Precision M4500 Owner's Lounge

Just an interesting story to share about Dell Support. My m4500 that I brought off eBay seemed fine at first. At a reboot or two, it would either beep 3 times, then 5 times, or two short beeps, a long beep, then two more short beeps, or a combination of the three.

So at first, they thought that the memory had to reseated, I did that. Then maybe the hard drive. I did that too. So, they came out and replaced the memory, motherboard, keyboard, palm rest and touch pad. That seemed to resolve the issue for one or two days, and then back to the three beeps and the machine not booting.

Fast forward to two days ago, and they decided to do a system exchange with the same system or better. I hope it's the same or better, I had some decent upgrades (i7-840QM processor and FHD screen). I'm hoping for a m4600, but not expecting that, would be nice though.

 

Hey guys, new here

Awesome forum too.
Anyway, I am now an official M4500 owner too (but using the i5 processor instead).

May I know whether is it ok to reformat the new laptop and install a fresh new copy of W7? Will there be any problems?
I just hate the unnecessary stuffs Dell has installed

 

I just reinstalled W7 because i have installed the mini SSD drive. So here is a real gift, this is the list of drivers needed for my reinstall from Dell support. Please note I have the i7 so these may not all be exactly what you need.... and I did NOT install the ControlPoint/Dell stuff. (Thanks appreciated)

Dell System Software
http://ftp.us.dell.com/utility/DELL_SYSTEM-SOFTWARE_A01_R260745.exe

Intel Chipset driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/Intel_Chipset-Software-Insta_A02_R257446.exe

nVidia Quadro FX1800 video driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/video/nVidia_multi-device_A08_R287175.exe

IDT 92x HD Audio driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/IDT_92HDXXX-HD-AUDIO_A17_R278544.exe

Intel 825xx Gigabit Ethernet driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/INTEL_825XX-GIGABIT-PLATFORM_A05_R280807.exe

Intel WiFi link 6300 driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/INTEL_MULTI-DEVICE_A01_R277228.exe

ST Microelectronics FreeFall Sensor
http://ftp.us.dell.com/app/ST-Microelectronics_Free-Fal_A00_R257449.exe

Intel AMT HECI driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/Intel_AMT-HECI_A04_R286574.exe

Ricoh Cardbus driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/RICOH_R5U24X_A04_R263985.exe

Control Point Security device drivers
Dell - Support Point/Dell_ControlPoint-Security-D_A18_R269802.exe

Dell Touchpad driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/input/DELL_MULTI-TOUCH-TOUCHPAD_A07_R281722.exe

Creative Webcam driver
http://ftp.us.dell.com/input/CREATIVE-LABS_E2-INTEGRATED-_A01_R269917.exe

 

Did all of you guys call Dell when you configured your Precisions? $1700 seems pretty steep for a laptop, even if it is workstation, with the lack of the cheaper(but faster) firepro's.

And is there any info on M4600 release date, if anyone knows?

 

I have been checking on the M4600 release date as i can get one for work when it comes out. I cannot find any definitive information but obviously they have had problems with the Sandy Bridge chip. My guess is if we are lucky April.

I use their chat support for configuration. They provided the drivers as above for install. They also are sending me a free CD. Of course, I pay for support.

cheers

PS If you just got the machine, remove the one screw in the center bottom and slide the cover off and take a look at the heat sink fan arrangement... This is industrial design.

 

I'm not buying an arrandale notebook this late in the game, I've been waiting for SB for a while, I'm hoping the m4600 gets some killer battery life, even with a high end firepro/quadro.

Did you get a discount from the chat support at all? That's mostly what I'm curious about, I know there's EPP but I don't know if there's anything beyond that. Haven't ordered from Dell in 5 years

 

Thanks, Jerry!
I really do appreciate your help! +Rep

My current status:
26-Feb-2011 Order Received
26-Feb-2011 Work in Progress
28-Feb-2011 Manufacturing Build Complete

Estimated Arrival Date: 7th March

I have not used a laptop for 1-week (currently using home PC - LOW spects), and I can tell you it is tormenting... I'm an internet marketer and without a proper system to do my work, it's affecting my daily income.
I was hoping and expecting to receive the Precision M4500 by 3rd March or 4th March.. when it state 7th March, I was a little disappointed (not at Dell though since they are considered fast at this point after reading others having nearly 1-month of delay).

I'm also starting a trading account this week and I need the laptop asap to do my trading.

 

People here are pretty knowledgeable, but this site is not heavily frequented from what I can see, nonetheless generally you get good answers. I have has a series of M-class Dells to do graphics programming for flight simulation, which eventually winds up on some Dell standard size precision workstations.

I will not be the first to get a M4600 as now I have this one so well-customized I will hate to change.

BTW, there are significant differences in the types of builds for this machine depending on exactly which components you put in it, so just be aware not all advice will pertain.

 

Anybody brick their M4500? (besides me). BIOS update to A06 went bad and now the system is completely unresponsive. Dell support is sending someone tomorrow to swap the motherboard, but I was wondering if anyone has successfully recovered from a bad BIOS on an M4500. There are various incantations for other Dell systems, e.g. hold down the "End" key while plugging in the power and a minimal, read-only BIOS can look for and read a new BIOS on floppy or USB drive, but I haven't seen anything for the M4500. The Dell support tech certainly had no other options other than motherboard replacement.

Thanks.

 

Ok sweet. My status is "Ship from Factory". Can't wait for it to arrive to my country