New M6500 Discussion Thread

can someone please reply?

 

Here is a how-to for removing the secondary HDD:
Documentation
Installing it works in reverse order. You'll see that you need some additional parts. Check if they are already present (early M6500 may have them on board). If they aren't you'll need to order a complete HDD from Dell for a stratospheric price.

 

I had the same problem and had to do a reinstall.....wish I could tell you another way....if it's bluescreening when you change to AHCI, then I guess a reinstall is necessary. I did once change it in the BIOS and it rebooted, and installed drivers fine. But when I put in my SSD, no such luck.

 

Will the M6500 with i7-940XM accept 1066MHz RAM or just 1333MHz & 1600MHz?

I was under the impression a mixture of 1333 & 1066 would work, operating at the 1066 speed.

 

There may be some bodge-job out there that will fix it for you, but I'd recommend a reinstall. I gave up after a while, since I only got it half-working and I prefer a stable sytem. It would be annoying for you to have to reinstall again LATER, when you can get it sorted and running as you want it now.

Screen dullness -- have you tried just using the FN+arrowUp/Down key to change brightness? YOu should be able to see the screen noticeably change up and down in brightness. When you say dullness, do you mean in colour, brightness, or actual light emitted from the screen? Try installing the ATI or nVidia drivers (depending on your card) and then tune settings in there. Should work nicely on Win7 from fresh install though, did for me.

As for checking your computer, I'd suggest doing the FULL test with Dell Diagnostics, which can be downloaded on the Dell website (Welcome to Dell Support) and then you could run Passmark software, too. The Dell Diagnostics can take everything except confirming 32/64 bit compatibility, as it runs tests in 32-bit mode. However, most things should get checked properly without 64-bit.

Oh dear, I am late for work! **runs**

 

I've gone full circle, exploring the HP 8740W and Lenovo W701 (and the Dell M4500) as a possibile alternative, but the M6500 has drawn me back time and time again because of it's great specs coupled with a chic look. It seems somewhere between the 8740W (I didn't like the look of the HP's keyboard) and the W701 (sounded tough as nails, but looked awful).

I am buying on the virge of my spending limit, so unfortunately am having to settle for 4gig less RAM than I'd otherwise like (I assume RAM is the easiest thing to update later on) and no carrycase... These are the specs looking at (I mostly use CS4, SketchUP, Revit architecture and AutoCAD).

Dell Precision Mobile Workstation M6500 ESSENTIAL (W08M6502)
Silver Base, Clarksfield, USB3,
English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64Bit OS) Recovery DVD included
Catalog Number: 202 W08M6502
Base Silver Base, Clarksfield, USB3
Microsoft Operating System English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64Bit OS) Recovery DVD included
Memory 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (2x2GB)
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Backlit Keyboard
Video Card 1GB nVIDIA FX2800M (with 1GB dedicated memory)
Hard Drive 320GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) (Free fall sensor)
Optical Devices 8X DVD+/-RW Drive Tray Load with Optical Software Included
Wireless Networking EMEA Dell Wireless 1510 (802.11a/b/g/n 2X3) Mini Card
Shipping Documents English Shipping Docs
Gedis Bundle Reference W08M6502
Standard Warranty 3Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day
Enhanced Service Packs 5Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day
PalmRest No Contactless Smart Card
Bluetooth EMEA Dell® Wireless 365 2.1 Bluetooth™
Documents for Graphic cards English Set-Up and Features Doc for Graphic Cards
Primary Battery Primary 9-cell 90W/HR Battery for Silver LCD Panel
Carrying Cases No Carry Case
Processor One Intel® Core™ i7-820QM(1.73GHz, 8MB,Quad Core) Memory runs at 1333MHz
Windows Live Windows Live
Dell System Media Kit Mobile Precision M6500 Diagnostics and Drivers
Camera Integrated 3.2 Mega Pixel Camera with Microphone for Silver Base
Color Choice Silver with RGB LED LCD Back Cover
Image Restore Dell Backup and Recovery Manager for Windows® 7
LCD 17in Widescreen WUXGA (1920x1200) Antiglare Silver with RGB Led LCD Panel
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 ( Excel Starter 2010, Word Starter 2010)
CompleteCare CompleteCare not selected
Raid Connectivity Raid Controller : All SATA Hard Drives, Non-RAID for 1 Hard Drive
Protect your new PC English Trend Micro™ Internet Security(15 month subscription) Antivirus Software
Power Supply UK/Irish 210W AC Adapter with UK/Irish Power Cord
Biometric Identification - Fingerprint Reader No Fingerprint Reader

It comes to £3,046.78 inc VAT and before any discount - I'm hoping to get at least 10% off... is this a good price? Should I be pushing for that extra 4 gigs and carry case???

 

Also, I know it's a long shot, but do you know anywhere that has compiled statistics looking at the reliability of these three workstations? In particular how is the M6500 faring after being on the market for a while?

 

That would be nice to see.

You may want to go for the CompleteCare option..

 

I have one of the earliest ordered / received M6500's. No problems after 8 months. Just works.

I know that some other people had issues, but most of these seem to start out of the box.

 

Hi,

I opened the cover of the laptop and I really do not see any place to fit the
second hard drive and I have only single hard drive installed. anyone knows where to install the hard drive?