Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

Thanks for the suggestions! Is there any performance degradation with the traditional HDD in the DVD bay? Would I need a caddy to mount the SSD in the optical drive? They seem to be impossible to find here in the UK unless you order from China or the U.S.

 

Since no traditional (mechanical) HDD can come anywhere close to saturating SATA II, no there is absolutely no performance difference. You would need a caddy to mount anything in the optical drive bay. An SSD and a mechancial HDD are physically the same size (unless you went with an mSATA SSD).

My only real gripe about the caddy is that it isn't a perfect fit and is slightly off color. The M4600 is a greyish, and the caddy is black. The caddy also doesn't fit perfectly flush. I got used to it and hardly notice it now. They can be purchased on eBay too, maybe UK eBay? And it appears to be the same exact caddy. It doesn't fit perfect because it is a generic caddy met to fit several types of laptops and is not specifically built for the M4600.

 

Was thinking that it was specific to the Precision line. What caddy does Dell use when they install a hard drive in the optical bay? I wonder if I can get one of em...

 

I've heard mention of one that is rather expensive but I've never actually seen it listed anywhere. So if you find it, post back.

 

I'm considering buying it with the IPS option, but I've seen in the CNET review from mid-2011 that they were complaining about flickering when the screen brightness was set to 75% or less. Has it been fixed in the IPS screens that ship now?

Also I'd like comments the overall durability of the laptop and how comfortable and precise the keyboard is. I'm a Thinkpad lover, so both of these traits are extremely important to me.

 

I'll ask the Dell tech tomorrow.

By the way, do you have any idea how much space Win 7 took on your HD when you switched to the SSD? Curious.

 

Can't seem to find info on a Dell caddy. There is some doubt that there is one for the M4600 because you have to select the MiniCard SSD to have 2 drives on the configurator. So they might not have bothered with making a caddy.

Edit: I got in contact with Dell Parts and someone there is looking for the part number, he said he had some difficulty finding it. He said he'll do some research and send the details today or tomorrow when he finds it.

Edit #2: Sanjay(?) got back to me saying, as the other guy did, that the second drive is a MiniCard SSD thing. He, however, is the first person over there who realizes that you can sacrifice the DVD drive for a second hard drive. There was one chap on the online chat who didn't even know that there could be 2 drives. Bless his soul. I believe Sanjay said that there isn't a caddy for the M4600, I can't remember. Either way he's looking for the best caddy/solution, whether or not it's made for the M4600. He says it'll probably be refurbished.

 

I did some research and I think I'll pull the trigger on a Samsung 830 tonight/tomorrow. Anyone have a clue if a M4500 caddy will fit? I'm assuming it will, not that I have much choice if the Dell rep. doesn't find a caddy.

 

I'm thinking of getting a Crucial 256GB m4 SATA 6Gb/s mSATA Solid State Drive:

Crucial 256GB m4 SATA 6Gb/s mSATA Solid State Drive (CT256M4SSD3) - dabs.com

Yet the Crucial US website says it's not compatible. Will it go in the m4600 mSata/WWAN slot or what should I be looking for?

 

Be aware that the mSATA slot does not support SATA/600 speeds so you are wasting some money going with a 6GB rather than a 3Gb. I am using a Runcore Pro V mSATA 6Gb but should have purchased the 3GB version. Still great performance!