M4700 Owners Thread

Dell servers are pathetic. i downloaded 400 megs of windows updates faster than it takes to download a 50 mb driver from Dell. with Dell i have to spend the entire day downloading drivers simply because how slow their server is ( and the fact that they botched the Driver DVD ). i have a 50 megabit connection and it's downloading at 260 kbyte/sec.

Bokeh is a fanboy. Dell only listens to customers in his mind. I wonder what customers begged to have dialup speed when downloading 250 megabyte drivers ?

gotta give props to microsoft though - their updates download lightning fast. i downloaded 400 megs of updates in about a minute or two.

like the reason i'm here on the forum right now is i'm waiting for bluetooth driver to download - can you believe this nonsense ?

 

So why don't you just return this Dell you hate so much & get that macbook pro you're always going on about? I have had my share of frustrations with Dell but have never had an issue with their return policy

 

Turn off Optimus in the BIOS to have the system run 100% on the NVIDIA GFX card.

Dell-Mano_G

 

Does anyone have the hard drive caddy for the Optical Drive bay with their M4700? Is it possible for you to provide me with a part number? I've spent a little over an hour today on the phone with Dell in the US, I've only found the 5-digit warranty part number so far, that is, "PDG96".

Many thanks for your help.

 

I'd also like that part. I've had bad luck with generic optical bay adapters. This site came up with a google search of that part. MECHANICAL HARDWARE - PDG96 I'd like to buy from a more local vendor.

 

well i think i finished installing the drivers. by that i mean i no longer see any yellow triangles with exclamation marks in the device manager. have no idea if i installed the right drivers or not ...

for some odd reason when you use Dell's system that finds your machine based on some code on the box and uses it to select your drivers it defaults to 32 bit windows ... i didn't even know there is such a thing as 32 bit windows 7. so i might have accidentally downloaded a few 32 bit drivers, although theoretically they shouldn't have installed ? oh well, we'll see.

so taking the rest of the day off to rest. tomorrow i want to cut the foam on the pelican case and start installing the software i will need.

i returned Asus G75VW because i found two FATAL flaws in it

1 - the sound was coming mostly from the sub on the bottom of left side, with the speakers cutting in and out and making very little sound and projecting it all behind the screen

2 - any screen brightness setting below 100% produced visible flicker. even though my father for whom the computer was for didn't notice the flicker it was very apparent to me

so far with Dell i have come across no fatal flaws, only annoyances. i didn't expect it to have Apple quality to begin with so i am not disappointed. the experience i am having so far is more or less in line with my expectations.

although i question the design decision to bold the hard drive directly to the magnesium frame ... that is very odd ... there is no vibration dampening at all. i have never heard the hard drive, but i live in a pretty loud place.

besides, i have gripes with apple too. for example why do apple products have razor sharp ( laser cut ) edges ? do they not understand that i don't enjoy cutting myself ? unfortunately stup1dity is a fact of life.

in the grand scheme of things:

* performance and value * Alienware - Dell Precision - Apple * design and build quality *

you have to decide what's more important to you. precision is trying to be the best of both worlds for those who must have it all.

basically because precision set such a high target for itself is why i think i have the right to complain as much as i do. nobody said being the best was supposed to be easy - go ask some olympians. you can't be excellent and complacent at the same time.

 

It brings me back my original thought on why they used rubber there, to help dampen vibrations. I have had many laptops over the years (I've had 5 this year alone) and worked on many others. I don't know that i've ever seen a laptop with vibration dampening on the hard drive.

 

well apparently macbook pro wasn't one of your 5 laptops LOL

 

No it wasn't. I really don't want a machine with a giant glowing fruit on the back of it. I also don't need vibration dampening because I don't use any laptops with mechanical hard drives.

 

hehe lol. i'm gonna try to fall asleep.