Dell Studio 15 1558 Thread

You get used to the glossy screen.

With that being said ... the 1558 is very brite even on its lowest setting ... and hence drowns out the reflections pretty good.

 

This is true. I usually set the brightness at the low end of the scale, and white is still bright white.

 

Received mine today (10 days ahead of the estimated delivery date) and I am impressed Noticed the heat issue within a few minutes, but I brought a Zalman NC2500+ and it has reduced the temperature.

Anytime Upgrade upgraded the OS from W7 HP to W7 Pro in about 10 minutes and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 installed in under 5 minutes, so I am extremely happy

Is there anyway of purchasing the extended warranty after purchase? I tried to look on the Dell site, but my service tag isn't working :S

 

About a week or so after I purchased mine I got a letter from Dell offering me a $50 gift card if I purchased a warranty of at least $200.00.

 

Put your specs in your signature so the rest of us can drool too ...

 

@Ross_L: Way to go! Looks like there are a few happy 1558 users around here.

Did you pick a color/design for the cover?

 

I got the 9 cell and am getting around 5 hours. I am doing basic use (surfing the net, listening to music, spreadsheets etc.) with screen brightness at about 75%.

 

Hey everyone suggest me to get the backlit keyboard since its only $25. I googled backlit keyboard and they say its pretty much for people that don't know how to touch type?? I almost never look at my keyboard when i type and the other thing is i always have the light opened when i am using a computer whether desktop or laptop. Does the light on the keyboard automatically appear when the room you are in gets dark? What if there is a lot of light? I seen a picture of how it looks with light and looks like i still see SOMETHING on that keyboard.

Also, would you guys suggest getting another color? I read the black color shows a lot of fingerprints like no tomorrow. What color are your laptops?

 

If you don't think you need the backlit keyboard, you don't have to spend $25 for it.

The function may be toggled on/off via a dedicated key by the user (of course, there is no smart sensor for room light, not for $25 extra). Even when it has been turned on, it will turn itself off after a period of keyboard inactivity (the user busy reading) and gently turn itself on when a key is touched.

Picture? Most marketing pictures are "enhanced". By the way, the 1558 looks much better to me in reality - more classy, more elegant, more robust - than in pictures at Dell site.

Lid color? The basic black is shiny and picks up fingerprints. The dark blue is really nice and, like the other optional colors, come in some kind of rubberized material.

 

Extra information... In an ordinary keyboard, the keys have label decals glued on them. In a backlit keyboard, the white letter/symbol in each black key is translucent. Underneath the a backlit keyboard is a bunch of lights (duh!) which, when turned on, make the white letters/symbols brighter and clearer.

 

I've never not been able to see the keys, the screen creates plenty of light. If you touch type, it's basically just bling.

 

Doesn't look like I can use a signature yet ( -edit- actually I can now ), but here they are:

Dell Studio 1558 (Victory England design): Core i7 720QM, 8gb DDR3, ATI 5470, 500gb HDD, Full HD WLED, Backlit Keyboard, 9 Cell Battery, Bluetooth, Intel Wireless LAN 6200 A/B/G/N, Win 7 Professional x64

The only regret I have is not getting the BluRay drive, but that isn't too much of a problem, as I can just buy one off of Ebay and fit it myself.

I'm extremely happy with it. After reading some bad comments about the 1558 after I had ordered it, I was slightly regretting ordering it but once I switched it on, those doubts vanished.

I went with the Victory England design

 

So what color would you guys suggest besides the dark blue? I seen the dark blue in someones post and i personally don't like that color. What about the green color? I prefer black but the fingerprint thing annoys me.

 

I have the green colour and I like it, the microsatin finish is nice too and doesn't show up finger prints!

 

This is a purely personal preference. People can only tell you they "like" certain color or design, but that's their choice and it might not be for you. (The dark blue is very deep and is close to black. The plum purple is very distinctive, but may not be a popular choice. I've seen most 1558 lid colors in person.)

 

The only color i would choose is either the default one or green. But does the green look a bit childish? What is microsatin finish kgh00007?

 

I have sun glasses ... I will never use the sun visor in my car ...

You will find you will use the lighted keyboard more than you think ...

If you don't have the $25 ... then don't worry about it ... otherwise ... go for it ... it is not going to hurt if you have it

 

What about skins.... are they any good..???
I recently ordered a skin from THESKINMANTRA.COM

 

It's the finish on the lid, like a rubbery texture, much nicer than the gloss black fingerprint magnet.

 

Is there a way i can see how this laptop looks in person at an actual store?

Kgh00007, does the greenish make the laptop look a bit childish?

 

I downloaded Ultrasurf onto my Studio (netflix can now see through hotspot shield and tell I'm not in the U.S), and it did some weird things. Said it couldn't install (or something, don't remember exactly), and then I couldn't access any web pages on firefox or ie! I went in and told the browsers to automatically detect the ip, and they work fine so far.

But when I try to search for ultrasurf, I can't find it to remove it. It's not in the add/remove programs, I don't see it in a file search. I want to make sure it's not on my system. I did a malware scan and nothing came up; do I have anything to worry about?

 

Anyone can tell me?

 

I don't mean to be smart or funny but you can do the research of the stores in your area and see if any have it in stock. If they do you can go there and see it. Since we don't know where you live there is no way we can answer that question for you.

 

Hi guy's.. need some help. I bought my Dell Studio 1558 a couple of months ago. Im very happy with it APART from 2 things. My wireless card N (6200) from day one - i have had constant problems with it. Its slow takes ages to load a page. When I access network and sharing centre, it is all over the place. I second its 150mbps then 240 mbps and then 70 mbps in a space of 10 seconds! I am totally baffled tried all sorts like updating the driver, Uninstalling and then re-installing newer version, deleting my connection and re-connecting, went directly to intel website to download there 6200 version. Nothing seems to work. So at the moment luckily I have a mini usb wireless adaptor which is excellent and very stable. Any one else had this problem?! any fixes! also when I put my laptop to sleep when it wakes I have trouble with my wireless connection...pages takes ages to load even with the usb mini wireless adaptor. I changed settings so windows can't turn off my wireless to save on battery! I always have it plugged in any way so I know windows is not at fault here. would appreciate any help guy's...

 

@dex77: Please call Dell tech support and tell them exactly what you were describing here. You've got a bad Intel 6200 card - this happens. Either they send a new card and you replace it, or they send someone to replace it for you.

You've done your due diligence. Now it's Dell's turn to serve you.

 

I recently broke the led screen of my dell when I forgot to remove a pencil from the heyboard area.
So I got myself a replacement off Ebay.
Now when |I start op i can see picture but it looks dim and with a white wash covering it. Now I fear I may have damaged the cabling, but I'm not too sure.
Does this symptom signal broken lcd or cabling? Old one does not show any visible picture anymore so i cannot use that to test it.

 

According to dell's screen replacement policy latitude and xps get a screen replacement wwith 1 dead pixels only and studio/inspiron need 6 dead pixels for that

 

Seems oen of the wires of the lcd ribbon came off, so I guess that is the cause of all this.
Doubt I can get this fixed under warranty as I opened it up myself.

 

I read that lot of problems people had was because they had the I7 processor? Does that mean the i3 and i5 processors have lesser fan and shutting down problems?

 

DELL and i7 should go together only with the studio XPS or else buy hp/vaio if budget is a constraint.... because keeping the problems aside people normally need such a powerfull processor for games and other graphics oriented applications and for them the supplied graphics card 5470 is like putting on monalisa...lolz

 

I was gonna place an order for an i7 Studio today since they have a good deal going (ends today) plus I can get a further 16-17% off with coupons/cashback, but after reading about all the heating & fan problems I've been put off :S Is it really so bad?

 

i've experienced several shutdowns with my studio 15 with i7 however, I think its the drivers that are outdated causing the problem. After thoroughly updating my computer(not just graphic card) I haven't had any shutdowns since then. Also, the heating problem occurs when you are charging and using it for mid-heavy duty like playing games. Fans doesn't really bother me. I think its just matter of personal opinion.

 

Can someone with i3 or i5 processor chime in on if they have heat/fan problems and how it affects you?

 

Intel's latest mobile processors I3/5/7 in general ... seem to run warm.

All the laptop manufacturers are running into this.

The I3/5's however run cooler (relatively) because they are built on a smaller die and hence use less power.

You may notice the fan kicking in a first ... but you get used to it.

 

Would it be a bad idea to just buy this laptop with the i3 processor as oppose to the i5 processor? For some reason i feel if i get the i3 one, it might have lesser problems than the i5 even though i wanted to get this machine with i5-450 processor.

 

I bought the following configuration (Dell Australia)
Dell Studio 1558
i7-740QM
ATI 5470
640GB 5400 RPM
8GB Ram
1920x1080 WLED screen
BluRay/DVDRW
9 cell battery
3 year in home warranty

I've had it for 2 weeks now. So far it doesn't heat up. The fan runs quietly. Screen is fantastic, and the i7 processor quick...

It does get a little hot underneath on my lap if viewing videos etcs (I assume the graphics card gets hot), but for my general day to day dev work its on a desk.

So far no problems and got it for a great price with discounts.

FWIW it had the energy star sticker on it.

 

Is there anything you don't like about the laptop? Do they configure it different since you live in Australia?

 

I was thinking about getting a 1558 (either new or refurb)...is this a good time to buy (i.e. all the key issues have been addressed) or is this a laptop I shouldn't buy?

This is the config I'm after: i5, 4GB, 500GB, standard Ati graphic, b/g/n card.

I don't play games, laptop will always be used on a desk.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

At this stage I haven't found anything major that I don't like about the laptop.
The annoyances I guess are:
- Chainlink black top is a fingerprint magnet.
- Lack of dedicated media keys (They are combined with the 'F' keys which I use regularly) but I rarely use the media keys only to mute and unmute sound. But I am getting used to pressing Function and the F7 key to mute.
- Only 3 USB ports (Once I plug in a mouse, usb drive and 3g wirelss broadband card I have to swap something if I have to plug in another usb drive).
- Left palm rest can get a little warm (not hot, not uncomfortably warm, but warmer than room temperature).

I don't think they use any different componets or design at the dell.com.au site, but I couldn't find my configuration (i7 processor) on the dell.com site. The US site appears to be priced a little cheaper too.

 

What color would you guys say is good then?

 

Get advice on a finish (glossy/matte), but don't get a color because someone tells you to. I strongly suggest puke green.

 

I would go with blue!

 

Too bad Dell discontinued the Tangerine color!

 

I would, too. I said "dark blue" but Drew1 shot it down.

 

Yeah I've the blue finish on mine, looks great.

 

I have puke green.... but im thinking of changing it to dark blue... I should be able to change it my self like I did the backlit keyboard. Any ideas on the cost for dark blue finish?

 

I suggest 5 or 6 of us say "DARK BLUE" together to relieve Drew1 of the prolonged agony of choosing lid color.

 

I don't think i'm getting the studio 1558 anymore kaso. I see this laptop sony vaio that has 1080p upgrade... not sure if im allowed to post it in this subforum


http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...52921666246914&categoryId=8198552921644700000

 

I took a quick look at your Vaio link. A comparable config may be less expensive than the Dell. (You could also get a matte black lid.) Any relevant comments at the Sony forum?

 

I thought you could get 1080 as well in the 1558 although I didn't choose to do so since the icons will be too small for me. However, you should take in account that sony has a lot of troubles and I have experienced that personally with my desktop. I mean sure it looks nice and cool but can you look over all the software/hardware problem?