D430 ordered

After having ordered an xps1330 and waited for 2 months, I received the beast and was very disappointed, partly in the machine and especially its build, and partly because I realized that it wouldn't fit the bill.

So I returned it (a white one, somebody's gonna be happy!) and ordered a D430 with media base instead.

I should receive the system in a week or so, but only because I ordered without a fingerprint reader, otherwise delay would have been horrible again.

I want to hear from D430 owners, are you happy with your system, what are the do's and dont's of the system?

I'm surprised to see so few posts about the D430, it may not be a very popular system but surely some people have it, right...?

 

I have my XPS-M1330 as fun PC and i am awaiting my D430 (which already has been delivered, but is sitting with IT) to replace my D400

 

I have used both, and the D430 is quite the ultra-portable, with the emphasis on portable, but I would shudder to attempt my occasional video editing on a D430. My M1330 does pretty well, even rendering high-def at about 5 FPS or so with Firefox and other stuff in the background and it is quite portable, too, and with an extra 1.2" of screen real estate, too.

 

I have the D420 and actually reviewed it here. The D430 is essentially the same model with some minor changes (Core 2 instead of Core, etc., but no chipset change). I've used it for about a year and I can say it's been a great unit, although like Samuel613 mentioned it's no performance champion (mine especially, since I have the Core Solo 1.06).

 

I have a 1330 and i am very happy with it.

 

My wife just got a D430. Very light and easy to carry, but the m1330 looks better (especially the bright screen) and is peppier. The Vista Experience ratings are low; the only video choice is the integrated Intel. Works well for her purposes, though. She carries it to meetings; in the office she uses the dock and add-on keyboard/mouse/monitor. It's used mostly for web/e-mail/Excel/Word/Powerpoint and is just fine for those.

 

Chuckles, does your wife have the biometric fingerprint reader?

 

No .

 

Great! I mean, no, well...

Could you go to the BIOS and tell me if you see options for the TPM functionality?

 

I wanted to get the D430 also.

But I cant decide between this one and the D630.

The other thing I worry is does the D430 has a warm palmrest?

 

My wife is using a D430 now, and here are my impressions.

On XP, the D430 is an excellent machine. Even at 1.2GHz, it can perform all of our usual tasks (Office apps and a browser or two) without feeling any less snappier than my 2.0GHz D630 on Vista. Even the 4,200 hard drive doesn't become apparent until you start moving large files.

Caveat - the performance I describe above is without active protection from any spyware or virus program. With McAfee installed, the "disadvantages" of the 1.2GHz processor and 4200 rpm drive become apparent.

Recommendations? Optimize the system. Manage startups and services, and the D430 performs like a champ.

Regards,
Paolo

 

> my wife has one
...
> yeah me too my wife has one also


Great I' m getting a girlie machine!!! j/k


Paolo that's great news what you're saying as this is exactly how I want to use it ... plus I'll get a 64GB SSD as soon as they are practically available

Now, what would help is if somebody who doesn't have the biometric fingerprint reader could go to the BIOS and tell me if there is a TPM entry there... that would mean that TPM is there regardless of having selected integrated biometric reader or not, and would hence tell me about integration possibilities with external readers!

 

TPM 1.2 is installed by default in the D430 even when ordered without biometric fingerprint reader anyone...?

 

In France we have problems with the biometric readers - I guess it could be Europe-wide because of the Ireland factory but there's a 7-week delay if you want the fingerprint reader !!!!

 

http://www.laptopspirit.fr/6309/dell-un-point-sur-les-delais-de-livraison/

 

Gosh !!!

Talk about the "D430 Owners' Club" as being an exclusive group ...

 

So truely nobody has an answer...?

If I add an external biometric fingerprint reader to my D430, will I be able to use it to log into the bios and windows ?

 

YES! mine is ready on monday
Can't wait to get rid of my old D400

 

wow... hope...

Did you say yes to my question or did you say yes coz you're too happy to receive your system ?

 

The latter, it's with IT ATM, i've had it in my hands, they only need to apply the security policies

 

rats ...



I should get my notebook this week, I'll do some testing and report back

 

The Dell D430 does indeed have the Trusted Platform Module and software from Embassy Systems including some type of pre-boot functionality, according to the system's documentation.

In other words, I believe that you can use the optional internal fingerprint reader to authenticate at the pre-boot stage, rather than as a user-level login in Windows as on the M1330 which does not have the TPM.

 

Thanks Samuel613,

But the question is "does this functionality exists when using external fingerprint readers" ?

For one, I believe that the internal reader is a UPEK, the one I'm looking at is an IBM... but I'll use whatever brand/model gives me that functionality

 

No, only the UPEK is supported in BIOS, there is no low level support for "3rd pty" USB validation devices without a devicedriver

 

arghhh... bad news...

thanks for the answer Raphie.

how about OS-level authentication? XP, Vista, Linux ?

 

Please report and let us know how you like your D430?

I might be getting one soon.

 

I just ordered a new D430.

I call in to get $450 off $1900.

Mine come up to $1557.91 shipped

I got mine with a 5400 rpm 120 gig hd. Got bluetooth, DVD burner and the lightweight charger.

He even give me Priority Next day delivery free. I would just save your order, then call in and talk to someone.

I read people got problem with the laptop getting blazing hot. I shall see.

 

I cancelled mine. I am going to Dell Outlet and get the refurbished one at 50% off.

 

I been on the Outlet. Still have not found the fish I want. I guess keep on trying. I now can save $400+.

 

Hello everyone.

OK, I been looking n looking and finally found one with a 100 gig HD. So its a Dual Core 2, 2 gig memory, bluetooth for $1010.16 shipped. I save $557 from post #27.

Let see how my refer one is. Return if I dont like it right?

I want to ask some of you want this that I got with it:

1 CF809 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,65W,Lead Free,Liteon World Wide $.01
1 FF295 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,65
W,Liteon,Additional United States $.01

FW577 1 Module,Software,VB32,Digital Video Disk Drive,England,DAO

What 65 W adapter is all these? England Video Disk???

 

I can see there are not many owners of D430. :-(

So I am in one of those elusive and exclusive group.

 

I've been having an issue on vista with my D430..

SpeedStep seems to be not working, the processor stays at 1.2GHz (instead of underclocking to 800 when iddle, as it is supposed to).

This makes the laptop very hot and the fans are almost all the time on.. I guess Battery wont last as much as if it was working...

any of you having the same problem?

 

Can anyone please tell me if heat is a real issue on Dell´s Latitude D430 ? I already had a bad experience with Dell´s Latitude D600 and I do not want to repeat that kind of experiences for sure.

thanks in advance.

 

My refurb D430 will be here on Monday.

I see that the vent is on the right side. Glad it can blow my right hand dry.

I have read that small laptop always get everything hot no matter what.

I have 20 days to return mine.

 

Actually now I got my hands full.

I order another refurb and it is $923.61 shipped vs another one which is $1031.56.

I might just refuse it when one of them comes on Monday.

 

Well, I've been using my 430 for a few weeks now and the verdict is in:

I love the machine!

I have it running XP SP2 and it's great for my usage which is heavy office stuff, web browsing, listening to winamp streams, synchronizing with my HTC Touch via bluetooth etc.

It feels snappy and responsive even under with tons of windows working.

Plus I got the mediabase driving my 2407WFP-HC and it works wonders, I just close the lid of my 430, pop it in the mediabase, the external monitor wakes up and here is my desktop in full 1920x1200 glory.

As far as the heat, I use I8kfanGUI set on "Automatic temperature control" as I feel that it does a better job at keeping the system cool and quiet than the default system.

When in the mediabase for a few hours it does get hot under the system and the fan blows most of the time, it's spinning at 5500 rpm and you can hear it but it's not bothersome. When the fan blows full speed (9300 rpm) it does make noise!

When out of the mediabase the fan rarely goes on and it does at 5500 so it's OK.

 

Is the mediabase thing add a CD drive at the bottom? Do you get a S-Video port?

What model is the mediabase? I cant find it on Dell website.

 

The Mediabase is a small docking station that has built-in DVD RW and tons of ports.

Don't think it has S-Video output, it does have VGA and DVI though.

This guy for example is selling one http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Latitude-D...9092655QQihZ002QQcategoryZ42176QQcmdZViewItem

 

I see it. Thanks.

Did you get your D430 new?

 

1 Latitude D430 Notebook: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor ULV U7600 (1.20GHz, 533Mhz)
1 Certified Refurbished
1 65W Adapter
1 Operating System Label
1 6 Cell Primary Battery
1 Processor Label
1 Notebook Keyboard
1 Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950
1 100 GB EIDE Hard Drive 8MM (4200 RPM)
1 Operating System Software CD
1 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
1 Support Software
1 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 No Floppy Drive
1 AOL Software Documentation
1 No Resource CD
1 Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Module
1 Power DVD Software CD
1 12.1 inch WXGA Notebook Screen
1 Genuine Windows XP Pro
1 Service Software
1 Shipping Material
1 Base Assembly
1 PowerDVD Software
1 Intel 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card

Get 20% off refurbished Latitude D410, D420 and D430 Notebooks with this coupon! - $215.80



1 Latitude D430: 3Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
Order Subtotal: $863.20
Shipping and Handling Total: $19.99

Shipping Discount: -$19.99

Tax Total: $60.41
Total Charges: $923.61

1. Did I get a good deal on this? It is a refurbished.
2. What is a Centrino label?

 

I couldn't tell you if it's a good deal, it's about half price from what I paid for mine !!!

I bought mine new through a student deal ...


Battery times are OK with a 6-cell, I typically get 3hrs+, that is 3hrs with Wifi/bluetooth, brightness maxed out, and medium load.

I haven't tested maximum battery life ...



It's funny to see the difference between the D430 and the M1330 threads

You know, my D430 just works. Sure I could optimize things here and there - which I did with all latest drivers and bios etc - but at one point it works, it works fine ... and I have work to do !!!!

FYI, I used to have a ABIT 366 with overclocked dual celerons and 4 GXP "deathstars" drives on onboard RAID5

That thing was so unstable that I was constantly working on it, and it's what made me understand computers so well.

Another time, another approach, I need to work ...

My D430 is a great machine for that in the sense that I tend to forget it, it's just there, it just works.


Cheers and congrats to all lucky owners of D430

 

I've got both and your right the D430 is all work and the M1330 is all play

 

I believe if you use a good software that help you clean your system and do defrag once a week, you should be OK.

 

I got my refurbished D430 last night.

This baby is light and tiny and thin! I like it.

I drop all the partions. There is a hidden 50 gig HD space and I drop and delete it too. I wonder what is that for. Then I create a new C: drive. It took me a while to format that 100 gb hd spinning at 4200 rpm.

I install it from a retail XP SP2 then download each of the drivers from Dell website. I still got 2 yellow (!) on it and I might need to call Dell to see what other drivers I am missing.

My refurbished is a "refurb", not "scratch and dent" and yet I see plastic scratch on the label and some light paint on the front and the the side panel is not all the way snap in. There is a tiny little space there, like a crevice.

It also got the Centrino sticker on there! Label looks new. I went to Control Panel to check and its a Dual Core 2 at 1.2 GHz. BIOS confirm also. Why do I get this weird label? Is this machine old?

It even got BIOS 1.0 on it! I check last night and the latest is BIOS 1.2. I can flash this tonight. No problem.

Is this an old machine?

It does smell new.

 

How do you turn off the Bluetooth light on the front bottom of the panel?

 

That blue light can be blinding, hey ?

If you figure out how to disable it without disabling bluetooth let me know... I almost got some black tape to put on top of it but then one day it didn't bother me anymore so I just left it there...

If you're running XPSP2 you should consider several tools, MS powertoys, clear type tuning, I8kfanGUI, ...

If you got a GWA-4083N DVD drive you can flash it to make it zone free...

Etc...

Let us know what you run and how it runs.

Congrats!

 

And stop eating that burger !!!

)

 

Guys and gals, I got the bluetooth light thing to turn off!

I got the info from the D620 thread here.

Go to Dell support and after you put in your tag number, download a software called QuickSet. Do a search for it.

Install this software.

Go to that software, and put on the check mark on bluetooth ONLY! Now slide the slider on the right to the off position. Now your bluetooth light is OFF. To turn off Wi-Fi, I just turn it disable my wireless and the Wi-Fi is OFF.

Give it a shot. Let me know if you have any questions.

I am still working on the D430.

Oh man, I love to eat hamburgers beside rice. I always eat 2 whoppers. One is not enough.

 

hmmm....

Which version of quiskset are you using? On the one I'm using there's only one option that specifies which "radio" is controlled by the commuter on the right of the PC.

And the buttons allow you to check "bt" and "wifi".

But that is for switching on or off the bt and/or wifi with the button on the right of the laptop, not to switch the lights...


In other words, are you able to switch off the blue light and still have bt working?

 

Hi.

Whatever is the latest on Dell support website since yesterday.

I play around with it. So now when I flip my switch, the blue light went off, but the Wi-Fi light still stay on. Then when I disable my Intel wireless on the bottom right, the Wi-Fi light go off without flipping the switch.

I have not test the functionality of the bluetooth yet. It is a Toshiba stack?

Better be doing your defrag at least once a week. 4200 rpm is slow!