It may be time to throw down

Hey guys,

Been mauling over getting a new gaming notebook for a while. I finally plunged and bought a Dell Precision M6600 (I didn't need top of the line, and really wanted something professional looking / feeling).

I got it refurbished (just arrived yesterday) and I swear all it does is freeze up. If I slightly move the laptop in a fast motion, it locks it up pronto. Otherwise if it just sits on a table for example, it will lock up but it is just a question of when. I monitored the temps and the CPU never went over 78c and the video card was slightly lower at 74c. Even when the CPU hit 78c it never locked up due to that. I formatted and reinstalled Win7 Pro - same issues. Even before getting to installing any drivers I lock up. It is very much random other than moving the laptop. This also happened in the BIOS so I crossed out the hard drive sensor (I think?).

So I'm thinking rather than hoping the warranty pulls through, maybe I should just send it back. I really do like the design and feel of the laptop, the plethora of useful ports, and overall it never got extremely hot. The video card (M8900) could have performed slightly better on a slightly older game like SC2, but I didn't have any major complaints.

Now I'm thinking rather than saving my bucks, get a Sager with 3yr warranty.

A few questions though:

NP9170 currently seems like my best option. I don't need dual video cards nor do I plan on doing it in the future. Is there a refresh to this body coming any time soon?

I hear the Sagers are mostly all plastic. Any way to pay for a nice brushed aluminum laptop with the Sager customizability (is that a word?)? I like that I can remove all branding - pretty much my biggest draw to Sager. If AW had a professional model I'd be all over it since they use metal housing that is strong and durable.

Anyway, I don't really have a budget. I'd like to keep it under $2k but if I feel it's worth it I'll go as high as $3k, although I'm not really limited so I don't want to hinder responses.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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ISSUE:

This is crazy, but if I leave out the 2 screws that hold down the bottom cover, I can't get it to freeze anymore. At first when I took out the screws and took off the cover to move the ram around, I had issues with it freezing.

Long story short, now with the cover on but NO SCREWS to hold it down, I can shake it violently and not get it to freeze. It's been sitting on for a while now without issue too. If I screw in the screw while it is on, yep - it freezes.

WTH???

I'm tempted to just send it back. Seems like one of those small issues that makes you wonder WTH else is wrong with it?

 

The problem with your current computer sounds like it could be the hard drive and moving it around is causing the head to cause the error. If you still have it and have another notebook hard drive around to test it with I'd give it a try.

The NP9170 actually has a very good build quality with brushed metal palm rest area. Where there is plastic use it is a high quality plastic. Overall build quality for Sager's is considered to be top of the line with very few if any brands being better.
They're arent any new chassis designs coming down the road. Sager/Clevo like to stick to the low key style.

Since the new 7970M drivers are showing great results I'd go with that GPU, the i7 3630QM CPU tends to be enough for most use, 16GB RAM, Intel SSD for the primary drive, a 500/750GB secondary drive for storage, upgrade the wireless card if you'd like, the Intel 6235 if you use bluetooth 6300 if you dont. Add Windows to the build and you're set. There are other things you can add like upgraded screen etc but thats all up to you.

 

So the hard drive could cause problems even in the BIOS? Ok I'll give it a shot. I have a 160gb ssd lying around currently (waiting to put it in another machine) so might as well give it a shot.

Thanks for the input. I guess when I said refresh, I meant more to internals. Any idea on that?

Thanks!

 

Swapped in the 160gb SSD and did a slight quick move. Froze up right away.

When I say slight quick move, it is no faster than when you pull the laptop off your lap to set it on a nearby table to get up (pretty much the action that caused this and I figured it out).

 

On a refurb, just return it. Those only have a month to 3 month warranty I believe, and if it's not rock solid off the bat, I wouldn't risk it.

As for durability and quality, I agree with Hutsady here, it will be among best of laptops. Of course the M6600 and others like it are superior, but if you read, I believe they are military grade and can be used in very severe conditions. So unless you are planning to use it near a volcano, extreme temperatures environment, high winds, sand and snow, you don't need to worry.

As for aesthetics, some like it, some don't. But what really matters is the hardware and the LCD. I think the LCD options for Sager are great, even better on 15". If 17" had as good as 15", I would have gone with it. And overall the service and machine has been great so far.

Since you went with a workstation, I think the 7970M is a great choice. It's a more versatile GPU than what Nvidia is offering for that kind of hardware. It's definitely a super-computer beast. As for Starcraft 2, no problems, you'll have fun with it.

 

Disable the free fall sensor. Sounds like that is the cause of your freezing.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS CM9 via Tapatalk.

 

Actually it is a 3yr warranty (comes standard on M6600's new or refurbished). But if I have to spend a ton of time getting issues worked out, I'm really paying more for it. I'm disappointed in the fact that it is 2nd gen hardware, but the fit and finish of the laptop is excellent. I would have gone with M6700 but the base video card is weaker than the M6600 thus my choice. Upgrading workstation video cards is outrageously expensive compared to consumer graphics.

 

I tried to google how to do this and all I could find was uninstalling a driver. And if it is driver - driven, it shouldn't freeze before getting to windows.

If you know where else I should do it, I'm all ears.

 

Bump for update.

 

Just right click the free fall sensor driver in device manager and select "disable".