Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

gulfstreamtec, I recommend AO3. It's as straightforward as download and click. Yes you can reinstall previous bios - download it and click.

 

Thanks so much LLavelle. Really. I'm sort of a halfwit (as opposed to a dimwit) when it comes to these things and even though I have an Acronis clone standing by nice straight answers like yours are good for my confidence and self esteem. And now I can do it and if I screw anything up I can blame you.

 

What Dell refers to as a "free fall sensor" is nothing more than a shock sensor. You can order drives with shock sensors for 30% to 75% less than what Dell charges.

 

Just thought I'd let everyone know the buy of the year.......

T9600
FX3700
8 gig ram
2x120 7200 HDD
(not covert version)
fingerprint reader
bluetooth
HSPA (5530 = so GPS also) - thanks to my dell mini 9 (actually my kids but they don't know!!!!)

now running 1900 x 1200 (thanks to my 9400 - which is now sold)

Yes all this for....................$2,000 AU delivered = US$1300. - No it's not hot brought as a second from graysonline, from Dell who sell them there reather than their outlet store in Ausi.

 

If it still has the 3 year dell warranty, then its an uber deal.

If no warranty, then dam good deal

 

No problem - I think

 

Not to worry, just an attempt at levity. Really, and any blame is mine alone. I have used computers for many years as nothing more than troublesome tools. Someone else delt with things like BIOS. But I'm stationed in the jungle with no backup (literally and no pun intended) and am enjoying trying to figure out all this...this....stuff. And drivers are my current roadblock on the way to comprehending all those electrons or whatever blasting around down there.

And since you've been so helpful with the BIOS thing (went exactly as you said) What drivers might you suggest for a 6400 Covet with the quad core and all the standard Covet stuff? Running XP Pro 32bit. The posts about the video driver issues with the quatro 3700 leave me confused. For instance; The Dell driver CD says it detects both the 2700 and the 3700 on my system. What's that about? Do I need both drivers for some reason? Enquiring minds and all that.

And then there's all the 'recommended' and 'urgent' stuff on the Dell page. About twenty of em. A cousin who works for intel told me "if it ain't broke don't fix it" basically but I like experimenting since there's always a clone on standby. And any performance upgrades interest me a lot.

One last thing, since I'm making an essay of this. Is it possible to change processors with these things? The quad is very impressive and all but from what I understand so far the x9100 might actually eke out some more performance for most of my programs and usage (that I'd probably not even notice, but hey, these things are all about performance right?) Anybody out there with an x9100 who'd like to swap it out for the QX9300? If it's even possible. And again, thanks. Really.

 

No just a darn good deal no warrenty - not uinexpected warrenties never concern me figure I can swap out my own faulty parts the key is to keep her cool. My 9400 survived water spills, new covers & bases updtes from the 7800 - 7900 - 7950gtx. So she was an origional unit back in 06. Paid $2200 AU back then delivered + another $400 for parts and sold for $1300 had 3 years got used for worked every day for 9 - 12 hours. Only sold because the CPU and mobo wont support 64 bit fully.

 

Yea, but what happens if you drop it into a 'billybong' or whatever you call those things? Or what if one of those 'Roo' things decides to pick it up and smash it on a rock? Or maybe jump on it with those two big back legs. I wouldn't want to try to stop one of them, they're pretty big, right? Well as someone who has had two pretty much destroyed laptops replaced by Dell I can tell you that 'swapping parts' doesn't cut it if for example someone with crappy depth perception decides to use the biggest Cuban cigar in the world as a pointer, or a blast of lava ash plants it's hot butt on your keyboard, you'll be wishing complete care came with your bargain.

So say it gets destroyed for some reason, maybe you accidently back your Land Rover over it, whatever. It does happen. So now you gotta find another 1300 dollar M6400 (good luck), but say you do, then you're up to $2600 which is about 150 more than I just paid for a Covet with all the bells and whistles.....and 3 years of 'complete care'. I think maybe it'd be a good move to see if Dell will still sell warranties on it. If they do buy one.

 

Good to hear BIOS update went well.

Only one video driver needed.

If you have the time:

Open Dell Control Point and click on View System Information.
Under components double click on each device and you will see all details (name, version, date) for the driver. Compare that info to Dell download site and download and install anything that is newer. I did it, took awhile, and no problems.

If you switch out the CPU your warrenty will be null and void. Warrenty is for factory config.