Dell Studio 1557

No quickset here but i did F1 it and its does work without it that installed.

Just dont get a signal on my old piece of F-ing crap tv

 

Yup, quickset doesn't stop the function keys from working. It does add something to the windows mobility centre, and also shows an onscreen display.

Technically, if you don't accept the EULA when you power up your machine the first time, you should be able to get a refund on the licence fee. Some people have taken this to court and won, but I'm not sure about if anyone has tried it with Dell.

 

I have heard that you can call Dell and get a refund on the OS. Since Dell doesn't give any other choice in OS besides Windows you are entitled to get a refund if you don't agree with the Terms and Conditions/EULA.

Getting Dell to refund/return the OS is going to be difficult but legally you can.

 

I bet Dell pay next to $0 for the OS!!

This whole tilt keyboard issue has been baffling me for days now, I thought I was halucinating the other night as everytime I got up out of bed the problem stopped, got back in bed (laptop tilted forwards) the menus kept going left!!

I too have let windows update the "ST Microtronics" driver, from what I've found it's an internal sensor that sends a signal to the harddrive to "Stop" so that the heads return to the parked position. Now whether this sensor is inside the drive and windows is merely allowing the signal to be used in some other way shape or form I dont know..... When the engineer put my motherboard in the other day I DEFINATELY did not have a sensor which could be removed so it must be in the drive or built onto the motherboard

 

Just to add.... Using that lil program someone posted (Thanks by the way!!)

I can tilt my laptop round in a circle and it goes from RIGHT (tilt away) to DOWN (tilt right) to LEFT (tilt towards) and tilting left does nothing!! LOL

PS:

There is a new version of the diagnostic utility available!!

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=345369

PPS:

Yup deleting the "updated" driver and reinstalling the original driver supplied by Dell (package R230426) solves the problem, would appear that it's caused by windows update installing the wrong driver then!!

(That's for W7 64-bit)

 

Yes that's true but that means that when you first use your dell you don't use the OS but you just format it and install another.

You can also get a refund for Works, but it's not that much. I mailed them the day i got my dell and got a respond today to ask for my bank account details. I will let you know how much i get. Mostly it's arround €100. Alot of people did it and got success so far.

 

Am I right in thinking there's no esata in this laptop? One part of the BIOS says there is, another says no, can't see anything in device manager for it. I'm at work now so can't play. I don't have any devices to test with at the moment, but my next external drive will most likely have it.

 

There is an esata port on the left side above the usb port.

 

There is a port, but I read elsewhere that these were being shipped without the actual controller inside on the motherboard.

 

Notebookcheck.de recently wrote a review about the studio 1557 (meaning, with core i7).

In short:
+ good build quality (except the screen lid, as usual with the studio line)
+ great processor (core i7 720QM)
+ great connectivity (HDMI, firewire, esata)
+ good battery life (up to 4h and 14 min with no wlan and low screen backlight)
+ good input (keyboard + touchpad)

- much heat production (even on the power adapter, which can hardly complete it's task. Power consumption can be 92 watt, while it only supports 90W)
- fan kick in quiet a lot when under load, much annoying noise
- screen has bad contrast (1366x768 screen). It isn't so bad, you can compare it with Acer screens for example.
- bad battery life if under heavy load (58 min, because of 45W TDP core i7...)

For the German-speaking readers, here is the source: notebookcheck.de

 

I just read that review (using google translate, so it took me a little while ) And it made me wonder whether the the screen on their review version was actually a WLED screen, as I've got no issues with the contrast on my 1080p WLED one, and I've compared it to a few.

I'm happy with the Passmark Performance Test score, where it's not surprising that it's bettered by the Asus M60J which has a more powerful GPU. Same scenario for the 3Dmark and gaming scores; I've never seen this machine as a gaming machine, although it's performance in that area seems to matter an awful lot to a lot of commentators here, who'd be best off looking elsewhere if that's what they're really after.

I think the most shocking aspect for me is the power consumption, but I guess this is to be expected; as someone who usually uses his laptop tethered to a power supply (no sitting in Starbucks sipping Crappucinos whilst surfing for me!) this is a minor inconvenience. However, I am concerned as to how the heating issues at higher revs may affect the processor's ability to turboboost; may have to invest in one of those laptop cooling stands!

 

Is 92 watts a maximum? What is its average consumption? And how would this compare to a core 2 duo laptop?

About the annoying noise, this doesn't seem to mirror comments here about it being very quiet in use.

 

hmm well I got called up by an automated voice saying that I'd get it delivered between 8 and 1 today. Looks pretty unlikely now so I may as well go to work..

g.

 

Has anyone tried streaming video while on battery consumption? Something with my power setting must be jacked up. Whenever I am on battery and try to watch a youtube or netflix video the laptop totally freezes up?.. If I plug in power no problem whatsoever... I'm convinced it's a setting in my power options, anyone have any ideas?

 

yes i know the issue you are talking about, had me confused for a while too. you need to open the ati catalyst control center and choose advanced settings and at the top left, click "Graphics" then select "Power Play" and change both plugged in and Battery to maximum performance. that should get rid of the freezing and stuttering.

p.s. feel special because i signed up just to post that

 

I got that error and wondered what on earth had happend!

 

This is causing concern for me then.I think my heat issues are do to my fan NOT kicking up as it should.The noise I get from my fan under load isnt bad and maybe it should be.
Time to call Dell I guess

 

Awesome! Thanks soo much man, I appreciate you going through the trouble of making an account just to let me know! I figured it was something simple like that, but I swear would have taken me forever to figure out on my own! Thanks again man, much appreciated!

P.S. Works perfectly now! Thanks!

 

The 92 watts is a maximum. Thank god, else you could fry eggs and bacon on this one


@Nifkin: well they did review the 720 screen and not the 1080... I think mediocre contrast is better here than bad contrast. Notebookcheck is just quiet black or white when it comes to contrast.
According to them, most screens have a not so good contrast. But hey, most of the people don't even notice!

 

Well after an HOUR AND A HALF on the phone with Dell support their sending me a whole new laptop!!!They were going to have someone come out and start replacing parts (mobo,gpu,fan assembly etc...)and I was like no way.Im not paying a grand for a laptop I have to have parts yanked out and replaced 30 days after I bought it.

They better not try to pawn some refurb off on me either or I will not accept it.

We shall see...

P.S.- For the record everyone your GPU is part of or soldered to the motherboard.Because they told me you just cant replace the video card the whole motherboard has to be replaced.

 

The GPU and the soundcard are soldered to the motherboard. Where are you again, OneCool? When Dell replaced my subwoofer they came and opened my machine up, even though I'd only had it three weeks by then; they said that their t&c's stipulated that they never do a like for like replacement, even during the cooling off period; they either offer you an on-site engineer or a full refund. I guess this is because their machines are often bespoke built to the customer's spec, and not off the shelf. Is your model one of their base models, i.e. the spec not modified by you?

 

Yeah its the spec setup.Base everthing.I didnt add anything to it.

Im in North Carolina,USA

 

OK, I'm in the UK. Well, I guess it would make sense for Dell to offer a full replacement in a situation like this if your machine is of the unmodified, base spec; would make it easier for them to resell once it's repaired; they clearly sell a lot more base spec models than anything else. Not a very consistent policy, of course, but it is Dell we're talking about

 

When did Dell start soldering the gpu to the motherboard?

Both of my Inspirons (5100,E1505) you could remove the video cards from the motherboard.

Well now that i think about it you could upgrade the video cards during purchase.
I know you couldnt on this one.

 

The heat-thing sounds bad I was going to order today but now im hesitant, I even thought my friends 1555 p8700 was pretty hot.

 

have you read all 50 plus pages? most people are really happy with it, i don't think its anything to worry about, and if it goes bang it will properly do it in the first 12 months

 

I agree. Fast notebooks get hot, it's what they do.

 

anyone knows how to read a MS using the card reader? i can read a SD card but i have no idea how to insert a MS in.

 

Okay the core i7 in a small 15.6" laptop, it's normal it will get hot.
But this is under maximum load! Most of the time you won't even be in that situation, except if you do intensive gaming or video-editing, calculations or coding.

As Jimlad21 says, most users here don't complain about the heat. So during normal use it doesn't look like an issue

If you don't mind a bigger laptop, you could go for the studio 17 with core i7. It's bigger and showed in the past it could handle heat better than the studio 15.

 

You are right, didn't really think of that. I'm no poweruser gamer, I just want a computer that feels snappy, and that can handle tough things when I need it to. I called dell after your post but it was closed, have to call tomorrow instead ty

 

Quite right; it doesn't get very hot at all ever. In the last 4 weeks I've had mine it has frozen and crashed twice though; but I'll put that down to Win7

 

Are they offering a good price on the phone? If you order online there's a code you can enter to get a further 5% off.

 

You can get the the same deal over the phone as you see online. My friend did it a few weeks ago with a studio 1555 when they didn't have 7200rpm harddrive online. I specced a machine with 10% discount and got a price, but they don't offer win7 pro and backlighted keyboard online (I hope they can offer it here in Sweden over the phone) so I will call in and order it hopefully for the same price plus the upgrades.

 

URGENT!!!
Please someone know if this computer support three HDD ????? Or at least is capable of two HDD running in RAID 0 ???

I'm going to get a X25-M 2G 160Gb though the 80Gb is on sale at new egg....so I was wondering if I take two of those I could get then in RAID 0 and keep my HDD 500Gb 7200rpm for storage......

thanks!!!!

 

I doubt you'll get a 15" notebook that supports 3 HDDs. The Envy 15 supports two, as does a few ASUS models (I think G51 is one of them).

This particular notebook only has room for a single HDD. Due to the fact that it only is supposed to support one HDD, even if you managed to squeeze two in there (being that the intel Gen 2 are much smaller than a typical magnetic disc HDD), which I doubt you could do anyway, there would likely be no RAID controller.

 

Thanks!!!

Though it sucks no RAID controller.....

Do you think it would be possible manage one those SSD and my seagate HDD ??

 

Not a chance.

The only way that you might be able to manage it, would be to have a 1.8" HDD and a SSD, or two SSDs, but even then, you'd need to modify the case, because the HDD currently resides in a very small cage only just big enough for the drive. Honestly I don't think it would be possible at all.

An alternative though, would be to remove the optical drive and convert that to become a space for a second drive. Search the forums for it, there was a post on it some time back. Of course, it would mean you were without an optical drive, but then that is how they managed two HDDs on the Envy 15.

If it's an absolute need, you would be better suited to looking at the ASUS VX or J51 ranges - they sport dual HDDs and retain their optical drives.

Finally, another solution, and I admit I'm not a huge fan of this one, is to fit a SSD for your OS et al (which is what I assume you're trying to do), and then have your data stored on an external drive with an eSATA connection. This is probably the least preferable option, but in reality you could combine it with the removal of the optical drive so you have your SSD with OS/programs, your fixed internal HDD with regularly accessed data, and your external eSATA HDD for less frequently accessed data.

You do know that there are 640GB HDDs that are 9.5mm (i.e. will fit in this machine)? You might not need two.

Now using eSATA I think would mean there is no benefit in terms of RAID; but is this really essential? RAID is mis-used nowadays, it was originally intended to prevent lost functionality in the case of catastrophic disk failure - the clue is in the name RAID, Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID 0 does of course give a performance increase, but it still remains a misuse of RAID, and infact was assigned the number zero because it was created after RAID 1 (mirroring).

 

i can't believe someone asked if you can fit 3 hard drives in! on a lighter note, my dell is coming tomorrow between 8am and - 1pm...

any tips or advise of things to do during setup? any tweaks or tests i should run?

 

Best advice would be to make sure you have a large supply of food and drink. You may not want to leave the house for quite some time.

 

and stock up on cans of tuna, chopped tomatoes, candles etc

 

If possible dump their Windows install and re-install.It will sve you alot of headaches.

 

Thanks a lot!!!

You were quite clear....Anyway, I've got a Intel SSD X25-M Gen2 160Gb as I was intended to do.... Hope I get this soon!!!!

I'll try to figure out what I can do...Though I likely go for your last suggestion, even though is not the optimal one but I don't feel like giving up from my optical drive (thanks for the suggestions anyway).

Just weird that when I chatted with a Dell sales rep. they totally told me I would be able to fit a HDD and a SSD

BTW, Just got installed my Win7 upgrade...but I haven't gone for a clear installation and formatting the disk.....And now I feel like the Win 7 is kinda slower than the Vista....Think I need to format to get better performance!

 

Yep, I've asked that and I don't see your point in posting it....
If you are unlikely other people that actually do help, you could at least don't post anything if you can't help....

BTW, As far as I've known forums were made to be asked....

 

I beg your pardon?

 

got mine through this morning, loving the speed of the beast...

i had a little play and then decided to wipe and have a clean install

had no issues so far and no dead pixels, keyboard seems to bulge in the middle, but might be just me, the back lighting is a nice touch.

was not sure what drivers to reinstall? did the ati, card reader, freefall and then let windows handle the rest. i presume i need dell quickset for the function keys?

 

I got €60 refund for Vista, if you have Windows 7 it will be more.

 

how do you get refund ?

 

I asked and got told it wasn't possible as it was included in the price. Would love to give it back though as I have installed Ultimate (legally).

 

I'm finding that I get a lot of hiss when I'm using headphones, good ones. Probably normal for a high powered machine... Is it the same for you guys?

 

lol....

It wasn't addressed to you....

No worries....I don't get mad that easy anyway!!!