Finally got my D630 - dissapointment.. :S

Hi, i finally managed to get the money for d630 so i bought it yesterday. How come can everyone talk so many wonderful things about it, tho i'm not satisfied at all?

My specs:

14,1 WXGA+, Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8ghz, Intel GMA x3100, 1x1024 ram, 120gb 5400rpm hdd, dvd+rw, vista business, 6cell battery.

Firstly, when i opened my package, first dissapointment was that there is no fingerprint reader. Every review that I had read before convinced me that every d630 has its fingerprint reader. Oh well, that's the problem i can live with, can't I?

But that was just the beginning. Before i started the notebook, I looked hinges, case and other stuff like that, because every acer/acme/samsung and any other cheap notebook had their mistakes in looks. Well, to my surprise, Dell had them too, plenty. At first the hinges are kinda sloppy and if i push them, they go back and forward about 0,2cm. Secondly, when i close the lid, i can see that the lcd is crooked/hogged and if I press the lid while it's in close position, i can feel that the lock actually isnt holding very well, because the lid just shakes when i shake the notebook.. the lock which is used to close the lid, it is so creaky that it even makes a sound if in opened position and i move the lcd. Well, and dvd-drive is not stable at all, makes strange sounds and is creaky if opened. That's all i found about the case..

When i booted my notebook, i started to hear some strange sounds coming from battery after about 5 minutes. The strange sound is like water dropping or moving in there and it is kinda loud as well, compared to fan. While notebook is working, i hear it once in 10 minutes or so..

And finally, the performance.. even if i make boxes with my mouse on desktop(if u know what i mean, hehe), the boxes are lagging. 3dmark2001 score was 2200 (PLUGGED IN) and 3dmark2005 score was 580 (not plugged in). That is not what i had read from the reviews, some of you, dell d630 owners, can even play cs with good fps, am i right? Well, my fps in CS is 30-40 and vista graphic score 3.0. Yes, i have the latest beta drivers for vista and yes, i know that business laptop isn't for playing, but such old games as CS or warcraft 3, they should be playable :/

Physical memory usage in desktop, not using any active programs is 70%. I wonder if i buy 1gb more, would it make the performance better, because afterall that intel integrated video eats up physical memory..

Oh and trying to install my winxp.. winxp setup told me that it couldnt find any hard disk drives, therefore, it will exit the setup. Why so? :S


IS it something that all of you, d630 owners, have? Because i don't like it at all I hope i can still get the money back for it, that is not what i expected from business laptop dell d630.

Sorry for my whine guys. If it wasn't there problems, and 3dmark2001 would be at least 5000, i would be very pleased with this laptop, because, overall, keyboard/battery life/screen are all very good.

 

Sorry to hear about your disappointment.

Can't comment on the rest of your inquiry, but based on a little research and personal experience, it looks like there is some room for GPU performance improvement for the 135M. Between different drivers and tweaks, i've seen my WEI go from 3.2, to 3.6, to 4.1, to 4.3. Look to upgrade you memory too - I understand that even with a dedicated GPU, it still shares memory with the main computer, aside from the additional overhead from running Vista. Also, at 1.8GHz, your setup may not be the ideal gaming rig. Like you've already mentioned, it's a business machine.

Bottom line, return the notebook if you are unhappy. I hear Dell has a pretty good return policy.

Good luck. Personally I think the D630 is a solid machine, but everyone's mileage will always vary.

Regards,
P

 

Well i love my d630, but there are too much mistakes with it so i probably try to get a new d630 instead, or the money back so i can buy inspiron series..

btw, how much better would be this:
DELL Latitude D630,14.1 WXGA+ (1440x900),Core2Duo T7300
2.0Ghz/4MB/800FSB,nVidia Quadro NVS 135M 256MB,1x1024MB DDR2-667,120GB
5400rpm,8X DVD+/-RW, WLAN 802.11n, BT, Vista Bus/FingerPrint/Docking
port/4xUSB/1394/PCMCIA/6 cell batt/2.2Kg


i just maybe can add a little money and buy that instead, would that be good enough for gaming old games like cs and warcraft?

 

You really need more ram because you are using vista business!

 

Looks like I misread your first post, and that you have the x3100. While ok with business graphics/applications, the collective knowledge on this board tells me that this card is better left in the office.

I'm not one to give you advice on gaming rigs, but with a faster processor, bigger L2, dedicated video, and maybe drop another stick of ram in there, those two machines will be a class apart. Probably even be capable of gaming at moderate settings.

Good luck.

P

 

Your laptop is not really pushing the power in terms of processor, memory, graphics, to do the kinds of things I think you were hoping for.

The build design should be quite solid, so you really should not be having build issues.

But other than office applications, you have to at least double your ram to do anything else and have it done smooth.

I think also you would of been better off buying XP Pro rather than Vista.

 

I wish i had xp pro, but they only sold it to me with vista I don't like vista at all.

 

tbh minimum amount of ram to run vista perfectly is 2gb! intel x3100 is a big step forward from the gma950, although its still not meant for gaming.

im still waiting on my d630, but if it gets here, i hope i get what i wanted - uber battery life.

edit1: also as d630 uses sata hdd's and that's why you cant install xp pro on it

 

there is absolutely no way to get win xp on it ?:S

 

Apart from build quality issues, rest of the problems are in fact because you didn't configure your order properly.

The finger print reader is not a default option, especially if you select cheaper a base configuration. There is a section called Fingerprint Reader Option, with choices : Standard Touchpad [Included in Price] and Touchpad with UPEK® Fingerprint Reader [add $xx] (you must have selected the first one, hence no finger print reader).

Then you have selected the slower Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 [Included in Price] graphics option instead of faster 128MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 135M™ [add $xx] graphics card (which is roughly 3 times faster than the Intel card) ! Thats the main reason for your low 3D marks. Intel card is not meant for gaming, therefore it is weak in 3D applications.

 

I didn't order it from dells site, i got it from a local computer store and that config was already premade. I hope i can get my money back for that notebook, add a little more and get with nvidia card.

Do you all say that you don't have these build quality issues ? And what about battery making strange noise sometimes?

 

This is COMPLETE mis-information!

First, SATA has nothing to do with XP. Plenty of computers have SATA hard drives and XP installs and runs perfectly.

Second, Dell sells the D630 with XP, so it OBVIOUSLY works!!

 

It would probably be up to the stores policy as to whether or not they'll take it back. Do they have other D630's that have the options you want? They might be more open to an EXCHANGE than a RETURN.

Since you did buy it at a store, why didn't you try it out before you paid for it? Since they configured it for you, seems like you could have asked to see it before you paid for it.

Honestly, the D630 is just like the D620, and I've worked with a lot of those, and their build quality is just fine.

I have noticed, on the Vostro series, that the DVDRW drives are on some sort of metal rails or something, and are a bit noisier when sliding open/closed than what I am used to with laptop optical drives. A Vostro 1400 had it, and my Vostro 1500 came with a "quieter" standard drive. I agree, it is annoying.

But, maybe the D630 isn't for you. It's more money for the same stuff, and since you are obviously interested more in gaming, why not take your money and get an Inspiron or Vostro (cheaper $$$) and get more RAM and a dedicated video? My Vostro's builds have been solid (even my battery fit is good).

Good luck!

 

Batteries shouldn't make any noise. I would take the thing back to that computer store and complain.

 

You should've gone through the Dell website or perhaps ordered through a kiosk if it's available...

Fingerprint reader is not a default option. Whoever told you that was not knowledgeable. Pre-configured laptops at a store usually have poor configuration compatibility with components inside the machine. For instance, my friend has Vista and she only has 1gb RAM! I don't understand why manufacturers produce pre-configured laptops like that...

I absolutely love my D630 and it's one of the more solid notebooks I've ever touched, much better than my friend's Inspiron imho. As for the battery noise, my D630 is dead silent... I have to concentrate on the fan just to hear it. Fingerprint reader, from what I've read on the Dell boards, isn't all that worth it and setting it up is time consuming and frustrating. In addition, your touchpad buttons will be considerably smaller and some find that uncomfortable.

You should DEFINITELY return it at the store and configure one yourself. You'll be so much happier.

 

There is, you get the neccessary SATA hard disk drivers and slipstream (integrate) them into your XP install CD, that way XP recognizes your D630`s SATA hard drive.
If your D630 has Vista Business, then you don't even have to buy a copy of XP, you have a right to use a perfectly legal XP Pro on your laptop, instead of Vista. Just use the Vista licence key under your laptop when installing XP Pro.

 

i have heard it, siLc, but where to get the windows XP cd? And how to do that slipstreaming ?

 

Considering your questions, i'd recommend, like others, that you try to return it. What store did you buy it from? My guess is, it was either a used or returned system, and they tried to push it off on you.

In any case, it sounds like you'd be happier with a XP system, and I don't know how much you spent ($$$), but you can pick up a Vostro with XP for a pretty cheap price and get a great build and some good hardware. They are shipping now in less than a week. I ordered two more Vostro 1500's on Wed night, and they shipped yesterday!

 

Well, i live in Estonia, so i don't think when they will ship here.. anyway, i bought it from internet and they delivered it to me in 1 day, the package was goodly sealed and seemed to be never opened. And ffs, i have thrown away the box in which the notebook arrived..

 

Well, then...enjoy your new notebook!! It's probably your's now!

 

Masqo--If you can return I would. As others have said, you got the lower end options for the D630. As others have posted the fingerprint reader is not included in the base model--and you got the lower end integrated video rather than the NVIDIA card that will make quite a difference.

I ordered XP Pro on my D630 that I received three weeks ago--so XP will definitely run on the D630.

I'm also happy with the quality of my machine--it seems to be built very solidly.

If you can't order direct from Dell and you still want a D630, I suggest at least talking to whoever you can order through and specifying exactly what you want on your machine.

Good luck to you!
dordale

 

there are two ways to get a dell in estonia

1) www.max.ee being max123
2) shop.it.ee being ITGrupp

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/emea/contact/edb/estonia?c=ee&l=en&s=bsd

 

You obviously sound like you didn't know what you were getting yourself into. "Every d630 comes with a fingerprint reader"?? Please do some research next time before you make an expensive purchase like that.

 

Ditto on that. I did my research by reading and posting on these forums for months.. I went from wanting a MBP to a D630 and I'm totally content with my final decision.

 

To an earlier post- You can install XP w/o slipstreaming SATA drivers. Just disable AHCI in the BIOS.

 

Well i returned the notebook to the warranty, at least the personal over the computer shop admitted that these building issues are indeed strange and they will hopefully give me back the new d630, but I'll add 2gb memory(3gb total), win xp and intel chip.. they said something about a chip, but what does it actually do?

couldn't convince them to give me d630 with nvidia card tho...