D630 Owners Thread

New BIOS available today, revision A07. The only change listed is "Updated Intel Microcode." Any idea what that means, or where a more detailed changelog may be located?

Link to download

 

Support for Penryn processors.

 

- Default intel graphics driver's have installed on any XP laptop I've used with intel integrated parts. This might be different on Vista, I'm not sure. Generally Windows update will send you to the latest intel integrated graphics driver. I can't say how often Intel has updated the 3100 driver but that driver was greatly improved closely after it's introduction. A very old driver will hurt a lot.

- For the fella with the goofy 1400x1050 external monitor, try two things. First, see if the monitor has a driver file. Since that is a non standard resolution to XP, you might need a monitor driver, which is usually not the case. Worst case, there are utilities like powerstrip that you can use to allow custom resolutions. But this is quite more painful. I suspect a monitor driver will work.

later

 

i remember reading in the NBR battery guide thread that heat itself shortens battery life. is the effect too minor to worry about?

 

Little or no effect. No worries there.

 

Was just about to buy one of these but then read this thread (the whole thread) and i didn't realise it was such an old model. Dell currently are offereing £265 off it until March 3rd. Is this becuase they're bringing out a replacement soon?

Don't want to buy it now and then want the new model in a few days.

Also, with the docking station adn nvidia graphics, is it possible to have a monitor connected to dvi and another on vga, and disable the laptop screen? (so have two external monitors only)?

 

Hey Rudeboy, it's quite possible they're phasing it out already. They're rumored to be releasing the new E-series some time this year (here and here), so a price drop to clear out the current D generation Latitudes would make some sense.

 

Replacement for the D630 has been announced and will come out around June
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/22/dells-leaked-latitude-e6000-and-e5000-series-of-laptops-pack-gp/

 

I am working with a D630, but I have an unusual problem when I rotate my second monitor.

I have 2 monitors connected, my second monitor on a VGA connection is rotated 90 degrees left. When I move my mouse cursor over to it, it hasn't rotated, it keeps the orientation of my primary monitor. The bad thing about this is the hotspot where the mouse clicks are sensed appear to the left of the point of the cursor, so if I want to minimize a window, I have to click on the "X" to register the minimize "_" button.

I have updated the BIOS and the latest video drivers from Dell, but still no effect. The only work around I have found so far is to turn on the mouse pointer trails, but those are annoying. Anyone have any thoughts.

(Sorry if this has already been posted, I tried a quick search that didn't really return any hits and I didn't want to read through 42 pages of theads =/)

 

You can have to monitors connected to this laptop when on a docking station and then with DVI and VGA as you mentioned. That's how I am setup and I love it, aside for my issue in the adobe post......