Dell Studio 15 1558 Thread

I recently got a new Studio 1558 with Windows 7 preinstalled. I created a few partitions using Acronis Disk Director. Then I started installing XP. I first changed the SATA type to ATA from AHCI in the BIOS and then booted with the Win XP installation CD. The setup started loading the files but crashed with an ACPI.sys BSOD. I tried using F7, but the setup froze at "setup is starting windows". I tried using F5 and selecting standard-pc, but it again froze at the same point. BTW, I've used this Win XP disc before, and it's not scratched. Does anyone have any idea how to overcome this?

 

When I use skype with web cam enabled, I saw my own image flipped left-right like looking into a mirror. When I send a snap shot to the other party, it is received upside down.

Is this normal? I am thinking maybe the web camera were installed upside down

 

The people who are experiencing system freezes, have a look at your eventlog

In my case, just before the event of system crash, there is an event saying that "system filter <file name> has successfully loaded and .......

If that's the case with you, please reply

This freezing issue, for me appears to be a Windows issue more than anything else....

 

Hey guys, new poster...by the way this forum is awesome, lots of good info, lots of great posters answering questions...and no attitude which is the best.

I have a question if I could get some replies please.

I have been reading back like 15 pages and 99% of the issues I see are with the 1558 and the i7...I am looking at getting the 1558 with the i5 520m processor with the ATI card upgrade, so the question is...

Are there known issues for the i5 processor? freezes? crashes? fan issues? Seems like from what i have read the i5 takes less power so runs cooler and runs the fans less, and doesn't seem to be affected with the same issues as the i7. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated before I drop some coin on a new laptop.

Thanks forum!!

Schmiddy man

 

My I5-520/5470 has been rock solid ... I did do a "clean" install though ... just because I wanted the hard drive space that Dell takes with its backups.

To your point though ... I seem to have noticed a trend leaning more towards the I7 with issues.

 

Cool...thanks for the reply...I am looking at getting pretty much the same system as yours minus the blu ray. I am looking to upgrade my Dell Xps M1330, it runs decently - but it is getting upwards of 3 years old - and i bought the wife a Studio 15 before it went to the i series, and everytime i use her laptop i love it, love the keyboard, way better sound and the screen is really bright and crisp (and its only 720p)...and i really like the new technology in the i5 series...i kept telling myself i can wait, but now i think i will get one, then i read all the issues with the 1557 and 1558 and didnt want to get a laptop with known issues, but it seems like the 1558 fixed alot of the issues from the 1557 and it sounds like the i5 is the way to go...i mean you can always get a lemon...

Any other i5 people out there?

 

Read more carefully, freezes, crashes, fan issues are the same for all studio 1558/1557 systems. Some problems are related to bios others to ati and some to windows. Every system has different user with different problems and different solutions.

 

i7 has the most common discussion in the last 15 pages only because it's been more recently released. The i5 had issues that were discussed to death in the previous 75 pages of discussion, including crashes, freezes, throttling, fan issues, crappy BIOS updates, etc. The i7 is just the hot new thing to beat on. I did some griping of my own, but the only issues I've had recently have been ATI issues that probably stem more from my constant use of the shiniest newest drivers from AMD than Dell / Win7.

 

Guess I must be lucky. Only issue I've had is the large cursor but that's happened like once in a month.

The screen on the Dell is the best I've seen. Makes my desktop 24" screen look cheap !

 

So why do people keep buying these laptops when it seems like every person has issues? ok ok i am still interested too...lol

is there a config that seems to be working more than most? i am now thinking of not getting the ATI card...i dont do any gaming...just alot of MKV and AVI watching...seems like most of the issues people are reporting include configs with the ATI card...if i go i5 with intel HD graphics...hopefully no issues??

anyone with Intel HD graphics and i5 issues?

 

Because the price is great for what you get, and the number of problem machines is tiny compared to the number of machines sold. Most people who come to NBR are either seeking help, are enthusiasts, or are just plain bored at work.

I've heard no issues with the integrated graphics, and if you really don't need discrete, it'll do wonders for your battery life and heat. I push people away from discrete graphics unless they know the machine will be used for gaming or modeling purposes.
I wouldn't opt out of a machine or a configuration just because it has issues though. There haven't been huge issues with any of the configurations. The ATI cursor issue is over all ATI cards, it's not Dell specific, but it's probably (?) fixable with a simple driver update from ATI. I've griped in the this thread and others for sure, but my issues have all gone away, except for ATI troubles, but again, I like using unapproved drivers.

 

Do you think a discrete is necessary for a 1080 screen without gaming?

 

I think he is saying push people away from discrete unless gaming or so and so...so he thinks for movie viewing you can have on board graphics...unless i am missing your vibe...

So watching a 10 gig MKV will be no prob with the Intel HD on board graphics card? sweet then i am good and save some dough!

i think also i am going to get the 3 year warranty...seems like that is something that might be needed...

 

Discrete GPU is required, ONLY IFF you will play resource hungry games not games like chess, cards, dave

So any of the i5/i7 processor on board Intel HD graphics will suffice for any other work like surfing internet, word processing, listen music, watching HD movies, etc. Hence if you hate games like me stick to Intel HD graphics and save extra $ and add more RAM or warranty.

Not only you will save extra $ but also you will save energy/power having an on board graphics solution rather than discrete one and also your laptop live long because it will produce less heat without a dedicated GPU.

Reference: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-integrated-graphics/

 

only if and only if?

*nerding it up one thread at a time*

 

Ordered a 1558 with i7 which should arrive Friday. Looking forward to an awesome system.

 

Hope you went for the full HD screen?

 

I had problems with BSOD and Freezing in the past. My Dell 1558 i5 was replaced by Dell after I reformatted the harddrive and updated all drivers. New Dell 1558 i5 had the same problems almost out of the box. Problems were solved with Hotfix for Windows7 64 bit and Bios update 06. And now I am a happpy chappy because my Dell 1558 i5 runs like a dream and is stable like a rock.

 

the recent 1558 bios updates (not sure whether it was a05 or a06) started causing some firmware throttling events to appear in the event viewer when i'm at 100% max processor speed. I suspect something is awry with turbo boost, but I'm not too concerned as a)the system is rock solid now, and b)I set max clock speed to 60-70% as I've noted before, to reduce heat and improve battery life. I rarely ever get above 20-25% cpu usage on a given core anyway, so no big loss. If i'm doing something heavy I switch back, but it's rare that I feel like I need to.
Lingering issues - big mouse cursor (I don't bother resetting resolution anymore, i'm used to having big arrows and hands (and you know what they say about big hands)), and driver crashes (stupid ATI)

 

thanks Dave, I actually ended up speaking to dell about the headphone hiss, and they agreed to replace the motherboard for me. But even that didn't stop it , so I called them again , saying that even my cheap and crappy fujistu laptop never had a problem with the same heaphones, and they offered to either refund (as I only got the laptop a week ago) or replace the 1558. I opted to get it replaced as the laptop is great apart from the headphone issue, and I only have only one other option of an affordable 1080p 15" laptop; the vaio E, which I'm not a big fan of. Anyway, I'm really hoping the hiss problem is rare, because another hour on the phone to dell would kill me
and btw I think I have the A06 firmware

 

So the headphone hiss still is a paroblem

 

I ordered my 1558 and I'm receiving it tomorrow. However I didn't read this topic before. I spent hours searching for my new notebook finding various machines and at the end I chose this one:

Dell Studio 1558 (i5-430M/4GB/320GB)
Intel Core i5 i5-430M 2.26 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
320 GB (7200rpm)
Mobility RadeonHD 5470

However, after reading some of the pages in this topic I feel like I'm making a mistake. Was it a bad choice?
Are really that many problems and issues or is it just that in a forum usually people with problems are those who post?
And if indeed there are problems are they usually found in i7 notebooks or in the whole range?
What should I expect?

 

Haduken,

I've just received my 1558 with almost the same spec as yours (except a larger and slower hard drive) - got it on Tuesday and I've had no regrets since. I was reading on here after I ordered it about heat problems with this model - but mine's been perfect so far, it does get quite warm and the fans run relatively noisly when putting it under load, but during normal use it's very quiet and cool.

Hope this helps,

Richard

 

Well, it helps my mood a lot
I hope that's the case with mine too. I am not used having problems with my notebooks, my current one lasted through years and heavy workload.

 

Yeah, I had a Insprion 1750 and it never went wrong once, except for not being able to play games thanks to the Intel graphics!
So did you splash out and go for the extras like the coloured lid, backlit keyboard or full HD screen?

 

I got it today and I'm still installing thingies.
Up until now, everything's OK. Not too much noise, it behaves well, fast, not too hot. It looks a bit... conservative but in a... cool way.
I chose the black lid (the extra color was in the same value from where I got it, but it felt a bit girly dunno), unfortunately the backlit keyboard was not available in my country (I'd love to get it, it's the only extra I wanted) and HD was not something I needed.

The video quality feels somewhat bad until now. Any views? I'm talking about simple .avi videos. Maybe the software I'm using (tried BSPlayer) is not getting along with Windows 7?
Any views on that?

 

What screen resolution did you get? HD, HD+ or FHD?

I looked at a Studio 15 in a local US store (Best Buy) today and it had the HD screen, 1366x768, it was pretty average quality, but I would expect the FHD screen to be pretty nice. Not RGBLED nice, but pretty nice.

 

Are your videos low-res to begin with or getting stretched by software? Anytime you're going full screen with a lower res video, you're going to have some fugly interpolation.

 

I definitely went with the HD screen!

I'm currently formatting the drive and installing 7 Ultimate. I burned a set of the recovery discs last night. I left the recovery and OEM utility partition for now, but may end up blowing them away down the road. There were a couple of things I wish I could have preserved (Office 2010 starter, Nero, etc), but it's a good trade off to get rid of the crapware and have a clean installation. Either way, I've got the recovery discs if I decide to go back.

 

Good to hear you went with the HD. Considering we will spend most of our time staring at the screen, it is one thing that I would recommend everyone to get as it does make a huge difference to picture quality.

You may be able to get Nero/Office 2010 starter back. Somewhere in this thread, someone posted a url to logon to get to your Dell software. You can only download things 3 times tho.

 

Yeah, they are not of the best quality (TV series .avis) but my old laptop plays them in a better quality (or is it that it hides their flaws?). The image is not so crisp and I get some pixels when they start. I'm wondering if it's some problem with Windows 7 and programs like BSplayer and codecs. What do you use?
Also I found out that there is an ATI driver available in the Dell site, but I'm somewhat cautious in upgrading reading some of the posts here. Should I upgrade?

PS My screen is: 15.6" WXGA (1366x768) LED Widescreen, with Truelife

 

Hey there, to answer your question, if you log into "My account" on the dell webpage, when you log in your should see an option "Download Factory Installed Software (My Dell Downloads)". From there you can download any software that was originally on your machine. I have used it before and it worked well, I think I grabbed PowerDvd from it and my Virus scanning once. I then saved the .exe files and then could use them again anytime.

Hope that helps,
Schmiddy man

 

I also ended up ordering myself a 1558, after much deliberation and some good feedback from this forum, I ended paying maybe a little much, but because I wanted exact features, i couldn't take advantage of the good sales prices, i still think i did ok because i got 9% off from the EPP program...here is what i got:

Dell 1558
1080p screen (a must)
320gig 7200rmp drive
Intel HD graphics (play no games but lots of movies)
Backlit keyboard
Intel Advanced 6200 wireless card
4 gigs memory
i5 520m processor (also a must, didn't want i7 heat and issues)
also got the 3 years next day in home warranty

Paid 1178 with GST...so not too bad with the discount and the warranty, i am thinking this laptop is going to kick when i put my Intel 80 gig SSD in it and run fairly cool.

I will let everyone know how it goes!

Thanks,


Schmddy man

 

Schmiddy man, cheers for the info on how to navigate to the dell downloads page.

What is your ETA date for delivery on your laptop?

 

hello all i am a dell studio 1557 owner ,
hows hm55 with ati 5470 compared to pm55 with ati 4570
cause in some performance test i read ati 4570 outperform its succeeder 5470..
is it true?
by the way i am looking for users point of view.
thank you.

 

I've got no hissing on mine. I've tried it on both headphone out sockets.

 

Hey zedpos, my date is July 9th - can't wait...but on the order status is says "delivery preparation", so I am hopeful I might even get it early next week and not late next week. I think it will take 4 days to arrive once it is shipped.

I am coming from a Dell XPS M1330 - which was a great laptop, but it was time to upgrade.

First thing I will do is install my SSD and then install a fresh OS. Then its GO TIME!

 

It's been three days with my Dell and everything's fine except from my screen which is a bit disappointing.

1. The viewing angles are mediocre, if not bad compared to my 2005 Toshiba Toshiba Satellite M45 Full Review (pics, specs). Is this normal? I thought that after 5 years of computer evolution things would be better.
If I just move a bit to the right or to the left or a bit closer or far the image gets a bit blurry. If I manage to find the right position, I have a good view. (I'm talking about watching videos. In everyday user e.g. browsing there is no problem).

2. Brightness. That's the best part. The screen is very bright and there is no need to worry about that.

3. Colors. Not bad, not very good.

4. Sound. Better in terms of volume than most of the laptops I've encountered, you dont need to max up the volume. I havent found the hissing sound yet. I hope I won't in the future. Quality of sound is OK.

5. Keyboard, I'm a bit traditional guy. I want to feel that I press the button, I want the feedback. This keyboard provides that. However, some buttons are a bit more noisy (big ones like shift or enter) and sometimes I wonder if they will last.

6. Heat. Well, havent played games until now, but I haven't noticed anything bad. (I've got the i5 processor).

7. Noise. I heard some things about the fan etc. Nothing unusual there until now. Pretty silent most of the time.

8. Built quality. Solid enough.

9. Boot time. Not very good. Of course I use the Aero thingy, I've installed a Dock etc., but even before them

10. Performance. Up until now everything is OK, it seems fast and the memory is enough to do multiple things at once.

11. Gaming performance. Not tested it yet.

12. Battery performance. Still a bit early to comment. Around 2 hours and something more? Not sure yet.

Any advices for the screen? I suppose the viewing angles cannot can get better, but any tweaks about better colors or something?
I've installed the 8.692.1.0000, A17 driver for my ATI 5470, but when I check in System it says 8.692.1 and a different date time. Is it the same?

 

This buzzing sound in the top left is really annoying. Sometimes it is there and I can get rid of easily, sometimes I can't. I tried shaking any dust off it. For now it seems okay. I would like to know if there is an instruction manual for Dell 1558 so that I can take it apart myself and fix the resonating/vibration sound of the fan.

It appears to be the second stage fan. When u turn it on it is almost silent, then the second stage is grating, when playing video games or encodign video, it goes to the 3rd/4th stage fan noise, which are quite loud, but not annoying as it doesn't have the grating/vibration issue. I am probably one of only a few people with this issue. I tried to look for a Dell support contact email but couldnt find it.

 

Just recieved a replacement laptop from dell, after having my motherboard replaced on the original 1558 didn't fix the headphone port hissing issue. But the replacent laptop has the same headphone hiss Apart from that problem, the lack of support for switchable graphics and maybe the fan noise, this laptop is really good, but I don't know if I can put up with it. Dell support said they'd give me 7 days for a refund after the replacement came, but there's no other 1080p 15" laptop out there at the moment that I like, and even if dell redisgned the studio along the lines of the new inspiron (number pad on keyboard etc.) I'm guessing they'd still use the same sound card. So it's either put up with it, or use my old desktop until something better comes around

 

Just curious, which of the audio ports are you plugging into? Also, have you tried another, totally different set of speakers or headphones? Totally different = not based on the same form factor, so earbuds vs. speakers vs. headphones. Also, are you sure the onboard mic is disabled and/or not feeding back into the headphones?

 

Both of the ports produce the hiss, and it's really noticeable on all small earbud style heaphones, have tried with standard ipod earbuds, sonys, sennheisers and ultimate ears, all three hiss. With huge dj style headphones its not as noticeable but still audible, and on speakers you can't tell. The same headphones don't have problems in my iPod / old laptop which makes me think that I've been either reallyunlucky and had three faulty motherboards, or just that dell chose a crap sound card, which is odd considering my old cheap fujistu laptop produces perfect sound.

 

Hey is there a new studio 15? i notice there are newer processors now (the 40 interation instead of the 20), and the audio says HD Audio 2.2 instead of 2.0.

Is it just a newer 1558 or is there a new model?

Oh yeah on the dell canada site it used to say 1558 when you selected the dell studio 15, now it doesn't.

Anyone know anything?

Thanks

Schmiddyman

 

I received mine two weeks ago and it is a 1558.
Don't know whether there are any new model coming.

 

From past few weeks of Dell activity it seems that, they are keeping up patching the models with different hardware/software instead of complete refresh of the model. Like they are upgrading the processor, GPU, audio, etc ...

 

Interesting...i am just worried as my 1558 is getting delivered today. I checked my original cart printout and it did say HD Audio 2.2, just my actual list of what am i getting from Dell said HD Audio 2.0. So thats weird, unless its really the same thing.

I am not going to keep this one if there is something newer this second. Its tough though because literally every month something changes, at some point you have to buy and keep something...

 

Hey here is some excerts from my chat with a dell person, interesting:

7:43:15 AM User is there a difference between hd audio 2.2 and hd audio 2.0 or are they the same thing?
7:43:44 AM CA Sales Sastry 4161493 hd audio 2.2 is newer one
7:43:55 AM User so its just better sound?
7:44:09 AM CA Sales Sastry 4161493 yep
7:47:05 AM CA Sales Sastry 4161493 It is not being installed on the systems yet
7:47:24 AM User when is that happening?
7:48:04 AM CA Sales Sastry 4161493 no update on that yet User

 

I recall someone on this forum mentioned that the HD Audio 2.0/2.2 is a software and not hardware.

My experience with their online chat is that they are not so reliable.
I first contacted them regarding Canadian Studio model and they told me it is a 1555 And yet I received the 1558 model.

 

Anyone else have their power adapter get extremely hot? This thing is getting hot enough that I wouldn't want to hold it.

 

Well i got my Studio 1558...

first thing i notice is a dead pixel...great times...gonna have to get the screen replaced...or they can send me another one...

backlit keyboard is sweet...but the keyboard itself seems not really that firm behind my typing...but i can live with it

1080p screen is the best thing about this laptop...very bright...very crisp...very sweet

glad i upgrade to the advanced intel 6200 wireless card...it has alot of cool stuff with it

this laptop is fast (i5 520)...i played 4 8 gig mkv's before the system started to look taxed...it plays 1 8 gig mkv really fast with no issues...one thing i am noticing now is just having IE open, the fan is going...seems to be on for 30 seconds and off for 30 seconds...and this is with the Intel HD card (meant for playing movies)

hasnt really heated up too much which is nice...would like to know why the fan is running...i think some other people mentioned this...maybe its all the extra services running because i havent put a fresh image on yet...i am going to wait until i get my screen fixed or computer replaced...

sounds is pretty good...its better for movies than it is music...which is fine because i watch more movies...you get need to get into the IDT audio control panel config in the contral panel and i tuned it and it sounded better

thats all i can think of for now