Dell Studio 1557

[Wes of StarArmy]

The Dell 1555 I bought last month has close to zero bloatware on it. I was quite pleased.

Just make sure you uncheck the Wildtangent box in the configuration page on the Dell site.

[darkmage]

My 1557 came with next to no bloatware as well. I opted to have no security software installed, no Office and unchecked the Wild Tangent box. I've had my 1557 for a week now and am quite pleased. The computer runs relatively cool and very quiet. Performance is great in Photoshop and Lightroom (the main reason I went with i7) and the speaker sound is quite good. I also chose the 900p screen and it is really very nice. Haven't noticed any build quality issues.

[andy12]

can any1 help me with my problem?

[freeman]

One thing that bother me is there is no indicator for num/cap lock and stuff. Blinkie for HD isn't my big concern, but num/cap is a big thing especially when I have to type in password. Any one know a good OSD indicator for this? Or does Dell came w/ one? I wipe the HD clean and repartition it for win7/Ubuntu. So, it's practially 0 bloatware and I only install drivers and no quickset, the restore CD that came w/ it practically an OS install DVD, no factory partition required.

Basically 2 questions.
what does quick set do?
any good OSD num/cap indicator?

[Fragilexx]

One thing that bother me is there is no indicator for num/cap lock and stuff. Blinkie for HD isn't my big concern, but num/cap is a big thing especially when I have to type in password. Any one know a good OSD indicator for this? Or does Dell came w/ one? I wipe the HD clean and repartition it for win7/Ubuntu. So, it's practially 0 bloatware and I only install drivers and no quickset, the restore CD that came w/ it practically an OS install DVD, no factory partition required.

Basically 2 questions.
what does quick set do?
any good OSD num/cap indicator?

quickset gives you an on screen display, but also caps / num / scroll lock icons in task bar

[Devroush]

Hi,

I bought a Dell Studio 1557 and received it four days ago. I really like my laptop, it is blazing fast . There are some issues however. Oh and before I start: yes my subwoofer is performing perfectly hehe.

First issue: heat. The i7 cpu needs quite some power and generates a lot of heat. The laptop doesn't feel THAT hot when under stress but when you start using programs that are both cpu and gpu intensive things get a little bit out of hand. For example: I ran 3dmark06 and got a score of 2.7k, quite disappointing. I read a review of the Studio 15(55?), same config except with a Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz and it got a score of 3.7k in 3dmark06...
So I ran 3dmark again but this time with my laptop on a box for optimal airflow: my score was now 3k! 300 points difference just from a box!
I fiddled around with core affinity and powerplay feature of my gpu and managed to get 3.3k: still less than the laptop with the Core 2 Duo. I tried disabling hyperthreading but did not find such thing in my BIOS.

second issue: again with the gpu. It has occured two times that when I maximize a video playing in flash my screen turns black and doesn't seem to respond anymore. It hasn't crashed but it just is really slow. In the event viewer I found this message: error atikmdag (id 43029): display is not active. I searched around the web and this is a known issue but the cause could be anything... Reinstalling drivers didn't fix it.

third issue: this one is really weird. Hell, maybe it's a feature . Either way, I want to get rid of it. I was watching a movie in vlc with my laptop on my lap. I noticed that when I tilt my laptop towards me about 45 degrees, it skips 5 minutes backwards in vlc! When I tilt it the other way, it skips 5 minutes ahead. I did some searching but didn't find anyone mentioning this. The command to skip 5 minutes ahead/backwards in vlc is ctrl+alt+left/right.

Thanks for bearing with me and this wall of text and I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

[david1274]

.....I've had my 1557 for a week now and am quite pleased. The computer runs relatively cool and very quiet. Performance is great in Photoshop and Lightroom (the main reason I went with i7) and the speaker sound is quite good. I also chose the 900p screen and it is really very nice. Haven't noticed any build quality issues.

That's good news. So, you haven't noticed any flicker with the 1366x768 screen?

Hi,
I bought a Dell Studio 1557 and received it four days ago. I really like my laptop, it is blazing fast . There are some issues however.

Thanks for that and please keep us updated on those issues

[darkmage]

Hi David, 900p is the 1600x900 option, and no issues with it at all. Very nice.

[satishfaction]

Hi,

I want to share my $0.02 on this thread.
Placed the order in Germany for English Version on 5th Nov and I got the laptop on 13th Nov. Config is base i7, 4GB, base LED screen, Bluetooth, wifi n, 500 7200 HD, 7 Pro.

This machine is HTPC for my purpose. I tried Acer mini Desktop Quad core but was too noisy. 1557 serves this purpose pretty well with barely audible noise level. I am currently running 1557 on power supply with out battery connected to my LCD via Denon 1910 HDMI. All the connectivity is smooth with not many challenges. (Though I have reinstalled the OS after partitioning to my needs). Somewhere I read that ATI graphics are not playing nice with 5.1 / 7.1 sound via Denon AVR which is not the case with me. I checked 5.1 sound and it even shows Dolby Digital on the receiver when there is encoded sound available.

Everything is brilliant and works as expected. Checked the Subwoofer, as this was discussed alot, and it works just fine. Windows experience tops at 5, primarily from the graphics limitation. I can tell that my Dell XPS M1330 with integrated graphics makes 720p movies jerky at times but 1557 makes 1080p movies smooth which is what I am interested in. I still do not know how to get internet radio on media center. Any help on that would be great!

The other challenge that I have and prime reason for me to choose 1557, other than low price is the external power button. I was under the impression that I could make the machine sleep & wake-up with the lid closed and tucked away in a cabinet, by just pushing this power button. Strangely the button does not respond if the lid is closed?! Do you think this is normal?

Since I have a feeling that my machine works almost normal as Dell wants it to, if you want any quick checks to be done I can be of help.

I paid ~ 800 Euro, if some one is looking out for a price comparison but I guess they will not got down 875 Euro for a private purchase as mine is a business purchase.

[darkmage]

The more I use the 1557 the more I'm impressed with how quiet it is, even with a fan running. One thing I notice is that occasionally when in a quiet room and the fan off, there is an occasional, intermittent higher pitched noise coming from the upper left, near where the processor is. I only noticed this this morning and you kind of have to put your ear up to the computer to hear it clearly. It's only intermittent though and not very loud. Anyone else notice this? Just curious if it is normal. Normally I wouldn't notice something like this thanks to music playing.