Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

Why the hell are people using less than the minimum spec for the charger?
If you're using less than it then you're not getting the full benefit from the laptop.
Under full load this laptop will use 200watts..
If ur only using a 90w you might as well sell the m6400 and buy a latitude e4300 or something similiar.

 

Did you ever figure out how to combine 2 drives into 1 logical volume.. if not I can PM you the way to do this using the power of Windows Dynamic Disks (instead of default BASIC disks), and then span 2 logical volumes into a single drive letter like C: or D: or whatever.

its also possible to mount a second dynamic volume as a new folder on an existing drive so you can expand space as needed on an existing drive letter.

 

I suspect (Hope actually) that people are trying to avoid taking the monster brick on the road. In my experience, (ymmv) running equipment on sub-optimal power leads to higher machine mortality. Puts more faith in power management (laptops are supposed to be better at this) than I am comfortable with, so an extra new slim model 210w is my solution.

+Rep to Airblazer for trying to keep us out of possible power problems.

 

Thanks for some interesting information that will be of some use at some point, but I (or should I say Windows 7) solved my immediate problem for me. I had Vista installed on disk 2 and my main OS, XP on drive one always needed me to be on hand to choose XP at the boot. With Windows 7 (or Wista 7 as I call it) you get to choose your default system so it boots automatically into the OS of your choice. A fine feature for me, as I can now just hit the power button and go about my business. When I do get around to the computer XP is up and running. I would like the details of the solution you mention but since I already have the 320GB second drive partitioned into three different drives I better not complicate matters any more by combining two drives into one. Thanks much though for getting back to an old question. I'll file the info for future use.

 

you guys seen this review of the Intel Core i7 for laptops?

they tested the mid-range quad-core 1.73GHz i7-820QM chip and it's nearly as fast as the M6400 quad.
wow......

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/09/18/intel-core-i7-for-laptops-first-review

 

looks very promising...

 

Is it any danger to the machine to use anything less than the 210W brick? Because besides the difficulty of obtaining one where I'm located the 150W Dell power supply from my M6300, aside from the non specific warning you get when you power up the Covet with it seems to work fine for the few times It's away from it's semi permanent spot. And just untangling the 210W from the jungle of cables under my desk makes just tossing the laptop into it's bag and hitting the road a much less spontaneous decision. So, are you saying it's somehow bad for my computer to use a smaller power supply or are you just saying it's dumb? Sooner or later I'll need to go to the States for something and will pick one up but in the meantime I won't do anything that might make my Covet unhappy so if you or anyone here has specific info I'd surely appreciate it.

__________________________
Precision Covet - QX9300 - 4GB (2x2) - 64GB Samsung SLC SSD & Seagate 320GB - XP 32 & Win 7 64

 

Huh, suddenly realized that I didn't have bluetooth up on the m6400 with windows 7. No drivers apparently available from dell on the m6400 win7 page... For some reason they are not mentioned, but the following is what you require to install (Dell Wireless 370 mini-card).

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=307416

 

AS long as you weren't putting it under a strong load you should be ok.
But you're gonna start to see a lot of stability issues with your system if you're pushing it under load with an underpowered psu.
And not sure about this but I'm sure that using one could possibly void your warranty. Make sure to clear your event logs before handing it back to dell.

 

I havent read the whole thread so some of those questions might already be answered, and if they have plz give the links!

Is anyone actually using Win7 as the main OS in his M6400?
Do you have any issues apart the bluetooth mentioned by ratfinkle?

And how many of you plan to change to Win7 when it hits the stores?