Dell Studio 14z Bluetooth

[Aegwyn11]

Help! I'm so frustrated with Dell's tech support I'm about ready tell them to shove this laptop somewhere it shouldn't go...

I want the internal bluetooth option on this laptop. I figured it was a mini-card that I could add myself easy enough. Tech support is telling me its built on to the motherboard and must be specified at the time of order, so the only way to get it is to return the laptop I have and re-order it with bluetooth. The issue I see with that is I can't see where you can even select bluetooth as an option on Dell's website with the 14z. Anyone have any idea of what is really going on here?

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

I believe the bluetooth is part of the mini pcie card that also has the wifi hardware. In other words, if you order the laptop without wifi or bluetooth, the pcie slot comes empty. If you just order it with wifi, it comes with a wifi card. If you order it with bluetooth + wifi, it comes with a combo bluetooth/wifi card.

 

[Aegwyn11]

That would make a helluva lot more sense to me. So now the question is what is the p/n for the combo card? There doesn't seem to be anything on Dell's site about that.

 

[Aegwyn11]

Update! Found the solution.

The Dell Wireless 365 mini-card is the answer.

Its nifty how that card on the parts website doesn't show the Studio 14z as a compatible laptop for the 365 card. Also, no bluetooth options show up if you try to build (customize) the laptop by getting to it through the Dell Home site.

BUT, if you browse to the laptop trough the Dell Small Biz website, the 365 card shows up as the bluetooth option!!

Thanks Dell support and web team!!

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

Glad you found it. Good luck!

 

[Aegwyn11]

K, so more update...

After a very painful morning/afternoon with Dell on the phone, they are sending me a USB bluetooth adapter free of charge. Yay

According to them, the motherboard itself is different depending on if you order through the Home site or the Small Biz site. As such, the MB you get if ordered through the Home site doesn't have the place to plug in the bluetooth card. I'm thinking I might just take the silly thing apart and see if there is a place for the card and if so, they're on e-bay for $30 (brand new).

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

I doubt they have 2 mb revisions for home vs business. Did you check the picture of the bluetooth part? Does it look like a standard minipci connector? It doesn't void your warranty afaik to open the access panel to the minipci card slot and look at it. If the connectors match up, you should be OK

 

[Aegwyn11]

Its some kind of goofy little mini card...google dell wireless 365 to see a pic. Doesn't look like any minipci I've ever seen. I got a copy of the service man...I'll probably open her up this weekend and poke around and see if the appropriate connector is present.

 

[Aegwyn11]

I took the laptop apart this morning, and lo and behold, there is the little plug to install the Wireless 365 BT adapter. Big surprise

On a side note, my laptop's motherboard also has a full mini-pci slot for WWAN cards (the idiots at dell mentioned this as also being a small biz specific option), along with the half mini-pci slot for wireless and the little tiny plug for the 365 adapter.

Conclusion - Dell is a bunch of idiots. They seem to make quality products, but don't expect any level of support out of them at all. And be very careful you get ALL the options you want before clicking order...don't make ANY assumptions like I did (thinking bluetooth was included since it wasn't listed anywhere as an option and bluetooth shows up under tech specs).

 

[CurseTheSky]

Conclusion - Dell is a bunch of idiots. They seem to make quality products, but don't expect any level of support out of them at all. And be very careful you get ALL the options you want before clicking order...don't make ANY assumptions like I did (thinking bluetooth was included since it wasn't listed anywhere as an option and bluetooth shows up under tech specs).

That's pretty accurate, except for the quality products part. They make great quality products on the top-end of their lineup, and for business. They make laughable products for the mid and low-end of their home / home office lineup (Inspiron).