Dell 9400's are SUPERAWESOME !!!

Hello guys,
I recently purchased a E1705 AKA "9400" series inspiron dell notebook. And this thing is the most horrible piece of **** i've known to exist.

My line of work in life lies in game development as a 3D enviorment artist. Dell speaks out that this notebook is essential to gamers and 3D artist out there. My words of choice "Bull****".

I opened up the box very patiently with ease, making sure that I didn't do anything that could cause any inflicting damages, and booted it up as soon as I sat down.
The machinebooted up alright. But a bit slower than usual, not to mention slower than my previous notebook "Area-51m7700" that broke in 22 days.

Now not saying this hunk of light weighted junk broke, but it's very very defective. Simply it appears dell purposely assigned it to use less than half of the ram that was installed (1 gig total). I installed my applications and licenses to Maya, 3d Studio Max, ect....
While for some strange reason. The machine wouldn't boot them up. Sure, Maya would boot to a loading phase with the desktop logo icon, but would sit there in hours of "not responding". Same with 3ds max, while Sketchup and others did not boot up period due to memory failure.

The graphics card (7800 Nvidia) did not seem very appealing as it is, and speaking of this book using duel core processing power. "Yeah right my ***, it's duel ****heads" as I would say.
The machine before use for 3d applications would ask like all others to install nessasary updates,ect. While when it came to rebooting the machine. It takes precisely 9 1/2 minutes to 12 completely shutdown the system and go to the blackscreen reboot.

Somehow I have no clue, as a dell customer who has never bad mouthed the employees on the phone, and shown Dell with all respect over my use in pc desktops. I've about had it here with the notebooks.

Don't know if it's just me.. But it seems whenever I buy a notebook, it's instantly defective, to broken. I simply cannot keep the faith in these portable products, while most of all of you get them with ease and full functionality, and capabilities as expected to use, until you download something dumb to screw it up.

Well this is my 6 hour experience with this thing. And as a customer I am seriously going to have it with the person who put together this thing, even if it means court.

Well, I thought i'd let this be a fair warning to anyone willing to buy this **** thing. As I wish I had bought a desktop, or the 9300 if anything when it was with the 6800 cards.

 

incoherent much?

 

Sounds like your memory system is defective with the slowness and errors. I have a 9400 and while I'm unhappy with the LCD quality, the internals of the thing are fantastic. The dual cores are zippy and the 7800 works fine.

 

Do you guys think I have a chance with as long as i've had this notebook (half a day). Will Dell give me the opportunity to return it without a restocking fee, and possibly trade it for a desktop that's available on the market ?
Or will they give me an option to replace it with a new one, or refurbished that actually works very very well?
... I mean really this laptop is worth not even $500.00's and I got it for $2600.00.

I don't think i'm going to go back to any more notebooks until technology is soo steady that defective and broken notebooks is a word never to be heared again.

 

I'd be happy to give you $500 for it.

 

You should be able to return it. Dell might charge you the restocking fee though unless you can prove that the laptop is defective.

It could just be all the junkware installed that is causing the problems. I would check pull the memory sticks and put them back in to see if your memory problem is fixed.

SG

 

Won't taking out any parts to a laptop break the warranty?
I could install Maya, and 3ds max again. But with no doubt it will show to them where my problems are.

But yeah, I don't want to keep this thing any longer and want my money back. Or make sure they give me a "real working" one.

 

No, it doesn't void your warranty.

You can take apart your laptop and put it back together. You can also upgrade parts like the memory and HDD without voiding your warranty. If you break something while your working on your laptop, then that won't be covered in your warranty. Your new part also won't be covered in the warranty, but the rest of the laptop will still be covered.

Judging from the problems you described, I would just return and ask for a new one. If you call them, and explain what is going on, they might send you a new one right now and *POSSIBLY* let you keep the old one until you get the new one.. I've heard it happen before, but haven't experienced it yet.
SG

 

You could try running memtest on it to see how the ram is functioning. By the sounds of it though, you just have bum luck. It happens. I'd just return it and make them fix it. It's a pain, but thats the way it goes sometimes unfortunately.

 

it sounds like you have issues, guess what with a brand new system and buying the first shipment of them. im not surpirsed. also i think bloatware is hurting u way more than u can imagine. i think u should ask dell for the os disk and reinstall only xp see how it is than.

 

you have 1 month to return it to dell to get your full money back. i'ld suggest you do it asap.


a guy who bought this to play wow had many troubles getting decent frame rate better than his ages old computer. so he just returned this piece of crap dual processor trash.

 

sounds like user error much more than a defective notebook. return it and get something else.

 

I think you may be right, ceiph. Recently, Hard OCP did a review on a Dell desktop, and had issues with this very situation. If anyone's interested, here's the story:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0

 

Here's my last question.
Will dell cover any expenses in return of the system?

 

Sounds more like the bloatware doing its thing there to me. You can always run memtest86 to check up on the RAM. I have Maya too and it's runs on my 9300 pretty good. If nothing else works, just return it.

 

Zicky,

I am thinking the same thing.

MSF,

Did you order the OS disc from Dell when you ordered your lappy? Do a clean install of Windows and see what happens, I had a problem installing WoW when I got my lappy, I unistalled most of the bloatware and it is great now.

Or return it to Dell and get something you want or a new system of the same kind...just try the re-install first. Also reference the sticky at the top of the forum by SG...it is alot of help for speeding up the comp.

Hope this helps.

 

Sadly I never recieved a Operating System disc. Which is rather odd, because with Dell i've always received that disc.

It would have infact been my first solution to fixing my problem. But because I don't have it. And the way the thing is functioning alone. It's rather agitating to where it really isn't performing like it should be. As my previous (alienware) notebook had lower specs and ran faster.

A nice thing I can sure say about this notebook is that it doesn't cook itself like a grill. It's rather mid-warm and very light weight for it's own size. But really if this thing has duel core processing power. It sure aint showin' it because everything doesn't compute up to speed.

I'll state my specs so everyones with the better picture.
--
-17' inch monitor
-Intel@ Duel core processor 2 ghz, 667MHZ.
-1 gig of ram at 667MHZ
-80 Gig hard drive
-Nvidia 7800 GO 256mb graphics
-Windows XP Professional

Well those are the very basics that pretty much do the whole deal other than the accessories such as the bag and aol free internet crap.

PS.. Zicky, how do you do a memory test? (never tried that before).

 

It's a shame that people have to reformat brand new computers just to get them to play games properly.

 

Well...you can call Dell and request the disc, most of the time they will ship it for free and it will get there in about 2-business days. I would try that before sending the comp back. Also request all the extra discs for the software, that was you can get quickset and stuff again or any other apps that you want.

I have heard great results from a re-install of Windows.

 

I didn't reformat...but used Tune-XP and Reg-cleaner, and unistalled all the apps that Dell put on and I didn't want/need. Computer manufacturers get paid good money for putting the "Bloatware" on their comps.

 

So, should i take it out of the box again, reinstall Maya and so on... and call Dell and make sure that things are not functioning as I say they are. That way I can walk them through it?

That way I can either get the option to have it replaced with a new one, or return it for another product. Or even my money back?

 

You can do that too...but I am pretty sure a clean install will resolve some of the issues, because I had similar issues when I was installing stuff on my I9300...while you have them on the phone tell them you need a Windows OS disc for your comp.

 

well, honestly just from the way that this thing performs. It really feels like someone building it was looking at P2P programs as though the whole system is messed up. But again, i'll ask for that Disc if they leave me with no options.

I'm guessing if you were all in my shoes you'd say that the problem is "User Error" or "Memory failure" ? or something..let me know on this...because I really don't know any good words to put emphasis behind to make them believe me unless they were here.

Thanks.

 

I would say compatability issues....that is the way I would put it because I called them and told them when I couldn't install WoW...they made me do all their tests and crap. Then I found out it was the burning software causing a problem. That is why I suggested the clean install.

 

Well i booted up the laptop and next thing you know its telling me a dirty volume in my memory or something with FAT32 checking system crap.

Just yesterday i got this thing and it seems like the engineers were looking at and downloading porn on this or something...
Somethings just not right about this.

PS i'm going to try installing and booting up a game. If that doesn't work as well then tell me whats the best way to get my money back, ect.

 

Just make sure you tell Dell how unhappy you are...and ask what they will do to keep you as a customer. This usually gets you something for free if you decide to stay with them...just an added little bonus!

Good luck!

 

Thanks dude.

 

That can mean two things. Either the harddisk has a problem, or the memory is corrupt and writing wrong info to the harddisk. You can download a free program off the net to check memory. It's called Memtest86+.. try doing a google on that. It will do a thorough check of your memory modules, but will need to boot off of a CD or memory stick before booting into windows. If the program starts showing errors, then you have a defective memory module or modules.

 

My phones are currently not working at the moment. But what I also found is this (I will type exactly the way it's spoken).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory Info:
-Memory Installed = 1024 MB
-Memory Available = 1023 MB
-Memory Speed = 667 MHZ
-Memory Channel Mode = Dual
-Memory Technology = DDR2 RAM

NOTE: Due to an amount of memory being assigned for system use, Memory Available is less than Memory Installed.

Note none of these fields are changeable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am curious as to why in the hell this is setup this way ?

 

You can download a program called Everest and see what exactly windows is taking up for RAM. It is alot better than the system in the control panel. Just a thought. You can also run benchmarks, which won't really help....also Memtest which was also mentioned.

 

Something else I found for a problem with 3D applications.

3ds Max 7 will run fully functional without internet devices enabled = no internet use while working.
Maya 6.0 will boot up without internet to the main screen then freeze to again the "Not Responding" state and stay that way. And if asked to end the program it will end it, but keep it there running.

The game thing hasn't been put to test yet. But still my job requires me to work in 3D space and i'm always on the go. So this notebook still will not do.

Probably am going to test
-Current work of Stalker on SDK Builds.
-Far Cry.
-Unreal 2004.

 

Have you found memtest86? I don't remember the webpage from the top of my head, you can google for it.

Here's another thread that may help you what you get once you run it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=33891

You have to burn it on a CD though, run it from there and leave it running for a few hours.

 

I honestly do not want to go through a few hours of memory checking. It's obviously corrupted, or defective, or possibly fried.

I have had this pc precisely less than 24 hours so far, and I want them to see that I am in the need of help.

So far as game testing goes.
-Stalker portion would not boot.
-Doom 3 would install but would not run, other than the autoplay.
-Unreal tournament 2004 would run fine, but as far as internet is... i don't have time to download patches.
-Far Cry ran perfect, problem was the graphical shaders and textures. Running around would cause parts of the map to disappear, then reappear. Then the shadowy indoors would glow like it was the sun alone with the bloom effects.

I am just trying now to get as many problems that are affecting my need in using this pc for a good return for a new one, or another product that i could use to spend on that i spent on this.

 

Call Dell and see what they can do for you...tell them you can't be without your laptop, they should ship the new one out within a couple of days...and then when you get the new one ship the old one back.

Sorry to hear about the trouble.

 

Has anyone else reported similar problems with the i9400/E1750's? I'd imagine he's just had bad luck seeing as it's not exactly a radical new and different design from the i9300s. I'll be getting an E1750 soon so I hope this is just an odd case.

 

what exactly is this program if anyones heared of called "ccAPP" ?
It seems to be using up alot of **** on my pc, and everytime i reboot I always have to end that & some other programs, ect.

Same goes for this program that calls itself "mim.exe"?
---

Okay, now the notebook won't reboot...this is just fantasic....someone write all these problems down... this is going to the guinnest book of world records on computer instant breakdown!.

--- okay it now rebooted but with the time i setted for it, it's about well over 10 minutes to do it.
--- The logging off message takes about 2-5 minutes to go off, for full shutdown and reboot status...
--- 17-30 seconds to get passed the welcome screen..

 

a part has to be defective. send it back for another one

Edit: Sorry for saying that (I'm mad at my homework right now, spouting off like that), but have you performed a clean install of windows?

 

Everything that starts with CC is for Norton Internet Security. I have the same problem, but it doesn't happen all the time. I have a McAfee that I am going to install instead of Norton. It is alot better.

 

Well I had a over half hour chat with a lady who knew quite a bit. She was infact very helpful, and found out that dell doesn't ship operating disks anymore because you can do it now instantly on the pc alone through the Dell logo bootup process.

The notebook is running faster now, but I am guessing because of somethings such as Norton security not being installed, ect.

I'll keep updating how this thing goes, if it gets better or worse. But as it is, she says that it's software issues, and so I am able to believe it. And told me how todays pc's are a bit different than previous models, and so on...
Very helpful person, and took a while to have her understand i'm not going to just at some point outburst in mad rage at her.

---- The pc is rebooting in less than 10 seconds flat (woot if that's what you say).
---- I think this notebook was worth it after all, but still we have yet to see on what I say about it's finals in working with maya, games, flash, ect.

 

from process library.com

Process File: mim or mim.exe
Process Name: Musicmatch Jukebox Process

Description:
mim.exe is belonging to the Musicmatch Jukebox software. Musicmatch Jukebox is a multimedia application supporting most known media formats. This is a non-essential process. Disabling or enabling this is down to user preference.

and

Process File: ccapp.exe
Process Name: Symantec Common Client CC App

Description: ccapp.exe is a process belonging to Norton AntiVirus. It is responsible for the auto-protect and email checking facilities, both of which will not function correctly if this service is stopped. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated.

Note: ccapp.exe is also a process belonging to the media.fastclick adware which creates advertising popups on your computer and sends Internet usage information back to it's company's servers. This is a registered security risk and should be terminated immediatly.

Determining whether this process is a virus or a Windows process depends on the directory location it executes or runs from in WinTasks.

 

Well for what I have found out, it's mostly Nortons doing that screwed up the notebook all along.
Turns out I really like this notebook, and works with Maya too! now.

Maybe someone could redo another thread with all my own posts on it, and keep it as a sticky or something on how to fix errors with the 9400's /E1705 series. Because they actually are a great notebook.
I just need to now find out where to get graphic nvidia driver updates?

 

Now i'm going to take a break from work, and going to play some San Andreas.
Thanks alot guys for your help, and advise! I really appreciate it

 

shouldn't you have contact dell tech support before creating a thread like this? roflzorz

 

Naw, because I personally hate calling companies that lead me to being on hold and first having to go through digits to get to a certian place to find someone to talk to. But luckly I made all these posts of agrivation due to screw ups of my system and if anyone were to have the same. They'd know that have to either uninstall first hand the Norton anti-virus software, and sonic, & music match jukebox. Then go on, if not use Ctrl+F11 at the Dell logo on bootup process, an select diagnostics, then through there take the test then, reboot again at Dell logo then, press F8 I believe and it will bring you to a screen to restore your pc without the operating disc and then from there on out you got it all down.

 

now quick write up a compleate review and make $60!!!

 

I removed all the shovelware on my 9400 via the Control Panel. Kept getting irritating "Buy Me"-like pop-ups.

Try www.nvidia.com. Make sure the driver is compatible with the Go7800 before installing. I'm using the version that came pre-installed and it works fine on my intensive shader apps (I don't play games). The ForceWare version is 78.59. I'm running 81.98 on my desktop and it has problems with debug Direct3D.

 

There aren't any drivers on the nvidia site for laptops. You have several choices, either get the ones on the Dell site, or the XG MobileForce drivers at www.tweaksrus.com or the Omega drivers (is it correct?) but I don't remember the website accurately. You can always run a search on the forum.

Edit: Lol, noticed the title change and I was like ...wha!? When did this one show up?? and then read it...lol.

 

Ah yes, I found them. But looks to say that I have the latest driver (78.59).
Funny because the only pop-ups I was getting was that **** Quickstart books crap.

I can say for sure that this notebook has Desktop performance. Especially on the game "GTA: San Andreas". It's crazy to know that both my high-end desktop looks and plays just as well as the notebook. Considering view distance maxed out, with 3 anti-alias, highest resolution ect.
Although my previous Alienware area51-m770 with the 6800 and 2 gigs of ram didn't get this good of performance. I can sure say that the dual core processors help make things better.
The laptop hardly ever overheats. It's rather mid-warmish to cool. Considering it's a desktop replacement notebook.
I am considering installing "Boiling point" game as it's a very demanding game. So I can base a full review off that.
I doubt I will do any multiplayer gaming. Because i'm not in the mood for any downloads with virus's ect. that servers may provide counting spyware ect,

 

It's good to know that you finally were able to experience the performance on your new laptop. It's a very good one. Congrats!!

 

MSF, what DCP do you have in there?