Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

Can anyone comment on the audio quality? I love my m6600 but the only thing that lets it down is the audio quality of the sound card and headphone jack.
Has the m6700 improved this? If so I may have to purchase one

 

SecretAsianMan, are you going to make a video or/and post pics of your m6700?

 

New BIOS, A02.

Fixes/Enhancements
------------------
1. Improve display functionality for NVIDIA 3D SKU.
2. Improve BIOS SETUP function for Non-TPM SKU.

(They sell these machines without the TPM?)

 

Update:

BIOS update trashed my system.

I think it might have to do with Intel SRT (which I doubt many other people are using). Maybe the flash clobbered something that it needs to work?

After flashing the BIOS, Windows would not boot — BSOD blaming iastor.sys. (Safe mode, same story.)
Disabled the cache drive using the pre-boot tools, and after that, the Windows bootloader claimed that the device it was looking for was missing.
After I repaired that, Windows still won't boot — now claiming that the registry hive system32/config/system is corrupt.

Up and running on a new Windows install (still on A02). Going to be restoring from a backup tonight.

 

Actually, you might still be in luck. I did some Google searches and I found this page - http://www.wacom-components.com/downloads/Multi-Touch.pdf

Seeing on the page that 17.3" panels are "Developing", it might line up perfectly as what Dell is going to use. I am not sure, but it is an educated guess.

And this quote

"The G6 Multi-Touch technology supports the multi-touch functions built into Windows 7 and allows users to intuitively control a PC by touching the display screen with their finger tips. In addition to this multi-touch control, Wacom’s pen sensors can also be integrated allowing for handwritten input and pen-based image editing."

So it may be that the system is not shipped with a pen, but you can use the pen if you have one. Once again, I have no solid info on this. Just an educated guess.

 

Just wondering, did you verify that it downloaded ok with MDA5 or SHA1?
MD5:
28e0ca42b7bbf3b46882082f5c1cd47e

SHA1:
32ced56b9ee2318abd1cacd73d7f51f5c5322935

 

The file is digitally signed and the signature is good. I wouldn't have installed it otherwise (UAC will let you know about a bad signature).

I don't have any reason to think I got a bad copy of the BIOS. The machine has been running stable all day on a new Windows install. Something strange happened when I flashed that corrupted my previous Windows install.

(Probably something to do with the SRT cache, I'm thinking. It's managed by the RAID controller which is also flashed during the BIOS update procedure [I think?]. I had it set to the mode that also caches writes — thinking some changes that had been written to the SSD had not yet made it to the HDD and were forgotten about during the flash, creating a mess.)

No biggie... I'll restore from my backup, just a few days old. My data is on a separate drive which is fine. Next time a BIOS update comes along, I'll be much more careful with it. (Disable cache for flash, run a full backup, and do it at a more convenient time for things to break.)

 

It's quite possible BIOS flash did a reset to the HDD mode from AHCI to RAID or vice versa. If that's the case, you could simply enter the BIOS and set it to whatever it was before the flash.

 

First thing I checked at the BSOD.
It was set to RAID mode before and after.

 

Rusty,

I just went through this thought process myself and decided to get the M6700. I was very close to pulling the trigger on the M6600, but I noticed that I was having difficultly finding RAM and SSD that are compatible (as per the manufacturer). I finally went to Crucial and chatted with someone there and was unable to get any details on why the M6600 doesn't have supported mSata drives. The cloud of confusion was enough for me to steer away.

On a side note, I called Dell today and negotiated long and hard with them on the M6700 and ended up getting a great deal (IMO) on one. I kept the configurables down (min RAM, min HD, min GPU, one below IPS on screen), but upgraded CPU, wireless, bluetooth, accidental insurance, and got them to throw in a e-port plus with an extra power cable.

I will be buying 32GB RAM and a 256GB M4 mSata from Crucial as well.

Pretty excited - need to get off my maxxed out 4GB laptop.