Office resolution

Question

Hello, everyone!

I'm having this never ending problem with my new laptop. It's Dell XPS 13 and resolution is 3200*1800.

Video card is Intel HD 5500, and is up to date. 

Problem 1:

All MS Office products (e.g. PowerPoint, Word, Excel) shows a tiny logo when it loads the software. (Please refer to the image.) 

Problem 2: 

When exported as PDF, the pop-up dialogue seems not correct: too small window and looks odd. (Image also attached.) The green status bar is too tiny and "cancel" button doesn't seem fit in the dialogue.

Has anyone seen the same problem as mine or could anyone guess why it happens? I contacted Dell support (gees, so many times), but they had no idea what this is. Also the system formatted twice with no luck.

Your response will be highly appreciated!

Thank you!

-IM

Answer 1

So you are saying that the replacement machine had the same problem?

That is strange, because refurbished machines are fully tested to be "as good as new".

You might want to take your problem to a wider forum. Try talking to a blogger or media (TV, radio, newspaper) computer columninst who handles consumer issues.  If it is a wider XPS issue, they may have heard about it. If they take up the issue for you to the vendor, often the vendor will take extra steps to resolve the issue.  Having an unsolved problem spread all over a broadcast medium is to "expensive" in terms of bad media exposure for them to leave unresolved.

Answer 2

Rohn007,

Thank you again for your replying!

Yes, it is still under Dell warranty, but since Dell wanted me to try remote service first, I sent the laptop to the Dell Depot, but received it back without no improvement. Recently, Dell checked the issue and said they would send me a new one, but actually they sent me a refurbished one and the same issue is seen.. That's why I hopelessly started posting online question for the first time.

Again thanks so much for taking your time to answer. I appreciated it!

=====Update 05.23.2016=====

I just wanted to leave some follow-up comments regarding this issue.

Dell finally offered me system replacement few months ago, so I received a brand new system. That means I had tried three Dell XPS 13 models: 1) the original package I initially purchased, 2) the refurbished system, and 3) the brand new system Dell offered as a replacement. 

I found all of them had the same issues I mentioned above, which made me wonder whether the issue comes from the compatibility between Windows 10 and high resolution screen in general. Then I wondered why technicians I had talked to were not aware of these issues if this was merely due to high resolution screen. I would have not wasted 6-7 months of time for something that wouldn't be fixed by system replacement...

Anyway, after realizing that even the new replacement had the same issue, I didn't try further to solve it. Hope future updates from Windows, drivers, or XPS models would solve them one by one. 

Rohn007, I have very much appreciated your support to try help me out though! Although issues still persist, I learned a lot through the discussion.

Answer 3

After changing the screen resolution, there are some windows tweaks/customizations you can do to adjust the size of the Ribbon.

Sorry, I don't know of specific ways to test your video card.  You could try googling for "Test video card" to find various tests.  Unfortunately, most of the tests listed there are "speed" type tests. They may help, but you are looking for a diagnostic test.

The simplest way I know of testing the video card is to pull it out and replace it with another one. But that requires you have a "spare" card to play with, like you are in a computer repair shop.

Actually, that does suggest one idea, pulling and reseating the video card.  It is hard to do that in a laptop. They are not designed to be opened by a user.  Then further research showed that your laptop has a built in video card, not a 3rd party card, so card seating should not be an issue.

Bottom line, since it is a new laptop, if it is still in warantee you should take it back to the store. 

Before taking it back, make sure to backup all of your data files and make sure you have all of the Product Keys and/or Registration numbers for installed programs.  If it is a video "card" problem, often the simplest/"cheapest" fix for the computer company is to simply replace the whole computer and scrap the old one!

Answer 4

Thanks for your reply! I actually have the same problems across almost all software I've installed so far, and some of them are not usable at all due to the weird appearance of the interface (tiny buttons with large text, or illegibly tiny text and many more). 

I tried changing my screen resolution to 2048*1152, and yes the logo looked right: but then the entire interface looked ridiculously large....lol

<2048: screen looks like a tablet. Menu bar portion too big>

<3200: looks okay>

I know it is hard to tell, but could you guess whether it's the incompatibility of software and my video card, or it's just the defective video card? Or is there something I can test to verify what went wrong?

Thank you very much!

Answer 5

As I interpret it, the first screen cap is actually 2 captures, one of your screen (on the left) and a "sample" capture you downloaded from the internet.

Please remember that 3200*1800, is a very high resolution, especially on a very small 13" screen. When you look at it in that light, the screen area is about 75% larger in both directions when compared to a "normal" HD, 1920x1080, resolution screen.   So proportionally, the first image is correct.

On the other hand, I agree the second dialog is "not right". 

In that case it appears you have problem with the video driver.  Between the video driver and the Office applications, things are not being painted on screen correctly.