DELL STUDIO 15 Intel I7-720QM

_Jimlad_ · 29 Nov 2009 at 00:44

laptop...

Not bad for a laptop, been very impressed with it so far.

jamief · 2 Dec 2009 at 13:19

Well, mine arrived on Monday.

Initial impressions were that it is noticeably lighter than my XPS M1530, although the build quality isn't quite as good. Less packaging for the Studio than for the XPS (iirc the XPS came with a polishing cloth, nice sleeve, headphones etc).

The screen (1080p) is fantastic - not as nice as the RGBLED on the XPS Studio 16, but fantastic nonetheless... 1080p takes a little getting used to in a 15.6" screen, but you can increase the font size where necessary, and in your browser you can use the multitouch trackpad to do a zoom-in movement which, unsurprisingly, zooms in!

I haven't had much of a chance to use the system in anger yet, but initial impressions are that it is very snappy. Rather than reinstalling Win7, I simply uninstalled everything I didn't want (I may reinstall Win7 when I have time). I tried a quick game of Anno 1404 which ran fine when I turned down the resolution from 1920x1080! Torchlight runs fine at 1920 however. Serious software-wise, I've only fired up VS2008 & VS2010 Beta 2 but haven't done much work yet so can't comment much.

The only negative I might have is that the keyboard seems a tiny bit "rattly", most notably around the sdfg keys, although this appears to be bedding in a little after a few hours use.

I'll write up some more thoughts once I've used it a little more.

_Jimlad_ · 2 Dec 2009 at 17:42

cheers dude, mine is going strong, i formatted and started over, used the dell resource cd to find all the drivers i needed.

PLEASE NOT - don't install the updated freefall driver from the windows update site, it causes issues with the trackerpad... or so i have read

shankii · 2 Dec 2009 at 19:48

jamief said:
Well, mine arrived on Monday.

Initial impressions were that it is noticeably lighter than my XPS M1530, although the build quality isn't quite as good. Less packaging for the Studio than for the XPS (iirc the XPS came with a polishing cloth, nice sleeve, headphones etc).

The screen (1080p) is fantastic - not as nice as the RGBLED on the XPS Studio 16, but fantastic nonetheless... 1080p takes a little getting used to in a 15.6" screen, but you can increase the font size where necessary, and in your browser you can use the multitouch trackpad to do a zoom-in movement which, unsurprisingly, zooms in!

I haven't had much of a chance to use the system in anger yet, but initial impressions are that it is very snappy. Rather than reinstalling Win7, I simply uninstalled everything I didn't want (I may reinstall Win7 when I have time). I tried a quick game of Anno 1404 which ran fine when I turned down the resolution from 1920x1080! Torchlight runs fine at 1920 however. Serious software-wise, I've only fired up VS2008 & VS2010 Beta 2 but haven't done much work yet so can't comment much.

The only negative I might have is that the keyboard seems a tiny bit "rattly", most notably around the sdfg keys, although this appears to be bedding in a little after a few hours use.

I'll write up some more thoughts once I've used it a little more.

were you able to run Anno on maximum settings?

jamief · 3 Dec 2009 at 08:34

shankii said:
were you able to run Anno on maximum settings?

Actually what I said above was rubbish! I played it on 1920x1080 at medium settings. I wanted to turn the resolution down and play at high settings, but the only options were 1920x1080, 1280x1024 and 1280x800. I wanted something in between so need to do a little research to find a custom resolution.

It worked nicely in 1920 @ medium settings though.

1337z0r · 10 Dec 2009 at 18:31

Hey just thought I would post another update about this laptop, I received mine today. I was very impressed with the weight and compactness of the laptop, the 1080p screen is very nice indeed. I really like the keyboard and it is very smooth and nice to type on, the track pad seems nice but I'm used to the very great MacBook track pads and the dells trackpad is not as nice but I'm sure it will be fine after I've used the lappy for a few days.

The software on the laptop is a whole other story, the setup was fairly slow after waiting 10 minutes for Windows 7 to prepare my laptop I checked task manger and this thing was use 78 processes compared to my desktops Win 7 which is running 39. The boot time was also very slow, it took 90 seconds to get to the desktop.

I'm currently performing a fresh install of Windows 7, will post another update tonight

.

1337z0r · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:04

1337z0r said:
Hey just thought I would post another update about this laptop, I received mine today. I was very impressed with the weight and compactness of the laptop, the 1080p screen is very nice indeed. I really like the keyboard and it is very smooth and nice to type on, the track pad seems nice but I'm used to the very great MacBook track pads and the dells trackpad is not as nice but I'm sure it will be fine after I've used the lappy for a few days.

The software on the laptop is a whole other story, the setup was fairly slow after waiting 10 minutes for Windows 7 to prepare my laptop I checked task manger and this thing was use 78 processes compared to my desktops Win 7 which is running 39. The boot time was also very slow, it took 90 seconds to get to the desktop.

I'm currently performing a fresh install of Windows 7, will post another update tonight .

*****Update******

I've just reinstalled Windows 7 Pro x64, the system is now just as fast as my desktop machine. Just about to install drivers and apps

.

_Jimlad_ · 10 Dec 2009 at 19:45

1337z0r said:
*****Update******

I've just reinstalled Windows 7 Pro x64, the system is now just as fast as my desktop machine. Just about to install drivers and apps .

remember don't install the windows update for the freefall sensor!

i wiped mine and it ran faster, one thing i don't get is why the gaming graphics is 6.3 and the aero is 4.9, also others on another forum get 5.0 instead of 4.9

1337z0r · 10 Dec 2009 at 22:22

I have to say I'm very impressed with this laptop so far, I can not find a bad point about it what so ever

.

After reinstalling Windows 7 Pro x64 with the included Dell OEM disk this machine really shows its true colors in performance, this laptop is just as fast as my desktop which has a RAID 0 setup for the OS. I have yet to install my music production software, but hopefully this is where the i7 will shine for my needs.

_Jimlad_ · 13 Dec 2009 at 22:01

head up chaps, there is the A03 bios update out (done in windows) and improves the graphics, not benched it yet but windows 7 scores it at 5.0 now instead of 4.9.

1337z0r · 14 Dec 2009 at 12:36

Yeah I updated to the A03 BIOS a few days ago, gaming performance is okay on this laptop with Counter Strike Source. I played a few matches at 1920x1080 as I was getting around 40 - 50 fps with high settings. With a little tweaking I can get that too a nice solid 75 like my desktop.

Performance wise generally this laptop a monster, its very quick and Windows 7 runs like a dream on it so far.

_Jimlad_ · 14 Dec 2009 at 12:44

what is your windows rating? mine went from 4.9 to 5.0 on the graphics, however other said they already had 5.0 and then it went to 5.3???/

dimo · 4 Mar 2010 at 14:34

How is everyone finding their Studio 15s after 4 months? Still going strong? Any new issues, heating issues, etc?

_Jimlad_ · 4 Mar 2010 at 14:51

mine is still good, but seem people have had lots of heat issues and graphics problems on another forum. Mine is fine though. I did drop it and break the battery, i called up and sad it was always loose

- they sent me a brand new one

- i also paid £100 while on the phone for 3 years warranty, which is added on and starts after the 1st year. so i have cover until 2014 - which is amazing! so im not to worried. - as stated i have had no issues

dimo · 4 Mar 2010 at 15:47

_Jimlad_ said:
mine is still good, but seem people have had lots of heat issues and graphics problems on another forum. Mine is fine though. I did drop it and break the battery, i called up and sad it was always loose - they sent me a brand new one - i also paid £100 while on the phone for 3 years warranty, which is added on and starts after the 1st year. so i have cover until 2014 - which is amazing! so im not to worried. - as stated i have had no issues

I assume you're referring to http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=420768&page=107

Everyone seems to have heat / gpu issues there. When you dropped it was it a small fall or did you drop it form a height? Im surprised all that was damaged was the battery...

silverback · 4 Mar 2010 at 21:18

For some reason mine keeps saying new dell update available everytime i switch it on andits always the same update,which i update,then it does it again when switched on next time???

It seems to basically losing the update/info when switched off at night??

_Jimlad_ · 4 Mar 2010 at 22:57

dimo said:
I assume you're referring to http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=420768&page=107

Everyone seems to have heat / gpu issues there. When you dropped it was it a small fall or did you drop it form a height? Im surprised all that was damaged was the battery...

i was watching a film in the bath and it fell off the toilet seat

- it just broke one clip, but i now have two 9 cell batterys so cant moan

Yes that is the forum, mainly why i paid for the 3 year warranty, bargain i think.

silverback said:
For some reason mine keeps saying new dell update available everytime i switch it on andits always the same update,which i update,then it does it again when switched on next time???

i recommend a clean format and dont bother with all the dell crap.

It seems to basically losing the update/info when switched off at night??

dimo · 5 Mar 2010 at 00:13

_Jimlad_ said:
i was watching a film in the bath and it fell off the toilet seat - it just broke one clip, but i now have two 9 cell batterys so cant moan

lmao... interesting, thats a new one i have to say. I've never watched a movie in the bath, too worried about moisture etc

_Jimlad_ · 5 Mar 2010 at 07:22

i recommend!, lights off, coffee in a flask, fews ciggies, pack of biscuits and plenty of hot water in the tank!

Andybtsn · 5 May 2010 at 21:25

I know this is a very old thread now but hopefully someone can respond who has this laptop.

Has anyone encountered ridiculous heating issues with this? I got mine just before Christmas but it's only now I have been using it with more demanding applications/games and I'm having big issues. Shutting down randomly, blue screens, you name it. Gutted as it cost me a lot of money and judging from a quick search on google I'm not alone with the problem.

How is everyone coping on here with it?