@ pigduck, u can read this thread laptop hanging problem and follow the instructions. See what happen and fortunately it worked out for that guy.

I dont think it has anything to do with XPS, it is just random depending on your OS settings or driver-related problems. Few of m9700s owners' did have the same exact problem but it all happened after they switched to non-official graphic driver. As for you now, i dont think its a driver-related problem. Eiraku, a tutorial for this one would be a good help in the future i think. Alot of ppl get stuck with the same exact idling problem.

I have been busy since last week. I hope this busy-ness will end soon. Let me know if im the lucky pick for the tutorial job.

@everyone else

Somehow the next XPS make me think, what is the best mobile card available for laptop in Malaysia for now? Dont give me the best mobile GPU in the world or i will slap the crap out of u. is there any 7950gtx ? that would be awesome demn.

oh 8400M or 8600M is great, its have some dx10 features to play on for mobile system but obviously the 78xxgtx/79xx gs/gtx have more power than the mid-range 8xxx mobile series. On the downside tho, the 7xxx series lack dx10 features. So i dont consider 8400M is the best mobile card out there (yet), since there is no dx10 games (yet). and even if there is, 78xx and higher cards will do better in terms of graphic processing but just lack in terms of other functionality (lighting,AA,etc ) or dx10 capabilities to be specific.

This post has been edited by derred: May 30 2007, 09:06 AM

Best mobile card available in Malaysia? Hmm... I'd say for now its the Quadro FX3500M on the Dell Precision M90, the GL version of the 7950GTX... With some modding and OCing, it MIGHT be as good as the 7950GTX...

Best mobile card available for the common Malaysian man? 7900GS in the Inspiron 9400 it seems...

Until somebody starts importing Compal SLI notebooks into Malaysia that is... Or at least until Dell offers the M1710 in Malaysia (or Alienware starts a Malaysia branch office)...

The current crop of 8xxxM GPUs? Other then DX10, they still lose in raw proc power in comparison with the top range 7xxx series, until they start putting 8800Ms in Inspirons that is (as Dell is the only people I think are crazy enough to do that)...

This post has been edited by Eiraku: May 30 2007, 10:43 AM

What happens is this... I leave my computer idle and it shuts off after awhile. Then when I want to turn it on again, I notice the power light is blinking... so I think I should use the touchpad but nothing works. Then I press the power button and still nothing (this was one scenario)... the power light is still blinking and after trying again, it just doesn't work anymore so I have to remove the battery to get it work again.

The other scenario is when I try to resume by moving my finger on the touchpad or pressing the power button, windows comes back on but the welcome sound replays over and over again... like it's jammed (like a broken record).

Guess what? I was informed by DELL this morning that my replacement unit will come with a webcam too. 'Cos I casually mentioned to the customer service person in charge yesterday that the DELL promotion this week includes 2GB RAM and a WEBCAM for the same price that I bought mine last week. I don't know if it was me or because it's this week's promotion. Not bad...

About the idle hang thing, you're welcomed to write up a tut about it... For me, its just too random a thing, I mean it can be the GPU drivers, any other driver, or a lot of other things... Its too general...

If it happened to me, maybe I can post how I got through it... But my M1210's thankfully rock stable as of now, so I just don't really know...

But if you can narrow it down to a understandable tutorial, it would save some of us a lot of time... But take your time doing it, take care of your busy-ness first...

I CAN put up some tuts on customizing Vista though... Some system file mods, some Avedesk and Samurize modding, very basic stuff... And maybe "what to do if a key pops out of your keyboard, and you don't want to call the on-site people for some unknown reason" (which happened to me)...

That's just Dell for you... A few months ago, I casually dropped the fact that the M1210's price dropped a few days after I got it... Guess what they did...

They refunded the entire price difference...

If any of our CompleteCover'ed M1210s breaks beyond repair next year, the owner can most probably look forward to owning a brand new, Santa Rosa M121x... That's just Dell's way...

This post has been edited by Eiraku: May 30 2007, 10:42 AM

I get u, it might be the same common problem or its not. Try to read (for now) the thread i post on my previous reply. Im thinking of doing tut for this common and annoying problem.

@Eiraku

good idea about the tut on the Vista. Tut always help alot of ppl so i definitely would support u to do so.

about the 8800M or other top-of-the-line cards, yeah Dell is crazy enuf for that. but its' cousin is even crazier by cramming 2 cards in a notebook; SLi in a notebook really fascinated me.

and oh, thats how it's cousin warranty works too.

This post has been edited by derred: May 30 2007, 10:57 AM

Hi guys,

Any of you ever "upgrade" from Vista to XP??? I found that Vista is so much unless at the moment.

If yes, mind to provide me info on what drivers / softwares needed. What are the things that I need to be cautious? Anyway, I don't want to make any changes to the Recovery Drive, just in case someday...............I might want to roll back to Vista when I find it useful.... Thanks Thanks....


BTW.....I want to retain the Media Direct too...

This post has been edited by laihuhng: May 30 2007, 12:15 PM

If you own an Alienware, you should realise that it's not Dell's cousin, or children perhaps that's cramming those stuff in there, it's done by Clevo.

If u take every word seriously and underestimate the intelligence of Alienware Corp., you should realise that world 1st SLi notebook is not made by Clevo, it is made by Arima designed by Alienware themselves. I do know Clevo was part of their lineup, but that is history. Now Alienware's m9700 and m9750, both are made by Arima.

For these lineup, Alienware is the only US manufacturer that has the systems available for sale, at least at the moment.

yes go and do your research now.

This post has been edited by derred: May 30 2007, 07:42 PM

All the drivers needed can be downloaded from the link in frontpage (the dell support website)... Just make sure you TURN YOUR BLUETOOTH on before you do anything that involves a full OS reinstall... I found that part the hard way...

Just pop the CD in, clear the main partition and install XP there... That shouldn't disturb the recovery partition or Media Direct in any way...

BTW, how may of you actually USE Media Direct on a regular basis? I'd rather turn the M1210 on to play DVDs, so I cleared up the MD partition and claimed the 2GBs for myself... What about you guys?

I'm having fun VNC'ing my ground floor Fujitsu lappy at the moment... Never knew remote controlling computers were this fun... Now I'm having less and less reasons to go downstairs, which is bad...

I'm beginning to wonder if it's just my XPS (they haven't called me to send the replacement unit) or just Dell is general.

Having problems playing DVd. First I thought it was the DVD 'cos I couldn't play it on my home theatre or on my PC. finally it worked on my Dell after multiple tries... but after trying 2 more DVDs on my DELL and facing the same problem, i am wondering what's wrong?? It makes horrible and loud spinning noises... and grinding noises... then when it plays, some times it spins so loudly it overpowers the sound.... then it hangs midway...

I played the exact same DVD on my Compaq V3204TU and it detected it immediately and got to work playing it...

What's up with DELL?!

Could it be Vista you think?

I was halfway watching the dvd then it hung... and now it's just stuck.. and grinding... I'm quite annoyed at DELL actually. It could be the DVd but if Compaq could run it perfectly 1st time, I don't see why it should be so problematic on my XPS. I restarted it .... ejected and put in the CD so many times and when I finally got it working, it hung... ARGH!

I sent my Compaq for repairs and just got it back today so I thought, maybe it's the DVD, do one more test and it runs perfectly on my Compaq. Compaq and intermittent sound issues so they changed my system board. They did it all in three days.

Anyway, I'm getting really annoyed with XPS.

Well, that makes it simple... If they DON'T give you a replacement unit, sue them... Or if you've had enough of the XPS's unstable temperament, and you're still within the 14 day Total Satisfaction period, you can consider getting a full refund for the XPS and wait for the new crop of Centrino Pro lappies...

Well, does has the lemon law whereby if you have 3 replacement parts within 1 month, they will send you a new replacement.

I don't think it's a good idea to sue them. Heck, you can just threaten to report to FOMCA or the like and they should wet their pants already.

They are sending my new unit tomorrow. we'll see how it goes.

So far, I'm still trying to play the DVD. I thought maybe the Compaq was just lucky... inserted the DVD into Compaq again and it resumed where I left off! Smoothly and no glitches.

Dell on the other hand can't seem to play the DVD... after at least 10 times of ejecting and inserting and even then it hangs when I maximise the screen. I tried using Media Centre and MediaDirect and both hang! Or I get it successfully to play the video and 5 minutes into the video, it hangs...

I didn't know I could get a full refund within 14 days. Maybe I should test it over the weekend and if the new unit still gives problems, I'll ask for a full refund on Monday ('cos I bought it 2 Mondays ago) which would make it exactly 14 days I think... I should have called them earlier with my wobbly problem, eh?

I'm so annoyed, I am thinking getting an ACER is better off. GRR!

After hanging for 15 minutes... the dvd suddenly started playing. SO SCARY! Less than 2 minutes later, it's hanging again....

This post has been edited by pigduck: May 31 2007, 08:09 PM

Urgh, another true blue lemon it seems... Micheal Dell really needs to do something about their product quality assurance...

About the 14 days thing, its 14 days from the day you receive your printed invoice... Not 14 days from the day you received your laptop... That means that you should have a few more days after Monday to return it (but get it done Monday anyway, ASAP is good)...

But beware, the "full" refund will have shipping costs (to cover the shipping of the defective unit back to Dell, where god knows what they do with it) deducted from it (about RM100++)... Its just Dell's way of saying they love you...

Sorry to hear, stick with ur investment.. u pay a couple of thousands for it they must take ur problem seriously. This year US consumer magazine telling the highest rating items for repair and replacement are laptops. So it depends really i owned an Acer few years back, have to say everyone has their bad luck. They will replace you with the new one so im thinking no need for the idling tutorial..

Thanks for the heads up Eiraku... boohoo Dell. Well hopefully they won't replace a lemon with a lemon. To be honest, if I have to pay R100+ to get rid of something that annoys me and makes me unhappy... it's better than suffering for the next few years with RM4000 lemon.

Normally, you get products that work ok in the first few months and you know, you live with it but like you say, I pay a couple of thousands in the hopes that it works from the get go. Obviously, it's not a worthy investment so far.

hee hee No need tutorials for now derred. Thanks...

I mailed the customer service yesterday and she hasn't replied yet. I wonder what's going on.

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Added on June 1, 2007, 2:32 pmSo, my replacement Dell XPS M1210 arrived!!

Good news is that it played the DVD that I couldn't play on my lemon.

In fact, I sat it side by side, put the DVD into my lemon to see if I was just being mean and it didn't work. Then I put the DVD into my replacement and it played perfectly.

Decided to try ejecting and reinserting and the replacement started from where I left off.

Then I tried to maximise and minimise the screen. It still worked although a bit... jerky. Then when I carried it around the DVD stopped spinning for a bit but resumed after.

Here's the thing. On my lemon, the left wrist part of my laptop was wobbly slightly and a bit unstable. On my replacement, the right side is unstable! I tested them next to each other on the floor.

Then I put it on the table and the replacement seemed more stable. A bit strange. Could my tiled floor be uneven? I placed each laptop on a tile each (since one tile can fit the whole XPS).

Here's my question... how solid is your XPS? When you press down on the wrist pad, does it bounce? i.e. does it move? Does it cave in slightly (since it's made of plastic)? When I press down the left side of my lemon, it bounces and caves in and when I press down on the right side of my replacement, it caves in slightly and bounces.

Let me know how your XPS-es are... do they do this?

This post has been edited by pigduck: Jun 1 2007, 02:32 PM

Good to hear about the replacement... Hope everything else works fine...

Does it flex you mean, the wristpads? Yeah, mine flexes very, very slightly... Left side a bit more then the right... But in terms of flex, my father's ThinkPad T43 has a heck of a lot more wrist pad flex then the M1210...

Granted, the T43 is older, but it's an invincible Thinkpad...

If it moves no more then a millimetre, it should be fine... If it flexes in more then a few millimetres, panic...

This post has been edited by Eiraku: Jun 1 2007, 03:05 PM

wow to hear a lappie flex or wobbles and stuff, i feel lucky to own 17 incher lappy. At least on the plus side, mine doesnt wobble or flex at all. It just sits stably ever after.

@pigduck,

i guess ur replacement just working so fine. For the OS slowdown, let me know if u r using XP, i have few tips to give an extra boost (10-15%) for just OS interface. Have fun while the lappy has the crown. In 6-12 months time, i bet most of us already felt like we all own a bunch of lemons.. especially when 8800M inside Santa Rosa comes out.

And even more so if Dell's crazy enough to stuff that 8800M in a 15/14 inch XPS...

and oh, just to inform, Dell is cutting 10% of their workforce as they are making not "much" profit this time.

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Added on June 1, 2007, 3:17 pmyeah thats right.. but i heard its called technology rather than crazy.. haha j/k



This post has been edited by derred: Jun 1 2007, 03:17 PM