Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

Well I just purchased a M4400 from the Outlet.

QX9300
2GB of RAM (4GB set of Corsair coming in the mail)
FX1700M
320GB 5400RPM Hard-Drive (160GB Intel SSD coming in the mail)
1920x1200 sRGB Tru-Life screen
Intel Ultimate-N 6300
Bluetooth
Backlit Keyboard
9-Cell Battery
Win7 Pro 64-bit

Quite excited to be rid of my slow-as-sin Vostro.

 

i dont know how you're getting that kind of battery life with your specs, i have lower specs (see sig) and unless i put it into max power saving with everything on low or off, i wont touch 5 hours. 3 hours is the average for me, 4 with things turned down acceptably

 

I have essentially the same specs as you except for the CPU/GPU. I also don't have a modem (sadly). However, I use the controlpoint Extended Battery Life profile, and I use the ambient light sensor to control brightness. I was getting 4:30-5:00 with a standard hard drive, and get about the same with an SSD I installed (it made no significant difference). I am running Windows 7 vs Windows Vista (makes a big difference) and also (not sure if it matters) I force-enable powermizer.

Michael

 

how much do you pay it ?

 

I think it was like $1750 or so before tax.

 

I would really like to know who decided the speaker grills on these Latitudes/Precisions were a good idea. Tiny holes for dirt to get into coupled with the fact that they're backed with solid plastic so you can't blow that crap out = FAIL.

 

I have a question regarding the HDD operating temperatures.

On my system, the normal HDD temperature ranges between 42-45C. Sometimes it does go in the high 30s, but that's rare.

For the record, I'm using a WD Scorpio Black 320GB 7200RPM SATA drive, which is supposed to run cool (low 30s).

Is the operating temperature too high?

 

I would say 45C is at the high end of "okay," but it would last longer if cooler. I would only worry about 50C+, where either the drive or something near the drive could fail due to heat.

 

Been away for a while, so apologies if this question has already been asked.
I have the 4400 running Win7 x 64, and would like to disable the connection manager in Dell Control Point, and just run the native Win7 WiFi manager, as I understand it is better. I have been having drop outs etc, that I know have nothing to do with my router, so want to eliminate the possibility of the Dell manager being the cause. Plus it is a 305Mb file!
I know that you can "uninstall" connection manager, but I am concerned about other issues that may happen if I do this. Note that I would like to keep the other DCP features.
So can some kind person give me a blow by blow procedure?
Thanking all gurus in advance

 

I'd uninstall all DCP modules completely and then reinstall only the parts you want, DCP system manager is handy but the rest is pretty useless.