OFFICIAL: Studio 17 Owner's Thread

[jet757f]

Originally Posted by bigmo

It's HERE!!!! I never got a tracking number but DHL pulled up today and I rushed to the door to meet the delivery man. I only played in the OS for a few mins as I am now trying to install 64-bit but a few things I noticed. Pros: fingerprint reader is sweet, screen is brilliant, power button is in neat hiding spot, multimedia buttons are sleek, and of course full size keyboard is great. There are very few Cons thus far, the biggest is the screen feels flimsy compared to my vostro...off course it is a lot thinner so that would be a big part of the difference, also the slot load drive is unimpressive, typically you would push the disc about halfway in and the drive would pull it in but this you have to push 4/5's of the way in for it to suck it in. I will hopefully get 64-bit installed and will let everyone know how she works!

Just wondering how that LED screen looks.....is it worth it?

Mine is supposed to be delivered on Wed but I notice that it is coming from Nashville, TN instead of Texas like I expected. Is Dell not doing final installations in TX anymore on the notebooks?

[bigmo]

Originally Posted by jet757f

Just wondering how that LED screen looks.....is it worth it?

Mine is supposed to be delivered on Wed but I notice that it is coming from Nashville, TN instead of Texas like I expected. Is Dell not doing final installations in TX anymore on the notebooks?

I think the LED screen is absolutely brilliant, esp compared to my Vostro 1700 matte screen, I would def do it again. The laptops get shipped from malaysia and get sent to nashville and then to the courier. they have been doing this for at least the last three years as all three of my laptops had the same voyage. Good luck on getting yours quick...I do believe you'll like it!

[jet757f]

Originally Posted by bigmo

I think the LED screen is absolutely brilliant, esp compared to my Vostro 1700 matte screen, I would def do it again. The laptops get shipped from malaysia and get sent to nashville and then to the courier. they have been doing this for at least the last three years as all three of my laptops had the same voyage. Good luck on getting yours quick...I do believe you'll like it!

Well Im very picky about display quality. In fact Im selling an Apple Macbook Pro with LED type display because I thought it was terrible.

Im surprised about the notebook coming directly from Asia now. I realize that someone else has always made notebooks for Dell but they still used to do the final assembly in Texas. Now it sounds like Dell has completely outsourced this.......should be interesting my last Dell notebook was an Inspiron 7000.

[bigmo]

From what I understand all of the components are made by somebody else and then Dell owns an assembly plant in Malaysia where they assemble them. They are still getting their components from the same companies but have simply moved their assembly facilities.


Also wanted to include that installing Vista 64 is a pain in my ! I am slowly finding drivers and am stealing a lot from the precision line.

[leebaldock]

Originally Posted by bigmo

Also wanted to include that installing Vista 64 is a pain in my ! I am slowly finding drivers and am stealing a lot from the precision line.

I asked my dealer if I could get the Studio 17 with Vista 64 bit. He said no - only set up with 32 bit. I really wanted to try out 64 bit Vista with my next notebook purchase but I defintely don't want to go through any hassles with the OS on the notebook. Just can't be assed. I've checked out all of my devices - printers etc and they all have 64 bit drivers so that's good. I went through hassles with my ld ASUS F3Jm going to Vista 32 bit on it - when I first did that most stuff/drivers were only XP Pro so it was a bit of a pain eg wireless issues and sound issues and stuff. All got sorted eventually. Anyway I guess I am saying I am really interested in how you go getting Vista 64 bit on the Studio 17. Please keep us posted on your issues...eg fingerprint reader, wifi, bluetooth, keyboard backlight etc etc

[bigmo]

Originally Posted by leebaldock

I asked my dealer if I could get the Studio 17 with Vista 64 bit. He said no - only set up with 32 bit. I really wanted to try out 64 bit Vista with my next notebook purchase but I defintely don't want to go through any hassles with the OS on the notebook. Just can't be assed. I've checked out all of my devices - printers etc and they all have 64 bit drivers so that's good. I went through hassles with my ld ASUS F3Jm going to Vista 32 bit on it - when I first did that most stuff/drivers were only XP Pro so it was a bit of a pain eg wireless issues and sound issues and stuff. All got sorted eventually. Anyway I guess I am saying I am really interested in how you go getting Vista 64 bit on the Studio 17. Please keep us posted on your issues...eg fingerprint reader, wifi, bluetooth, keyboard backlight etc etc

I've gotten most things to work. Im having a little troubles with the DVD and fingerprint readers but I think there may be a loose connection inside the laptop...I will open it to see later if they continue to cause trouble. The Dell quickset software will not install properly so I am continuing to dig for a solution to that. Bluetooth, wifi, keyboard backlight it all works...the only other real problem I'm having is the broadcomm ethernet driver, cannot get it to install and haven't found a good 64 bit driver for it. It is running very smooth though even with a missing driver and such. Some of the drivers were taken from the Precision line etc. so it takes a little searching around, I will try and figure out which ones actually worked and create a list for everyone to see.

[johnnyb82]

Thanks bigmo, I am looking forward to what you find out. I too will be putting vista 64bit on my studio.

[jet757f]

Originally Posted by bigmo

I've gotten most things to work. Im having a little troubles with the DVD and fingerprint readers but I think there may be a loose connection inside the laptop...I will open it to see later if they continue to cause trouble. The Dell quickset software will not install properly so I am continuing to dig for a solution to that. Bluetooth, wifi, keyboard backlight it all works...the only other real problem I'm having is the broadcomm ethernet driver, cannot get it to install and haven't found a good 64 bit driver for it. It is running very smooth though even with a missing driver and such. Some of the drivers were taken from the Precision line etc. so it takes a little searching around, I will try and figure out which ones actually worked and create a list for everyone to see.

Was there trouble with the DVD and fingerprint reader before you installed the 64 bit? If so that is a bad sign for quality control............

[bigmo]

Originally Posted by jet757f

Was there trouble with the DVD and fingerprint reader before you installed the 64 bit? If so that is a bad sign for quality control............

That's the problem, I booted into Vista one time before I wiped it clean and started over....I did enroll fingerprints the first time just for fun to try it and had no problems and the DVD drive installed Vista 64 so I'm just really not sure...the last 2 times I had issues a simple reboot fixed it so I'm going to watch it and if it happens again will open it up and find the connection.

[Zonkie]

I ordered mine last Friday after it appeared on Dell's weekend sale page. The config I ordered:
Studio 1735, Intel C2D T5850, 2.16GHz, 2M L2
Ruby Red
3GB, DDR2,
Back-lit Keyboard
Hi Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch WLED display (1440x900)
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3650
320G HDD
Vista SP1 Home Premium
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner
High Definition Audio 2.0
802.11g Half Mini Card
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition
Inspire T10 Ruby Red Speakers - Designed for Dell
V220 Ruby Red Cordless Optical USB Mouse - Designed for Dell

Estimated ship date 09/02/2008 (backlit keyboard delay) : (


I liked the Midnight Blue color for the notebook the best, but the matching blue speakers were too dark. The ruby red speakers just looked great.

I am really excited about the Studio line. The Inspiron didn't have a nice enough video card and the XPS line was a little more then I wanted to pay. So, a next to full size backlit keyboard, HDMI out and the video card made this about perfect for me.