Dell Studio 15 1558 Thread

[dimodi]

Thought I'd start the 1558 thread as I imagine a lot of us will now be getting out 1558. Order placed on 10th March > shipped from China earlier this evening. Should be here by Monday or Tuesday.

[rta01]

I ordered mine the 18th. It's still in production, estimated arrival of April 5th. I'm kind of regretting it, only because between now and then I'm going to drive myself crazy checking the status every free chance I get.

I went 1080P screen, 1GB graphics, i3-350m 2.26Ghz, 4GB ram, 500GB HD, backlit keyboard and bluetooth. Sadly I had to come in under $980, so I couldn't beef it up quite as much as I wanted but I'm still happy with it.

[A77guy]

See my sig below. I got mine about a month ago now and tbh I STILL have not really been able to knock it around a bit. Thing is I am not a gamer, so really, it could be argued my system is a bit overkill for my/our needs but I wanted to future-proof it a bit as well.

I HAVE recently installed vmware player as I need to take some cert exams. Ive installed a WinSvr2008R2 VM and want to add one more. I think it will be interesting to see how the processor handles the load of the host and 2 VM's at the same time. The memory of the VM's will be the recommended min of 768MB as I dont need them to do anything other than boot up and open mmc's. Plus Ill use ready boost with a 2GB usb key to augment the 4GB on the system.

So far I AM very happy with the system. I have not had the sudden shut down issues mentioned in a few other threads for the 1558, and my fan has not been overly load or constantly running. It WILL cycle on and off even right at boot up, but the only time the rpm increase/noise has been even close to becoming annoying has been when I was watching some youtube videos. Even then, it wasnt all that loud.

I have to say I LOVE the 1920x1080 HD LCD. Even on minimum brightness it is striking imo.

[Lucko]

I've had my 1558 since Tuesday now. Spec'd it as:
i5-430m
4GB RAM
500GB 5400RPM HD
ATI 4570 512MB
1080p WLED Screen
Backlit Keyboard

No buyer's remorse yet! It is the best piece of kit I've bought in a long time. Only thing is, I don't like using my desktop pc anymore as my 1440x900 19" monitor looks terrible. I'll have to get a 1080p screen before I can bare using it again

The only game I've tried running on it so far has been Civilization IV. It's not exactly a demanding game but it runs like a dream at 1920x1080 I can't wait for Civilization V to come out later this year, and see how it runs.

When I initially received the lappy, I had a few dead pixels on the screen. Someone replaced it on Wednesday and the new screen is fine, but they forgot to reattach my web cam properly! Someone is coming next Tuesday to sort that out though, couldn't be happier

-Lucko

[dimodi]

Wow I'm glad to see such positivity around the 1558

I don't game either, I gotthe i7720QM, 4GB 1333mhz, 1GB 5470, 320gb 7,200rpm, 1080p screen, backlit keyboard. I was worried about mine being a little underpowered.. but maybe not afetr reading your posts. It's a desktop replacement for me though.. replacing a 3.4Ghz P4 and a 1.6Ghz atom-based netbook.

[dimodi]

Originally Posted by Lucko

I've had my 1558 since Tuesday now. Spec'd it as:
i5-430m
4GB RAM
500GB 5400RPM HD
ATI 4570 512MB
1080p WLED Screen
Backlit Keyboard

No buyer's remorse yet! It is the best piece of kit I've bought in a long time. Only thing is, I don't like using my desktop pc anymore as my 1440x900 19" monitor looks terrible. I'll have to get a 1080p screen before I can bare using it again

The only game I've tried running on it so far has been Civilization IV. It's not exactly a demanding game but it runs like a dream at 1920x1080 I can't wait for Civilization V to come out later this year, and see how it runs.

When I initially received the lappy, I had a few dead pixels on the screen. Someone replaced it on Wednesday and the new screen is fine, but they forgot to reattach my web cam properly! Someone is coming next Tuesday to sort that out though, couldn't be happier

-Lucko

What GPU do you have btw? 4570 or 5470? Im interested to know as your'e gaming in 1080p very well

Edit: How many many dead pixels did you have, and is this all covered by the standard 1 year warrenty?

[rta01]

I've read some places that Dell will call the day of arrival or the day before to schedule your delivery to make sure you're there to sign for it, does anyone know if they still do this? I don't have a phone so I had to give them my mothers number, but she's having some problems with creditors lately so she doesn't usually answer 800 numbers, and I'm worried they might call and I'll miss it.

[WildmanCAL]

See my sig for my specs. Machine is being returned as I've had some issues with fan noise and a bricked BIOS.

HOWEVER....I like the feel of the system so I ordered a replacement with newer GPU. Overall, good battery life and excellent screen.

[dimodi]

Originally Posted by WildmanCAL

See my sig for my specs. Machine is being returned as I've had some issues with fan noise and a bricked BIOS.

HOWEVER....I like the feel of the system so I ordered a replacement with newer GPU. Overall, good battery life and excellent screen.

What do you mean a bricked BIOS?

[Lucko]

Originally Posted by dimodi

What GPU do you have btw? 4570 or 5470? Im interested to know as your'e gaming in 1080p very well

Edit: How many many dead pixels did you have, and is this all covered by the standard 1 year warrenty?

4570! Civilization IV is a pretty low-intensive game though. Newer games I'll imagine you'll have to run medium settings and a lower resolution.

I had three dead pixels. I don't think it's covered by the 1-year warranty, only during the returns period. I was talking to the tech about it and he said he's never had to replace a new (Dell at east) screen with dead pixels before. Shouldn't be too much to worry about

All I can say is I'm dead chuffed with my laptop!

-Luke