Vostro 3700 Owner's Lounge

Battery life test #1:

Conditions:
-6 cell battery
-fresh install of Win 7 Ultimate
-disabled the following in the BIOS: fingerprint reader, bluetooth, eSATA, ExpressCard
-kept the following enabled: wireless (although not connected to a network), camera, mic, USB, NIC, 1394 firewire, card reader
-tweaked the power settings (I can list them exactly if you want, but probably the biggest thing is screen brightness at 40% and screen set to never dim)
-the only things in the tray or loading at startup are MS Security Essentials, the nvidia control panel graphics/switching thing (more about this later)

total run time: 3 hours 38 minutes

This breaks down to about 1 hour 30 minutes of idle (although wallpaper slideshow was on, My computer was open, a few other programs were open but nothing was actively being used) and 2 hours and 8 minutes of a looped 720p video in Windows Media Player.

So I think that's pretty good, considering it's the first time I've run off battery for more than 5 minutes.

So the Nvidia drivers seem to indicate that Windows is switching between using the GT 330M grpahics and the Intel HD graphics built into the i5. Is it really doing that? Is this the Optimus technology at work? I didn't think the Vostro line had that feature.

 

Boot time on my fresh install, 500GB HD, advanced boot options in msconfig are to use both cores and no gui: 35 seconds, not bad

Shutdown time is 10 sec

 

ok, that is getting us somewhere.

Is there a tool to use to monitor the speed of the fan in Dell machines--much like the ThinkPads? If you could report the speeds on idle and on moderate to severe load that will give me an idea of what to expect. My only concern is that I do not like to hear the fan noise when working (I work in a very quite place without much ambient noise)--it makes me anxious that machine is overloading (just a paranoia from HP days!). I can live with fan blowing air but I do not want to hear it blow (unless on heavy load, when I have knowledge that I am stressing it.)

Apparently, Dell has delivered the notebook to my University office--so am heading there now.

S

 

ok, opened the box and brand spanking new notebook. Here are my first impressions (been playing with it for the last 4 hours now), randomly listed below:

1. It is big--huge, I must say. First time I own such a large screen display mobile computer.

2. Keyboard flexes a bit, but so does my Lenovo ThinkPad X200 keyboard. I am getting used to the size.

3. It is quiet on idle and pushes a gush of hot air through the left vents periodically (loading pages that have javascripts or flash--but quickly remits to idle noise. I can barely hear the fan noise on idle though.

4. I agree the speakers could do with some upgrading--they are really tweeters.

5. The general build is not so sturdy as a HP NW8240 workstations I owened before this (business notebook)--but, I am not disappointed as I look after my machines like babies.

6. Arrow keys on keyboard could be a bit bigger for my liking. I have to get used to them I guess. Delete key is also tiny for such a large computer.

7. Comes with x86 32-bit Win 7 Pro--only uses 2.99GB of RAM of the 4GB installed. How do I get the x64 version of Windows 7 on this? Are there drivers for x64? Will it be noticeably faster?

8. It does get a little hot on the left side (must be where the HDD is)--but not unbearable at all.

9. Screen resolution is also okay--I am getting old now and need reading glasses, so I can live with this. For this size screen at least 1680x1200 would have been better or even the hidef 1920x1200.

10. Esthetics wise, I think it is a looker, but a bit thick, but again, it is a performance notebook (not the power saving Intel chips).

In all, I like it but will give it a good spin in the next coming weeks and report back.

S

 

ah yes...but those resolutions are impossible on this screen - it's a 16:9 screen. Those resolutions are 16:10 resolutions. It drives me crazy that laptop manufacturers have gone to 16:9. It's the reason I had to look at 17" laptops, just to get the screen height to an acceptable level.

My Dell D620 is 14.1" in the 16:10 ratio.

A 15.6" laptop (16:9 ratio)- remember, that's 1.5 inches bigger diagonally!! - is the same screen height as the 14.1" screen. It's a crime for people who use laptops primarily for work, Office programs, etc.

I agree, it definitely isn't up to the sturdiness of a higher end business class laptop, but it's excellent for the price. I went to a local store and liked the Dell Studio 15, but when I pressed down on the top of the lid, I think I was able to press it so far down that I could touch the back of the screen. I'd be afraid to travel on a regular basis with a laptop like that.

There's information earlier in this thread about how to download the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and how to backup your current activation (I think that works moving from 32bit to 64bit), or you can just use the Win 7 key inside your battery compartment. I would suggest using 64 bit to take advantage of the RAM. In normal usage you won't see a difference but in heavy Photoshop use, video editing, or if you use virtual machines, then it will definitely make a difference.

Glad the fan noise is acceptable for you!

 

I most likely do a clean install with Windows 7 x64. Does the CD in the package called "drivers..." have drivers for x64 or do I have to download them from the Dell Support Website? Would you recommend I download all the drivers from there rather than those on the provided discs? I see there is a BIOS upgrade as well (A07 vs. stock A04).Should I upgrade BIOS as well?

S

 

Those drivers are probably old, always get the latest one off dell webite.. Follow the instructions I posted before in this thread and you should be fine .. I went from 32bit Win7 to 64bit Win7.

Just for kicks, call Dell and say I only see 3GB RAM out of 4GB ram and tell them to fix it .. Who knows maybe they will send you free copy of Win7 Pro 64bit since they don't have Win7 Home 64bit on their site for this laptop.

 

How are you getting those values ? I can't find anywhere how long it takes ...

 

Sorry, should have mentioned that - I am hand timing it with a stopwatch on my old school cell phone , although I think somewhere on these boards (maybe somewhere in the HP boards??) there's a link to freeware that measures how long it takes Windows to load completely (but doesn't include or measure anything before Windows loads, like the BIOS loading, etc).

My method is hit the power button and start the stopwatch, then I stop it when I see that the wireless card has acquired an IP address. For shutdown, I do it from the time I click Shutdown until the light on the power button goes off.

 

A07 is working fine for me, updating was very easy from within Windows