IDE HDD and Dell Studio 15 Query

Some queries on our Ask-Us section by our readers,

The 1st one being by our reader, Jeremy

thanks for the help what is an ib ( forgot last inital) hard disk?

Hey Jeremy, we think you mean to ask about an I.D.E hard disk. Well PATA (Parallel ATA) or IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) was a hard disk connection standard which was in use about an year back. It has since been replaced by the SATA and now the SATA II standards offering greater data transfer speed and bandwidth, more buffer size and larger capacities.

The IDE / PATA hard drives can still be used easily as most motherboard / chipset manufacturers still include 2 IDE ports to connect the IDE hard drives directly. If your motherboard doesn’t provide an IDE slot, you can use a SATA to IDE converter to connect it to your SATA drive.

For more technical information on an IDE drive, refer these links
http://www.duxcw.com/digest/guides/hd/hd3.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT_Attachment

The 2nd query is by Terri

I have purchased a Dell Studio 15 off the shelf. I needed something fast and Dell was running way behind…I missed some features in doing so but overall am very pleased - great value for the price. However, 2 problems I can’t seem to resolve..1. touchpad seems to freeze up for no apparent reason - just stops working - but if I wait, it eventually comes back and I am able to move cursor again. 2. Can’t seem to get enough volume to hear many online videos such as You Tube, CBS news etc….have gone to 4 different sites for example to hear Katie C interview Palin and can’t hear any of them ! I have checked settings and all seem to be at maximum volume…something I’m missing?
Thanks for your help! Oh by the way - what cards can be used in the memory card reader? Your review says the “remote” is included but it was not? Is that something I can add? What about the backlighting feature - can that be added?
Thanks !!

Congratulations on your new Dell Studio 15 Review. We are glad that you liked it. About the problems,

1. Assuming that you are running Windows Vista, what is the processor usage when your touchpad freezes up? Are you sure it is a touchpad freeze and not a system wide freeze? You might want to update / re-install your touchpad drivers if that is the case. Also if you have installed any 3rd party touchpad utility, you should try removing that and checking the touchpad performance again. Having said that, we would like to let you know that there have been quite a few touchpad problems surfacing since the launch, so your case isn’t isolated. Dell should ideally launch a update / fix soon.

2. About the sound volume problem, is the volume low only when you view online videos? Are you able to hear normal videos, movies, music properly? If yes, then the problem most probably doesn’t lie with the speakers but with the online content you are trying to view. Most online videos are converted to bandwidth friendly formats which results in reduction in sound quality and in some cases, volume. Also laptops have lower volume than normal desktop speakers so we hope you aren;t expecting too much from your Dell Studio 15.

It has a multi format 8 in 1 card reader using which you can read 8 different types of memory cards like SD, Micro SD, Mini SD, MMC, RS-MMC, CF and MS/MSP. You can order the optional Media remote from directly from Dell.

Thanks, feel free to ask more queries.