Dell XPS Order Nightmare - Page 5

Pitch · #81 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsio

Most slot loaders don't, and this one doesn't. The soft button is not completely comfirmed yet, but is concerning.

Only thing I can dig up about it. Doesn't look promising.

Áedán · #82 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:09 AM

The ZD review indicated that it was a soft eject button rather than hardware (in as much as any DVD drive's eject button is hardware at least). However, given that it doesn't appear to be a major problem with Macs, I'm not sure how much of an issue it would be for a Dell.

dsio · #83 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:11 AM

When you buy it, you have 30 days to try it, and if you don't like it you can sumarily send it back for a full refund. If it doesn't meet my needs I'll dump it, in favour of either an SZ6 Sony Vaio, or an Apply Macbook Pro 12" (looks like being announced at his steveness' next book burning).

Honestly I'm likeing the idea of the macbook pro more and more, except for the one button touchpad, which is just the stupidest idea ever. And then the fact that its a complete bitch getting linux to run on macbooks due to further apple stupidity.

The vaio is the best looking by far, and the laptop is made out of about 60% carbon fibre 40% magnesium, is crazy light, has good battery life, and has dual graphics cards (a GF8400GS and an intel integrated) for a choice between power and battery life at the flip of a switch. Down side, is that Sonys customer support rep (for computers) is even worse than Dell's, and you pay about a $1000 premium for the same specs, with only a 1 year warranty.

In contrast the Dell has a 3 year warranty, extended to 5 in my case, including accidental damage/destruction/spills/drops and theft coverage.

dsio · #84 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Áedán

The ZD review indicated that it was a soft eject button rather than hardware (in as much as any DVD drive's eject button is hardware at least). However, given that it doesn't appear to be a major problem with Macs, I'm not sure how much of an issue it would be for a Dell.

It could potentially be an issue for me though since I have no intension of using Vista outside of a virtual environment. If it is a soft eject button that is requiring the media buttons driver to be installed, then I'm in trouble running Fedora.

Losing the media buttons doesn't bother me in the slightest, as I'd rather disable them anyway, but if I can't eject, thats a big issue.

Áedán · #85 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:16 AM

1.8Kg (4lbs) isn't what I'd call crazy light, especially as there's been other laptops that weigh as little as 1.1Kg (2.5lbs)...

Áedán · #86 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsio

It could potentially be an issue for me though since I have no intension of using Vista outside of a virtual environment. If it is a soft eject button that is requiring the media buttons driver to be installed, then I'm in trouble running Fedora.

Why is this an issue? CD/DVD drives have had an 'eject' command for quite a number of years, and linux distros have used it to eject the disc when they've finished. If the softkey is mapped onto the keyboard, then you should be able to map the cli 'eject' command to that key.

dsio · #87 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:20 AM

The lightest of the new generation SZ6 vaios is down around 1.6Kg, and this is still a 13.3" machine with a beefy processor, an nvidia 8400, and good battery life.

dsio · #88 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Áedán

Why is this an issue? CD/DVD drives have had an 'eject' command for quite a number of years, and linux distros have used it to eject the disc when they've finished. If the softkey is mapped onto the keyboard, then you should be able to map the cli 'eject' command to that key.

Yea someone just reminded me of that, I'd completely forgotten. Its still a pain in the ass though when its something that could have been avoided.

Áedán · #89 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:24 AM

If the soft keys are accessible through the standard scancodes, then it should be relatively trivial to add some small bit of code to handle the softkeys... Then it ceases to be a problem!

aghastpumpkin · #90 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:46 AM

I am not sure why this is such an issue - in over ten years of using a PC every day I've never had a CD stuck in a PC or laptop.
Sorry to sound like I'm picking on you Dsio!

Áedán · #91 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsio

The lightest of the new generation SZ6 vaios is down around 1.6Kg, and this is still a 13.3" machine with a beefy processor, an nvidia 8400, and good battery life.

To be honest, one of the TZ12 (1.2Kg) machines would interest me a bit more, but only because I'm sick of the weight of laptops. A max of 2GB of RAM is a bit limiting though.

Samuknow · #92 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 09:49 AM

Is the soft eject not accessed via the bios or board level? It would seem crazy for it to be software only via the os.

keithwalton · #93 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 10:00 AM

I wouldnt be surprised that the soft eject is why they wont sell it with linux ...

The drive should have a hardware / brute force eject anyway though i wouldnt recomend using it ever, slot loaders are quite violent with force ejections.

As for the robson tech thing, it is what i thought it was but couldnt remember its name lol. Its a baby flash drive used for boosting vista.

dsio · #94 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Áedán

To be honest, one of the TZ12 (1.2Kg) machines would interest me a bit more, but only because I'm sick of the weight of laptops. A max of 2GB of RAM is a bit limiting though.

Yea the weight and battery life tempted me too, but the ram limit, the ULV CPU, and the integrated graphics are a bit too cramping tbh. The 8400 is nothing special by any means, but its adequate for anything current at medium settings on the panel's resolution.

Daniel ~ · #95 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aghastpumpkin

I am not sure why this is such an issue - in over ten years of using a PC every day I've never had a CD stuck in a PC or laptop.
Sorry to sound like I'm picking on you Dsio!

You one lucky guy AP! ":O}

danrok · #96 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aghastpumpkin

I am not sure why this is such an issue - in over ten years of using a PC every day I've never had a CD stuck in a PC or laptop.
Sorry to sound like I'm picking on you Dsio!

That's because your PCs had a hard button for ejecting CDs, which works even when the OS doesn't.

The eject for drive on the XPS appears to be software controlled, only.

keithwalton · #97 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 06:33 PM

just wait your ps3 will eat a disk one day and wont give it back!
i've heard of a few machines do this so far, and there is no manual over ride on the ps3

Favu · #98 (**permalink**) 2nd August, 2007, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aghastpumpkin

I am not sure why this is such an issue - in over ten years of using a PC every day I've never had a CD stuck in a PC or laptop.

I've had it happen a few times. It's always a PITA to sort it, and I can imagine it would be even more annoying on a laptop on a regular basis.

Áedán · #99 (**permalink**) 3rd August, 2007, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danrok

That's because your PCs had a hard button for ejecting CDs, which works even when the OS doesn't.

Well, technically, it's just another soft button, but one that uses firmware running on the CD drive. The drive can be instructed to ignore the eject button, by some software on the PC issuing the "lock drive" command to the CD/DVD drive. Guess what - that stops the eject button working.