OFFICIAL: Studio 17 Owner's Thread

I got my Studio 17 Black today and so far Im very pleased.
I ordered it on 7/26/08 with an estimated ship date of 8/11/08. So dont be concerned with ship dates it will probably ship early. Total price delivered was $961.00 thanks to bigmo for giving me a good Dell Link.

I have the LED screen with no dead/bad pixels and it seems to have very good picture quality. Definitely a TN panel though. The font is perfect to read and Im not that young.

Yes the keyboard has a lot of flex. I notice that you can adjust the brightness of the keyboard which is nice.

This notebook actually feels very light to me. I guess Im used to the heavy old 15" types which weigh more than this.

Everything seems to work fine...havent had any glitches so far.

Im getting an Apple Macbook Pro 17" this week which I am going to compare the Studio 17 with.


One thing Im alittle concerned about is that there is no Windows Vista COA sticker anywhere on the notebook or inside the box. Anyone know what the deal if on this?
Anyone that has a Studio please let me know if you have one. It looks like there is one for Microsoft Works but not Vista.
Any questions feel free to ask.

 

Thanks but i was hoping someone who actually owns an S17 could give some feedback.. Relying on Dell's Sales reps or Ati websites is not something I'm happy to do..

1) I have read the HDMI Output on the Dell's can only output 1600x1200, I wanted to confirm this wasn't the case. (It may of been an X3100 thing)

2)The reason I ask here, is i figure actual customers who own one might actually have tried to use it, and thus would be better to ask than a sales rep. Do you own an S17?

Thankyou for the answers, But if anyone has actually tried 1/2 please let me know of their experiences. The only thing preventing from ordering is cost and availability.... Particularly availability one month wait seems a little long...

 

Sorry I cant help you on the HDMI since I have no plans to use it.

I can tell you that the multimedia controls will only light when you touch them.

 

Woot woot, getting my Stuido 17 tomorrow! Looking forward to the new green beast.

 

I am new and came across this site. Read the reviews on here so thanks, and Here is what I ordered. I thought it was a good deal. I work for Boeing Company and we get a discount, which helps greatly.

Item Number Quantity Item Description Total Price
223-7818 1 Studio 1535, Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2.0GHz, 667Mhz, 2M L2 Cache $671.16
320-6470 1 Tangerine Orange
311-8611 1 3GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
330-0498 1 Back-lit Keyboard
320-6867 1 Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
320-6516 1 ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3450
341-6693 1 320G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
420-8566 1 Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium Edition, English
330-0495 1 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP INSP 1535
420-5769 1 Internet Search and Portal
420-8223 1 Dell Video Chat
463-2282 1 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
420-9100 1 Dell Dock Consumer
420-6436 1 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
420-7622 1 DELL SUPPORT CENTER 2.0
420-7468 1 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
313-6229 1 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
420-8183 1 Roxio Creator DE 10
330-0496 1 MEDIA DIRECT 4.0 For DVD RW
313-4783 1 Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
430-2929 1 Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini Card
320-6653 1 Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
410-1160 1 McAfee Security 9.0, 30-day Subscription, for Dell Inspiron / Dimension
312-0694 1 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
412-0148 1 No Internet Service Provider Requested
420-8051 1 Microsoft Works 9.0, English For Inspiron
950-3337 1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
412-0360 1 Soft Contracts - Banctec
960-2780 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
990-5827 1 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
988-3950 1 Type 3- Third Party At HomeService, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, Initial Year
313-6224 1 Integrated Finger Print Reader
420-8312 1 Finger Print Software
430-2933 1 Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.0)
320-6878 1 Glossy, widescreen 15.4 LCD (1280x800) w/ 2.0M pixel Camera
420-8310 1 Creative Camera SW
330-0717 1 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
310-8628 1 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
420-7091 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS
420-7092 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS 1YR-FREE
987-4817 1 Insp Datasafe 3GB,1YR(Incl in price),DHS
988-0099 1 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
Subtotal: $671.16
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $33.57
Total: $704.73

 

You ordered the Studio 15 that is why you have the lower price.......but still a great deal!!!

 

duh. i just noticed this was studio 17 thread and not 15

 

X3100 are integrated graphics. Here is a link to supported Video modes https://support.dell.com/support/edocs/video/P172477/en/specs.htm
Search is your friend.

 

Just an FYI - Bios A04 was released for the Studio 17 this week. No major changes for 32-bit Vista are indicated on the release notes.

 

I've been using mine for about a week now and I think I like it!
2.1Ghz, 4gig mem, 1900x1200...

Love the screen over my Inspiron 8600. The keyboard flex isn't too much. The seam of the lower case has some sharp edges but not too bad. Speakers suck!

First real attempt to use Vista...not lovin' it. Vista Home Premium. There is no "system" backup utility! What! Vista Home users don't want to backup their system files/state to restore the entire drive? Cant wait till Ubuntu works on the Studio.

The other problem I see right now is when the screen is closed. There are very few rubber bumps keeping the screen away from the lower case/keyboard.

I keep my laptop beside the recliner, standing vertically on the floor. I usually grab it by one had as I lower it to the floor beside me. Does anyone know where to get little rubber bits I can stick on the perimeter of the screen to keep it from contacting the lower case?

Thanks,
davidk

 

Yes i know X3100 is integrated, thanks for the link but again i wanted to confirm with people who use them, not the often incorrect website pages.
So Search wasn't going to help. But thanks the lack of 24 and 50hz refresh rates is fairly poor these days IMO.

However i have just ordered the following:

R510809AU - Dell Studio 17 Laptop
N119C -Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9300
BRM-066 -2.5GHz, 6MB Cache, 800 MHz FSB
C912C -Label (Core 2 Duo & Dell Wireless or no wireless)
FOS-I510 -Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium 32 bit SP1 Edition
TR443 -System Driver DVD Kit
U179F -Genuine Windows Vista(R) Home Premium 32 bit SP1 (English)
TR043 -Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Software Driver
H081D -Vista QFE OS (Home Premium SP1)
NU795 -17.0 " Widescreen WXGA + WLED (1440x900) TFT TrueLife(TM)
NU837 -Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web Cam
M759F -Midnight Blue Colour with Black U-Trim
HJ805 -3GB (1x2GB+1x1GB) 667MHz SDRAM
T409C -250GB SATA Hard Drive
P618C -Internal 8X DVD + /-RW Combination Drive
Y573C -Roxio Creator 10
F223D -Dell(TM) MediaDirect
DMN-048 -Dell Media Direct
NU455 -256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650
T241G -Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software
YP949 -Palmrest with Fingerprint Reader
K639C -Finger Print Reader Software
K480C -Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini-Card
M141G -Dell(TM) Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
P411C - Dell(TM) Backlit Keyboard with Touchpad (English)
MT341 -6 cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
BTV-001 -TV Tuner with Remote Control Package
RK880 -TV Tuner Card (ExpressCard)
FW728 - Dell(TM) Remote Control for Media Center
BRM-005 -1 ExpressCard Slot, (DOES NOT SUPPORT PCMCIA CARDS)
BMC-011 -8-in-1 media card reader
WRT-527 -2 Years Limited with Next Business Day Onsite Service
AUD-506 -Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio
WXTX112-IN - 2 Years Limited with Next Business Day Onsite Service
WXPH812-INH(ANZ) - 2 Years Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0800-2000.
T013C - Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
BSW-D041 -OEM-Word Processor/Spreadsheet/Database/Calendar/
CM132 -McAfee(R) Security Center(TM) – 30 days trial
YU349- -Dell(TM) Network Assistant
FRT391-INS/NB -Inspiron-NB Handling & Insurance Charges
W914C - Dell(TM) Chat
WK528 - Google Toolbar
UN078 -Vista(R) HTML Guide Included
KW181 - Dell(TM) Support Center
F654C -Dell Connect 2.1
TW473 -Power Cord (ANZ)
BNC-017 - Integrated Fast Ethernet 10/100/1000
XM544 -Dell(TM) PC-Restore Included
DMN-025 -PC Restore will occupy some HDD capacity.
UU534 -External USB modem (WW)
NF274 -RJ-11 Modem cable (Aust)
RH778 -90W AC Adapter

 

er... glad I could help?

 

Laptop showed up this morning at 9:30am. I originally ordered on the 29th, made changes on the 30th, and here I am with my new studio on the 8th.

I got the T9300, 4GB of ram, 320GB Sata HDD, 8X Dvd read/write, 1900x1200 resolution screen and the ATI 3650.

I am loving the screen! The resolution and quality is great. No banding!

The sound isn't the best, but it will deffinitely do for me.

I haven't tried out any games on it yet, but I am going to shortly. So I can't say much about the 3650

Also, the feel of the paint is awesome. It feels kind of rubbery, which also makes me fear it can scratch easily.

The feel of the plastic (on the hand/palm rest area) is smooth and strong. I get some keyboard flexing, but it's nothing that bothers me at all, and I don't feel anyone would be hindered in their typing.

I got it in the spring green colour by the way.

 

can you post some pics please? or if anyone got a pink or red studio? thanks!

 

keyboard the same, better or worse than the 1705?

 

I've been using Vista since RC1 on my notebook and primary desktop. It's taken me this long to really feel comfortable with it over XP Pro.

I have finally got Peer Guardian 2 working ok on Vista. It's taken me a LONG time!

I still run XP Pro SP3 on 2 of my other desktops. Can tell you that Vista Ultimate is the one to use as it has "everything". Vista Business would be the second choice for me as I prefer proper functionality - networking, AD, backups, shadow copy etc over things like media centre and movie making.

I still prefer most aspects of XP's Windows Explorer to Vista's version however there is one thing Vista does in it's Explorer that I can't live without anymore which is that pathing thing where you can easily click on any folder you have been digging in - don't know what it's called. I still miss many aspects of XP Pro. Just so much more "manouverable" than Vista.

The killer app for me in Vista is the Snipping Tool. I use that everyday and I miss that when I am on XP.

 

Oh, is there no latch for the lid? how does it stay secure?

 

I was surprised at no latch to keep it securely closed when I opened it up a few weeks ago. However I have found it to be a very secure closure even though it doesn't latch - a strong hinge I would guess.

Vista is taking quite a bit of getting used to - wish this laptop would've had an XP Pro option to it!

Another cool thing is being able to game from anywhere there is a wireless connection available and have the experience be as good if not better then my XPS tower.

 

I plan to be ordering my Studio 17 soon

Does the ATI 3650 come with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory?

Thanks in advance.

 

The processor in the Studio line only supports DDR2 I think...

 

No it's only DDR2, Hence the reason the less the stellar Video/3D performance.
I'm not sure if any of the mobile Radeons are DDR3.

It would be nice to see an aftermarket for Mobile videocards.

 

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=162&l3=0&l4=0&model=1557&modelmenu=1

http://ati.amd.com/technology/xgp/index.html

 

Bios update fixed:
CD-Eject abnormally in Vista64 with 4G RAM

 

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/1735_A04.EXE

Looks like a new Studio17 bios dated 8/1/08 has been released just flashed to my noteook...not sure of what the fixes are since Dell hasn't bothered to update the list of Studio17 drivers...

 

Erm,.... okay?

I'm not looking for an external solution. But perhaps you can "search" for an explanation on the differences between "External" and "Aftermarket" if you love to search so much.....
Feel free not to help me out on any more searches...

 

Woo!
My estimated shipping date is now the 13th of August!
2 weeks ahead of the original ESD. I'm thinking i might get it even earlier tho... it arrived in Australia yesterday, then all they have to do is give it to the courier then bring it straight to me right?
Shouldn't take 3 business days right?
Maybe I'm wrong but yeh...

 

Has anyone else tried 64 bit Vista with the new bios? It has not fixed it the cd eject problem yet with my computer. It freaks out if I hit any of the eject buttons on the laptop itself but if I'm in Vista and right click on the E: DVD Drive and eject and it works just fine!

 

Does anyone know if you can install Windows XP on the dell Studio 15 or 17 laptops? I assume that the drivers don't really exist since the laptop came out after XP was no longer available from Dell...

 

I am betting that you can find most of the drivers for XP especially if you look at other models, esp in the business line that still support XP.

 

In case people wanted to know what kind of gaming they can get out of this notebook, I thought I'd share my results. These are the settings that got me perfectly smooth gameplay (30fps +). Very soon I will be trying Mass Effect, Oblivion and Battlefield 2 on it. Also, when I dropped the resolution, the screen was still very sharp. I didn't notice any loss or fuzzyness.

Bioshock - I played this with medium to high settings at 1400x900

Team Fortress 2 - Played with everything maxed out, at 1920x1200

Half-Life 2 + Episode 1- Maxed out and at 1920x1200

Civ 4 + Expansions - Maxed at 1920x1200 (man do the turns load fast!)

GTA San Andreas - Maxed at 1650x1080

I also use Photoshop, Corel Draw, Illustrator and In Design on this PC and they perform incredibly well.

T9300 2.5ghz, 4GB DRR2, ATI 3650 256mb, 1920x1200 screen.

 

I will be an owner soon, most likely a sad one unfortunately. I am getting a replacement system for my 1705, and they are sending me a 1735 with a slower proc and hdd. WTF.

 

Hi johnnyb82,

fantastic! Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is exactly the sort of information I need. Real world! I would really love to know (as would others I think) how you go with Crysis - you could just try the demo if you don't have the full game.

Kind regards

Lee

 

I own it, I will trycrysis when I get the time. By the way, San Andreas ran perfect in 16bit mode, and in 32bit it sometimes had tiny sutters but otherwise ran perfect. Also I am not using AA in these games. Especially at such a high res, I don't see the need to.

 

Yeh agreed. Yes well any other games you can test out and give the same fantastic information on would be really appreciated.

 

Now I am super pissed off with Dell. They just canceled my order.

 

fan running loud all the time,
Hello, I have mine for two weeks now and I'm a little disapointed about how loud the fan is running. In a quiet room it is quite disturbing. How are yours?
regards
Alois

 

Didn't fix mine either... retards! All it did was disable the two hotkeys on the keyboard. Eject from My Computer still works fine fortunately.

I am having issues with the video driver crashing during video playback. It's very frequent, probably every 20 minutes. Windows catches the error, the screen blips off for a couple of seconds then playback resumes.

I updated the drivers using Mobility Modder ( http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php) when I installed Vista x64.

In case it is relevant my specs are...
T9300 2.5ghz, 4gb ram, ATI 3650, Vista x64.

Oh, and if anyone is having trouble with crackly/awful sound quality this can be fixed by disabling the 802.11a band on your Wi-Fi card. It worked for me.

 

Using Vista 32-bit was able to just download and install via device manager the official ATI Radeon driver w/o modification. You may want to reinstall the WHQL x64 bit driver to see if that fixes it...

 

Hi ach3al,

My fan typically runs very quiet. The loudest it got was when I had it on my lap once. It was probably not getting proper airflow. I used it last night on my lap though, and it ran very quiet.

 

Thanks I'll give it a go

 

Man, is it difficult to wait for my S17 to be shipped and delivered. I've found that browsing these forums to find any useful programs or info. for my S17 helps with the wait a bit. Still, I'm praying there are no delays for mine.

 

What are some Vista scores?

 

Does anyone know which combo laptop/slr bags the Studio 17 will fit in comfortably?

 

Alrighty, Just played some Crysis.

All I did was install, apply patch 1.2, then once in game I selected optimal settings which set me to medium settings. I jumped into the game and it was very playable. It deffinitely stuttered at times, but at no point was it unplayable. I would say over all it was very smooth.

One way to preview what it looks like is go on Youtube and look at a video of the 8600M GT playing it.

 

Hi johnnyb82 thanks awesome - what res?

 

I think mine was 4.3 or 4.7? Is that the Vista score your thinking of?

2.1Ghz processor
4gig mem
ATI video
250gig 5400rpm disk

 

My Windows Experience Index is 5.0;

Processor: 5.4
Memory: 5.1
Graphics (Desktop): 5.6
Graphics (Gaming): 5.0
Hard Disk: 5.3

I bought a T9300 2.5ghz, 4gb RAM, 320gb 5400rpm HDD, ATI 3650, Blu-ray.


By the way, I have updated my ATI drivers to standard ATI ones without the mobility modder tool and fingers crossed video playback won't crash (it hasn't done yet although I haven't tested it for very long).

 

Turning DX10 on killed Flight SimX w/all patches...flying around was constant stutter.

With the DX10 preview shut off was then able to crank all settings to Ultra-High and was smooth as a baby's butt!

Guess the Integrated ATI just can't quite handle DX10 with all the eye candy...

BTW: Also running the latest AMD Radeon driver 8.7 non-modded...

 

I've got a Studio 1735 on order but I'm concerned that the slot-loading DVD drive will scratch disks or not take non-standard size disks. Has any owner had any problems so far? Dell support couldn't tell me who makes them as they have several manufacturers supplying the parts.

 

I don't think you need to worry about scratching...