New M6500 Discussion Thread

You mean the "Enable Dell Extended Battery Life Mode" (as attached image)? Advice to anyone else, if you go for that, keep the Power Scheme as "Dell" and enable the extended battery life mode under "Manage Power Settings" in the ControlPoint Power Manager. If you make the mistake I made at first and select "Power Saver" as the scheme, it kills Aero even with AC power attached (Windows 7 cryptically reports that the "Desktop Window Manager is disabled", but only once you look for the problem). I see nothing but criticism of the Dell ControlPoint software, but once you make sense of the rather obscure menu structure, it seems fine to me as a quick route to what you want. The extended battery life mode seems to work, though I haven't quantified the benefit yet; I think extra batteries will be the best solution. What's the best after market option for additional batteries, or are the Dell ones good value?

 

I'd like to apologize in advance for a kinda dumb question but how do I know if the TRIM function is actually operative? I'm running the A 03 BIOS (that's since been pulled) and have the Intel Rapid storage driver but how do I check it??

 

I just ordered this bad boy from the Outlet:

Precision Mobile Workstation M6500 Laptop
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 32-Bit Operating System DVD
Internal Swipe Fingerprint Reader
1.0 GB ATI FirePro M7740
Certified Refurbished
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Bluetooth Wireless Card 365
160 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM)
160 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200RPM) 2nd Drive
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
210W/240W switchable Slim 3P A/C Adapter
Integrated 2.0 MP webcam with dual digital array microphone
17 inch UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB LED Display
Dell Wireless 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
Intel Core i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
Back-lit Keyboard
Three Year ProSupport
Total - $2397

I already have 4GB more to put in (8GB total) and two Vertex LE SSD's in RAID 0. Also, I've got an Intel 6300 Wifi that I plan on putting in too. The only thing I'm not sure of is the USB 3.0. How can I tell if it has it installed, and if it isn't, is it available for purchase as a part/add-on yet?

Thanks!

 

The left hand side ports will be blue. Least they are for the moment. Mine came with it (delivered last week, ordered in mid April) so I assume all new machines will have those ports.

If you're getting an outlet machine, I'd guess there's no way to tell if they'll be there until the machine's delivered.

 

> Would you tell me if you have optical drive with your M6500 when you can't boot with BIOS A03 and IRST A04?

Yes I have. HLDS HLDS GS20N 9.5mm Slotload SATA DVDRW; driver Ver. A05

 

It's MORE than enough for gaming....sry....lesser spec'd machines will run your games AOK too (if that matters, that is)...

 

Does anybody see a problem with this installation order?

Install
System Software
Video
WiFi
NIC
Touchpad
Bluetooth
Card Reader/FireWire
USB 3.0 (if I have it)
ControlPoint System
ControlPoint Security

 

Chipset after system. Rest is aok.

 

Normally I would, but I don't see any chipset software for the M6500. If I am, can you point me where to download it? I checked Dell and Intel. *shrug*

 

hmm...I just let intel.com scan my computer, then install the updates it recommends...there is a chipset 'listing' at dell, but all I see is a turboboost driver from intel...did something change? maybe my mind....lol