Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

Doing it now, if i understand correctly, the .exe is just a way of launching something liek a dos utility that will do the flash instead of doing it from within Windows.

EDIT: Done and woah dat Dell logo at native res.

 

Noticed something else in A06 on Windows 8. The wireless switch now directly controls Windows's "airplane mode" setting.

In the BIOS, you are able to set which devices the wireless switch will actually turn on and off. I usually have it so that it doesn't control the Bluetooth (I'd like it to be on even if the wireless switch is off). However, (as noted in the BIOS) the BIOS settings don't matter if you are running Windows 8, as Windows itself takes care of switching stuff on and off. And no option to leave the Bluetooth on when the switch is off.

Ah well, I'll deal with it I guess.

 

A06 bios definitely runs the fans harder. Just flashed up from A03 and now the fans keep kicking on in the max performance power preset when just doing basic stuff in windows.

Is it worth switching to UEFI, does it mean starting from scratch or can I just turn it on in BIOS? Going to upgrade after dual booting for the first month of W8.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

I personally haven't noticed a difference on the balanced power profile, the fans kick in once in a while, but not very often unless i do something that starts using the CPU, the GPU is frosty no matter what i do. From what i can see, the CPU at ~60C has the fans kick in.

 

Thanks for the comprehensive post. Can you or someone with a RAID setup, UEFI enabled, and Windows 8 installed check to see if:

1) An existing array is accessible.
2) A new array can be created.

I have seen something similar. I am still waiting for my rep to get back to me, at this time I am told (via Dell's Twitter account) that the LCD bezel is back ordered for the M6700. I have the IPS screen on mine but I am not sure if that makes a difference. My regular CS rep promised an email for today so I will post an update later. If they delay it too much then I will ask for them to throw something in (blu ray drive, mata drive, covet edition?) or knock some cash off the final price since I already have a loaded machine and all the accessories waiting at home.

I highly doubt it but I could be wrong.

Thanks for sharing the info. My unit has been in production for a while (almost 11 days) and was reordered 2 weeks ago today. My delivery date has not budged either... still 11/2.

That sounds annoying. I have the wireless switch set up the same way on several computers. I will lodge a case with Dell on this issue if I ever get my laptop.

With Windows 7 it usually meant starting from scratch although people have posted about doing in-place comversions which I have never attempted. In the past, UEFI also meant that some Option ROMs (RAID, network boot, etc.) didn't work and it also meant that certain things like Bitlocker required UEFI support. I am guessing that most manufacturers have had enough time to address all these issues by now. Give it a try and report back.

 

Honestly, it doesn't make that much difference. The biggest benefit is UEFI Secure Boot (a minor security protection IMO, shouldn't matter if you follow common sense and don't get a virus or malware). Everything else is just visual, and the boot process might be slightly faster. (On Windows 7, you won't really see any difference at all, and secure boot is not supported. Windows 8 supports UEFI features, this blog post has some info.)

To switch to UEFI, you have to convert your hard drive's partition table from MBR to GPT. (Using a GPT partition table means that you can have volumes larger than 2 TB on a single drive. Not really an issue on laptops yet.) Because UEFI requires the GPT partition table, you can't just switch it in the BIOS and have your existing Windows install boot. You'll have to do some prep work on your hard drive.

The best time to switch is before you install Windows. However, I successfully performed an in-place conversion with Windows 7 before upgrading to Windows 8. If you're interested, let me know and I'll post a step-by-step.

1) Yes, existing arrays are accessible.
2) It looks like you can still manage RAID stuff with the Intel Rapid Storage utility from within Windows. As long as you're not messing with your boot volume, you should be fine. If you need to get in to the pre-boot setup utility, you'll have to temporarily disable secure boot and then enable legacy option ROMs.

(Actually, it occurs to me that you might be able to access the RAID utility during boot from the F12 menu. I'll check next time I reboot.)

 

I run the "High Performance power plan" and I have not noticed any difference in fan operation, whether the laptop is doing little or a lot.

 

Will wonders never cease...My M6700 just shipped!!!

 

I'm very shortsighted, so I understand your concern.
Only the 1080p screen was available for me, so I got that and just use it with a lower resolution. Far from ideal as it's quite blurry, but it works for me

 

I'm very envious. Apparently the IPS display, Windows 7 label, and webcam are backordered. I keep getting the runaround from Dell.