Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

Laptopvideotogo.com?

 

Sorry can anyone confirm that the " WUXGA CCFL LCD 1900x1200" screen is" glossy or matte?

 

$4000 is too much to spend and have to answer that question...

they should not offer a product that does not work correctly. anyway, if i knew the issue would be fixed in few months i may be inclined to hold onto the computer, but i doubt i will get that kind of promise from dell.

 

I have tried my best to keep this awesome laptop. I have it sceduled to send back for a full refund tomorrow.
The problem for me mainly with 3ds Max and redraw issues when the screen goes either completely white or important windows like the progress bar also containeing the means to stop the render will go white.

So most people I talked to today after disconnects and runarounds at dell told me there was nothing that can be done. ok
The last person I talked to told me this is an issue when you push the hardware. ok

The laptop is not for me in this state.

I post to say this to everyone who has or will have this laptop. I can't really say more. Except if you push this "Workstation" you may want to be careful because it may not do what you expect.

As always it's the luck of the draw.

 

I also feel the same way regarding the laptop. Since my review, I have experienced tons of problems with the system.

Frequent occurences:

1. Display driver "nvlddmkm" stops responding and the display goes black before switching back on again.

2. 97% of microsoft vista updates causes my system to crash (blue screen), unable to open windows normally.
My quick fix for this is to launch windows in safe mode(networking) to finish the update and have the the system send the the error reports Followed by a restart. If the restart doesnt work, then use the "last good configuration"(fingers crossed, it should work).

3. Headphone jack looses audio sometimes. This just started occuring after updating the HD audio drivers from dell's website.

4. display driver Error messages crop up when using After effects (seldomly).

5. System fails to shut down properly even after left for over 2hrs.

Like i have mentioned before, my system might be a bad build especially because i still have the hard disk problem(noise) and Dell will be replacing it once i get back to the UK but with so many complains about the systems functionality and reliability, i might consider getting something else if the replacement still has all the higlighted problems i have experienced.

I know with pc laptops, you should expect to encounter some problems but not as many as i or anyone has experienced with this laptop.
When you consider how much the laptop cost, you will expect it to have been kept through rigorous testing to ensure that all hardware are fully compatible and majority of the software that are used by its targeted consumers run smoothly to a VERY satisfactory level.

Sadly this isnt the case. I will be removing my reccommendation from the review and will update it when i get the replacement.

 

I feel like its a gamble every time I boot it up. Once it starts bluescreening its hell to get it working again. Problem is, with no changes to the setup it could either work or not depending on god knows what. Got problems shutting down as well. Probably fails 30%-40% of the time.

My HDs are making a clicking sound thats really annoying, that the problem you got too? I got two Seagate Momentus 7200.3. I tried to get rid of the problem with some instructions found on this forum but to no avail so far.

Getting my squeaky keyboard replaced next week. 2nd keyboard since I got it a month ago.

 

lol! exactly. Booting up is literally a gamble and it(blue screen) has happened so many times that i can predict when it would occur before it actually happens.

The clickling sound you probably experienced might be from the speakers except it frequently occurs everytime you make use of your system.

The noise i get from the hard drive is more like what you get from a "TV station when they experience a loss of signal during broadcast and the color bars come up".
Thats the best way i can describe it. IT IS VERY IRRITATING.

 

I know people are having issues with the M6400. This doesn't surprise me. Every time i've bought a high-end Dell laptop as soon as it is released I've had this expererience.

Make sure you call Tech support to make sure the issues are logged. Then either return the system or keep hold of it, but warning that you will return it if the issues aren't solved.

I honestly think that the majority of problems mentioned here are driver issues. (Although my battery is already kaput)

 

Laptop and desktop versions of NVIDIA drivers are exactly the same -- it is a unified driver architecture.

Get the modded inf and you can install it.

The certified partner drivers are available via link from the NVIDIA site.

 

Nah I think its the HDDs, definately sounds like it. Im guessing its this problem:
"When idle, the drive wants to park the heads because the Advanced Power Management (APM) of the hard drive is activated by default every time the drive motor spins up after suspend. This APM park feature produces the really annoying sound" which supposedly are most frequent on Seagate disks. Too bad Im not managing doing anything about it.

I dunno, its just alot of small annoying things. My Inspiron 9400 had really loud fans but at least that sound was constant. Things like these wear on me until I feel like smashing it. That usually works one way or the other tho.