M1330 well-known problems

[alewela]

I'm in decision making phase of choosing a notebook. I like Dell XPS M1330. But I've heard about many problems it has.

Here is a list of well-known problems of M1330 that I heard about:

1) CPU whining
2) Build quality issue
3) A07 BIOS problems
4) big sound of DVD driver

Are these problems still there in newly produced M1330s? Are there any other well-known unsolved problems of M1330 that are not listed?

Thanks in advance.

[Dalantech]

I ordered my m1330 about four weeks ago and I've had it for a week. Here's my answers to your questions:

1) Non existent -no CPU whining.

2) I think it's the best built laptop I've ever owned -so good that my next laptop will be an XPS.

3) I have A08 or A09 -not sure. I'll check the next time it boots.

4) The DVD drive makes some noise when I insert and eject a disk -they all do. It's not loud, and while spinning a disk it makes less noise than the tray loader in my old Asus A8js.

I was a little nervous about getting an m1330 from all of the complaints that I read on this forum, but I couldn't be happier with the laptop! Get the travel charger when you order -as thin as a deck of playing cards and not much bigger in length or width...

[DOHXPSFan]

Originally Posted by Dalantech

I ordered my m1330 about four weeks ago and I've had it for a week. Here's my answers to your questions:

1) Non existent -no CPU whining.

2) I think it's the best built laptop I've ever owned -so good that my next laptop will be an XPS.

3) I have A08 or A09 -not sure. I'll check the next time it boots.

4) The DVD drive makes some noise when I insert and eject a disk -they all do. It's not loud, and while spinning a disk it makes less noise than the tray loader in my old Asus A8js.

I was a little nervous about getting an m1330 from all of the complaints that I read on this forum, but I couldn't be happier with the laptop! Get the travel charger when you order -as thin as a deck of playing cards and not much bigger in length or width...

Me too have not had any of them problems either with it and has been going pretty good so far. I've only had it for almost 2 weeks now and did a little video editing with it yesterday and it did pretty good for only having 1gig of ram I will be upgrading to 2 gigs as soon as I can afford it too! I'd definitely get another dell XPS M1330 if I had the money they are awesome.

[SoundsGood]

Hey, has anyone here compared the m1330 to the Sony SZ series? Just wondering if they have similar "issues" or not.

[TomOak]

I had TONS of issues with my 1330. But I have to say that customer service was awesome, AWESOME. They took care of issues quickly, and when they determined that I had a lemon, they gave me a new one. Build quality on this one is great. It's an awesome laptop at an awesome price. I've heard the Sony is great too, but for about a grand more. Only issue I have on this is the occassional "clunk" sound from the Samsung HD (HM250JI). Apparently this is not a problem, but rather something to do with the samsung firmware. Maybe just request that you get something other than a Samsung HDD in yours?

Hope this helps.

[catxk]

Got my m1330 about a month ago with the T8100 and Geforce 8400 gs.

1) I got some CPU whine but it really doesn't bother me. Haven't even contacted support about it, although it might be a good thing for future reference :-)
2) Quality was the first thing that hit me when I lifted it out of the box. It's amazing.
3) Updated from A08 to A09 as soon as I got it, very easy to do and hasn't had any BIOS related problems at all (I think, see below).
4) The DVD drive doesn't produce any more sound than any other slot-in, and apart from the non-disturbing "suck in" noise it does during start up, it's all quiet when it's empty.

The problems that I do have is that my computer freezes frequently when I put it to sleep. I'm not sure if this is a Vista (got Swedish Vista, so not running SP1 which supposedly should fix "sleep problems") issue, a Dell issue or a BIOS issue. Also, the sound doesn't go automagically to my tv when I plugin the HDMI cable which is quite annoying but easily fixable by choosing HDMI as sound output within whichever media player I'm running.

[Dalantech]

Also, at the risk of sounding like a "fan boy", the quality and performance of the m1330 is so good that my next laptop will be an XPS. I'm a network engineer who comes into contact with a lot of different computer equipment and this new laptop just blows me away...

[Samuel613]

Originally Posted by catxk

Also, the sound doesn't go automagically to my tv when I plugin the HDMI cable which is quite annoying but easily fixable by choosing HDMI as sound output within whichever media player I'm running.

Since the HDMI also doubles as DVI out (with a cable or adapter), it makes sense to not automatically switch the audio over, since many people (yours truly included) use it that way, and do want the sound to continue to emanate from its default sound card and not from their LCD which can't handle the sound.

[catxk]

Originally Posted by Samuel613

Since the HDMI also doubles as DVI out (with a cable or adapter), it makes sense to not automatically switch the audio over, since many people (yours truly included) use it that way, and do want the sound to continue to emanate from its default sound card and not from their LCD which can't handle the sound.

You're certainly right there, but would the option to chose behavior be too much to ask? (if I've missed something here, do tell :-))

[dianem]

[quote=catxk;3213727]Got my m1330 about a month ago with the T8100 and Geforce 8400 gs.

3) Updated from A08 to A09 as soon as I got it, very easy to do and hasn't had any BIOS related problems at all (I think, see below).

Can you explain A08 and upgrading A09. Thanks