I've just recieved the M6400 covet edition. Dell has given me the choice to return it boxed and get a full refund. I can then order the new M6500, however, I will need to pay at least 750 Euro extra for the faster processor and graphic card.
QX9300 to Core I7 920xm
FX 3700M to FX 3800M
The rest of the specs are the same. Is the worth extra money to upgrade for a computer that will be 8 x faster than the current M6400?
I have to admit though than my hands are itching badly to unbox the m6400.
Yup me again, in my hunt to determine if M6400 is right for me as it costs just about as much as a used car, I want to make sure its a good investment before I buy it.
What is the main difference with the M6400 and the M6400 Covet?
I configured both with the same specs and the Covet is about $900 more in price?
Today I just rang Dell part sales department and was told the left I/O board which has 2 USB 3.0 port for Precision M6500 is available now. The price is 117 pound with one year warranty ! (about $175)
I just ordered one of these Precisions, and I'm just wondering if they take advantage of the integrated graphics on the CPU (like for switchable graphics power saving)?
Or would the engineers just completely disable the integrated graphics because of the discrete ATI M7740?
I am in the process of specing a new laptop for engineering work. I will do a little bit of CAD, but mainly processor intensive mathematical simulations in Java, Matlab, or Scilab.
I am considering purchasing either the m4500 or m6500. I don't think I will mind lugging around the m6500. The positive attributes, as I see them, of the two machines are shown below.
Other than that they seem like they are on par, though I can't help but think the m6500 will be able to better handle the cooling requirements of their components than the m4500. What does everyone think? Is it even fair to compare the two?
m6500 pro's: Graphics power (I would get ATI graphics) 1600 mhz memory supported 4 RAM slots USB 3.o .....
Dell doesn't have this, but are there any good third part solutions. I guess the reason Dell doesn't have it is that the computer demands a rather hefty PSU, but still...
I really would like to get two of these, since they are less than 1/3 of the price of the adapters I can get in Norway, but I'm a bit suspicious.
The original adapter for my Precision M6500 is 210 watts (which is totally crazy, but I guess the Fire GL card eats most of it), and this is rated at 90w. But will it even work? Here's the eBay auction, it's in Great Britain:
I have a problem I've never had with any stationary computer (I have never had a dual hard drive laptop before...):
I have one 320 meg drive which I use as little as possible in drive bay one and another, larger drive in drive bay two.
An expensive program I use for work is registered to the drive in bay one, and I can't get a new license, so I would like it to last as long as possible, which is why I only use it there as a kind of dongle.
For the software licensing stuff to work it has to be seen as the first drive by Windows, but not necessarily the one I boot from
How do you order i7 920 processors ? It doesn't give me such option on the website (all it shows in processor option is "Mobile Precision M6500 Silver Base")
so I called dell sales team to find out which processor is there, and on the website it shows "Up to Intel® CoreTM i7- 920XM Quad Core Extreme processors" so i thought it might be as the only option and goes as standard),
they told me that m6500 is only available with i7 820 (1.73hz) and the machine is upgradable to i7 920. heh ? seems like scam
Meantime I can't choose 2 HDD with 500GB, as primary only ATA and secondary is only SATA.
After reading the m6500 discussion thread it sounds like the consensus is that 1600 mhz memory makes no performance difference. But then a lot of folks seem to have configured their machines with 1600 memory and the below review suggests that the memory will help.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/842/1/
So to have this fully hashed out, I think we need to answer the below questions: 1) If you order the extreme processor does the BIOS recognize the 1600 mhz memory? 2) Even if it does recognize it does it make a difference? 3) Why did people with the extreme processor order the 1600 mhz memory? 4) Can we fill in the WEI scores for memory using 4 and 8 GB of both 1333 and 1600 memory with the extreme processor?
I have tried looking at Dell's webpage, but couldn't find any lists over compatible docking stations. Not to mention that when trying to "buy" another identical computer dockings are never mentioned in the "Buy accessories for your Dell" subpage. I have seen a few cheap, used docking stations on the web, but I don't know if they will work. This is the one I can get really cheap:
Would that work on my Preceision M6500? It's for my second and third office (a.k.a. my wife's pet shop and our cabin by the sea), so I need two dockings. And this way I can save 80 % of the cost!
For some stupid reason the M6500 has no SPDIF output, and I see that there is one on this docking. But I don't care if that works or not, I only use SPDIF at home, and I have an USB sound card with SPDIF there.
My family have bought me the Precision M6500, a little more than I need, but a great machine.Is it possible to find literature on the extra items on the keyboard ,
such as the track stick, track stick buttons, jog shuttle and the precision ON button,the idea behind them and there use
The problem Im currently having with my laptop is that every time i turn it on, it last about 4 seconds before it shuts down. I can only see the power and battery light on before shutting down. I dont even see the screen turning on. I try going to diagnostic mode and the only thing that changes is that my keyboard lights go on, but then after 4 seconds laptop shuts down. What to do or what might be causing this??
I would like a big hard drive, but it seems like those bigger than 750 GB are 12 mm, not 9 mm. But can I use that as a secondary hard drive on the Precision?
Reinstalled Windows 7 on Precision M6500. Smart Card Reader does not respond. My SDHC card is recognized on my other Dell Laptop. What can I do to fix this?
I'm looking to purchase a powerful notebook for my development needs. I use MS Visual Studio 2008 (in a VMware virtual machine), currently running on my DELL Precision T7400 desktop workstation (Dual Intel Xeon X5482, 3.20GHz / 32GB RAM / 4 x 300GB SAS HD with 15,000rpm). This thing is a pleasure to work with, everything just flies, even when multiple virtual machines are running at same time.
In next months I need to spend some time developing and testing at my customer's site. Now I need something comparable to my T7400 in means of performance, but portable. My first idea was, of course, a M6500. It seems to be a very powerful beast. However, until now I have no experience with such "mobile workstations". Can this thing really deliver what it promises?
I guess I'm about to get a mobile workstation. I already got an M90 it is great. Only one dead/stuck pixel and the front panel silver button paint came off in a few month of usage.
But I love it. So I am thinking of getting an M6400. Can you back me up on this one..?? Please if you own one tell me the pros and cons.. Have you noticed any Dead/stuck pixels.
What about built quality, feel, comfort, performance, heat, cooling, fan noise, screen quality ( thinking of LEG or RGB LED)..
Any creeking noise while opening the lid or holding or working on the laptop?? Any thing you can tell me about this beast of a machine will be a great help for me indeed
2 Intel X25-M 80GB SSD drives will be replacing those 80GB's.
First - my first thoughts are that this system is Fantastic!
The screen is great - its an LG, fantastic colors, no dead pixels. Typical viewing angles for non LED screen, not great, but not noticeably bad either.
No noticeable bleeding, no graininess - very happy with the screen.
Ran 3Dmark 06 (1280x800, stock drivers) - 11,619
GPU temp was around 80 C - not bad at all.
So far, very happy. Putting the SSD ddrives in now - will post more thoughts as I do more. Will post pics ASAP.
Update 1: 2 80GB SSDs are in place - this has Intel's Matrix Storage which allows the creation of one RAID1 volume (which I will use for valuable data) and a RAID0 volume for the rest of the space - this is very nice - get the benefits of both types of RAID in one system!
Update 2: The power brick is completely absurd. Its HUGE - 210W. The good news is that I plugged in a 130W from a M4400 and although I get the popup about the AC adapter not being at least 150W, it does charge the battery and allow the system to run. To me, this is an acceptable alternative to lugging around the giant brick, at least for most things on the road - Later on, I will test the system with this adapter and see what kind of slowdown is caused.
Pics:
RAID Setup:
Next to a M4400 (that I believe I'll be returning very shortly):
Next to an older E1705 - these are virtually the exact same size - its astounding what new tech can cram into the same space
Whilst working away at my desk, M6400 docked it just powered down.
Pressing the power button causes it (the power button) to light briefly and then go out. Pressing FN+Power (as requested by Dell Tech) does nothing at all.
I've tried it with another PSU (I got 2, one with M6400, other with docking station) - and if you plug the PSU in, and then hit power on the laptop - the blue light on the PSU goes out - and doesn't come back on till the power is cycled. The M6400 does nothing during all of this.
The PSUs work just fine with my D820.
Dell techs are coming tomorrow to fix it. I'll let you know what they say!
I've just bought a refurbished M6400. It comes with no preinstalled OS. I have a dell install disk for Windows XP SP2. Is it ok to install this on my M6400? I will then update to SP3 over the web.
I guess i will also need to install drivers for the graphics card, etc etc.
Please let me know if you have any advice and pitfalls to watch out for.
I'm also considering adding a second hard drive. What drive specification do i need?
