***-->The Official Dell Adamo Thread<--***

Hi guys!

Found another thread. http://www.viperlair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=52200

If you have an old install, do some benchmarking before and after and post some results .

PICOW

 

Ordered about a week before you and the 256gb is trim enabled. Here is the screen shot.

 

I got my replacement model with 256gb back in january I believe, and it was trim enabled, so far I am led to believe those of us with 256gb models are having better luck with TRIM

 

^ i love your sig! hahahahahaha

 

i loaded crystaldiscinfo & just checked my laptop and it does not have trim enabled... i have just got in the states and my adamo was ordered in early feb so could not check it earlier... what option do i have now.. also is it really necessary to have a trim enabled SSD any other option i can do to get it trim enabled (settings etc..) any suggestions would be highly appreciated... im just feeling sad now...

 

I tried using Intel SSD Toolbox, but it won't work on a non Intel drive.

 

Finally got mine in today.

Samsung SSD PB22 CS3 TM 256GB
*TRIM is supported.

I have a concern though, esp after looking at other crystal disk screenshots.
The first time I booted up, I installed Crystal Disk.,, It showed my laptop has been powered on for 4 hours, and power count of 33.. Health status shows Good but only at 90%.. Whats the deal?

Also,
Any recommendations for a linux distro with minimal driver issues? I am not an linux n00b just looking for a new distro to try out.

 

Thanks It struck me when I realized my appetite reflected my purchasing habits

 

any help towards this pls... im here for only for a few days thus if the option is for an exchange then i gotta do it fast...

 

I can't speak about the trim being worth the exchange or not, but my adamo had some service issues and they are now replacing it, but they told me 3-4 business weeks. That was 1 week ago and online status has no more information...
many people on here have said their adamo's have been taking forever to come in so not sure if holding out that long with no laptop is a good option for you...

 

Sorry I am not knowledgeable enough to answer your question but Dell does do a good job helping you with any problems had particularly with this model, like c#ad my model was replaced and though it did take about a month (more or less) to get to me it was a brand new model and I was very satisfied and with TRIM

 

holy smokes...did it really take a full month? My company has had several computers replaced and it has never taken that long...

did you buy yours new or refurbished? Mine is a 1.4ghz wiht 4gb ram, 128gb ssd...i wonder if i will get the 2.1 with 4gb and 256 gb ssd?

 

What issues did your adamo have, if you don't mind me asking? I purchased refurb and I'm wondering what I should watch out for...

 

It was perfect for a while, but then it wouldn't shut down or I'd turn it off and come back later to find it really hot and my battery drained...and this was after several resetups so didn't feel like it was software.

They sent a heatsink (I thought it should have been a mobo), but after the tech put it on, the laptop will no longer turn on...thats when they set up the exchange...

I don't think there is anything wrong with refurbs. I always buy them for my home machines and recommend them to friends and have had no real issues.

cheers

 

Yeah it took a good long while... but my original was a refurb and there was nothing wrong with it hardware wise but it was a little banged up (lid was a little off center, scratches pretty noticeable, and somehow the design etched rectangle under the white portion of the lid was constantly loosing itself) and I told them I was not satisfied so I would be returning the model

They called me back and said I was approved for an exchange and sent me a new model, it took a month at least but my original was usable and I am sure the exchange was highly approved since they were about to announce the price drop a few weeks after

Only things to be wary about buying from the outlet is that there will likely be physical blemishes since the aluminum will scratch and highly unlikely to get a TRIM'd ssd

EDIT: Haha c4ad I remember talking to you about our troubles a few months ago here, but I was one of the ones that swiped up a 256gb admire model from the outlet

 

I've only come across one 256gb for the lower price in the outlet, but I had already purchased mine. I was more worried about the ram honestly, but 256gb at that price is a steal.

Mine's in excellent condition, I can't complain about that at all. Although I will say I have been babying the laptop... I guess because it's so thin, but it feels somewhat fragile to me despite the aluminum exterior and heavy weight. I feel like if I set it down too hard or something the bottom might fall out.... maybe I just feel that way because it's new, well, newly refurbished

 

Yeah I feel the same way, for some reason even though it has a metal casing I treat it like if I breathe on it the wrong way I am going to scratch it, one thing that did concern me was the flex on the bottom casing but mine never touches my desk as it sits on my mandarina duck case 24/7 anyway

 

BTW, the Mandarina Duck case is free in the Dell store right now-- I even went as far as to order it with a confirmation page saying $00.00 total cost. BUT as soon as I got the confirmation e-mail it said I had been charged full price and tax. I knew that it was too good to be true, I just can't believe that all the way through ordering it NEVER said that it would charge my card for that amount- it said $0.00 even on the confirmation page. I immediately called and canceled as I already own the sleeve anyway.

Just thought I'd share if one of you guys might want to try and take advantage or whatever pricing error is going on.

 

Wow that is strange. If it wasn't so obvious of an error I would complain

 

So in the new Adamo 13, is the battery replaceable? Second, whats the screen quality like? Are we talking typical 13.3-13.4inch TN crappy screen?

 

I personally would say yes, I am not at all impressed with the screen.

 

Thats what I was afraid of. I have read there is glass over the screen simular to the MBP's? Another quick question. What is the battery life like? If this thing can pull 4 hours doing normal web surfing, I will be impressed. Lastly are you happy with your Adamo? I am looking at 12-13inch portable notebooks for basic surfing, hulu, watching mkv's, coding etc...

This will not be my main machine as I have a desktop for that.

 

You are shooting hard questions. I've had it for a week, and I am trying to justify the $899, but I am having trouble. The screen is subpar (but my desktop screen is Dell U2410 so I am spoiled), the battery life is far from the advertised 5+ hours - more like 3 hours. The 128GB SSD is not TRIM enabled. It doesn't have a card reader. It is heavy for it's size. The keyboard of the black model is not very good for daylight, I personally am having trouble, the lettering is not contrasting. However, it is a beauty to look at and will ipmress. It is fast due to the SSD. I still have a couple of weeks to form my opinion and decide to return it or not.

 

The screen has huge light leak at the bottom, very narrow viewing angles, and the sound is subpar as well. There goes the negative from me.

 

I personally have trouble enjoying a movie on my Adamo, because of what I said already - light leak, poor image quality, poor viewing angles, mediocre sound.

 

wait you got a 128GB drive without trim? While not a deal breaker, Its not something I want to hear.

 

Yes, NO TRIM. Received the laptop on 3/24.

 

Honestly the main thing saving it for me is the SSD. I was never looking for it as my main machine, but the SSD makes loading and certain things much faster than my desktop. It does have its share of flaws, but atleast you know what you're getting. Yes it's heavy, the battery life isn't the best out there, and it's not the cheapest... but none of this should be unexpected. If you're buying it for the looks, the wow factor will wear off after you have it for a bit.

Vddobrev has some good points, but I disagree on a few. My screen doesn't give me any problems besides the fact that the glare is annoying, I don't find the keys hard to find during the day (but I'm never looking either), and the sound isn't the greatest-- what do you expect for a laptop this thin? Great sound can be had from a nice pair of speakers or headphones.

 

I am actually very satisfied with my adamo, I don't feel the screen is all that bad aside from the gloss ( I use the dell 2707) , I don't really have trouble typing on mine either but it did take some time to get used to

Picking at viewing angels, card reader, and battery life is being a little nit picky, I mean that on a 13 inch screen it's in my lap or my desk straight ahead of me and if anything sometimes it helps other students from stealing a peek at my coding

I know it sucks that it doesn't have a card reader but this is a luxury machine that most of us buy because of the ssd and aluminum slick looks, I generally get about 4-4.5 hours if I am trying ( lowest brightness, bluetooth off, etc) but if what you stated are the deal breakers for you then a 13" macbook pro is what you are describing

All in all I am happy with mine, this little machine handled hulu videos, hours of WoW, and I lucked out with a TRIM'd ssd so I can't complain

 

I can deal with 4 hours as I said. Weight not really being an issue. More Questions.

1. Build Quality.
2. Keyboard, Compared to a thinkpad/lenovo keyboard
3. Noise. Is this laptop slient? Does it have any fans? And Most importantly, does the cpu have a whine at all(like from the 1330 days)?

 

1. I have owned several notebooks before but this is my first metal chassis one, feels rock solid but the bottom panel is weak and flexes towards the edges

2. The keyboard has little flex but there is some there, sorry I have not dealt with ibm notebooks to compare

3. it does have some sort of fan not sure how it fits in there but I only heard it after playing games or watching video for some time, no whine thankfully

 

What about the quality of the backlit keyboard for use during the night?

 

1. Build quality is good, but the bottom flexes towards the edges.
2. Compared to a thinkpad, the keyboard sucks. It flexes in the midle, a bit too much for my liking. I think it will take some getting used to, since I usually type without looking, but with the Adamo I have to.
3. No noise whatsoever, unless the CPU fan spins, which it will when you load the CPU. Under normal browsing/email, dead quiet. No whine at all, and I did own an M1330, and it drove me nuts.

 

Well a lot of people here will say I am nit picking, but I have seen many laptops... and it is important to compare. Afterall, this is not cheap at $999!

The backlight is just OK.

Pros
- You can see the keys in the dark
- You can control the light intensity

Cons
- Keys are not evenly lit - one side of the keyboard is brighter
- You can see the light inbetween keys (meaning the light is not localized and isolated per each key)

 

Oh, I just received the Adamo Tumi sleeve, and it is vinyl! For $100! But hey, it is Tumi!

 

I think I am going to stick with a new X200 or 201 instead of Adamo. The battery life is what really disappoints me. Plus I really don't want to have to baby the laptop. Thanks for all your help guys.

 

I have the tumi sleeve as well...I really like it...doesn't seem to get dirty or anything and last time I went through security, I didn't have to take it out to put it through the xray machine..

 

Great to know. I also like it, it fits perfectly... but it is expensive at $100!

 

Question on Adamo Bluetooth - the specs on dell.com say it has bluetooth 2.1, yet I cannot find it in the device manager. I do not have any unknown devices. Can someone please tell me if they do have the bluetooth module?

Edit: Nevermind, installed the software, and the BT radio showed up.

 

If anyone is interested I just threw my Mandarina 13" sleeve in the BST forum... love the sleeve just won`t need it once the laptop is gone. A little over two weeks old... Adamo to follow...

 

wow..I am just really surprised I actually received a 128gb Samsung SSD which TRIM is not supported. I searched a few forums and threads this morning and looks like Samsung has updated the recent firmware that does support TRIM but it is DELL that is not doing anything about this issue. I am just worried my ssd drive will slow down and performance will degrade over time. We need to come up with some solution guys. I might call Dell to ask for the replacement of SSD before my warranty period ends.

 

If you choose to call Dell, please let us know how it goes. I've heard many stories about this drive firmware (like: Samsung says they've sent newer firmware to Dell last year). There's even an online petition asking Dell (I signed it) to provide a firmware update tool. If you call Dell, keep in mind that you'll have to escalate in order to get in touch with ANYONE that will actually know what's going on... and that will take some doing.

 

Mandarina Duck sleeve down to $25 now at Dell. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A2166986

 

Well, if you follow Dell's Usage for your HDD, then you might be able to claim warranty in no time!

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/P190819/usage.htm

 

is it possible to replace the CPU? I find the slow one too slow, and the fast one is to expensive, and I don't need SSD. Is it possible to replace the CPU or is it soldered?

 

Soldered on and you can't fit standard 2.5" drives in due to the thinness. You may want to take a look at the Vostro V13 or the Latitude 13 which use conventional drives. I'm pretty sure the SL9600 only comes soldered to the board and isn't really available on those models yet.

90% of the time I hardly notice the speed of the 1.2Ghz on mine and the SSD has been just fine. It's still competitively priced against machines like the Thinkpad Edge so I don't think its necessarily overpriced. Then again I got mine under the MSFT store deal for $750.

 

Honestly if ssd is not an importance and as with other ultraportables such as the air if you don't love it for what it is (meaning lack of upgrade ability) its better to find something else that suits your needs these product in this category are definitely niche notebooks

 

The SSD is so fast that I haven't even noticed the slow speed of the processor. But like lilyang said, if you're that worried about it then you should probably by sometime else.

 

Looks like your right...

 

Any progress on TRIM support?

PICOW