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Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by cnpt, Aug 28, 2008.

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  1. afhstingray

    afhstingray Notebook Prophet

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    personally what i do is i run it at native res (WUXGA) but turn all the stuff like AA off.

    at that high a res, AA is of limited use IMO.....

    running at lower than native res is highly subjective, some ppl dont care, some ppl think its bad.....personally i dont care....

    what i do is i try it at native res with no AA etc first, then move down till i get good performance (if i dont get good performance with AA etc off in the first place) then decide how much to turn on..
     
  2. sisqo_uk

    sisqo_uk Notebook Deity

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    i do the same thing tbh but i have never seen a game played at wxga+.
    i no that if i dont run it at native its not as it seems like its supposed to look (maybe i like it sharp) but i remember when i owned a 8510p with res wsxga i maxed out time shift and it was very nice and sharp. when i got the 8510w in stead with wuxga i dont really remember it been as sharp as the 8510p was on the resolution 1680x1050, but when it was on 1920x1200 it seemed exactly same as the 1680x1050 which displayed it nice and sharp.
    Thats why i wonder how much difference in frames there is with the same game with native resolution otherwise the games dont seem nice and sharp otherwise.
    I think helps deciding what screen to select.
     
  3. afhstingray

    afhstingray Notebook Prophet

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    i cant tell you exactly what kind of frame rate percentage hit you'll get, but its definitely noticable on a FX770 class card for newer games...

    for gaming a sager would be so much better....i dont see why anyone would pick a precision purely for gaming.

    my usage is 50% work+internet 30% movies 20% gaming

    WUXGA screen is great for work stuff :p
     
  4. sisqo_uk

    sisqo_uk Notebook Deity

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    well i no what you mean about the gaming thing lol. i dont no i remember buying my 1st laptop and never new nothing really about them. i remember it being a toshiba (influenced by name) im talking like back in the satelite days when pentium 3 was kicking. and i think it had 550mhz lol. but its the nipple mouses which was only mouse at the time i got used to ALOT. i found it quite a joy playing unreal tournament with it without the hassle of having lots of wires and since then i just bought note books with that mouse. They happen to be the business notebooks so i just look for best one in its range it terms of gaming performance and im sold providing the fan noise is is almost non existant. (The T61p has COMPLETELY spoiled me with no noise during gaming and i play rainbow six vegas 2 on it as high as i can. perfect machine if only w500 had quadro 770m i wouldnt hesitate to buy or ask questions lol)

    oh yes off the topic. i forgot my admin passowrd on the 8530w and cant remeber for the love of anything. how can i access windwos without reinstalling it or losing anything?
     
  5. boss428man

    boss428man Notebook Consultant

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    Well I finally got my M4400 the end of last week. Overall I am quite impressed, the build quality is great and as I just found out the Dell service is very fast. (However I am a bit disappointed I had to use it so soon.) My M440 unfortunately has a dead pixel. Now I can't say a blame Dell any manufacturer could have one. It seems really like the luck of the draw. Especially on the RGBLED 1900X1200 screen it is quite hard to see, however I want it replaced. So thankfully they offered to replace the display the next day which is tomorrow.

    I was wondering from anyone who has had there display replaced do you have any advice to watch out for as the tech replaces my monitor. Is it an easy swap out? I am particularly concerned about the bezel. I have printed out and read the service manual just so I have an idea of whats going to happen. (Forgive me for forgetting your name.) I think your story of the tech guy practically ruining your laptop has me a bit concerned.

    Anyway I plan on doing a full review of the laptop after I have had time to tweak it out and run a couple HD edits and visual FX's on it. Stay tuned.
     
  6. afhstingray

    afhstingray Notebook Prophet

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    thankfully, replacing the screen is easy. the bezel is a snap on, and its very very easy to break the clips when attaching it. but getting a new bezel is no big deal. just make sure you check after he puts the bezel back on if its loose at any point. make a note of where the clips are, and test those areas. if its fitting tightly and you cant pull it apart easily, then it should be fine

    what you want to watch out for is any repair that requires removal of the palmrest. that really ruins your fit. never fits back as solidly as before. its probably because its much harder and rigid plastic than the lcd bezel
     
  7. I♥RAM

    I♥RAM Notebook Deity

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    You need to run Ophcrack, if your password wasn't extremely complicated, this will crack it. I've cracked my high school entire network with it. LOL, shh.

    http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
     
  8. ThinkFr33ly

    ThinkFr33ly Notebook Guru

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    Thanks everybody for the advice about calling Dell. I think I will. I've got NBD + Complete Care service for 3 years, so I doubt I'll have any issue getting them to fix stuff. I assume they just change out parts, right? My HD will stay as is, correct? Hopefully it doesn't force me through the hassle of re-activating Windows.

    I've had the overheating/downclocking problem personally. Just during normal use the machine is fairly loud/hot (although I understand my components "run hot" and these temps are probably normal for my CPU... QX9300), but playing something like Crisis for more than 10 minutes results in 87c for the graphics card and downclocking on both the A09 and A11 BIOS. I personally don't feel like I should have to downgrade to A02/A03 for my machine to work as advertised.
     
  9. afhstingray

    afhstingray Notebook Prophet

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    read what me and RAM wrote in this thread
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=338931&page=5

    you do not want them to change any parts that require you to remove the palmrest, it never fits back properly again. its horrible to lose that solid feeling.

    to fix the downclocking etc they will have to change the mobo, and that requires a palmrest removal. i would suggest you ask them to swap the unit for a brand new one instead.

    they usually give you time to swap the hard drive or transfer your data if you dont want to go through the hassle of backing up. this is what im doing.

    my new unit will be here before the 12th, and they're collecting my old unit on the 19th. gives me time to decide what i want to do with my data
     
  10. PerComp

    PerComp Notebook Consultant

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    I've finally pulled the trigger! :D Placed my order today - now for the hard part, the waiting... :(
     
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