Studio 15 Owner's Thread

Ok, so you were in extended desktop mode, which simply means that your desktop has been "extended" either to the right or left of your laptops screen. Trying dragging some Applications over to the other screen.
Also, try pressing "Fn" and "F8" at the same time, evetually it will output just your desktop to your TV.

 

Saw this on the Dell Support website, a new update released 3/18/09 marked as "urgent"
Dell System Software-Provides several new Microsoft Hotfixes

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...stemID=STUDIO1537&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=&impid=

 

I purchased a bluetooth mouse yesterday for my 1535. The problem/issue that I'm having is the primary mouse button. In order for my touchpad to allow the left mouse button be primary, I have to set the mouse properties to reverse the buttons. Then my bluetooth mouse buttons are reversed. This doesn't make any sense to me. Anyone know why this is happening?

 

When I update Bios to A06 and installed Vista, it my studio 1535 laptop is very hot. Front left corner and bottom of the laptop is very hot. When was XP and Bios A05 version, it was all ok.
It's for me only?

 

Might be Vista thats the problem, do you have a 7200 RPM drive?
The front left corner is where the HDD is located, I'm pretty sure that Vista will access your drive more than XP will.
I have Vista and a 7200 RPM drive and BIOS A08. The front left of my Studio 1537 is always pretty warm, I don't think it's anything to worry too much about.

 

Aye, the front left corner of mine is always the hottest part. You can really feel it under the palmrest. It hasn't been so bad since I got my new 45nm processor and reapplied the thermal paste, but it's still notably warmer. I ended up just getting one of those Targus Chill Mat coolers, and it's been doing its job admirably so far. If you keep your computer on a desk often, it might come in handy.

 

Dell Studio 1535
The original charger (PA-12) was lost - was bought to replace the Dell PA-10 (part. № PA-1900-002D) rev. 02

Notebook Bios version A05 (latest A06)
OS Vista 32bit

Notebook, once charged by the adapter - Notebook is transferred to work on batteries, the adapter continues to work.
Сonnect the charger indicator on the notebook stops light as soon as the battery is charged at 100%

What could be wrong?

The adapter is new - 100% working, and the battery would not charging if damaged.

 

new member, first post.

just became a proud owner of a new dell studio 1537. specs are as follows:

graphite grey w/ black trim
t6600, 4GB ddr2
backlit keyboard + WLED display (no fingerprint reader)
ati mobility 3450
250gb 5400 rpm hdd
intel wifi link half card
9 cell battery
vista home premium

not quite top-of-the-line, but loaded w/ all the goods i wanted.

a few pics:





i had my eye on the studio 15 special edition, but it wouldn't have been as option-loaded as this one.

on the downside, i noticed there's a bulge in the middle of the keyboard;i saw the fix-it thread already, and i'll take care of that when time allows.

also, i thought the 9-cell would extend out the back and not the bottom, making it hard to fit into most sleeves. i might just be in the market for a 6-cell...

overall, i'm very happy with my purchase.

 

That looks pretty awesome. I have that graphite grey pattern on my palmrest (apparently they've discontinued that), but my lid is just the standard black.

If I'm not mistaken, the Studio 15 only ships with Vista 32-bit...seeing as you have 4GB of RAM, you might want to talk to Dell about getting them to send you a 64-bit Vista disk. Otherwise you'll only be getting about 3.2GB of that RAM.

 

thanks. i really wanted the special edition print but it wouldn't have been as fully loaded, and i wasn't sold on the matte colors...

any way to check what version (32-bit/64-bit) of vista i'm running?

 

Start > Control Panel > System. Under "System Type" it will say "32-bit operating system" or "64-bit operating system".

 

New here to the forums, just bought a studio 15, first brand new laptop i have bought for myself.


Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40Ghz, 3MB, 1066MHz)

Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1

15.4" Wide Screen WXGA WLED (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™

2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera

3072MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048 + 1x1024]

256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450

320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive

Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Midnight Blue with Microsatin Finish

Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11 a/b/g/n 1X2) 1/2 MiniCard

All for about £530 delivered, i thought that was a good price.

Should be here tuesday am, if the company sticks to what they say.

Any tips on what i should do with it first? take off useless software?

Also how does vista run with they specs, slow or anything? I usually stick with xp.

 

Vista should run fine.

 

When I got my studio 15 the first thing I did was put in a live cd of ubuntu and do an install. I left 10gb unallocated for any partitions on the hard drive in case I want to install vista back on it later, but im happy with ubuntu 8.04 I ahd some problems with the sound, ut that was a pretty easy fix.

 

Vista will run just fine. That's why they give you Vista with these notebooks. If it didn't perform well enough to run Vista, then they would have included XP or something else older.

You'll be just fine.

 

does anyone know what the optimal drivers are for the ati 3450? the 9.3 catalyst drivers dont seem to be installing for me even with mobility modder

 

Really? They installed just fine for me straight off of the AMD website with no modding.

If you can't get newer ones to work, you can always fall back on the official Dell driver. Just go to the Drivers and Downloads page for your particular model and download it. It's slightly older than the latest Catalyst release, but at least it's guaranteed to work.

 

Can you update the graphics card in the studio 15? i've seen that dell are now offering it with ati 4330, i'm assuming that's better than the 3450.

 

You can't change the graphics card; it's soldered to the motherboard. And the ATi 4330 is a newer generation of graphics card, but it's also a lower series. I think I'll go google that...

 

I tried the 9.2 and they seemed to install, but when I looked at the CCC the driver version was the old one. Did you check that?

By the way, does anybody know what's the tiny card slot that gets visible when you remove the battery?

 

Hmm, interesting. I'll take a look at that.

It's a SIM card slot. It's only used for certain mobile broadband plans.

 

Hi everyone,

I have to send off my Dell Studio 15 to be repaired because of the touch button glitch and the DVD drive no longer works. What are the chances of getting another Studio with the glitch? I assume that if it affects all models, I can claim a refund? I paid £600 for mine before christmas and really don't want a laptop that's got faults.

Thanks, chris.

 

Wondering if anyone can help me, i'm having two problems with my 1537.

1. i can be connected to the net wirelessly for say about 30 mins, and then the connection just goes, no warning or anything, status stays as local and internet, icon with two monitors and world doesn't change. i'm using intel wifi link 5100, driver version 12.0.0.78, i have tried newer drivers aswell.

2. my touchpad with the alps drivers installed goes crazy, it either stops when i'm dragging, or jumps to the other side of the screen. I've installed synaptics drivers, version 10.1.8.0, but they don't do much of a difference and don't allow me to turn of double click with the touchpad.


Any help would be muchly appreciated as i'm starting to get really annoyed with my new laptop and i only got it two days ago!



Thanks.

 

New drivers available for the Studio 1537:
IDT Audio
ATI Mobility Radeon HD3450

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=303562

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=6&fileid=303585

 

New firmware for Studio 15/17 owners with Blu-Ray disc drives:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=32&fileid=306502

 

Hi all, I just joined here yesterday.

I have had my studio 1535 for a week now. It was previously a Studio 1536. I purchased it from Dell Outlet for $529 a little over a month ago. I had done some research regarding AMD and decided to give it try. The AMD based Studio had a Radeon HD3200 IGP and a 2.2Ghz Turion processor. The GPU was just average, it certainly couldn't handle any newer games, but I didn't buy the laptop for gaming in the first place. The AMD processor (Turion x2 RM-74) got way too hot for comfort, 58 at idle, 87 under load, and that was with Arctic Silver 5. I tried undervolting but no programs worked, the processor is not supported. That was enough for me to send the laptop back. When I called DELL they told me it would take up to 60 days for the refund to be credited to my account. A few four letter words were used. I didn't have "up to 60 days", I needed the laptop ASAP for school. I said screw it. Sold the processor and board on ebay. Purchased an Intel board, an additional stick of RAM, heatsink, and processor off ebay. All of that in less than 10 days. Here I am. =)

I really enjoy this laptop, especially with the Intel setup. It suits all of my needs and I like the touch media controls. The only issue I have faced is the jumpy touchpad. The media controls have not given any problems (Even after coloring the LED's blue.) The GPU suits my needs for the occasional game. Best of all, I can UNDERVOLT. Hooray! =D

 

How did you color the LED's blue? That sounds like a neat idea. Would that work on the keyboard backlight LEDs as well? Having a blue glow on everything would be fantastic.

Also, that sounds like quite a horror story with the 1536. The AMD-based Studio is not very popular at all.

 

I've had my 1537 for 10 days, and i've had enough of it, the media panel and erratic mouse are annoying the hell out of me.

I've tried reconnecting the strip under the media panel - doesn't do anything.

I've tried the touchpad with vista drivers, 2 alps drivers and synaptics - doesn't do anything.

I really don't want to give up the 1537 because i love the way it looks, but i don't want to waste time having dell replace parts that wont make a difference.


I'm really considering swapping it for an inspiron 1545 with the same specs.

 

My 1537's touchpad works fine but the media panel is the only gripe I have. You can disconnect the panel completely to solve the problem.

I bought an Inspiron 1545 and it rocks. The CPU isn't as good (T6400 vs P8400 in the 1537) but it is a chock full of value.

 

Thanks for that metroplex. Is there any problems with inspiron 1545?

I've managed to find the same specs in the inspiron 1545 for pretty much the same price as to what i have in my 1537 just now.

Also i dont know if the 4330 graphics is better than the 3450.

 

I carefully removed the circuit board on the touch media control panel and used a blue permanent marker to color them. It looked cool, but I prefer the brighter, original white. It was just an idea that popped into my head and I decided to try it.

Yes. The Studio 1536 was a horror story. AMD + Heat + Laptops = Death. I am glad I got good deals on the Intel items. =)

 

The 4330 ranks slightly below the 3450 according to benchmarks.

Maybe you shouldn't have used permanent.

I do want to try that out on my keyboard LED's.

How do you go about removing the actual circuit board from the touch panel?

I know how that goes. Back in the days of single-core, I was very supportive of AMD; I loved my 2400+ 2.2GHz. Unfortunately, their processors haven't really been what they used to be, at least until the Phenom II's.

 

Haha! Fortunately, I discovered that nail polish remover works well for permanent marker, and it doesn't damage the plastic.

I don't have the backlit keyboard, I don't think I would color the LEDS on it either. Too much of a risk and acetone might remove the letters. Yikes.

The circuit board was easy to remove, but it does take patience. To put it simply it is one big sticker. I started at the bigger end and with a screwdriver I peeled up one corner and went from there. The task is pretty easy, it's not for people who can't work slowly and gently though. =)

 

That gives me some interesting ideas...maybe I'll color all the LED's orange, to match my desktop's Logitech G15 keyboard backlights.

 

That'd be awesome! Post pics if you happen to accomplish that.

 

Hey guys, that reminds me... Is it possible to add a backlit keyboard into a Studio 15 (1537) that did not originally come with one? I purchased mine from BBY, and they don't offer the backlit keyboard on the off-the-shelf models. So... I was just wondering.

Thx!
--Eric

 

Indeed it is possible. I am considering purchasing one myself. There is just one extra cable you have to attach, other than that there is no difference.

 

Ahh, cool. Before I decided on the Studio 15, I had tried out one of the "blue label" Toshiba laptops at BBY. I had never used a backlit keyboard before that, and didn't really see why it would be nice... but then I used it, and was like, Oh, now thats nice. Any idea how much the backlit keyboards generally run?

Thx
--Eric

 

I called DELL and they told me it was 54.99. I haven't checked anywhere else but I am positive you can find it cheaper. Ebay is an option. =D

 

Oh, thats not bad. Cool. I was figuring Dell would want to charge $150 for it. Heh When I'm ready I'll definitely check eBay first though. Great to know. Thanks for the info. I really do like my Studio 15 (except for the fact my HDD is a smidge noisy, but eh thats always something I can take care of later as well).

--Eric

 

You can get a backlit keyboard for the Studio 15 on eBay for around $50, and it's a pretty easy replacement. It's fully compatible even if your existing keyboard is non-backlit. All you have to do is remove the battery, remove the two screws that anchor the media panel, pop the media panel off, remove the keyboard bezel (it snaps right out), and undo the two screws at the top of the keyboard. The keyboard slides right out, and you just unplug the data cable. Putting the backlit one in is just as easy, except in addition to the data cable, you also plug in a smaller power cable for the backlight LED's, and put it all back together.

This is where I bought my illuminated keyboard from:

http://www.resaleremarketing.net/servlet/the-25/XPS-M1530-Studio-Illuminated/Detail

I know it says "XPS M1530 Studio", but it's definitely for the Studio 15. The XPS series doesn't even have an illuminated keyboard option. This is the exact one I bought (and it's $2 less now! ), and I can confirm that it works perfectly, and this is about a month after installing it.

 

Thanks for the link, shroom, thats fantastic. Sounds very easy to do. I may have to consider doing that in a couple of months when money isn't so tight (after having just paid taxes, heh).

BTW I was perusing the site, and under the Studio section, they seem to have it listed there as well... Different p/n, but same price.

http://www.resaleremarketing.net/servlet/the-722/Dell-Studio-1535-fdsh-1536-Laptop/Detail

Thanks
--Eric

 

Not sure why they have the same keyboard listed twice, as different products no less, but yeah, it'll work.

And I know what you mean about taxes. I'm 19 and working my way through college. Not exactly easy as it is without having to fork over a barrel of cash to the government too.

 

For anyone having troubles with their touchpad acting erratic, dell released a new alps driver 7.2.101.219, A06 today, says it Improve user usability.

It has fixed my problem with the touchpad being erratic.

 

I've never installed drivers for the touchpads and they always seem to work well.

 

Not for the 1535 apparently. The latest touchpad driver was updated on 9/26/1008. :/

I really need to figure out a good driver for this thing. Side-scrolling has not worked since day 1.

 

This latest talk about drivers reminded me I wanted to post about my Linux experience on the Studio 15...

Basically, its been great. Out of the box, virtually everything worked with Fedora 10. The only thing that did not work from a fresh install was the wireless, which is no real surprise -- my Studio 15 has the Dell wireless (which uses a Broadcom chipset). Broadcom is notorious for its sketchy Linux support, though it is getting better. This chipset uses the broadcom-wl driver, instead of the older b43 driver. Was relatively simple to get it working: setup the RPMFusion repository (non-free), and then install the broadcom-wl package. Reboot and you have working wireless!

Fedora 10 has a bug that doesn't properly configure the trackpad utility, and this was an issue on both my old laptop (an Acer) and my new Studio 15... the trackpad works perfectly fine, but the utility doesn't load/configure properly so you can't adjust sensitive and etc. A quick edit of a file and a reboot lets the utility work properly. I turn off the "click" feature, and the scrolling... although both side-to-side and up-and-down do work fine in Linux out of the box. I also had to adjust the sensitive a bit for my liking, and I've not experienced any jumpiness at all.

Media keys all work perfectly right out of the box (except for the far-left one, it doesn't seem to do anything). I'm using the Rhythmbox music player... I can minimize it to the tray and do other things and the media keys can still previous/next flip thru my music, pause, stop/play, and adjust the volume. It all "just works", which is so refreshing to see.

Audio sounds fine, as well... Sure, the speakers are not amazing, they're what I could classify as typical laptop speakers -- I'm certainly not going to complain about the sound quality. There is plenty of volume for me here in Linux, thats no problem whatsoever. No crackling, either. My mp3s are all on my file server, and they play without a problem over the wireless.

Oh, I guess there is one other thing that does not work right out of the box, and thats the headphone jacks. An ALSA update is required to get them to function properly... they would work, the system just did not mute the internal speakers automatically when headphones were plugged in. Seems to be ok now.

Anyway, I'm pleased with how well Linux runs on my Studio 15. I'm past my Best Buy return period now, so I'm committed to keeping my machine That officially makes me a Studio 15 "owner" now

Thx
Eric

 

Sorry Mastershroom, i should of specified it was for 1537

 

Is the cursor animation corrected with the 7.2.101.219 A06 trackpad driver?

 

The new driver is also for Studio 1535 as well according to the 'Version' text file. I installed it and noticed that the cursor does not animate anymore. So, I uninstalled it and reinstalled the older version.