Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

its prolly a good idea to switch off automatic updates, especially when running vista x64. [as far as nvidia drivers go]

 

Do you have the touchpad and pointing stick set to disable when usb mouse detected?

It works fine if both are enabled at the same time -- however -- if I select disable touchpad when usb mouse is detected - and then unplug it -- it does not activate the touchpad. A clean boot without the mouse plugged in also leaves the touchpad disabled - with notification that a usb mouse was detected - when there is none.

Also - can not activate the touchpad using dell software and the keyboard alone -- seems to be a problem with the software -- can highlight the topic with the tab key - but can not activate it / select it.

 

Thanks for the info about the screen. I did indeed order the E2E version of the display before I realized it would be a glossy finish. The display shipped with the computer may indeed be the matt version of the RGB display (which I would be very happy with); but since there is both an LCD and RGB version of the WUXGA 1920x1200 display I was hoping there is some type of hardware profiler to tell me which one was installed.

Thanks for the info on the stutter and docking port connector! I will search the forum for info about the stutter...

 

Is there a physical plastic bezel around the outside of the display or does the glass go all the way to about a few milimeters from the edge?

 

There is indeed a plastic bezel around the outside...so I know its not the RGB-LED Edge-2-Edge display, but what I do not know is if it is the standard RGB-LED WUXGA display (just not E2E) or if it is a LCD WUXGA display. Both the RGB-LED and LCD varieties were options on the website and with only the description of 'WUXGA 1920x1200' to go by I don't know which one of the two I have (i.e. RGB vs. LCD). Thanks for all your help!

 

you should be able to see if it's the RGB screen, the reds in particular really pop out.
But of course the real issue is that if you did order the edge to edge and you haven't received that screen,then it should be going back to dell!

 

Check out the warranty info online for your dell serial number, it should have all the parts listed, maybe there its listed as non-LED ?

 

Yes, i have both enabled, I may try if you can tell me how to disable when plug in.

 

I have received last week my M6400 (specs in sig) and let me share with you a small story that ended well.

I recieve the laptop and after getting the shock of witnessing the actual size of the power brick (no pictures, nothing can prepare you for it, it has been said by all the M6400 users, the thing is HUGE!) I switch it on.

At the DELL logo I saw that there was something wrong with the colours. When the first screen appeared it was obvious something was TOO wrong. Only white and black were... white and black. Some reds were blue some green some greens were blue others were yellow, a complete and absolute mess!

I searched around, everything seemed OK software wise so I call DELL. I spoke with a very kind guy who told me to run a few tests, everything was OK so he decided to send a technician the next day (I have next business day on-site repair guarantee, which I didnt think I would need to use so soon...) to replace: the GFX unit, the screen suport and the actual screen! No questions asked!

I am sure that this has been all worked out and replacing all immediately minimizing the time technicians spend on the phone and replacing parts, is cheaper but it still surprised me as an attitude!

Anyway the technician came the other day, and she started by saying, I have never opened such a laptop before.(!) And then everytime something was not as expected, especially when plastics should be unsnapped out of a place, she was saying all the time, "oh ****, oooooh ****"!

You get how I was feeling that time. I could already picture myself fighting over getting a replacement and waiting for it...

Anyway, she disembowled the laptop (i got the impression that changing the GFX unit must be one of the most radical repairs on can do to this laptop) AND put everything back, and thankfully all is working fine...

I am new at Vista so I do not know all the tricks yet and I havent installed any of the applictions for which I bought it, but so far so good.

First impressions:
The screen is very nice. If whites are slightly off, I cannot tell but on the other hand I do not work in photography so perhaps my eyes are not trained in picking up small differences to a "norm".
There is a small flex in the keyboard but it has in no way bothered me. I would like it a bit more stiff, but it is within the acceptable limits.
There is a lot of flex in the bottom-left part, above the DVD unit.
I will tell you more as soon as I actually start using it.

I have one question though, what is the recommended software in order to create 2 more partitions in the HDD, without unistalling anything? (Since all seems to be OK I did not proceed to a clean install)

 

Glad it all worked out ok!

Acronis True Image is great for copying your hard disk and letting you restore it to a partition size of your chosing. So - backup, restore to a smaller partition then create 2 other partitions from within vista.

M