Hands on Dell Precision 7710

Good to know - I was considering buying a refurbished one but I do not buy a windows laptop without precision touchpad anymore. Thank you so much!

 

upgraded again to
Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (x64) Build 15063.483 (RS2) - Creators Update

Microsoft insisted upon it as I've deferred for as long as I could after a few failed attempts in months past.
Windows then pushed a cumulative update KB4025342 and then an update of my Nvidia driver from 377 to 382

Last few times I tried "Creators" I had repeated nvidia driver crashes after the upgrade leaving me with black screen (when Optimus was disabled) or BSOD (when Optimus was enabled). However, this time I feel confident it will work better. This time Creators has had a few cumulative updates that weren't here before and also the newer nvidia driver sounds promising.

*edit: after three days I've not had any trouble. Very happy with it.

 

I just tried docking to my E-Port dock (model PR02X-B) for first time since April and it is not charging or powering my 7710. I tried another E-port dock station here and same problem. I can power on the laptop using the dock power button as well as sleep/awake using dock power button. The dock power and eject button are lit. But the laptop does not charge and does not run off of AC power, only battery when docked.

If I connet AC directly to the laptop then it does charge and run off of AC. So I do not think it is a power option setting. Only thing I can figure is that it is from new WIndows 1703 Creators Update I applied a week or two ago. I'm at DELL BIOS 1.10.7 .

I probably need to update my BIOS. I'll give that a shot and update this posting.

*Edit: BIOS Updated to 1.13.6 and still unable to charge laptop via E-Port dock. Anyone have ideas?

the dock in background is our other e-port dock. Neither E-Port dock charges or powers the laptop. Notice the 3rd LED is not lit but it should be if connected to AC and charging. Also the notification tray shows it as not being plugged in or connected to AC (should be signified by a little wall prong icon in tray).

I tried with my other AC adapter and same prob. Both are the bricks that ship from Dell. One adapter is 0FHMD4 the other one is 0J938H, both are 240w I think. Tried from different wall outlet and same prob. I may have to call Dell on this one unless someone here has suggestion I can try.

*Edit2: My laptop does see devices connected to the dock though. It sees my monitors and my external E-SATA HDD. Just doesn't recognize the dock as a power source.

I am in a different location than when it last was working in April though. I moved to a new city and maybe it is the power source is prob?


*Edit3: I'm backing up my system drive to an Acronis image right now. Then I'll restore to the backup I took just prior to the Win10 1703 Creators Update to see if there is any improvement. This would be just to help diagnose. I also read that uninstalling the ACPI power adapter under device manager may help. I will try that after my backup finishes. Still open to suggestions.

Solved, First a quick recap: The notification tray was not showing it was connected to AC when docked to e-port dock station. I can understand it sometimes not charging because of a profile maybe, but not showing it connected to AC when it docked is a problem and it continued to drain. [Note, this was not because of Dell Power Command Peak Shift or Advanced Charge or Battery Extend options as those were all disabled.]

My solution: Shutdown and removed battery and then redocked to e-port. I think this forced the OS to recognize that it was connected to AC while docked as it certainly wasn't powered from battery. For good measure I uninstalled the ACPI battery controller adapter in device manager. It then reinstalled ACPI automatically. Shutdown again, inserted battery, redocked and powered on. This time it shows it is connected to AC while docked, battery is charging and life is good once again.

 

I suspect that's your culprit. It's a massive update which tends to leave some debris - I've had my share and will probably find more problems that has created while I've yet to notice any benefits.

John

 

I suspect so too. One benefit I've seen, the network listing allows VPN connection (windows VPN client) right from the notification tray instead of bringing up the Windows VPN settings page and having to connect from there every time. I'm sure there is more in here somewhere.

 

Does anyone have experience replacing the motherboard on the 7710? This is in case I find the right used machine at the right price and decide I want to upgrade the CPU after the fact. There are various videos and such but those don't always tell the whole story.

I've done plenty of surgery inside other Dell laptops, but haven't done a motherboard (yet).

 

It takes some time but it is totally doable. (I haven't done it but I've seen a tech do it, on the 7510, which is pretty much the same.) There are good directions for replacing all components in the manual, available from support.dell.com. As you likely know, they don't use socketed CPUs anymore for mobile so upgrading the CPU means replacing the whole motherboard.

 

Hi Tribeard I am also looking to change my LCD from FHD to UHD, and I have inquired from Dell. So just to clarify the I will buy the UHD from Dell and I have to get the right eDP cable ? the existing cable for the FHD will not work with the UHD ? appreciate your sharing

 

I upgrade to 'Creators' the minute they pushed it down without choice, had no problems so far for both the 7710 and M4800, this was like in early August. Only thing is that they removed the feature to adjust fonts by icons, menu, message bars etc, had to use a 3rd party to reinstate them

 

Have not done it myself but I watched the tech do it, looks simple and he did it in half an hour. The only part I see him being careful was the keyboard part