Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

I bought mine from delloutlet

 

The point being.......? You bought your what at the Outlet store? I've searched this whole post and your comment is totally disjointed to any comment you've made, so clue us in, what are you talking about? Mine was bought at the Outlet store too but what has that got to do with anything, you can get a new computer for less than half price, I think everyone knows that. Did yours blow up or something? Is this a complaint or a compliment to Dell?

And I'm going to keep asking hoping I'll eventually get an answer. Is there a hard drive caddy that can replace the slot drive in my Precision? I'm very hot on the idea of a third drive but don't know where to look for the info aside from right here. Thanks to anyone that's even gotten this far without scrolling past it.

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Precision Covet - QX9300 - 4GB(2x2) - 64GB Samsung SLC SSD & 320G Seagate - XP Pro 32bit & Windows 7 64bit

 

Is there a Core i7 version of M6400 coming up?

I'm in the market for a new laptop and M6400 looks perfect, except for the processor. No point in buying a core2duo machine now, with i7 out there.

 

There won't be a i7 or i anything m6400. Something about the socket being different but it's a no way, never situation but the m6500 I've seen mentioned on some Dell memo or something will satisfy that supposedly.

And it'll be a year or more before any mobile quad i7,9 or any other model will possibly blow away the QX9300 by enough to make a difference to most folks. Remember that all the i series processors are already obsolete, so you're chasing your tail trying to stay ahead of it. And from my experience and consistent comments from people who actually know what they are talking about that's the way it is. I'd like to know when this m6500s slated to hit the shelves but looking through months of shakedown problems, since all solved I think with the m6400 how much and how badly do you need more than the QX9300 with 16gigs of RAM offers? I'd guess the answers are not much or very badly. But if you gotta have the newest and incrementally faster i series, go for it. But the 32(or is it 22)mm manufacturing process will just about the start spitting out stuff that makes your i7,9,or i10,i11,i12 wheeze by then. From deep inside Intel I know this, all the i stuff is already obsolete, so what's the point? It'll be a year before the QX9300 mated to a good SSD is signifigantly out classed in speed. IMHO

 

Hi Gulf..I tried it with the a complact flash card but no joy..
If you've 8GBs of ram then you don't need a page file really..but I just put it onto the 2nd driver anyway.
I know the M6500 is being tested at the moment but it's still in the design stage..
Honestly the QX9300 and 16GBs of ram should do me for years really.
I use it for gaming as well though but should be fine anyway for a while.

As for the Core i7.
The mobile versions are showing them beating the Core 2 duos/quad easily...
It looks like the M6500 is gonna be a m6400 killer but it's at least 3 months away at least.
But like gulf said....its' obsolete by the time it hits the shops...
You'll be paying a high premium for the M6500 or I7 equivalent but you should get a nice deal on the M6400.

 

As I see it, the attraction with Core i7 (over Core 2 Quad) is more about power efficiency than performance.

The CPU itself has a lower power draw, but the surrounding chipset is also more power efficient. Especially when compared to M6400 which actually uses a desktop chipset (Intel Q43 Express) to accommodate 4 DIMMs.

Core i7 is also more cost-effective, as can be seen in Dell's and HP's new consumer models priced little higher than the price point of the QX9300 CPU by itself.

 

Thanks for that bit of wisdom. I've tried just not having a page file and didn't notice any difference but decided I'd probably screw something up without one and hadn't given it much thought since. I've read lots of advice to get it off the main drive but don't see any benefit either way. And I'd just like to come up with something to do with the SD card slot. Seems a waste to have it and not use it. And I think people with the QX9300 dumping it for a new model yet to prove what they have is inferior just like to buy stuff. I'm going with the idea that in a couple of years, when I'll probably be ready for a new laptop the m6500 will be yesterdays news.

But do you or does anybody else have an opinion on this bit I just received from the Parts People (they just sell & repair Dell parts only) about the tray advertised in the link below for a hard drive caddy for the m6400. They answered my question within an hour of sending it but the answer was only "probably" as to whether it will work on the m6400. But if you look at the ones it does work with my little bit of knowledge says the chance is good it will work. The guy who answered from the company said the bezel might look funny, as it's a bit angled, but do you think it will work or not? I've never had anything other than laptops and my Covet is the first with two drives, which is so totally cool that I want more. Two is great and I think my e-sata connected drive will also function as one (though I haven't tried it yet), but three internal drives is what I really want.

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=6226

 

Gulfstreamtec,

Presumably that tray has the form factor of a 9.5 mm slimline ODD, it looks just like the tray I use with my thinkpad. It will most likely physically fit in the space occupied by your ODD (you might have to remove the front panel and that eject mechanism). A removable ODD is just a slimline ODD with a connector in the back and a front panel to visually match the computer, so the tray slot is designed to fit that form factor.

The critical part is the connector. You need to verify that the internal ODD connector in the M6400 is the same as the connector in the tray slot of the M4400/2400 that the tray is designed for. You also need to verify that the internal ODD is SATA and not IDE. Hopefully someone here has knowledge of the interior of the M6400.

I've kept an eye on HP Envy threads here, and so far it seems like a bad product launch - several quality problems and in Europe it only ships with 1366x768 panel. (You may now say "I told you so".) M6400 is looking better, especially outlet prices.

 

let me check it out tomorow gulf.

also get that page file off your SSD...because your page file is accessed so often it dramactically decreases the lifetime of your SSD..never have a page file on your SSD drive..always remove it or move to a mechanical drive.

 

Thanks, that's news to me airblazer. You think it really decreases 'dramatically' the life of the SSD? I'm not questioning your reasoning, I just didn't think they were that sensitive. Do you agree that SLC as opposed to MLC are longer lived? The engineering explanations of the differences make MLC sound more 'delicate' than the SLC, but again, I don't really understand a lot of the details of electrons bouncing around pieces of silicon. It makes building bridges and such seem so simple. Not that it's an issue here but I'm considering giving a good MLC a try. Two years ago I wouldn't but maybe this year......? Being a neatness freak, when PerfectDisk tells me the page file and/or the metadata isn't in perfect order I let it defrag those two and figured since it's before the boot even, what harm could half a minute or less of defragging those two files make? Hmmm. Crap, like I said, what little I do know I hate a fragged up disk because lots of people who seem to know a lot say defragging is a waste of time but I've found that piece of advice untrue. And getting all the little colored blocks in neat rows with PerfectDisk makes me feel good. Now when the SSD gets all fragged I clone it to a regular disk, defrag it and re-clone it back to the SSD. But there's no noticable speed difference like with a fragged spinning disk. Too bad the page file won't go on the SD card though, it'd be a perfect place for it. If I put it on a 7200rpm disk will it affect the access speed of my Samsung SSD? Not that it'd make any difference, I'll still move it but the near instantaneous access is the real bell ringer for me with the SSD. But I'm sure you already know that. In fact your SSDs probably lots faster than mine in read/write but that's not the best part of them for me. I have Photoshop too but use Paint Shop Pro more and it makes no difference, they're both up and ready to work in about 4 or 5 seconds. When I do my monthly (sometimes more, sometimes less) cloning and spend a day with a 7200rpm disk it feels like I'm swimming in wet cement.

And also thank you larsv for any help you can give me with that disk tray. I've seen lots of people with E6400s commenting and hoped I'd snag someone who knows about the connections. And honestly I never even considered that they may not be the same. It's tough being a half wit with these machines and I've gotten a load of help nagging people here for info. Thanks.