Owner's Thread: Dell Inspiron 7000 series

Sorry to ask a question that may already have been covered but my new 7537 has been updated to win8.1 and is now stuck at a blue waiting screen with cancel the only option except you can't press it as the time out circle/icon is constantly on. Is there a fix for this issue as i've already had it once and restored the laptop and it's happened again.

Edit:

Having read up lots on skydrive issues it turned out to be my GeForce drivers being way out of date. I downloaded GeForce Experience and let it scan and tell me what drivers to update to and let it do it. Rebooted and the Skydrive screen now loads correctly and finishes it configuration and the issue is gone.

My Dell had video drivers dated October 2013 and I received it 2 days ago, shows how poor the build updates are at Dell to send out such an outdated set of drivers on the laptop.

 

I have swapped the N card for the AC model. It's still pretty slow in certain areas of my apartment, but at least browsing looks possible. I'll test it again in my workplace on Monday.

 

Hello everybody,
i have a offer on Dell Inspiron 17r 7737 but after i look at the all 166 pages somehow i am not sure.Is not brand new is Manufacturer refurbished but comes with 1 yea warranty.I spoke with the shop and they reassured me that they did not had any returned for wi-fi issues.Of course that i suspect is just another sales man "word" To be honest i just want to know is it a good idea i tried but i could`t find any other laptop with this specs and touch also it looks awesome.

Thank You and my apologies for my bad English.

 

Manufacturer refurbished does come with 1 year warranty. Mine is a Manufacturer refurbished bought from dell outlet. My wifi works with Windows 8, but always disconect when using Linux, got a wifi adapter for $5, works fine now.

 

i have dell 7537 with fhd screen and windows 8 preinstalled. I updated it to 8.1 after and now i want to do a clean install. Can someone tell me how can i do a fresh install of windows 8.1 ? The notebook didnt come with any Windows DVD/usb stick. Also i dont have the CD KEY or something(in control panel-system it says something with OEM) . Please help.

 

Guide to preserve Windows 8.x OEM Activation

you dont even need the windows key, as it is stored in the BIOS/UEFI, so you dont have to type it in while you install windows 8, it will get it automatically from the UEFI.
just create a bootable USB with the windows ISO, disable secure boot from UEFI, boot from USB, install windows and you're done!

 

from where should i download Windows ISO? Should i download windows 8 or windows 8.1 (notebook came with windows 8 but i updated it to 8.1) ?

 

read the link I gave you, it's all explained there, even with the download links.

 

I purchased my 15" 7537 from the Dell Outlet (UK) on Sunday night. It's now showing as "Shipped" on the Dell order details page.

I'm just wondering how long shipping takes? I think they come from china but nothing showing on the Walsh Western site yet. The reason I ask is that it says on Dell's site "the link to track your order through the carriers website will display information within the next 7 -12 business days."

Does that mean it could be 12 business days before it even leaves China or is that what it always says?

My estimated delivery date on Dell's site was saying it will be delivered by the 4th August but that's been taken out now.

Thanks.

 

Hey fellow 7537 owners. Bought the Inspiron 15 laptop couple of days ago and unfortunately I got the white noise issue with headphones. How did you guys resolve this? I went into device manager and uninstalled the (Realtek High Definition Audio) driver but if I rescan hardware changes it gets automatically installed back again. This is on Windows 8.1. Is there another audio driver I should try?, if so a link to download would be useful. Also some pointers on how to install the new driver would be appreciated.

 

Hi I just have one question. I really like the 15 7537. Did you have any trouble installing win7? I too hate windows 8.1. Did you use dell's win7 drivers or just the ones that came down with windows update? Thanks!

 

Hi guys im looking to order one of these off of the dell UK outlet, however it has no details on the graphics card. do all of them come with the dedicated nvidia graphics? im not looking for a spec with the intel HD graphics, heres the link if someone can look over them for me.
Dell Factory Outlet

 

i don't like windows 8 either, but if you install classic shell you can get your start menu back and all bad things about windows 8 completely disappear, and the good things about windows 8.1 stay. plus you have a valid license already embedded on your laptop's BIOS, so you don't need to crack windows 7...

 

not sure about those outlet ones, but all options on the "normal" version have an nvidia dedicated graphics card.
also, be aware that those outlet laptops are refurbished...

 

Hi diwit thanks for the reply. Never thought of that! Thanks!

 

I've been using a 15 inch 7537 with 1080p screen and 1TB 5400 rpm drive for four days now, and found others' thoughts very helpful when deciding what to buy, so I thought I'd post my first impressions. I paid £750 (including a £50 discount voucher) from Dell's UK site.

I'm mainly using it for multimedia work (listening to and editing music for radio stations, browsing video, writing and generally keeping in touch) and have yet to test it with the most intensive stuff like video production and streaming. I previously used a Dell XPS Studio 16 which lasted just over four years until the video card started melting and causing blue screens constantly - it's the usual cause of death for laptops I use!

SCREEN
I know I've been used to luxury with the XPS's 1080p RGB LED display. I wasn't expecting anything to match it without spending a lot more than £1000, and sadly that's the case with the Inspiron. It's not bad - certainly crisp and visible from a wide range of angles. However, it only looks best from a very, very narrow angle right in front of it, and even then a small tilt will change what is highlighted by a backlight I'd describe as economy (in quality and hopefully power usage). Having said that, I've seen a lot worse at this price point. Colours mainly look muted compared with the RGB LED, but they're more typical of what most people see with a laptop, and that's not a bad thing to have if you're making things for others to watch.

Windows 8.1 scaling took some tweaking to stop desktop apps looking fuzzy, but that's a common Microsoft issue, easy to fix with some Googling and perseverance.

It's Microsoft's poor handling of scaling which made me look for a 1080 screen rather than go for the latest HiDPI models like the new XPS series. As nice as these high res screens may be, apps like Creative Suite and Ableton Live still won't play nice with them in Windows. It seems a shame no-one offers a really nice 1080 screen without asking silly money at the moment, but this Inspiron's screen is certainly usable and just takes some getting used to.

SOUND
This is more of a problem. The inbuilt speakers are pretty good, but as they are angled downwards into my lap, I find it a constant annoyance that I get a better sound by tipping the machine up a bit. Much worse, though, is the noise from the headphone jack whenever audio is playing or has just played. I've read about changing the drivers, and tried that, but I think it's a hardware problem which can only be minimised or worked around, not eliminated.

First thing I did was to turn MaxxAudio off. Great as that is as a volume booster for the speakers, on headphones it amplifies the noise massively. I tried finding new audio drivers and swapping over to Windows default drivers, but the Realtek one kept re-installing itself on reboot. The noise sounds like electrical noise which software won't eliminate, so I'm not trying to do that any more.

Instead, I happen to have a Focusrite 2i4 USB external soundcard which sounds infinitely better, and use that to feed headphones and the hi-fi. It cost just over £100, and it's useful for lots of recording and music making stuff, but I'd rather have that with a cheaper laptop than spend a fortune on a laptop which gets rid of every issue.

On the other hand, if that's not something you'd like to consider, I would warn you off the Inspiron's headphone output as noisier and more annoying than any I've heard.

SPEED
Start up and reboot are much quicker than I'm used to, to the point where it doesn't seem like an inconvenience to reboot now. I don't know how much of that is down to the 8GB SSD cache of the hard drive, or down to nice design in Windows 8, but I'm enjoying it. The 2.0+ GHz i7-4510U processor is also doing regular jobs with music software and my massive macro-filled Office spreadsheets visibly faster than the Core 2 Duo processor did in my old XPS Studio. No surprises there, but a relief to confirm in practice!

Haven't yet tested it with anything super-intensive like After Effects rendering, but I'll do that soon.

WAKE UP ISSUE + DRIVERS
On the first day I used it, I had the same issue others have reported about the machine not waking up when closed and re-opened. This went away after I updated all the drivers and flashed the BIOS to the A09 version, all from Dell's site. Sorry I didn't test scientifically which driver was the issue, but it's always worth following the routine of updating the drivers anyway.

It's annoying that many of the driver updates on Dell's site which are flagged up as relevant and important are, in fact, older versions than the drivers I received with the laptop. Thankfully the installers check for this, but it's disappointing that the site isn't as well maintained as it could be.

KEYBOARD AND TRACKPAD
These are always things which take time to get used to, I think. I find the keyboard to have a satisfying amount of tactile feedback, and while it's not as reassuringly firm and solid as the old Studio XPS one, with a slightly disconcerting amount of give when pushed firmly in the middle, I'm aware that luxury trim costs. It's not a deal breaker and, just like with a new pair of glasses, the brain re-maps your expectations of what's where after a couple of days - even for those tiny, tiny arrow keys...

I'm also getting used to the trackpad which feels rougher than I expected - it's solid plastic, not fancy glass or anything. Although I'd very much like some proper left and right click buttons, I haven't had any problems after a little re-adjustment. I'm still getting used to two-finger scrolling in the opposite direction from what I'm used to, but the trackpad is as responsive to every gesture as I could hope for.

WI-FI AND BLUETOOTH
OK but not great. I can get the full 50 Mb/s download speed from a Virgin Media Superhub 10 feet away in the same room. But move another 20 feet away, the other side of a wall, and there is virtually no usable signal this laptop can see - my old laptop could work there fine. Working from a coffee shop a few days ago, where I don't know where the router is, everything seemed as fast as I'd expect for a coffee shop.

I'd consider swapping out the Wifi card if that helps, but as I can also rig up a network repeater which will help the patchy upstairs signal anyway, this is another instance where I'll probably accept a weakness and work around it.

Bluetooth connections have been a bit unpredictable, sometimes able to stream to Neet audio receiver 10 feet away, and sometimes not. Haven't got to the bottom of that yet, but it points towards a possible weakness with the design or spec of the card. I'd love to know if anyone has found a nice, simple swapout solution.

MIC AND WEBCAM
Don't expect much. Mic is less good than that on my iPhone, camera is functional but very noisy and grainy. If this is at all important to you, get an external USB one. I've gone for a Logitech C930e as I spent a lot less on the laptop than budgeted, and it works brilliantly with desktop apps (the modern Windows apps can't access the zoom and focus controls, but that's a Microsoft issue.)

Thankfully the Inspiron has four USB ports, so running external mics and cameras is no challenge, and I think it gives the best quality available for any given budget. But if you need a premium, all-in-one media box, expect to pay a lot more.

BATTERY LIFE
Only tested once out, but had over 4 hours of use at quite high brightness doing occasional hard Excel processing, and still had an expected hour left of use. That's as good as I'd expect, and much better than what I'd had left on my aging XPS.

HEAT, NOISE, WEIGHT
This is heavier than your typical Ultrabook - about the same weight as my old XPS - but that has an up side in that the machine is surprisingly cool and quiet. This is great news for when I want to record a bit of audio, and one reason for going for a dual core i7 in a large case instead of a quad core or a super slim case which would need more cooling. The fan occasionally spins up to an acceptably dull hum under load, but that happens less often than I've expected. The underside gets warm but not especially hot, and the top surface has remained pleasantly cool so far. Overall I've very pleased with how the machine looks and feels physically - ideal for work meetings, with lots of media making and casual gaming potential.

HOW GOOD FOR GAMES?
I've still got a lot of Steam syncing to do, but scrapping in Skyrim on 1920x1080 resolution at ultra high detail ran between 30 and 40 frames per second with Fraps running too, so very playable. Sticking with the medium detail recommended on installation gave a super smooth 50 to 60 frames per second.

STILL TO TEST
Hard disk: haven't explored the limits of how much audio can be processed/read/written at the same time, but as I'm not expecting much from a 5400 rpm drive, I'm expecting to swap it for an SSD very soon. Again, this was a budget consideration - £300 for a 1TB SSD + £750 for the laptop is still way cheaper than anything I've seen with a 512 GB SSD built in.
Live streaming: using Wifi or (more likely) Ethernet (happy there's a port built in), I'm going to see how much I can push through to Twitch using an Elgato and Open Broadcaster Software. The network uplink will be a limiting factor, but I'm hoping to be able to keep up a 720p stream at watchable quality sampling from a console, and we'll have to see if the laptop can also handle running a game itself while streaming. I'll be well impressed if it does.

Hope that helps someone. If you'd like any apps specifically tested in detail, let me know and I'll see if I can help.

 

Hey everyone. I've been a big user of HP laptops but I've recently been checking out the 7000 Series and it looks pretty good. My main issue is the Intel Core i7 processor that's within the models they list on Dell's website. I chatted with the useless people on their website and they said that there's no way to customize their laptops and upgrade the processor to a quad core one (rather than the dual core one that is currently in there).

SO my question to you guys is

1) About how relatively difficult is it to replace the processor in these notebooks?
2) Are there are any generic guides out there that might assist in this process?

If anyone on this forum has done this I'd definitely appreciate your thoughts on the matter and those of you who have recently bought this laptop what are your thoughts on the quality of the hardware itself? The aluminum body of the laptop? Does it feel solid and high end?

 

I don't think you'll be able to replace the CPU on this laptop, at least easily. Not only for the technical process itself, but also the cooling system is designed to work with these 'U' series intel processors, which are low consumption, and a more powerful CPU will need extra cooling which it won't be able to get from the laptop's cooling system. maybe you would need to replace the cooling system as well?

 

Are you certain? Can anyone else confirm this?

Also I'm a little concerned/confused about the battery...is this not like most laptops where you can pop out the battery and keep it to the side if you want?

 

The battery on a lot of notebooks these days is internal. Unless you remove the bottom cover, there is no way to remove the battery. The Inspiron 15 7000 is no exception.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

yes, it's internal and you can only remove it by opening the bottom cover.
Dell has a couple of battery life extending modes (Desktop and Longevity modes) which are supposed to take care of the battery (not charging it to 100% every time, not charging it if it is not under 80%...).

 

That aside my main concern/question is the confirming whether or not the Intel Core i7 processor can be replaced with another Intel Core i7 processor. I would really like to have a laptop with a quad core processor such as the one that's inside my Envy.

I see that people have replaced the wireless card so I'm just wondering if the same has been attempted in regards to the processor and if it has been successful.

 

Hello friend, replacing the processor has always been the one of the toughest thing to do on a laptop as it is usually soldered onto the motherboard, as far as I know. Wireless card, on the other hand, is on the same level with replacing keyboard and a bit harder to do than RAM or battery or hard drive. I would never, even in my dream, touch the processor. So it's pretty much impossible. And it doesn't even include all the compatibility issue with the rest of the hardware. Look for another model if you want quad core: XPS or Asus or HP (who is offering a great deal on the Envy slim variance)

 

The processor is a "U" variation, which means it's not replaceable and is most likely soldered to the motherboard. In any case, swapping out for a much more intensive processor would have big implications for power and cooling, and it's the sort of game best played with a larger, more configurable generic laptop like a Clevo.

As for the battery, it's replaceable but not meant to be swapped regularly on the move. Taking off the bottom cover is pretty easy - watch someone do it while talking really fast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCPCwf1jxQ4

 

Appreciate the honest answers and clear explanation. Is there any word or hope that Dell will release a 17 inch 7000 series with a quad core processor? Is that even in the works?

 

Hi all I have a 17r 7000 series. what is the way to clean the screen. thank you in advance

 

Hello everybody, it's my first post here. Firstly, thank you to everybody who contributed to this thread to date. I've just ordered an Inspiron 17 7737 which will arrive in a couple of days and this thread has been very helpful in identifying issues and solutions to make me comfortable with that purchase.

I do have an issue which I'm hoping one of you may be able to help with. When the machine arrives, I will upgrading it with an AC-7260 wireless card and a 500gb SSD. I'd also like to replace the optical drive to a blu-ray player. I've looked at the specifications in the manual and note that the existing drive is listed as 9.5mm rather than the 12.7mm more commonly found on laptops.

I'm in the UK and have found it very difficult to locate a 9.5mm blu-ray drive. The only one I've found is a Panasonic UJ-262, which I would have to import from America, as no British sellers seem to exist. My question is: can anybody verify that the optical drive is indeed 9.5mm? And does anyone have any experience, or can foresee any issue, with swapping this part of the machine? I will want to remove the bezel/face plate and stick it on the new player so it looks stock.

 

Has anyone heard anything regarding the possibility of Dell upgrading the 7000 series to have a quad core processor? Specifically the 17 inch version....

 

Well, it arrived today. The SSD and a sourced 9.5mm bluray is on the way, but I've already swapped the N-7260 card. Not without trouble, though. I don't know if the design has changed since everyone else did it, but it was impossible to remove the back panel to access the wireless card. It was simple to get at the hard drive, battery, memory and optical drive, but the rest of the panel wouldn't budge. I had to bend it so I could just about access the wireless card then reach in and mess about swapping it. I could only do it because I have thin fingers.

I'm happy to say I managed it, and the speed has almost doubled (not that it dropped before, it was just a bit slow).

So far it's looking great. There is definite flex in the keyboard, but nothing too bad. The keyboard vision issue has been grossly over-exagerrated in my opinion - it looks fine and I haven't had any issue locating keys whether the backlight is on or off. The main issue is getting used to the tiny arrow keys. I'm using the touchscreen much more than I thought I would, though (a pack of microfibres have been ordered!)

So far, so great.

 

Hi Guyz, i am planning to buy inspiron 7537 basic model (i5, 6gb, 8.1, 720p ,no dedicated graphic) , but after going through the thread, i am now quite worried. Owners (who faced wifi and headphone issue) plx plx tell me does this issue have software solutions or is there a hardware fault. THANKS in advance

 

does anyone install mac osx on this 7000 series notebook?

 

Some say the audio is better with different drivers. I haven't verified this, but suspect the difference is that noise might just be less amplified and noticeable by tweaking the settings. Just turning MaxxAudio off helps. To put it into perspective, I don't think you'll notice the noise at all while music or a game is playing, only afterwards and if you listen through headphones. I've seen a tiny USB soundcard for £5 which would get around the problem. http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...external-usb-2-0-sound-card-10928520-pdt.html

Wifi performance seems to vary for people and fairly cheap but annoying hardware fixes help (swap the card or get a wifi repeater to extend range at home), so it's probably a design issue. Hopefully someone can post if any software has helped them.

 

i have a strange problem with my 7537. USB disconnects/connects at every slightly move. How can i fix that? thanks.

 

i have a strange problem with my 7537. USB disconnects/connects at every slightly move. How can i fix that? thanks.

 

thnx bernleckie,so which wifi card should be used as replacement? also if its a design flaw then wifi issue may occur in every unit ?

 

Is there any way to change bass and equalizer settings for HDMI audio output?
In Maxxaudio I only managed to change the values for notebook speakers but not for HDMI output.

 

Hi, is there anyone that can help me. I got new Dell 5735 15 inch and in 4 days of use digitizer cracked in middle. It is not that big deal because I don't use touch screen that much and it is barely visible but as I ordered new one from ebay, is there any service manual on how to switch them out.

best regards

Lukas

 

Why didn't you use the warranty, just curious?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I still didn't open any cover on laptop. Not sure if warranty will cover this. Laptop doesn't have any dent or scratch.
Also I live in Croatia so don't know if Dell has international warranty.

 

Just talked to Dell service in Croatia. Seams I don't have International Warranty ;( Any way to purchase it?

 

There is an owner's manual here, which talks about Removing the Display Assembly, bezel, panel, hinges... http://files.sotmarket.ru/instr/notebook/dell/manual-dell-inspiron-7537.pdf

 

Thanks, it does have info on display but no digitizer . But never mind, I'll get it done.

Thanks again.

 

Hi guys!
I'll soon receive my Dell 15 7537 and I am interested in changing the original 1TB HD with a SSD drive.
I'm looking at the Samsung 840PRO 256GB but I read many people here had problems with this device months ago (later 2013 and earlier 2014).
Were all the issues fixed by the latest Samsung's firmware (dated March 2014) and Dell's Bios updates or not?
I wouldn't like to have any issues after few days/weeks...
I'm getting a look at the Crucial MX100 500GB as well but the 3 year warranty scares me... I use the laptop for sharing files as well.
Unlike the Sammy, no one has ever had problems with this one.
Thank you so much for your advices...

 

Hello,
Could someone upload a gt750m vbios dump?
Thanks.

 

So this laptop should arrive for me sometime next week, my SSD also.

Am I right in saying that if I use Dell's back up software and save the backup to a USB, I can insert this usb into my computer and boot from it and install windows 8 onto my new SSD?

 

has anyone with a Crucial MX100 512GB SSD installed on the 7535 updated the BIOS on the laptop to version A10?
Dell say one of the changes on this new BIOS is "Changed DTLE value to 2 from 5", and this has to do with the SSD performance...

 

Hello,

I'm using my Dell Inspiron 7537. I don't have wifi problem. (Phew lucky me.) But I can't configure my play/pause media button to play or pause spotify. I changed the defeault program to mp3 files to spotify but still nothing. When I press the button the cursor shows that something is loading but after 2-3 second nothing happens. Is there anyone who can help me to fix that?

 

Yes, Samsung firmware DXM06B0Q is a must for the 840PRO, and all is working fine on mine with the A10 Dell BIOS.

 

No. It will complain the SSD is too small.

 

Greetings to everyone!

I have been following this thread for a while and thanks for the tons of useful information you provided I am a happy owner of a 7537 and absolutely love it so far.
I was afraid of the hissing noise you mentioned before but the sounds are crystal clear, i have tested with my speakers and a sennheiser headphones as well.
The keyboard needs some time to get used to but i can live with it.
Have tested the wi-fi as well, it was 20 Mb/s next to the router, compared with the cable speed (70 Mb/s) we can say its far from the acceptable.
Another little problem is when i start playing, the vents kicking off and making noise like a jet and it continues till i finish the game and go back to the desktop. Have you guys experienced the same?