New M6500 Discussion Thread

The slim power supply is still large but about half the thickness of the normal one. If you travel with this machine the slim unit is a must.

The Intel 5300 is the best wireless card option, better than the 5100 in range from what I have seen and if you use the software drivers for the card the intel client is WAY better than Dells drivers for it's own.

Bluetooth is up to you, if you have devices that would use it then get it.

The slot load DVD is nice but the loading mechanism is loud. File it under nice to have but not needed.

The Dell wireless dock is flaky at best, I sent it back for the LatitudeZ. Needs more work to be usable.

The SSD does make a huge difference in application loading times.
I bought my own SSD and did not use Dell and opted for the Vertex which is one of the fastest on the market.

Honestly, boot up and shut down speed in windows7 was for the most part the same. But opening apps and closing them saw a huge gain.
Also rendering projects in Premiere and and scratch disk usage was much faster.

I noticed faster rendering and processing time with filters in Premiere and Photoshop with the Nvidia card so I think you will be happy if you use those products.

 

Hi all there.

I am a mechanical engineer dealing with simulations and drawings all the time. I have been reading about the M6500 since it was released and I am really eager to get it. However, I do have some questions before I go on and buy it.

1) Does it have a GPS receiver already installed? I read about it on some dell's online shops, but it's not quite clear.

2) Does it have a smart card reader as a slot or the only option to get one is by ordering the contactless S.C. reader on the palmrest?

3) Has anyone used the dell's original SSDs? I think they are Samsung but it would be nice to know their performance after all.

4) Could we later modify the RAID setup (e.g. from NON RAID to RAID 0 or 1 using an eSATA external HDD) on our own?

5) I've read on the web that they will be coming with a 3 Megapixel camera. Any guess when will it be available?

 

Do you need a screen protector?

 

I get that key scrub on my MBP17 too. The one thing I like about the glass though is that I'm such a klutz that I inevitably scratch a matte screen... I've done that on a few of my other laptops. The reflection is also a nuisance with the glass but I learn to reposition the notebook or tilt the screen to combat the reflection. It's a hassle sometimes but something I can live with. I'm leaning towards the edge-to-edge myself.

Thanks for those photos by the way.

Ben

 

As far as I can tell (based on information from folks that have purchased the m6400 within the last six months), they are no longer shipping the large "brick" with new m6400 and m6500 machines, and have replaced it with a "slim" 210w unit, but I haven't seen one in person. Can anyone that has received an m6500 with the "standard" 210w unit post a picture that shows it's height in relation to the computer? (or just describe it. Is it slimmer than the computer?)

Can you quantify the "faster rendering" as compared to the ATI? Did you do side-by-side comparisons on similar systems? I can understand the difference in Premier based on the optimized drivers, but would be surprised to see much difference in Photoshop.

 

Here are some pics of my m6500 adapter in relation to a business card:

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6475/photo1mok.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/6548/photo2cs.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7974/photo3ux.jpg


Is this the slimmest it gets?

 

So, anyone that have their units have any recommendations on software to remove and/or settings to tune?

 

Thank you very much gradx (again!). This is definitely not what I expected. The version of the 210w power supply I had seen in posts by more recent m6400 buyers looked like this: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=330-4128 and appeared to be about 1 inch thick. (It was about as thick as the keyboad portion of the m6400 when the screen was open.) Hmmm. Even though my system was in the "boxing" stage today, I will try to call Dell and upgrade the AC adapter before the system ships. As an option, I saw several of the 330-4128 adapters for sale on ebay for $99.00, so maybe I will spend the $99.00 (instead of the $72 Dell was asking for the upgraded adapter) and keep the "brick" as a spare.

Thanks again for the info. To answer your question, no, I don't think this is "as thin as it gets" and as several smart folks recommended, the 210w/240w adapter was probably a smart option to choose.

Keith

 

A great idea, I will get that Monoprice screen clean solution as I also have a few matte finished desktop monitors that are hard to keep clean, thank you for this info. I hate glossy screens, really a pain with any glare, I guess they do it to cut cost and make it appear better than it really is.

 

gradx - That looks like the standard sized brick adapter in your pictures.

When the sales people changed my order to the Covet, they left off the extra brick. After talking to the sales guys, they sent me the slim adapter. I got it a few weeks ago along with the docking station (which came with the same brick you have pictured). Nice having these accessories, but still no computer to use them with.

The slim power adapter is the same length and width as the standard brick you have in your picture, but its only half as thick. Also the top bottom and sides of the slim adapter is smooth and don't have the plastic grill look.