Has anyone taken delivery of the New Studio XPS 435/8000/9000?

Delivery date of 4/28 - speakers arrived today.

Dell has lost it......they are now inefficient, conveniently misleading, and has poor customer service. They messed up bad this time, and even long after I've received my order, no matter how happy I may be with it, I will always remember this unpleasant buying experience, and I will talk about it. And the next manufacturer that comes up with  something that captures my heart, this bad memory of an experience will definitely help weaken any brand loyalty I have for Dell.

Agreed. I'll wait as long as Dell takes to build my 435T, enjoy it as long as I can, and in 2015 or whenever I  replace it, I'll still remember this negative buying experience.

For what it's worth, my 4/8 order still hasn't budged from "In Production."

...... but heres a question, i have my old harddrive from my old computer and it has all my goods on it, but this computers wires are different and i cant put it in so how in the heck do i get my files off my old HD? the old computer doesnt turn on anymore so i cant really do it wirelessly or wired so what do i do??? please help, is there some something i can buy to make my HD compatible??

Bob, I had a bad hard drive crash on me once, wouldn't start up Windows. A friend let me borrow an adapter that plugs into the bad hard drive, and the other end is a USB connection. I got everything I needed on the bad hard drive over to a laptop thru' the USB port.

[quote user="bob8619"]...... but heres a question, i have my old harddrive from my old computer and it has all my goods on it, but this computers wires are different and i cant put it in so how in the heck do i get my files off my old HD? the old computer doesnt turn on anymore so i cant really do it wirelessly or wired so what do i do??? please help, is there some something i can buy to make my HD compatible??

Bob, I had a bad hard drive crash on me once, wouldn't start up Windows. A friend let me borrow an adapter that plugs into the bad hard drive, and the other end is a USB connection. I got everything I needed on the bad hard drive over to a laptop thru' the USB port.

[/quote]

Cosmos,

Never heard of that. By any chance could you link us to that adapter?

Thanks!

Cosmos, Never heard of that. By any chance could you link us to that adapter? Thanks!

I did not know that something like that existed.. Just searched it on the internet here is one link of many:

www.emtcompany.com

Looks like the adapter is about 10 bucks.

Another one is www.xpcgear.com

It is an IDE/Sata to USB adapter

Thanks so much for the help.  I think I've answered all of my questions and will order tomorrow.  My machine now is also a Dell Dimension that is 6 years old and it has been a good machine.  I am just outgrowing it.

Thanks,

Celeste

Cosmos, Never heard of that. By any chance could you link us to that adapter? Thanks!

jjon, I have been looking for it all over the house, hoping to take a picture of it and post it here or put a link to it. I thought I had it, as my friend insisted I keep it when I was done, said he didn't need it anymore. But I couldn't find it anywhere, maybe I did return it afterall.

Anyway, clroberts posted some links to it, so I hope that helped. They are also available at Newegg.com and they have a long list of options to choose from.

It did, thanks for taking the time to look!

My 435T arrived on Saturday.  I'm still in the process of setting it up, but I did a clean install of Vista and began installing my core applications.  I used all the latest drivers from the Dell site, but just went to the ATI site for the video card driver.  I didn't check to see if Dell's was the most current.  Later this week I'll image the drive for safe keeping and begin running some Adobe apps, VMWare, and games.  So far it seems very fast and also very quiet, but maybe the fans will kick in if I can max it out.

I did a clean install of Vista and began installing my core applications.

Sorry if you explained this in a previous post, but why did you perform a clean install of Vista? Is is because you were concerned about possible VMWare issues? I was hoping with a bare minimum of crapware, my to be delivered 435T would be good to go out of the box. Thanks.

Sorry for the delay in reporting on the 'delivery' -- caught the terrible springtime flu that's been going around (not the swine one! thank goodness!) --- so, haven't had the energy lately....feeling better now however!

Received the computer on Wednesday 4/22!  Unpacking and installing was very easy - aside from the abundance of sticky tape substance all over it!  Very impressed with its speed.  However, it does take quite a while to actually load into windows from a cold start (takes longer than my P4 Xp system) --- I'm thinking that's just a Vista 64 thing?  Anyone else finding the same?  First exposure to Vista --- surprised that I'm liking it so much....was expecting much worse based on 'word of mouth' reviews...will definatley be upgrading to Windows 7 when available.

One thing in particular that I'm extremely impressed with - this thing is so quiet!!  The only time I've heard the fans kick on is during boot --- I know I haven't had the time yet to really tax it but --- just for everyday normal use....this thing is so quiet that I can't tell its on!!  Striking difference from my XPS Dell P4 from nearly 5 years ago!!

Ripped a DVD last night for backup and it maxed out Core 2 --- but left other Cores nearly alone.  Haven't seen the CPU usage above 25% - but, haven't done anything too taxing yet --- but extremely impressed thus far.  My RAM usage has stayed below 2000 MB...again this is just for normal non-taxing everyday use so far...

Using Core Temp 0.99.4 to monitor Core temps --- Tj. Max 100 (Didn't know what the TjMax for the i7 is so kept it at 100)  --- TDP: 43.8 Watts --- Core1 = 45C ---- Core2 = 43C --- Core3 = 46C --- Core4 = 43C    (this is with the unit in an under desk Cabinet - with door typically open - room temp at @ 68F)

GPU Temp using Catalyst Control Center is --- right around 71C.

Really didn't need to do any updating of drivers when compared to what's listed on Dell website....

I also installed a WinTV-HVR 1800 Hauppauge TV Tuner - I'm using this as a DVR.  I currently have a single Tuner Tivo - and often run into conflicts with shows on at the same time that I want 'Tivoed' - so, I have this set up to record those shows with conflicts --- recording using Vista's Media Center -- then using DVRMSToolbox to detect that a show has been recorded - then it will automatically convert it to MPG and move it into my Tivo directory on the computer.  Since I have Tivo connected to the network - I can then pull all the shows up and transfer them from the computer.  This is working VERY well for me....and saved $$ in the long run verses updating to a new Tivo.  (let me know if there's anyone out there that wants more specific details on my set up for this and I'll expand)

Did find that I kept making hockey pucks when trying to burn a DVD (trying the Windows and Roxio that came with system) - so downloaded a simple/free DVD Burner (CDBurnerXP) and that worked great - just in case someone else had same problems...

Very happy with the 24" Dell monitor - extremely happy overall.  Looking forward to doing some video editing and other more taxing exercises on it!

Glad to see that Dell is getting these computers out with less wait times!!!

I'll post more when I do anything more 'taxing'.....

What is everyone using to monitor Core and GPU Temps?  Since I have mine in a cabinet...want to keep a close eye on the temps.........Anyone aware of 'Normal Temps'  range for CPU and GPU (ATI 4870)??

Found this:

Maximum allowed temperature for Core i7 is 100°C. If it heats up more, the CPU will enable thermal throttling, i.e. the Vcore and clock frequency multiplier will be forced down to 12x. This feature protects the processor die against dangerous overheating. (source - X-Bit labs)

I'm using Sony Vegas Studio 9 on my Vista 64-bit system and haven't had an problems.  I'm using the demo downloaded from Sony.com, but since it worked fine I've purchased the full version.  You should be alright.

Spart02,

Are you editing AVCHD format files?

Angie,

Welcome back! You had us a little worried, glad your feeling better!

Great review, I'll time my startup when I get home and report back.

I too am glad I hung in there, it was well worth it!

I was amazed at the size of the box it came in. (huge!)