D630 Owners Thread

A review would be great So, your fan runs a lot AND your hard drive is too loud?

Also, if your a trackpoint user can you comment on it-good or bad?

 

I found this thread doing research on the D630... an eventually ended up getting one. Now I've had it for a month or so and thought I'd take the time to register here and post my feedback as return courtesy to the forum.

My D630 came from the Dell Outlet during a 15% coupon sale. I'm not sure how pricing discussion is handled in this forum but it was under $800 shipped. I've ordered many systems from Dell outlet and never had an issue. The systems show up good as new as far as I'm concerned, same warranty, same pack in materials. Dell issues coupons about once a month.

My config:

T7300 2x2.0GHz CPU
WXGA Screen
2x1gb DDR2 RAM
NVS 135 Graphics
5400rpm 120gb SATA HDD
CDRW/DVD Combo (no DVD burner)
9 Cell Battery
95w Adapter
Vista Business
Std. 3yr Service Plan

Initial Feedback:

- As expected, the system arrived quickly and in just like new condition.
- At first boot, I worked through Vista and started going to town dialing it in and installing my programs/games. First thing I noticed is the continual Vista disk trashing. Vista indexes the whole disk for faster, near instant searches, which is great. But the disk will thrash like mad for a looooong time until this finishes. Between it and updates, we're talking multiple hours chugging along before the thrashing stops.
- Dell's hardware manager is nice, but loads slowly. After I got used to the hardware I uninstalled it. Everything works the same but you lose the nice GUI pop ups.
- Speaking of the hard disk, mine was a Toshiba, and actually one of their latest series drives. Good performance for a 5400rpm after checking it out on storagereview, but still pokey compared to a desktop.
- Build quality was good. A notch below a thinkpad, several notches above most consumer models you see from Gateway or Compaq. Imho some of the nicest hardware Dell makes. I took a long hard look at the XPS1330 and in some ways I think this is more solid. Not as flashy, but I honestly think it will hold up the same or better in the long run.
- My WXGA screen is fine. I'd rate it a little above average. It is a matte screen so if you are used to working on glossy screens you have to recalibrate. But as far as matte screens goes the one in mine (an AuOpti) is pretty good. I've seen much worse over the years, and the only better one I can think of right now was on a >$2000 HP mobile workstation. Certainly not dim or grainy.
- 9 Cell battery life for me is about 4-5 hours steady use using Wifi. But I like to run the screen only one notch below max and don't use the ambient sensor.
- I don't much care for Vista honestly, but I decided to keep it since I have to get used to it sooner or later. I know XP in and out and it's time to start learning my way around Vista since I'm sort of the family/friend IT guy. But the option to downgrade to XP is there, since it is Vista Business. I figured better to get Vista Business with that option than just get XP. The biggest problem I've had is that I need to get a new CD burning software, and my flexm license applications (Matlab, Unigraphics) don't work. The latter could be a big problem for some, but those apps are niceties for me. I still have them on my office PC.

- I use both the trackpoint and the touchpad. It was a nice feature to me to have both available. The default trackpoint setting was way too sensitive to me, but that's easy enough to fix. My other laptops had more of a foamy eraser head like trackpoint, while this is more of a flat nubbed disk. I liked the foamy heads better but I think this will hold up longer, so I can deal with it.
- Sound is admittedly poor. It'll do in a pinch but for a hotel room setup or whatever you're gonna want to pack in some portable speakers. Fortunately the ipod craze has made for tons of options, so this is not a deal breaker for me. I have a $40 pair of JBL's that pack in a pocket and fill a room better than any laptop ever would, so I'm already set.
- I noticed more fan activity going from BIOS A05 to A06. But the bottom of the unit is now a little cooler. A05 and earlier it was pretty warm. Not hot, but warm, by judgement about as warm as you'd want something to be held to your face. I've had laptops that were actually uncomfortable hot... this is not one of them. But it does get warm. I'm puzzled by the people who say they never have a fan running and it is perfectly room temperature to the touch. I think they must be fibbing, or maybe a lot of it is from the NVS card. I might try to pop it open and redo the heatsinks with AS someday.

Graphics:

-One discussion I've seen a lot about is whether the NVS card is worth it. I think graphics card upgrades in laptops are sort of no-brainers. You can't do it later in most cases, so if anything it helps with future proofing. This is extra true in our case because the NVS 135 is only a small price premium. Even in pure business use, the dedicated cards sometimes provide a nicer VGA out quality (not to mention DVI if you use the dell dock), and the benefits can be quite noticeable even using office apps like excel and powerpoint when you start working with multiple monitors, big images, and videos. Ever seen a $2,000 office laptop get bogged down trying to play a video in powerpoint? I have, and I can't stand it. That is why I avoid integrated graphics whenever possible, not even considering games. But I also do like games and use some 3D apps, so the decision was very easy for me.

-Windows update actually had the most recent driver for the card. Dell had one update from original, Microsoft's was about a month newer. With the newest Windows driver I can play CoD4 at 1024x768 with medium textures and low advanced settings at 30-35 fps. I'm quite please with that. Older games like Company of Hereos or Half Life 2 run just dandy.

Adjustments/Upgrades:

- The 5400rpm Toshiba disk, while good for a 5400rpm disk, wasn't quite cutting it for me. I took advantage of a BB/Hitachi external deal and picked up a 7200rpm 200gb 7k200 disk for ~$130 ish. Certain Hitachi external enclosures actually contain 7k200 drives, despite what is advertised, and the 7k200 is a top performer. With that came a fresh Vista install and a lot of wasted time. But the 7k200 disk is a good bit faster, afforded me some breathing room, and is only marginally louder. Call me old fashioned but I like to hear disk access. Swapped the old disk into the external enclosure and now I have a backup drive. The only hitch I had in the whole ordeal is the BIOS came configured with the Turbocache setting enabled. I had to set it to plain old SATA to get Windows disk formatting utility up and running. Past that it was flawless and Vista installed quite quickly.

- Speaking of turbocache, it's not worth it. Turbocache and readyboost only help (little) on systems with nominal ram. Now ram is so cheap just buy ram.

- I did consider trying to pick up 2x16gb compact flash cards and using a CF to SATA adapter to have a low-cost solid state drive. But the overall cost was still in the $150ish range with extensive deal hunting for the CF cards, and I'm not totally convinced regular CF media is up to the long term write cycles. I'm keeping my eyes on this though, and hoping the tech keeps dropping/advancing.

- Similarly lucky, DDR2 Ram is dirt cheap right now. I picked up 2x2gb sticks of OCZ value ram from Dell for under $50 shipped. I'll sell the 1gb sticks when prices (hopefully) go back up. In reality this wasn't really needed but Vista is a bit of a ram pig, and with the prices being so low I figured it was best to do it now and get it over with. DDR2 has pretty much bottomed out and as things move forward to DDR3 it will only start going up again. Lower sodimm install is cake, one screw. Upper sodimm requires prying back the plate in front of the keyboard (a little scary) and unbolting the keyboard. Still easy, but prying up on the plastic plate on a brand new laptop is a little scary.

- The bluetooth module pops in under this same plate. So if you want to add bluetooth, do it at the same time as the ram upgrade. Dell 360 bluetooth cards are about $25 from ebay or Dell.

- Next, I hit ebay. One of the main reasons I went with the Latitude was the cheap and plentiful latitude accessory market. Over a term of 2 weeks I picked up a 6 cell battery (for home use, so I'm not wearing out my expensive Dell 9 cell at home), a modular CD bay battery (adds 2 hours of use), a docking station, and a spare 95w ac/adapter, all for less than $100. Love it. I actually needed this stuff and going with a Toshiba or whatever these add-ons would have killed my wallet. Do note that the main batteries are changed for D620/D630. D600/610 are different. The modular battery wasn't really necessary but it was less than $20 and during flights I'll appreciate it. With these batteries I'm set for international flights now, which I do on occasion.

- One last note, the plainest and cheapest notebook sleeve I could find ended up being at target. Plain black neoprene (stinky) with small handles and one zippered pocket for the ac brick and a mouse for $15. BB and CC had nicer units but they were bulky and/or expensive. I wanted a plain, compact sleeve for when all I need is the essentials. I have a regular pack for full travel.

Any questions, please let me know. The thread is pretty slow now but I'll try to check in from time to time. Thanks to all.

 

has anyone installed XP Pro 64 on their D630? I have everything setup, but I use a WFP2007 (1680x1050) at my desk and my D630 closed and in the dock. I cannot get the DVI output on my docking port to work at all, I have to use the VGA connector and I can see a slight flicker on dark backgrounds (lasik eyes?) and it's driving me nuts.

Has anyone had similar problems? I've found driver support for the NVS135M to be rather poor right now. My machine is configured as follows

T7250
4gb of ram
120gb 7200 rpm hd
WXGA+ screen
NVS135M
Intel 4965 wireless + blue tooth

I've tried 3 different docks, all with the same result. I love the machine, but this issue sucks! FYI I also have all windows updates installed.

 

Hi-
I am a new owner of a slighly used d630- and "am loving it !" I don't mind the 9 cell battery sticking out as it lasts and lasts. Mainly, it's Quiet, and the fan doesn't go on hardly at all . I have XP and can now print wirelessly - WOOHOO to my desktop printer ! My specs are not spectacular but it is more than enough for my needs. Finally, I love watching movies on a matte screen - it feels like I'm in a theatre The glare always bothered me !

T7100
60 or 80 Gb 5400 rpm HD
Intel x3100
Bluetooth

Yeah, the speakers could be (much) better and I would have liked an SD card reader. If you love listening to music on your laptop, this would be a deal-breaker. But really, those are small sacrifices for great build quality and quiet, portable laptop !

 

I just upgraded from D620 to D630 today.

T7700 2.4G
3G RAM (ordered with 1G, moved 2G from D620)
64G SSD (simply amazing)
No optical (moved from other D series)
Vista Basic (have seperate vista license)
EVDO Telus Rev A. (love it)
Bluetooth module 360 (I dont see a difference between 350, 355 and 360)
4965 Wifi Link
3 yr completecare / NBD


*Accesories
D dock (one of reason I can't give up latitude)
VX Nano Revolution (best laptop mouse out there now)
65W Slim Auto/Air/AC (love this thing I have 3 of those now)

*shopping experience
I also looked at XPS m1330 and m1530. I still have some regrets about not getting m1330 as it is light and fashionable. m1530 is getting to a weight/size level of D830 and I wasn't planning on carrying that much weight. Maybe when they put a T9x00 processor in XPS I might think about getting one of those and send mine down the line. I work in IT so I get to try different laptops

*observations
I noticed battery goes for about 3 hours with full brightness, wireless surfing. I think this is improvement over D620 with Nvidia graphics where I was getting about just over 2 hours. Screen seems a little bit brighter than D60. SSD is a very nice option to have as no matter what I do, laptop seems to be flying. Also, Intel X3100 does not get as warm as the Nvidia card. I couldn't play any game with Nvidia anyway so I think everyone should just get an Intel X3100 when they order theirs.

*final comments
I still love it although it looks identical to my old laptop. My next upgrade path will be more likely XPS lineup unless Latitude becomes more fashionable in next release. I do have a desktop at home with 3008WFP attached so I don't really need ability to dock at home.

 

Actually, having used the computer for some time more, the fan isn't on so much. But yes, the hard drive is loud, in a quiet room it can be heard quite clearly from ~4m away. I'm thinking of swapping in out with a 160GB Seagate 7200.2, because I have more trust in Seagate`s reliability and unfortunately WD doesn't have 7200rpm 2,5" drives.
The trackpad is not as good as a Thinkpad, personally I don't like eraserhead-like top of it. Also its buttons are kind of mushy. I'm in the process of writing the review...

As for the graphics on the AUO WXGA+ screen, I think the colors are not washed out and bland. At least for me...

 

In my experience, Seagate drives are generally much quieter then other drives. Much quieter.

 

I've always purchased either Seagate Momentus or Samsung Spinpoint M drives for my notebooks, both are extremely quiet, the Seagate typically performing a little better (only in tests, real world is barely noticeable). Anyway, recently owning a Momentus perpendicular laptop drive in my Sony notebook that just died, I was super happy...dead silent, fast, perpendicular definitely gave it a perf boost (previously had the same drive, non-perp).

Anyway, long story short...my new D630 laptops both came w/ the 80gb Hitachi 5400 perpendicular drive. My personal opinion, just by listening, is that they seem even quieter than my seagates. Granted, hard to compare between the D630 and my Sony S260 that was retired. Totally different construction, drive placement, etc...so I'd have to swap the Hitachi out for the Seagate to truly know, but the Hitachi is near silent even when accessing data.

Chris

 

How does battlefield 2142 play with the NVS graphics on this machine?

 

You know what's sad-I actually think that the speaker sounds fine (Guess I just have really bad ears )