Precision M4500 Owner's Lounge

Not sure about such a software under Windows - it seems the manufacturers really don't like you to know about these things. Simplest solution: boot up Ubuntu (small dual boot partition - or even the Live CD will do) and simply click on the battery icon on the upper taskbar. In the drop-down menu that shows up, all batteries connected to the system are shown. Click on one for very detailed information.

 

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The websites (anywhere) are pretty much useless. Call and get options otherwise unavailable and a better price to boot. My M4500 is currently being build and has a combination of options not available on any website: i7 840qm, 1920*1080, Nvidia 1800M graphics, 8 GB RAM, fingerprint reader, Intel Wireless, German keyboard (backlit), no operating system (I use Ubuntu and the company has its own campus-wide Windows license), 81 Wh Long-Life battery, 64 GB SSD card, 4 years international NBD on-site warranty, including accident and loss/theft cover, second battery (60 Wh) and second, compact 130W power supply. I paid about 25% less than the website asked for (hard to tell, since some items can only be estimated because they are unavailable online).

 

Yeah...google batterybar

 

can you please tell us your full configuration, how much did you pay, when did you buy and which country/store did you buy your system from. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the comments. I have the same issue with purchasing... death march. I can manually configure the display in the meantime and probably will just order the new ports and give my staff the small ones.

Overall I am happy with the performance of the M4500 and the 30" display is great for someone who is a bit older like me.

 

I have got the exact same problem why I post this message from my 4-year-old Precision M65. Did you solve the problem?

 

I guess I will know for next time! Though I tend to buy Dell's every couple of years, and have always been satisfied with the site - though I agree that some of the options on the site often defy logic and seem to be almost randomly set my computers not humans.

Another thing I've noticed is that my M4500 is coming direct from a factory in Shanghai (according to UPS tracking) and is enjoying a tour of Asia (flew onto Korea and now Kazakhstan). My last one 2 years ago came from the factory in neighbouring Ireland where it was assembled. The one before that came from a town about 100 miles away in the UK. I guess this is Globalisation. Thoguh I realise most of the components in Dells have always came from the far East anyway, I do hope that the final assembly and testing is up to the same level as previous machines.

 

Or you can buy a wireless card online and install it. I got my M4500 refurbished without wireless, so I bought the Intel Centrino 6200 on Newegg for $25 and it installed really easy. Wireless antennae were already in there, wireless on/off switch already present. I just had to go to a local computer store and search through a box of screws to find one that would fit to hold the card in.

Newegg.com - Intel 622AN.HMWWB Mini PCI Express 6200 Centrino Advanced-N Wireless Adapter Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates 64/128-Bit WEP, WPA, WPA2

 

To rule out software issue, reboot in safe mode and see if the usb problems return. I found my problems were due to an obscure startup file.

 

Has anyone tried putting an HDD in place of the optical drive and running RAID1, or possibly as the "recovery volume" they advertise in the Help on the Intel Rapid Storage program?