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 .....
I am trying to decide between the M4500 and the E6510.
I am a photographer and will be using this computer for photoshop work in the field and hooked up to a 26in monitor at home.
I want something that will last a few years, so I am considering the M4500 as future proofing, because you can get a faster video card and CPU with it.
I have a Dell Precision M4500, I recently changed out the HDD as the one in the machine was getting full.
Since doing this I have ran into no end of problems, first of all, upon installing WIn7 onto the new HDD where I had to change some bios settings, no problem really. Then when installing drivers it would ask for a restart and upon the restart it would get caught in a loop. I would reinstall Win7 again and then go through a few drivers and when it needed to be restarted same problem.
Now there is another problem, I cant boot into windows at all, it come back with this error:
Boot Manager:Windows failed to start. A recent hardware of software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:1.Insert your Windows installation disc and restart the computer.2.Choose your language settings, and then click "Next".3.Click "Repair your computer."If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.Status: 0xc000000fInfo: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.
I have the Dell Win7 64bit repair CD in the disk drive and it is reading that it is there,
When I run the start up repair and the Dell diagnostic tool both report back that there is no error....
I downloaded the A15 update exe but it is telling me I need to install BIOS update A10 first. there is no A10 listed for my service tag. is that available somewhere and if so after installing that will A15 ask for A11 next or will A15 install correctly?
The computer will go into hibernation without any problems.
When I power the computer back up, it starts up I see the starting windows screen. That screen goes blank and then nothing happens.
I just updated the BIOS to A15 and that did not work. I have tried uninstalling the video driver and that did not work. I tried installing an older video driver and no luck there.
The video driver I have for the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M show version 8.17.12.5922
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?
Latitude E6500 and Precision M4400 were basically the same machine, the differences being the M4400's (obviously) different aesthetic on the lid, the more powerful GPU options, and a handful of other tweaks that I don't really remember the specifics of.
From what I can tell, the situation looks to be about the same this time around with the 15.6" Latitude E6510 vs. the 15.6" Precision M4500.
The Precision offers beefier GPU options and a 1600x900 sRGB LED display option, but I want the lower-power WLED 1080p display anyway so that's no loss
What is going on with updating the Bios with Dell laptops? I have a Dell M4500 precision laptop. I'm running Windows 7 pro 64 bit an I7 quad processor and 8 gigs of memory. I can't update the bios past V 07. When I looked through the support  posts I found people asking the same question and when I did a search I found over 300.000 hits for the same problem many Dell laptops.  What I have NOT found is Dell addressing the problem.  Is it the update engine it's self or a problem with the computers?  I installed all the patches and all the updates for my computer except the Bios.Â
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.
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.
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?
The charger is plugged in and the battery is at 100%. This is a M4500 Precision laptop with Windows 7. I tried flashing bios from safemode, also from Windows PE.
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?
