M6600 Owners Thread

Yeah, I have an M6600 and I absolutely love it. I am thinking about doing quite a few upgrades though, and I am jut wondering if buying a new one and using the 50% off coupon will be an easier and more cost efficient route than buying all of the parts and doing the upgrades myself.

Decisions, decisions

 

Well there is some reasonable logic to having a second one. I am in a rural area and if my computer goes down I do not get "second day" service by any stretch of the definition. So I do have a backup computer, but not an M6600.

Also, you will have a ready supply of parts if you should need them in the future.

Just a couple of thoughts.

 

I have never had a problem with the Dell 2nd service, so I think I would be good there. I'm not sure what I will do. I may just configure a new one exactly how I want to and then just sell my current one, or possibly keep it as a backup. I'm still debating, LOL.

 

That's true. If you take the basic configuration at $999 and apply the 50% coupon the price actually increases.

It's upgrading the configuration from that base model that you see the savings when you apply the 50% coupon. In other words, it appears to me, the upgrade options are 50% off.

 

M6700: USB 3.0 is built into the Chipset and Processor not an add-on board. Can boot an external operatiing system, or restore without manually loading drivers.

 

It does appear that the M6700 is a "refinement" of the M6600. One poster in the M6700 group said that the M6600 was like a beta release and the M6700 worked out the bugs.

I think it was the first post in the M6700 group that did a pictorial comparison between the M6700 and the M6600.

Also mentioned in that group was the fans have more blades and are quieter. Also easier to replace the fans. Additionally the 3rd generation Intel processors are smaller and run cooler.

Anyway those are somethings I noted when reading through the posts in that group.

 

Case improvements from Dell. Internal components are what is available at the time of release that Dell has no control over. Most people keeping track knew that the mfgs. of processors, chipsets, graphics, Mb's, and other implementations were coming. Each successive machine is an improvement over for most applications. If anything is lost on the M6600 probably would be main component upgradeability.
At any rate I needed a new machine at the time and it was the best. And I still love it. No regrets.

 

With the M6600 and the E series Latitudes, the two docks below are the popular choices. For whatever reason, Dell calls the lower end of the two the "PRO3X", yet the "PRO2X E-PORT PLUS" is the better option and offers the additional ports to address just about any task. Both displays can be DVI, DP, or HDMI (w/ adapter). There is also (1) e-SATA port, (5) USB 2.0, Audio/Mic, etc etc.

** You also still have access to all your existing side ports on the laptop so you do have even more USB ports plus the (2) USB 3.0.

Dock or not dock, I only use the 210/240w power supply. The PLUS port should come with one as well so in the end you will be set up for true desktop and mobile operation.

The newer M6700 series dock taps into the USB 3.0 bus embedded in the 3rd gen. processor/chipset so that is the main reason why the M6600 series will not pass its NON-embedded USB 3.0 circuit to the dock. Regardless, like I said, you still have USB 3.0 functionality a few inches away on the side of the M6600 system.

Scott-

 

Whoever stated the M6600 was a beta system is not being factual. The M6600 was on the market well over a year before the next generation was released (which follows the industry 12-18 month model life cycle) and the design is solid. I have one of the new M6700 Covet RED units as well with the highest options available that I will be writing a review on later this or next month. It is a sexy beast that smokes everything, but when you compare the two systems based on the technology available at the time of their respective releases, the M6600 was and still is a great solution and an even greater value these days; especially when you consider the price of the M6700 Covet I have is over US$7500.

Scott-

 

No videos, but I do put most of my reference/test/review system pics on my server. You can see many of the M6600 pics here: Index of /images/M6600

Also, the memory situation is part of the HM/QM67 chipset used in these systems. You can do up to 32GB of 1333MHz or 16GB of 1600MHz memory. It is simply the nature of the beast. You can always INSTALL 32GB of whatever 204-pin DIMM you like, but it will always be clocked down to the 1333MHz. In that regards, the performance boost comes from the potential lower latency numbers achieved by underclocking the faster memory.

Scott-