New M6500 Discussion Thread

now i've an m4500... but i have problem and i think i prefer a better monitor ( bigger ) ...

is reasonable for you to change it with an m6500 or , because now there's the m6600 , is more more better the last one ?

 

The M6600 has a 16:9 screen which would be a no-go for me while the M6500 still has a 16:10 screen which is ok. So I'd always prefer an M6500 over an M6600.

 

Also the build quality of the M6600 I heard was more plasticky and lackluster than the M6500. The M6600 has stuff like keyboard and chassis flexing on top of a lack of an ambient light sensor for the LCD and RGBLED panels. That means you are stuck for now WLED options or keep waiting for the delayed and possibly very expensive IPS option.

The only good thing about the M6600 is Sandy Bridge and the very powerful FirePro and Quadros GPU's. Otherwise, there is not better about it when compared to the M6500 in many aspects, the biggest is due to the 16:9 conversion from the far more popular 16:10.

 

I see the main disadvantage of the M6500 over the M6600 in the proprietary graphics port. If the graphics card in an M6500 breaks after your support is over the whole laptop is waste.
Like I reported earlier in this thread my first graphics card broke, and the first replacement card was faulty too.
This made me consider buying a spare graphics card just in case I'll need another one. But the technician who installed my 2nd replacement card told me that replacement cards are all refurbished. From another technician I know that a 2800FX would cost about 500 Euros, which is simply too much for a card of which I don't know if it works when the chips are down.

 

anywone use this pack with the m6500 ?

Laptop Backpacks by booq

 

Windows 7 Aero transparency issue:

Howdy, I've had a M6500 with Windows 7 since last September with Nvidia Quadro FX 3800M graphics. In the last month or so the "Aero Transparency" hasn't worked the same. If transparency is selected, the the tops of the overlapping windows are too transparent along the top and I cannot actually tell which which top bar is active. If I turn off transparency, then I get visual artifacts if I drag windows around. I've unloaded the video drivers and reinstalled from drivers I downloaded from Dell and nothing changed. What should I try?

 

After StarForge was kind enough to inform me that the Enterprise series drive I was considering for my new m6500's 2nd bay would not fit, I decided to play it safe and choose a drive from Newegg.com's list of recommended-for-notebooks hard drives. I chose a Western Digital WD10TPVT.

So much for playing it safe and so much for Newegg's recommendations. The drive is too thick to fit this or most any other laptop, and Newegg's own reviews are full of complaints from other customers who got burned by Newegg's recommendation. It doesn't seem to fit most laptops.

So does anyone know:

1) Is there a drive offering 1TB capacity that will fit in the m6500's second drive bay? If so, can you advise a model number and/or site to order from?

2) If there is no known 1TB drive that fits, what is the largest drive that does fit? And if possible, please provide model number and where to order.

This is for bulk storage and backup use, so I don't mind if it isn't an especially fast drive. However, I am happy to pay more for (data loss) reliability, and would prefer an "Enterprise Grade" drive if one exists that fits.

Thanks in advance,
xPat

 

Which slim power adapter is better - manufactured by flextronic or delta?
Are they both 240W?

 

xPat,

I believe you need a SATA drive that is 9.5mm thick. That could be 750GB Western Digital 7200rpm #WD7500BPKT and 5400rpm #WD7500BPVT. In 1TB there apparently is a Samsung HN-M101MBB, but I don't see it in stock online. I personally am using a 500GB WD5000BPKT until a 1TB model is available. I prefer Amazon over Newegg for friendlier return policy.

Hope that helps.

 

I have a Flextronic one and I can confirm it is 240W.