New XPS 1645 Crashes constantly!

Guys, I just spoke with Dell for about 3 days in a row haha... The problem comes from the video card (ATI 1GB)...

They are going to call me tomorrow, but they also told me not to use my pc too much... go figure.

I'll add my name to the hat as well. Am using my new XPS 1645 for architectural programs (CAD, Rhino, Adobe CS4) and have crashed while in those and other programs.

Configuration, similar to others is  i7 Q820, Windows 7 Home Premium, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670, 15.6 " 1080p Display.

AlexDelia, how were able to pinpoint the problem w/the Dell Rep? Is there a specific way to determine the cause of this?

Thanks.

I've only had 1 freeze over the past 3 days (which is great compared to the 3 a day i was averaging at the start). I don't know if it was coincidence, but this is since i started proping the laptop between 2 books so there is empty space between it and my desk, whereas previously i had it sitting flat on my desk. Also im paying special attention to keeping the vent on the back left unobstructed.

If it's not a coincidence, it would suggest ventilation/overheating as the issue

I have the exact same problem. I contacted technical support and was informed that Dell engineers have been working on this. They believe that the problem could be from the  AC adapter. They also added that the only thing I could do is to wait for an update, which would probably be a BIOS update.  I will probably return this, and get a HP or something...

So has anyone tried a clean install of win7 (instead of Dell's win7 image) to see if that fixes it?

I tried contacting support just to confirm they are aware of a problem. no such luck. They wanted to send me to some solutions team that charged per incedent. Glad I paid for 3 years of top level service just to be sent to some paid service. NO I'M NOT GOING TO PAY AGAIN.

I did notice that every time it crashes, windows system event log shows the following error:

"Display driver atikmdag stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

It will continue to show this error, multiple instances, until I shut the computer down. I have left it on for 5 minutes after the initial error and received 13 errors sequentially in the event logger until I shut down. After the initial lockup the computer is totally unresponsive.

I may try ATI's beta Windows x64 drivers and see if that fixes my issue.

I have the XPS 1645 with 4GB of memory.

I am seeing the same problem when running Fedora 12 Linux (x86_64) on the system.

Leave computer idle, walk away from it for a few minutes, come back and it has locked up. Remote ssh session from another computer to the laptop is not functioning, mouse pointer does not move, keyboard has no effect on system, display of desktop an any open windows are frozen like a snapshot. Control-Alt-Del does not work. Holding power switch down does turn the unit off and a reboot brings it a back to looking like a functioning system.

Received the system on December 4, 2009.

Dell XPS 1645, Intel i7 820, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory, 500GB 7200 HD, 85WH Battery, 90W AC Adaptor, WLED 1920x1080 LCD, Blu-ray rewritable, BlueTooth, Creative X-Fi, ATI Mobiilty Radeon HD 4670 1GB Dedicated , 802.11n 5300, MS-Win7 Home Premium 64, Fedora 12 Linux x86_64

Is it just me or are the i7 XPS laptop systems no longer available for purchase on the Dell website?

I see the XPS 16 with i7 cpus on both the dell.ca and dell.com sites.

I see a new BIOS update (A03) for these systems.  Has anyone updated BIOS  and noticed any improvements on random crashes?

I have had the same freezing problem, and updating to BIOS A03 seems to have improved things substantially.  The freezes are very hard to reproduce, so if you have upgraded to A03 and still have a freeze please post here.

My configuration:

Dell XPS 1645

Intel i7 720

4MB RAM

500GB 7200 RPM Disk

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 1GB

I was getting freezes once a day.  I called tech support they recommended installing BIOS A02, which I did.  They also recommend new video drivers, which I installed.  This seem to improve things for a while.  I went a whole day without a freeze.  I was about to move my files from my current laptop over, and decided to first install Office 2003.  I stuck the disk in, and the computer froze.  I did some research and someone mentioned South Park videos will cause this freezing problem.  I decided to torture test the system to see if I could reproduce the problem.  I put a Master and Commander DVD in, and started up Excel, Work, Power Point and Google Earth.  With all of these running, I opened Firefox and started playing South Park videos off the web.  I also opened Internet explorer, and started playing YouTube videos.  After about 15 minutes of the CPU between 30 and 50 percent, the system became very unresponsive (but not frozen).

I shut down the system and restarted and installed BIOS update A03, and re-ran the test.  Everything ran fine for over two hours,  I even ran performance tests to push the CPU to over 99% and it did not fail, so this BIOS update might be the fix.

I did notice that the power supply became somewhat hot during the test.  The computer itself was warm, but not hot, so it looks like Dell may have fixed the heat issues with the XPS 16.

I received my system on the 12/2/2009. I have had alerts about a sound issue, blue ray issue and the stupid computer is locking up.  The lockups are intermittent and occur even when no applications are running.  My system gets really hot then the stupid fans get loud.  I feel the heat under my palms if i put my hand on the palm rest or keyboard.  The 90w power supply is also extremely hot.  I spent hours on the phone with tech support.  They addressed the audio issue by installing the exact same audio driver that was originally on the system. The blue ray issue wasn't addressed.  As far as I am concerned the sound and blue ray issues are really trivial.  The critical issue is the constant lockup and the heat. The tech remoted into my pc and it locked up 3 times during troubleshooting.  One of the questions they asked me was if I "added any new hardware to the computer"?. The system I ordered does not need to be upgrade b/c it is completely spec'ed out.  The tech got product support involved and they want to capture my system. I waited a month to get this computer and now I can't even use it.  It's been sitting in the box since Monday pending the waybill so I can ship it back.  

Well, I received an exchanged xps 1645, due to my last one freezing up.  Guess what...the exchanged laptop froze up twice.  Now, I believe it is either a configuration problem with the build or a bios problem.  Now what do I do?

Have you tried the A03 bios?