M6600 Owner's Review - Warning - Large pics - Personal Opinions

Nice review. Having had the m6500 for quite a few months I was hoping a different keyboard/touchpad layout on m6600.

I never adjusted to the off-centered touchpad ... (Very awkward having to angle my my right hand to operate the touchpad).Currently I only use the m6500 with a separate keyboard/mouse. Every time I try to use the keyboard/touchpad as is ... I get RSI.

Also the numpad is completely useless for me.

Looks like in m6600 and even in m4600 they have the same awkward off center design.

Do most users of these machines use numpads ? Doesnt the off centered keyboard bother others.

 

You are the first that thinks numpads are rubbish and useless. Most people that has used a Precisions always find the numpad useful, especially if you work with spreadsheets a lot. I personally never had the problem with the touchpad off-center due to the numpad, because you still get a good ample size for your wrists on either side of the palmrest, therefore I never felt no ergonomically comfortable.

Having no numpad on the Precision, could anger a lot of users. I think most of us prefer having an off-set touchpad for a numpad. You might be a minority on this one (which I honor your opinion) but design and practicality-wise, the numpad stays.

 

I 've never used the numpad of my M4600 so far but I guess Dell decided to include it since many other customers asked for it. Yes, the off-centered design was annoying at first, I could not type properly but I got used after a few days. What I am more concerned about is the speakers. They look quite tiny and sound worse in my opinion than the ones in M4500.

 

I dont think they are rubbish. The keyboard is actually good. But numpad is useless for my use. I also think dell does not target these precision workstations for spreadsheet applications.

For my use (many vms used parallely) I mainly needed the m6500 for the memory capacity. But I think the targeted audience is graphics intensive apps like CAD ... I dont know how much they need the numpad and the off centered touchpad.

But it is true most of the 17 inchers have the off centered keyboard. Only exception may be the MBP. But its specs are not that good (only 2 memory slots e.g).

 

I run computation software and I find myself in love with a numpad. The Precisions are mostly for stuff you say, but doesn't mean it is not catered to the computational biologist!

 

Didn't the old Precision (like M6300) come without a numpad? I thought it looked ugly with all that empty space around. Personally, I cannot take a 17" (or a 15") business laptop seriously if it came without a numpad. If Dell Precisions didn't have it, I'd definitely go for an HP or something.

 

Correct. The M90 and M6300 had no number pad. The styling and functionality of the M6400 and M6500 was a huge step up as far as build and styling goes. The M6600 further refines those improvements.

Once you get used to the keyboard and its centered trackpad and then get your head around the idea that the numberpad is placed on the M6600 in *addition* to the keyboard, it all makes sense. Your hands still fall in the same place on the keyboard and trackpad as they would on a Dell without a numberpad, but your hands are slightly to the left of the dead center of the screen. It is not weird or uncomfortable, you just have to get used to a new keyboard. Its just like any new computer or keyboard.

I need to go back and see if the people complaining have actually used a precision with the numberpad. It is one thing to use it and not like it, its another thing to look at a picture of it and say you won't like it.

 

You are correct that the touchpad is centered ..with respect to the non_numpad keyboard.

However as you say that means to use it that way, one is no longer positioned dead center of the screen.

I guess if I had any use of the numpad, I may have tried to adjust more. but for my uses it felt just awkward.

 

Do you shift external keyboards over to the right so that the middle of your spacebar lines up with the middle of your your monitor? I really am curious.

 

Yes. That is correct.