more than "just slightly noticeably warm" after hours of playing. I had my laptop on a desktop and was using an external mouse, but I found myself resting my hands on that part of the laptop sometimes.

Obviously this doesn't really apply to games that would more seriously tax the system, but thought people might find it interesting.

 

fyi, I just ran through the Dell page - for the i7, 1080p system, the bluetooth option is back. Wireless-N is also the default and the only option, though it's a Dell card not the intel card. And it now comes with a 3 year warranty as the minimum, price is up $25 over 1 year option.

 

It is so wrong, how much better the deals are in the US

 

Another fyi - I originally mentioned in my review that it came with a dead pixel, and sales support thought you could have up to 6 bad ones and before they would fix it. Turns out sales support was wrong, when I contacted technical support (as sales support instructed me to do), to my surprise after I checked the monitor by hooking it to a 2nd external monitor, they agreed to take the laptop back and fix it. It's like a 2 week turnaround process involving me mailing it in, which is a PITA, but is at least consistent with the warranty option I chose.

Also, I found out (and thought I would share) that if you want Dell to install the bluetooth module after the fact, they can do it but it's $160. The guy also thought ordering the bluray drive separately was $500-$600 (it's a $150 option when you purchase the laptop). Not complaining, just an fyi.

 

I wish they had an option to do away with the optical drive entirely. I rarely, if ever, use it.

 

just ordered one with a business sales rep
pressed him to get the price as low as possible, he ended up throwing in a printer saying that the managers liked seeing printers in the orders (i assume this comes from higher up pushing ink sales), after a little back and forth with his manager he was able to get me down to 1220 before tax. My no compromise requirements were at least 2 year warranty (ended up with 3) and the 1080p b+rg screen. Everything else was at the minimum it could be(I plan on upgrading ram, hd, etc). I should say the minimums on this system are pretty good none the less. here's the order confirmation:
note- printer and laptop had to be separated into two separate orders, i will try to cancel the printer and see if i can just get the money back from that as i don't really care about the printer, that would make this even slicker, will post an update if that works. Comments please on how good a value this is. I may cancel if I think i can beat it, but in my research this seems to be a pretty good deal.
also, i am in the united states



Order Details


Estimated Delivery Date: 01/05/2010
Learn More
Item Number Quantity Item Description
224-7349 1 Studio 17 Laptop
317-2448 1 Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
317-2715 1 4GB, DDR3, 1066MHz, 2 DIMM
330-4433 1 Backlit Keyboard
313-8043 1 17.3 inch Full HD (1080p) B+RG LED Display with TrueLife and Camera
421-1009 1 Dell Webcam Software 1.4 Application Kit
330-5790 1 ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 4650 1GB
341-9980 1 250G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
313-8044 1 Black Chainlink
421-1737 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
420-7938 1 Dell Connect 2.1
421-0187 1 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0
420-9100 1 Dell Dock Consumer
420-6576 1 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
420-6436 1 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
421-0323 1 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface
330-6222 1 Windows 7 Label
330-6363 1 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,1747
421-0092 1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
410-1883 1 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
421-1362 1 Dell Software,Roxio 1.0
421-1582 1 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
313-8870 1 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
313-4783 1 Integrated High Definition Audio 2.2
430-2929 1 Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini Card
410-2184 1 McAfee Sapphire MUI, 30 Day
312-0949 1 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
421-0304 1 Microsoft Works 9.0, English For Inspiron
903-6278 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Service, Extended Year(s)
903-6407 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Service, Initial Year
904-0502 1 Mail-in Service after Remote Diagnosis , 2 Year Extended
904-5690 1 Mail-in Service after Remote Diagnosis , Initial Year
950-5442 1 Warranty Support,2 Year Extended
960-2780 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty 7X24 Technical Support, Initial Year
330-4532 1 No Mobile Broadband Card selected
Subtotal: $1,151.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $90.36
Total: $1,241.36



Order Details


Estimated Delivery Date: 12/14/2009
Learn More
Item Number Quantity Item Description
222-1681 1 Dell 1110 Laser Printer
960-4638 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
970-2670 1 Advance Exchange Service after Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
983-9747 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty [after Remote Diagnosis], Initial Year
950-8490 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty 7X24 Technical Support, Initial Year
464-8848 1 Special Offer - $20 off
Subtotal: $69.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $5.43
Total: $74.43

Total Charges: $1,315.79

 

Glad that you're getting it fixed. Sucks about the 2 week turnaround though. I've never sent a laptop in to be fixed and not sure if I could even do it. I hate having other people work on my systems.

I'm having trouble with my screen now. I noticed that when I opened it the first time the plastic strip above the screen (around the camera) felt and sounded like it snapped into place. But it has done it a few more times now and the darn thing squeaks on the left side and across the top. It has a lot of give in it. It feels like it isn't glued down or something. Not sure how to describe it. Does anyone else have this? If I press down anywhere on top of the lid it squeaks.

I've got mail in on my warranty also so if I have to I will just return it and reorder a new one.

 

It seems like this model would deserve an owners thread. any thoughts? i'd be willing to get it going although i am new here, so i might not be the best person for the job

 

great, mine just turned into "in production"
Anyone remembers how long in took in this stage?
I'm kinda hoping for a delivery before Christmas so my mate can bring it home to me. Else this year christmas only comes in next February for me

 

My online status has been "in production" for a week. Phone still says "processing." Ordered on the 2nd and est. delivery date of the 22nd.

 

Mine is exactly the same except i ordered on the 1st. I was wondering if anyone could tell me why the phone system tells me something different? I also spoke with a rep and they said it is in production i am really hoping mine will not be delayed.

 

You need to call Dell. Processing means they are still trying to process your payment.

I placed an order 8 days ago and sales was having trouble processing credit orders. Took 2 days to get it straightened out. But it shipped today! It's his Christmas present. A Nickelodeon Mini 10. He is going to be so surprised.

Hope you get it straightened out easily.

 

I spoke with an online chat rep and they told me that the order was processed but is still in production. I have also been hounding them for days now because i was returning a refub that they sent me, stupid thing would not even power up. They told me that the order is scheduled for shipment on or befor the 18th. I can only hope they are doing all of this correctly. This is my first time with dealing with Dell and so far i have not been to satisfied with their service.

 

I haven't been having the best of luck with their phone service lately either. It seems like they need more people working. It isn't usually this bad so hopefully it will get better after the holidays.

I've always had good service by emailing tech support or customer service.

 

mine was in production for one weekend (changed to production on friday afternoon, changed to shipped on monday morning)
seems this was quite quick

 

I called and their lovely order support in India maintains they are waiting on parts. I doubt that is it but we shall see. I know that they cleared the payment with my CC company so maybe she is right. After previous interactions with them, I don't trust dell phone support. Guess I'll email them too.

 

I am in the US, ordered a 1747 on November 23rd, and it was scheduled to ship the 8th, and arrive on or before the 18th. The online check shows "In Production" and the phone order status line says "Being Processed". I went through this last year when I ordered my 1737 and it seemed like the phone status was always more accurate... now it seems (or I hope) that online is more accurate.

 

does anyone know the Brand of hard drive (specifically the 500gb 7200rpm) ships with the 1747?

 

The 500gb on my order shows Seagate....hopefully minus the "clicks".....

 

That sucks. looks like i will be ripping that out immediately. I've heard nothing but horrible things about them. Both in this laptop and bought separately

 

..yes my 1530 still has that issue...I have been searching for a firmware update for the 200gb drive but to no avail...I just hope that they have corrected that issue...

 

Too much negative speculation in this thread and not enough opinion of people that have it...