Inspiron 15 (3521) upgrade for Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) capability

Question

Hi!

I’ve recently bought an Inspiron 15 (3521) with the following hardware config:

i7-3517U Ivy Bridge

RAM 4GB

HdD 1TB

AMD Radeon HD 8730M

Dell Wireless 1703 802.11 b/g/n

It doesn’t have Intel WiDi, mostly because the wireless card is not compatible (Dell Wireless 1703)

But the same laptop model (3521) can be equipped (according to Dell’s webpage) with Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 card which is WiDi compatible.(see Intel’s webpage)

Besides, the other current Inspiron model, the 5521, comes with WiDi enabled by Dell (because it comes with Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 card)

My question is: Can I transform my laptop to an Intel WiDi functional device by simply replacing my current wireless card (Dell Wireless 1703) with an Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 card (which is compatible with both my laptop and Intel WiDi)? Of course plus installing new driver and Intel WiDi software.

Or is there anything else that I might be missing? Maybe some other hardware related activations that can only be done by the manufacturer at the time of product assembly (in other words which cannot be done afterwards, lets say by a Dell technician for a reasonable cost)?

Many thanks in advance for potential answers.

DELL-Sundeep B · Answer

Hi MirceaNeagu,

Intel WiDi technology require a compatible processor, graphics card, wireless card, software, OS and a TV Adapter to work.

You may refer to the article Here

I appreciate your efforts and research on Intel WiDi. You are correct that existing wireless card is not supported by Intel WiDI and will need replacement. However, the video card on your system is also not compatible with Intel WiDi and you need to switch to Intel integrated graphics to make Intel WiDi work. For a change of video card on your system, an entire motherboard swap is required.

Please reply if you have any further questions. I would be glad to help you.

ejn63 · Answer

All you need is the Intel wireless adapter.  However, Dell doesn't support post-purchase upgrades -- if you want support, and the system is less than 21 days old, return it and order a new system with the Intel wireless adapter.

MirceaNeagu · Answer

Hi DELL-SUNDEEP B,

I thought my laptop has an integrated Intel HD4000 video adapter (apart from the discrete AMD card) since it has the Intel® CoreTM i7-3517U CPU. Correct me if I am wrong.

My other worry is that acording to other post here on Dell Community "Also note that the wireless display feature needs to be enabled from factory for it to work also it needs to be advertized at the laptop by the OEM manufacturer, otherwise there is no way to activate or enable this option in your system" Please see this link: http://communities.intel.com/thread/33078 My other question is what exactly does the manufacturer enable from factory??

ejn63 · Answer

I don't know of any mainstream PC vendor that supports post-purchase upgrades -- it's just not economically viable to sell a $50 part that will likely result in a $60+ support call -- manufacturers selling 'boutique' systems (Falcon Northwest, etc.) are an exception -- but those companies build the cost of upgrade support into the system.  Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, etc. can't afford to do that - not in a market where a $5 price difference will cause a buyer to buy a different system.

MirceaNeagu · Answer

Thanks ejn63. I am not considering system return as a solution. It is strange from Dell not to offer support for post-purchase hardware that they actually offer as factory equipped for the same model as mine.

MirceaNeagu · Answer

Correction to my prior post: the reference was found on Intel Community Forum. Any other ideas?

DELL-Sundeep B · Answer

Hi MirceaNeagu,

Generally, dual display adapters are only present on the systems shipped with ATI Switchable Graphics or nVIDIA Optimus Technology.

Please post a screenshot of Device Manager with Display Adapters expanded so that we can check the same.

I also saw that specific systems are being advertised to be shipped with Intel WiDi technology. However, let me check further on this if there is any OEM activation required to use Intel WiDi.

Please reply with the findings. Will take it further from there.

Sachinb · Answer

Hello DELL-SUNDEEP B

If the display adaptor and the processor qualify compatibility for Intel WIDI would dell provide services for replacement of Non compatible network adaptor with a compatible one ?

I post a screenshot of my device manager.

rgds

sachin.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Inspiron 15 (3521) upgrade for Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) capability

Was this post helpful?