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

I am configuring for someone who "will not change".
this is going to be used strictly in laptop mode.
So:
- I need to unload 8.1 and load 7
or
- I need to load 7 as a second OS - If that can be done with this configuration.
Any help? - Anyone - Anyone?
Miles

 

I have not done this, but confident it can be done. You might have to hunt down a few drivers, but everything on this laptop supports Win7 (afaik).

The general steps (that I recommend) are:

1) Make an image/backup of the entire hard drive (optional).

2) Disable UEFI in bios (go back to BIOS boot). Win7 certainly does support UEFI, but all the Dell machines I've seen do it this way, UEFI->Win8 and BIOS->Win7

3) Boot from your Win7 (usb) media.

4) Format the hard drive (wiping everything out). You can do this during installation (or via command prompt).

5) Install Win7

6) Try the Dell WIn8 drivers, see what installs and what doesn't. Then track down the Win7 version of whatever drivers you need.

7) Windows Updates and testing.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the input.
But I have been "playing" with giving win 8 the win 7 look and feel.
- Found how to boot into the desktop.
- Downloaded "Classic Shell"
With all that, I might get her to work with it!!!

If I have to download 7, will let you know how it works.
Thank you
Miles

 

(Nevermind on the first question. Just overlooked an obvious setting.)
...

On another note:

So, I replaced the Seagate 500mb hdd w/ an SSD, used the included Win 8.1 CD and more or less followed post #93, including using the dropbox files and the order of installation.

Everything seems to be running fine, but there were two items from the Dell Support Page I was unable to update / add:

1) The Dell Digital Delivery Application
and
2) The Dell Update Application

When I first tried, it stated that "This application requires .NET Framework 3.5. Please install .NET Framework then run this installer again."

I thought additional Windows updates would solve this, but alas no .NET Framework updates came when checking for updates. I doubt this is related, but thought I'd mention it here in case anyone has thoughts.

I suppose I should also note that because I was doing a fresh install, I didn't change the settings as described in post 93 (e.g., legacy/uefi setting). Everything seems to be working fine. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please share them. Thanks!

Also, to let everyone know, there are a few new drivers on the Dell Support page dated Dec. 2, 2014, so you might want to check that out if you want to update anything. They include Audio, BIOS, Touchpad, and Network drivers.

 

I think this will be a better solution overall and should make upgrading to Windows 10 easier when it comes around next year. Glad to hear you found some other potential solutions.

 

Hello All.

I purchased this laptop Inspiron 11-3147 with the idea I would install a 128GB Sandisk standard SSD (as a gift). It worked fine and all seems well. I restored from usb backup media made on original HDD.

1) Is there a performance reason everyone is avoiding this method to install the SSD? I have ran some benchmarks and they seemed par for the coarse. (230MB read 180MB write, supposedly rated much higher but is the mfg rating and research notes 200 is norm read at least)

2) I have seen a lot of Sata 2 talk. The Sandisk Dashboard software I have shows SATA 3 6Gb/s and full link speed of 6Gb/s. Someone noted bay trail is only sata 2? any information on why this was said earlier and mine seems to be at full 3 speeds? (doubt it matters with this SSD)

Thanks!

 

Then just put on classic shell or start 8. I have a precision m6500 with 8.1 and you wouldn't even know it has metro on it. Don't see the purpose of ice skating uphill when a simple free or dirt cheap app can do the trick.

 

I ended up using software the main IT guy I know recommended as a safe bet. iObit Driver Booster 2 free worked. I poked around enough between my company's Windows On The Go load and my Windows OEM internal HD load to notice the i2C dependency for the Synaptics touchpad to even work or be recognized as the dell pointing device. The trouble was there was nothing showing up as missing in device manager. Non of the drivers I got from Dell made a difference as well as their scan and automated update software. It came down to the 3rd party listed above that worked to make the trackpad fully functional again for gesture, multipoint touch and above all, be able to turn off and lock when in tablet mode.

The drivers listed below are the important part to notice...that trackpad/touchpad relies on the I2C for HID and will show in the HID section of device manager along with the synaptics and then the dell touchpad will show in the mice and other pointing devices.

Intel driver for Pentium Processor N and J Series Pentium/Celeron N and J series Serial IO (SIO) - I2C Port 1 - 0f41

Intel driver for Pentium Processor N and J Series Pentium/Celeron N and J series Platform Control Unit SMBus Port - 0F12

Guess I should have read a bit further in the thread as there is a very detailed post a few pages back on exactly what to do to make the touchpad fully function and lock...at least I got the synaptics fun programs he listed in that post. If you want the easy way that worked for me though that software I used did actually do the trick and it was free.

 

I used to miracast from the stock dell 1707 wifi adapter to the actiontec screenbeam receiver, performance is very poor, lots of picture breakages and connection drops. I just replaced the dell 1707 with the intel 7260NGW, now miracast works significantly better, I can stream 1080p with not much picture breakages, connection is solid, no drop so far. Also screen lag seems to be smaller, so it is easier to control via the casted screen. Just share this information to those who have problem with miracast.

 

I just used the screen share project feature running stock to a WD Live and it worked flawlessly. I do want more ram. Any ideas of what to get? I did see it needs just 1.35v so I'll search the thread more.

 

Hello, I have a question regarding the webcam.

It works for Skype and also for FastAccess Facial Recognition.

PDQ8's bundle (thanks!) includes Dell Webcam Central, which I installed including the application. After the 2 reboots I have Webcam Central running in the system tray, but it claims not to find a supported webcam. Is that as expected?

My system has the Dell Windows 8.1 install, minus some removed items, and cloned to a SSD.

J

 

I also have an inspiron 11-3147. can't find a charger tip for my iGO charger. BestBuy offers the insignia tip N7 which fits the port but it does not fit the iGO wire. iGo doesn't seem to have the proper tip. Any advice?

 

Has anyone else swapped to a hybrid drive?

I want the capacity (and price) of a regular drive, but to gain the startup and base speed of SSD through use of a hybrid, but have no idea how well they work.

Also wondering how much a difference there would be if I had the i3 version instead of the celeron?

 

Latest Updates:

Bios Version A03.A03
Audio ALC3234 Driver 6.0.1.7283,A01
Synaptics Touchpad Driver 18.1.2.9,A01
Digital Delivery App 2.9.2.9
Airplane Mode Switch Driver 1.4.1,A00
Wireless 1707 Wi-Fi Bluetooth Driver 10.0.0.297,A02

Product Support | Dell US

See post #93 for updated walk though.

 

If it's one area where I can't stand Dell, it's charging tips and how they tried to reinvent the wheel and did it poorly. The XPS 12 was the same with some center slot surrounded by a round plastic shroud. If you're going to design a new charger then follow Apple and Microsoft and go magnetic. And then make the same exact connector for every stinkin' laptop you make. In the case of one with greater power requirements you just extend the tip so say a 17" Precision has a slightly longer magnetic tip than say this or the XPS 12. If you were in a pinch, you could use the charger for this on the Precision with a slower charge, but you couldn't use the Precision one on this and possibly damage it with more power than it could handle. Though in this day and age and tech like Qualcomm's adaptive charging, they could easily be the same exact connector and just have a step down charge for the less powerful devices.

I couldn't find an XPS 12 adapter for any of my car adapters. I have an enercell and one other I can't place the name off hand. Since these new adapters are just that, new and unlike any other pin type adapter, I don't think these 3rd party companies are quick to adopt them.

That said, I'll happily use this until I find a slick deal on the Yoga Pro 3 (or possibly the Asus when it comes out next year) and call it a day for a long time. I like how a male USB to male USB can be used for charging if you don't have their specific cable. So even Lenovo has a standard type charging connector. Don't see why they couldn't put microUSB on this like they did their Venue tablets, and they're more powerful than the Inspiron 11.

Rant aside, anyone look into a 1080p screen replacement for this? For under $140 invested I now have 8gb of RAM and a PNY 240gb SSD speeding this up. I let this run on battery since 8am today doing windows and driver updates, and 9hrs later I'm at 25% on the battery. Not too shabby. Putting a charger in the car I can't imagine I'll fear running out of juice.

I would have easily paid an extra $100 for this if they put a 1080 screen and backlit keyboard on this. If they put a normal backlit keyboard on the XPS 11, I would have been quite happy with that too. And I imagine when the XPS 11 gets an upgrade to Core M, they'll ditch that ridiculous keyboard and go back to a traditional one, if they have a clue.

 

I picked up the Kingston HyperX from Amazon. Didn't seem to be may deals on the DDR3L. DDR3 was dirt cheap. Same HyperX for 2x8 was under $110. Not so with the DDR3L.

 

PDQ8 many thanks for your walkthrough on post #93. Might I ask a few questions to clarify some things? I am intending to swap the HDD out for an older samsung 120gb 830 SSD when my dell arrives. In part 2 number 2 it states it is best to erase the Seagate 500GB drive. Would I not want to re-install windows 8.1 from the HDD to the SDD before I wipe it? I was just going to store the HDD as it's own backup as I dont need it anyway. I have a usb transfer caddy which I was going to use clone the HDD then update the drivers as you detail, but I think your way of re-installing is better. What is the best way of re-installing windows to the SDD? USB bootdisk or what would you recommend? Thanks for any advice.

 

You can use the disk Dell includes or download it from MS and install it on a SD card. I put my SSD in, put the card in the sloot,booted right up into Windows install. I didn't have wifi, so I had to download the wifi driver from my other computer. So I would do that first. Then you can do the driver updates on the 11 after. Have been run in smooth since.

You can download installation media direct from Microsoft. 64 bit 8.1.

I had issues doing it via USB so the SD card route made it simple.

 

Ah thanks for that. Do I need to extract the win 8.1 key from the original HDD or will it allow me to install it without a key to begin with?

I will have to see if I have an SD card big enough. What problems did you have with the USB drive? and does SVZ = SSD or something else?

 

No. The key is embedded in the motherboard. It will recognize it as long as you use the same version of Windows.

That link puts a small media creation app on your computer. It asks how you want to create the media and just go. I think you only need 4gb. I have a ton of 8 and 16gb cards so that wasn't an issue.

And yes, SSD. Blame autocorrect on that typo. I couldn't get it to boot from USB to save my life whether it was a thumb drive or the did player since Dell gave me a dvd. Even changed the boot settings to legacy.

 

jb14, if your going to swap out the Seagate HDD from Dell with your Samsung Evo SSD, then simply install your SSD and then proceed with the install of Windows as normal. You can download a Windows 8.1 iso direct from Microsoft using the Windows Installation Media Creation Tool, it will allow you to either save as an iso image or to a flash drive. Since there is no DVD burner in this unit, a 4gb+ flash drive is the easiest way to install the OS.

You will need a Windows 8.1 key for the install, the one from Dell is generic and not for retail install. I purchased a key 8,1 Pro off ebay and it works perfectly.I actually bought an hard drive enclosure and using the Seagate as a storage device.

When swapping out the hard drive, be very careful not to strip the screws and make note of where they go, the first time I accidentally pulled the tiny keyboard ribbon cable and had to open it back up to fix it. Take your time doing this and make sure the systems sees the new hdd before closing it back up.

Windows Installation Media Creation Tool 6.3.9600.17474
Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help

 

I didn't need a key. You just have to choose the same version that's currently on the laptop. It won't even ask you for a key.

 

JesseKnows, Dell's Webcam Central is very buggy and no longer in the build. Using Skype for now till a replacement can be found.

 

ok, my client wanted Windows 8.1 Pro on her laptop, Windows 8.1 base should work fine then.

 

Thanks I have created a win 8.1 x64 install on a SD card +/- USB stick for use when the laptop arrives in a week or two from now. Yep in the ifixit teardown the keyboard ribbon does look somewhat fragile so thanks for the heads up. Will follow your post 93 for the driver updates, using the most recent where applicable. Cheers

 

Just a quick question about the SD card slot, how deep is it? can you fit the whole card in or does it stick out? If it's not a full size slot, how deep is it exactly?

Thanks!

 

Fully seats.

 

I just wanted to share that I had some nasty issues with my inspiron 11 3147...
It seemed like whenever I did certain things and opened certain web pages (youtube for example), the CPU would jump to 100% utilization for no apparent reason and task manager would randomly blame it on a various number of processes.
I even reinstalled the OS on an SSD (according to the instructions here) and that didn't help. Eventually I started uninstalling programs one by one and found out that it was an issue with the realtek audio drivers.
It's no big deal as the built in windows audio drivers seem to work well and the computer runs much smoother now and consumes less power as well.

 

Was this with the recently released new audio driver (Version 6.0.1.7283, A01), or the older driver? ie had you updated to the most recent driver and it is now causing a problem?

 

This was indeed the latest driver as I reinstalled the computer two days ago and used the most recent ones.
I had similar issues with my previous "stock" installation (with the old set of drivers and the new ones that were released this month) but I can't say for sure that they were necessarily due to the audio drivers as I haven't tested this before.

 

I've had my 3147 for about a week. Last night I got xbmc installed and was trying to watch live tv from my mythtv backend. Lot's of stuttering and the xbmc log would complain about running out of audio buffer, but never a problem with video buffer. So I did the logical thing, went to Dell's site and found very new (Version 6.0.1.7283, A01 Release date 02 Dec 2014 ) audio driver.

After installing it, the audio stuttering is gone but at the cost of CPU saturation. All 4 cores pegged at 100% and Resource Monitor shows maximum processor frequency at 118%. Same symptoms for YouTube video. It seems like the audio driver just sucks whatever CPU is available as you can still start new programs and they respond as if there is available CPU, but CPU will stay at 100% as long as video continues to run.

I guess I'll try getting rid of the driver altogether.

 

Let us know how you find it. Interested if the generic windows drivers stop the CPU buildup and if you notice any problems with xbmc.

 

Removing the Realtek driver solved the issue for me. For xbmc, no stuttering and processor running at 30% of maximum frequency versus 118%. I hadn't tested youtube with the original A00 version, but comparing the A01 driver versus no driver is the same as xbmc: no pegged CPU when the driver is gone.

Makes me wonder what features the Realtek driver provides. Whatever they are, they aren't worth the wear and tear on the notebook from the heat buildup. Plus the faster battery drain with Realtek running it at 118% means less time watching video untethered.

A couple other observations -

I had tried tweaking the xbmc buffer settings to make the stuttering with the A00 driver go away. Now with the driver removed, the default settings work.

I did notice a process in Task Manager called Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation was a high CPU consumer when the A01 driver was in place.

 

Based on this I will definitely not install any version of the Realtek drivers, especially if there doesn't seem to be a difference in sound quality. The Generic win 8.1 seem to do the job fine. Many thanks for the update.

 

I am planning on switching out the stock HD to a SSD. I know the laptop is limited to SATAII but I am seriously considering the crucial mx 100 512 gb but I was reading that the new samsung evo and pro 850 have the new rapid cache software that uses 4gb of ram cache when under heavy processing. Would this "rapid cache" work for SATAII. Is it just a waste of money to get the new samsung evo 850 (I would only get the 256gb because of the cost)? Should I just stick with the the crucial mx 100 512gb? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Mulling over getting this thing and really really liking what I see, especially the full size SD slot. I've had the chance to check it out in person at an Office depot and was surprised by how nice the trackpad was (didn't notice any of the issues but also couldn't get it into tablet mode thanks to their security device) but it was the pentium variant and I'm going to go for the i3 (for the better graphics and SATA3 support)

Question for both 3147 owners and 3148 owners, how thick is it? Dell's website says the i3 (3148) is 19mm and the 3147 is 21.2mm, I kind of would have expected the i3 to be the thicker one, so are these numbers at all accurate??

 

Quick note on the 3147 Hard Drive...

I've seen 3 different drives now, all 500gb and 5400rpm. Here's my ranking in order of performance...

WD Blue
Toshiba
Seagate

Basically you want the WD drive (that particular one came from Staples).

 

Not sure how much "heavy processing" you're going to be doing on a baytrail pentium or i3 U CPU, unless you have some niche role in mind. Personally I would go with the biggest and best value recognised SSD in my chosen price bracket, especially with the SATAII limitation. I remember reading about problems with booting certain crucial SSDs early on in this thread so I would check that any problems with them are fixed now before decided on your SSD.

 

Anyone have any evidence showing this is really limited to SATAII? The SanDisk Dashboard software I have shows SATA 3 6Gb/s and full link speed of 6Gb/s. Drive is a standard consumer SSD from SanDisk and giving 230MB read and 180MB write.

Also earlier I asked if anyone saw a performance decrease loading original recovery media on a SSD with no reply. Based on what I saw is it recovered a recovery partition to the SSD and did a restore from the recovery partition it just made on the SSD. So I am hoping windows 8.1 detected it was an SSD and aligned accordingly.

 

Great write up! I really appreciate it.

Can you please explain to me why using mbr over gpt is better. Along with set up the bios to legacy. I spent hours doing research but could not find anything to support your statement. Possible to do with drivers / backup software not support GPT???. I am using ATI2014 for my backup solution.

Once again thanks for your help with this!

Edit: I am also using a 128gb Samsung 840 pro

 

PDQ8, thank you for your advice. I too am planning to install a kingston hyperx ssd but just wanted to clarify a few points:

1. If I were to simply clone the hard drive onto the ssd, is there a major downside to that vs fresh install?
2. If I do the fresh install and follow your instructions in post #93, does that fix the issues people have been stating with the mouse pad not locking in tablet mode?
3. If I follow your procedures and am otherwise unable to do the fresh install, can I just pop the hard drive that came with the unit back in and continue to use as is? I'm not going to wipe that hard drive, wanted it just as a backup.

 

EDIT: Found a manual option in bios.
Still, would be convenient to have a software option as well for quick changes.



Because I often have this device plugged in, and especially because the battery is not easily removable, I would like to limit the charging capacity (e.g., to 80% or 60%). Previously, I've had laptops that included such an application from the manufacturer (Lenovo/Thinkpad, Panasonic, Acer) and I understand that others (such as Samsung and HP) also have this. Further, internet searches have suggested that Dell had?has? such software. Is there any similar option that I could use on this Dell? I've looked, but haven't found.

 

I'm thinking of upgrading to increase the snappiness of the laptop.

After some quick research I think the most bang-for-buck might be a Toshiba Hybrid HDD 2.5 inch MQ01ABD100H which is a 1TB 5400 hardrive with 8GB NAND for about $80.

I just want to ask if I'm correct, is this the best bang-for-buck upgrade?
An SSD would probably be too expensive for me.

Use case is light: mostly internet, streaming and heavy sites like facebook and khan academy.
Also use for word processing and powerpoint and storing photos and full hd videos etc.

Thanks

 

vdd1:

1. The fresh install frees up some more space compared to cloning the original HDD.
2. I haven't done it yet, but PDQ8's run through says no problems and there have been no problems reported on this forum since that post was made ~15odd pages back
3. Yes you can just replace the original HDD (also useful if you ever have to send the laptop back)

hkh m43:

If you need all that space then you are limited with increasing the snappiness of the laptop. 8GB barely holds the OS and the 5400 won't be too zippy. I've never used a SSHD so not able to help further. The Crucial SSDs are good value at current prices, IR the Mx100 256GB is about $105 if you can stretch to an extra $25. Otherwise I would go with a 120GB SSD and use SD cards as required.

 

This is a fascinating thread - thank you to everyone who has posted.

I am considering buying the Dell 11 3147 and have a few questions and would appreciate any insights. This would replace my ASUS T100 (which has a cracked screen, but still useable as a laptop) which I use as a travel/commute/shlep-around-town computer. I use it for internet research (like reading this thread!), drafting documents, and java and web development. I am trying to figure out if there would be any appreciable difference between the three flavors that Dell offers: celeron, pentium, or I3. I am particularly interested to know if the choice of processor affects battery life ( - being spoiled by the T100's 8+ hours) , and also if the choice of processor would affect the performance of an SSD (I plan on upgrading to the evo 840). Also, if anyone has experience using a 10 inch screen (such as the T100) verses the 11 inch Dell, please share your impressions.

Thank you.

 

Alright, so, I'm not quite sure if this problem has been addressed earlier (I actually don't have a lot of time to write this, as my wireless driver could stop working again any minute) but lately I have been having serious driver issues. The driver I have is a Dell Wireless 1707 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHZ), and for some reason it just stops working ALL the time. Originally, I had thought it was some sort of virus or hacker, so I had a family member who works with computers look at it.... which ended in a factory restore. The problem is still not fixed afterwards, and I have seen that other people have had the same problem on this model.

I have managed to get it to work for about an hour or so by disabling and enabling it, but I would like a more permanent fix. I would uninstall it and then re-install it, but to be honest I don't know if that would work, or if I'd lose my wireless driver in the process! Anyways, any help would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you for your time.

 

I have purchased an Inspiron 11 series 3000 series and would like to take it to the gym with me. I would be reading as I worked out in tablet mode. Has anyone found an usable cover?

 

I opted for a SSD. The extra memory is a waste IMHO. If someone buys this to run applications that consume that much memory, they should of probably looked at I higher model overall.

I have done multiple wipes to my device now, I just completed it two times following PDQ8's method. And the second time not so much (still waiting for him to get back to me as to why he chose to use MBR/Legacy instead of using GPT/UEFI). Everything works as planned except for the touch pad drivers correctly working. I used the I2C Controller fix posted a few pages back and everything works good now. I had to use the I2C Controller both times.

This is a very nice laptop for basic tasks like web browsing, you tube, music and word processing. Much better than my old Asus Eee 1018P.

 

if you performed a factory reset and its still acting up, one would think to look at an outside cause for the issue. Check the wireless router/hotspot. I personally have had no issues with the wireless at all. Some others have opted to change out the card due to it being a single band card (slow).

It maxes out on my home network at 30 Mbit/sec.. thats fast enough for what I am doing with it.

 

I would choose a SSD over upgrading the ram. Ive only ran into CPU bottle Necks, never a memory one. For what you are going to use it for just get a decent SSD. A 240GB SSD can be had for about 80 bucks when they go on sale.

SSD's can be had for cheap Check slickdeals.