Owner's Thread: Dell Inspiron 7000 series

What router are you connecting to?

 

today i ordered the dell 7537 with i7, 8gb ram, intel hd4400 and 1TB HDD for 883$ with all taxes. I think its a very good price for what it offers. If the wifi is poor i will replace the card in service or by myself.

PS: Those who replaced the wifi card and now the signal is better and how it should be, tell us the model to know what card we should buy.

 

So good news for me. Initially, the wifi was horrible and kept disconnecting. I uninstalled the driver, re-installed it (from device manager), and installed all the Windows updates.

After a restart, the wifi works perfectly well. No disconnections. And even though I'm actually about 25 feet away from the router, I'm getting 25/25 Mbps (which is my max bandwidth).

But just like levenctur, the wifi card I was given is not dual band! Normally, I would be pissed because the Dell website did advertise it as dual band, but I'm actually grateful that it works well.

So far, the screen looks nice and the touch works really well. The trackpad is decent, though I would have preferred proper buttons.

The only thing that sucks is the keyboard. I could get used to it, but it is very irritating, and much worse than most laptop keyboards out there.

Oh and by the way, with the 256 GB SSD it boots in just 5 seconds - the fastest I've ever seen! Now I hope its SSD doesn't have the same problem as the retail Samsung Pro 840!

Edit: I'm scared to upgrade to Windows 8.1. I remember someone mentioned he didn't have any wifi issues until he upgraded. If anybody has any info to alleviate my fears, please share because I do prefer 8.1.

 

My new Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 is coming next week New Year's Eve, I will test and report back for sure. I also can not connect to a forced dd-wrt 5ghz connection with my old Netgear WNDR3300.

The router I am currrently using is what Verizon FiOS uses for their setup...
http://www.actiontec.com/products/datasheets/VrznMI424WRrevI_dtsht_Verzn%20brnded.pdf

 

So another WiFi update. It works great under Linux. I can get the full 30Mbps out of my connection no matter where I am in my condo. A lot of other stuff was broken in the distribution I tried (brightness control for one) but it is promising that the WiFi issues could be purely driver related.

That said, the more I use this laptop the less thrilled I am with the keyboard. My 11.6" HP has a better keyboard honestly, apart from the backlight. I think I may still return it, but for those who are not I would possibly hold out for driver updates to fix the wifi problem.

Edit: Also, search has failed me again but to whoever was having issues with headphones hissing, I'm seeing that too. It's there a little bit in my other laptop but it's so bad in the Inspiron that headphones are nearly unusable.

 

Sadly the laptop is going back for a refund due to the WiFi issues.

Performance is very temperamental and not really reliable. While it mostly works fine anywhere in my flat, I'm not willing to tolerate its speed fluctuation and degradation, even in places where my 4 year old phone has perfect WiFi performance (e.g. in a cafe, my Dell wouldn't even load a single website, while my phone was getting a very fast connection through the same wifi network!)

I even tried a usb WiFi dongle, but that didn't work either. It seems to me that some sort of local "interference" (e.g. from laptop's metal body or maybe from some unshielded component inside?) is the issue. And I'm saying this because, even while the WiFi signal seems to be really strong, actual throughput and latency can be horrible.

Anyway, that's it for me. I've tried the latest drivers and deactivating bluetooth, but I will not try any more throubleshooting or card changing or anything else. I expected a fully working laptop but I didn't get one, so it's going back.

Hopefully for some people it will be fine. Different routers, different band (my router is only 2.4), different environment, driver tweaking and so on might help. But I don't like to be Dell's beta tester!

Oh, by the way, because a few people mentioned it: WiFi performance seemed worse under 8.1 than 8...

 

Quick update on my ssd. I've been running a Samsung 830 128gb for more than a week, and it's working fine.

 

Update: The new 840 EVO 250 GB works very well and without issues, until a lot of tests there are no problems. Also very fast, with or without activated "rapid mode" in magician software. So i think this SSD ist a good choice! :thumbsup:

Merry christmas guys!

 

Another wifi update: So I tried the Wifi at my work.

I got a full strength connection, download 36 Mbps and 70 Mbps upload.

I'm perfectly happy with the wifi on my laptop. Am I just really lucky and didn't get a bad card? Is it because I didn't upgrade to Windows 8.1? Is there a problem with the dual band Intel (I don't have the dual band)? Not sure, but I have zero Wifi complaints about this laptop so far.

 

My inspiron came today

amazing laptop but.. i can´t see 8.1 update on store,

i update windows but KB2871389 update is not on my system,

i tried to download manually but update refuses to install,

any idea ?

Thanks ¡¡

 

hi superlcoco, try the procedure I posted a few pages ago, should work. Let me know.

 

Just to check, does anyone who has had Dell come out to replace the Wifi card live in the UK?

I think some countries may be ore or less willing to to provide hardware replacements than others

I really cant decide over this laptop, there just isnt anything else out there that fits my needs without overpaying. It doesnt feel like Im asking for the earth but almost noone seems to offer the combination of features

 

It works ¡¡ you are my hero

The problem was i could not find update to unistall, i had to see all updates one by one... several times

Thanks ¡¡

 

Hi guys,
Yesterday I received my inspiron 7537, i7 4500u, 8gb, 1tb, display touch full HD in Italy.
I can hear noise from the headphone when volume is low, some bleeding on the lower left corner of the screen, random WiFi speed (7260N).
I've just disassembled the laptop to verify the presence of the msata port: sadly the connector is missing (not soldered on the doughter I/o card). I hope in the future we could buy this card with msata connector built-in.
Here some photos of the missing connector: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?res...6&authkey=!AC-_c_ecAnrVfqc&ithint=folder,.jpg

Now let's start a clean install of windows... then I will decide what to do.

Merry Christmas

 

I just upgrade my intel graphics and wifi drivers directly on intel site (autodetect mode) and intel says me my wifi is a dual band
My wifi model is same model appears on Dell website (spain)

My inspiron came today

Merry Christmas

 

I just did a lengthy impressions post in the 7537 specific thread. The factors people have noted are likewise true for me as well. I have not noted poor WiFi performance, but do not have an extremely high connection. Audio jack does have an elevated hiss. Display color temperature is a little yellow or green, especially with white text against a gray background, but not a huge problem. Otherwise the computer is an excellent one.

 

That confirms what was mentioned by Dell to someone, that the MB was the same as the 14" model but that the USB board on the 15" did not come with an active mSata port, I think it was somewhere in the first 20 pages or so.

 

It IS definitely a dual band card and due to whatever reasons it is set at 20Mhz in the cards advance setting so connects at max 130mbps

Change it to Auto from 20Mhz and it should connect at > 130 mbps

 

Yes, I live in the UK

 

for those who open the notebook, is there any way to put another video card in? i ordered the version with intel HD4400 only but in the future i want to upgrade it, maybe with the 750M. Dell told me that i can do this, but what you say?

 

Unless I'm misunderstanding you and unless they know something I don't, that's absolutely false. None of the laptops in this series uses a discrete, replaceable card. Discrete GPUs are chips soldered onto the mainboard which is engineered and designed specifically for that component. If yours only has on-die GPU like the 4400, you won't be able to employ a separate card. If you want discrete GPU performance, I would return the laptop and get a different one.

 

Maybe they replace the motherboard with a discrete GPU one

 

Could someone with a 7000 14' 1080p i7 4500u model please run prime95 and tell me what the result is?

I just tried running it and temps shot up to about 85 and then the system shut down. This only took a min or two. Intel turbo boost monitor showed it was maxed out.

I am worried something is wrong with my cooling. I had to have my screen replaced, and I am not sure if maybe the tech screwed something up. Thanks

Also for some reason after i plug the laptop in, turbo boost no longer with work and the processor will not go above .77 ghz. This is in any power mode. If i turn it on already plugged in then i have no problem.

Edit: turbo boost stops working at some point even if i leave it plugged in and then the processor sits at .77 and will not go above that, even running prime95

Edit 2: the turbo boost / slow down occurs after the temp hits a certain level and the fan steps up to a faster state. This happens just under normal use. After the fan slows down, the turbo boost monitor stops working and the CPU will not go above .77

 

Where can i see CPU/GPU temps in Win8?

 

Hi guys, Im thinking of buying 15.6" 7000series with i7-4500U,1tb hdd, 16gb ram. I've read first 20 pages but couldn't find it. Can the hdd be replaced with 2.5" 9.4mm ssd? I currently have Toshiba Q Series 256gb ssd - Newegg.ca - Toshiba Q Series HDTS225XZSTA 256GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Does it have working msata slot? How good is screen? Some people say its bad, some say it has IPS
Also I've read that its hard to find drivers and has problems with wifi. Can you guys comment on that?
Having bad time choosing between this and Acer V7-482PG-6662 for $855 ($50 cheaper, lighter, has ips and msata slot)

 

Yes, HDD can be replaced with a 9,4mm one. Is better you advoid Samsung 840 Pro Retail cause has a firmware issue with our inspiron

It has not mSATA slot on 15" and 17" models

Screen is good for me, i have FHD and angles are good

I have not problem finding drivers on intel website

 

can someone tell me what differences are between 7537 with integrated intel hd4400 graphic card and nvidia 750M? Has someone both versions? Are there any differences in working or only in games? Are these differences sesizable? Any response is welcome.

 

Thanks!

 

There's no difference outside gaming. In fact, when you're not in a game or other GPU intensive application the Nvidia model uses the Intel graphics.

 

Hi,

differences between HD4400 and nvidia 750M are like day and night

HD4400 is a low powered gpu integrated on processor and nvidia 750M is a chip on the motherboard for heavy tasks

So differences are very seizables

 

Hi guys,

i´m trying to connect a external monitor (DVI) with a HDMI - DVI cable,

but external monitor can´t be detected,

I go to bios settings for check if there is a option to enabled/disabled HDMI but nothing

any ideas ?

Thanks ¡¡

Edit: Problem solved, i don´t know how but now external monitor works

 

Chatting with Dell about msata:

 

Dell guys have no idea about they sell,

they only read specs on a document

 

@claukvl: supelcoco is correct on all counts. The Dell sales reps are pretty unreliable in what they promise. They want to get a sale and will fudge the truth to do so (for instance telling you that model #1 of a computer has a component and acting like it was model #2 which you asked about). This annoys many people because they are company representatives and are misrepresenting their product. It is very disappointing, even if they are not always highly knowledgeable salespeople. You need to look up the actual system documentation or rely on laptop owners to get correct information. Here is the link to 7537 documentation: Manuals and Documents for Inspiron 15 7537 | Dell US.

Regarding GPU differences: The HD4400 is the on-board GPU and a capable chip. It is even capable of gaming, but only at a very very low level (maybe *maybe* think of Xbox 1 era games, not your average PC version of an Xbox 360 game). The 750m is a dedicated 3D chip and capable of playing most modern games at medium levels of detail. Maybe not smooth as butter, but able to run them. The former is part of the intel CPU and the latter is a soldered chip.

Regarding replacements: I think supelcoco was being facetious about the motherboard replacement. It is a guess, but I think a very good guess, that if you spent money on a non nVidia laptop and then later purchased a motherboard from Dell and got a tech to install it (given your posts, I'm not sure you have the experience to do this yourself) it would actually be more expensive and maybe much more expensive than just buying the nVidia laptop in the first place.

 

Haven't we been over this a couple of times already.

Just buy it already, then when you get it and there is no mSata you can send it back and get a refund.

 

If you're in Canada, Bestbuy has the 1TB model of the Inspiron 15 7000 listed at $1099.99, $100 cheaper than the Dell site. Dell rep I chatted with said they couldn't match it...which is odd, as I thought Dell reps had wiggle room.

Guess I'm off to Bestbuy to take a look around. Ugh, Boxing day. Gotta love it and hate it.

 

I think they really only negotiate on their business laptops and the Alienware line... not so much on the Inspiron.

 

I found that my Laptop was also set to 10.5watts of TDP for turbo boost, lowering the Turbo boost to 1.8-1.9ghz after 25seconds. Has anyone talked to anyone from support that even understands this problem? Talking to those support techs from India is an exercise in futility. They don't understand the problem and I've been hung up on 3 times now while "transferring" me to someone higher. Beyond fixing it myself using the Intel Extreme tuning utility is there a supported fix?

 

Just thought I'd share a benchmark of the HD4400, it can run League of Legends at 50-60 FPS on medium which is pretty good. It actually out performs my 750M right now for some reason (30 FPS on latest drivers and identical settings).

Seems to be that recent patches have affected some systems, as my desktop can still run it at 250 FPS consistently.

Also, Yomodev, any chance you could upload the pictures of the missing mSATA slot to imgur or something? As I cannot view them for some reason.

 

Can people who do not have the headphone/earphone issue (hissing/static) please comment?

It seems like only comments regarding this are from those that experience this issue. Or maybe no one else uses earphones ?

 

Hi,

yes i have static issue only on headphone/earphone, sometimes i hear it sometimes no

 

Thanks Aldo38 that 8.1 update was driving me crazy. For those of you given a late shipping date I suggest kicking up a fuss, Ii thought they were initially shipping on the 10th Dec, but after ordering was given a delivery date of 30 December ! After complaining I was given the usual guff about component shortages to which I replied that the shipping date on the website be changed as it's very misleading. I received my laptop on the 19th in the end and am well pleased with it just wished dell could update their website, so far behind amazon and apple in this regard.
Regarding wifi, I get a solid signal with no drops but every now and then it will say no internet access despite having full bars and other devices having internet access. I'm using an apple router and have never had any issues with it before, I've updated drivers from Intel, I've got the top spec uk model with the dual band n adapter, any thoughts?

 

Okay just an update of this. Website listed it at $1099.99, but the in store sticker price was $809. Not sure if it was for the floor model or what, as it was way too busy to get the attention of any sales rep. As I was playing around with it while waiting, I decided to pass on this model. While it looks sleek and feels solid, I can't get past the massive amount of flex on the keyboard.

 

Here they are: dell inspiron 7537 m-sata connector - Imgur

 

I haven't used them extensively, but so far I haven't heard any hissing or static. My speakers sound like crap, but the headphones sound fine.

 

Has anyone who purchased the 7537 through Best Buy been told their warranty was return to depot only? I was on the phone with Dell getting them to replace my wifi card, and they told me my warranty is return to depot, meaning I have to ship the laptop to them to get repairs. They waived it for this time, but said in the future that's how repairs would be made. When I look at this model on Dell's site, it says it has 1 year in-home service after remote diagnosis.

 

I was told that in home does not apply to the Best Buy discounted prices. Dell told me to ship the machine to them or get a refund from BB.After haggling a bit they agreed to send out a tech for the wifi problem. The problem did not go away and they seem to have abandoned giving proper attention to this problem.

After no further response I posted on their Facebook page linking to this and the Dell forums show how many people have the same problem and they promptly deleted the post. Way to go Dell.

 

Good Morning Guys

Receive my Inspiron 7537 on the 18th of December and had it for a bit now to give you some impressions:

First the drivers were a pain in the installing windows 8.1 clean from a 8.1 microsoft iso. had to reset it completely after I solved it. Hint for new inspiron owners: turn wifi off until all drivers are installed and use the ones from the dell website!
Wifi is not too bad yet. Got the N 7260 adapter but didn't have any lost connections yet. Either with the Dell Website Drivers nor with the Intel Website ones. Connection isn't great (iPhone most times has more speed) but it's also not as worse as some people here have it.
The keyboard works. Don't have major issues but its not the best for heavy writing I guess. Haven't had big writing tasks untill now but I already feel that it's not even comparable to a PC keyboard. Would say nearly the same as from my Medion Erazer but to be honest I gotta give the better mark to the Medion Keyboard even if it should be worse I guess.
Oh yeah the screen is great. I got a lambent one which really annoys me but that could be a driver issue (but I haven't checked it so wouldn't put my hand into a fire for that). In each and every other aspect the resolution, viewing angle (it doesn't even have any ^.^) and brightness is just beautiful. I am very very pleased and it's the best screen I personally had on a laptop yet.
There is critism for the front edges. If I write continually they aren't very friendly to the skin on my forearms! Would say that could be a problem for people who want this laptop for writing emails, documents or whatever.
The touchpad is fine. Would prefere seperate buttons for left and right click to press but hey thats just personal opinion... The space bar however is fine wherever you press it.
HDD is crap. Turns down the nice impression the latop made on me when I unpacked it. Fortunately my 480gb crucial m500 SSD arrived today and guess what will happen in a few minutes? right I gonna swap the grandmother for the grandchild you old drive - you gonna become an external drive!
What else to say? Hmm I can confirm the static noise with headphones. Seems to be a common issue on this model.
Touchscreen works very well even if I can't say I would have bought it intentionally if it wasn't included in the 1080p IPS screen but it workes and workes very well. Like it for browsing in the web. BTW Does anybody have some experience which browser is optimized for touchscreen displays apart from the IE11? I want my firefox plugins but IE just offers Adblock Plus and I want my SpeedDial one as well.

If somebody else got a question, just let me know. I will help if I can!

EDIT: Dell already told me they will try to get me a new laptop cos of the issues I have especially with noises from the HDD or the fan if I lift the laptop from the table and slightly move it around (I think its the fan and just asked for one to replace it myself - won't let some technican scratch my new laptop lol - but I have a very nice customer service lady which already helped me when I ordered the laptop and had to cancel it cos I got even more discount the next day which made the price for the laptop about 719€ with all taxes included ordered through the German website)

 

if i format it using a microsoft windows 8.1 dvd, do i need to install the OEM drivers or can i just download the latest from the manufacturers' websites?

 

Thank you! It's ridiculous that they ship it with a board with the connections for mSATA and remove the actual port. Hopefully we can order one in the future with it included.