---> OFFICIAL: Dell STUDIO 14z Owner's Lounge <---

I'm glad to hear you got everything worked out to your satisfaction.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the 13 (don't worry folks, I'll check the appropriate forum.) I was so tempted to get the Studio XPS 13, but kept reading all the problems with heat and freeze-ups. It's why I chose the 14z. What a great decision that has turned out to be.

 

Day 4 of the PCSX2 watch (on the Inspiron 1525). For those that are not aware, I'm testing it on this system to get an idea of the minimum performance to be expected on the 14z. I expect that, due to the faster 14z processor and graphics acceleration, the PCSX2 emulator should run much better than on on the Inspiron.

I tested out Shadow of the Colossus as I had promised. Unfortunately, this game (even with a x3 cycle rate) is too slow to be playable. In the normal game screen, it runs at 10-12fps. The game has a surprising number of transparencies and other effects like motion blur and glow, which may be limiting speed. I expect it will benefit TREMENDOUSLY with capable graphics hardware and faster processor.

If anyone else wants to help me out and actually tweak and test PCSX2 on the 14z, that would be great!

I'm thinking about testing an RPG next, just to get a feel for the playability. I am also going to run an emulator test for GameCube/Wii. I will report my findings.



YARR!
}:^)~
Shadow of the Capt'n

 

Maybe tomorrow >< I need to sleep...

 

Thanks! Looking forward to it! g'night!


YARR!
}:^)~
zzzCap

 

Maybe you'll get another one tomorrow.

To be honest, once something has shipped and I have a tracking number I stop checking the Dell site. But I did now, and while mine shipped on July 9th and arrived on July 13th (damn weekends!), some links on the Dell site still show an estimated ship date of July 22nd. (They don't show delivery dates on the Canadian site, just ship dates).

 

Awesome, I called the status line and it's in the BOXING STAGE! aka "The Final Stages"...I checked last night and it was still in the build stage but this morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a little progress.

I'm just glad it's finally built, and this means it should be delivered before my new Est. delivery of 8/5.

 

I just checked the Dell status page and my system shows as ... wait for it ... SHIPPED!!! And it shows that they shipped it for next business day delivery. WOO HOO!

Must've just shipped, though, because all the other shipping related fields say "information unavailable", and I haven't even gotten an email from them yet.

Still ..., WOO HOO!!!

Which is good, because after reading all the comments here I was considering upgrading to the 900P screen, but I'm sure I'll be fine with the one I got.

I'll be happy to answer questions when it arrives.

Good luck to everyone else!

 

Lucky you. Mine hasn't been delayed or anything, but I'm still antsy, dammit.

 

I agree. Waiting 2 or so weeks for it to be finished in the production stage is hectic! Can't and I really hope I dont have to find out what it feels like to have even further delays.

 

karan, what's your est. delivery date?

 

i just hope i get it before i have to go to college.

 

Trekkie, what's your config?

 

What is your est. delivery date?

 

I ordered 2 (one for me and one for my bro) and they're both scheduled for 8/10. I'll be fine if there's no delay, but given Dell's history with the 14z, I'm a little nervous.

 

Same day as mine. And yea, same here...hope there's no delays.

Where are you located though?

 

And just out of curiousity, what date did you place your order?

 

5th of august. I'm sincerely hoping it doesn't get delayed. That being said, I think most of my selections for the config have been non-standard, with the exception of the processor and the back-lit keyboard. I think that if it does get delayed, it'll be because of one of the two.

On a side note, I talked to the rep and she said that it's set to leave day after tomorrow. Oddly enough, when I look at my order status by purchase ID, the ship date is 1/1/0001 (but looking at it through order number does give the 5th of august est. delivery), which I'm assuming is a database error of some sort. Anybody else have the same problem?

 

I placed it on the 21st.

 

I placed my order 7/24, and I live in socal

 

by the way the 14z supports SATAII right?

 

Not here. My shows the same date (8/10/2009) no matter how I try to look at it.

 

Yes (10 chars)

 

Anybody know if there is only one production warehouse or several and if so, where?

jcll03, we have the same delivery date but different order dates. i placed mine on the 26th, which was a sunday. it probably didn't go through until monday. and that might have happened to you if it was done late on the 24th (friday). or all that can simple be ruled out if you got expedited shipping. i chose the standard 3-5 biz days.

 

What does (10 chars) mean?

 

People will append it to short statements to meet a 10 character limit that the forum uses.

 

That's the stupid minimum number of characters that must be in a post. Since the word 'yes' is only 3 characters, this system does not allow posting such a short message, hence some additional nonsense

 

Ah ha! Brilliant! lol. And here I was feeling dumb thinking it was something regarding SATA II

 

Well, mine shipped from Champaign Illinois, but I'm not sure about other regions. I'd assume that there would be at least 2 more, east and west coasts, but maybe they only have one large one..

 

Lexus, what HDD did you order with your 14z? (it's not on your sig)

 

I chose the minimum: 250GB 5400rpm, because I am going to sell it and buy the Intel X25-M G2 when it becomes available again (should be within a couple of days). I think I will get the 160 GB version. I do software development, so everything should work as fast as possible, and because hard drives are the bottleneck in computer systems, hence this HDD "exchange"

 

Did you get a 7% EPP discount or no? The upgrade from 250GB 5400RPM to 320GB 7200RPM was only $25 for me.

I also want to swap out the HDD for a SSD. I don't do software development but I do graphic design (work with large files), photo editing, and once in a while basic web development. So I thought $25 would do for now while I figure out which SSD I want to get.

How is this Intel X-25M G2 you type about? Is it an SSD? Any suggestions for the 'best bang for the buck' SSD out there? I probably don't need too much GB...maybe at least 32GB if anything (well it depends on how much Vista or Windows 7 takes up and my adobe software too); but if the price difference between a jump of 32GB to 64GB or more is not THAT much, I might make the jump. I eventually plan to use an external 1TB HDD for all my storage. Basically I want to have only the immediate files I am working on, on the internal SSD, and when needing other files, just drag and drop into SSD to work from within there.

 

I was sucked into the great features (size, screen, battery life) of the Studio 14z, and ignored my better judgment to stay clear of Dell. The customer service (as in "lack there of") lived up to their reputation. The worst system I've ever dealt with.

Long story short, after countless problems ordering the 14z, I received a 14z today. I underscore "a" 14z, because this laptop was not even close to what I ordered other than it was a 14z. After a long discussion with customer support, they are going to be nice enough to exchange the laptop with the one I ordered and paid for. It will "only" take 7-10 days. When I asked if this laptop would be sent overnight like I paid for, I got a "umm, it will ship in 7-10 days" robot response. I know, I need to escalate, but at this point I have wasted an enormous amount of time dealing with the Dell "system" and at least I have a laptop to use until my 14z comes.

On the bright side (always looking for a silver lining), until I send it back, I will have a base 14z to compare to a fully optimized one (900p screen, 8 cell, etc.), if anyone is interested in a comparison (screen shots, weight, etc.).

 

Well, the Intel X25-M G2 is the best SSD currently available. G2 stands for "2nd generation". It was released last week, but because of a firmware issue Intel temporarily stopped shipments, until it's resolved, which should be this or next week. These drives come in 80 and 160 GB. Other SSD drives often say that they "almost match the Intel drives performance", but yes, Intel drives are currently considered to be the best out there. Some might suggest you to get a cheaper Samsung, etc., but personally I don't want to settle for a "good enough" drive

Yes, I also got the 7% EPP discount when ordering the 14z.

 

Actually, the T4200 processor is a Core 2 duo as well. they only say its a dual core for marketing. The T4200 has the same architecture as the T6400, etc. It just has less L2 cache. In reality, you will not see too much of a difference. It would be more of your mind playing tricks on you and telling yourself that you 'notice' the speed boost.
According to the CPU benchmarks, the extra 1mb L2 cache really only adds slightly more than the T4200. That is why I said the T6600 is the next step up because that acually has maybe a 30% increase over the T4200.
Dont let Intel fool you with their marketing.

 

Yikes, it's pretty rare for Dell to send an entirely wrong machine. What did they end up sending? 720p and 6 cell, I presume? Any other major differences?

 

I think I read somewhere on here, in a post explaining everything you want to know about Dell production, that they're shipped in bulk by plane from the manufacturing facility to the United States.

 

Unsurprisingly, my system has been delayed. It was supposed to ship today and had an estimated delivery date of 8/4, but this morning the delivery date was pushed back to 8/13. Since then it has moved back down to 8/10.

In case anyone's wondering I had the common: red lid, p8600, back-lit keyboard, 900p screen set-up so I was expecting a delay, but it's still disappointing.

 

I finally got smart and put it in my sig, so I don't have to keep retyping it.

 

UPDATE:

For those 14z delayed till august 13th.
I ordered mine on the 18th with ruby red and it shipped today.

Thanks to java for the misconfig scare though.

 

I can't really afford the P8600 processor right now. Would the difference between the T6500 and T4200 be worth the extra $50 in price?

Also how easy would it be to upgrade the processor later on?

 

It's basically the case of opening up the laptop. I've changed processors on my desktops, and its easy. The only difference is the casing. Generally the cpu coolers are "clipped", screwed, or "wired" into place, and it's normally obvious how to take it off. After that, you take out the cpu (only thing keeping it from falling out if the thermal paste) then you swap the cpu, reapply thermal paste, and enjoy a faster cooler cpu (thermal pads suck but I don't wanna void my warranty).

On a side note, you clean the old cpu off with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl/isopropanol)

 

They have extensive service manuals and everything that give pretty good instructions on how to get to any particular part of the laptop.

 

Yeah thats what I figured. I've been building desktops for years but have never really owned any laptops.

I'll probably update the processor later but I'm trying to decide if I should just get the T4200 or start off with the T6500.

 

The Ruby Red doesn't smudge does it?

I ordered the Black Chainlink mainly because I was planning on purchasing it with a debit card but being that I applied for Dell credit and got approved...I'm thinking the extra $40 charge for the no-smudge Ruby Red might be better.

What do you all think? And if so, any chance I might be able to expedite the shipping or get the Ruby Red lid at a discount

By the way, my est. delivery date is already 8/10/09...think they might push it back further if I try to change it?

 

Lucky me, huh...

Here's the breakdown:

Color: Ordered Midnight Blue, got Base (Black)
Screen: Ordered 900p, got 720p
Hard Drive: Ordered 500GB, got 320GB
Keyboard: Ordered Back-lit, got Standard
Bluetooth: Ordered Dell 365, got none
Wireless: Ordered Wireless-n, got 802.11G
Battery: Ordered 8 Cell, got 6 Cell

So other than the above, they nailed it.

 

The coloured lids are a definite improvement. I bought my first one with my Studio 17 thinking "this is so expensive already, why not go for broke." Then when I got it, I realized what a great surface it is. No smudge and feels almost rubberized.

(Of course the plum purple is way cooler. More understated than that gaudy red. )

 

It's kind of rubbery, so it does not smudge.

You should try. I asked for an expedite shipping, but they said they don't do that for Canada, and all their shipments from USA to Canada are only ground shipments, which take 3-5 business days.

 

haha wow. Think the only plus thing there might be that the 320GB HDD might be 7200RPM as opposed to the 5400RPM you probably ordered???

 

This video is great to watch to see how the "Dell process" works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhNkzdKyrw

 

They really don't, at least not if you live in Toronto. More like 2-3. If a system first shows as shipped on Monday night, it will likely arrive on Wednesday morning. I don't know what it's like for other parts of the country, if they all go here first and then by ground from Toronto.