OFFICIAL: Studio 17 Owner's Thread

I ordered a Studio 1749 for my wife.
Now I read here for the 1747 Dell is changing the 90W power supply for a 130W one. Does this also include the 1749?

 

I just ordered a 1749 a few days ago myself, I did research and from what I have read the 90w power supply for the 1749 should be fine, it doesnt have the issues the 1747 was having.

 

I hope they solved the fan issue. That troubles me a little. My wife is gonna use it in a quite environment. If the fan kicks in at full blast every few minutes, it can be annoying after a while.

I wonder if there are some tricks to work around this issue.

 

My 6-cell battery was just replaced after having had some detection problems with it throughout the last few months.

I had previously phoned [before 1 year warranty was up] to tell them my battery wasn't being recognised by charger & had 4 lights level of wear. I had motherboard replaced and charger etc., but still didn't fix the problem. Phoned today & got the replacement battery sent as 'goodwill gesture' as I had alerted them to the problem before the battery year was up. Studio 17 still going strong, love the keyboard on this thing, not so keen on my dell Mini 10v keyboard, but love the SSD on it

Good on you Dell! Top marks [again] for customer service

 

There is a trick... juste set the cpu cooldown management option in windows powerplan to passive instead of active.

But this is merely a tweak, you will observe the same fan behaviour. It will just happen at higher temperatures.

 

I tried this also. The fan runs maybe a little less often, but it does not solve the issue indeed.

 

Hi. my Studio 1737 fan is in sore need of lubrication or replacement, judging from the racket it's started making recently. I've cleaned it but I reckon it's the bearing. On a desktop this is easy but I've had a look and it doesn't look easy. Lots of dismantling required.

Anyone point me at diagrams, tutorials?

It's out of warranty.

 

Hello,

I have a 1737 purchased new from dell.
Just past the one year warranty. Everything was working well.

Now:

I can barely see the image on screen.
It reminds me of the look of a ten year old calculator with lcd screen. My dell had the led screen which i paid extra for.
Any suggestions on a quick/cheap fix that may solve this. Maybe a connector i need to look at?
I would appreciate any assistance.

 

So is there a place on Dells site to complain about a very hot power supply. The 90 watt supply got so hot it put a mark in the finish on my table. Will a 130 work better or cooler?

Also the fan on mine is not right like the rest of you say. It does not bother me yet but I sure want it corrected so who do I complain to to add my foice to the rest of you.

 

Call tech support or try their chat. They should be able to send you a 130w adapter. I got mine delivered in 1 day.

 

Sounds like the backlighting is dead or dying if your image is fine just very, very dim.

If you move/wiggle the LCD, does that help improve the picture or no matter moving the screen/lid the picture is uniformly dim?

If moving the screen/lid causes the image to distort/change/brighten, you may have a pinched screen assembly cable and/or it has come partially loose.

 

So A11 bios is out, like the A10 I have no idea what it fixes/adds/breaks...anyone got any info?

 

Hi I am from Greece and I am thinking buying Dell Studio 1747 with multitouch screen what do you think? It's a good deal?
Multirama - Dell Studio 1747 touch

 

Touching the screen has no effect, still dim.
I called dell and asked who their factory authorized repair facilities in my area are and their response is to send me to tech support. Tech support in turn sends me to out of warranty tech support. For a fee tech support will attempt to diagnose my problem. What if they cannot diagnose it, my cashola will be down the drain.

 

Getting a little worried. Have had my Studio 1747 for two months now and the screen has developed three or four white spots. These are very small and only one is visible when viewing the screen directly. Still, I have no clue why these white dots are developing. Having had problems with dead pixels (black dots that are much more visible), the white dots don't really bother me...but anybody know how to fix them or at least prevent future ones? If you look at your screen from the side some of you guys might have some too.

 

Here comes the annoying new user who has read so many other places already he doesn't want to read another 100+ pages. if you roll your eyes, i totally understand. i already posted on the studio xps place so no need to reply twice but wasn't sure if these two places were frequented by different users and so here come a couple double posts. sorry.

does anyone have an idea of what the % of users this effects is and if there has been any narrowing down or "bettering" of that % as time goes on?

I have been looking at the dell outlet for a while at some studio 17s and occasionally the studio 15s or studio XPS 16s. i was finally about the pull the trigger but decided to google the model number and word "problems" and well... that's a bit like going into the hospital and wondering why so many people are sick. but in all seriousness, it seems EVERYONE has the problem. yet, most ratings sites still have about 80-90% positive ratings and only 10-15% give it under 3 star or the equivalent and fewer still mention these specific problems.

yet, even now, when i pick the one i want in the outlet, say a 1747, it has 90w adapter listed.

I'm not a gamer. honestly, kick me out of the forum if you want, but i'll be loading up some AoE3 and SimCity4 with the SLIGHT possibility at some point of trying out SC2 just because starcraft 1 was so dang fun a decade ago.

So do these machines ALWAYS fail? i'm way behind on this and have searched and read scores of places and pages so forgive me if I haven't caught up on ALL 250 something pages of this, but basically it seems that there was a lawsuit, dell lost, and now what. people can
get the better charger for free, have to do a bios update to get it to
work right (something about throttling) and even still some people
have issues.

1) is this only a small % of people. 2) is it 100% but only people who CRANK
their systems to the max all the time or 3) is it only a small % of
people who crank their systems to the max all the time.

i can live with 1 or 3 and take my chances and hope the warranty covers it if I am in that small % but if its #2 i'd always be worried and not end up using the machine to its potential.

 

oh, and awesome first post, i didn't even mention why i was on this forum in the first place. my question was mainly because i was thinking of NOT getting the 1747 but looking for a 1647 or other XPS version instead because it seemed to have fewer problems. is that accurate or are they all the same? (honestly, i've never quite understood the REAL differences or ranking between the studios and studio XPS models)

so why would i not just get a dell mini since i'm not a gamer. okay, sorry, again, more info needed. i will be editing HD video on a small scale (home video only...nothing professinal...but lots of it) and its the wonderful AVCHD that requires a bit of processing power. I'll also be watching HD video, both my own and movies, either local or on the network or through the tubes.


if i had to guess, i would say even though it SEEMS a large % of what i do is one thing, when i actually think about it, 80% of the usage would be ... well... this sort of thing. writing emails, paying bills, reading forums, browsing, etc.

of my "power" usage, i was just wanting to point out i don't game but would be watching and more importantly editing HD video. I know a lappy isn't ever going to kick out what a $1000+ desktop could do and that's fine...i'll get there if i ever really get into the HD video editing thing big time. for now I just want to be able to do normal things. Something that could handle Canon Pixela, Cyberlink PowerDirector, Sony Vegas, couple others, to know i covered the bases. all on low to mid usage really.

sure i'll be transcoding sometimes, such as FormatFactory or Handbreak, and those might be lenghtly overnight runs (but at least the lid could be closed). but even the video editing wouldn't be every-day-many-hours like a gamer would be.

I guess i was kind of hoping for a couple people to say either, "hahaha, you are NOT a power user, you'll not have ANY of these problems" or "yeah, the 1747 sucks but for what you do the XPS 16 will be perfect, no published problems" or "you know what, even 70-year old solitare players are having their studios melt at a rate of 25%... stay away if you dont' like to tinker."

thanks again for your help.

 

A nice recent and generally positive review here:

Dell Studio 17: When Gaming Isn't Enough - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

Thanks for that! I just ordered my Studio 1747 from the Dell Outlet yesterday.

BTW, it looks like the Studio 1749 is no longer available to order as a new/configurable iten from Dell.com (since today as far as I can tell).

 

Newbie to site and a computer idiot. This may not be the correct place to ask my question but please bear with me. Lost sound on Dell studio 1735 after connecting to "go to meeting" site (I know sound was working just prior to logging onto site). This is the third time it has happened with "go to meetings". After having friends whom are much more knowledgeable than me set.. re set and spend a lot of time... my sound will return. The small mute button at top of keyboard has X. I cannot reset it. Help Please.

 

The small illuminated buttons do not change when pressed. They just perform the requested action - in this case, pressing the speaker with an X mutes and unmutes the sound. In my case, the screen also shows a dialog when the button is pressed indicating the volume settting and mute state. As a question, when you press the button with gears at the left side of the strip do you get a full Dell dialog to appear? If not, I suspect something is way hincky and you need to contact tech support.

 

I had serious overheating problems. Laptop purchased 5/2010.
A post about this in the Dell forum is here : >>> STUDIO 17 OVERHEATING? - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

Bottom line, do not block the fan ports, do not place on heat-retaining surface, provide sufficient underclearance (2cm or even more), and get SpeedFan from Almico's Home Page to keep an eye on the temps. Your CPU will shutdown the laptop as a damage prevention action if it exceeds 100C, which mine was doing regularly when it got busy. Oh, and buy some earplugs to mute the fan noise.

 

I have a Studio 1735 running Windows 7 32bits. Love the large screen and I wouldn't want to use anything else especially after I've customized and personalized the environment and applications so much. About the only performance enhancing upgrade I can consider is the swap out the hard drive for an SSD.

Early adopters have found compatibility issues with SSDs and I wonder if someone can share their experience running one in the 1735. I have my entire C drive image backed up on Acronis and I wonder if I can simple restore the entire partition onto the SSD without much repercussion.

 

i am looking for a dell studio 17 with the multi touch screen , all i can find are in the outlet section on dell website , but all the info that is written about the screen is "17.3 inch HD+ (900p) Bright LED Display with TrueLife" so i can't know for sure if it's the touch screen or not ........ if anyone can help me find the multi touch one on dell outlet website it would be great

 

POSTSCRIPT:

Subsequent to my determination that overheating was a good part of the cause of my laptop shutdowns, I have been running SpeedFan religiously to monitor temps. I also purchased a Rosewill laptop cooling stand from Newegg.com ( model RNA-7700, Newegg URL Newegg.com - Rosewill Notebook Silent 220mm Fan Cooling Stand Model RNA-7700 ) . This stand can serve either as a cooling platform or full feature laptop rack. It is on-sale now for $34.95 AFAICT. It looks cheesy but actually seems very well made on visual inspection.

With the Rosewill stand in place, and the ever-so-attractive custom 2"x4" wood blocks removed (!), the system is still a bit warm under Stress Test but it does not halt. At-rest temperatures are approximately 72C-74C. Under-load temps e.g. during Stress Test are above 90, and during the final phase when the CPU is operating at up to 98% utilization, the temperatures reach a maximum of 94C. Toasty but not halting! The attached image shows a typical profile. The left side is the END of the PREVIOUS stress test, and the right side is the BEGINNING of the CURRENT stress test. The bottom of the trough is the at-rest temperature.

So for the addition of a $34 stand, the thing will work and bake bread Stick out tongue for the meanwhile.

Thank you Speed Fan.Smile I am sending Almico's Home Page $15.

<Image suppressed by forum - go to Re: STUDIO 17 OVERHEATING? - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community to see the pretty pictures>

 

I currently have a Dell Studio 1747 w/ a i7 720qm (Bios A13). Is there any thing stopping me from a plug & play upgrade to a 840qm?

 

I just did this yesterday for my dad's new dell XPS
From my experience with about 8 months so far of the SSD in my personal laptop, you will not find a better more noticable upgrade than swapping the slow HDD for a SSD. It really is the major bottleneck in your computer. It's the kind of upgrade you have to do for yourself to realize how slow your old HDD really is. Rebooting in like 25 seconds or loading 15 apps in your startup folder so they load when windows starts and u just watch in amazement as they load almost instantly (I mean word/photoshop/browsers, etc) It's a great way to demo the power and speed of the SSD.

I'm an Acronis junkie and swear by using it - makes life so much easier. Since you have your whole C drive image'd you can easily just recover that image to your new SSD. If you are going from diff hardware be sure to use universal restore. Also, very important is that your OLD computer should be SATA so that the image loads and you don't get BSOD at first reboot on the SSD. Also, 32bit to 64bit is something to remember assuming you are upgrading old 32bit IDE to newer 64bit SATA. If you want to tell me what the spec of your old computer is I can help more but the 2 main issues are IDE to SATA and if you are going from a 32bit OS to a 64bit OS.

I own 5 Vertex 2 SSD drives I got from newegg - about $119 for a 50gb drive which is perfect for your OS and your main apps you must have. I use an esata drive for all storage so having a small 50gb is no biggie to me.

 

Hi gab, first time caller, long time listener.

I just did a fresh install of my OS on a 1747 imaged at approximately 41 gig.
Reading your response got me thinking. That 50 Gig SSD drive to house the OS sounds like a great plan.

Do you happen to know of any good links or resources for learning the best way to go about this? Basically I'd like to see if I can pick up a 60 G SSD and migrate my OS over to it ... I am just concerned about installation on the Studio 1747, and the migration steps involved. I can't see simply restoring my new image to the SSD --wouldn't there be a compatability issue?

Anyway, any directions you can point me in or tips for doing this would be greatly appreciated.

 

tfcolligan
acronis with universal restore should help assuming you are going from 1 laptop type to another type - when restoring any image of a entire hard drive to another even if its not a ssd the main issue is always 32bit to 64bit but also ide to sata. tell me what you are gonna do and i can help more but get your hands on acronis or even use windows built in backup though i don't like as much and you can easily throw that image on a new ssd assuming u've address the 2 things i mentioned first.

 

Hello Gablet,

Basically it's a Studio 1747 with a stock 500 GB drive. I just reinstalled Windows 7 Home Premium / 64bit using the Dell disks that they provided. Then I did a backup image to a hard drive.

Now I just want to install a small (60 gb) SSD into the same machine, and make it the boot drive that holds the OS, and maybe OFFICE 2010. The other stuff can stay on the Hdd. So it's the same laptop, just wanting to know if I can move the image with the Win7 OS to the SSD and make it the boot drive.

So far it sounds like I can do this pretty easily. I did use the Windows backup to take the image ... do you still think I should take another image using Acronis?

Hey, also, thanks for your help.

 

Yep - same computer so the image you made will go easily onto your SSD and should boot right up without issue and Windows shouldn't ask for any drivers since all hardware is exactly the same. You might get something for the SSD but that's about it. Let me know how it works out and what you think.

 

Here is my worst nightmare... The Studio 1747

I have had more problems since I bought a 1747, than ever in my life with any other consumer/manufacturer relationship.

The base system is mediocre and those of us who saw "capabilities" didnt look at whether the pm55 chipset could handle max specs...

I bought 1747a
1 T231P Base,Notebook,STUDIO,Configure,To Order,1747 $78.07
1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT $98.00
1 2F49X Ship Group,Notebook,World Wide,Studio,1747 $1.10
1 4YNHJ Module,Shipping Material,Notebook,Large,POITIER $0.13
1 522KV Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.3,HDF+,White Light Emitted Diode,True Life,Au Optronics Corp $77.40
1 5FJ8M Module,Label,Intel,Notebook,CI7 $0.00
1 89GDW Module,Documentation,Studio,English,1745/47,Dao/Bcc $0.05
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc $0.00
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook $0.00
1 H608T Module,Hard Drive,500G,7.2K,SGT-HOLL,Across Line Of Business $48.00
1 J019D Module,Software,DELL-DOCK Consumer $0.10
1 J206C Module,Software,Dell Connect 2.1,Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA,Brazil Customer Center $0.00
1 J510P Module,Assembly,Base,Discrete,1747,1G $125.25
1 J595T Service Install Module,Software,STUDIO,1747 $0.25
1 J6XND Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multiple User Interface,NO-E $0.39
1 K005R Module,DIMM,6GB,1333MHZ, DDR3 $504.96
1 K194P Module,Processor,Clarksfield,XXXXX,1.6,1747 $340.02
1 K740T Module,Information,Wireless Wide Area Network,POITIER $0.00
1 KJRR7 Module,Card,Network,6200,Consumer Notebook $10.17
1 M017R Module,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,Digital Video Disk Drive,True Theatre High Definition,Factory Install $3.94
1 M239M Module,Software,LTG DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG $0.43
1 M412C Module,Cord,Power,125V,1M,C5 E,United States $0.93
1 MX962 Module,Information,NO MEDIA $0.00
1 N533M Module,Software,Mcafee SAPPHIRE,30DAY,Multiple User Interface $0.00
1 P047P Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR,9C,SIMPLO $50.00
1 P216P Module,Cover,Liquid Crystal Display,IMR,Black,POITIER $23.82
1 RCRY9 Module,Dvd+/-rw,Hitachi Lg Data Storage,Inspiron $24.30
1 T013C Module,Software,Works,9 English $9.95
1 T22TT Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,1.4,Factory Install $0.37
1 U014P Module,Keyboard,101,United States,English,C10NB,Poitier $9.20
1 U869P Module,Media,Digital Video Disk Drive,Driver,Resource Dvd,1747 $0.52
1 VR08H Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP32/64 $73.82
1 W3HMK Module,Label,Microsoft,Notebook,Windows7 $0.00
1 W505P Module,Palmrest,IMR,CHAIN,Tone On Tone,Poitier $18.00
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer $0.00
1 WDF4C Module,Software,Roxio,BURN,1.0,Factory Install $0.00
1 X520G Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,HIPRO,90W,3P,World Wide $11.98
1 X58VT Module,Bezel,Light Emitting Diode,With,Camera,1745 $47.00
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business $0.00
1 Y425G Module,Software,Dell Remote Access,1.0 $0.00
1 Y720M Module,Software,DSPRT-CTR 64BIT,2.0 $0.00
Item Sub Total $-1462.14
Item Ship Charge $0.00
Item Tax $-87.75

Item Total $-1549.91

then it blackscreened

then replaced it with 1747a - new MB

then same power issues

replaced with 1747b
1 T231P Base,Notebook,STUDIO,Configure,To Order,1747 $978.60
1 1YTJV Module,Kit,Software,Roxio,Easy Cd & Dvd,10.3,Upsell $0.01
1 2F49X Ship Group,Notebook,World Wide,Studio,1747 $0.01
1 522KV Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.3,HDF+,White Light Emitted Diode,True Life,Au Optronics Corp $0.01
1 5FJ8M Module,Label,Intel,Notebook,CI7 $0.01
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc $0.01
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook $0.01
1 H608T Module,Hard Drive,500G,7.2K,SGT-HOLL,Across Line Of Business $0.01
1 J019D Module,Software,DELL-DOCK Consumer $0.01
1 J206C Module,Software,Dell Connect 2.1,Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA,Brazil Customer Center $0.01
1 J510P Module,Assembly,Base,Discrete,1747,1G $0.01
1 J595T Service Install Module,Software,STUDIO,1747 $0.01
1 J6XND Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multiple User Interface,NO-E $0.01
1 K005R Module,DIMM,6GB,1333MHZ, DDR3 $0.01
1 K194P Module,Processor,Clarksfield,XXXXX,1.6,1747 $0.01
1 K740T Module,Information,Wireless Wide Area Network,POITIER $0.01
1 K8035 Information,SCRATCH/DENT EQUIPMENT $0.01
1 KJRR7 Module,Card,Network,6200,Consumer Notebook $0.01
1 M017R Module,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,Digital Video Disk Drive,True Theatre High Definition,Factory Install $0.01
1 M239M Module,Software,LTG DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG $0.01
1 M412C Module,Cord,Power,125V,1M,C5 E,United States $0.01
1 MX962 Module,Information,NO MEDIA $0.01
1 N533M Module,Software,Mcafee SAPPHIRE,30DAY,Multiple User Interface $0.01
1 P047P Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR,9C,SIMPLO $0.01
1 P881M Module,Software,Compact Diskette,Sensible Vision Facial Recognition,2.3-00 $0.01
1 RCRY9 Module,Dvd+/-rw,Hitachi Lg Data Storage,Inspiron $0.01
1 T013C Module,Software,Works,9 English $0.01
1 T22TT Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,1.4,Factory Install $0.01
1 U014P Module,Keyboard,101,United States,English,C10NB,Poitier $0.01
1 U858P Module,Palmrest,Paint,Silver,POITIER $0.01
1 U869P Module,Media,Digital Video Disk Drive,Driver,Resource Dvd,1747 $0.01
1 VR08H Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP32/64 $0.01
1 W3HMK Module,Label,Microsoft,Notebook,Windows7 $0.01
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer $0.01
1 X520G Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,HIPRO,90W,3P,World Wide $0.01
1 X58VT Module,Bezel,Light Emitting Diode,With,Camera,1745 $0.01
1 XJ7JR Module,Software,Roxio,EZCD,10.3,Upsell,Factory Install $0.01
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business $0.01
1 Y207P Module,Cover,Liquid Crystal Display,Paint,Green,Black,Poitier $0.01
1 Y720M Module,Software,DSPRT-CTR 64BIT,2.0 $0.01
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty $0.00
1 950-9057 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 $0.00
1 960-2780 Warranty Support, Initial Year $0.00
1 925-0737 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Mail In Service, Initial Year $0.00
1 935-0480 Mail-in Service after Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year $0.00
1 3E476 Information,Equipment $0.01
1 375-6061 Thank you, Dell Outlet $0.00
Item Sub Total $979.00
Item Ship Charge $0.00
Item Tax $58.72

Item Total $1037.72


1747b began malfunctioning

1747b sent to depot for repair came back exactly the same without repair +SCRATCHES

Dell sends MB, and other wrong parts creating 1747b - new MB

Malfunctions...

Back and fourth for months with dell has been the worst experience ever.

I loved the model... but maxed it out.

Im hoping that the replacement XPS 3D MAXED-out isnt too max for the MB and chipset...

That's my 1747 owner experience.

 

Sorry to hear. Maybe they don't like you very much at Dell. Many of us have had nothing but good experiences with the 1747. Mine is rock solid. I also have an HP Envy 17. The 1747 is a few months older but, by comparison (and even though the Envy has that nice 1080p screen), the Dell has always been faster, runs cooler, and has been more reliable. Who knows, could have been just a good run of units that Dell sold to Staples (where I got mine). Only issues I ever had were 1.) reinstalled Windows after a month for better performance and 2.) I made the mistake of adding Zone Alarm, which caused multiple blue screens daily until I figured it out. ZA doesn't seem to like Win7 / 64bit too much. I am adding that nugget of info in case you are using ZA or are thinking about it.

Sorry for the troubles. Hope the XPS pans out.

 

My left hinge is broken. Anyone with a Studio 17 who is in the same boat or had theirs repaired under warranty?

 

I have a Studio 1747 and I love it. Wanted to share about some of the upgrades I've tried to put in.

I bought a 2gb Intel Turbo Memory Module (half-height mini-pcie) and put it in the TV card slot. Wasn't sure it would work, but it apparently does! Readyboost is definitely running and using the Turbo Memory, and although ReadyDrive doesn't show up as selectable in the Turbo Memory utility (it did on the first boot then disappeared), the Properties page of my hard drive has a new "NVCache" tab that says my hard drive has 396MB of non-volatile cache. Hard drive section in Power Options also has a new option for "ReadyDrive Enabled Disk Power Savings Mode". So I'm inclided to think both ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost are working.

Some notes about installation:
- You need a small screw to secure the mini-pcie card in place. I used one that came with the caddy for the 2nd hdd for the Studio 1747 (ordered separately from NewModeUS).
- Intel's Turbo Memory driver installer by default will also install an old version of Intel's Matrix Storage Manager drivers and utility. These caused problems with my sound (no idea why, but apparently people on the Thinkpad forums have run into that before). So, run the installer with the appropriate options to not install the Intel MSM drivers and UI. I extracted the driver files ("-a") to install manually and also excluded an "Event Monitor", since I didn't see why I needed it and it worked fine. I also made sure my Intel Rapid Storage Technology (the current name for Intel MSM, intel's SATA controller driver) is up-to-date. You can run the Turbo Memory driver installer with "/?" to see all the options.
- You need to use the "Intel Turbo Memory Console" after installation to turn on ReadyBoost. This creates a new partition "IMD-0" which is hidden but visible in Disk Management. After this, you can see ReadyBoost being used by looking in the Performance Monitor at the ReadyBoost stats, or in Resource Monitor, where you can see the ReadyBoost cache file being accessed.

I have noticed some programs start up faster, but I haven't done real testing yet. My main goal would be if ReadyDrive really helps the main hard drive to stay spun-down longer and consume less power when running on batteries, but I don't really know of any way to track the spin-up status of the hard drive.

All in all, I'm really pleased that Turbo Memory seems to be working, it seems a great little upgrade to put in if you're a tweaker, and they're pretty cheap on Ebay now. I paid $15 for my 2gb module, which is the size I'd recommend since the 4gb module is apparently fixed on "User Pinning" mode instead of ReadyBoost, while the 2gb module can go either way.

 

I also got a CompactFlash-SATA adapter to try to have a relatively fast CF card in the 2nd HDD bay for ReadyBoost. This turned out to be more trouble than I expected, as you need a special "interposer"/adapter that basically puts the SATA connector a 90-degrees. I was unable to find any source for it other than buying a whole 2nd HDD caddy from NewModeUS. More money than I wanted to spend, but I guess it will come in handy in the future when I might want to put a whole HDD/SSD in. And I used one of the screws that came with the caddy to install the Turbo Memory module.

Unfortunately, after all the trouble, while the CF card reads fine and performs decently fast, Windows would not let me enable it for ReadyBoost. Even after tweaking in the Registry, it apparently does not allow running ReadyBoost off devices that are running off the same controller as the boot drive. Disappointing. So I am currently using it for pagefile and temporary directories.
EDIT: Turns out, I can enable ReadyBoost. I just had to format it as FAT32 instead of ExFAT.


To further try to reduce the need for the main hard drive to spin up, I've set up a 500mb ramdisk (using the free DataRam Ramdisk) and put my Chrome cache directory on it. It seems to work, and has sped up Chrome slightly too.

Separately, I noticed in Resource Monitor that only the HyperThreading cores on the 1747's i7-720qm were going into "Parked" mode. The 4 real cores always seemed to have something running on them, so they weren't able to go into idle mode. Turns out, this is because of a hidden Power Options setting "Processor Performance Core Parking Core Override" that, according to its pop-up description "Ensure(s) at least one processor remain unparked per core".

This seems to run opposite to how the power-saving management of the four cores in the i7 is supposed to work. Following the instructions here ( Google Translate), I disabled the setting and allowed the CPU to go down to a minimum of one core unparked. It seems to run cooler and use less battery now, and responsiveness still seems just as good as before. Note: One of the newly unhidden settings "Allow Throttle States" makes the system very slow and stuttery - probably because those states take longer to switch in and out of so the CPU isn't able to step back up to full speed fast enough when necessary.

Hope these help someone looking to put an extra tweak in your system! (Or even myself if I have to reinstall and have to re-do everything sometime in the future)

 

anyone got any advice to help with repairing , finding cheaper dell replacement for n Inspiron 1750 batter and/or its adaptor? ours is buggered after only 18 months.

many thks,
Simon M

 

is there anyone here that owns a dell 1737 with rgb screen? i would like to know what is the cable going from the system to the screen.

if you have this, go to this site
(if you dont trust my link, go to dell|support (at the top)|product support (grey buttons below shop/support/community)|system configuration),
Dell System Information / Dell Warranty Extensions & Upgrades / Dell Warranty Status

you will need the service tag (7 characters found under the computer), dont tell me the tag else i would be able to see what your warrenty is (and maybe other things)

you should come up with a list of items in your computer and how many.
if you want you can give the whole list or find the cable. because i cant find anybody advertising a 40 pin cable for LED displays and so i was wondering the dell ID for it.

i think mine is this (from my list):
NU481 ASSY,CBL,CCFL,LCD,W/,CMRA,PAO

im sure other people might be curious and look at their HW config
i have seen some people who tried upgrading ther m6400 to rgb's and they couldnt control the brightness, so this search might reach a teary end, unless i am content with my current size and get another one of those.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...n/468144-dell-m6400-display-swap-led-rgb.html

my screen: two codes:
M841C 17.0 " Widescreen WUXGA CCFL(1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife(TM)
J276C LCD,17WUXGA,CCFL,MM,TLF,SMSNG
it really is a LTN170CT07 (its a WUXGA, not a WXGA+ as some sites say)

im not sure if anyone has had success doing this. i will try to find an 6-bit screen for speed, rather than 8-bit for nice colors (if possible).
Charlie.

 

Better late than never. 1920x1200 RGB.

Quantity Parts # Part Description
1 P463H BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., NOTEBOOK..., CPEN, P8400, 2.26, 1737
1 H191K Processor, P8400, 2.26, 3MB Core Penryn, 25W, R0
1 C010J Ship Group, Notebook, North England, 1737, Dell Americas Organization
1 C912C Module, Label, Intel, Notebook Core Merom, Core Penryn
1 DR464 MODULE..., LABEL..., MICROSOFT..., VSTA, PREMIUM..., INSPIRON...
1 HW426 MODULE..., ADAPTER..., ALTERNATING CURRENT..., DELTA - AC ADAPT..., 90W, 3P, WORLD WIDE...
1 J019D MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL-DOCK, CONSUMER...
1 J857C Module, Card (circuit), Network DW1510, Inspiron, Dell Americas Organization
1 J908C Module, Dual In-line Memory Module, 4G, 800, DDR2, 2X2G Inspiron
1 JP927 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DELL-WELCOME, TLOB
1 K637C MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., CRTV, CAMERA..., CONSUMER...
1 K811H Module, Software, VHP64SP1, CNB England, D/B
1 M412C MODULE..., CORD..., POWER..., 125V, 1M, C5, E, UNITED STATES...
1 M434H MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., QUICK FIX ENGINEERING..., VHP64SP1, CNB
1 MT341 MODULE..., BATTERY..., PRIMARY..., 56WHR, 6C, SIMPLO
1 N316C Module, Keyboard, United States English, Inspiron Lightweight Number Pad, PAO, D/E
1 P166F MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., VHP32/64, CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY...
1 P367X MODULE..., BEZEL..., RED/GREEN/BLUE..., WITH..., CAMERA..., 1737
1 P578X Module, Cover, Liquid Crystal Display, Paint, Blue, Black, 1737
1 P618C Module, DVD+/-RW Pacino/hepburn, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc., INSP.
1 P790H MODULE..., ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., DISCRETE..., 1737
1 T013C MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., WORKS..., 9, ENGLAND/ENGLISH...
1 T679G MODULE..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 17WUXGA, RED/GREEN/BLUE..., LGP
1 T707G Module, Media, Digital Video Disk Drive, Driver, Resource Dvd, 1737
1 T708G Service Install Module Software, Inspiron, 1737
1 U264H Module, Software, VHP64SP1 Digital Video Disk Drive, MUL5 D/B
1 U3673 Module, infromation, Rabit, Inspiron, D SERIES...
1 W904C Module, Software, Roxio, 10.2 Dell Edition, Factory Install
1 WP875 MODULE..., HARD DRIVE..., 320G, 5.4K, SMSNG-M6, INSPIRON...
1 X479D Module, Information, With, Camera
1 XM544 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., PC-RESTORE, TRANSACTIONAL LINE OF BUSINESS...
1 YP943 MODULE..., PALMREST..., W/O FPRDR, PAO
1 J071G MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., Soft Contracts..., DELL-IN-HOME

 

In the Studio 1747 Device Manager I have an exclamation mark on the Mass Storage Controller device. Where does one find the driver?

 

damn nice, it that from the outlet?
I want the RGB screen, I have the 1920 x 1200, but my computer is constantly failing now, with non-powering usbs and charging-issues - so what can i get as a replacement

 

I am thinking about upgrading some of the specs of my Studio 1747 rather than buying a new laptop now. The only thing I am uncertain of is my wireless card. The one I want to install is a combo card with both WiFi and Bluetooth and this system has separate cards for both functions. I am wondering if I simply need to remove the existing Bluetooth card before installing the new combo card or if the new combo card will simply not work since this system was built before manufacturers began combining WiFi and Bluetooth into one half-mini PCIe card? I would appreciate any advice on this issue as I will make my final decision between upgrading and replacing next week. Thanks.

 

I have owned multiple laptops with dell (XPS and Studio). They have been great and have fixed my hardware problems without fuss. My studio laptop had bad boot sectors on its hard drive so I called into technical support. So, long story short they agreed to send a new hard drive. But to my amazement the tech rep said I would have to install the hard drive on my own when in reality I have payed for an onsite next business day warranty. I told her I was not capable of doing such a thing and in fact I payed for a warranty but she insisted and said go READ YOUR CONTRACT YOU SIGNED "the hard drive is an easy to replace part" you can do it on your own. I asked for a manager (the rep said the manager would also agree with her?!?!) so I was put through to a supervisor "Jessie-530846" after 15min of waiting who did not budge either and was extremely rude as well. He said he would email me pictures and that I could follow them. I said no thanks called customer support and what did they do? They gave me the run around (said the situation would be escalated -lies) and put me through to the same agent who refused to honor the next business day warranty. Now I am the phone again "requesting special permission" to have a on site tech come and replace the hard drive. What should be done about this? Why should I have to request special permission for an agreement I payed for? Should it really take over 4 hours to get approval to replace a faulty hard drive? Why is Dell not honoring their warranty and trying to "shaft" paying customers?

 

An agent approved the onsite visit. The original agent Christian Angela "Chris" ID: 250971 called my house at 11pm at night to cancel my dispatch because she has it out for me. "Claiming proper procedure must be done" when a special request was made and cleared for me to have on site support. This is beyond harassment and I cant believe a employee would act this vile towards an customer.

 

It is in your contract that you are required to do easy replacements. The hard drive is super easy. You remove a few screws on the bottom, pop off the panel, remove two screws and pull out the hard drive. Simple to slide the new one back in and replace the screws. All the software is on the drive and will install at startup.

When you get the hard drive it should include directions with pictures. I'm a 54 year old woman with no handy man experience at all and I've done this numerous times. The first time I was scared to do it but once I did I discovered just how easy it really is to do.

Good luck. I hope you are able to do it or to get a technician if you need it.

 

I have paid for a warranty. If I don't feel comfortable changing my parts and should be forced into doing this when I agreed to a service. When the on site tech visit was approved why did the agent cancel it because she wanted to give me a hard time. This is not the first time my hard drive was replaced each time a tech came. I don't have the time or experience to deal with this. It should not be a question whether you are a women or not it should be about honoring what people paid for. I paid a lot of money for the on site warranty and rightful so since I was offered a premium service.What happened to the days when someone word was true instead today everything and everyone has a loophole to put the consumer at a disadvantage. Thanks for the wishes I hope I get a tech as well. For some reason I find it hard to believe your a 54 year old woman secondly in the world of business "the customer is always right".

 

It is unusual for Dell to not go above and beyond for the customer. I've always had great service. It does sound like you are dealing with a rotten person. A few years ago I had the video card go out in my laptop. I had to go to a supervisor to get approval to change it myself. I had read the manual and knew it was something I could do myself. They were insisting that they had to send out a tech to change it. I've just had worse luck letting anyone else work on my computers. They end up doing more damage. That's another reason why to watch them carefully....make sure they put everything back right and don't let them strip any of the screws and leave it there. That's the absolute worst.

Have you called back and complained about the rep? I sure would. I imagine she's not getting very high marks. Hopefully you'll get the email asking you to rate the service.

I had to learn how to do replacements. I'm in Anchorage and next day on-site service means next week after they get the parts in and that's only if they aren't too busy. It sucks.