Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge

Hello all,

Thought I would follow up on this since I successfully had my screen replaced.

The hardest part was explaining to the phone support people what I wanted. No matter how I tried they kept forwarding me to tech support where some drone would start instructing me about how to change my screen resolution by going to desktop properties ... eventually I actually gave one of them control so they could see for themself that the screen physically did not go to the resolution I wanted! Once I finally got them to understand that I really truly wanted my actual screen replaced with a different kind, and after some initial resistance ("we cannot replace the screen because it is not faulty"), they eventually agreed to upgrade it, only charging me the difference between the cost of the two screens, plus some nominal amount for the tech to come out and physically do the upgrade.

It took about 3 weeks for parts to arrive, and today the guy came and pulled the laptop apart and stuck the new screen in. It wasn't pretty to watch - he had to wrestle with a few parts and physically bend one of the brackets. However it went in fine and I am much happier with the WUXGA than I was with the WXGA+. Things are pretty small to look at, but most stuff scales up fine and the smallest writing is ultra clear and crisp and not hard to read anyway.

Cheers,

Simon.

 

I actually figured this one out -- turned out to be a hardware problem. It appears that the ribbon cable that tied the fingerprint reader to the motherboard wasn't inserted properly -- so each time I went down to touch the sensor to swipe, it unseated the ribbon cable.

I lifted the speaker panel, reseated the cable in the reader side and on the motherboard, and now it's working beautifully!

 

Hello all, first post here, and I would love your great input, as I will be purchasing an M4400 sometime within the NEXT FEW HOURS. I am really torn between the screens on the models available to me, that is:

WXGA+ WLED @ 1400x900 vs. WUXGA 2CCFL @ 1900X1200

I will be using for general business use, some CS4 photo editing and design work in 3DS Max, Solid Works etc. I am torn, because I think I might not like the 2CCFL, even though it is considered an upgrade. Please comment on better value config given pricing and features, with emphasis on screens:

Sys 1 - $1259
- Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate
- 15.4 inch 1400X900 WXGA+ LED Laptop Screen
- T9600, 2.80GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
- 160 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
- 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M
- Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
- Back-lit Keyboard
- 6 Cell Primary Battery
- Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
- Integrated Webcam with digital microphone

Sys 2 - $1429
- Genuine Windows XP Pro + Vista Bus License
- 15.4 inch 1900X1200 WUXGA 2CCFL Laptop Screen
- T9600, 2.80GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
- 250 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
- 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M
- Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
- NO Back-lit Keyboard
- 9 Cell Primary Battery
- Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
- NO Integrated Webcam, only digital microphone

So, which to go with...

 

i'd suggest to go with a different brand. from my experience i cannot suggest buying dell.

as a single positive thing, very very slowly 'something' is happening. which is at least a little bit more than nothing..

 

I'd go with 1900 x 1200 for sure - for spreadsheets, etc is wonderful. I really like the backlit keyboard - surprised at how useful it is. I'd get the webcam as well. So I'd take your second option, but add webcam and backlit kb.
HTH

 

I don't know if you guys have seen any of my previous M4400 posts, but I'm pretty sure it will be my next PC. I've been using a Latitude D800 since mid 2003 and it's just time for me to upgrade, finally. I initially wanted another Latitude, but their video power is just way too low. This machine came with a Geforce Go 4200, which I later bricked using Dell's vbios flasher, and had to upgrade to a Geforce Go FX 5650. I'm pretty sure the NVS 160 isn't significantly more powerful than either.

Anyway, I was originally working with a $1500 budget, but I figure since this PC will be my first in almost six years, and I want it to stay functional for almost as long as my current notebook, I could up it to $2000. Here's the config I'm looking at currently:


Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9800 (2.93GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate 64-BIT SP1
15.4" UltraSharp™ WUXGA (1920x1200) CCFL Display
NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M, 512MB
4.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
250GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor
8X DVD+/-RW
6 Cell Battery (I rarely unplug my system)
Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module
Internal English Backlit Keyboard
Integrated webcam with microphone
FREE! Dell 19 inch™ 1909WFP Widescreen Flat Panel, Analog (don't really need it, but if it's free...)
Total: $2,097


http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...q66&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&kc=category~precnnb
(took me a while to find the 64-bit configurator)

I think Dell's online pricing for this model is pretty messed up. To upgrade from a 250 to 320GB HDD is $200. The Intel T9800 is the same price as the T9600. Also all the same options except with LESS RAM costs less here than it does on their 32bit configurator, and the 64bit one comes with a free monitor.

 

@WestDev

I have the 1920x1200 2CCFL and do a lot of work in Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign -- I find the colors aren't as accurate as I'd like, but as far as laptop displays go, I'm pretty happy with it.

That said, when doing work that has lots and lots of data on the screen (Photoshop, Illustrator, multiple windows with code in it) -- resolution is king. I can do color accuracy work and tweaking at home or when I do proofs. And when it comes to Photoshop, it'll eat all the RAM you have so the more you have, the better -- so the less thrashing of the hard drive, the happier you'll be. I'd also suggest nixing Ultimate and going for Vista Business since all you get is BitLocker encryption and MediaCenter -- neither of which I use, and spent the money on something else that you can't easily upgrade yourself like a webcam(ymmv). I have the cheapest Dell wi-fi card, as I had an Intel before and didn't really see that much of a difference -- also if need be I can upgrade that by hand later too if I absolutely crave an Intel card (and a Centrino sticker).

@nemt

Your config looks pretty much identical to mine; except for the Wi-Fi and I went with the least ammount of RAM and bought a 4GB kit off of newegg and id the upgrade myself. With only one screw to get access to it, upgrading was a snap. Looking good otherwise -- a nice well-balanced machine I think. Also, if you really don't want that free monitor, I'll gladly take it from you

 

Thanks @khrainos for the color acc. and resolution recommends (think ccfl color accuracy can be tuned also..), but how are the lighting level / bottom ccfl bleed / blacks? And can anyone speak for the 1400X900 WXGA+ WLED in these respects?

Btw, I agree re: vista bus, ram, webcam etc., but I'm actually choosing between fixed configurations and prices .

 

I would upgrade the RAM myself, but I've heard once you open the Precision it never really closes correctly again.

 

I believe that's only partially true -- the bottom panel's really easy to access and pops back in easily. It's only when you do a full motherboard replacement, that involves taking the chassis completely apart that it "doesn't go back together right"