New M6500 Discussion Thread

Hi everyone,

I am considering buying an M6500 (after returning my W701).
The only thing that holds me back right now is the trouble that it seems people had calibrating the RGB screen.
I will use the computer for development (Visual Studio), SQL, some games and of course web browsing (I do not care or plan to do any photography work or the likes). Do I need to worry about calibrating my screen in this case or would it be good out of the box?
I do not feel like getting technical with color profiles like I saw some people mention in the thread. BTW I did read about 2/3 of it and have been trying to skim the rest for an answer so I apologize if the question has already been answered but this thread is a monster!

Thanks.

 

I had pretty much the same concern and the general idea that I got from posts here and from other sources was something like this: If you don't have the knowledge or the equipment to calibrate your screen you don't need and shouldn't get the RGB LED. Instead the WLED will more than suffice. It has the same contrast, brightness, response time etc. as the RGB LED but not the same color gamut (though that of the WLED is also better than those of CCFL screens) but you won't have use for that in applications that are not color managed (and most are not). As I have understood it the RGB LED might actually handle colors worse in non-color managed applications and the problems I saw raised here in this thread were for one thing a blue tint, oversaturated colors and also misaligned gamma.

Those problems are most likely fixable at least to some extent and they might be offset by the potential of the RGB LED for greater color accuracy for those users whose primary applications are photo editing and video editing. For the rest I would say there seems to be mainly drawbacks when going for the RGB LED over the WLED. You should know that there are other users on this forum who know far more about these matters than I do and who could give a more authoritative answer, however none of them seems to be very active in this thread at the moment. No offense to those who are lol. =D

 

In short: the RGBLED screen is gorgeous.

 

@ eric.kjellen: I hear what you say but everyone keeps talking about the RGB screen. Also considering that this is supposed to be top of the line I kind of want to get "best of the best" Not logical I know

@theZoid: LOL

 

I know exactly how you feel, but the more I read about it the RGB LED the more I felt like it would be mostly a hassle for my purposes (gaming, watching movies, some heavy physics and CAD work etc.) and that the WLED was the right choice. I'll probably never have the opportunity to compare it with an RGB LED screen but still I'm pretty sure I won't regret my decision.

If the added expense of the RGB LED really isn't anything to you (and in the context of a 3-4000+ dollar computer it's not a huge sum) I think you should go for what your gut tells you and don't look back, just like I did. =)

 

I have the USB 3 installed, but it doesn't work. And no disrespect meant to Havoctex, but your fellow Dell techs in the Netherlands are, to put it mildly, "not terribly well informed". Again, to put it mildly, as I've got other terms in my head that are not very complimentary.

After an email to the helpdesk, for which I never received a reply, two phonecalls, each with different people, from different hardware groups (Inspiron hardware first, then a wandering through every other group), even though I have the case number, both Dell techs promising to call me back the next day and not doing this until I called back myself, wanting me to go through the whole standard rote of reinstalling the damn drivers AGAIN even though I explained to them I already did that, including the newest .19 and .20 drivers from NEC's own download page, they still contend it is a software problem since they've NEVER heard of any problem with the USB 3.0 hardware.

The first tech I spoke to, after going through a three hour odyssey through Dell's Dutch helpdesk, didn't even know about USB 3 being offered. I even explicitly told him about this being a frequent problem with the M6500 and about this thread where it's discussed.

After not hearing from him for a few days, I called again, handed in the case number and again was sent on an odyssey through Dell's helpdesk jungle before finally getting someone else, who I had to retell EVERY.DAMN.THING even though he had the case file in front of him. Seems like coherently typing up a report isn't an ability they have either. I'm still waiting on HIS callback.

I even gave them the url of this thread, so they could look for themselves. Now, I don't have any USB 3.0 devices and use an usb hub, but this kind of 'service' and 'knowledge' really is not a good indication of Dell's competence. At least, not here in the Netherlands.

This is my second Dell. The first one was purchased about 8 years ago and that too was a disaster. I had hoped Dell had improved, but it seems it's still as 'great' as it used to be, at least where I am. Or is it that only those of us who have a huge organization behind them, get good service? Private citizens, who purchase hardware, whether it is something from the standard or business lines, just have to spend their days and weeks calling every day for updates and to light a fire under their posteriors?

I shudder to think of the hoops I'll have to go through if something else, more important to the operation, breaks and I'll have to deal with them again. For now, I'm leaving it as is. If they call back, fine, if not, so be it.

 

Hi peon01,

the WLED is the best screen I had so far. A bit bluish which makes it look a bit cold in the default setting. But as I need no color accuracy (dev with VS, SQL and Exchange and SharePoint as VMs, so I like RAM and storage) it is absolutely OK for me to use the built in Windows 7 color management to reduce a bit of blue and add a bit of red so that I don't freeze in front of the display

So I guess the WLED would be good enough for you as well. But I also guess you can have the same adjustment with the RGBLED, so that it looks good (enough) for you but maybe is not accurate (enough) for a graphics/photo person.

If you don't care about accuracy it just comes down to how much you want to pay for the feeling to have the best - you choose

 

I feel your pain.

Buying a high end machine for quite some money and then seeing things not work is frustrating. And then with our technical background we get in first contact with persons who almost always know less technical things about our (and theirs/Dells) machines. And the struggle in getting the right person who knows stuff better plays hard on our impatience. So I look up to how objective you described your case.

I would like to add that I had several laptops and desktop from Dell and did not encounter much problems and those I had where on well known areas like a broken display adapter which was exchanged due to our support contract the day after we reported the failure. Replaced by a knowledgable, fast and friendly technician.

Unlucky if it happens for "new" stuff like USB3 which works for some and not for others. Seems that the problem is not fully understood or not fully documented so that support people in direct contact with us customers do not know what to say and how to say.

@havoctex: you are our hope to talk to someone who knows or is close enough to the "technical heart" of Dell to find out the truth. Please take the chance to track down the problem. Even if you did not see a not working m6500 USB3 machine yourself - there are people having that problem and from the reading it does not look like the problem is sitting in front of the machine.

Please take care.

 

Thanks ..I have refused to accept that order and now placed a new order. I see this time the config for RGB LED screen.

1 XNYMN MODULE..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 17WUXGA, RED/GREEN/BLUE..., LGP, M6500

any idea - how is this screen?

 

Agreed. It is nice.

The person making the most fuss about the RGBLED screen had never even seen one and probably still hasn't. He owned a Lenovo W700 and ended up buying a W701. Lenovo fans bashing Dell is nothing new.

Those of us that actually use them every day see them differently.