Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 -7386

I just bought one a Dell Inspiron 13 7386, I7 Whiskey Lake 8th Gen 1.8 Tubo 4.6
with 512GB NVME (no Idea what SSD Hoping for 970 Pro or at least Evo) and 16GB Ram. Graphics 620. Windows 10 pro. 3 year ProSupport Plus: Next Business Day Onsite,
I don't see a thread of these model so I thought I would start one. More post once I actually get my hands on this little thing.
I'm typing this on my Asus G752VY so this is going to be an experience moving to a 13" 2-1 from a full-size gaming notebook. My intentions are that I don't really need a large notebook for my work, this will be much less to pack around sort of.
I already got a docking station and its huge Kit-Dell Dock WD15,US,130W,1.1C,MDP. I'm not sure I'll be taking all that offshore with me and will look for something smaller and lighter to extend my USB C port for LAN and a few USB 3.0 ports I don't really need monitor connections for my offshore part of my work. Open to any suggestions
Ordered a couple of right angle adapters so as to keep anything I connect behind the notebook out of the way on either side of the 2-1. Looking for anyone else's experiences with these 2-1 notebooks or whatever we call them.
I'm still in shock that I have ordered a 13' notebook, I have always used 17" but times change and I don't game anyway.

 

It’s the perfect size device for travel imo. I have it’s little brother the 13 5000 2 in 1 and I love it. Congrats.

 

Well, after mostly configuring this new 2-1, I found that the trackpad is not turning off with a mouse connected. While working with Dell Pro tech support I found that bit Locker was turned on as default. took me a bit to realize that my MS account had the Key stored and I unlocked all files and recreated all my backups.
So I have no touchpad driver in Device manager, nor do I have the option in settings/trackpad or mouse. I don't see any touchPad software installed in Programs and Features. Anyone got any Ideas?

 

Next question I have for you Dell experts out there, My spec. say I have a 2 NVME M.2 slots a 2280 Up to 1tb SSD and 2230 up to 512GB, What would limit me to 1 TB on that 2280 slot? the only difference between a 1 TB 970 and a 2 TB SSD is a couple of chip all on the top side of the card thickness is the same for both, You think Dell has put some kind of limit in the UEFI?

 

I doubt it, I would say that is the largest they offer as an upgrade.

 

Hope so, with only 1 drive I'll need all the space for what I do. Although learning how to do more with less. This is really difficult switching from a G752VY to a Dell Inspiron m13

 

Yeah I hear you. When I bought my inspiron it had a 500gb hard drive, I could not be comfortable with that space. I installed a 2tb firecuda which lasted 2 years then died. I am back to a 1tb SSD. I am not using my 1TB onedrive storage more and moving things to that as needed. I am going to be creating a lot of content for our two blog/video sites this year so storage is essential. I am probably going to move a lot to my home server and get that setup since storage and safety of content is critical.

 

Yea What I have done as a temp fix, put my 850 Pro that had all my data files on my G752VW I bought a USB 3.1 external case from HDE C type connectors and it seems to be opening excel and word and PDF files faster than the SSD onboard this notebook. This tells me if nothing else I'll need to put the 960 Pro M.2 NVME as a starting point. At least until I can find someone at Dell that can explain the 1TB limit on that 2280 slot. I don't want to slap my head again, like upgrading this from Dell 256gb to 512gb SSD I knew better and did it anyway. So I don't want to buy a 1TB and then later someone says oh the 2tb works great. Everything logically tells me that the 2 TB will work. all dimensions are the same chips are all on top and they both draw the same power. So unless Dell has put some limitation in the UEFI. I think only Dell can tell me this. I just need to free up a few hours to deal with them

 

Ok, my final solution, I decided to get the Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB. Took the back cover off and Joy, the 512GB from the factory was indeed installed in the 2280 slot. However, it was a 2230 card. Slow for NVME but about like an 860 was. Anyway, MR cloned old to new adjusted the partition C down to 300 GB leaving myself 600GB for my data E Consulting and F Storage the old SSD becomes D Data more than enough space for my purposes. Not bad for a cheap Inspiron 13 7386

 

Solved after a couple of Dell tech support people I got one that was switched on. Downloaded Dell Command Update and installed ran and it found that I needed an Intel IO driver, that installed and no more issue with touchpad turns out it is a Precision trackpad support natively in windows 10 with all the setting available.

 

After being inside this notebook, I can't see any reason that a 2TB 970 would work, I chose to purchase the 1TB EVO due to prices and you can see in my latest post it has worked out quite well for me. I've ended up with 1.5 TB of fast SSD storage.

 

I was on the fence about the same. I was looking for a 2 tb SSD to put into my trusty 13 5000. I decided to get a 1 tb SSD, and use my network server more. The new drive made my computer much better.

 

update 2019-05-09 This was resolved by downloading Dell Command Update Version 3.0 this is a manual version for updating and it did find the correct driver and Intel IO driver that solved the issue

2019-0509 I installed a 1TB Samsung 970 EVO, and moved the 2230 512GB SSD to the 2nd SSD slot that happens to be a 2230 slot.
So I still don't know if a 2 TB SSD would work or not. I assume that it would.

 

Well, I have been using this notebook Dell 13 7386 for about 5 months now. I can't find anything i don't like about this computer. It was quite a transition from a 17" gaming notebook to this tiny little 2-1. I have had to learn a lot about USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 since there are only 2 data ports 1 USB C Gen 1 with Display port 5 GBS and a USB 3.1 Gen 1 not DP but still 5 GBS data bandwidth.

What I have learned is that Buying USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB hub adapter and cables will allow me to run several External USB 3.0 hard drive simultaneously I have been able to transfer a large block of data in the 250GB range Reading and writing to each other a the same time without issues. no freezes now explore.exe locking up or data loss. i can only imagine how much we will be able do with USB C gen 2.

With so few external ports I did purchase a Dell 15 Docking station which has many ports and a 130-watt power supply Connects throught the USB C Gen1 connector. This I can use when I am stationary for a few days or like the last project 55 days.

I also after many tries found a 7 port USB hub Gen 1 with 40 Watt power supply. This also will handle up to 4 external hard drives Reading and writing 250GB folder of many types of files all to and from this USB 3.1 A connector simultaneously. While still running my back up 4tb hard drive Logitech mouse button. I highly recommend this Hub if you have USB A 3.1 Atolla Its marked USB 3.0, however, is actually 3.1 Gen 1 USB authority no longer distinguish between USB 3.0 and 3.1 Gen 1 the standards are the same for both now.

This little guy runs hot at times usually for very short periods of time. My usual idle temp is 35 to 45, general use is running in the 50 to 60 range and under intense use, it will get up in the '80s I am using a Laptop cooler a Coolmaster U3 and have set the fan to force air up through the bottom vents. Which bring up the cooling set up on these models.

Cool air come in through the bottom screened port and hot air is exhausted through the right Hinge looking closely you'll see vent holes and slit vents along the back side of the notebook the actual cooling fan exhaust through that hinge and the first couple of slit vent along the back side. Took me a while to figure this out so thought I would bring it up here.

I am not a gamer so my guess would be that this notebook would not game well as it is not intended to do so. I always bought a gaming computer because I enjoyed having the latest and greatest technology. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything with this notebook.

About the transition from 17' to 13.3" screen, that was a challenge at first, however, I am currently running 1080 Resolution and able to read everything most of the time. I am 72 years old and ware Trifocal glasses. It did take some getting used to.

In the end, I carrying around a very light 13.3 notebook that is much easier to find a place to set up and use. It does everything I need for my work.

Tech support I have purchased a 3 year Pro Plus warranty. I still find that I have to deal with more than one tech to get hooked up with one that is switched on enough to help me. This is quite an upgrade compared to Asus support which you could never really find any tech support tech that really had any Ideal beyond telling ing yo to clean install and start over. Thank heavens for the ROG forums as if you have Asus products that is the only help you will find when you have issues. With Dell eventually you'll get a smart tech.