M6600 Owners Thread

Has anyone compared a M6600 to a XPS 17 side by side? I'm mainly wondering about internal build quality. I assume a business class laptop should take more abuse.I did see some internal pics of a XPS 17, and was surprised to see some metal in the chassis

 

Still on the color profile issue:

Trying to install the profile from Bokeh I have noticed a strange thing: I can only apply any profile when my desktop is extended over the internal LCD and the external monitor I have connected via VGA (thus, they are both on Intel HD graphics port). Only then, there is a separate device "Laptop internal display" available in Color Management dialog window!

When I leave the external monitor physically connected, but use Dell utility to "Disconnect Projector" - the display devices available are:

- Display: 1|2 Generic PnP Monitor - Intel HD
- Display: 1|2 Syncmaster (my external monitor)
- Display: 3 Syncmaster (my external monitor)

- and I am unable to apply any changes to the internal screen profile!

After I extend the desktop, the available devices become:

- Display: 1 Generic PnP Monitor - Intel HD
- Display: 2 Syncmaster (my external monitor) - Intel HD

- and I can pick the internal display (1), and apply any color profile...

This looks like a bug to me; any opinions?

 

I have both XPS17 and M6600 sitting in front of me. The display at 120Hz, speakers, keyboard and touchpad are better on the XPS 17 and it boots much faster. It is also easier to add 4 Dimms on the XPS 17 if you get one with i7Quad, 555 3GB Video and 3D screen.

Build quality is better on the M6600, but I wish it had the keyboard or atleast the touchpad of the XPS 17. I find myself accidentally touching the touchpad on the M6600 when typing, never had the problem on the XPS 17. M6600 does not feel plastic like the XPS 17 and internally it has two fans one for cpu and one for graphics which seems to be more quite.

I paid about the same for each and will be keeping the M6600 since it has better specs in the following order of importance to me: 3yr onsite warranty vs 2 yr mail in, Optimus Graphics (much better battery life), faster i7 quad core, capable of 32GB Ram (8GB SODIMMS are getting cheaper $360 for 4), touchscreen (ready for windows 8)

A colleague of mine at work has the M6400 and when I saw how much nicer it was built. I kept looking for a great deal in the dell outlet for a M6500 or M6600. I got M6600 for about a 1/3 of retail when they had a 20-25% off coupon.

If I was paying full price for both I think I would get the XPS 17 with a 3yr warranty if it was less than half the price of M6600 with the same specs. But if you need any of the functionality of M6600 that the XPS 17 doesn't offer then cost doesn't really matter.

 

I asked a similar question on another thread an received this answer.

If you are like me, I loathe upgrading, and want to make it as seldom as possible. Getting something that will go a long time and can be upgraded to keep up for awhile is key. Getting a screen we are happy looking at, and something that doesn't give us trouble is huge. We want to buy it, set it up, and ignore it for 5 years. I can tell you this. The 1702x is not a 1702x. To get what you need to be upgradable you need to buy the 3D version from the Dell Home site to hopefully get the 4 slot motherboard. I just sent mine back because I ordered a "3D" from the Small Business site and didn't get it. The video and screen will not be in with the M6600 according to Scott. We spend a lot of time looking at that. The M6600 chassis cooling is superior. It's more expandable. Dell says the max the 1702x can do is 8 gigs. Guys are running 2 8 gigs sticks and getting 16. Theoretically, they should be able to do 32 with the i7-2760QM or better. Does this sound like fun to you, or does this sound like a lot of monkeying around, and not knowing what you actually have? I'm as tempted as you to go 1702x. I also need to keep in mind I own an IT company and my computer is my livelihood. If I'm going to be honest with myself, I will either buy right, or I will spend twice as much making it right, but I won't throw it away once I buy it, even if it would be cheaper to dig a hole an bury it, and start over.

 

Ivy Bridge leak

Intel news, early Ivy Bridge benchmarks on equally early drivers suggest modest gains on the performance front. In Cinebench, Ivy Bridge’s 3770K turns in a single-threaded score of 1.65, up from the 2600K’s 1.53. This translates into a 7.8% increase. The 3770K’s Turbo Mode is either 3.9 or 4.0GHz, which would translate into a gain of 2.6-5.2%. The multi-threaded gains are in line with these numbers.

The leak presents data for 3DMark 06 — a decidedly inaccurate measure of modern GPU performance — but data suggests that the HD 4000 solution is as much as 35% faster than Sandy Bridge’s HD 3000.

If these gains seem less-than fabulous, remember that Ivy Bridge is primarily aimed at reducing power consumption. Improving CPU performance by 5-6% while reducing TDP by 19% is a significant achievement, I posted this because it conviced me that I should go with current sandy bridge 2960xm

 

Off topic but interesting IB supposed release date april 12 I posted this as i think it shows IB will surely not be included in the 6600 and could correspond with supposed release date of 6700

according to CPU-World, Intel will actually hold the launch event for these processors in April of 2012.

The initial release will cover the third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 desktop products, and Core i7 mobile chips, while the next CPU wave will include the Core i3s and Core i5 mobile microprocessors.

This launch will also take place in the second quarter of 2012, while desktop Pentium processors will follow in Q3 2012.

 

So for those of you on the fence getting a refurb m6600, it's ok to get a crap CPU, just make sure everything else is good such as video card and screen res. I picked up a i7 2820 off eBay for 300 bucks and it works just fine. Dell would've wanted to charge like 500 for it. Plus you get to repaste the components although Dell stock paste is usually fine.

 

I have used Spyders for years and currently use a spyder3elite with my M6600. I do 3d Modelling, CAD, Photography and I am very pleased with the results.

 

Likewise regarding the spyder3elite.
I am new to the high quality colour gamut of my non-IPS screen but it kicks any previous CRT and LCD monitors I have had up to now into touch. One thing I have found a great improvement is the vivid improvement of greyscales and whites. It is also the closest match I have acheived against my dyesub printer.

 

Bump? I could really use some info here... I'm about to buy one of these caddys if I can use SATA 3 on it.

Thanks