Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

Some thermal insulation, a coat hanger and 30 mins?
Well at least it keeps the laptop cool - max temp 28C - looks a bit naff

Veni

 

This is probably one of those things everybody but me knew until yesterday but in case you haven't heard it Acronis True Image, I believe the best backup/cloning software out there is available for free to anyone with a Seagate hard disk. Since my Covet came with two of them it's probably the best free software you'll ever get. It's called Disk Wizard with Seagate and if you have a Maxtor drive they also have it rebranded as MaxBlast. Why they aren't shouting this from the rooftops I don't know but if you don't have Acronis and your M6400 shipped with Seagate drives you can find a download link somewhere in the article at the end of this link http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1022295/one-hdd-utilities-free . Even though I have had Acronis for years I downloaded a copy just because I can't resist another free copy. I'll find something to do with it. I don't know how current the freebie is but if it's identical to the commercial Acronis just the 'Try and Decide' feature is worth the download.


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Precision Covet, QX9300, 4GB (2 X 2), 64GB Samsung SLC SSD & Seagate 320GB & the standard Covet upgrades

 

Anyone else having problems with the DVD drive? It's acting a bit weird for me. Im currently using Win 7 but it was the same with Vista 64.

What happens is, it "hangs". Let's say I want to rip a CD, its spinning up, all going smooth then suddenly (random when) it slows down and nothing happens for anything between 1 to 15 min. Then suddenly it gets going again. Same if I'm installing something, or just want to read from a regular data DVD. It never fails completely (if I just wait), just taking a lot of time and annoying the hell out of me.

Maybe I should just get a replacement and see if that works.

 

Have you tried giving the lense a clean and checking if there's any type of firmware upgrade?

Also I think Nero does a drivespeed tool which can analyse some properties of your drive, it may give you an idea of whats wrong.

Veni

 

Does this "hangs" repeat in cycles? I am suspecting you may have an electrical problem with the drive and possibly need replacement.
Just a guess.

 

hi,

all Windows 7 x64 driver are gone on the dell Support page. Do you have any ideas why.
i need the link for the m3700 Nvidia.
Thank you

 

use the vista x64 driver...I had blank screen issues with the win7 x64 version,...prob why they pulled it.
No issues running the vista one on win7 x64..all games are stable.

 

Anone know the performance diffrence of the new ATI card and FX 3700M?
Which one would be the faster one?

 

I have run across a strange issue with two separate regular M6400 units. Have anyone else had something similar happen? I am running Vista x64 with QX9300, m3700 graphics and RGBLED screen. Try running the Windows Energy screen saver at max res. I have had two machines' lcds go dark and the machine becomes unresponsive and then spontaneously reboots after a few minutes with a BSOD reported afterwards when Windows Energy screen saver activates (this happens within 15 to 30 seconds of the screen saver activating). It seems to be a difficult problem to troubleshoot. My machine has been captured by Dell for troubleshooting, so far I have had the motherboard, video card, screen and Dell just told me they are going to replace the CPU as well. Really weird problem. Anyway, hopefully after all their work, my machine will be up and on its way back to me.

 

Anyone have any sort of palm rest protection? I don’t want to wear through mine.