D630 Owners Thread

Underclocking the GPU won't resolve what essentially is a metal fatigue problem that is caused by the high number of thermal cycles the GPU will experience, the result of poor GPU mechanical design.

I'm so glad that the D630 I bought has the Intel X3100. Its actually a pretty good chipset if you don't need high(er)-end 3D graphics capability.

 

Disappointed with Dell on two fronts:

(1) The Nvidia card problem. So what if I have a 3 yr warranty. There are numerous accounts of these cards overheating and failing. The excess heat generated over months of use can cause other problems. Will they appear on month 35 or after your warranty has expired? The problem HAS NOT been addressed. Meanwhile, customers are being left in the dark, some with defective computers. Also, the comments in the link below indicate there is already some sort of lawsuit.

Link(read the comments): http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/...affected-customers-worldwide.aspx?PageIndex=1

(2) I purchased my D630 in March 2008. The battery failed last week. The original battery lasted only 8 months! Unfortunately, Dell informed me that the replacement battery(which btw is not new, but reconditioned) will only be under warranty until the original 1 yr battery warranty expires. Read: No extension of the battery warranty period even after battery failure! This is a very poor warranty indeed! I can only hope that it doesn't fail like the old one. But if it fails after March 2009, they will not replace it again, and new battery currently sells for $150 on the Dell site.

 

Hey Guys,

My D630 doesn't have a crystal bright screen but I don't really care. All I care about it the speed. I use my laptop for business and speed is more important than looks if you guys know what I mean. Although, it would be a nice addition if my screen was crystal bright. Which manufacturer makes the CB screen anyhow? Might upgrade to that someday.

Dell D630
2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 3MB cache 800Mhz
4GB DDR2 Ram
320 GB 5400 Western Digital Raptor HDD
14.1" Screen
Intel Graphics
8X DVD+/-RW
Dell 802.11g

 

I've just got my d630 motherboard replaced due to nvidia issue (i've had 96C durring 3D playing, ~70C on iddle).

The temperatures got slightly lower (61-64C on idle). HDD temp has gone down definately! from ~44C to 37C

 

Hi, where to get a modded bios for D630 that enable adjustment of CPU ratio? I am having a X9000 CPU. I ever read in this website that someone by the name of Andy has modded bios for D630 and using same X9000 CPU.

Current CPU temp is 34C at idle, but GPU is 62C idle.

 

My D630 has had it's first encounters with the dreaded display driver error. First the computer freezes, next the colors change to pink\orange\blue, then the screen goes blank. On reboot it works for a bit, then this happens again.

On 4/13/09 Dell is sending a tech who is supposed to replace the following: (1) motherboard (2) ram (3) lcd. Interestingly, the tech said I will be receiving the same type of motherboard with the same gpu. When I asked if it was possible that it could fail again with the same gpu he defensively stated "No!" I wasn't satisfied with the response but he just became more defensive when I pressed so I gave up. BTW, he did not mention any BIOS update. I asked if Dell is providing any warranty extension and was told no. This is after reading the Direct2Dell blog stating otherwise.

I'm curious how many people have had their mobo replaced and successfully resolved said issue. I haven't read the whole Direct2Dell thread but it seems it hasn't solved the problem for some people.

 

I have had 2 D630's die in the last week at work with video failures out of the 6 we purchased in January 08. I ordered a new batch of them a few weeks ago (cheap right now through Dell) and did not do the NVS 135 this time. It was worth the small hassle of adding the Intel drivers to the images to not have to deal with this.

 

Somebody pls help - my Latitude D630 keeps freezing up ?
And it also makes a SOUND !!!

It used to work beautifully until i installed software i downloaded from the NET.
Do re-install XP, format the hard disk or what ?

Mave

 

Hi. What sound is it making? Have you ran Dell Diagnostics yet?

 

My D630 just did the same thing in Windows 7. It froze and started displaying garbage on the screen but didn't go blank. After I forcefully restarted, the boot screen was still garbaged. I took out my user-added 2GB Kingston PC2-6400 stick, then it the picture was OK but started showing slight artifacts in Win7`s aero interface.

Memtesting right now...I may have a motherboard replacement coming up