Dell Studio 15 1558 Thread

has anyone had headphone jack issues FIXED? I'm afraid to send mine in to dell only to get it back broken.

 

I recently bought a Dell 1558 with the OEM 9-cell "85 Watt-hour" battery pack.

When I talk to the battery via ACPI (under Linux, but Windows tools should be similar) it reports itself as a 78 Watt-hour unit:

drew@drew-dell-1558% cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/energy_full_design
7800000
drew@drew-dell-1558% cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/energy_full
7846000

Have other people found their batteries to be undersized by 10%?

It smells like Dell or their battery maker SDI switched from 2600maH cells (87 Watt-hours) to less expensive 2400maH parts (80 Watt-hours).

 

I'd been thinking for a supposed 2.1 system on a laptop the sound was a tad weedy on the 1558, just updated the sound drivers and it made the world of difference to it!

 

I got mine yesterday, and I've been loving it. However I've encountered the dreaded freezing issue.

I updated the bios and the graphics card driver, but I still am getting the freezing.

As far as I can tell there is no real fix yet, is there one. If so, what should I do?

 

I've been trying to update the WLAN card in my 1558, I've downloaded the file but when trying to install it only gets this far

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/jameslove8/8dcdc20e.jpg

Any ideas as to why it won't install for me?

 

Now find the update in C:\Dell\... and run it to install. Running this first bit only unzipped it. Some updates are just like this - not sure why because it doesn't really make sense.

 

Thanks very much! That'd explain quite a lot

EDIT - I'm on the A05 version of the BIOS at the minute, is there any problems with the A08 version before I update to it?

 

The answer is no. I actually changed my knobs (those little headphones) for wireless Sony ones. It cancels the hissing sound completely. One downside is I cannot carry those around Maybe should go to some Bluetooth headphones?

 

The problem i'm most concerned with is recording. I like to use Fruity Loops to record guitar/bass for practice and stuff, but the hissing comes through in the recording. The only option is to buy an expensive USB solution, which defeats the purpose of portability.

Dell has "promised" me that if I send my laptop in it will come back without the issue. Is that a load of BS?

 

I think it isn't BS because this hissing thing isn't very common problem. I have addressed this issue before in this thread and there weren't so many people who had it.

 

I ordered studio 15 1558 with i7 720qm 720p 4gb memory radeon 5470 on august 21st and my EDD is september 3rd. I was wondering how long does dell actually take to deliever more or less??

 

I'm getting hiss from both headphone ports on my Studio, would updating the BIOS help it, or is this beyond a software fix?

 

I also ordered the studio 15 with these specs...i7-720qm, 6gb ram, standard keyboard, 1080p, radeon hd 5470, 500gb 7200 rpm, dvd drive, and wireless 1501.

I hope I am not disappointed that I did not get the blue ray drive, the backlit keyboard, and an upgraded wireless card.

Mine is also scheduled to arrive on Sept. 3. Upgrading from a 7 year old HP pavilion.

 

haha waiting buddy! i hear so many different stories about shipping that they make me think dell is quite unreliable...

 

Yea, I checked my order status and it shows that it is still in production but an undated delivery date of Aug. 25. I don't see that happening.

 

who knows you might get lucky just update when you really get the package

 

My specs are below. I ordered on 8/17 and should be getting it either tomorrow (FedEx estimate) or the 25th (Dell estimate). Right now it is in FedEx La-La Land (waiting for them to update their records. Supposedly the system was shipped on the 20th but it is still waiting for FedEx to pick up the laptop.)

 

so it only took 3 days in production??

 

Yep. I lucked out. I had a 1458 ordered on 7/29 but cancelled it after they pushed it to 9/1. If all goes right, I will have my 1558 before I would have gotten my delayed 1458.

 

I wish my order status would change too...

 

It is a long wait if you keep refreshing the page every couple minutes...

 

eeeekk you got me lol

 

I received a message this morning that my order has shipped and it should arrive tomorrow. That was fast. Order date was 8/19.

 

I just checked my status and it says delivery preparation. Also, the EDD changed from 9/3 to 8/27 so thats +. Lets just see if they stick to their words...

 

FedEx got my laptop in Chicago and they changed the EDD from today until tomorrow. It has a long ways to go.. and next day is really like 3 days.

 

I just noticed it says in production in one page and delivery preparation on the other is it normal?

 

My status said that too. From what I have gathered, that is sort of like the boxing stage. Your system is complete but now they are getting it ready to be shipped. Sometimes it means that your laptop has been packed and is enroute to the shipper.

 

oh ok thx for clearing that up

 

whats the difference between
High Definition Audio 2.2 & Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio

 

$. That's it.

 

I'm afraid to let del near my system again, with my last laptop a few months ago I had several "engineers" out who left my laptop in all states of disrepair, striped screws, casing not clicked together properly, screws not tightened etc. Scince I got my laptop replaced by them I will not let another one of them near it!! I'm not sure if sending it back to them would be any better, I'd be nervous about it.

I have the same static with my in-ear headphones, but I don't do any recording so it doesn't bother me.

If I were you I would go with a usb sound device if it is important to you, in my experience having your laptop repaired may result in further problems.

 

I have the hissing problem, but it doesn't bother me. You will only notice it if you have in-ear headphones in my experience. People may have the same problem, but just don't notice it!!

 

is their any sound quality difference besides the money?

 

I have ordered Dell Studio 15 Laptop with following configuration

Studio 15 - Jet Black
Intel Core i5-450M 2.4-2.66Ghz
6 GB RAM - 500 GB 7200 RPM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 1GB
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium

Order date was 20th August 2010.
Order Status as of today : Delivery Preparation.
Also my Estimated delivery date changed from 7th Sept to 1st Sept.
I hope Laptop will get delivered by early next week.

Also whats the hissing problem with speaker? Is it major problem and to all Dell Studio 15 or with few?

 

Has anyone purchased an "aftermarket" blue-ray drive for their studio 15? If so what kind did you get? I have found some but they do not come with any software. Do you need the software?

 

Abhishek
I have ordered the exact same laptop config. It *should* come today. It depends on how fast FedEx decides to move. We'll see. When I get it, I will post some first impressions if you like.

 

No BIOS updates cannot help it and believe me when I say I have tried everything to get that hiss out except sending my comp back to DELL

I'm not that bothered about it because I don't use knobs for sound very often.

 

Yeah sure, Your 1st impression or your thoughts will be very much useful for other as well.

 

i'm still in delivery preparation...shouldn't they have sent the laptop by now if EDD is this friday??

 

I'll just have to get used to it then, maybe over time I'll get accustomed to it Might give Dell a shout anyway just to see what they say.

 

Alright, I got my 1558 and was able to spend some time with it.

First Impressions:
It is a nice looking computer. With it being brand spanking new, it is quite the sight. It seems to be a sturdy build... except for the backlit keyboard. I was a little disappointed that the keyboard had significant flex. I was able to get over it the more I typed on it. It isn't that big of deal.

After I started the computer, I noticed that it ran pretty quick. Even with all of the crapware on it. Of course I wanted to make a clean install but I was not given a W7 disk. I called Dell Support and they told me that I could make one through DataSafe Local Backup utility. I was also able to get them to send me W7 disks.

After I burned my disks, I went to get a clean install. After a half hour process, I discovered that all I did was get it back to its original state - with all of the Dell crap on it. I was pretty ticked off because I did this twice and got the same result both times. I will probably get a clean install when I get my disks (2-3 business days). But it frustrates me that Dell won't let you get do a clean install WITHOUT their crapware.

None of my gripes have nothing to do with the computer performance. It seems to be lightning quick. Will find out more once I install some games and do some photo-editing on it.

 

I too had to call Dell to get the Windows 7 disk. You should be able to do full clean install without Dell crap though. I could be wrong but maybe you are just restoring the Windows partition from the Dell recovery partition. The way I did it:
-I repartitioned my drive (plan to add Linux later) and removed the Dell partition during the process (I use imaging software instead of recovery partitions).
-I did not use the Dell drivers CD - I downloaded the most updated drivers that I needed and loaded them one by one (except for BIOS A08 as some people have had issues with sleep mode afterwards).
-Then I loaded any Dell extraware that I wanted (I loaded the Dell Dock and the 3rd party Fast Access).

Not sure if you want to give it another go, but loading a clean Windows 7 can be done. Or you can just remove from the laptop what you do not want to use - much easier. There actually was not an extreme amount of bloatware from Dell this time anyway - a few but not as many as I remember from the past.

 

TRT,
How do you re-partitioned the drive? I am only given the option of restoring to factory condition (with is with the dell crapware). Thanks

 

I still didn't get mine so I dk if this works but I found link in how to install clean windows 7
Clean Install Windows 7 - How to Perform a Clean Installation of Windows 7 - Part 1 of 3

 

1> For some reason I was thinking you already received the Windows 7 disk even though you stated you will have it in 2-3 days...I was tired lol. When you get the Windows 7 disk you should be able to do it without repartitioning.

2> If you do not need the Dell recover partition and want to get rid of it, you can probably use Disk Management in Win7 (right click on 'Computer' and choose Manage, then choose Disk Management under Storage).

3> The way I did it was: Downloaded the ISO image of Gparted ( Browse GParted Files on SourceForge.net) and burned it to a cd. Then I booted from the CD with GParted in the cd drive. Once it booted, I deleted all partitions and created the partitions I wanted. If you are not big on partitioning, you can just create one big NTFS partition (be sure and use NTFS file system for Windows). Or you can create separate partitions for data, backing up, linux, etc...

But, again, once you have the Win7 dvd you should be able to do everything and will not get the Dell stuff. I would download the latest drivers in advance, but up to you if you want to use the Dell driver disk.

 

mattstl77,

ISO is the way to go if you want none of those Dell softwares(Still don't know why you haven't ran decrapfier, but anyway).

 

I'm just wondering does dell not come with installation cd or is it just few people??

 

No, the computer does not come with an installation cd. You need to burn your own copy. When you get your computer you will see the instructions.

 

I requested the OS DVD yesterday at 4 pm. By 2:30 pm today, I had them in my hand. Really impressed with the speed and efficiency of getting the DVDs.

Did my clean install and am loving this laptop even more now. It is like I have more of a sense of ownership. Instead of playing around on a computer with Dells fingerprints all over it, I was able to make it my own. Quite satisfying.

 

Fyi, new A09 Bios available:

Fixes and Enhancements
Fix:
1. Password setting problem in BIOS using Numeric keyboard and keypad.
2. Power on system with 45W adapter will show different warning message on DIS/UMA units.
3. System can't adjust brightness after resume from S3.


Drivers and Downloads