Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

Thanks for an exhaustive reply Yes we all have different definitions of "portable". I find myself doing software demos or photo slideshows ad-hoc, so battery life is not unimportant. Moreover, I live in a city where public transportation is the norm, so weight is not unimportant either. It all comes down to acceptable compromises, I guess. Darn it.

 

What is the latest driver you are using for the fx3700 and the led screen?
I am still using the one Dell offered. Tried a few newer ones but they either don't work (screen garbled) or prevent computer from sleeping.

 

186.81 directly from nVidia's site (support/download drivers/quadro/ FX series - notebooks) It works fine to me.

My default desktop ICM profile colors though are not good (blue color goes more towards grey actually) but its not the driver's fault cause I have used all available from dell too,same result. Its the lcd's monitor fault. My ex- M6300's 1920x1200 anti-glare screen had much better and vivid colors...I feel a bit sad about it, cause it seems as a step back to me.
...thanks god there is a dell 30' monitor on my desk to ease the pain..believe me monitor's colors are day and night with respect to M6400
actually, if someone has a calibrated ICM for a 1920x1200 Anti-glare CCFL of the M6400, please post it here, I desperately need it..

 

Well, you need to understand that most standard laptop LCDs have very poor color reproduction, and generally exhibit a strong tendency to blueish-greenish tints. In contrast, Dell's RGBLED screens tend to be much more accurate. It is very well possible that this is what you are seeing, and what you call "not good" is simply due to you being used to the cartoonish color distortions you were used to from your previous screen. If that is not the case, you may want to contact Dell support and get your screen replaced under warranty.

P.S.: I have an M6300 myself, same screen as yours, and all those screens (yep, I've had three of those....) have god-awful color representation. Not a huge deal for me, since I calibrate my screens with a Spyder and load a corrected profile into the graphics card. On my M6400, I don't need to go through these gyrations; the screen is quite accurate out of the box.

 

Thankx for your feedback Pirx. I know i did not get the best screen for my M6400 (meaning the LED or even better the E2E) due to the amazing lead times in order to receive the laptop (told me something like 3 months of waiting..)..my comparison however was between the CCFL screen of the M6300 and the CCFL of the M6400, there is difference even there, M6400's is much worse!
The fact is that if I am going to ask from assistance fromDell, the best they can do is to replace my CCFL with another CCFL (which -reading from other posts- will produce the same awful colors), unfortunately they do not accept upgrade choices like to get an RGB one by paying a difference
Moreover, I do not have Spyder hardware, so that's why I am searching a profile to download or an nVidia calibrated file thingy to fool my eyes

 

Thanks. Trying and it's working fine so far.

 

Get the newest modified desktop drivers it works and runs a lot smoother, than playing with Nvidia drivers. In regards with portability. I love my precision m6400, only Dell and Hp make business machines that have RGB LED. I walked a mile or so on friday with my machine and boy when i went to take my midterm sheesh i was tired. I take the machine out once every two weeks now probably since i have an ultraportable. The Dell Studio xps 1340. A powerful small machine but never can replace this media, and business power house.

 

Whats safe to use to clean the covet? There's gunk/grime on the back of the lcd (orange part) and I don't want to ruin it.

 

Carried in a backpack with an extra battery I'd think it would be up to the task. The quality of the edge to edge RGB display would I think influence a decision with your requirements. They'll be no washed out looking display with that screen. And it's really dimensionally just an inch or so wider than a 15.4" display but with the benefit of a lot more display space. Plus I wouldn't buy a new issue HP till it's been out long enough for a public shakedown. And if HP is still HP they'll probably be issues. And if you think the same of Dell, well the Precision's been on the market for over a year and has dealt with the 'new model' kinks some apparently had. When I purchased it'd been out 5 months and it's been trouble free, sweet and fast. Precisely what I need.

 

What kind and how did you get 'gunk' on the poor thing? Sorry but I can't help but imagine what I consider gunk all over a Precision. Well unless it's corrosive gunk I find Windex or 409 works just fine to get the dust and smudges and accumulated crud off the case. I hope the edge to edge is real glass because I've been using Windex on the screen for 10 months to no apparent bad effect. The orange is either paint or some other treatment and I have no idea what might harm it, but do know the two products I mention have been used extensively on my orange Covet and it shines like new.