I thought I'd but a nice reliable laptop to perform all my measurements etc. with. Based on success I'd had in the past with Dell (two inspirons - DJing in 2010's) I grabbed a new one with a largeish 15" screen for measurements and all things audio. Backlit keyboard was an essential requirement to me as well.
Boy was that a mistake.
This thing has been a lemon. I sent Dell my feedback but got no feed, back.
TL;DR - The latest Dell inspiron has left me steaming mad - as laptops are a tool we use, please give me your recommendation for the best laptop (preferable the most stable) for the audio work we do?
Boy was that a mistake.
This thing has been a lemon. I sent Dell my feedback but got no feed, back.
- I've not seen so many BIOS (mainly) and driver updates on all other machines I've had in my life combined. I get that BIOS updates are more common now, we see them a bit on the intel NUC's in the office but this is a joke, there must have been at least 20 on this thing since I got it new. I think Dell knows these things are a little, uh, unstable.
- The USB is seriously bad. It only has two USB A slots and 1 USB C (yes my fault for not checking) but 60% of the time I plug in a DAC, soundcard, DATS, USB Mic, it just straight up doesn't even see it in the devmgr or if it does it just says unknown device - yes this is any slot and yes I have verified with other machines that the USB devices are not at fault.
- To make matters even worse, Dell insists on the use of this audio device controlling software MAXXaudiopro - which applies huge EQ to anything plugged in instantly, even headphones, and you have to open the app to disable the enhancements or manually disable enhancements via the control panel, to every device, every time it is plugged in i.e. it has no memory of your device settings. If you close or uninstall MAXXaudiopro, the headphone jack doesn't even work at all!
- Its not just me that this would **** off - surely people using this laptop for studio or production work would be just as pissed as I.
TL;DR - The latest Dell inspiron has left me steaming mad - as laptops are a tool we use, please give me your recommendation for the best laptop (preferable the most stable) for the audio work we do?
Tell them you want to return it for a full refund, that you cannot use it, and are very unhappy.
They used to care about how their customers felt about their products, and maybe they still do.
They used to care about how their customers felt about their products, and maybe they still do.
It should be returnable.
I've spent a day with a older W10 Dell and it appears the features of MAXXaudiopro can be disabled in its control panel. No?
Yes it is hard to suggest an alternative to Dell in a laptop. (Desktops, you just DIY.) The IMB ThinkPads were excellent but last-century. The new owners of the brand were OK at first, but I think our 4-year-old "ThinkPad" is the last one I will ever touch. OTOH we have a 20-y-o Dell premium Latitude still doing good work, despite death of its HDD and orphanage of WinXP.
I've spent a day with a older W10 Dell and it appears the features of MAXXaudiopro can be disabled in its control panel. No?
Yes it is hard to suggest an alternative to Dell in a laptop. (Desktops, you just DIY.) The IMB ThinkPads were excellent but last-century. The new owners of the brand were OK at first, but I think our 4-year-old "ThinkPad" is the last one I will ever touch. OTOH we have a 20-y-o Dell premium Latitude still doing good work, despite death of its HDD and orphanage of WinXP.
The poor quality of many Dell computers of late is reviewed by the website "Gamers Nexus". They pull no punches and are a positive force in getting manufacturers to improve their products and be more honest in their advertising, warranty coverage, and return policies.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/
Dell used to make a quality product, but I'm not sure if even the XPS models are any good now.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/
Dell used to make a quality product, but I'm not sure if even the XPS models are any good now.
