D830 Owner's Lounge

Yeah the tiny lags were the most noticeable things that what went away after the ForeWare dirvers were installed.

I don't understand how you're getting weak audio, though. Mine's loud as hell. The default volume seemed to be max as well, so I can't see what the problem might be.

Sleep issue has not been resolved. Not under Vista at least. I'll see how it goes under XP and if I do load Vista as a second OS, I'll see if I can fix the problem. That was my only major issue with the ForceWare drivers, though.

EDIT: My XP Setup is telling me that it can't detect a harddrive? Is this because of the protected partition or something?

 

Keyboard is quite good, although in the words of the multitudes, "it ain't a Thinkpad." Travel is good, and it doesn't generate a lot of loud clicking or tapping sounds. As for the feel, it's soft, with a little give, but not mushy at all.

One caveat, though. There is a small, yet pronounced flex in the keyboard that dips just over a millimeter. As far as I can tell, the region of flexing is bounded by the following keys (in rows, from top to bottom): F3-F6; 3-7; W-Y; and then lightly, from S-G.

If you're a light and fast touch typist, it won't bother you at all.

Heat dissipation is really quite good, although leaving it plugged in while using it on your lap certainly isn't a good idea. There is one primary fan just beneath the upper left side of the laptop which does an excellent job of keeping the components cool. The lower left side (closer to the front bezel) does get a bit warm, though - though I attribute that to it being the hard drive and all (5400rpm).

This is also a rather quiet system. In the six days I've had this system, I've only shut it down twice to leave the house. Other than that it's been running 24/7 and I've yet to experience any noise that can be described as unpleasant or irritating. There is, of course, optical drive spin-ups but they aren't nearly as bad as those seen on older HP or Compaq laptops (as I'll mention in an upcoming review).

 

Okay, I admit to being presumptuous and not double-checking my methodology. I tried loading up audio files in Media Player and have since been proven wrong - you're right: they're loud as hell.

Re: the hard drive issue. Yeah, it's due to the protected partition. You have to wipe the whole drive clean in order to install it properly. Or so I've read in a few of the threads around here.

 

Rik, freefisheater: Thanks

I cannot decide between D630 and D830. I love to have higher resolution screen(1600x1050) but I am not sure about the weight. I need to use the notebook everyday and carry it from home to the office.
I really don't like my current notebook keyboard (D600).

 

For the XP installation, I think XP cannot detect SATA drive. You can find the solution regarding to the issue.

 

Yep. You're right. You need to disable the AHCI in the BIOS.

Now, my question is, after installing XP, do I want to enable the AHCI again?

 

I think this is the link I have read regarding to the issue.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/suppor...nxp&message.id=227944&query.id=110519#M227944

 

Hell this is a pain. How are the rest of you XP installers working on this?

 

Well, if you have to carry around your laptop all day it might be better to go with the D630. I currently also carry around a laptop of about the same size and weight as the D830 and i'm a big guy (1,96m or 6 feet 5'...), i find it's format on the edge of acceptable...

However, whem i'm seated at a table or working at home I wouldn't want a smaller one... off-course since it's a latitude I'd suggest a D630 with a docking station, external monitor, external keyboard, mouse etc.

 

I have also ordered D830 with 2GB RAM , WXGA and integrated graphics in preference to HP 6710B & Lenovo R61 , which was available at same price (Lenovo of course with 1GB RAM and 4 cell battery) . I do not know whether my decision is correct. Likely to get the machine in a week's time. Can any body tell as to how is the screen (WXGA)in terms of brightness ,contrast and colour?