Owner's Thread: Dell Inspiron 7000 series

That website won't load for me.

 

Does anyone know if the keys clip off and on without damaging them? I think I have something under the O key, which makes it harder to depress....

 

My Logitech bluetooth mouse keep disconnecting after a few minutes after i connect it...It runs again after i go in the PC Settings or suddenly without doing anything. What should i do to resolve this? I read a lot of posts about this but i cannot make it runs. Don't tell me to uncheck the "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" settings from power managent because it isn't there in windows 8.1.

PS: I have the latest drivers from intel site. i tried to unistall bluetooth from device manager and reboot the notebook to install the default microsoft drivers. I tried to put the Bluetooth Support Service to AUTOMATIC and change the Account(delete password) and got the 1057 error. So Nothing changed. Mouse keep on disconnecting.

 

morgan how is the 7537 after a few days? any regrets?

 

have the 7537, i7, 16gb RAM, nVidia 750m 2gb. Installed a 840 EVO 500GB, and clean installed Windows 8.1 Pro. No issues with drive after 3 days. A breeze to setup. Thnaks to all the other users for the heads up on the 840 Pro drives. I would have purchased an 840 Pro until reading all the post that had issues.

 

Hi saglighting. Maybe you can answer my question about your notebook since nobody even tried to few days after i asked here. (also a reason im not too often in this forum)

Is it possible to use this notebook for gaming on an external display while the lid is closed or does it prevent the cooling of the notebook cause the exhaust vents are located under the hinge?

If you would take 2 minutes for me please to check that so i can decide to buy it or not. Thanks!

Here is my ignored original question: 03-27-2014

"Hello Inspiron 7000 owners. May i ask you where the exit cooling vents are located i can only find the air-in-vents on the bottom. I got the bad feeling Dell located the vents at a place i cant use this notebook properly cause im planing to use it as desktop replacement with external displays, mouse and keyboard.
If i remember correct the Zenbook got a cooling system where the air out vents are only open when the lid is opened. That would mean if i use it as a desktop and with closed lid the heat cant dissipate and kill the notebook sooner than later.

Please can someone tell me that? "

 

Hi there,

I saw ur question a few days ago but because I neither have the 750M model nor play any games on mine. So here's my take on it, is it possible? Yes of course. Is it durable? Maybe not. Because the heat might have a bad impact on the screen and the laptop might get too hot and cause throttling issues. May I ask why do you have to close the lid to play the game? Can you just turn it away and just not look at it? :hi2:
Also most laptops nowadays have this kind of venting and cooling system where the heat goes out under the lid hinge (XPS 15 or macbook or asus n550jv etc) so it's not recommended that you close the lid!

 

If you look at the the gap between the lcd hinges you'll find the exit vents, and when the lid is closed the vents are blocked.

 

Thank you paulthuong and colonelsmoke thats what i wanted to have confirmed!

 

Still excellent, and no regrets so far. I recommend it.

 

I just got mine today, top of the line i7, 16gb, 1tb, FHD screen, 750GT Nvidia card. So far so good, it looks like they're shipping the laptops preinstalled with 8.1. It seems like people are having issues with the Wifi when 8.1 is installed, although I havent had any issues yet, it seems to be holding connection well.

The screen is not quite as bright as I was expecting at full brightness, but I don't really like a super bright screen so that's fine for me. The keyboard does have a little bit of flex to it in the center, but it's not something that bothers me to be honest.

Fit and finish of the laptop is excellent, it really is VERY close to the macbook pro, although the keyboard and touchpad feel a little bit "thinner" when depressed/clicked. For the amount of power the notebook is packing, the thin look and quiet operation is very impressive.

I have noticed slower speeds on my wifi compared to my Droid DNA, but no dropouts or anything like that. Once I've owned the laptop for a bit longer, I'll post an update re battery life, updates to 8.1, etc.

 

Let me know if anyone else is having problems like this...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/749161-dell-inspiron-hard-drive-issues-smart-test.html

 

Has anyone NOT got issues with the noise in the headphones?

I know a couple of people have had their mainboards replaced to fix it but did it work?

I'm pretty happy with my machine, other than the slight noise in the headphone jack. I can exchange it for a few more days and want to know if I should try.

 

I don't have an external monitor to hook it up to, as I am traveling and need something compact. If I do get a chance I will post my findings.

 

+
Good IPS screen with nice and clean colors, not grainy (well at night, because it is very reflective on the day, you cannot play games or watch movies, not even in the room with persienners down)
Extremely quiet at idle absolutely quiet (only HD sounds a bit), even at high loads quieter than my MSI GX640 on idle
Can play new games at the highest resolution
Good design

-
The screen of the day at the bright place can not be used for gaming or watching movie even in rooms with persienners down
Touch panel sounds when touched as if man tap empty Coke can
Loud hissing noise in the headphones
Keyboard flexes a little (not so extreme)
Backlights, keyboard lights are dim and half of letter (eg R) are light and half are dark
Sharp edges, glitches when you close the cover, but not so distracting

If that wasn´t for reflective screen and noise in the headphones, it would get full marks



Are there some good removable anti reflective film or something to use it by the day?

 

I have been using my 7537 since January with an external monitor. The lid is always closed and the laptop stays on 24/7. I don't do gaming but I do audio editing and the system has been fine. I am amazed at how cool it runs. Only time I have to re-open the lid is when I have to reboot. Running windows 8.1.

 

I think this is pretty strong exaggeration, to say the least.

 

o no, if you are playing game in dark tunels or watching some scary dark movie than reflection is annoying, I can se myself and wall behind in all dark scene.. but otherwise panel is super with excelent colors and picture

Does anybody knows if Dell realease uppgraded model with Nvidia gtx 850 soon?

 

I've now got my Dell 15 7000. Overall quite impressed although I have an issue with the space bar only working towards its centre. I use the bar a lot and can't work around it as I'm a coder. Dell engineer booked to come and replace keyboard so that should sort it.

The standard hdd is a absolute dog and I've replaced it with a EVO 840 250GB, and now it's rapid.

All in all a good looking and running laptop.


Thanks

Andy

 

Hi Saglightning,
I've got the exact same configuration as yours; I'm quite curious to know how you did your windows 8.1 Pro clean install. Where did you get the ISO from, and did you install it off a USB key, and what about the license key activation, and the Dell drivers?
I had to clone my original HDD onto my EVO 500GB but it would have been nicer with a clean install.

Thanks for your help!

 

ADVICE about noise in headphones - hissing sound

if you uninstall Realtek audio driver then disappears the hissing noise and you can use standard Microsoft drivers (without equalizer and improvements). You can install SRS HD Audio Lab program and get even better sound than with Realtek or Microsoft.

 

has someone problems with bluetooth mouse disconnecting on windows 8.1?

 

in bios i chose Fn to be media keys but after hibernate they change back to function like standard Fn keys..

and after hibernate screen sometimes don´t light on so I need to restart..

any solutions?

 

Hi axel7, I followed your advice and without the realtek audio driver the hissing seems to be very much reduced. However without the realtek driver I don't get any sound over my laptop speaker, do you have any idea how i could fix this? maybe the idea would be to use windows' drivers for headphones and keep realtek's for speaker but i doubt this is possible...Can you please let me know how you did the trick? Not interested in SRS, it seems to require a licence eventually.

Thanks!

 

I just restarted laptop, after uninstalling Realtek, and Windows install Microsoft driver automaticly.. If not, try to uppgrade Windows or download driver from net...

I have now both windows and SRS driver and I can activate-choose which I want.. Maybe you can try to have windows and Realtek side by side and choose what you want..

I tried both Realtek driver from Dell and Realteks side, both have hissing sound problem. To have windows driver with Realtek doesn´t work, this installs over windows driver so I doubt you can have both.. I uninstall Realtek again and use windows simply driver or SRS..

 

Got my 7537 for week now. I don't have any issues with hissing sound neither with keyboard. The only flaw is wifi card which runs really slow even compared to my 5-6 year old laptop (half of speed) but no disconnections tho. Overall it's great notebook, battery epic running times and screen is sharp ;]

 

have you listen on headphones? no hissing sound?
I get att brodbands check (internet speed cheeck) 120 Mbit/s send and 150 to get in same room where router is. In next room (8 m) 100 - 120 Mbit/s and on balcony (12 m) 70 - 90 Mbit/s. It is apartman with no big concrete walls.
How is yours?
p.s. try to uppdate routers firmware, my wifes new Asus had very slow conection 15 Mbit/s, after router uppdate speed rised to 150 Mbit/s..
its some issue with new Win 8.1 and old routers firmware

 

Thank you ozayas. Could you maybe start any game or benchmark so the GT750m get a little stressed while closed lid and see what temperature the CPU / GPU are having after some minutes?

 

Dell engineer just been and the problem is fixed. Can't fault their service at all. Very happy with this laptop, my main reason for buying was lots of memory and a 1920 screen as I'm a developer and need the real estate.

Thanks

Andy

 

Yes I listened on headphones and no hissing sound at all.
I got about 30 Mbps DL and 60 Mbps UP right next to router, and 10 Mbps DL and 30 Mbps UL from 10-15 meters. Since I've 100/50 Mbps internet it really should be better. I've bought router recently and it has newest firmware possible.

 

well, i have a problem with the sleepingmode. if i wake up the laptop with the powerbutton the wifi does not come on. i have to push the powerbutton again for sleepingmode and again for waking up and now the wifi comes on. sometimes i have to do this procedure till four times that the wifi comes on.
i don`t think that the driver of the wifi causes the problem.
is there a driver for the sleepinmode, which causes perhaps this problem ?
thank`s very much for any solutions.
greetings. thomas

 

Intel® Driver Update Utility

uppdate drivers here.. I had problem with screen which doesn´t wake upp after sleeping mode, uppdate resolve that

 

does someone knows when Dell vill uppgrade Inspirion with new Nvidia gtx800 serie?

 

about the hissing problem with headphones: I followed the previous post explaining to uninstall the realtek plugins and then reinstalling windows' native drivers did the trick on my pc! the only thing is that I had to "force" Windows find its native driver for some reason.
If you have the same issue (apparently everybody or so has it), try this and let us know how it goes!

 

Hi,

I got my laptop yesterday and am having a couple of the known issues. My spacebar is really bad, I guess this is something I will have to call Dell about.

I am having the headphone hiss issue and I'm trying to figure out a workaround. I have tried uninstalling the Realtek drivers and it didn't work. I may have done it wrong though, can someone please put up a quick guide on how to uninstall them correctly?

In terms of a workaround I've found that headphones with an in-line volume control are able to circumvent the problem. I've tried 5 pairs of headphones now. 3 of them were regular earbud headphones (apple, sony and sennheiser I think): all of these had the hiss. I also tried a pair of sennheiser earbuds with a volume control on. These had the hiss at full volume, but if I turned the volume down a little I couldn't hear it anymore. I also tried a no-brand headset with a volume control, which for some reason never has the hiss (perhaps the volume control can never be turned entirely full? It's a cheap headset so I wouldn't be surprised.)

I've ordered a headphone splitter with an inline volume control built in, so I can see if this will work.

Any help uninstalling RealTek would be useful.

Thanks.

 

when you say the uninstall did not work, what do you mean? the hiss was still there or you did not get any sound at all? I got the latter but once solved, the hss was gone. How did you uninstall Realtek drivers exactly?

 

The hiss was still there. I uninstalled by going to add or remove programs and removing the RealTek HD audio program.

 

Follow the instructions in the link

Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Microsoft Windows Help

I have an 8.1 Pro license key that I used during the USB media creation.

I downloaded all the drivers from the dell support site, except for the WIFI and nVidia drivers, which I got at Intel and nVidia site.

 

Thanks for the explanations but the problem is that I used the key from the original OEM windows installation and this does not work. I assume it only works with standalone version purchased separately. If anyone knos how to do it with the OEM version, that would be very nice! Thanks!

 

After month of daily usage with the Inspiron, my webcam camera was never functional at all (the microphone was fine). And I heard "Coil Whining" 2 days ago after when my GPU fan kicked in hard, the next day the "Coil Whine" didn't occur again. Guess i'll have to reach the technician on the webcam problem, not so sure about the coil whine part.

 

Does anyone have any insight into the power settings as it shipped from dell... I've done a fresh install on a Western Digital Black\2 Dual drive and am getting terrible battery results.

I still have me old drive so I can through that in and take a look, but I'm uncertain if I'll find everything there... I went from getting estimates of 9 hours to 2.

 

You should probably remove the Realtek drivers from the device manager instead (Settings > PC Info > Device manager > Sound, video and game controller). Somehow I had to remove it twice before Windows decided to install "High Definition Audio Device" in its place, which I assume is the Windows native drivers. Now the hissing isn't completely gone but it is much lower and blends rather well with the fan noise of the laptop, even with in-ear plugs. I almost always use ear plugs and I think I could live with that: of course it's hard to un-hear it but if the movie's not so bad as to get you distracted then you really don't hear it. Actually as I am writing this the hissing just disappeared some thirty seconds after I played a song on VLC. If I mute and un-mute the sound again it comes back. Really weird.

Otherwise after a day with the 15.6", 1080p, i7, 16Gb, HD4400 + GT 750M, 1TB HDD (999,99 without taxes @ Best Buy Canada) I rather like this laptop. It comes without Nvidia drivers so you can't launch Skyrim on high settings out of the box. It took me some time to figure this one out (newbie here). In game I got 60 FPS with the Nvidia recommended settings but the laptop gets fairly noisy and truly hot even on a flat surface and after a test play-through of no more than 10 minutes. So much so that it scares me a little, although this is my first serious laptop so maybe it's normal (?).

The keyboard works well, no problems with the space bar. It hasn't got the best feeling in the world but it's nothing that I couldn't adapt to. The keypad has issues but I haven't gotten around to replace the drivers yet.

The screen is excellent: in a light environment the brightness is sufficient and the viewing angles barely register. Colors are deep, the blacks and reds look especially good to me. The build is great, very solid, and very pretty. But the fan is always working even when simply web browsing on forums on a flat surface so it's definitely not silent as some reviews suggested. In fact it's a bit annoying : there's a constant, rather pleasant fan noise but every five seconds it also does a quick, more scratching noise that can get on your nerves.

It's too large for my needs anyway, so it will probably go back to Best Buy unfortunately (that and the headphones noise was a bit of a turn off despite the good developments).

I'm looking at the 14" version: I don't need more than 6Gb and i5 and I could probably make do with the base 1366x768 resolution since all I do is word processing, web browsing, screen touching and mostly 720p videos and casual gaming. I don't care too much about viewing angles either by I DO CARE about color quality : so has anyone seen the 1366x768 screen of the 7000 series and can comment on it?

Finally, does anyone know if the hissing sound is also present on the 14" version? After a little bit of research only one instance of this problem turned up but it still worries me as I'd have to order this one from Dell, so returns get more troublesome...

 

The 2 panels are completely different. The FHD one is IPS while the HD is TN so you won't get the same viewing angles and saturation on the TN. Even with the same FHD resolution, the 15in and 14in panels have different benchmarks as well. So beware when you go with HD screens.

 

It sounds like your machine is faulty, since my fan is not even close to "always" audible. If you're confident it isn't faulty, are you sure you aren't mistaking the sound of the HDD for the fan? The description you give sounds terribly like the HDD...

 

Now that you're saying it... yes I was mistaken, it's definitely the HDD that is quite noisy and that produces a regular scratchy sound on top on it. (But it sounds "fannier" than my other HDDs, go figure.) The fan only kicks in under heavy load or when the laptop gets too warm resting on my lap.

So I understand now why so many people are making the switch to SSD (among other reasons of course). The 14" is shipped with a 500Gb HDD and a 32Gb SSD: are they two segregated drives, i.e. would I be able to disable the HDD and use only the SSD (I use external drives so I wouldn't mind keeping the bare minimum onboard if it meant keeping the machine silent)?

 

I've upgraded to the WD Black/2 Dual which is both an SSD (120GB) and HDD (1TB) and much of the time my HDD is off... It's pretty sweet actually... This thing is a gateway drive though... If the 1TB evo wasn't so expensive I might just upgrade to that.

I think the 14 inch is two separate drives, the 32 is a mSata and the HDD is a standard drive, so yes, you could probably remove it. (Sorry, not really a confirmation)

 

Looks like I'll keep the 15" after all since there seems to be no good value 14" laptop available to me (I'd pay more for less with the 7000 14 unless I settle for a crappy screen).

So two more questions:
1) my screen wobbles quite badly when I gently tap it, especially on top, although the hinges seem quite sturdy when I move the lid. Is that normal?

2) after playing a few movies I noticed that the colors were slightly off; watching a HD black & white movie ( Frances Ha) side by side with my Asus tablet I realized there is what I would call a sepia veil on my 7000: the whites especially were close to beige/light brown. Can anyone recommend calibrations to correct this (or at least an easy-to-use software to help me)? I tried fiddling with the Intel panel but to no avail.

 

That sounds odd. My screen doesn't wobble at all.

Can't help you here, I'm afraid.

 

Hi all,

I too am looking at purchasing this model but have concerns around the wireless and keyboard.

I do notice on New Zealand Dell website that every 7000 model comes with a, Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 AGN @ 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.0.

However the highest option in the 15" which i am looking at comes with a, Intel® Wireless-N 7260 BGN @ 2.4GHz + Bluetooth 4.0.

Can anyone provide more detail on this? I have asked the Dell livechat and they say its not a typo and they will check with the product manger.

 

Agreed. The panel on this one is really sturdy and well built though it's way too thick in my opinion. It could've been a few mms thinner for sure. If you look at the 14in the panel is almost as thick as the body. That said, mine doesn't move an inch when I touch it. Not sure why it does on yours. My screen is perfectly fine although I agree it has a warmer tone which makes the white a little yellow but I'm totally cool with it since overall it's a bloody nice quality.
As for the fella asking about wifi card, mine is a single band intel n7260 and it works acceptably for me.
For anyone looking for a keyboard protector, I bought this one and it fits nicely on mine. It's a bit pricy but free shipping so no real complaint actually. The service is really nice and it arrives fast. See for yourself folks: Amazon.com: Folox TM Keyboard Protector Cover for Dell Inspiron 15HR 15HD 7000 Seires, Ins15HD-1528 Ins15HD-2528 Ins15HD-2628T Ins15HD-2828T 15-7537: Computers & Accessories