OFFICIAL: Studio 17 Owner's Thread

Just reinstall Vista from scratch with the disk included with your system. Don't bother with XP; there aren't official drivers for it, and you'll just have more problems than you will with Vista.

 

I am sick and tired of installing and reinstalling this Vista crap. I plan
on getting XP, I would rather battle drivers, at least I still have my trusty
5 year old Dell real computer with XP, it's old and slow (like me) but its
at least trusty and I never have to reinstall it.
thanks for the reply, still looking for a deal on XP.

 

There is a thread around here where someone found the drivers for XP,use the search function.
Btw,any news of a refresh?

 

How are you guys able to order the Studio 17 with a glossy widescreen 17.0 inch RGB LED display (1920x1200)
I cannot see this option when trying to build one on the web site.
They only have the 1440x900 listed.

 

does the dell 17 studio or dell 1750 inspiron have gddr3 graphics memory and what machine is better and why thanks mark

 

I noticed that too. I was spec'n a laptop for a bud and the RGB option is no longer available for the Studio 17.

 

i have a studio 1737 and i ordered mine with the rgb about a week or two before it stopped being an option

 

I've been trying to track down the reason. Three reps told me three different stories (I love calling back every day and seeing how each rep clearly lives in their own world sometimes)

A> The screens are massively back ordered as they are used in other higher end premium systems (M4400, Studio XPS 16, M6400) but they all use different sizes and/or resolutions so I'm not seeing that as the reason.

B> The high end screen RGB option is no longer available for the Studio line and will only be available with the LED option from now on.

C> The option will possibly be brought back at a later time.

Either way, it hasn't been available as an option for some time now but is still an option on their other higher end systems.

I can see why they would eliminate the RGB screen as an option on the Studio 1737's, as it is a premium selling option and may cut into Studio XPS 16" or other sales. I always thought the Studio 17 was treading closely to their other upper end systems especially with the RGB-LED as a screen option. It blurs the line a bit between the Studio XPS 16 and Studio 17 and at ~7.8lbs, it threatens some of their other systems. You want to keep low/medium end laptops in their proper perspective.

They have a few refurbs on the outlet site that have the RGB-LED screen, but they all have the 4500HD IGP and no 3650's. The main criteria was decent gaming and RGB-LED for HD playback (He loved the screen on my old M6400).

I ended up picking up a refurb an hour or so ago on eBay that was loaded with basically every option under the sun just about (P8400, 320x2, 4gb, RGB-LED, 3650, backlit keyboard, fingerprint, 9 cell battery, 5100) and will do what he needs at a great price (especially with 10% cashback) = Less than $1k, so it all worked out.

 

I think(hope)dell is preparing a refresh if so many options aren't available anymore.

 

its likley the screens are being deliberately held back for the 1737 upgrade or the new version.

They are like lets sell remaining 1737's cheap but keep enough stock of the RGB LED screens for the new Studio 17

it would not make sense to launch a new Studio 17 but run out of RGB LED's for them.

They are in high demand once calibrated appropriately, you can not buy a better display, I think SONY uses a RGB LED, in their laptops and it looks amazing.

 

Hi can someone please tell me if the dell 17 studio has gddr3 graphics card memory , many thanks Mark

 

The Studio 17's HD 3650 uses DDR2 memory.

 

thanks is it better or worse than the 4570 card as found on the 1555

 

It's a higher level card with a larger bus width, but it's also an older generation and using DDR2 memory. I'd say they're pretty comparable.

 

These scores were taken from notebookcheck; tried to find two machines that were enough alike


Ati Mobility HD 4570: 3D Mark 06 Score = 4,593
Machine: (Standard 1280x768) P8600 2048 MB GPU 680 / 800MHz GDDR3

Ati Mobility HD 3650: 3D Mark 06 Score = 4,147
Machine: Satellite A350 (Standard 1280x768) P8600 4096 MB GPU 600 / 500MHz 512MB DDR2

I am not sure I entirely believe the score the Studio 15 / HD 4570 got though. Mastershroom, what does yours get in 3D Mark 06?

 

I'll tell ya when I download and run it.

 

please someone tell me did they discontinue the nice rgb-led HD display on the Studio 17 ??? Or is Dell's website messed up?

 

They're probably out of that part because everybody bought one.

 

I think it's per country marketing policy, cause I just checked on Dell Japan website, they are still offering 17" WUXGA 1920x1200 LED screen.

 

Yeah they are probably out of the RGB LED screen, I mean its a portable $4,000 SONY XBR LCD theres only one and its Sony's highest End LCD which has RGB LED lighting.

an dit has a 108% NTSC color gamut, you don't get that even on thousand dollar 40" LCD's

the backlighting is also perfectly even no bright spots or dark spots.

So I can see why its what people want to buy.

 

I actually bought my wife a 16" Studio XPS series and love the keyboard and lighted contols. If my Studio 1737 did not work so well, I would consider selling it an getting a newer one.
Mine just works, and works....wish i had ordered a BR player now that I think about it. I am a dolt. Oh well, maybe I should check and see if I can order an oem one from Dell that can just be put in and work.

 

Ebay would probably be cheaper. God knows Dell will want to charge you $400 for a $150 Blu-Ray reader.

 

You are a wise man (I assume) Master.
Will any thin BR player work in the 1737 ?

Sorry to be a pain, I know I should have gotten one in the first place, I have so many BR movies.

 

I believe the 1737's optical drive uses a SATA interface, although I suggest you visually confirm that first. If it does, then any slim SATA slot-loading Blu-Ray reader should be compatible.

 

oh well

my left rear hinge has cracked on the back cover, goes as you look at it from the rear, it goes diaganal high right to lower left, almost to the bottom.


only saw this today and I treat my laptop with great care.


oh well, 2nd time to get her fixed after my ati went funny.

grummble, looked at the age of it, 6 months and 1 week excactly.

 

Hello,

I cant start up Windows 7 64 bit on a studio 1737 anymore.
Used to work fine, but after a blue screen i cannot get it to work.
It keeps hanging at the loading screen without the windows7 logo and safe mode also doesnt work.
Tried all other options with the advanced startup.
I've read that maybe with a bios updater the problem will be solved but i tried that before i had this problem but the flash utility doesnt seem to work also.

Anyone has these problems or could help me?


Thanks in advance,

 

Hello there,
i installed Win7 on my 1735 and it worked out very well.

Would you recommend to replace some Vista drivers with the ones from Dell's download-page?

What about the Dell Notebook System Software and Intel's Chipset driver, should i install them both? They were highly recommended for Vista.

(In that case: which chipset driver is the right one for my system? or should i only use the one provided by dell?)

 

To Daniel1976:

Look on the Drivers page for the 1737. It has Windows 7 64 drivers listed, but they contain both 32 & 64 bit drivers....I've used them for both of my Studio 17's and upon unpacking them it states they are for 32 bit as well. They have mostly the same hardware, except CPU & MEM, and Intel GPU type



To everyone,


I have a 1735 and a 1737. Would both benefit more from 2GB or 4GB Intel Turbo Memory upgrades?

The 1735 (Windows 7 Ult. x64 upgrade Retail) has a T9300, and 4GB of G.Skill DDR 667 5-4-5-5 15, with 2 x 500GB Momentus 7,200 drives
This is my Home use Multimedia/Mid Level gaming notebook.
(Plays FarCry 2 fine, and older games)

The 1737 (Windows 7 Pro upgrade x64 retail) is for Work mainly, With a T9550 4GB of OCZ 800 5-5-5-15, and only has a single 500GB Momentus and the Intel 4500mhd

I'd like to give them both a boost, and even with the fastest USB sticks readyboost isn't very good at all. I know my XPS 730x came with a 1GB Turbo Memory, but it has dual 300GB velociraptors in RAID 0
and I recently installed a 960, and sold the 920 it came with. It's fast so I don't know how to tell how much the Turbo Memory in it helps!

Thanks,

Terminated


PS The prices for All Windows 7 OS Upgrades, when Pre-Ordering was Awesome!

 

Turbo Memeory like a 2GB or 4GB chip would work great. Remember Intel Turbo Memory is much more than Ready Boost, its also adds a feature called Ready Drive plus Ready Boost. Ready Drive the best way to explain it is, imagine your hard drive instead of having 8MB or 16MB cache buffer, now has 2GB of cache buffer.

 

Can anyone give me an updated estimate of how long its taking to get studio 17's? I ordered two of them on Saturday October 24th.

I don't really know of anything that would make them take longer than normal, but all of my other laptops I ordered in the past shipped within a week. I upgraded the cpu's to the c2duo t6600's and upgraded the lcd to the led 1080p. Backlit keyboards and a few things like that. Hopefully it won't be much longer

 

Stump, I ordered mine on the 6th of October. Est. arrival date was Oct. 26. It arrived Oct. 22nd. Not bad I guess... but a little long considering I ordered the stock system. I was under the impression they had a warehouse filled with complete laptops waiting to go out. I was wrong. They build em' from scratch.

I think the upgrades might make it take longer. Ive also heard rumors going around that the LED displays they have left aren't enough to fill demand and they are on back order on their end... I cant confirm that one but its just what Ive heard.

 

Updated the OS and drivers to Windows 7 and no issues. Now that IS a surprise. I am not a heavy system user, so I really do not see a big difference between 7-64 and Vista-64. None the less I am mo modern. Damn Straight.

 

I just realized the Studio 1745 I ordered didn't come with a fingerprint reader option like my 1735 did 15 months ago. I see they have a facial recognition software option now, so I'll have to call Dell in the morning and add that feature.

Order Date: 11/12/09
Estimated Arrival Date: 12/09/09

Quantity Item Number Description

1 224-6100 Studio 17 Notebook (Studio 1745)
1 317-2214 Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 2.53GHz, 1066Mhz, 3M L2 Cache
1 317-2341 4GB, DDR3, 1066MHz, 2 DIMM
1 330-4433 Backlit Keyboard
1 320-0828 17.3 inch HD+ (900p) Bright LED Display with TrueLife and Camera
1 421-1009 Dell Webcam Software 1.4 Application Kit
1 317-1636 ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 4650 1GB
1 341-0178 500G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 313-8048 Design Studio Featuring 200+ Designs -- OPI "Pearl" design
1 467-5641 Design Studio Image
1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label
1 330-6371 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP, Win 7,1745
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1
1 420-9100 Dell Dock Consumer
1 421-0187 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0
1 421-0323 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface
1 421-1737 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-1582 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
1 421-1445 Cyberlink PowerDVD DX 8.3 Kit
1 313-8867 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
1 421-1601 Roxio Easy CD & DVD 10.3 Upsell
1 421-1602 Roxio 10.3, Easy CD & DVD
1 421-2000 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB
1 430-2929 Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini Card
1 410-2185 McAfee Sapphire MUI, 15-Month
1 312-0158 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
1 420-6589 Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition
1 950-3339 3 Year Limited Warranty
1 980-5877 CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 3 Year
1 903-5458 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Extended Year(s)
1 903-5747 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Initial Year
1 904-0142 Banctec Next Business Day In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis Plus Nights and Weekends, 2 Year Extended
1 904-5070 Banctec Next Business Day In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis Plus Nights and Weekends, Initial Year
1 412-0360 Soft Contracts - Banctec
1 412-0358 Soft Contracts - Consumer Complete Care
1 950-5442 Warranty Support,2 Year Extended
1 960-2780 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty 7X24 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 467-7771 Thanks for choosing Dell!
1 991-1179 LoJack Theft Recovery Service,XPS - 1 Year DHS
1 420-8655 LoJack Theft Recovery Softwarefor Laptops, 1 Year
1 988-7717 5GB DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 FOR SDO/DIM/INS/XPS
1 420-9519 DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 5GB
1 988-0099 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 421-1347 Dell Software,Napster-link
1 330-4532 No Mobile Broadband Card selected
1 330-5125 Intel Core 2 Duo Label
1 330-6113 OPI - Studio -- "Pearl" design

My 1735 was stolen a couple weeks ago....it was midnight blue and had the better processor and more memory, but it was probably more than I needed. I had problems initially with the media buttons not working, but Dell eventually corrected that problem. Other than that, it ran smooth as silk and lightning fast for over a year. I miss it. Hopefully, my new one will be just as reliable.

 

Question to all studio 17 owners

Does the bottom fan blow air in, or push air out?
The way i see it from images, i would say they blow air in, and it comes out those huge vents at the back. Correct?

Asking this cause i'm looking into the zalman laptop cooler NC2000

Thanks in advance!

* Hoping to receive my 1745 very soon... *

 

so is the studio 17 still heavy and slab like? I know the size is a difference from 17 inch to the 15", but the lenovo I have feels sturdy yet is not bulky and heavy like the studio 17 i sent back.

Heck, the sony I have which is almost as big as the studio 17 fits into my backpack and has the finesse that 17 was missing. I have heard that studio 13 and maybe even 15 aren't bad.

Hopefully, they fixed the speakers and the awful webcam.

 

This tread should be called pre-owners.

Would be nice to hear from ppl actually owning one. The likes and dislikes.

 

Aren't there people here who already have it or maybe that was a couple of pages back lol?

Do you plan to buy one? I sure hope you can test it in a store.

 

This thread is not only about the new Studio 1745/1747, so many people have already owned their Studio 17 (1735/1736/1737), including likes and dislikes if you open the earlier pages.

 

I just received an email saying my 1745 shipped on 11/25 and will be arriving on 11/27. The original estimated arrival date was 12/09.

I threatened to cancel this order and file for a chargeback with my card company because they claimed they couldn't add the facial recognition software after the order had been placed. It's software, for crying out loud. They probably sped up the order.

I was told cancelling and renewing this order with the software was not an option. They told me the same thing 2 years ago on a $300 dud printer I bought from them -- I had to get the refund for that through my card company and send the printer back to where it came from because they refused to give me the correct return address or a return authorization number.

Makes me wish I had bought from another company.

 

If you had such a bad experience with them, then why go back????

 

I loved the Studio 1735 I had, as well as the technical and customer support that came along with it. Why else???

Their printers are CRAP and I will NEVER buy another one from them again. And they strong arm people to prevent them from returning or changing things directly after the purchase.

I remind myself that Dell is NOT one whole pie. There are MANY pieces in that pie dispursed all over the place and one does not necessarily affect the other.

I know to triple check my orders before I place them, and never purchase another printer from them again. Every other aspect has been fine.

Unless you own a Studio 17 or are soon to be an owner of one, I'd suggest another forum for your posts.

 

I love my wireless Dell printer. They sent it to me for free when I bought my 1720 since it took 2 months to get the laptop. But I'm not sure if there are 64 bit drivers available to use it with the 1747.

Dell does tend to push their printers. When I ordered the 1747 I asked the salesman what kind of deal he could give me and he came back with a special that included a printer and printer cable. He insisted the printer was "free" but the added extras pushed the total higher than what I started with.

 

Dell broke me from EVER even considering trying one of their printers again, let alone buy one.

 

I'm actually glad my old Studio 17 got stolen now ... this new one is AWESOME!!

Like the old one, the aesthetics are fabulous (I AM female, you know). The computer just looks classy. The area around the monitor and around the keyboard is shiny black, almost like a mirror. The grey area below the keyboard has a gloss finish as well.

Here are the differences between the new 1745 and my 15 month old Studio 17 ( I *think* it was a 1735, but not sure) -- every one of them positive:

~The entire unit seems to be lighter but more sturdy feeling. Nothing "clangs" or "clicks" on this new model....VERY smooth to use.

~The contacts around the screen that touches the base of the unit are now rubberized, so no scratching the surface (not that it was much of an issue with my last one).

~The keyboard has a more padded, stable feel when you press the buttons (if that makes sense).

~The right and left buttons below the touchpad no longer make a noise when you press them -- they seem more padded or something as well.

~The backlit keyboard isn't as bright, but plenty bright enough. There also aren't any gaps between the keys where the light would blind you like in the older model.

~These speakers are GREAT! There are 2 sitting right on top right up front, on either side of the touch pad. They're metallic silver (again, looks expensive).

~The media buttons stay lit up constantly, even without the backlit keyboard being on.

~On the underside of the machine, the battery is designed to stick out a 1/2 inch further than the rest of the unit. This tilts up the computer slightly and keeps the air vents and most of the bottom of the unit from resting flat on a surface.

~The fan isn't as loud as the older model. It also has been turning off and on where the older model pretty much ran all the time (although it wasn't annoying).

~The area where my right hand used to rest on the older model is no longer getting hot, and it's barely warm to the left of the touch pad.

~The power adapter is wider but much more flat, so it will fit in a carrying case much better than the old thicker adapter.

One downside:
The power cable I got with this thing is SHORT, at least 2 feet shorter than what I had before. The cable connected to the adapter seems to be the same length as before.

I paid $80 for the Kyoto Pearl OPI Design lid, and am not sure about it. It has a gloss finish which I love, where my old midnight blue model had a rubbery finish. However, I thought I was ordering a design that was white-ish silver, but the actual pearl design has some green and brown hues in the "swirls".

I'll post pics later.

I read in the Dell Support Center that there are probs with the CD not ejecting and with the DVD player, but I haven't tried that out yet.

Windows 7: So far, seems okay, but it isn't compatible with the Gmail Notifier.

Oh.....my 500 GB hard drive is only actually 451 GB! Is it normal for it to be that much lower? That's 10% less than what was advertised.....that's pushing it.

 

Thanks for the first impressions MissMBA, can you comment if the touchpad gets hot during use? my sxps 16 gets so hot its uncomfortable to use (hence me ordering a 1745)

I have a 6 week leadtime on mine

 

Oh, the Mediabuttons stay lit up? Wish my 1735 could do that. Is there a software to get that "feature"?
I wish my Studio had these better speakers... But for sounds sake i have buyed a Edifier C2 Soundsystem now anyway.

My Studio has these rubbery contacts besides the screen too, by the way.

 

MisMBA, some of the loss of hard drive space is due to the hard drive manufacturers and windows reprting a megabyte in different fashions. Also, I think that Dell reserves some space for restore data.

ninja2000, the touchpad gets barely warm during use. The whole laptop seems to run fairly cool, even the power brick wasn't hot after having the laptop on all day. It's certainly warm, but never too hot to touch.

 

6 weeks, huh? I wonder what extended your arrival date 2 weeks longer than mine?

I ordered on 11/12, had an arrival date of 12/09, but had it in-hand on 11/27 (shipped on 11/25).

I forgot to say that the touchpad area on this machine is much larger than on my old Studio 17. It gets warm, but enough to keep the machine from being cold on your fingers -- it's nowhere near hot, and I had mine on for 9 hours straight last night.

Dell has installed some nightmarish wallpapers on this thing -- looks like someone on an acid trip designed them. But they do have some swirly design ones I like.

There are too many sound options on Windows 7. I'm having trouble finding a set of sounds that doesn't grate on my nerves.

 

I don't believe it was possible to get the media buttons on the older model to stay lit up. Maybe someone else here would know for sure.

 

Thanks for the explanation, Breck.

Yes, this laptop stays MUCH cooler than the older Studio, that's for sure. That was smart to design the battery to keep air circulating under the bottom of the machine when it is on a flat surface.