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I got my XPS 420, took an image of HDD (32 bit OEM OS) and installed Vista Ultimate x64, downloaded and installed all the drivers from support.dell.com and then also updated newer drivers for the video and network cards and updated the firmware on the ATI Digital Cable Tuner.   Everything that I’ve tested so far seems to be working OK, except for DVD playback in Media Center and Media Player.  Playback is choppy with video getting hung and buzzing audio. CyberLink’s PowerDVD plays just fine.

It seems that the DVD playback only gets choppy if I try to move around in Media Center while the DVD is playing.  But, if I maximize and/or unmaximize the window it resets the DVD playback and re-syncs the audio/video.  Playback is smooth then.

DVD playback on Media Player is a different story which really doesn’t work at all.

I had previously purchased the CinePlayer DVD Decoder for Windows Vista.  So, I tried that and it didn’t help DVD playback in Media Player.

System Specs:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9300 (6MB Cache,2.50GHz,1333FSB)
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz – 4 DIMMs
• Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB
• Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)
• Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition
• Single ATITV Wonder™Digital Cable Tuner with Remote

Has anyone seen any issues with DVD playback with the Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB video card?
 
I’ve not tested a Blu-ray disk playback or digital cable yet.

**Updated 5/29/08 1:15pm -  I just tested Blu-ray disk playback and it worked like a charm in PowerDVD.

I finally decided to buy a Dell XPS 420 desktop computer this weekend.  Dell is running a great deal for Mother’s Day; $350 off XPS 420 systems.  I’m not a mother, but who cares right?  I can get the configuration that I want cheaper than I can get with my Employee Purchase Program discount mainly because I don’t have to take the 3 year warranty on the Mother’s Day deal.

This system is configured with the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner.  I really want to start recording digital/HD TV content including Premium stations with Windows Vista Media Center.  With my current system I’m only able to record the analog stations and the quality leaves a lot to be desired on a 46″ LCD HD TV.

I went down to Charter Cable yesterday to talk to them about Cable Cards.  They were not very helpful.  Both the woman at the front counter and the technician that I eventually talked to really couldn’t answer my questions.  The reason is that they haven’t hooked up that many cable cards in PCs before.  They did say that I would be able to get the digital/HD and premium stations.  But, I could have a problem with voltage feedback into the cable lines.  After further questioning this could be an issue with any TV tuner card hooked up with a coax to the cable company.

Here’s my configuration:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9300 (6MB Cache,2.50GHz,1333FSB)
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Digital Cable Support
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz – 4 DIMMs
• Dell USB Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
• 22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
• Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB
• 750GB – 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
• Dell Media Card Reader included in Dell Bluetooth Package
• Dell Optical USB Mouse
• Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)
• Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition
• Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader with Bluetooth
• 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor,24×7 Phone Support
• Single ATITV Wonder™Digital Cable Tuner with Remote
• McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 24-months
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
• Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
• No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
• No Productivity software pre-installed
• No Modem Requested

Michael Dell announced at CES 2007 back in January that Dell would begin offering an XPS 410 “Dell Home Media Suite” that included the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner which allows high definition (HD) content to be viewed and recorded with Windows Media Center.  After much delays and changes in the XPS 410 configuration and appearance, the ATI TV Wonder is now available on the high end XPS 410 models that also include blu-ray disk drives.

The ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner supports CableCard which allows HD, digital and premium cable TV content to be viewed or recorded without a set-top box.

My Dell XPS M1330 finally arrived yesterday.  I was pleasantly surprised that it showed up after some confusion over its DHL tracking status.

As I have posted about previously, the first thing I always do when getting a new computer is to install a fresh copy of Windows without all the “crap” software installed.  In this case, I also wanted to change the version of Windows from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate basically for the benefit of the BitLocker feature.

Here’s the problem.  You knew it was coming.  When loading a non-OEM version of Vista that has not been modified by Dell to include the correct drivers the installation will fail with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).  Then when booting into safe mode to troubleshoot the problem the system hangs while trying to load the crcdisk.sys driver.  It turns out that “safe mode with command prompt” will not even allow the system to boot.

So, I opened up a chat session with Dell support.  After describing the problem Dell’s official response is “that the warranty does not cover installing a non OEM operating system (which means we only support installing the OS that came with the computer).”   Dell Customer Care and I agreed that the problem most likely is with the SATA drivers.  An option is to try to load the updated SATA drivers during the installation process.  The only problem is there is a list of 10 or so SATA controllers contained in the driver that can be downloaded from Dell.com.  My first attempt at trying a random controller from the list didn’t work.  Dell could not confirm which SATA controller is in the XPS M1330.  I requested that Dell Customer Care find the answer to this problem and they agreed to get back to me via email.

In the mean time I re-installed the OEM version of Vista Home Premium and got my laptop back up and running.

Updated 8/28/07 – Dell Customer Care has still not responded via email with the information on the SATA controller drivers that they agreed to follow up on.

Updated 1/13/08 – I’m still running Vista Home Premium that came with the laptop.  I haven’t had any problems with it and have been afraid to try to get Vista Ultimate installed because I don’t know how many times the OEM version of Vista Home Premium that came with the system will activate.   I’m satisfied to leave it as is for now.

Great news!!  My new Dell XPS M1330 has finally shipped.  I should have it by the end of the week.

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end

My Dell M1330 Notebook was scheduled to be shipped out today.  When I checked my order status today Dell has again delayed my order.  This time it is a 3 1/2 week delay and they posted a Federal Trade Commission requirement to ask if I want the order canceled. 

Due to unforeseen circumstance, we have experienced another delay with your order number 723xxxxx. Our new anticipated ship date will be on or before 8/28/2007. Due to this additional delay, the Federal Trade Commission requires we receive your consent to continue with this order else we will be forced to cancel the order automatically.

You must choose one of the following Links:

Consent to this delay and continue with this order  
Consent to this delay and all future delays and continue with this order  
Cancel this order

How bad do I really want this laptop?  I believe it is going to be an awesome laptop, but I am very displeased with how Dell has handled the M1330 product launch.  I ordered my laptop on the second day it was available and at the current expected ship date it estimated to arrive more the 2 months later.  That is totally unacceptable.

But wait, the automated telephone system says the order status is in the “boxing stage”.  So what is it?  Is it in production with a 3 1/2 week delay or is it boxing with shipment in the next day or two?   

Let’s see if customer service can give me an answer.  Ishrath from Inda is going to do everything she can find me an answer. Great!! (rolling my eyes)  Ishrath reassured me my order will be shipped within the next 2 days and she will personally track the order for me and let me know it’s status via email.

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end

It seems with the high demand and the inability of Dell to fulfill existing orders they have decided to raise the price of the new Dell XPS M1330.   I placed my order on June 28th using my Employee Purchase Program (EPP) discount for $1,820.96.  My configuration is in a previous blog post.  Now, the same configuration with a free bag will cost 11% more or $2,024.68.  I’m happy I ordered mine when I did.  Now, if only it will ship!!

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end

It’s official now. Dell has sent an email notifying me of a delay in shipping my new Dell XPS M1330 Notebook which was purchased on June 28th.  The original ship date was scheduled for July 29 and it has now been revised to Sept 3.

Here is an exert from the Dell email: “Order Delayed.  Although we had anticipated being able to ship your order sooner, we are experiencing an unexpected delay and have adjusted the estimated ship date (see Revised Estimated Ship Date below). Click on the Order Status bar below to view the current status of your order.”

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end

Dell’s blog site, Direct2Dell.com is reporting that  the XPS M1330 notebooks should begin shipping from Dell factories starting tomorrow, July 11th.  Check your order status for potential updates to your expected ship dates.

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end

Updated 7/14: Good news!!  Drivers for the Dell XPS M1330 were released on July 11th.

One of the things that really bugs me about pre-installed computers and especially computers geared for the home market is all of the “crap” that is installed by the vendor including trial versions of software, internet service provider software and other useless programs.  So, the first thing that I do when I get a new computer is reformat the hard drive and reload a clean operating system (OS).  However, in order to so I need access to all the drivers and other software that is required for the OS to run smoothly on the hardware.

That brings me to my recent Dell XPS M1330 notebook purchase.   I ordered the notebook at the end of June and have been watching Dell’s support website to see if they have released the drivers yet.  Dell’s support website, support.dell.com allows their customers to get access to the drivers and other downloads for the computers they purchase.   These are the same drivers that come pre-installed on new computers.  In addition, the drivers are updated over time as new versions are released.

As of today, no real drivers have been released for the XPS M1330.  The only download that is showing up is “Dell Support 3.4″, which isn’t a driver at all and I would categorize it as “crap” software.  I’m not overly alarmed at this point that the drivers have not been released.  The scheduled ship date of my new notebook isn’t until July 29th.

When I ordered the notebook, Dell said that the drivers for new computer models would start showing up around the time customers start receiving their computers.   So, keep an eye out at support.dell.com.  It could be an indication when the XPS M1330 has started shipping.

Update:  My laptop finally arrived on August 8th.  Check out the ongoing saga in my next post: Dell XPS M1330, the story doesn’t end