Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

Inspiron 9400 on order - arrggg they've given me a delivery date of 10th March - I really hope its quicker.

Tony.

 

wow it is strange, I've ordered my Inspiron E1705 and they've told me that it will come at 21st February or 3-5 later

 

Well, my bad luck with Dell continues. Yesterday (on my b-day) I went out and bought NFSMW and was playing it happily for a few hours when suddenly the game locked and my LCD panel died. Totally died. Called Dell right away and yup, my screen is dead. So I've had this machine for all of a week and a half and already a major problem.

So the graphics card is underclocked, the battery life is not as advertised, the keyboard sucks (fingers catch on the lips of the keys above), the screen not only has light leakage but is crap and already dies. What next I'm scared to ask.

I keep wondering if I should just return them both and get the xps laptops but the duo core is really attractive as I multitask a lot during work hours but gaming wise they pale in comparison to the xps. My questions is are the parts better in the xps (besides the video card obviously) or are they the same underlying components (533mhz vs 667mhz aside).

Ironically my dell bill/statement came in the mail today. Go figure.

 

Ouch!!! I am very sorry to hear that your LCD screen died. That is simply outrageous. You might see if they let you upgrade at least 1 laptop to the XPS for free..after so many hassles.

For the rest of us, tho --that is scary news that the monitor actually died

 

I'm really disappointed - on my birthday at that. I've had blue screens with this one as well so I'm not too confident in the quality right now. I just want a good solid laptop one wonders if that is too much to ask from dell.

I would have to say that buying computers from dell has proven to be a much worse experience then even buying a new car (which has never been fun any of the 4 cars i've bought). At least you can kick the tires and take it for a spin and if something is wrong, take it right back in town to the place you got it. Well, "cry me a river" I'll see what if anything they will do for me. lol. Not expecting much, so far the only thing they've done is sent me carrying cases for my "inconvenience" what did that cost dell, $10 each.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my organization submitted an order for my 9400 on 1/25/2006 (through Higher Ed market channel) with estimated ship date of 2/7/2006. After one day, it went to the "production -> build" stage where it has been stuck until today. Today, the order status page said the order had been cancelled and re-entered under a new order number. I'm not sure what the cause of this is, but I see that many of you also experienced this, so I thought I'd post what happened.

It looks like Core-Duo notebook availability issues continue. :-(

 

I feel for you. I went through bloody hell to get mine to begin with and now, with my LCD screen packing it in, will probably not see the new one for another month with god knows what new screw ups by Dell.

BTW Redstar - Despite all our attempts with Dell they refuse to do anything more for us then "what they already have" which amounted to laptop bags (received), extended one year on site warranty vs depot return (not processed yet) and our XP Backup CDs (have not received yet after 1 week). I "should understand and expect there to be problems that's what warranties are for" I'm told by dell and "i just have bad luck, we only use tier one parts". Well doesn't that make me feel better - not.

I wouldn't buy these machines again or anything from dell again after this experience. Fair warning to all who are considering this machine - READ this ENTIRE forum first and buyer beware.

 

Wow guys,

I am sorry to hear about the bad string of luck you guys are having. I will agree with you in the part that Dell's support kinda stinks compared to some of the other companies, at least you got something out of it.

I got a second free ($29) printer from Dell for them delaying my shipment...and never received the printer cable that I ordered from them, which was later reimbursed.

I have an I9300 and I have yet to have any problems with it.
*Knocks on wood*

I am sure that you guys will get your issues resolved, but I will agree that the customer support needs to be improved.

 

asusmonkey, there has been a Dell US screw-up mentioned from around the time you originally ordered. The orders had to be re-input, and if I remember correctly, they had new order numbers allocated. I guess they are monitoring orders that aren't progressing through and catching these rogue ones.

Regards,
Tony.

 

Hi Flames_fan_forever, was it you who had all the delivery problems?

I would suspect both of your problems to be caused by your machines being bounced around in the back of a truck/van.

Before and whilst doing any of the below take some anti-static precautions.

The screen one could well be the cable that connects it to the motherboard has worked loose. If your feeling brave, the service manual probably details how to get to it and plug/unplug it.

For the other one I'd start with the memory modules and move onto the HD. Unplug and replug them (dead easy, though the service manual has instructions should you need them). If the problem persists and you have two modules try them one at a time. For the harddrive, again you can remove this and check the connections (service manual again ). I'd consider a re-install of Windows too at this point early into the ownership of the machine.

If the problem is persisting still after all that then it could be worth trying to reseat the video card. Ah! Maybe not! I've just read the service manual for this and it is very complex.

It sounds like a lot of messing I know, when you expected to just plug-and-go. Roll on the day when they're as simple to live with as a VCR.

Hope you get your machines sorted ASAP - On-site support will probably (should) do all the steps I've mentioned. Hopefully they'll've brought a few spares with them too like memory modules or video cards.

Best wishes,
Tony.

 

Thanks for your post Tony!

I've actually already ordered 4 new 1GB DDR2 667mhz memory modules from crucial and will have those tomorrow. (anyone looking to buy any 512mb DDR2 6677mhz memory modules?)

As I have a secondary screen that I use anyways for my primary display and it's within the 30 days since purchase I opted for the brand new laptop. I get to keep this one until it arrives and then UPS picks up the old peice of crap and returns it to dell at their expense. With a little luck, dell will finally send me my xp "backup" cds so I can do a fresh install using the copy of xp I will actuall own vs. "a copy" (without sp2).

I heard that the screens can be really tough to remove anyways and with my luck I would break something.

As far as my problems with my order. Do you really want to know? It's bad, real bad. I got tired of documenting it all after awhile (the buggers wore me down) but here's the just of it:

*********************************************************

January 25, 2006

Melissa,

You have not email or phoned me today by 12pm your time as you promised me you would. It's now 2:30pm your time. Is this another test of my patience?

While I see that my order is apparently now in processing I do not put any faith in this as I've seen this already before going right back to order processing. I am awaiting confirmation from you of the following:

1. Confirmation of there being NO hold at Dell Financial and that this has once and for all been straightened out to ensure no other problems/delays with this order.

2. Detailed Order Status as of this minute and expected delivery date.

3. I maintain that I strongly feel some sort of compensation is due to me for my multitude of time (over 20 hours) trying to make this order since Jan. 4th as I have well documented. I want to know immediately what Dell is going to do for me.

4. Your assurance that you will personally or an assigned staff member track this order each day until it is shipped to ensure there are no further problems.

Please respond to each of these 4 items in detail so I can be confident that the laptops will arrive and Dell will do something to compensate me.

Regards,
Bruce


-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce
Sent: January 24, 2006 9:46 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Cc: '[email protected]'
Subject: FW: (TD)FW: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada - FINAL ATTEMPT FOR ACTION BY DELL
Importance: High

To Whom It May Concern:

(You may want to start at the bottom of this email)

And another day with no reply from Gail or anyone at Dell and my order is still not in production as I was specifically told it would be in processing by yesterday afternoon by Lauren. Gail has not responded to either of my last two emails so now I will try you and see if you will help.

I am in an infinite loop at Dell.

- My order is stuck in order processing
- Next day my order is still in processing but the estimated delivery date increases by one day.
- I call Dell, speak to yet another person because for some reason I can't speak to the same person there ever. I'm told the same thing, your order is "stuck" at Dell Financial. I explain all that has happened to me since placing this order originally on Jan. 5th!!!!!! I insist my order is not stuck at Dell Financial (I've called them many times now as well and they insist my order is not in any way "stuck" with them. So your Dell rep calls Dell Financial who sure enough tell him my order is not "stuck". I'm told my order will be in processing today for sure (the last guy swears by it, he's apparently talked to a production manager or someone). I'm told to check my order again the next day.
- Next day (like today) I check my order and sure enough, still in order processing, another day added to my delivery date.

I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS. I'VE SPENT SO MUCH TIME TRYING TO MAKE THIS PURCHASE. NOBODY AT DELL CAN TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON, NOBODY FROM DELL FOLLOWS UP TO MAKE SURE THIS ORDER IS BEING PROCESSED.

So now I'm emailing you the "Manager". Are you going to help me. Are you just going to send me a form letter response, are you going to be the one that takes responsibility for this? I literally have had to spend up to 2 hours each and every day now trying to order these TWO laptops.

This is my last attempt. As you must plainly be able to see from all my emails, my TWO (why?) case files and I'm sure you believe me, countless hours on the phone to Dell I am not getting anywhere and so you are my last hope of resolving this. I absolutely feel that my business is not important to Dell at all and if it is, you have a funny way of showing it.

What is Dell going to do to make this right? To make up for my dozens of hours of time?

I expect a timely and comprehensive reply to this email or better yet a phone call from you the "Manager" to immediately rectify this situation.

Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce
Sent: January 23, 2006 8:57 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: FW: (TD)FW: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada -Importance: High

Well, no reply as of yet from my last email to you Gail but hey it only gets worse from here. IN ADDITION to my email below explaining my Dell Hell of last week, today I discovered my order date pushed back yet again and still at the "order processing" stage. I called Dell yet again (12th call or so now) and talked with yet another person (you apparently are not available today (Monday the 23rd). Now I'm told that STILL there is a hold from Dell Financial Canada. I spoke at length with Dell Financial last Thursday for the umpteenth time and they insisted my order was not being held up by them. I asked 3 times and she insisted my order was fine, credit approved and "my order should go into production stage within one hour.

What the hell is going on? Does anyone at Dell honestly care about me? Why am I being punished like this. I've got way better things to do then write countless emails or make call after call with Dell only to get no where.

I DEMAND THAT SOMEONE AT DELL TAKE ACTION ON MY ACCOUNT/PURCHASE AND ENSURE THAT IT IS PROCESSED. I AM SO CLOSE TO CANCELLING THIS &#%#& ORDER ALL TOGETHER AND NEVER BUYING FROM DELL AGAIN.

I've been told by Lauren who just checked yet again with Dell Financial that my order is supposed to be in production (this time) this afternoon Jan. 23rd. (Lauren Rep # 100090.) He opened a new for me in addition to yours which is Case Number: xxxxxxxxxx

I have zero confidence that my order is being processed despite what anyone there at Dell says. I've gone through this same circle of futility 3 times now and am no closer to getting my order.

CAN YOU OR SOMEONE AT DELL NOT PERSONALLY TRACK THIS ORDER AND MAKE SURE IT IS PROCESSED AND DELIVERED?

IS DELL GOING TO DO ANYTHING AT ALL FOR ME TO MAKE UP FOR THIS ABSOLUTELY DISPICABLE TREATMENT OF ME? I'VE NEVER BEEN TREATED SO POORLY BY A COMPANY. I'VE NEVER WASTED SO MANY HOURS TYRYING TO PURCHASE COMPUTERS. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, DELL HAD BETTER DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THIS UP TO ME ELSE I PERSONALLY WILL NOT OR MY COMPANY BUY ANY EQUIPMENT FROM DELL EVER AGAIN AND I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND DELL TO ANYONE.

AGAIN, I DEMAND SOME ACTION AND FOR SOMEONE AT DELL TO MAKE THIS RIGHT AND SHOW ME THAT YOU CARE ABOUT MY BUSINESS.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce
Sent: January 19, 2006 10:50 AM
To: 'CA_Canadacs'
Subject: RE: (TD)FW: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada - Importance: High

Hello Gail,

Well another day and another screw up at Dell. You guys really are pushing my patience. As one hand does not talk to the other at Dell I would not expect you would know the latest fiasco I've encountered.

In summary, my order that took me forever to make with many screw ups was all fine yesterday with a delivery date finally assigned. Today I had to spend yet another hour on the phone with 3 different people to understand why my order was suddenly cancelled. In fact I learned it was cancelled twice but apparently I have a new order number: xxxxxxxxx which is apparently going to production today and apparently I will have a new delivery date posted on the dell order status webpage tomorrow. I would just bet the new delivery date will be after the February 1st date that was posted yesterday (and then of course cancelled).

Well, at least I am far from being alone. There is a whole slew of people out there who are just as confused as me wondering having had their orders cancelled today too. You or somebody at Dell might find the following forum newsgroup postings at the very respectable notebookreview.com website to be of interest/concern:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=36118

What is going on? Seriously can someone at Dell give me an honest answer? I don't want some "form response" I want real answers. Is there an availability of components problem for 9400 laptops and when will these laptops ship? Surely you can investigate this and give me a definitive answer? If it's going to be months before these ship then this would effect my purchasing decision as technology changes rapidly and new components are available, existing components become cheaper.

I demand some real answers, care and attention. $5000.00 is a lot of money to me (plus finance charges) and if I'm willing to spend it at Dell then I expect to be treated much better then this. This has been absolutely without any doubt the most frustrating purchase I have ever TRIED to make.

If Dell wants me to continue to purchase products in the future both with my personal account and small business account (I have 2 dell accounts) then somebody better make this right. I don't know what Dell can do for me at this point to make me a happy customer. I would have an extremely difficult time making further purchases or recommending Dell to my friends, family or customers. Your apologies while appreciated are not doing anything to make me feel better about Dell.

I have spent no less then 8 hours of my valuable time trying to make a simple purchase. 8 hours...and counting. I've carefully documented everything I have had to do to make this purchase.

What is Dell going to do for me? Upgrade my laptops (faster processor, more ram, bigger hard drive)? Rush my Delivery? Price Break?

Sincerely,
Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: CA_Canadacs [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: January 17, 2006 12:08 PM
To: Bruce
Subject: RE: (TD)FW: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada

Dear Bruce,

Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Care.

We apologize for the delay in responding to your email.

Your order xxxxxxxxx is still showing in production. We would suggest that you contact us near the end of week and we will check further into delivery for you.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Your Dell case number is xxxxxxxxxxx.

Should you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact us at www.dell.ca. Please choose Support & Customer Care.

How are we doing? If you would like to provide feedback or feel you have an unresolved issue please feel free to contact our Case Manager, Melissa at [email protected]. We appreciate your comments.

Regards,

Gail C.
Dell Customer Care
[email protected]
Phone: (800) 847-4096


Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Thank You Gail for taking the time to adequately reply to my initial email.

I have now been able to complete my order and to the best of my knowledge, believe my order is being processed. It was not an easy process and did take nearly a week and many hours.

When I check the shipping status online at dell.ca there is no estimated delivery date listed. I'll keep checking back and hope there is an estimate soon. Is Dell waiting on parts for these brand new 9400 laptops?

Best regards,
Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: CA_Canadacs [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: January 13, 2006 8:18 AM
To: Bruce
Subject: Re: (TD)FW: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada

Dear Bruce,

Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Care.

We apologize for the delay in responding to your email.

Upon investigation we see that you have been assigned another account number. The account number is xxxxxxxxx. We see that your two systems have been placed on order number xxxxxxxxx. Expectation for delivery once order has been placed is 7 to 10 business days.

To have the representative removed from your account you will have to contact Sales directly. Their phone number is 1-800-387-5752.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Your Dell case number is xxxxxxxxxx

Should you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact us at www.dell.ca. Please choose Support & Customer Care.

How are we doing? If you would like to provide feedback or feel you have an unresolved issue please feel free to contact our Case Manager, Melissa at [email protected]. We appreciate your comments.

Regards,

Gail C.
Dell Customer Care
[email protected]
Phone: (800) 847-4096

Original Message Follows:
------------------------

From: Bruce Toogood [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: January 8, 2006 11:46 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: Extreme Frustration - Unable to Complete Purchase With Dell Canada - Importance: High

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm writing you this email today with the hope that somebody at Dell Canada will be able to tell me what is going on with my attempt to purchase 2 laptops from Dell. Let me say to start that this has been a horrible, time consuming and very frustrating experience to date.

Background Information

I am the president of a successful software development company and our company recently became a Dell customer (December 2005) as we leased a Dell Poweredge server. In the 10 years in IT prior to this, we had always purchased the individual server components ourselves and built our servers but for a variety of reasons, we decided to purchase a Dell server. We were so impressed with the quality of the Dell server (very impressed) that my wife and I decided that we would like to replace our home desktop computers (also always built by ourselves with hand picked
components) with Dell laptops (via a personal/home account application not our company account). Our home customer account number is: xxxxxxxx

Wednesday January 4, 2006

My wife and I went online to dell.ca in the afternoon (about 4:00 PM PST) to browse, select the Dell equipment we wanted to purchase and applied online for a personal account for purchase financing. The online application did not immediately approve us and we were informed that we would be contacted by Dell.

Thursday January 5, 2006

At approximately 7:00 PM PST we received a phone call from a Dell sales representative. We were surprised to receive a call so late in the day but were none the less very happy to talk to the fellow. He was obviously calling us from India. He was extremely difficult to understand. His accent was so "thick". In any regard I was able to deduce that we had been approved by Dell Financing Canada but for a lesser amount then we had requested. He told me we were approved for up to $5000.00 CAD before taxes. He instructed me to update my online shopping cart so that the total was no more then $5000.00 and to then email him that my cart was updated and he would process our order.

We looked again online and in fact found your Inspiron 9400 model which previously we had not even seen (is this brand new) and we were delighted to find the 9400 as it was an even better laptop (in our opinion) then what we had previously selected and low and behold they were on sale as well and our configured options priced out to $2498.00 for each laptop for a total of $4996.00. We were ecstatic and I immediately updated our cart and within one hour of the sales reps phone call and instructions, I emailed him telling him our cart was updated and to proceed with the purchase. (email attached) No reply from the sales rep by phone or email followed. Regretfully, I did not print out the system summaries of the laptops. I just didn't think it was necessary.

Friday January 6, 2006

In the morning I was surprised that I had not received an email back from Dell confirming my order was being processed or some kind of response. I logged on to the Dell site to try and see what my order status was and was shocked to see that in my shopping cart the 2 Inspiron 9400 laptops I had ordered were now showing as "Items No Longer Available" (or something similar). Moments later they all together disappeared from my shopping cart. I then realized that the price had changed on the Inspiron 9400, a sale was over and now the same configuration I had selected was increased to $2950.00 per laptop not $2498.00. I couldn't believe it.

I picked up the phone and called Dell Canada to try and understand what was going on. I explained everything to a very helpful (Canadian) lady and got the following Dell Case Number:

Case Number: xxxxxxxxxx

At the end of my call with her I was informed that my next step should be to call a different Dell phone number and to speak with a sales rep.
I fought my way through yet another telephone maze and eventually after many holds was finally put on the line with my original sales rep Naveen_J_Kumar. I asked him what was going on, why had he not proceeded my order, why had he not emailed me in reply. He told me he was away "on a leave" and had not seen my email. (an hour after he had called me??) I explained to him the whole mess with my purchase and the price change.
He had me go online to the dell site and select the same Dell Insprion 9400 configurations with him as I had selected on the Thursday during the sale. (I've attached the configuration in PDF for your reference).
He then put me on hold for at least 20 minutes while he "looked into it"
and finally got back to me and told me that he was still able to sell me the 2 Inspiron 9400 laptops for the configuration and price selected by my wife and I on Thursday January 5th during the sale. He asked me once again to provide him with my cheque numbers along the bottom of my cheque and then said he would proceed with the order and he would call me back later that day. I specifically and very clearly asked him 3 times in a row if he would be calling me back today (Friday). He clearly said Yes 3 times back to me. He did not email or call me back at all on Friday. In fact, as he had called at 7:00pm the first and only time he called me my wife and I put off our dinner plans to stay home until 9pm on Friday just in case he called.

Sunday January 8, 2006

Here I am writing you this email as I have still not heard a thing back from Dell and have no clue what the status of my purchase is. This email has consumed another hour and a half of my time (and counting) and I still sit here completely frustrated and honestly, a little angry now for all my wasted time and effort over the course of 5 days now trying to make what should be a relatively simple and quick purchase.

Currently my Dell shopping cart does not list the 2 Inspiron 9400 laptops or anything at all. It does not seem like my order exists. I have attached as a PDF Document to this email the configuration of the 2 laptops I had selected and added to my cart on Thursday January 5th 2006. In actuality I believe the sale you had on included a free upgrade to a 100GB 7200 RPM Sata hard drive but I just can't remember 100%. The attached PDF is with 80 GB SATA drives because I was unsure so I selected the lesser size. The Dell sales rep Naveen was unable to tell me what the size of the hard drive had been during the sale (not surprisingly). Again the price should be $2498.00 each not what the current price lists.

As I mentioned in the background information above, I am the president of a Software company and have worked in IT for over 12 years. In this time I've learned to appreciate every customer and every sale I'm fortunate to make and work hard for their business. When a client asks me to sell them something the last thing I would ever do is make it difficult or frustrating for them to complete their purchase.
The hardest part is supposed to be making the sale not completing the purchasing transaction.

Simply put, I buy a lot of computer equipment every year directly or indirectly. Between my company, company clients, friends and family I influence the purchasing decisions of many systems and upgrades each year. I would like nothing less then to be able to recommend Dell computers. The equipment is fantastic but the purchasing process has much to be desired.

I have spent at least 3 hours on the phone or writing emails trying to make this purchase. This is on top of the time I spent browsing your site to determine what I wanted to buy in the first place. I don't feel like I'm any closer to completing this purchase and wonder if my order even exists or is being processed somewhere by someone??? I need action on this immediately. If you are unable to sell me these laptops for my original selected components and price in a timely fashion then please let me know and I will proceed with the purchase of laptops from a different company. I honestly feel that if you are willing/able to sell me these laptops that you should at a MINIMUM honor the configuration and price that I tried to purchase on January 5th. Better yet would be some sort of additional price break or upgrade in recognition of the time and frustration I have experienced trying to make this purchase.

Lastly, I would like to request a new Dell customer service representative be assigned to my account. I do not wish to speak with Naveen Kumar anymore. In fact, I think this employee should be severely reprimanded for his actions or lack of actions to be more accurate.
Preferably somebody from Dell who speaks clear and fluent English will call me during regular hours not at night. Here is my contact information:

 

Trust me when I tell you that it didn't end there. I just got tired of documenting it all. In the end the computers arrived after 10 days ground haul delivery (some rush) and we got them on February 2nd (i think)...

 

Guess it's just the americans that can't assemble the 9400 properly No, sorry, really sorry to hear about all the problems you have had and i can understand that you have second thoughts about your order.
I've haad mine for three weeks now, not a single problem after hours and hours of playing COD2 and NFSMW. A lot of the time it has been turned on for days without rebooting, no problems what so ever. I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase of this machine.

 

Well I can only hope I got a rare lemon and that the new replacement machine will be solid.

 

Yeah you got a lemon. So far I haven't had any problems with mine at all. Been lugging it around and overclocking it, etc. I didn't do a fresh format of the harddrive though. It's just like cars... sometimes you get one well built, other times you get a lemon.

 

Guess I can consider myself lucky ,
I ordered my laptop online on a Saturday and got the laptop the following Thursday!(I live in Malaysia,SE asia) So far, the laptop has been good and hasn't been giving me much trouble except for one thing. Zonealarm doesn't like my computer at all and locks the computer up when it feels like it. Uninstalling it helps plenty.
Light leakage at the screen is only visible during black screens and the speakers sound good.Got the extra cover(carbon fibre for the laptop and I think it looks okay.The laptop is dead silent but the keyboard does get a bit warm.

3dmark06=1581(1900x1200 and no aa/af,not overclocked)
I have two questions for owners of the laptop, How do I check the temperature of the computer and will it void my warranty?
and how do I get 3dmark to run it at any resolution below 1900x1200 because it always stops with an error message about the screen and native resolutions.

 

Yeah, really sorry to hear about your [Insert U2 song "Lemon" here]. I'd say happy delated birthday, but it would sound cruel

I can't say I've got a lemon, but it's not perfect either. I think I've always had the opinion that dell kind of sucks to begin with, so I had low expectations when I bought the laptop. It's true ZoneAlarm gave me BSOD's on startup, so have to do without it, and the stupid Sony DVD drives really blow (whine, whatever), and my leakage, although readily apparent on black screen/movies, is usable in everyday stuff. I'd say overall the price is worth the features, but the quality leaves something to be desired. It IS a desktop replacement, and it's fit that bill nicely. YMMV. There is no perfect computer, otherwise we'd all have one

P.S. And although the core duo makes windows more responsive, I've yet to see the leaps and bounds in performance increases everyone expects. It will get better once more multithreaded apps are released.

P.S.S. As for temperatures, I use Mobile Meter, plus the mobileforce nvidia drivers have a temperature tab for the GPU.

 

Well my replacement 9400 is in the dell order system now and shows an order date of Feb. 14th and an estimated delivery date of Mar. 1st (in production status).

 

I got my laptop yesterday!!!
I think it is awesome.
The XGA screen is not bad at all. I like it.
I want to Install a new video card driver but it dont let me do it. It sais that this computer is not supported this driver. I dont know what to do,
I tried 4 of tham none of tham worked.
The windows reinstall would help?

 

Morrisadam. You gotta see to that you use a driver ment for laptops. For example Mobileforce.

 

Hey everyone! I receive my 9400 tomorrow afternoon, and I was curious as to this as well. I've yet to see any replies to this original post, and was wondering if there was anything I needed to be concerned about before turning it on and using it the first time. Thanks!

 

Garbuckle:

"All ZoneAlarm products (version 5.1 or higher) are compatible with XP SP2 and Windows Security Center"

basic question...but it is worth asking (you have ver 5.1 or higher?). Otherwise, there is no reason your zonealarm should not run.

 

On Dells swedish site they state that the lithium-ion doesn't need to be charged in a certain way. You don't have to empty it before you charge it and you don't need to charge it for a certain amount of time before you use it thefirst time.

One thing i'm curious about is if it matters if i have the battery in or not while i have my ac adapter plugged in. I noticed that you can run it without the battery while on ac. Just a thought, mainly cause of any heat it may produce or maybe the heat from the gpu can escape better? Well, just a thought, i don't really have a clue

 

i would think you only need the battery in when you are in need of recharging it.

edit: from another forum and another model from dell:

" nightheart
Veteran

Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: I wish I knew........
Posts: 652

Default
I use my dell without the battery all the time. Mostly because I'm trying to make the battery last as long as possable. No one but dell makes a battery for the inspiron 1100, least as of yet. I actually emailed Dell and asked this same question. Their reply was that it doesn't hurt the laptop, but if you ever wanna use the battery later, it won't be charged and you'll have to charge it. Big deal, save me a 120 bucks for as long as possable."

But the way i read this...is that the battery looses its charge if unplugged?

--i also see in manual that the battery has only 500 charges.

edit 2: and well..that post is 5 years old

 

new update on usb battery drain bug:

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/02/14/microsoft_to_release_patch_for_power_drain_bug/

patch is on way (including a bios modification)
People are advised not to use workaround posted in other article i mentioned.

 

Guess it would make some difference if you take it out when not charging it. And yuou have the built in batterymeter on the battery so you can see if it actually have lost it's charge. I'll try later today and see if it makes any difference heatwise, guess it won't be a tremendous change, but there will be a better chance for the heat from the gpu to escape, maybe even a bigger difference if to use a laptop cooler with fans. I'm pretty anxious to see a version of NHC or similar that supports undervolting the Core Duo, if there is anything to gain in that area that is.

 

Redstar: I'm not sure what version it is (it's uninstalled at the moment), but the install file is "zaSetup_37_143". I doubt it's above 5.1. At one point, on my older system, I let it auto-update, and it downloaded a "new version" that screwed my system to such a point that I had to reformat the hard drive. I vowed to just use the stable version I have.

I know it must be something between the dell and ZA, as I used the exact same version on my desktop pc, which also has MCE 2005, with SP2 - no problems on that system. I might venture and download the newest ZA and see how it works on the dell. They must've fixed it's previous problems by now...

P.S. Second battery test: Booted to windows, playing divx from DVD, with headphones, 5 USB devices plugged in (registry patch applied), 1h:45m on the 9-cell. Will do more testing as time goes on...

 

Sorry for my stupidity, guess i'm a little tired The battery is located far from the gpu, so taking it out won't effect the gpu temp at all. Sorry

 

That's my install file for zonealarm ,zapSetup_61_737_000_en.exe

It wasn't so much of BSOD's than locking up my poor laptop. When I tried to open a file with flashget, the computer locks up. When I am playing Americas Army with zonealarm, it locks it to hell again.And then when I turn it off, Americas Army doesn't work and I found out on the net that zonealarm corrupted my user profile.

The light leakage on mine is something I can live with when I'm watching dark scary movies, otherwise on normal gaming/use, I cant even find it if I try to.

I was wondering if there is an alternative to the mobile meter program,I think the website has reached it's bandwidth limit but I cant tell because it's in Japanese. Also, can I get the mobileforce nvidia drivers from nvidia or do i get it from tweaks r us? (and will it void my 3 years completecover warranty)

 

OMG! Its shipped! Now I'm excited. It only took it 15 hours to go from pre-prod to shipped!

Tony.

P.S. Now for the Walsh Western "when will it be delivered" lottery

 

Gaaah, what an annoying problem i've come across now. All of a sudden Firefox shows practically all letters in italic?! Any idea what can be causing it?

 

Well that sucks with zonealarm. I downloaded the newest version (which is also 61_737_000_en), but I haven't installed it yet. Now I'm glad I didn't. I think it's time for me to give that program a burial, unless someone can recommend a version that is completely compatible/stable with our 9400/e1705's.

P.S. fredrik; it could be something as simple as a website forgetting to close an italic html tag, but I don't use firefox, so all I can suggest is to check your browser settings (which I'm sure you must've done by now).

 

I have done more reading:

Quite alot of people are saying zonelabs broke zonealarm @version 6.

5.5 they say is fine. SO i guess it really is time to rethink zone
alarm --it is working fine on xp home downstairs --but i guess i should check the version.

check the zonelab forum ...lots of angry people.

Edit: Well reading that forum in detail is enough to put anyone off zonelabs. Heh, i almost think i should remove it[zonealarm] from the computer downstairs.

Perhaps you should do as i do on my main system. I only rely on my firewall router to save me (which would not stop sending anything malicious out).... and high restrictions on IE.

But if you combine that with the XP firewall --i'm sure you will be safe enough.

I use win2000 and have not been compromised yet. *knock on wood*

 

Well I should have expected this, my replacement 9400 order number was cancelled and a new order number created today. No estimated delilvery date now. This is sooooo familiar.

I hate dell

 

Hey, does anyone have any experience with REFORMATTING their laptop? I just recieved my XP cd today, and Im worried its gonna mess up when I reformat...has anyone had any problems with it? Was the driver setup working fine and dandy?

@Garbuckle - After I installed BLACKICE (a firewall), I got the BSOD within 10 seconds...do think thats a coincidence or do you think these laptops have problems with all third party firewalls?

 

Yeah i've looked through it(the settings) and i couldn't find anything suspicious. Guess i'll just try and reinstall Firefox and see if the problem disappears. I mean, it's not that complicated to reinstall it after all

 

Big problem...pls advice

I received my NEW laptop, complete with xp home edition.

I've try to install Xp PRO, and system crash with a bleu screen, pc reboot, and installation restart, and so on ....

I format, delete partition, format again etc ....re install xp, and Bleuscreen still appear.

I've try with a ghost floppy to see the image on another partition wich containt arround 3gig of data, i'm pretty sure it's the recovery cd.

Anyway, all i want is to clean the system, and install what i want.

How can i format properlly, and be sure those bleuscreen wont show up.

Im stuck, and dont want to wait for the recovery cd to be deliver.
Got all weekends to try to fix my NEW Laptop that is useless...

:centrino:

 

That partition is the Dell restore partition. I don't know why you would get a blue screen. Sounds really odd to me.

 

so if i reformat, will that delete the dell partition? I didnt think it would because the dell thing is on a hidden partition, so if i were to reformat, I would only be deleting the MAIN partition, leaving the other one untouched.

I want to know because I would like the dell partition as a backup, just incase I am unable to re-install windows.

 

Well if you can successfully re-install Windows you can get Partition Magic to delete that partition considering it is no good after you do a new windows install.

 

My thoughts EXACTLY. I'm leaving all the partitions alone except for the main partition for my first re-install of xp. If all goes well there then I'll be happy enough without the other disk space until I rebuild again next (4-6 months from now) and I will hope there is a guide posted here for re-installing xp on 9400's specifically including what drivers/software we MUST install and what is optional with descriptions of everything. (sounds like a fan site is needed so to speak, wonder if any exist?)

 

It doesn't matter...if you install the same OS from scratch and don't use the Dell restore CD to do it, the restore partition becomes invalid and unusable from what I have been hearing. Check the Dell forums for more info...I believe it is stickied.

 

I've try to re-install XP, and ALL the time, I see this annoying BLUESCREEN...

Any way i can FORMAT properlly and install XP Pro edition, and build my System.

I've try and try and and see this bluescreen with this msg

IRQL_NOT_LESS OR EQUAL

and DiSABLE BIOS CACHING OR SHADOWING

ANyway, if no one can help, i will have no choice to wait for there recovery cd

Thx in advance
Varix

 

You can disable Bios caching in the bios. If I remember correctly that backs up the bios into the RAM or HDD I can't remember. Temporarily do that and see if it helps.

 

What else have you done ? Any new hardware at all ?

Can you boot into safe mode ? check event log etc.

There should be more info on the BSOD

Or, recovery mode - fixmbr ?

Otherwise, run the diagnostics. You should not have any problem reinstalling XP Pro SP2. Exactly what I done.

 

My business partner bought a 9100 and has had nothing but headaches. Dell has replaced the power and the screen and it still does not work.

And his experience is much better than mine. The thing to realize is that Dell will tell you, when pressed, that the inspiron series is there "experimental" brand. The models change so fast that they do not maintain parts inventories, so when (not if) their stuff breaks, you cannot get replacement parts.

I would not take a dell for free unless i were unemployed. As a software developer, I cannot afford to use a dell, even if they paid me to use it. I am about to throw my 3rd dell in the trash and will never buy another one as long as I live.

 

Well it's all I use at work (IT Manager / Systems Developer). £60,000 clustered servers and 90+ client Dell PC's - Last 7 years. Only 2 problems with recent systems and dealt with promptly.

The Inspiron series is different kettle of fish and the main market is not business, that said i've not had any problems apart from them not including all cd's. That happens automatically for business systems.

Dougie.

 

EI've check into bios and didnt see any option for the memory cache.

I'm trying to reset my partition with ACRONIS, and see if i can reinstall XP.

But would like to know how to disable this Bios options, so windows wont crash all the time.
I've beein trying all day, format, fdisk, reinstall, etc etc.
Worse part is that Fdisk only see 20gig, i've got 3 gig wich i think is my ORIGINAL Ghost image, i've try loading a floppy with ghost and i cant access the file, i only see it in Fdisk or partition, cant move them, copy them etc, if i could access this 3gig in Dos, i'm pretty sure i could reset the original recovery system.

All this because i want to upgrade from home to Pro, now i cant play with my baby ....

Weekends will be long.

Any tip on how to FORMAT COMPLATLY or reinstall this Os.

Anyone had this recevery cd, and are whilling to set a ftp so i can download it and reinstall my os.
DELL told me that it's not that big. I'm pretty it's just a cd, that are able to see this 3 gig, and reinstall the os.

THX
Varix

 

Bios caching...I remember seeing it in the bios. I will be leaving work here in about 15 mins...I should be able to get back on in about 2 hours. If you don't have it fixed by then I will try my bios on my I9300, should be about the same.

 

"IRQL_NOT_LESS OR EQUAL"

is usually a device driver problem...do a step by step boot...and see which one hangs windows.

or sometimes ...less frequently... it is a memory issue.

copy entire error message into microsoft.com and that should really narrow it down.