M6600 Owners Thread

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know I could do that. And yeah, it was ordered with CD-ROM, so no mistake from Dell. No biggie really, I guess I'll get a small USB for the recovery. Strange though, I didnt think it was even possible to get one these days.

Ordered in UK, through a university. So they might have all kinds of strange non-standard ways of doing things.

 

I'm kinda worried Canada maybe also be affected by the "non-standard ways of doing things" bug. It's beyond ridiculous to even think about using a DVD-ROM in 2011, even worse when talking about the flagship mobile workstation! C'mon!

 

It certainly sounds that way, I know, but there are many businesses that have a legit reason to NOT install a DVD-RW. For example, I work for a defense subcontractor that will not allow having a DVD-RW in their machines. They also prevent the usage of USB thumb drives via some software or registry arrangement. If an employee really really needs to use a thumb drive, they have to fill out some paperwork and then they will be issued an encrypted USB thumb drive with a rather small capacity. The reason is to prevent or minimize the risk of classified/ITAR data from leaving the building. Remember how Wikileaks got their info?

In the meantime, I am semi-patiently waiting for my M4600 that WILL have a DVD-RW! (It is for my personal business, not for my boring day job stuff.) Can't wait

I think this is my first post here, been reading for a while though, so hello all!

-= Brian =-

 

I'm going through the online ordering process now. It requires a business name but mine is not a business order. What do you guys enter for non business purchases?

 

I see your point but the majority of buyers would still require RW, IMHO. Plus, on the Canadian website they only state "DVD Drive" nothing else. This is at the very least misleading and confusing the customers. Most people wouldn't even dare to assume that there's no write.

Just put Home

 

I interested in buying either the 17" M6600 or the 15" M4600. I have some questions: Granted that it's no longer possible to buy a latest generation laptop with WUXGA panel resolution; I'm now interested in buying a laptop that can support several high resolution external monitors which seems to be one of the killer features of the Dell Precision M series. Specifically I'm interested in attaching 2 or 3 really high resolution external monitors such as the Dell U2711 @ 2560 x 1440. Now the questions: Questions:

How many of these external monitors will the lowest end graphics cards supported in each M series laptop support?

What is the advantage of moving to the higher end graphics cards? Is it purely 3D performance or are there other reasons?

Must I have a docking station to plug in 2 or 3 of these 2560 x 1440 resolution external monitors or will they just plug into the laptop directly?

Should I be thinking of NVidia for this setup?

Has anybody actually got such a setup working and what are the experiences?

 

More questions:

How many Apple Cinema Displays can be attached to the M series laptops?

Is the Apple Cinema Displays really so much better than the U2711?

Are the multiple high resolution displays attached by daisy chaining via Display Port or how?

 

Oh I completely agree, no doubt about it. I just figured I'd mention a reason why Dell would even bother selling DVD-ROMs, because from the average buyer's point of view it doesn't even make sense to offer it.

That's odd about the Canadian site only saying "DVD Drive." Sounds very read-onlyish, I'd be afraid to buy it without a phone call!

 

AFAIK they use the same panels. The Apple has fewer ports and comes with a price premium. I have one at work, and the glossy screen is a b**** when I'm trying to comp shots.

 

you can have 3 panels when undocked, the internal, and two externals via displayport and hdmi

you can have 5 when docked.