Dell XPS 17 (L702x) Thread

[TaiBo]

I had a email back saying they can send a engineer to replace the parts with dents and scratches on them, so they're going to replace the screen and the whole palm rest cover? I dont think so. I said i will not accept this, i paid for a new undamaged machine not a repaired one. Besides the engineer will prob cause more damage replacing those parts than if he didnt. I feel i may have overdone it and it may come to a refund but it will be a shame if it does as i really want a xps 17. If you bought a new car and it had a dent in it, you wouldnt accept it will you? And if they tried to repair it instead of replacing it you would get annoyed wouldnt you? Or is it just me

I find that it makes a difference what time you call Dell; early morning you may get local (closer) support where later in the day or evening, you may get someone that is not in your country. Or do I have that backwards?
I hope you get the satisfaction you deserve!

[whargness]

Hey guys...so I have a i7 2630 QM, 555 3gig video, 3d panel..upgraded 4 gigs to 12 gigs with addition of crucial 8 gig...going to add ssd soon...some questions:

1) suggestions on a good ssd? I think 128 gigs should suffice for windows 7?

2) how do i watch 3d? When i enable 3d in nvidia control panel..the green light turned on and worked fine during the 'tests' and such..but then it turns off when the test stops..how do i get that green light to turn on when im just watching movies? does 3d work with .avi and .mkv files or does it have to be in the cd/blu ray tray?

3) the black 'seam' like plastic around the laptop bout an inch below the touch pad..there's about a 2 cm scratch on it so the black is gray'ish there...should i bother complaining about it? I mean it's very minimal..but i expect pristine condition if i'm spending 1000k + on a laptop

4) my laptop has 4 dimm slots...basically 2 groups of 2. Each group already had a 2 gig in each. In order to get dual channel, should i just put a 4 gig in each empty slot?

Just a side note that my usb 3.0 works fine and ive been using it since i got this laptop ( a week ago). My 3d originally did not work but once i updated the drivers it worked.

Just note that these answers are based completely on my own experience and research and should not be taken as fact.

1) If you just want the fastest thing available, the OCZ Vertex 3 might be good to look into. Anything with a SandForce-2200 controller will be fairly quick in both write/read speeds. Some alternatives include Crucial M4 and Crucial C300. Basically any SSD with a SATA III (6G) interface is ideal to work with the Sandy Bridge SATA controller.

2) This is completely from my own personal knowledge. The thing that activates the 3D is not the file, but the program. The program calls on the driver (in this case, the 3D driver that nVidia offers to install in each of its driver updates now), which tells the computer to render the program in question in 3D. So the problem comes down the program you're using. Most free programs, to my knowledge, do not have the capability to call on the driver (which could stem from a multitude of problems such as not caring about 3D, royalty fees to nVidia, complicated SDK, etc). If anyone knows a good free program, then feel free to take their suggestion, as I have none. I do not believe MPC or VLC have this capability which are the main ones I use. I believe Cyberlink PowerDVD is 3D capable, but it is paid software.

3) This is up to you. I agree that paying $1k+ demands perfection, but if it's not noticeable or affects the system in any way, then I would save that call for when something more drastic happens, imo. If you don't need the laptop now, then that decision is completely yours.

4) Without some type of documentation, I couldn't say for sure. On the other hand, my best assumptions lead me to believe that the original 4GB they provide you are set up in Dual Channel mode. Taking this further would lead to the assumption that the remaining two DIMMs are corresponding dual channel slots. If you want to be sure at a software level, CPU-Z (a free hardware reporting utility) should allow you to check if the RAM you currently have is in dual channel mode. At which point you can assume the rest.

[TaiBo]

In general you can run 32bit programs in 64systems. The problem is not with the program as beiing 32 bit but usually with an old program not beiing Windows 7 compatible (some old programs which run in XP do not run well in Windows7). In general a program which runs well in Windows7 32 will run in W7 x64 but can be exceptions.For example some program need to use some old DLLs which have some dependencies to 32 bit components, but this is rare.

However, all drivers (pieces of software which connect to your hardware) MUST be 64 bit version. A 32 bit driver can not be installed or run on a 64 bit system.

A 32 bit program running in a 64 bit system will still have the same limitations as running in a 32 bit system. For example maximum memory that program can access is 2 GB even if you have 16GB in your system. This is why memory hungry programs like Photoshop have now 32 and 64 bit versions. So you can start and run Photoshop 32 bit but it will use a maximum of 2GB memory but if you start and run Photoshop 64 (both versions are installed on a x64 system) this will be able to use all your 16GB of memory, so it will be faster.

What you CAN not use on x64 systems are very old DOS programs which are 16 bit only. Such a program may still work on the 32 bit version (which allows 16 bit brograms) but will not run on x64 systems.

Hope this help.

Some "newbie" questions that came to mind after reading your post;

If the Photoshop Program is in the "Program Files (x86)" folder, does that mean that it is a 64 bit version that I have running? What does (x86) indicate when I have the 64 bit Operating System?

Thanks

[TaiBo]

Just got my L702X 3D yesterday

i7 2820QM
1080P 3D Full HD
GT 555M
12 GB DDR3
TV Tuner
Blu Triple Writer (BE-RW)
Backlit Keyboard
1 TB ( 2 X 500 GB 7200RPM)
Intel 6230

SWEET Machine for the price I paid.

Nice setup!

I wonder some times if I should have gone with the TV Tuner & Blu Triple Writer (BE-RW). The idea of being able to make Blu-rays interested me but I did not know how much I would use that option.

[Squeeker the Cat]

is there a way to tell what panel you get?? so we know which is which??

[whargness]

Some "newbie" questions that came to mind after reading your post;

If the Photoshop Program is in the "Program Files (x86)" folder, does that mean that it is a 64 bit version that I have running? What does (x86) indicate when I have the 64 bit Operating System?

Thanks

Not the original poster of your response, but thought I'd go ahead and clear up something. x86 refers to 32-bit while x64 refers to 64-bit. Confusing, I know, but it's how it is. What I cannot answer though, is if the 64-bit version gets installed in the x86 folder. If I remember correctly, 64-bit programs can be allocated to either Program Files folder. It's mostly in the case where one program has two specifications (32-bit and 64-bit) that they install to each in their respective folder.

Also, I believe Adobe has 64-bit versions of Photoshop, Premiere Pro and AfterEffects where they specifically list them as (64-bit). I haven't used them in a while so I can't confirm. Hopefully someone will come by and make me look like an idiot.

[adi9]

Some "newbie" questions that came to mind after reading your post;

If the Photoshop Program is in the "Program Files (x86)" folder, does that mean that it is a 64 bit version that I have running? What does (x86) indicate when I have the 64 bit Operating System?

Thanks

In Windows 7 64 bit , all "32 bit" programs are installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\ and all native 64 bit programs are installed in C:\Program Files\.

This is default location, some installs let you to change location.If you installed Photoshop CS5 full version you will have 2 different loacations:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5

This is the 32 bit version.

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)

This is the native 64 bit version.

Not all programs install both versions, some software packages will install only the native 64 bit version (if it exists) on a 64 bit system.

[TaiBo]

Cool thanks for sharing. Warranty lookup

Look up your warranty and under original system configuration you'll see which screen you have. My part number was HC9GK.

I also looked this up using your link and found that I have;

1 1PY8N ASSEMBLY..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 17.3HDF+, LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., 3D, L702X

Is this one the normal one for this setup or do they vary?

Thanks

[TaiBo]

In Windows 7 64 bit , all "32 bit" programs are installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\ and all native 64 bit programs are installed in C:\Program Files\.

This is default location, some installs let you to change location.If you installed Photoshop CS5 full version you will have 2 different loacations:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5

This is the 32 bit version.

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)

This is the native 64 bit version.

Not all programs install both versions, some software packages will install only the native 64 bit version (if it exists) on a 64 bit system.

whargness/adi9,

Thanks to both of you for your responses.

I have Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premier Elements 8 so based on what you are both indicating, they are both the 32 bit versions. I'm very happy with these programs; I can't even imagine how much better they would be using the 64 bit versions.

[sbiza]

Hi Everyone,

After reading through a lot of posts on this thread and weighing up everything you guys have said, I decided to order a xps 17.. Original EDD was 10th of May but UPS is saying they'll deliver today ..

I got the 3D model and was wondering if anyone has tried 3d glasses other than the nvidia ones and if there are any that do work, how would you rate them?

Before someone punch me in the face, I did try to search for it, but couldnt find anything..

Thank you all for the great posts.. Been reading the thread for about a month now and it really helped me in making my mind up.. ..

I ordered these below but without a comparison with nvidia glasses I cannot say if they are as good and I never done 3d at the theater. Down side not rechargeable uses CMOS batteries. I am not a videophile so looks ok to me

Amazon.com: 3DTV Glasses (ONE) for Nvidia® 3D Vision laptops, desktops, monitors or 3DTV Corp Gen2 Emitter: Electronics