Owner's Thread: Dell Inspiron 11 3147 2-in-1

I just picked up a Dell Inspiron 11, 3000 Series, 3147 2-in-1 Convertible Notebook/Tablet. I got it on sale at Microcenter for $399.

Here's the link at Dell: New Inspiron 11 3000 Series 2-in-1 | Dell

I swapped out the 500gb HDD for a 512gb Crucial MX100 SSD, and upgraded the RAM from 4gb DDR3L to 8gb DDR3L. There is one memory slot and a 7mm height SATA drive caddy inside.

I'm looking for an extra AC Adapter. Dell seems to have changed their AC adapters recently and I can't find a replacement for this one. The tip is much smaller, with a center pin in the laptop port. The generic AC adapters with multiple tips don't have anything small enough for this new adapter. I can't even find it as an accessory on Dell's website. Anybody have ideas?

 

Just chatted with Dell, and there are no spare AC Adapters available yet. That's ridiculous! There were at least 5 notebook models at Micro Center using that same AC Adapter! To release new models with no spare is ludicrous!

 

Just got one as well. Got the Intel quad core processor and i'm pretty happy with the performance so far. Did you get yours with Pentium as well or Celeron?
Was it easy to put the SSD in?

 

It is very easy to replace the drive and memory. once you take the base off (after removing the screws it snaps off. Then two screws to remove the battery and then three to remove the drive.

Also I found this, I have not ordered it yet but it looks like it will work.
AC19V90K1 - Inspiron 11 (3137) - Dell - Notebook Adapter - Batteries and Battery Chargers - Laptop Batteries, Digital Camera Batteries, Camcorder Batteries, Rechargeable Batteries, Notebook Adapter, Li-ion Batteries, Smart Phone Batteries at Battdepo

 

I just got a 3147 and hearing processor noise. Anyone else hearing noise. Just wondering if I should return in.

Thanks for any response.

 

Hi just wondering how did you guys pry the back off. i removed all 9 screws (the one in the middle too) but the back seems stuck to the body of the dell.

 

How is the device so far? Any pros and cons? Im planning to buy one as my secondary portable laptop.

 

I got one with a good deal at Office depot....
I replaced the HDD with a 256 Samsung SSD Switched in 8GB Ram stick I also replaced the WiFI card with an intel AC+BT card... It is the one that is supposed to be offered as an option as the drivers are on the website

The only issue I had reinstalling windows 8 was the touchpad drivers were a little weird. It did not want to recognize the touchpad.. I think i ended up with a combination of drivers and the touchpad app from the 3137 or something weird

So far it is working good though... no complaints for what it is.. it will play League of Legends which was suprising

 

I encountered the same issue with the touchpad. The first laptop I received did not come with an operating system (seriously). Dell was nice enough to send an usb stick with the operating system, but it didn't have any drivers on it. I downloaded every driver for the system from Dell's website and the only one that didn't work was the touchpad. For some reason the driver is not recognized even though it'll say it was correctly installed, resulting in a touchpad that can't use multitouch gestures such as scrolling, zoom etc. I had to return it to get a replacement.

To anyone who is thinking about doing a clean install or such, please note that the touchpad drivers on Dell's website does not work. You have to get a copy of the driver from Dell Backup and Recovery which came with your system, otherwise your touchpad won't function correctly.

 

Has anyone tried to do a clone of the hard drive to an ssd? I recently purchased this laptop and a crucial m500 240gb. Using acronis to clone the hdd results in blue screen after boot. Any help?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I was unable to clone the drive to an ssd either - had to do a full reinstall. So I used the Dell Backup and Recovery to make a bootable SSD to reinstall the OS. Please make sure that you make a new partition table on your SSD with GPT (not MBR) first before restoring the OS from your SSD.

This is a great machine when you put an SSD in it. Over 7 hours of battery life and instant responsiveness!

 

hi everyone, i hope you can help me with these questions.

i'm just about to purchase this system. seeing that a few of you already upgraded the RAM to 8GB, i would also like to do the same. the system supports DDR3L 1333. unfortunately, only DDR3L 1600 is readily available in my area. will the DDR3L 1600 memory stick work with this system?

i'm also changing the HDD to SSD. my plan is to create a back-up image of the OS in a USB stick - remove the HDD, install the SSD - check the BIOS and boot to USB stick - then install the OS. Are my steps correct? this would be my first time installing an OS from a USB stick and using SSD And also, the SSD that i need is with a SATA3 interface right?

 

1600 works, have it in my system now. Though I think it only runs at 1333

I used Macrium Reflect to take an image of the Dell HDD and then restored the image to my SSD. Worked great.

Does anyone know how to disable the crap Dell Touchpad Pointing Device software and just use the Synaptics software to configure the touchpad??

 

I tried the synaptics drivers from their website but they would not see the hardware....

I have drivers from dell installed now however the touchpad lock feature does not seem to work.... the keyboard locks when folded back but not the touchpad....

 

@ jonlad1

i appreciate you confirming the memory part! from my old PC days, i believe it will work too (but before you confirming, i was totally unsure). i believe it will only function as fast as the slowest it's connected to.

@ everyone

if i were to do a clean install on the SSD, (create a back-up image of the OS in a USB stick - remove the HDD, install the SSD - check the BIOS and boot to USB stick - then install the OS) - any additional configuration in BIOS that i need to do?

 

Yep it runs at the MB speed.

I have just ordered an Intel 7260 AC NGFF M2 card to replace the single band (shocking!) wifi. Will confirm that works when it arrives.

I really want to get that Dell touchpad software off, I always use side scrolling which isnt available with the Dell app

Does anyone else speakers crackle when listening to music/watching a movie? mine do every 10-15 seconds, very annoying. Suppose it will be a warranty job. Tried reinstalling the audio driver which didnt do any good

 

Install Dell Quickset, it's what locks the touchpad when you fold it into tablet mode.

 

Hey, I havent heard any noise from mine. I would recommend that everyone who owns this laptop to do a dead pixel test. I have discovered 2 on my current one on Aug 4th and ive been talking to dell since then trying to get a new replacement. So please perform a test ASAP before your warranty/money-back guarantee expires.

 

That is the WIFI card I used.. Dell has the drivers on their site...
Mine is working iso far

 

I somehow trashed the windows install that came on the computer and cannot use dell backup and restore to set up my ssd. I have a windows 8.1 install disk and it finds the product key all right but it cannot find my m500 drive (No formatting, gpt) unless Santa is set to ata mode. I can't find drivers that are compatible. Should I install in ata then switch to ahci?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

You can manage the touchpad using Synaptics software now?

 

Try MBR partition table if you are doing this from a Windows 8.1 install disk, then you shouldn't have to switch things around.

 

10 points to the first that can disable the Dell Touchpad software and use Synaptics.....its driving me mad and I cant disable it!!

 

almost tripped the screws out! and i tore one of the plastic hinges of the bottom panel

btw, am i missing something here? Samsungs Magician said that the interface its SSD is connected to isn't Sata 3!? - full 6Gb/s is what i mean.

EDITED:

just confirmed via my dell that it's just a 3Gb/s interface.

another quick question...do anyone notice this instance. from off state, press the power button, the power light will turn on for a few seconds then fade and the system won't turn on. do we really need to press and hold on the power button before the system turns on? on my previous systems, it was a simple press (no need to press and hold) to turn on the system

 

New A02 bios on Dell's support page. Also noticed that there's an Inspiron 11 3148 listed.

 

I went to order 8GB of ram from Dell and said my Inspiron 3147 was only capable of 4GB. Has anyone heard this? I read when many of you have upgraded to 8GB. Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

Yup, Intel limitation. The most any bay trail can get is sata 2.0, which is a lot better that the bay trail z3xxx series. No data support at all.

 

I've been eyeing this notebook for a few weeks now. So what's the consensus for everyday use so far?

 

Dell has only tested up to 4GB, which is why they only recommend up to this amount. It does work up to 8GB. Like an HDD, if you ask them for recommendations, you'll find the options they suggest somewhat limited.

 

Thanks. I would have purchased a cheaper and slower SSD if i knew that before

Yes. 8GB works well with the system.

for everyday use - it's a charm they just released an i3 version - you might want to check that too.


@ everyone

is anyone having the same issue as what i have? if i leave the system off for a long time (overnight). i have a hard time turning the system on in the morning. it takes me 3 power button presses before the system would turn on. the weird part is, after the system turns on, i turn it off. then back on - in just one push of the power button the system boots immediately!

 

Can you explain to me how you did this? I removed the old HDD and installed a new SSD (Samsung EVO 840) and the system refuses to load the installation from the USB. I built this USB from the ISO MS provides for clean installs.

The problem that I'm having is that I can't get to the Windows 8.1 installation screen.

 

Perfect, but I just read the notebookreview.com review that just came up today and it said one of the main CONs was "Performance not up to par for streaming video". Does anyone know how well the 11 2in1 will handle video streaming sites like twitch.tv, and netflix?

 

If you disable secure boot from the BIOS, it should display press F2 for Setup or F12 for Boot Menu after you turn the machine on - you should then be able to EFI or Legacy Boot your USB, depending on how it is formatted.

 

Just in case anyone is interested, I found the working Synaptics drivers.

Install this and you'll have the far superior Synaptics options under Mouse in Control Panel, rather than the CRAP Dell touchpad settings.

Synaptics TouchPad Driver

 

Hey guys-

Just ordered this convertible and was wondering if you find it needs a case or sleeve for everyday lugging around? I'll be using it for school and work and will be pulling it out of my bag loads. Any recommendations for cases and accessories?

Thanks

 

If you google Synaptics 18.1.15, you'll find newer version drivers. I ran the download, which extracted the drivers, and from device manager I installed the synaptic drivers. This way the drivers run like direct from synaptic, without the bloat. Before I started this I removed the dell drivers and rebooted.

 

I don't think it needs a case or sleeve, but I do have a laptop storage sleeve built into my backpack that only the laptop goes into. It's has stayed like new for the month I have owned it so far.

 

i guess i'm the only one experiencing this issue huh??? since i'ved already replaced the HDD and Memory, does that void the warranty?

 

Are you saying that if you shut down the computer (windows key + i and choose power--> shutdown) that if you wait 10 seconds, the computer turns on with one click, but if you wait 8 hours the computer requires you click the power button 3 times?

 

exactly! i'm quite puzzled actually. first time this ever happened to me, or to any of my system

 

I say do it again tonight and check tomorrow, but only press the power once and wait 5 seconds and see if it turns on anyway. What you describe happened to me once, that I noticed. I haven't noticed again, but what you describe my macbook pro also does and my iMac. It wasn't that I have to press it multiple times, but that I just have to wait a few seconds for it to turn on.

 

ok. will try it and wait for a few seconds. i may just be too overly excited and was not waiting for the system. will update you again. thanks!

 

Have you updated the bios for the laptop? They released a new version to A02.

 

nope. still the same case today. i pressed on the power button, the light turned on and faded, waited for 10 secs. - the system didn't turn on. i did a press and hold instead, the light turned on and faded again, waited for another 10 secs - the system didn't turn on. on my 3rd press (power button), the system turns on. i then shut down the system. waited for 5 mins. and with just 1 press of the power button, the system turned on - quite weird!!!

yes i did. the day dell release the A02 bios. i was hoping it would fix the issue but it didn't.

 

So I just got my 11" 3147 and ran windows update. Then I ran "My Dell" and checked for driver updates and saw a bunch of stuff from audio to BIOS to intel graphics updates. Should I just download and install everything?

So far everything seems pretty good no real complaints except for the touchpad that randomly stops working for a few seconds, and the keyboard is a bit mushy.

 

could someone place a link to the intel 2650 dual baand wifi that will work with the dell inspirion 11 31147.
thank you so much...

 

Yup, for sure update everything.

 

Have you had an any problems since you upgraded the ram and went to a SSD?

 

^i had my "power on" issues the moment i upgraded to both

 

For people who have upgraded their WiFI cards how is the performance? Right now in my room my macbook gets full signal, but my 3147 only gets maybe 2-3 bars and usually only gets "limited connection" which is annoying. Also does changing/opening the laptop void the warranty?