Dell XPS 15 Computer Glitch

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Cramden

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Oct 18, 2013
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Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
5.x
I have a relative who is desperate to get into photography and I have suggested LR as an editing tool. Unfortunately, her brand new Dell XPS 15 keeps stalling, blacking out and mouse freezes. I have found similar experiences on the net. She will be getting a replacement laptop, but if next one fails will go another route. Apple is not an option. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this with Dell. I understand when the laptop works properly it is a great machine. Not a great way to start out what seems to be a passion.
 
If it has a dedicated graphics card, try disabling it and see what happens. If that does not work, re-enable it and then make sure the drivers are up to date for it. And, does this issue happen with other programs? Also, make sure that it meets the minimum specifications for LR or LR Classic.

--Ken
 
Cramden said:
Unfortunately, her brand new Dell XPS 15 keeps stalling, blacking out and mouse freezes.
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You don't specify whether this is a general problem with the computer, or if it's related to Lightroom in some way. If she's getting a replacement then hopefully all will be well.
 
My experience with Dell laptops has been an XPS17, now years old, and still working great. An XPS13 that started going to BSOD frequently. Thankfully Dell repaired the 13 for me at no charge, but I never really knew what was done. (Kernal errors?).
Dell have some Troubleshooting Apps that are worth searching from the Dell site.
 
I do all my road work and have for many years on XPS 15s. I have had several over the years. They are fantastic road LR machines and are at the top of most lists for thin and light productivity laptops for a reason. They are hugely popular with road work photographers and are superb laptops.
No way to know what your problem is from your description. Could be anything. If the problem is more than just LR then call Dell immediately. They have incredible service and will make it right.
But it could be something simple. I would have to ask you a few questions about the specs and what is happening.
Call Dell.
 
I got a fully specified Xps , incl graphics card. It was a complete and utter disaster. Escalated and got heavy tech support from Dell, who eventually told me that the graphics card only worked for graphics intensive apps and specifically would not use the graphics card for Photoshop and Lightroom. Also had major issues with drivers and general setup. Dell refunded my money, bought a Lenovo, but it was too heavy, eventually bought a well specified MacAir as my travel rig. Opted for an M2 which had 2 Thunderbolt ports and a separate dedicated power supply port, so I could plug in a fast card reader and Samsung T7 ssd for stress free in field data backups and use of Lr. Installed Parallels on it so I can use my fav Win software as well.
 
Gnits, I'm really sorry to hear that. I don't know how Dell holds up service-wise in Europe. There are probably better choices over there. I live about 40 miles from Dell HQ in Austin, but I guess that means less and less these days as parts are sourced from all over the world and the Dell computers have factories and build shops all over the world. All Dell computers used to be built in Texas, but now they have spread out their manufacturing and assembly processes worldwide. The Texas plant now handles only servers and other industry-grade computers.

But your experience with Dell and that amazing XPS-15 (which is the very best laptop for travel productivity in my opinion) is amazing and very surprising. What graphics card was it? Dell uses Nivida, which are the best there is (in my opinion), so anyone who says those GPUs don't work well with LR and PS is way off. Incredible that a Dell tech would say something so crazy.

Sorry, that happened and I'm very surprised they didn't immediately mail you a new laptop. Sounds like you had a bad GPU, but who knows. Something was not right, which can happen with any computer maker.

Your experience was probably a rare occurrence, but Dell is a huge company and one of the biggest, if not the biggest, computer makers and I guess these things happen. In fact, I had a new XPS-15 go down after one week 32 months ago with a bad Wi-Fi antenna, which is a tiny little wire module on the motherboard. Dell sent a tech out the next day and found the fault. They mailed me a new machine the day after that with a bigger M.2 SSD as a way of saying I'm sorry. That was a hassle because I had to reload everything, but they were good on the reaction time.

I'm on that 32-month-old Dell XPS-15 right now and it is out of warranty. It was 2,800 bucks 32 months ago during the Pandemic and it was absolutely as fully loaded as you could get at the time. It is still very snappy with LR, but I'm not going maybe another 6 months with this machine. 3 years on a laptop is the max for me. Too many improvements to stay away too long....
 
Gnits said:
I got a fully specified Xps , incl graphics card. It was a complete and utter disaster. Escalated and got heavy tech support from Dell, who eventually told me that the graphics card only worked for graphics intensive apps and specifically would not use the graphics card for Photoshop and Lightroom. Also had major issues with drivers and general setup. Dell refunded my money, bought a Lenovo, but it was too heavy, eventually bought a well specified MacAir as my travel rig. Opted for an M2 which had 2 Thunderbolt ports and a separate dedicated power supply port, so I could plug in a fast card reader and Samsung T7 ssd for stress free in field data backups and use of Lr. Installed Parallels on it so I can use my fav Win software as well.
Click to expand...
If I recall correctly, there was a dust up a few years ago about a number of XPS laptops that were having throttling/heat issues. I cannot recall if it impacted the 13 or 15 inch models, but it pretty much convinced me that an XPS was not in my future. https://www.notebookcheck.net/ used to check for throttling and heat issues in their reviews, but I do not believe that was the source of the XPS issues.

--Ken
 
My Dell XPS was bought at the start of COVID, so options for support were limited. It was an NVIDIA GPU. I got the distinct impression at the time that I was buying all the expensive add ins (Ie max memory,max nvme ssd, dedicated GPU, etc) but they were not engineered to work together, maybe an unsuitable motherboard. Also, USB C (cannot remember if it was Thunderbolt) transfer speeds and disk I/o was seriously sub -par.

I am not going to mention this anymore.
 
I use a optioned up Dell G15 (a gaming machine) for my LR etc. My grandson has a similar machine for gaming. Both machines are WIn11 and have NVIDIA GPUs. They work well. But we have found that you have to use the very latest NVIDA drivers to get stable performance. If you update Windows, you must go to the NVIDIA site and update your GPU drivers. NVIDIA makes it easy to do; just don't count on Microsoft to update the drivers. I am sure your XPS 15 will behave the same way.
 
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