I no longer own an M6400.

Like the title says. Some of you were waiting for screen reviews showing the matte LED M6400 alongside the glossy Covet. Well, my apologies, but that won't happen.

Dell has refused to make good on the "not as advertised" glossy screen issue. i.e. they will not replace my M6400 Covet with an M6400, which forces me to return this unit, wait for funds to clear back to my account, and then wait for another order to process, the whole time without a laptop for my work. After the 6-week order delay, the documented false advertising, the bright desaturated patch in the screen, the faulty disk image that crashed all the graphics software I threw at it, the shoddy Dell utilities that break Vista if they're installed... I've gotten a grand total of four days functional use out of this Covet since I received it last month. The rest of the time has been spent dancing around crashes and trying to make it work.

I'm going to see if HP will give me a deal on an 8730 that would make it affordable. The Lenovo W700 unfortunately is so much larger than the M6400 that I don't know of any carrying bags that could contain it. Plus no full-gamut screen option. The 8710 had great battery life compared to the M6400 on similar wattage hardware so I'm hoping the 8730 will shine there too, and while RAID sounds nice on a laptop it's not worth the rest, and I can easily set up software RAID on a bunch of externals duct-taped together. Plus the M6400 has the least ergonomic palm rest. They are the only manufacturer without a bevel on the front edge, and that 90-degree corner does start to hurt me after a while.

At this point, though, I'm likely to skip on the portable workstation deal altogether. I've lost 5 months so far trying to get a working workstation. Now I have so little school left that by the time a new order lands I'll only have a few months left where it could actually help me produce demo reel material.

So good luck everybody, happy new year, etc. etc.
-- Brian

 

*pats on back*

I'm sorry about your frustration.

 

Which of the utilities break Vista? Yes, some of the are pretty bad, but I haven't seen any of them actually "break" the OS, yet...

Otherwise, I feel your pain. Too many issues for that kind of money.

 

For some, the Intel Matrix storage manager caused audio stutters. For me, the Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager causes them. I think it's related to 32-bit vs. 64-bit Vista. It's really embarrassing to open up your flagship graphics workstation that you've been bragging about and everyone hear it struggle and stutter through making the windows boot sound, and then again struggle through making the login sound.

 

Hi there,

Just a point about the Hp 8730w.. You can setup Raid on it if you wish.. Not sure if you knew that.. But the DVD can be swapped out for a second HD.

I have to say I've been following the Dell issues and after 4 weeks of research am no closer to working out what I want. Sure on paper the Dell seems better- easier to upgrade, faster memory, etc. But I'm not sure I want a system where I have to spend days getting drivers / apps, etc working.

This is Dell's FLAGSHIP laptop! It amazes me it has so many problems.

I'm lucky I guess that I don't need to buy mine right away, but I do feel for those who got in early and are now fighting to fix things that shouldn't need fixing.

Regards,
Simon

 

I know people usually rush to respond to threads like this, "defending" their own personal units as if that makes your issues somehow invalid, but everyone has different experiences on what should be identical hardware.

Sorry for the problems and yeah, the bezel angle and the sharp corners require getting used to.

Outside of that, mine has been running pretty flawlessly under XP Pro for what I need it to do.

 

Do you use Adobe CS4? I had heard of incompatibilities with hardware acceleration with Adobe CS4 (Photoshop, AfterEffects, Premiere Pro) and XP Pro 64.

The software that crashed for me was:
AfterEffects CS3 (hard-lock, hold power button and reboot)
Premiere Pro CS3 (hard-lock again)
Autodesk Maya 2008 Ext.2, 64-bit and 32-bit, periodic crashes
Autodesk MotionBuilder 7.5 Ext.2, again both 64-bit and 32-bit, but they have different problems.

The main problem was not even the crashing, it is that every sales rep I talked to told me the M6400 Covet had a matte finish screen. As you've no doubt seen in photos, that is far from the case, and it was a HUGE selling point for me, which I made clear when buying. It also had a very significant bright patch covering one quadrant of the screen, which also caused certain colors to desaturate in that region, especially blue. (Patch is about 1/3 screen width by 1/2 screen height.)

Anyway, the point I'm making is not "don't buy an M6400", it is "I probably won't be around anymore" and "that review I promised comparing the two screens with photos won't happen." (And a bit of "I'm pissed off at Dell.")

 

Misterbk
I am sorry that you are so frustrated. I can understand from what I have read these past weeks of your trials and tribulations.
It sounds like your screen was faulty (with the patches of color) - you could ask for a new laptop and while you wait for the new laptop continue to use this one.(though obviously this doesn't help with the glossy screen).
Personally I do not have a difficulty with the palm rest, I am not an ergonomic typist so I do tend to lean on the rest. But as we are told a palm rest is just to rest the palms, it really was not designed for a ergonomic typing position (I believe palms should be held over the rest, but again I am no expert here)
I have not installed XP 64, I have always believed that XP 64 is not so good with drivers, I just stayed away. I was never a Vista lover either, but I wanted to use more than 4GB, and that pretty much forced me to use Vista. What can I say? Photoshop CS4 runs great from the short use I have made of it (I posted about this in another thread just a bit ago), GPU features included. Lightroom is also great. These are the 2 apps I will use so I can't comment further.

Did the sales rep state that the resulting visual look of the display will be Matt, or did they say the LCD itself was Matt? To be accurate they have to say the LCD is Matt, because that is the underlying technology. With the glass over the screen the effect is one of a glossy screen. It maybe semantics, but had they answered differently people could complain "I was told it is glossy but it is really a Matt LCD with a piece of glass"

There is no doubt you have issues, and I am sure that in time these could be resolved. From your long posts and contributions to this forum it is clear there are lots you like about the M6400, your decision must be tough, good luck with whatever you decide to do.

---Bruce

 

I asked them to replace the Covet with a same-configured M6400 with matte screen. That's what they wouldn't do, is ship me one so I could continue using this one until the new one arrives.

Here, I'll just paste in some sales chat logs and let you decide. These are three chat logs that I actually saved. There were several I did not, including the people I talked to before making the order, before the first pictures of the unit were available online. The first people on this forum began getting theirs a few days before mine arrived and mine had already shipped. The chat logs I pasted are from after that, when I was trying to tell Dell "hey look you are falsely advertising this product, please cross-ship the product that matches what you advertised."

The irony of talking to these reps while looking at my reflection in the screen was palpable. Also responses like these were 100%, not a single sales rep said matte finish. I spoke to about 11 or 12 total.

10:20:18 AM Covet Shopper Initial Question/Comment: Screen Question about M6400 Covet
10:20:28 AM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
10:20:28 AM System Connected with SMB_Andy_Linville
10:20:36 AM SMB_Andy_Linville Hello, my name is Andy, and I will be your personal assistant. My contact information is (email removed) or by telephone at 1-800-901-3355 extension 946-1067.
10:20:47 AM Covet Shopper Hello Andy I'm just wondering if the M6400 Covet has a matte or glossy screen?
10:21:30 AM SMB_Andy_Linville it is an anti-glare screen
10:21:41 AM Covet Shopper The site does not say TrueLife, but some people online say it is glossy finish
10:22:58 AM SMB_Andy_Linville it is only glossy if it is a TrueLife
10:23:03 AM SMB_Andy_Linville all other screens are anti-glare
10:23:15 AM Covet Shopper ok so it is matte finish for sure?
10:25:18 AM SMB_Andy_Linville so for the 3rd time, yes it is an anti-glare screen (-:
10:25:30 AM Covet Shopper ok thank you
10:25:43 AM SMB_Andy_Linville Do you have any other questions right now that I can assist you with?
10:25:47 AM Covet Shopper no



10:06:43 AM Initial Question/Comment: Question about Covet screen
10:06:48 AM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
10:06:48 AM System Connected with SMB_XxxxxxxX
10:06:48 AM Sales Thank you for choosing Dell Inc. business sales department, my name is [ ... ] how may I help you today?
10:06:58 AM (Me)- Hi Xxxxxxx
10:07:14 AM (Me)- I'm wondering if the M6400 Covet has a matte screen
10:07:18 AM (Me)- or if it is glossy?
10:07:48 AM Sales if it says Truelife, then it is glossy, otherwise it is matte
10:07:54 AM (Me)- oh ok
10:08:09 AM (Me)- I don't see TrueLife but some people have said it is glossy online?
10:10:29 AM (Me)- are you checking?
10:11:03 AM Sales one moment
10:13:49 AM Sales It is matte
10:13:54 AM (Me)- ok thank you!
10:14:07 AM (Me)- have a good day!



10:32:16 AM Laptop Phil Initial Question/Comment: Interested in the M6400 Covet
10:32:26 AM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
10:32:26 AM System Connected with SMB_Xxxxxx
10:32:31 AM SMB_Xxxxxx Thank you for choosing Dell Business Sales Chat. My name is Xxxxxx. If we get disconnected, please do not log back into chat, I can be reached at Xxxxxx_Xxxxxx @dell.com. May I have your email or phone number in case we get disconnected?
10:32:45 AM Laptop Phil oh I just have a quick question
10:32:56 AM Laptop Phil I'm looking at the M6400 Covet
10:33:03 AM Laptop Phil Does it have a matte or a glossy screen?
10:33:21 AM SMB_Xxxxxx It's a matte finish
10:33:33 AM SMB_Xxxxxx glossy is only if you select the "true-life" option
10:33:36 AM Laptop Phil really? I've read several people online who said it is glossy
10:34:39 AM Laptop Phil The Covet only has one screen option
10:35:17 AM SMB_Xxxxxx yeah, some of our laptops give the option for true-life, this one doesn't. Only has the Matte finish
10:35:41 AM Laptop Phil ok, I don't know what's going on online then
10:36:09 AM Laptop Phil if you're sure about it then I'm happy
10:37:57 AM SMB_Xxxxxx If you have any questions, email is the easiest way to reach me Xxxxxx_Xxxxxx @dell.com or you can call at XXX-XXX-XXXX to my direct line.
10:38:04 AM Laptop Phil ok thanks
10:38:05 AM Laptop Phil bye

 

I meant to say swap like for like (which I agree isn't helpful but could give more time/options), not likely for them to change the config without re-order.
Yup it is easy to confuse a sales person, what with all the whole truelife technology and all. That's why we have forums like this
Good luck with your new laptop, I am sure you will be happy
---Bruce