DELL XPS15 sandy bridge questions

[HumblePie]

Just picked up an XPS 15 L502X with the following config.

Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
15.6 inch FHD (1080p) B+RGLED Display with 2.0 MP webcam
9 Cell Primary Battery
640 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0
NVIDIA GeForce GT540M 2GB graphics with Optimus


I paid $969 after taxes for it. It shipped out yesterday. I doubt any MBP would come close to those specs for even double the price I paid.

 

[Ns1]

can't get HDMI out to work with my tv. argh.

 

[alent1234]

Just picked up an XPS 15 L502X with the following config.

Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
15.6 inch FHD (1080p) B+RGLED Display with 2.0 MP webcam
9 Cell Primary Battery
640 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0
NVIDIA GeForce GT540M 2GB graphics with Optimus


I paid $969 after taxes for it. It shipped out yesterday. I doubt any MBP would come close to those specs for even double the price I paid.

is there a coupon? mine seems to be over $1000 when i try to configure it

 

[pilzner]

is there a coupon? mine seems to be over $1000 when i try to configure it

Agree! I looked at those stats and have no idea what deal HumblePie found. Fantastic purchase. Mine was a similar build with following changes :

6GB Ram instead of 8GB
GT525M Instead of GT540M
750GB HD instead of 640GB

This ran to 1071 after taxes.

 

[alent1234]

found it, it's in the outlet

brand new the price is a lot higher

dell just discounts their outlet products a lot more than apple does their refurbs

 

[tvdang7]

can't get HDMI out to work with my tv. argh.

update to the newer nvidia driver on the dell site. i had a problem like that and after updating it recognized my tv isntantly.

laptop is GREAT and screen looks flawless. Ive owned it for over a month now no problems yet. Do a fresh install of windows The bloatware is retardedly excessive.

 

[Ns1]

update to the newer nvidia driver on the dell site. i had a problem like that and after updating it recognized my tv isntantly.

Thanks.

 

[alent1234]

update to the newer nvidia driver on the dell site. i had a problem like that and after updating it recognized my tv isntantly.

laptop is GREAT and screen looks flawless. Ive owned it for over a month now no problems yet. Do a fresh install of windows The bloatware is retardedly excessive.

if i was to buy one first thing i would do is use my technet access to get a generic copy of windows 7 and wipe the laptop and install windows from scratch.

i've owned dell's before and it's almost unusable with the amount of crapware on it

 

[HumblePie]

if i was to buy one first thing i would do is use my technet access to get a generic copy of windows 7 and wipe the laptop and install windows from scratch.

i've owned dell's before and it's almost unusable with the amount of crapware on it

That's what I plan on doing when laptop comes in tomorrow. I am definitely wiping that bad boy and sticking windows 7 ultimate on it just to evaluate the performance

That said, I got mine from the outlet with the 20% coupon. I purchased yesterday and it shipped yesterday. Delivery expected tomorrow. Much faster than waiting around for them to "build" my system for me.

 

[ZoNtO]

Opinions on the value of the extended warranty? The coupon doesn't stack with them, so it's a few hundred bucks...

 

[Ns1]

Opinions on the value of the extended warranty? The coupon doesn't stack with them, so it's a few hundred bucks...

overheating is #1 cause of laptop failure IMHO, esp. with gaming rigs.

so either sell before warranty runs out or get extended.

 

[alent1234]

Outlet seems to have some crazy deals. $800 or so for a nice XPS 15 and just wait for a 20% off coupon

 

[HumblePie]

Just got my XPS L502X laptop in during lunch. Haven't had too much of a chance to play with it yet since I'm at work, but I'm impressed so far for a refurb purchase. No dead pixels, only one tiny scratch by the bd tray that is hard to see, and no other blemishes. It wasn't even loaded with any bloatware that I can find. Just home 7 x64 premium, drivers, and mcafee. That's it.

It runs super quiet and cool so far. Can't wait until I get home to try this baby out.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Is there any real value paying to upgrade from the 525M to the 540M? According to Notebookcheck.com the 540M is only about 7% faster than the 525M. And it seems unlikely that the extra RAM will be of any benefit at only 1920x1080 resolution.

Also, how easy is it to replace the stock HDD with an SSD of my choice and reload the OS onto it?

 

[alent1234]

probably none since the memory bus is only 128 bit

 

[iCyborg]

Is there any real value paying to upgrade from the 525M to the 540M? According to Notebookcheck.com the 540M is only about 7% faster than the 525M. And it seems unlikely that the extra RAM will be of any benefit at only 1920x1080 resolution.

Also, how easy is it to replace the stock HDD with an SSD of my choice and reload the OS onto it?

Yes, 540M is not worth it, same amount of cores and everything, just ~10% higher clock. Extra RAM brings next to nothing to the table.

As for replacing the HDD, Anandtech's review says it's a bit of a chore to get to the disk, but it's doable. If you're ordering online, I'm not sure if there's an option for a DVD media for the OS, you may need to call them to get it.

 

[ultimatebob]

That's what I plan on doing when laptop comes in tomorrow. I am definitely wiping that bad boy and sticking windows 7 ultimate on it just to evaluate the performance

That said, I got mine from the outlet with the 20% coupon. I purchased yesterday and it shipped yesterday. Delivery expected tomorrow. Much faster than waiting around for them to "build" my system for me.

I was planning on doing the same thing, but it honestly wasn't all that bad. Only thing I needed to remove was the McAfee trialware crap.

 

[Ns1]

for the life of me i can't get hdmi out to work correctly. fuck.

 

[tvdang7]

for the life of me i can't get hdmi out to work correctly. fuck.

what problems are you having?

 

[zuffy]

Finally, got my laptop. so far so good. Still have more software to install and configure. Awesome screen though. Yeah the fonts are smaller than I like but not so bad that I have to stick my face up to the screen. Don't understand why the touchpad is not centered, but more to the left.

Replacing the HDD is ridiculous. You can easily snap the palm rest and/or the plastic holders.

 

[Ns1]

what problems are you having?

Can't get HDMI out to work with my TV, won't output anything, screen just turns black.

Already updated the drivers. Fuck, this is a deal breaker if I can't get this to work.

 

[beginner99]

Replacing the HDD is ridiculous. You can easily snap the palm rest and/or the plastic holders.

You mean it is hard? Hwo long does it take?

 

[zuffy]

You mean it is hard? Hwo long does it take?

It took me less than 10 minutes. Not hard but tedious. When you try to remove the palm rest, you just don't know if you will snap it or not.

 

[tvdang7]

Can't get HDMI out to work with my TV, won't output anything, screen just turns black.

Already updated the drivers. Fuck, this is a deal breaker if I can't get this to work.

Does the nvidia driver at least recognize the tv?

 

[zuffy]

Google for a HDD caddy for my XPS and came across a thread in Notebookreview.com. One of the guy suggested an IBM 12.7mm HDD caddy for the XPS. It was only 13 bucks so I took the chance. The one from newmodeus.com is way too expensive for a piece of metal.

No lockup or bootup problems with the SSD in HDD slot and 500GB HDD in DVD drive port as some are experiencing with the newmodeus.com version.

So happy now. No need to carry my 1TB USB drive. I don't own any BR disc so the BR drive is useless. If I ever need to burn DVD or CD which is rare, I have an external Plextor for that anyway.