Dell Inspiron 15R Special edition (7520)

Depends on which country you order. In mine, the regular only has 720p. There is no option for the mSATA or blu-ray. Keyboard has no blacklit.

I am not even aware that it is a common complain about the video card. Can you summarize what it is about? I don't believe the Radeon is as powerful as the nVIDIA GeForce GT Graphics 660 and up. It is definitely better than having the Intel 4000 alone.

Dell forces you to match the number of years of accidental damage with the year of warranty. I doubt very much that you are going to put it in your backpack on a daily basis. Again, different countries have different offer on the warranty. In mine, 4 year of in home support costs same as 3 years. I got that one and skip the accidental coverage.

 

Does anybody have this issue? Re: Inspiron 15R SE, Can't adjust screen brightness after reopening lid - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

Can anyone tell me how long does it usually take Dell to ship one of these babies to a EU country? I live in Spain, in Barcelona (which is fairly large, has many airports near, and have never had problems with international shipping) Days? weeks? Months?

 

I received mine after 12 days in the Netherlands.

 

11 days to Italy. It shipped from the netherlands after a week of preparation

 

Sorry for this question, but i
ordered my 7720 with i5 and i'm
very curious
Is gt650 GDDR5 with i5? or i'll
receive with ddr3? i'm
interesting in it becouse i ddont know what does it mean 90W or
130W?
I think it was somewhere but i
didnt find it, sorry

 

Hi, frank26080115,

This is mostly likely an issue with the motherboard/chipset driver. I have the exact same problem in Linux that has variously been fixed and broken by subsequent releases of the Linux kernel.

If you have access to different versions of your chipset drivers (probably Intel, as distributed by Dell?), you might try them to see if the behavior changes.

Sorry I can't be more helpful,

---Jason

P.S. - In Linux, I resort to running command-line executables to adjust the brightness (xrandr). I don't know if some similar lower-level utility is available in Win7. Good luck!

 

Hello, All,

(This is a repost. I'm hoping to have this clarified before I pull the trigger and purchase the 7520.)

Do any of those who have the laptop know if the HDMI output is tied directly to the discrete GPU (AMD card)? In other words, if you can only mirror the display on the HDMI connector when the AMD card is driving the output.

I plan on using this laptop in Linux exclusively. I need to use the HDMI output (presentations and the like), but because GPU switching is dicey (to say the least) under Linux, I'd like to use the processor's integrated GPU for everything. (No Enduro switching at all.)

Being able to lock out the AMD card entirely and just run off the integrated GPU is preferable.

Thank you,

---Jason

P.S. And thanks for clearing up the maximum memory issue! Knowing that the 15R will take 16GB is very good news!!

 

If it means anything to you, I can use "extend desktop" in Windows, not just mirror. Audio also goes through HDMI instead of speakers when you connect it.

 

Yes, I also have this issue. It also happened on my old inspiron 1525. No idea why.

 

I used the hdmi out just yesterday, to watch a movie on my tv, and everything was handled by the HD4000. I used the intel graphic control panel to set clone mode and it automatically recognized the external monitor.

 

Hi, frank26080115,

Thank you for your report of being able to stretch your desktop across multiple outputs (monitors). That in itself isn't proof that the HDMI output isn't hardwired to only one GPU (discrete or integrated). However, I appreciate you getting back to me, and I hope you're able to resolve your suspend/backlight issue.

Good luck,

---Jason

 

Hi, Musicmaniac,

That's great news! Truly, I didn't *expect* my fears to be born out, but a previous message in this thread raised the spectre of hard-wired outputs, so I wanted to at least try to verify it.

With my due-diligence complete and the fact that the 7520 can handle 16GB of memory, I'm ready to buy one! I've had very good luck with my current Dell (1st gen quad-core Core i5) - not perfect, but reasonably compatible and performant.

Thanks again, and I'll be sure and let people know how it goes. I think I'll be the first person in this thread to report on their experiences with running Linux on a 7520...

---Jason

 

I am dual booting Lubuntu on my 7520. It was a bit of a challenge to get going with the 32gb cache. Here is a thread about it on the Ubuntu forums: [SOLVED] Installer not recognizing drive (Intel Smart Response Technology) - Ubuntu Forums

I haven't done much with it after installing though.

 

A guide for overclocking AMD Radeon
7730M

***In this guide i have explained how
to overclock core and memory clocks
of 7730M for increased performance,
this overclocking guide is safe since it
doesn't involve messing around with
voltage but somehow if you brick your
gpu, i cannot be held responsible***

You will need,

*MSI afterburner (other OC tools like
riva tuner, EVGA precision, sapphire
trixx and asus gpu tweak won't work)
*Furmark
*Two .dll files namely, atipdl64.dll &
atipdlxx.dll, these are needed since
AMD has withdrawn support for
official overclocking by removing
overdrive option in catalyst control
center of new drivers (google the
names and download)
*At least two demanding games to
test stability

Now follow these steps

*Install MSI afterburner and open the
application, it will show you the stock
speeds (you cannot overclock at this
point, this step is just to create a
profile folder)
*Now go to MSI afterburner
installation folder and open a .cfg file
named Afterburner with notepad,
scroll down to the bottom and modify
as shown below,
[ATIADLHAL]
UnofficialOverclockingEULA = I confirm
that I am aware of unofficial
overclocking limitations and fully
understand that MSI will not provide
me any support on it
UnofficialOverclockingMode = 1
*Save the file and paste a copy of it in
profile folder also
*Now move the two .dll files into the
MSI installation folder or move
atipdl64.dll to windows>system32 and
atipdlxx.dll to windows>SysWOW64
*Open the registry editor and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM
\ControlSet001\Control\Cl
\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-
BFC1-08002BE10318}, find the
following, EnableCrossFire, EnableUlps
& EnableUlps_NA, change all their
values to 0.
*Restart

Overclocking

*Open MSI afterburner and modify
the memory clock first, take it slow
and increase the frequency by 10-15
Mhz. After each increase run furmark
burn-in test at native resolution
(1366*768) in full screen for at least 5
minutes. once you see artefacts or if
furmark crashes reduce the frequency
by 10Mhz.
*Repeat the above step for core clock
also.
*I have read about a guy with hp
laptop who couldn't get past 590Mhz
with core clock, i was able to go till
645Mhz but the games became highly
unstable so i had to again reduce the
frequency. My final stable OC values
are coreclock=610Mhz and
memory=940Mhz.
*Use furmark only as a primary
benchmark to test system stability and
to monitor gpu load and temperature,
your final benchmark should be the
games. I used witcher 2 and
Battlefield BC2, if games crash after
overclocking just reduce the
frequency by 10Mhz.
Getting BSOD during overclocking is
normal. Make sure that you have not
selected ''apply overclocking at system
statup'' option in afterburner, if you
select it you might get BSOD at statup.
*Save the profile of your most stable
oc values and load it every time
before you launch a game.
*Use fraps for in game fps monitoring
and observe the increase in
performance after overclocking.

HAPPY GAMING!!!

 

Hi, godgough!

Fabulous news! I was a little concerned about the intel SRT stuff. And in a software RAID configuration? Not a fan of this technology...

I'll probably install another, larger mSATA SSD. IIRC, another owner reported being able to install a larger SSD and forego the caching aspect of SRT.

But, everything else is sounding pretty good! Thanks again for the info,

---Jason

 

Hi, All,

There've been a bunch of questions about the mSATA port that have partial, conflicting, or no answers. I think I'll try to sum them up here:

1. Is the mSATA port SATA-II or SATA-III?

2. Can you replace the supplied 32GB mSATA drive with a larger mSATA drive?

3. Can you use the mSATA drive as the boot drive?

I'm interested in all of these questions.

Thank you for reading!

---Jason

 

Hello, I have a quick question: what is the average temp of your processor? (I'm talking about the i7- 3612 in the 15r)
I'm registering about 45-50 °C while in idle (or with very light load) and 75-80 °C peak after a 4 minute pi computation. For reference, my room temperature is about 30 °C. Are those temperatures normal? I'm asking because I have no prior experience regarding this kind of processor, and I want to know if the cooling system is working properly.
Thanks

 

1. Looks like SATA-III. Linux says it is linking to the SSD drive at 6.0 Gbps.
   
   Code:

   [    1.954118] ata2: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
   [    1.954770] ata2.00: ATA-8: SAMSUNG SSD PM830 mSATA 32GB, CXM12D1Q, max UDMA/133
   

   Also
   Code:

   ATA device, with non-removable media
   	Model Number:       SAMSUNG SSD PM830 mSATA 32GB            
   	Serial Number:      S0XLNECC510346
   	Firmware Revision:  CXM12D1Q
   	Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0

   Code:

   sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sdb
   
   /dev/sdb:
    Timing cached reads:   8226 MB in  2.00 seconds = 4117.22 MB/sec
    Timing buffered disk reads: 1124 MB in  3.00 seconds = 374.64 MB/sec

2. Haven't tried yet. I think it should be possible.
3. Yes. In fact, thats what I'm doing. You just have to turn off Intel Smart Response in the Bios so the OS will detect the SSD drive. 32GB SSD is my boot and rootfs device for Linux. It's also technically contains my home directory, but I have all the large directories (Downloads, Music...etc) symlinked to the physical drive. That prevents the physical hd from having to spin up very often.
   
   If you do install Linux, make sure you enable discard in your fstab. The SSD provided supports the TRIM command, and it will help keep the SSD in peak performance.
   
   Code:

   Commands/features:
   	Enabled	Supported:
   	   *	SMART feature set
   	    	Security Mode feature set
   	   *	Power Management feature set
   	   *	Write cache
   	   *	Look-ahead
   	   *	Host Protected Area feature set
   	   *	WRITE_BUFFER command
   	   *	READ_BUFFER command
   	   *	NOP cmd
   	   *	DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
   	    	SET_MAX security extension
   	    	Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
   	   *	48-bit Address feature set
   	   *	Device Configuration Overlay feature set
   	   *	Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
   	   *	FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
   	   *	SMART error logging
   	   *	SMART self-test
   	   *	General Purpose Logging feature set
   	   *	WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
   	   *	64-bit World wide name
   	   *	WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
   	   *	{READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
   	   *	Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
   	   *	Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
   	   *	Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
   	   *	Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
   	   *	Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
   	   *	Host-initiated interface power management
   	   *	Phy event counters
   	   *	DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
   	   *	Device-initiated interface power management
   	   *	Software settings preservation
   	   *	SET MAX SETPASSWORD/UNLOCK DMA commands
   	   *	WRITE BUFFER DMA command
   	   *	READ BUFFER DMA command
   	   *	[B]Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 8 blocks)[/B]
   

 

hello. 15R SE owners.................i have a question for you................what settings and fps are you guys having in MW3 and BF3 ???

(and if you quote.....please mention screen size)
im looking on a 15R SE for my daughter....cheers

 

I will buy this notebook and I also wondering about temperature, because I hear about temperature problem with combination of i7-AMD grafic card and 15" size. I realy don't want a hot radiator So, is there a real problem?

 

Hey everyone, I'm new to the site, and new to laptops in general. I'm hoping someone might help me out.

Question Set 1. I ordered a 15r Spec. Ed. with the i7, 8gb, 1080p screen, and 750x7200 drive. From what I understand (after reading all 58 pages of this thread) this model does NOT come with the "daughter board" which would allow me to add a SSD (cache drive?).

Does this mean I couldn't replace the 750gb drive with a SSD down the road on the one I ordered? Or is that drive still upgradeable on its own? Plus, should I even care? I'm coming from a 10 year old Pentium 4/ AGP system. **shame**

Question Set 2. From what I've gathered, the model (U.S. specs) with the 750gb drive comes with no Blu-ray, but the model with the 1tb drive does. Is this correct?

I ask because I ordered mine through Bestbuy (couldn't beat the 0% x 18 months financing), and they're showing 2 15r Spec. Ed. models.

One (the one I ordered) comes with a 750gb x 7200, no 32gb drive, and only a DVD drive. The other model is described as coming with the i7, 8gb, a 1tb drive, the 32gb drive, but also just a DVD drive.

Is this a mistake in Bestbuy's description? Would they have a different higher-end model sans the Blu-ray drive? Every review I've read, and even Dell's page, seems to link the 1tb drive, the 32gb drive, and the Blu-ray.

What these questions lead to is... should I change my order? I though $100 was a little much for a bigger, but slower drive (especially since I'm used to 80gb) and a 32gb ssd, but throw in a Blu-ray and it seems to make more sense. I do enjoy Blu-rays on my PS3, and would like to be able to watch them on the go. No one at Bestbuy seems to know because they don't stock the Spec. Ed. in their stores, just online. The model #'s are:

I15RSE-4500BK at $1049.99

I15RSE-6167BK at $949.99 (The one I ordered.)

I'm sorry if these are silly questions, I'm so behind on the times... well, I'm just behind. I really appreciate the help.

p.s. As a side note, having decided to go with a Dell BEFORE I found this forum... Dell-Bill_B your customer service is admirable and reassuring, part of your job or not. Nice to see a company in such direct connection with its clientel.

 

Hi, Ithirium,

Bless you! I appreciate your clear and detailed answers. Yes, I am planning on dual-booting Windows 7 and Kubuntu 12.04 on the 15R SE.

I'm thrilled with your response - it sounds like the 15R SE is a *perfect* lappy for Linux, with modern processor, 16GB expandability, FHD display, separate mSATA slot, and NO NVIDIA CARD (the last is virtually impossible to find).

Now if my company can just keep from going under, I can go ahead and buy it!! :/

Thanks again,

---Jason

 

This is a common issue with the 15R SE SSD model and I am contacting Dell about it today, but I just wanted to post on the forum in case Dell Bill or another user has a solution:

Can one do a fresh install of Windows 7 or 8 with the chipset SATA mode set to Intel Smart Response Technology (RAID)?

 

I have. What kind of problems did you have? I mentioned my problems and how I fixed them earlier in this thread.

 

Specifically, booting Windows 7 from a USB drive and installing in Intel Smart Response Technology mode will cause a "no drives were found" when you are supposed to partition your hard drives and select where to install Windows. I can only install in AHCI mode, but then I cannot use Intel Smart Response.

I will look for your solutions.
Edit: I saw your solution here [ http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...l-inspiron-15r-special-edition-7520-a-41.html]. It seems like all I have to do is reboot a couple of times? I will try that and post back.
Edit 2: I have restarted the Windows 7 setup about 5 times (trying all the USB ports in the process) and each time there are no hard drives showing up in the install section.
Edit 3: You installed with a USB (was it a 2.0 or 3.0 drive?) in Intel Smart Response Technology mode (and not AHCI), right?

 

Yes, I did install with a USB 2.0 drive in Intel Smart Response Technology mode. I had downloaded the DVD driver from Dell and put it on the usb but I doubt that it actually helped. It does seem like a bug and I have no idea why it just worked for me the one time.

 

Hello, All,

Another question for the general wisdom of this thread. Does Dell provide installation media for the OS?

In order to get the mSATA slot, you have to get the top-level model (here in the U.S.). Unfortunately, it also comes with a 5400RPM spinning drive, which isn't thrilling. I'm planning on replacing both the SSD (with a larger drive) and the spinning drive.

This means I'll be replacing *both* drives in the system, essentially wiping away what was originally installed. So, I'll need a way to reinstall Windows. Does Dell provide the media or at least a license key?

I imagine this question may be region-specific, so I'll say again that I'm in the U.S.

Thanks for your time!

---Jason

 

Since Inspirion 15R SE comes with a VGA and an HDMI output can I have:
- Connecting an external monitor using the VGA
- Connecting a 32-inch TV using the HDMI
- Keeping the notebook screen active
- And extend the desktop on all 3 screens?

If yes, should I buy with the dedicated video card in order to improve the performance?

Has anyone tried?

I know there are other solutions to this (external video card, docking stations, etc.), but this possibility (as mentioned above) will be instrumental in my purchase of Inspiron 15R SE, or at least setting it.

I thank you for the reply(ies).

 

I haven't been able to keep up with the thread lately, so if you could kindly help me out, I'd appreciate it.

We've seen some customers experiencing a BSOD issue related to the GPU driver. Anybody seeing that here? Is there a thread on it?

If you are having BSODs on the GPU, this may help: Re: Inspiron 15r SE 7520 - Display Driver Crashes - Laptop Video Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

Following up. I did some digging and found this link. I think you need to do the simple reg hack to stop it from blue screening after changing to RAID from AHCI.
Intel 311 Larson Creek 20GB SLC SSD Review - Enabling Intel SRT w/ RAID on an IDE / AHCI Windows Installation - Legit Reviews

EDIT:
oops. I put this comment in the wrong thread. I'll leave it because it's helpful to anyone adding an aftermarket mSATA for caching to systems shipped with the mSATA slot unpopulated.

EDIT II:

Ugh. Disregard. I found out the system I was testing on had the OS installed in AHCI mode because it came from Dell IT, and our FIDA corporate image install has issues installing in RAID mode. Systems shipped to customers from Dell have the OS installed in RAID mode regardless. So, all you have to do is add the mSATA drive and enable acceleration in the iRST GUI.

Sorry for my confusion.

 

Hello, All,

Question says it all. Does Dell include installation media so I could install the supplied Windows 7 to another disk?

Thank you,

---Jason

 

Can someone confirm whether the MSATA drive can be used as a bootable drive (of course there is a need to increase the size by way of replacement)

 

No. But you can call Dell Support and ask for a Windows 7 disc to be mailed to you at no cost. Alternatively, you can legally download a .ISO file (disc image) from Digital River and burn it to disc. You can then validate your installaton with the COA Key that comes with your notebook.

Yes. Replace it with a 64GB or 128GB mSATA SSD, then set AHCI and rearrange the boot order in BIOS.

 

Dear Bill, I've followed xps 15 threads since may, but now I'm seriously considering to purchase this laptop. Could you (or anyone who owns both laptops) please make a comparison between this display and the one mounted on XPS15 L521X? Any impressions about audio, heat and battery life? Thank you in advance for any help!

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I really like the laptop but for me one factor that hinder inspiron SE to be a great laptop is the battery life

Is there anyone here know any 9 cell battery for Inspiron SE? I suspect that the new line of inspiron shares the same connector and battery compatibility with Dell Latitude 5530 series

do someone have information regarding issue that dell latitude battery fits (or not fit) with Inspiron SE battery slot? I really want to buy a 9 cell battery for the laptop

 

How many hours can you get from your battery?
EDIT: In Italy we have only 1 configuration with 32GB mSATA...My question is: does every laptop have the mSATA slot regardless of the configuration chosen? I don't mind to purchase a third party mSATA, I would have bought it in every case (128 GB) but if I can I would choose the blu-ray option (which has not mSATA listed)
EDIT2: Question about graphic card AMD Radeon HD 7730M: In notebookcheck I read that it is DDR3, but in the AMD site I read that it is GDDR5. Could you please confirm which one is true?

 

around 4 hours, and i want to extend it because in indonesia not so many cafe provide free slot to put ur charger on, and i usually work outside

could be there any clue regarding the 9 cell battery?

Review Dell Latitude E5530 Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews there is a picture that show that the battery slot are similar to inspiron SE but is it possible to use the battery into inspiron?

update: it seems the latitude 6 cell pack more punch than inspiron variant
Dell 48 WHr 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery for Dell Inspiron 15R 5520/ 7520/ 17R 5720/ 7720 / Vostro 3460/ 3560 Laptops : Laptop/Notebook Accessories | Dell
Dell 60 Whr 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Primary Battery for Dell Latitude E5430/ E5530/ E6430/ E6430 ATG/ E6530 Laptops : Laptop/Notebook Accessories | Dell
check it out

 

Hello, Kaso,

Thank you very much! This is excellent news. However, I'm completely unfamiliar with Digital River and how access the image from them. They appear to be a plumbing company, and I want to talk to a shiny retail person.

Thanks again! I ordered my laptop yesterday, and I can't wait to play with it!

---Jason

 

Hey, I'm kinda new to all this, but should my 15r S.E. be getting only15fps in Shogun 2's benchmark test?

I tried running it in "Dx11 Benchmark 1080p" mode and it wouldn't even run. It said it wasn't supported. Then I tried the "Dx11 Benchmark balanced graphics 720p" and I got 15.6 fps. Does that sound right?

I've got the 15r S.E. with 8gb ram, 750x7200 rpm hdd, i7, and Radeon 7730m. The benchmark was run both times while plugged in and with Shogun 2 set to high performance in the Catalyst "Switchable Graphics."

Thanks

 

i dont have any clue for the 1080p problem, but have you try instaling the latest driver?

it is normal, shogun 2 is a quite demanding game, while inspiron 15R is only equipped with middle range graphic card.

 

I believe some people were having gaming/AMD-related BSODs a while back in this thread. Dell has released two BIOS updates this month, and the newest one (A04), according to posts in a Dell thread, solves the problem:

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

Full revision list relative to the BIOS that came with the system:
-Fix system sometimes will BSOD 116 issue.
-Update ePSA DXE Driver 4220A6(4220.7).
-Fix factory issues.

 

Well, finally I found the answer myself, but I write it just in case someone else needs it: looking more carefully notebookcheck's review for Inspiron 15R SE I saw this pic, which confirms that 7730M is DDR3​, not GDDR5:

 

can anyone confirm that the BIOS update has indeed fixed all the problems with the 7730M?

 

hello Guys, I bought the Inspiron 15R SE in july (2012) and it's quite powerfull (1TB, 8GB, i7-3612QM).. BUT.. I wanted the m-sata option.

I bought the laptop (actually two, another for a friend) from DELL by phone and got a pretty good deal, but the option for the mSata wasn't available.. so I asked if that meant that I couldn't get a SSD mSata drive but that there would be an mSata slot I could use later on.. and the guy said YES ! That's why I bought it.. but after digging inside the machine, it was obvious there wasn't any mSata slot.. so either the DELL guy lied to me, or he didn't understand what I was talking about (well, he was just a salesman, not a computer guy).

It bother me a lot, because even if the computer is fast, it's not always fast responding.. and I wanted an mSata SSD too boost performance and still keep my 1TB HDD drive.

Now it's been 5 weeks, and the salesman and DELL don't respond to my calls and my emails to find a solution for me.. I'm not happy..

PS : I did a review in french about the laptop, with pictures of the computer and parts (while I tried to search for the msata slot) and some benchmarks : www.lesdelliens.com/forums/topic/26825-test-dun-utilisateur-depuis-juillet-2012/

 

How can they not answer to your phone calls?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

It happen to me with two salesmen (each one different deal), when made the deal once my credit card was charged, never heard any word/email from them, in spite of sending lots of emails and assured that they will call me back, and any problem I have, just to send him an email....
I called the Tech Support and I could sort it out, but with different guys.

 

I just bought 15R-7520. I read some BSOD but hope with A04 BIOS it should be OK.

One thing I will do is to install fresh Windows 7.
Q. I have my Win 7 DVD from 1558, I assume I can use that?
Q. Is there an easy way to create OS DVD so in case I have to return it I can bring it to how I got it with all bloatware etc.

Anyone know if you get the DVDs for software that is loaded on it like MS Office or Adobe 9 etc.
or you have to download it from DELL?

 

Hi, all,

After all the questions I've posted, I wanted to be sure and let everybody know that I'm more than happy with my new 7520 running Kubuntu 12.04.

And, since there have been questions, I have:

1. Upgraded the RAM to 16GB
   
   This was no problem. The RAM is easily acessible by removing a single cover on the bottom of the laptop. Linux has no problem seeing the entire 16GB. Interestingly, BIOS only reports 8GB.
   
   
2. Replaced the 1TB spinning drive with a 480GB SSD
   
   This was also very easy. After getting access to the RAM, just four more screws to unseat the drive and four more screws to release the drive from the caddy. Kubuntu boots up into the desktop in less than 30s, which is impressive, since KDE is a known startup hog.
   
   
3. Replaced the 32GB mSATA card with a 120GB card
   
   This was significantly more work. On the order of an hour to essentially take apart the entire laptop. Keyboard, display, hand rest, motherboard, daughtercard... everything had to be removed to gain acces to the mSATA slot. But, I did finally finish.
   
   You have to reinstall the additional drivers, but Dell helpfully provides a CD for that, so it's just tedious, not hard (lotsa reboots).

The BIOS allowed me to boot from the mSATA device, no problem. I installed Win7 on the mSATA and Kubuntu 12.04 on the big SSD. Grub has no issues at all and it boots perfectly every time.

All of the features of the laptop are functional in Linux, I'm pleased to note. All of the function keys as well as the powermanagement (lid events, etc.) are out-of-the-box perfect. (This has always been a bugaboo for me on all of my previous laptops.)

A couple of things to note:

1. I haven't figured out how to control the fan speed. It can be done in Windows, but the BIOS doesn't show any fans, which makes it hard for lm-sensors to do its work. More investigation needed.
2. The special little keys on the top-right (settings, audio, and energy-star) are useless in Linux. The latter two don't generate x events, and the first simply registers as 'x'.

But I'm as happy as a pig in a poke. It weights just a hair more than my previous lappie (Dell Studio 14 (1458) and is quite transportable. Thank you, all, for your patience and helpful answers! Good luck to everyone, and happy Linuxing!

---Jason

 

Thanks for letting us know how that all went. I was particularly interested in installing a new msata drive. I will have to order one soon.