M6600 Owners Thread

Have I already mentioned that I like my M6600 very much since I got an AU Optronics display?
If not:
I like my M6600 very much in every concern

 

Folks, new to the forums and need your expertise to customize a m6600, little confused on picking best options for memory, optical and hard drive that will allow me to upgrade them later myself. The system I am looking at is i7-2720QM with Quadro 3000M and FHD (1920x1080) Wide View LED Multi-Touch w/Stylus screen.

Is 3000M optimus capable?

Memory – I am looking at 8.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS. Hoping to upgrade later, will having 2 DIMMS affects performance in any way since slot 3 & 4 are empty for quad core processor?

Optical Drive – Any economical aftermarket drives that I can replace to play Bluray movies? Dell is charging $370 upgrade.

Hard drives – I have no need for RAD option but will need multiple drives, 1 SSD for OS/programs and other regular drive for file storage. Dell site only allows picking 128GB Solid State Minicard drive for having factory installed second hardrive, the options for second drive are expensive as well limited in capacity. The manual online shows that you can have two internal hard drives, I am lost where the minicard drive resides. Assuming I go with one hard drive only – How many drives can I install later? Can the minicard drive also installable later?

Thx - SVM

 

I am also on my second M6600.

The first one had an AU screen, however, there were issues with the flickering. This disappeared on replacement, however, i was given a poorer quality CMO screen.

Ultimately, that laptop got returned after two service calls.

The recently shipped model also had a CMO screen.

Scott, if you see this post, could you possibly PM me the 20% off coupon? I'm a bit disappointed that i'm getting an inferior display for the amount i am paying for this laptop

 

Yes, you have Optimus with the 3000M

Two 4GB sticks totaling 8GB is plenty of memory and will do fine with the quad core processor. There is no functional loss in performance having two DIMM sockets empty.

Since the optical drive media bay is only 9.5mm tall, you are pretty restricted in what aftermarket drives you can use. At this time, I suggest keeping the stock DVD drive in the system and if you want a good blu-ray drive, get the Panasonic UJ-240A (US$125) or the even nicer Sony BD-5730S (US$160). Both are up to 6X blu-ray R/W drives and can be placed in an external USB or eSATA enclosure for hundrds less than the Dell 2x internal drive option. Plus you're not restricted using the drive on one system.

Common third party components like HDD's, SSD's, optical drives, and memory can all be obtained for much less than getting them through Dell when building your system. I tend to get the lowest allowable memory and HDD and then upgrade the hardware once received. My M6600 loves the Crucial M4 series SSD in addition the Intel 510 series. Western Digital Black HDD's as the secondary data drive are my #1 traditional drive choice.

Scott-

 

Has anyone talked to Dell's tech support and specifically asked them why the CMO displays are being shipped in the M6600, since the Precision line is supposed to be their "Flagship" line of laptops?

I feel sorry for anyone buying any other Dell laptop if this is the quality Dell is trying to pass off as "premium".

I was seriously looking at the M6600 as being my go-to for replacing my old Gateway, but now I don't know. I have been looking at the Lenovo W520, even though I want a 17" laptop (wished Lenovo hadn't dropped the 17" version), I want something that is worth the $2500+ I am willing to spend, and so far Dell is not showing me much with the whole CMO screen debacle.

I know, a lot of people have gotten either AU or LG screens, and I am happy for you. So don't take this as me knocking your choices. I would LOVE to get a M6600, but I am still not willing to take a chance on getting a cheap garbage CMO screen.

I don't have time to fight with Dell over it, and for that kind of money, a person shouldn't have to.

Dell should be down on their knees thanking the stars there are still people with the money to spend in the first place. So trying to screw people over with sub-par components is not only bad business, it's bad karma that will come back to them in spades.

 

Hi!

Could you tell me what flickering problems you had? I had one strange black screen after the screen flickered in a game (sound went as well, but after pressing the power button for a few seconds to stop the machine, then turning it on it came back with all programs intact as in hybernation).

 

You have a PM.

Scott-

 

I had already said some time before:

But Dell or somebody from the Dell stuff does not react.

 

You might be getting a little dramatic here. Karma?

Like you, I have never seen the Chi Mei display that comes in the M6600. All I have are the specs to look at:
Chimei Innolux Corporation - 17.3\"FHD(N173HGE-L11/L21)

300 nits brightness. 500:1 contrast ratio (Another source says 600:1).

I also know that Eurocom is using them and getting 90% of NTSC color gamut, so my guess is that the panel is at least covering the 72% spec of the M6600.

Viewing angles are the same 70/70/60/60 for the AU and CMO.

Looking at the specs for the AU B173HW01, they appear to be very similar.

I can't help but wonder if the panels are not meeting Dell's spec. Did anyone get measurements of the Che Mei panels?

Not doubting what people are seeing - but that applies to people that have actually seen the panels. I really want to see measurements or at least pics of the panel.

 

I am also having the Display problem. I also received a replacement for my also poor 1600x900 which was a AUO. I had 2 that were the same. Both poor in quality. Now I also have a ChiMei.

Are these not supposed to be at least 8-Bit displays? They show up as 6-Bit in HWInfo.

I am asking for the AUO B173HW01 v.5 Dell PN# H8D3K v.5. It would be nice to get the Code for 20% spoken about earlier.