Is WUXGA a good idea? Counsel me about going back to CCFL.

i believe if u call dell you can opt for the p series that you want, however, keeping in mind the other power hungry components in the m4400, you're not gonna notice much difference.

keep in mind that unless ur running at full load, the idle consumption or low power consumption states are pretty similar, its just in a high power state that u notice the 10w difference

 

Thanks again for the responses, guys, this is really helpful.

Ah, awesome. Thanks for the info, that was another question lurking in the back of my mind that I'd forgotten about -- it doesn't seem like you're able to swap the processors out of the ultraportable machines I usually go for, but that would be a really nice perk to have available on the M4400. I would certainly skimp now and throw a P9600 (or better) in there later on.

Do we know if they routinely change the chipset/layout/anything of these laptops in refreshes as time goes on? I monitor what's going on in desktop hardware (and could confidently determine my upgrade options for my Intel LGA775-based board, for instance) but I don't follow laptop components. Is there an easy way to keep tabs on whether the new processors Dell starts eventually selling for the M4400/E6500 are compatible with an M4400 purchased today? Or would it be pretty major news if they changed the board?

Where do you guys deal-shop replacement laptop CPUs? Newegg's asking a hilarious $370 shipped for a P9500, which seems like a beyond-crazy upgrade for a laptop I'm hoping to snag from Dell Outlet for $1000-1200 all-in.

Yeah, I'm just extra wary about processors, I guess. I have a 14" ThinkPad with Intel video, a T-series C2D, a CCFL screen, and a 7-cell, and I'm lucky if I scratch three hours with it.

In my mind, big battery life is brought on by:

-- WLED-backlit screen
-- P-series C2D or LV/ULV where available
-- integrated video
-- SSD instead of mechanical disk
-- largest battery possible (obviously)

I figure if I can get 2 or 3 out of those 5 on an M4400, that would make things more bearable. Say what you want about Apple, but it really bums me out that the Latitudes and Precisions don't have an Nvidia integrated option or an Nvidia integrated/discrete hybrid setup like the current MacBook Pros do. Then again, Apple doesn't think anyone needs >1440x900 on a 15.4" computer, which completely breaks the deal there.

Still, I don't see why a machine like that couldn't exist.

I was reading about replacing the optical drive with a second disk drive. Are any of you guys running your OS off a fast, power-efficient SSD with a huge hard drive riding shotgun for data storage? If so, can you enable/disable the data hard drive as necessary to save battery life?

Thanks again!

 

Motherboard changes: These usually wont occur unless there is a major issue with the unit. This hasnt occured yet that required a redesigned motherboard and if a new flaw is discovered they will most likely wait until the refresh of the model before pushing it out. The only thing you need to check for compatible processors are socket type(in this case Socket P) and TDP(lower is better but it can handle a QX9300 which has a 45W TDP and that's the highest for this socket type). eBay generally has lower prices but be more careful about purchases. You can also see if anyone on the forum is selling them.

If you want a hybrid sytsem the XPS 13 has one, although I dont know if it's any good.

I havn't tried running multiple hard drives, but you can adjust the time-out settings for each hard drive from insides windows. Dont see any reason why you wouldnt be able to with multiple hard drives installed.

 

My good man,

I went from a 12" 1024 x 768 to a 15.4" 1920x1200 CCFL machine.

I will NEVER get a laptop with a screen resolution less than 1920x1200 if i can help it.

responses:

1) To be honest with you, i have used a laptop with one of these so called 'LED backlit' screen panels, and i have always seen them to be sort of washed out, i much prefer my laptop to be as it is, CCFL, battery life is of no/little concern to me as its more than almost always plugged into the wall.

2) Couldnt really comment, see response to (1)

3) I too would like to take a sledgehammer to the heads of these so called 'product design' teams who prefer low resolution on decent sized screens, at least OFFER a higher resolution such that those who wish to make use of it can.

I'm assuming you have used a 15.4" laptop with a WUXGA screen?

if you have/havent, let me assure you, it certainly helps if your eye sight is good.lol. things are small, sharp and crisp.

and you can have loads of windows all on the same screen!

 

you have plenty of headroom to expand later on if you're not happy with your specs.

personally im planning to get a QX9300, more ram, and a SSD, maybe blue ray reader/writer for my M4400 when it passes its 2nd or 3rd birthday, the prices should have come down quite a bit by then. Would be tasty upgrades that would keep it going for a few more years.

Unless of course i happen to have enough cash to get an entirely new system by then, which is unlikely.

 

Agreed! I'm planning on the same thing, save the bluray. Gonna get the cheapest 500GB drive to replace my optical drive and the most power efficient SSD to replace my current hard drive on by year's end (my xmas gift to myself =P). Ram i'll be content with what I have until 4GB dimms become more reasonable. Plan on having 8GB in this baby some day along with the QX9300 so I can run multiple virtual machines simultaniously without hiccups or slowdowns That's the dream haha.

 

its a real shame dell opted to go with an integrated GPU design. after all those upgrades the GPU will be the bottleneck lol.

pity because i dont have a desktop, so after 2-3 years of ownership i'll be unable to game at high settings on this.

im not gonna get the bluray unless i find a really cheap drive lol and BDRW discs come down in price.

that way i dont have to get a huge hard drive, just the fastest SSD i can find. Media files can reside on an archive of discs. Im not using much of my current 250gigs....but its almost full because of all the movie files lol.

and i can vouch for the poster that moved to WUXGA....once you start using it you'll never go back. all other screens seem inferior.

it was my prime criteria when i went laptop shopping a year ago to upgrade from my inspiron 8600. i wouldnt consider a laptop with anything less. its like having 2 screens

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=343303&highlight=wuxga


i think the screenshots i made in this thread speak for themself

 

Technically I've already been to WUXGA and "gone back" -- I carried a 17" Inspiron 9300 with a glossy 1920x1200 panel from 2006-07. I loved the resolution but that machine was physically a mammoth, and I just wasn't carrying it around much because it was annoying to haul.

I went to a 14" ThinkPad @ 1440x900 that was pretty nice, but I decided after a year of using it (and messing around with Macs) that a backlit keyboard is one of the most important features a laptop can have and I wouldn't settle for a machine without one. Suffice to say, I wouldn't be a Latitude customer today if Lenovo put backlit keyboards on their computers. That "ThinkLight" thing is terrible.

The ThinkPad's second-biggest sticking point for me was its annoyingly-dim CCFL display: I had to run it at full/near-full brightness all the time, which absolutely nuked the battery life. On my LED-backlit E4200, I run at the dimmest or second-/third-dimmest settings and it looks great.

I hook my current Latitude up to two 1680x1050 monitors via the dock, but it really would be nice to have a higher rez screen for working on the couch, in the kitchen, outside, etc. But thinking about it, I was reasonably pleased with the 1440x900 display on my ThinkPad, so "settling" for that resolution on an E6400 or M2400 might be worth considering.

The big monkey wrench is that all this M4400 hype has me craving a good GPU again, which is always a losing battle on these laptops. It would be nice to see a comprehensive performance roundup between:

-- E6400/E6500's Intel X4500 video
-- E6400/E6500's Nvidia 160M
-- M2400's Nvidia 370M
-- M4400's Nvidia 770M

From what I've gathered the 160M kinda sucks and the 770M is great. Obviously the 160M's alleged weak performance makes picking the integrated Intel video seem like a better option in that scenario. I wish the M4400 had switchable graphics like Lenovo's mid-range ThinkPads do right now.

This isn't getting any easier, heh.

 

This is what I was thinking of doing, too. Do you know if you can turn the second hard drive on and off at your whim to save battery life? It woulda kinda suck to have to have both drives running constantly when you're on battery if you're just surfing or whatever.