Another XPS 15 user reporting in

Generally speaking, it's like what vernon91 has suggested.
But, mine was delivered within 10 days (ordered on 29th Nov to delivered on 8th Dec).

Thanks for the suggestion on NotePal Infinite.
I was looking into buying it before this.
Now, waiting for U3 to arriver.

My XPS 15 set is finally complete.
CM NotePal U3, Logitech Wireless K340 and Marathon M705 just arrived today.
Need some getting used to the ultra fast scroll of the M705.
Still has some installation to go before I have time to do some simple bench for sreenies.

You may get it in Lowyat only if you managed to find someone that carry the stock which is not likely to be the case as it's still fairly new.

You may try your luck can't promise anything.

As for online, you are free to choose between check, cash, online transfer, credit card or easy payment schemes.

Well, just sharing my experience with U3.
This is actually my first time purchasing a laptop cooler.
I've chosen the CM U3 over all the others after spending some time at the CM laptop catalog.

So far, my experience with U3 is pretty positive.
Even though, it's huge but it's fairly light weight and the construction is solid enough to support XPS 15.
The removable fans proved useful for custom placement for maximum heat dissipation.

There's a feature of U3 which I haven't tested so far, strapping the laptop on it for traveling.
Due to the sheer size of it, I can't fit it into my backpack so I can only carry it bare which I wouldn't want to.

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 12 2010, 11:08 AM

Additional fans can be purchased and fitted to any CM U1/2/3 cooler.

Here are some screenshots of startup temperature and gaming temperature for XPS 15 Core i7 and GT 435M
Please take note that I'm using CM U3 when taking these screens.



This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 12 2010, 07:59 PM

I set it to max and all 3 fans are positioned to blow at the vents in the center.

I'd say the fans are hardly noticeableeven at max.

My opinion would be as long as there's adequate cooling the temperature would be maintained at a reasonable level.

I'd try to get the temperature readings without cooler as soon as possible

The difference is huge.
In full HD, everything (Menus, icons, buttons, text etc) is really a lot smaller than usual.
Therefore, Windows 7 will set the DPI to higher (120DPI/125%) by default to accommodate for that.
In windows, things aren't that bad as the DPI settings is already taken care.
But, still sometimes you will notice some quirks here and there. (e.g. Text being truncated in some software installer as it's larger)
Overall, nothing major and it's all within acceptable limits.

However, things're really different in web browsing as browser tends to ignore OS DPI settings.
This is especially true for Google Chrome which ignores your OS DPI settings leaving you with super small text.
To make matter worst, no global font size settings for contents...
The only option you've is to set custom zoom level for every single page you visit or use one of the 3rd party chrome extension.
I tried the chrome extension, it does what it claims to do but anyhow some web site will appear very broken using that.
So, I uninstalled Chrome due to this and switched to Firefox.

On the other hand, Firefox is slightly better.
It provides a global font size settings for contents.
Still, that ain't bulletproofed as it doesn't work for every web site available.
Anyhow, it lessens the need to adjust the zoom level.
So, I planned to stick with Firefox for the mean time.

As for IE, it seems that the text scales the best as it seems to use the OS DPI settings.
I can't confirm that as I haven't tested that thoroughly.
I've only used it a few times to get the software I need when I first received my laptop.

If you don't require:
1. the wider color gamut
2. extra workspace
Or, if you game a lot.
It's better for you to skip the full HD screen.

Otherwise, get it and live with the fact that everything is very small.

I'll try to get some screens for the text scaling between IE, Firefox and Chrome up just to give you some idea.

As mentioned by others, get the latest version from CPUID.
Btw, I'm using the 64 bit version.

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 13 2010, 08:56 AM

Here are the screens for text size comparison in IE, Chrome and Firefox.

Out of the Box - Google.com


Zoom to match IE - Google.com


More screens to be posted but I've reach my photo upload limit.

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 13 2010, 02:45 PM

I positioned all my fans near the center to blow at the center located vents



Roughly something as above.

You may uninstall software like Dell Dock, Dell Datasafe etc or even everything except drivers.
It really depends on you.

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 13 2010, 07:27 PM

I removed the facial recognition. I don't find it really useful...

If you've included the OS DVD media kit then you may.
That's what the media kit does which Dell used to give it FOC.

The recovery disk restores the factory installation (which includes Win 7, drivers, and Dell included softwares)
The OS DVD media kit actually includes a Win 7 OEM installation DVD which can be used to install Win 7 only.
Drivers and Dell included Softwares are on separate DVDs.

---

Added on December 14, 2010, 8:21 amDell actually creates a hidden partition that stores the recovery image and diagnostic softwares in it. (Right click on My Computer > Manage > Storage > Disk Management, then you can see that hidden partition)
So, the burning of the recovery disk is actually optional.

Still it is recommended to burn it as:
1. You have a backup copy in case the partition is corrupted
2. You may then choose to delete it yourself to reclaim 10GB+ space

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 14 2010, 08:21 AM

Doing that won't affect the warranty is just that you will lost the recovery image forever if you never burn it.
It's up to you to decide whether the recovery image is worth keeping.

As the recovery image only restore your laptop to the factory state.
Once new drivers and updates are released, you'd have more work to do.

For example, after 1 year of usage, you feel that your laptop requires a format.
So, you use the recovery image to restore your OS to factory state.
But, you realized that Dell has released quite some drivers and updates.
Therefore, you need to go to the trouble of uninstalling and reinstalling the new drivers.

On the other hand, using the DVD media kit.
Insert the Win 7 DVD to install OS only.
Then visit Dell online to download latest drivers and updates for installation.
Finally, you have a clean OS installation with latest drivers.

Don't get the Core i7 if battery life is a main concern.
It drains battery like mad even having 9 cell won't last you long.

I just tested my i7 and 6 cell battery life yesterday with some browsing and work.
It never lasted more than 2hrs, I suppose approximately 1.5hrs at most.
You won't be surprised if lasted less than 1hr if the CPU load is high on 6 cell.
Having 9 cell most probably get you extra 30 to 60 minutes of usage.

If you really need the processing power of quad core, it's better to wait for Sandy Bridge (Intel next gen CPUs).

The 9 cell will tilt your laptop at a certain angle as it's larger than 6 cell.
If you don't mind that and battery life is a main concern then go ahead.

Please take note that having 9 cell on i7 would at most give you additional 60 mins of battery life.
As my 6 cell lasted less than 2 hrs, ideally I'd say 6 cell would give you 2 hrs or so.

Based on that, we can roughly approximate as such:
6 cell = 2hrs
9 cell = 9/6 * 2 hrs = 3hrs

That's to enable Intel VT (Virtualization Technology)
Only useful if you run virtual machines using VMWare Player or VirtualBox

Having 6GB upgrade doesn't lose all dual channel capability.
Flex mode can be enabled if the mobo supports it which allows partial dual channel support.

This post has been edited by J.J: Dec 20 2010, 09:53 AM

I supposed it'll be over-elevated as the elevation provided by U3 is quite high. (I would say the highest part of U3 is about 3cm off the ground)

Operation degree : 10 degree (fix)