Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

Intro:
This is the story of the most excruciating serious of technological mini-crises. They all involve the Dell Precision M4400 in some way. I'm venting here for the benefit of everyone else's schadenfreude, and to prevent me from taking it out on anyone else.

I already took it out on the poor service repair guy who came to fix the problems I had and who managed to break other parts. I need to control my temper.

Why I bought this laptop:
I would have bought a MacBook Pro, but I like the dual-battery factor, docking station, the built-in 3G modem, fingerprint reader, and RGBLED screen at 1200p resolution.

I started out with an EliteBook 8530w that I bought for the better fingerprint reader and Synaptics trackpad. Sadly, I couldn't install a MacOS-compatible 3G modem nor WIFI card due to a BIOS lock, so I sent it back and paid only a $75 restocking fee since I cleaned it up very nicely before sending it back.

Arrival:
The Dell arrived 6 weeks late due to the limited availability of the RGBLED screen. The screen was worth the wait, especially since our professors don't give us course packets any more and we just have to do our readings as PDFs.

As soon as I got it, I installed 4 GB of memory, (it came with 1) upgraded the CPU to a P9800, (it came with a P8600; the former was not an available configuration) and started loving the machine. Then I decided to install Win7 on a Western Digital, speedy 320 GB HD. I had configured it with the cheapest one to save money.

Windows 7:
As I'm sure you all know, Windows 7 is speedy, and overall quite wonderful. I installed all the latest drivers, many of which were still in beta since Windows 7 hadn't been officially released, but I had a full copy through my university. The fingerprint reader barely worked. It still won't work for website login.

3G Modem:
I had been using the Sierra MC8781 card, and it was working pretty well, but I needed it for another laptop, so I picked up the Dell Wireless 5530 on eBay for 1/5 the Dell price. The ConrolPoint software was never able to see the card, so basically it was only as good as the Sierra card. 3 hours spent on the phone with Dell tech support to no avail.

Dead Screen:
After 4 months, the built-in screen would only intermittently turn on. The BIOS wouldn't recognize it half the time. The BIOS diagnostic set said there was an EDID error in the LCD. The 32-bit diagnostics didn't find the issue, and the BIOS check didn't find it the next time. Swapping hard drives to a non-WD brand seemed to work for a while, but then that failed. 2 hours spent on the phone with Dell tech support; they taught me how to set up the fingerprint reader in the proper order in order to prevent the system from failing to log in. I became relatively impressed with the quality of Dell Workstation support, at least in comparison to consumer support.

A day after I had convinced Dell tech support that the hard drive brand was the cause, the thing started happening again. Two days later I had a technician in my room with a brand new LCD and motherboard.

It took him two hours to replace the motherboard. He lost a screw. Luckily I had an extra screwset from a cannibalized Latitude D600. I noticed big gaps on the left side: the ExpressCard filler would not go in. He had used the wrong screw from the screwset. I found him the right one. Then he left a bulge by the arrow keys. I pointed it out, he opened the machine back up, and pulled the speaker cable away from an internal support that had been pinching it. He again asked, "does it look good to you?" He was obviously exhausted by the ordeal, so I said yes. It turned out that the fault lay in the LCD itself, so he had to replace that too.

That solved my screen problem, but he had some trouble getting the LCD bezel back on, and now the top corners don't snap in. (the service manual says it's harder to get back on on the LED models; it also says there are two separate heatsinks, which is false) He was ultimately unable to snap in the two top corners. He decided he should order me a new bezel and a new LCD cable just to be safe. There is also still a slight bulge by the arrow keys.

Repairs Stage 2:
They came today, but I noticed there was no webcam window in the bezel, and instead of sending a display cable, they sent a whole LCD-backing assembly. Then I realized there was an inverter in it (designed for a CCFL backlight) so both parts were wrong. I then spent two hours on the phone with Dell in order to exchange them for the proper parts designed for my model. The guy had to put the order through three times before his "dispatcher" accepted it. The dispatcher almost sent me the wrong parts again, thinking he knew better than I did. (I was referring to the parts numbers under "original configuration" on the Dell Support website)

They are sending the parts again by next-day FedEx, but they are insisting on sending the parts to another technician rather than letting me install them myself. (I have completely disassembled far more complex TabletPCs before, so this is not an issue for me) I then noticed that two USB ports and the card reader were no longer functioning, despite the new screen, new BIOS, new OS, new Drivers, and new motherboard. I called the old technician and gave him a piece of my mind. I felt bad afterward; it was 7:30 PM by that point and he was probably eating dinner. Then he texted me telling me he was human, and I was out of line, etc. I apologized and told him in a few text messages how much time I had already wasted and asked God to bless him, since it is Ash Wednesday and I didn't make it to church. (I also missed cafeteria dinner because I was dealing with this...)

Let's hope stage 2 goes well. I will do a full teardown after the next tech finishes his job. I have far too much work right now to be dealing with this right now. At least my 3G modem and fingerprint reader are functional now thanks to a meticulous driver install order: (update BIOS->install chipset drivers->turn on TPM->reboot->clear TPM->reboot->enable TPM->reboot->install Security Drivers->update TPM firmware-> reinstall Security Drivers->install Security ControlPoint module->run security wizard->install 5530 drivers->install DCP Connection Manager)

Conclusion:
I am obviously very discerning about my laptops. Probably too discerning. I use mine all the time, and therefore it is very important to me. However, next time I will be buying a MacBook Pro, forgoing the use of built-in 3G, a dock, RGB-LED, hi-res at 15", a functional Windows trackpad, etc. By the way, running MacOS, Windows, and Linux has been the easiest part of this whole process. I do feel bad for the poor repair guy I harassed after he screwed up. I'll have to do better next time. But so should Dell. Big time.

I guess the real lesson from this is the importance of not getting too emotional about all this stuff. That is hard to do, though, when your livelihood as a student depends on it.

 

Also, please note that my experience is not typical. I forgot to mention that the ALPS trackpad is sometimes unresponsive with the Dell drivers. The Toshiba drivers performed better, but sometimes the trackpad would conk out upon return from standby.

I wish my own experience on no one.

 

I would like to buy in the following configuration:
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P9700 (6M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) 25Watt against 44 Watt with X9100;
Nvidia Quadro FX770 - 35Watt against 50 Watt with FX1700;
1-GB RAM (wanna make more cheap an aftermarket upgrade);
Dual Lamp CCFL WUXGA+
9-Cell Battery

I am going to buy it in Bangkok. Please give me some advices about prefered configuration and place where I could get it in the Bangkok.

 

I'd go with the FX 770M.....the 1700 isn't that much faster but it does get hotter and uses more power. And personally i'd go with the P9700. Nice config!

 

Epilogue:

A wise man once said, "if you want something done right, do it yourself."

I disassembled my laptop Saturday afternoon, and also Saturday night after going out drinking. I noticed that not only had the repair guy misplaced a screw, he had also forgotten to properly route the fingerprint reader cable, (he flipped it so that it was bent and at an odd angle) and the speaker cable was jammed between two sharp metal pieces. Oh, and he forgot to reconnect the smart card reader, which I don't use anyway. Thankfully it hadn't been sliced, just the insulation had been worn away a bit.

Also, the SD card reader cable was out of whack, but I must have managed to inadvertently disconnect this again when reassembling. I think it needs some electrical tape to hold it in place.

Drama:

I haven't been in touch with the tech I made cry last week. I got the proper parts requested on Wednesday night, but too late for them to arrive by Thursday. Consequently they arrived by Friday, but no one called me. I called them, and found out that the guy was in another part of the state and couldn't get to me until today, Monday. I told him that wouldn't work, and that I would replace the parts myself.

He said he'd try to get to the FedEx location by Friday evening before closing time; otherwise he'd do it Saturday morning. Generous, nice guy. I have no idea how well he repairs a computer! And this is why: he did a drive by on a main artery in New Haven. I waited in front of my dormitory after he called me from about a mile away. A few minutes later, in the middle lane, he stopped a line of traffic 6 cars long, motioned to me, and had me run over to his door. He retrieved the box I needed from the passenger seat. I told him I had the wrong parts in my room for him to return to Dell. He told me not to worry about it.

Again, nice guy. Again, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Again, it's fascinating to me that parts+shipping is always cheaper for Dell than labor. Again, technology is a royal pain.

I'll fix the card reader at some point with some electrical tape. I also used some screws from a Latitude D600...I still have trouble telling the difference between 6mm and 5mm screws. I might get a new screwset to ensure that they are all correct.

PS - I also stripped a screw holding the LCD to the lid since the tech screwed all his screws in way too tight. Flat-head pliers did the trick, thank God. The new lid is in perfect condition, and the LCD seems to be perfect as well. Seriously, now it's just the card reader and screwset.

 

@nightalon

somehow your lenghty descriptions of what happened make things seem worse than they really are. Tech guys mess up sometimes, just stay at the desk while they're working on your laptop. I don't really see what you're getting at with the whole story or if there even is a point to it. As far as i can tell the probs are getting solved, right?

Oh and btw....the M4400 does have two heatsinks, like the service manual says it does.

 

The Dell Broadcom USH Swipe fingerprint sensor was never designed to work for anything except Bios login (if TPM activated) and Windows login (TPM does not have to be activated). It will never function to login to websites unless they patch the way it is connected through an internal USB device. Don't you just love installing 5 different pieces of software to be able to login to Windows. I'll stick with typing password!

 

Wow, what a story, I hope you get things resolved soon enough. But this thing is an amazing machine been thinking about downgrading the precison m6400 i have to get something like this just going for smaller screen and i already have an alienware anyway, so just for the sake of portability, a decent graphics card, battery life 12 cell slice, that great high res rgb led screen and a x9100 hey why not lol, how much battery life can i get with all that config? With a 9 cell also.

 

Well looks like that fell through. If anyway wants to trade for a precision m6400 for a m4400 then pm me. I know this is kinda against the rules but I am kinda busy with school.

 

I have a problem with the charger connector. The two plastic pieces that isolate the bare power cable fell appart.