Dell Studio 1557

Ok freeman. I tried your links and I had this "the hardware was not found in this computer". I don't know how to customize those ini files you mention.

I have extracted the exe files from HP and changed their ini files for those included by DELL, installation failed, after that I substituted some more .dll files with Dell's, but still the same message, these drivers are not for that hardware.

 

Hahaha iggy, you crack me up! Simply going back to the SRS tab doesn't disable the SRS; it's disabled because SRS doesn't work with the 5.1 setting, only the stereo one. If you plug in a 5.1 speaker system all SRS settings are cancelled when you set it up. SRS Premium is for optimising stereo sound, not 5.1.

 

Oki doki! So I have no subwoofer working, but the bass is quite good something I can live with for now!

 

"some problems"? You must go deep and specify what are your "problems". Ah, Only if CS4 is ORIGINAL. We can't discuss about warez, the software must be genuine

 

Well so far I'm happy to say, I am extremely satisfied with my new 1557 so far!
It's really quick and most of my games run at a decent clip... I can't tell if my sub is bad or not, It sounds good enough to me, and my buddy says he thinks it's comparable to his Alienware laptops speakers. So all in all now that I have everything working as I need it, I absolutely love this laptop, and would say for $1200 you can't go wrong!...

 

Anyone know how to disable the "F-Hotkeys"? Whenever I use the F1-F8 for gaming, and press them it minimizes my game and opens up the battery or even kills my wifi! That's f2 one slip and you out the game... So that's my most important question, hopefully someone can answer that for me. Also if anyone knows how to turn off the "caps lock on/off" popup Box, as that's kicking me out of some games as well... Thanks...

 

There are two ways:

Method 1: In the BIOS, change the function keys to function key first.
Method 2: In windows, press windows key + X to bring up the mobility centre. Change function keys to function key first.

 

Awesome thx Fragile! Now how do I get the caps lock onscreen icon to stop showing up?.. it looks like the dell program quickset?... if I uninstall would that fix it?

 

I imagine they just have a limited supply, so they're obviously going to stick it in the more expensive laptop. People seem to be having plenty of problems getting hold of the xps's too.

 

Yup, that's quickset. Uninstalling it should stop it, but it's handy when not gaming. If you just want to stop things like that showing up whilst gaming, have a look on google for a program called Game Booster. It basically shuts down non essential services, but knows which ones are shut down so you can start them back up again when finished. You can add quickset.exe to the list of programs it stops, and it will start it back up again after you've done.

 

Awesome I'll look into that, thanks!

 

I went to the IDT control panel and disabled SRS while leaving my creative X-Fi MB still enabled. after which, i configured the speakers to 5:1 in control panel and tested the subwoofer there and it is working!!! i rebooted and it is still working.

when i play music, i can hear there is sound coming from the subwoofer but it is quite soft. how about the rest?

 

What's Creative X-Fi MB and how do I get it???

 

That must be the reason why I can notice a good bass. Because I have the same creative thing installed. I remember I saw it in the program list, but forgot to mention. It comes with some other program, maybe Dell Webcam, I don't remember now. Am I mistaken? I'm on my job's laptop now, can't check it.

 

If it was part of Dell webcam then we'd all have it. I'm guessing if it's a Creative app then it'll have to be paid for...

 

the creative program is an additional program that i paid for when i purchased the laptop. for me, enabling both SRS and creative makes my sound go haywire.

from wikipedia:
X-Fi MB is a software solution that enables basic X-Fi features on computers with integrated audio into an X-Fi device. It requires some degree of driver support from the audio hardware manufacturer. X-Fi MB is commonly bundled with motherboards and computer systems, and is comparable to an X-Fi XtremeAudio.

 

Ok! I can tell I have some creative sound stuff in my program list, that's sure. Anyway I'm trying this evening the software you mention to see if there is any change.

 

Anyone still looking to test their sub-woofer, I just came across this web site
I never heard of it before, but it offer some MP3 pattern to test you sub. I don't know what's the range that 1557 sub can handle either so test carefully.

 

Hi Guys, Thought I'd throw in my subwoofer experience:

I've a Dell Studio 15, i7-720QM, 6GB, 1920x1080 lcd, 500GB 7200RPM with Windows 7 64 bit and a non-working subwoofer.

I've had a good listen, and I'm pretty sure it's not doing anything. The SRS does a good job at filling out the sound, but it's still rather tinny and feable.

I've tried uninstalling the IDT drivers and using Windows 7 default, with no success, so the IDT has gone back on (Version 6.10.0.6217, A15 from the Dell support site). Still not working, despite clicking on every option I could find.

I've not gone down the 'using the HP drivers with appropriate tweaking' route, as I'm not sure I could without some additional guidance. Please let me know if anyone finds a solution - I'd be most grateful!

By the way, for those of you cursing Dell for their long delivery times; I'm UK based and ordered my Studio 1557 on 21st October, and it arrived on the 28th with Windows 7. Added bluetooth was the only variation from Dell's standard offer. I'm happy with it on the whole. It runs rather hot to be used on the lap (without insulating cushion), and it took a while to pursuade it not to wake up from hibernation at random intervals during the night. Seeing 8 processors in the Task Manager is good talking point, though.

 

@ vibes:

My Studio 15 is also of the i7-720QM, 6GB RAM, 1920x1080 lcd, 500GB 7200RPM, Windows 7 64 bit, non-working subwoofer variety! Which I received on the 28th October also; the only changes I made to mine were to upgrade the wireless card and add a backlit keyboard. I waited 8 days from order to delivery.

As you may have seen from my earlier posts, I'm awaiting Dell's tech guy to turn up and apparently install a new subwoofer. I've got a very large sneaking suspicion that the subwoofer itself isn't the problem, the drivers are. Have you actually spoken to Dell tech support to let them know what problems you're having with your sub? Of all the people who have complained that there's isn't working, it seems I'm the only person to actually take the issue up with Dell! I'm hoping the more people that contact Dell's tech support, the more likely we are to get a resolution.

 

@Nifkin, Like I said, I can't tell if mines not working or not (Subwoofer), according to a friend he says that my sound is good compared to other laptops he has tried. He says it's pretty good. My main issue lately is the power brick, does anyone elses get super duper hot?!...

 

I really think it's a W7 driver issue. Mine is coming with vista because Windows 7 isn't available with the studio 1557. But i will return vista (makes the dell cheaper ) and install Windows 7 (got it for free from school) so i can't tell when i get the studio.

 

Like I said mine shipped with 7 installed, and seems to be working ok... Anyone else's powerbrick get super hot?..

 

Yes!!!!!!!

 

It gets pretty warm but I wouldn't say super hot... probably because it's got a slimmer profile than the previous Dell powerbrick.

@ Gryx: where are you that Studio 1557s don't come with Win7???

 

I'm trying to decide whether to take advantage of Dell's sale on the 1555 or to get the new 1557, and I just have a couple of questions:

1 - Has anybody gotten one of the color options? If so, is the finish a matte finish? I must confess I'm considering the plum purple, which looks to be a deep/muted purple. I just hope it's not bright/electric! If anyone has a purple laptop let me know.

2 - Anybody try to install Linux on this yet? Are there drivers for the wifi card and everything else?

3 - Any info on the battery life/heat/power trade off would be appreciated. Are these that much hotter, noisier, and thirsty than the older C2D models? I'd certainly love a bit more power if it doesn't cost me too much in battery life, heat, and noise.

TIA

Oh yeah, what's with this keyboard bulge? Could it be an ergonomic thing? Is it symmetrical or does it cause the keyboard to have an odd tilt? Or is it just something to bother the neurotic (which sometimes admittedly includes me).

 

The plum colour is in a microsatin finish, which is matte. It's also a deep/muted purple, definitely not bright/electric! I actually wanted it myself, but couldn't be arsed to pay the extra for it.

Am not to sure about this keybpard bulge business; mine doesn't have it.

 

Mine doesn't have the bulge either, that would bug me though if it did, as for the lid design, I spent the extra $$$ and got the tweeqim design... It looks stellar!

 

Hi e-head,

I have the purple one - and it almost looks off-black in most lighting, matt and shows dust quite annoyingly.

It gets warm, but now I've installed Windows7 at least the fan goes off when you switch it off, and it doesn't seem to run as hot as when on Vista.

I also have an M1530, M1330 and M2010 - and it isn't as loud as the M1330/M1530 when the fan is running, when the hard drive or when the DVD is loading. Noise wise in operation I would put it M1330 > M1530 > 1557 > M2010. It does give out more heat more often than the others though.

Sorry, don't know about Linux.

The lit keyboard is more use than I thought (I also have a little IBM X31 for taking away) and that comes with a light in the tft surround. The lit keyboard works well and feels quite good. Battery wise, I can't compare with the 1555 but it's on a par with what I was getting from the M1530 when new (but not pushing it). I do only have the 6 cell though.

 

Got my 1557 today and gotta say-SuhWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeettt. Subwoofer working-not that it is a BIG BOOM but definetely workin. No bloatware installed, and actually like the way Dell set it up with a Dock. Got one question about audio though, in the Windows Sound panel,one of the options is Independent (R.T.C.) Headphones, I know it's a headphone jack cuz there's 2 of em on here,but what's "Independent (R.T.C.)" all about ??

 

Belgium, and the Netherlands is also with Vista.

 

My subwoofer now it's working!!! The sound is way better than before, though don't expect deep bass But is worth it the difference you get when its working....

Sorry, I don't know what I've done to take this playing.....I just follow every post with some idea to correct the problem....and I ended up not knowing which exactly step that fixed it.....

Thanks everyone that have posted some "troubleshooting" on this issue...

 

question- this just happened me to me today, and wondering if anyone else has experienced this..

computer left on overnight, goes into sleep mode.. this morning i log in and the sound is almost muted, all volumes on max, and all i hear is a whisper (tried playing some mp3s).

i shut down, re-booted, and everything was back to normal. never had a problem like this before, and luckily it's not consistent. however, won't be surprised if it happens again. i did put it back into sleep, logged back in and it was ok... maybe it happens when in sleep mode for longer periods of time? any thoughts on why this happens? is this familiar to anyone?

[edit- want to clarify that i'm running windows 7 pro on 1557, have the creative soundcard]

 

Sorry, but about your issue with the sound I cant help you since I've never ever seen something like that. Hopefully won't happen again..

Hope you don't mind....
Just to clarify....you don't have a creative soundcard...What you do have is a Creative Sound Software that enhance your laptop speakers sound....

 

Thanks for all the reports and tips everyone.

I've got two more questions:

1 - Is the 1600x900 a pretty good compromise between real estate and font/widget/icon size? I know this is subjective, but to give you an idea I can't handle the super tiny resolutions you see on some Sony laptops. I'm hoping the 900p isn't that small. BTW, 900p = 1600x900, correct?

2 - I'm planning on hooking this up to a 16:10 monitor with a native resolution of 1920x1200. Anyone know if this graphics card output/run at this res?

TIA

 

ah yes, creative sound software! thanks. hope it's not a recurring issue

 

The Sony's tend to run high resolution/small screens. I find my 1080p screen clearer (Win7) than the M1530 I have running at the intermediate resolution (1440x900). Best thing is go to a local shop and have a look if in doubt!

I run my 1557 as a dual monitor setup - laptop at 1920x1080 and dell tft as primary on 1920x1200 and it handles both fine.

 

Hey all,
just read though most of the thread, as the nice folks at Purolator have informed me that my 1557 will show up tomorrow (10 days from when I ordered, which doesn't sound too bad compared to some in this thread) and I want to be ready! So I was wondering if I should run a clean install as soon as I get it or not - have you guys found there to be a bloatware issue for the Windows 7 1557s (I know there has been for other Studios, especially with Vista), or is it not that bad?

 

I've been following most of threads about DELL STUDIO 1557 and something that I was unaware just call my attention...the warmth issue that some people have been reporting...

I have a STUDIO 1557 as well and now I notice that the temperature get a bit high after a few hours of usage....not that much though....

So I was wondering if it could actually affect the processor performance when comes to overclockability (INTEL Turbo Boost) since temperature is one out of three key points that allowed the processor increase the clock speed ????

And would be recommended to get a cooling pad for this laptop regarding the temperature issue ????

thx!!!

 

You're answering your own question there; heat will affect the overclocking ability of the processor, it just depends on whether or not the heat levels you are currently experiencing (I have to say that I haven't found mine running any hotter than many other laptops, however the powerbrick is another story!) are likely to push the CPU over a specified margin. I guess the performance of i7s has a lot to do with the cooling ability/design of a given machine.. in light of that, it would be good if the turboboost-per-core ratios published by intel had been conservative figures, as opposed to best case scenarios.

 

My laptop gets quite hot too, obviously running in high performance energy profile. Even in "Recommended by Dell" profile it gets hot. Extra coolers is a good idea.

I have my subwoofer working. Can't tell how or why I just feel the bass and a big difference to when it is disabled (like any old laptop I've had).

Another subject, totally different. Does anyone know if there is any difference between Dell's W7 upgrade kit and generic W7? I mean important things affecting laptop performance. Is it worth the while to install the Dell version or not? I have the original one but for 20 euros I wouldn't care to get Dell's version.

 

So I tried the HDMI last night, and I have to say it works flawlessly!!! And yes the audio goes through the same cable which I wasn't fully expecting. Now I almost wish I did get the Bluray upgrade.... The only thing is movies won't work if you duplicate the display, you actually have to extend the display and move the player onto the extended side of the screen.

 

I can vouch for the fact that the Blu Ray option is indeed a winner! Oh, and you don't have to do the extended screen option to watch movies played by your PC on your TV; just switch it so that your laptop screen is your 1st monitor and your TV your 2nd, then set the output so that it uses the 2nd screen only; your laptop screen will shut down, and everything will be displayed on your TV screen.

Anyway, just had a call from the company who do Dell UK's on-site support; they want to visit my place on Monday, and replace the whole motherboard on my machine!!! I said to them that this seems a bit drastic just for the subwoofer, but they said this is what Dell had instructed them to do.

I'm furious; I think it seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut; they appear to be hoping that this will sort out my problem, when they clearly did a bare minimum in terms of diagnostics to reach this conclusion. I've a good mind to tell them I want a complete replacement or a refund, and I'll f*** off and buy an HP, Asus or Acer machine instead.

 

Anyone got an idea how I can chat to dell support??

My fan has now started to make a horrible grinding noise when it starts up for the first few seconds :-(

When i go to hardware support it says chat is only available for inspiron customers!?!?!

 

I have a small issue but is bugging me bigtime! When i start up win media center it asks if I want a gadget for my desktop... YES!!! but after I click yes, still no desktop gadget?! I do a search online and it seems that this gadget should be standard with win 7?.... But I cannot download or use or even find it anywhere?! Please someone if you have or seem to have gotten the MCE gadget to work please let me know what you did... Thanks... B

 

Two sort of oddball questions here:

If you choose 125% for your font settings, does it increase the size of everything basically, or just fonts? You know, stuff like icons in the taskbar and system tray, the start button, the little icons in the start menu. How about widgets in programs? My guess is this kind of stuff doesn't get resized.


Second question... how does 1080p content look on the 720p and 900p screen? There must be some downscaling going on even when open full window in a program like Media player Classic. I'm curious if this requires more out of the CPU? I have some 1080p content from the internet encoded at a bitrate of around 8,000 - 10,000 kbps (think that's right), which is pretty high for internet standards. My guess is this thing will be able to chew through this even if it has to downscale it.

 

So?.... Can anyone verify that they have the ability for the media center gadget (i.e. in the selectable gadgets?). I just to make sure I'm not an isolated issue..

 

e-head you can increase everything but icon size and task bar buttons must be changed in their respective configuration.

The only thing you can't zoom is java applications I'm afraid.

I'm using a 138% config not to get blind.

For Firefox you can download a large theme such as Kempelton Large and customize it with Personas addon. Font size and favorites bar icons can be zoomed as well. To enlarge icons install chromedit plus and you must write:

.bookmark-item > .toolbarbutton-icon {
margin-right: 0px !important;
display: -moz-box !important;
max-height: 24px !important;
max-width: 24px !important;
height: 24px !important;
width: 24px !important;
}

Where 24px is icon size.

I don't recommend increasing font size in firefox options since it won't look good. Web sites will get distortioned. Better use an addon such as Default Full Zoom Level which you can adjust to show every website at X% by default. Very useful.


As for your second question, no idea, mine is 1080, I can tell you lower resolutions will never look good, only native res does.

 

fwiw, I have the 900p on my 1557 and the Bluray discs I've played on the laptop itself look quite crisp. Fantastic really.

 

Did yours come with 7 installed? If so please tell me if you have the mediacenter widget as an option.. please it's driving me nuts?!