Waste of Space

UPDATE #2 (1/26/2009):

Not to leave this topic unattended, but it seems that a few months after I got the Dell 1535, someone found a way to “somewhat” fix the speaker issue themselves. Figures. (my wife is still 1000% satisfied with her MacBook though and wouldn’t trade it back)

The problem with the speakers appears to be with the Dell sound drivers… the key is to completely remove those drivers and let Vista replace them with its own.

Here is a link to the article I just found regarding this “fix”: LINK
Here is a link to the forum I found the above link on: FORUM

Some of the people say that while it drastically improves the sound, it still kinda sucks…. so if you are keeping this laptop, you may want to give it a try.

============ END OF UPDATE #2============

UPDATE (11/19):

Well, I worked with Dell to get a replacement laptop sent out to me and to return the “broken” one. The problem was that the NEW laptop sounded just as bad as the other one!

After a few days, my wife and I checked the local Best Buy and saw that they had the Studio 1535 model in stock. I played some music on the store model and it too sounded the same.

We ended up returning both laptops and Dell issued me a full credit so I didn’t have to pay a thing.

Rather than try another Dell or Windows-based laptop, I converted my wife to a Mac. I bought her the new Macbook…. and she is LOVING it! The speakers sound a LOT better than the Dell, but then again, it did cost more. However, having been using Mac’s for a few years now, I stand by them and say they are well worth the price for our purposes.

============ END OF UPDATE ============

Last month, as a graduation present, I bought my wife a new Dell Studio 1535 laptop computer. This was to replace an older Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that I handed down to her. The old laptop was clunky, large, loud, and a bit on the heavy side.

I had good experiences with Dell systems in the past (when it comes to Windows), so I thought I give them more money.

Well, turns out that there is a problem with the speakers…. at least.. I think there is a problem. The rub is that we can’t find another Dell Studio 1535 to compare this with to see if we indeed have a problem.

Here are the steps I have taken and the problem I am having:

• Audio from the laptop speakers is very poor in quality. This problem has existed since first unpacking the laptop and starting it up for the first time in July. The audio from the main speakers sound as if there may be a short in the wiring somewhere inside the laptop… as they sound very “tinny” as if there was a poor or partial connection. When compared to a cell phone on speakerphone, the cell phone sounds MUCH better. I have updated both the BIOS to “A05″ and audio drivers with “6.10.0.6017, A05″, but still sounds bad. The sound from the headphones is fine.

• In addition to installing the latest drivers/BIOS, I have also run the Diagnostic CD that came with the laptop as suggested. As I suspected (since the speakers ³physically² work), there was no problem detected by the Diagnostic CD. I suspected that the speakers may be faulty or sub-standard.

I only wish a store around here carried the Dell Studio so that I can see if they are supposed to sound this way. I really doubt it though… I¹ve had many Dells in the past and not even my old Toshiba laptop from 1993 sounded this bad.
I’ve attached an MP3 to demonstrate to you the suxx0r factor of the speakers… hope it plays

Cheers!
Mark