Dell Studio 1557

[spetzje]

I've been using this laptop since end of September 2009..
My HDD: 200/320GB
And it's still as lightning fast as the first moment I started my laptop after a clean Windows 7 install
30 secs Windows booting time, 8 secs to shut down laptop, half a second to get a program up and running etc etc etc

In short, no performance loss or whatsoever after more than 6 months of use.

I love my 1557 <3

[OneCool]

I've been using this laptop since end of September 2009..
My HDD: 200/320GB
And it's still as lightning fast as the first moment I started my laptop after a clean Windows 7 install
30 secs Windows booting time, 8 secs to shut down laptop, half a second to get a program up and running etc etc etc

In short, no performance loss or whatsoever after more than 6 months of use.

I love my 1557 <3

I have been loving mine as well.

Its been doing great.I just started playing the original Far Cry on it with everything maxed out.Been fun

I picked up some of these http://www.laptoplifts.com/ for when I have it on flat surface and it has helped some with the heat.

I have been thinking of getting a SSD for it but I just cant decide which one/size to get.
Maybe a 64gig for a boot/windows drive and get a esata enclosure for the WD Scorpio Black 250gb that came with it.

Im kinda torn right now on whether it would be worth it....

[esheesle]

So out of curiosity, what is the average idle temp(just minor surfing etc) for most people out there? I just emailed dell tech support mentioning my temps were about 61C idling and they are offering to replace the processor and fan assembly.

Any thoughts on this?

[techifan1]

HEY KAPI , thnks for the valuable information you have provided..

u must be aware of the sim card slot which is behind the battery 'one cool' told me that it is for mobile broad band something.. any further comments that u could give.. whats it used for ..
thank u

As OneCool says it is for mobile broadband.
For example, you purchase a suitable broadband package from your preferred network provider and then they supply you with a sim card which fits into the slot in the battery compartment. You then need to purchase and fit a WWAN card. I think dell offer the 5540 HSPA mini card for the 1557. Normally you would specify this requirement at the time of ordering as the WWAN card requires an aerial which is fitted inside the LCD panel together with the aerials for the Wi-Fi card. Hope that helps.

[bigstu22]

HEY KAPI , thnks for the valuable information you have provided..

u must be aware of the sim card slot which is behind the battery 'one cool' told me that it is for mobile broad band something.. any further comments that u could give.. whats it used for ..
thank u

I retro-fitted the 5530 mobile broadband card. Here's what I had to say in an earlier post:

Here's an update for those of you who want to fit the internal mobile broadband cards. It's a bit long-winded but it's worth it-so bear with me!

This works for the 5530 card and where your machine does NOT have the extra antenna-no replacement screen required!

1. Fit the card the only way it will go in-no instruction required! Screw it in place if you are lucky enough to have the screw. I didn't but the antenna wire seems to keep the whole unit in place if wedged in carefully. If anyone has a spare screw or knows where to get one without having to buy a whole set please let me know.

2. Now this is the interesting bit. The only 3 antenna cables my unit have are all connected to the wifi card-so I called the ebayer who sold me the unit for £39.99UK for advice. He was extremely helpful and told me to disconnect the WHITE cable from the WIFI card and connect it to the MAIN connection of the 5530. I was sceptical as I thought this may affect the WIFI card ability but the guy reassured me it wouldn't. I did as he said and carried on....

3. Next up-drivers. The 5530 drivers DON'T work-use 5540 intead :

http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&fileid=351051

2. You need to reboot for the driver to update

3. Next, you need to be able to connect to the internet. From what I read, the dell software used for connecting to the internet is awful-instead, use this (from Sony Ericsson who actually manufacture these cards):

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/supp...0g?cc=gb&lc=en

4. The automatic installer didn't work on my 64 bit Win 7 OS. Instead, I navigated here:

wireless manager/install/temp/setup 64

Obviously, if you have a 32 bit OS, use the 32 bit option

5. Success! In my list of connections I was connected via my Orange sim card.

6. The 'connection manager' part of the software hadn't installed but I was still connected-just no 'manager'. I then went on to install this part of the software by navigating:

wireless manager/install/sonyericssonwirelessmanager5

The manager now installed (I can't remember if a reboot was required or not-sorry). However, it didn't pick up the 5530-this time even after a definite reboot. TBH, I haven't really bothered exploring further. My card connects beautifully without the need for the manager. From what I can see, the only assets of the manager are the ability to pick up texts if you need to and a data counter. The latter I'm sure you can have as a PC add-on whilst surfing via the 5530. The former? Well, I suppose you'd have to remove the SIM and place in your mobile phone. This would be a PITA but I guess not many people would have the need to do this too often.

If you really want to use the manager, the instructions are here:

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/down...202_4686_2.pdf

As you will see, to properly install the manager, you should have the unit disconnected to start with. Since the software is primarily for an external dongle, and not an internal card, that would be straightforward. However, since I had already gone through most of the setup, I didn't really fancy opening up my laptop whilst powered up and connecting my card during the installation!!!

It's entirely possible I did things a bit in the wrong order-but I was learning as I went-hindsight is a wonderful thing! Therefore, it's highly possible that if you install this part before connecting the 5300 then you'll have full functionality of the manager. but, as I've said I'm happy and won't be testing this.



So, my long-winded post is nearly over-but I hope it helps. Incidentally, my WIFI seems to be working perfectly minus the white antenna lead. If someone reads this and knows this to be a bad idea please let me know!!

[OneCool]

So out of curiosity, what is the average idle temp(just minor surfing etc) for most people out there? I just emailed dell tech support mentioning my temps were about 61C idling and they are offering to replace the processor and fan assembly.

Any thoughts on this?

Whats the temp in your house?That does seem a little high but not by much.




Thats just surfing the net.Been playing FarCry on and off all day,playin music and watching videos.I havnt turned it off all day.

[kapilk007]

So, my long-winded post is nearly over-but I hope it helps. Incidentally, my WIFI seems to be working perfectly minus the white antenna lead. If someone reads this and knows this to be a bad idea please let me know!![/I]

Well actually it depends on the type of router and access point u use to connect to the network.
If u use dual stream routers then u r good with only two antenna cables attached to 5300.
but If u use a tri stream router u need to have the third antenna to get the max out of ur 5300 which is actually a tri stream(3x3) card.
So its all upto u.
having three antenna for dual stream provides better range and connectivity though.
But i don't think the gain is justified(for dual stream routers) to order a new antenna for the dell 5540 HSPA card.

[kapilk007]

HEY KAPI , thnks for the valuable information you have provided..

u must be aware of the sim card slot which is behind the battery 'one cool' told me that it is for mobile broad band something.. any further comments that u could give.. whats it used for ..
thank u

Yes i'm aware of it and as evryone is saying you first need to install a WWAN card to be able to use it.
It is used to connect to internet or send texts via ur sim card.I don't know if dell 5540 can connect through GPRS or EDGE so i can't tell whether it will work in 2 or 2.5G environment but if u have 3 G network then it will definately be able connect to internet via ur 3G sim card.Also u will need an antenna for this card or u can sacrifice one of the three antennas in ur 5300 as stated by bigstu.

So if u plan to use that sim card slot u must buy a WWAN card first.Some WWAN's also have a GPS functionality which is sometimes useful.

[kizwan]

Yes i'm aware of it and as evryone is saying you first need to install a WWAN card to be able to use it.
It is used to connect to internet or send texts via ur sim card.I don't know if dell 5540 can connect through GPRS or EDGE so i can't tell whether it will work in 2 or 2.5G environment but if u have 3 G network then it will definately be able connect to internet via ur 3G sim card.Also u will need an antenna for this card or u can sacrifice one of the three antennas in ur 5300 as stated by bigstu.

So if u plan to use that sim card slot u must buy a WWAN card first.Some WWAN's also have a GPS functionality which is sometimes useful.

It depend on WWAN card & your ISP. If the WWAN card support 3G network, it should support EDGE & GPRS network too. Also if your ISP only provide 3G network, you will not be able to connect to EDGE & GPRS network.

kizwan

[kizwan]

Hi guys,

I found out that "mcupdate_scheduled" in Task Scheduler (Media Center group) causing my laptop to wake from hibernate. This just happen recently, maybe new windows update that I installed recently created this task.

To prevent it from waking the computer from hibernate, you can either:-
1) Disable the task
2) Dis-select "Wake the computer to run this task"
3) Select "Stop if the computer switches to battery power"

kizwan