Dell Latitude D630 Review Discussion

Thanks for the reply. It’s understood that there is 2 RAM Slots.

We still would like to know however, If a Dell Latitude D630 is ordered with “1 DIMM at 1.0GB” will the laptop have the 1 DIMM of RAM pre-installed under the keyboard or on the underside of the laptop?

We would prefer the 1 DIMM to come from Dell installed under the keyboard because of its difficult removal and installation. This would give us the option of adding another 1 DIMM to the much easier bottom side – later on.

However, we aren’t sure where the 1 DIMM of RAM will be installed from Dell?

Thank you,

Skid

 

I've ordered a D620 and a D630, both with only one module of RAM and both had the easy-access slot on the under side left empty.

 

Babber, I REALLY REALLY wanted the 1330, and was all set on purchasing it, until I found out it doesn't have pcmcia

 

Thank you Babber for your reply.

That’s what we will do – order the 1 DIMM @ 1 Gig for now seeing we are running Windows XP and when we find we need more we will add to it. A little money saved now and glad to know the other DIMM will be the easy one to replace.

Appreciate the help,

Skid

 

Dude, I already did that and it didn't work.

 

I've had my D630 for a couple of weeks, running Vista Business. It's a great laptop - no major problems so far (although I agree with all the comments that the keyboard isn't as good as a Thinkpad!)

Re: RAM. Mine came with 2gb. I multi-task a lot, but I've never got close to actually using the full 2gb. Even with Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007, Word 2007, Thunderbird, Firefox, DigiGuide and several system-tray apps running simultaneously, it has never gone above 1.5gb of RAM used. Anyone who thinks they need more than 2gb will need to be dealing with *huge* documents or massive photoshop / video editing projects to make it worthwhile.

 

I'm about to buy this laptop (for my 3rd year of college) but I got a question before I do that. How much should I expect from the NVIDIA Quardro card? I'd like to play some newer games with decent resolution, will the card be able to handle that? Any comment is appreciated! Thanks!

 

I'm a new D630 user. I've got it since 21-June-07. I found that Wi-Fi Catcher Light never work (on) at all in every stage of power on/off, having or no available network. Although, it's said on its manaul that:

4 Wi-Fi Catcher light
WI-FI CATCHER
™ LIGHT — The light operates as follows:
– Flashing green: Searching for networks
– Solid green: Strong network found
– Solid yellow: Weak network found
– Flashing yellow: Error
– Off: No signal found

Any one has found the same as my one? I was told by Dell that it "WORKS AS DESIGNED" Also, till now some machine works but some may not.
Please check yours and let me know.

 

Hi! Thanks for the review, helped me to decide to buy this notebook.

I've got this configuration with nVidia graphics, I have it for four days now , so here are some information.

T7300 2GHz + nVidia Quadro NVS 135M
1x1GB RAM (667 MHz)
120GB HDD (5400RPM)
WXGA+
6-cell battery

3Dmark06 - 1130 points

With internet connected via bluetooth, wi-fi off and various work in windows for all the time, the battery lasted about 3:40 hours, dell quickset on maximum battery option. Same conditions, but maximized contrast gave about 2:30 hours. With optimized contrast and bluetooth off, wi-fi off it could be something above 4 hours.

 

Hello, thanks for the review.
I´m new member.
I bought a D630, with the follow features:
+ Procesador Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, 2GHz, 800 MHz
+ 14.1 Wide Screen WXGA + LCD
+ 1GB DDR2 667MHz 1 DIMM
+ 128 MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M
+ 80 GB Hard Drive 5400 rpm
+ Standard Touch pad
+ Windows XP home SP2
+ DVD/CD burner
+ Intel 3945 WLAN 802.11 a/g
+ Bateria 6 celdas
+ Complete Care 3 años
+ Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth

Yo agregare 1gb de memoria, guiandome con el review.

 

Hi Friends,

Thanks for the review, i've learnt more about this model from here.

Good day to you all, i've been using this D630 for a month. my specs are
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, 1 G Ram, no NVidia,80G HDD/Samsung and 6 cell batt. and it seems when i used the NHC(notebook hardware control,my temperature goes to about 52deg Celcius.
Is it considered high temp?
i am using a notebook cooler/fanless by Cooler MAster;Notepal S.

So i find this notebook easy to use and getting use to notebook as its my 1st time using them after migrating from Desktop.
I find it quiet heavy as now i am using the standard Dell's bag.
By the way the notebook casing is made from MAgnesium why does is feels soft from the outside/top side and the speaker/wrist rest between the touch pad also seems soft.
Thanks.

 

Thanks for all the comments. Although I noticed many comments about memory upgrades, has anyone upgraded their hard drives? Hitachi 200 gig 16meg cache for example?
Thanks

 

Hey, I'm considering upgrading the RAM on my Latitude D630, but I'm not sure if I should go for the 4 GB upgrade or just upgrade to 3 GB and skip the difficult removal of the hinge.

In either case, what type of RAM is compatible with the D630? All I know is that it uses DDR2 667 RAM.

 

Does the palmrests get warm on the D630? I bought a new Inspiron 1420, and the left palmrest gets pretty warm, it's rather uncomfortable.

Thanks!

 

Currently Dell is experiencing severe production problems.
I ordered my dell on 15 august 2007; initial delivery date was 10 sept 2007. Now this is postponed till 22 october 2007.

This is totally unacceptable for a business notebook (order value of 2000 euro!)

Communication is bad; by e-mail there is no response at all, by phone you will be on hold for half an hour. Call back promises are not kept

The best offer they could make was a reduction of E75. Ofcourse they will, the price of the processor dropped E80 before delivery.
I don't want a rebate, I want a beautiful Dell D630!


I will never buy nor recommend Dell again.

 

I'm not sure if this question was asked yet, can you add unmatched RAM to the d630? I ordered mine off Dell website, and wanted to add more RAM w/o paying $75 labor to add it...I want to add a 2GB stick to my existing 512MB..does that work?

 

Yes, you can add unmatched RAM. The RAM will be recognized... it just won't run in dual-channel mode. I ordered my D630 with 512MB, then installed 2 matching sticks of 1gb from Crucial, which was only $82 at the time. I gave my 512mb chip away.

 

Thanks for the response...what do you mean about the dual-channel mode? Not sure what that exactly means...

 

back in the day it used to be like this, your memory controller could hit two sticks of ram twice per cycle, one stick at the top of the cycle, and another at the bottom of a cycle, hence people would get dual sticks of matching ram so you can do this.

these days you can get a 1-3% performance increase if you have matched or dual channel ram, its up to you to decide if you want to match it or not.

 

Alright..thanks

 

what do yall use to clean lcd screens?

 

Question:

Is the DVD drive replaceable with a slot-filler, as to make the laptop overall lighter?

 

yes its called the travel lite adapter

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22&sku=310-3793

 

This product is compatible with the following systems:
Latitude D420
Latitude D500
Latitude D505
Latitude D510
Latitude D520
Latitude D600
Latitude D610
Latitude D620
Latitude D800
Latitude D810 (Integrated Graphics)
Latitude D810 (Radeon x600 Graphics)
Latitude D820
OptiPlex GX620 Desktop
OptiPlex GX620 Mini-Tower
OptiPlex GX620 Small Form Factor
OptiPlex GX620 Ultra Small Form Factor
OptiPlex SX280

No D630? =(

 

The Lightweight travel module for D series (D520/D620/D820) will fit the newer D630 just fine.

However, I would question why someone would spend good money to buy "air". But then again, I have a 630 with the 9 cell and a 6 cell modular for 13hrs of battery life, so weight is not a big issue for me.

 

D630 arrived (2.6 GHz, 4GB RAM, 7200 HD, Vista Ultimate 32 bit).
Can it run Vista Ultimate 64 bit ?

 

If it is running it right now then why ask?

 

I would imagine so or else it's a pretty difficult thing to read 4GB+ of RAM.

 

Hi,

The review is really excellent and gave us a more details information about the laptop. I am planning to go for this Laptop(T7250, 2 GHz, Intel core duo processor, 2Gb RAM and >120 GB harddisk). I was about to purchase Dell Inspiron 1525. But after seeing this review of Latitude D630, am rethinking of it. Please suggest me which one will be a better option. Thanks in advance.

 

I don't think you can really compare the D630 to that Inspiron; the Inspiron uses a plastic case, a non-Santa Rosa chipset, and generally cheaper components. The D630 is a business laptop, uses the latest Intel CPU's, has the modern Santa Rosa chipset, and has a magnesium case that can survive a lot more abuse.

The difference in overall quality is like night and day between the two machines. The Inspiron is just a child's toy in comparison.

 

Inspiron does have a plastic case, but it has magnesium alloy frame, same as d-630. Inspiron does use Santa Rosa chipset, infact, it's the same as the d-630's. It's either pm965 or gm965 chipset which are SantaRosa chipsets. The D630 and Inspiron uses the same latest cpu, and can both survive lots of abuse.

The D-630 does offer hybrid hdd, shock mounted hdd, and many business hardwares.

 

Hai, Thanks for your information. I agree that those two are for entirely diffrent purpose.....I didnt have enough idea by that time.. now am fine.... Your input diffrentiates the two in clear cut way.. thanks for it....

 

hi!

I was wondering if anyone else has issues connecting to a Linksys WRT54G v.6 router? I can connect fine to it with my Lenovo T61 ThinkPad but not with my Dell. (the whole reason I got a Dell is because I was originally having issues with the ThinkPad.....) I have it set up as WEP, 128bit encryption, shared authentication, mixed mode. I have no idea why it wouldn't be working. This has been driving me crazy! Both laptops are using Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN, though the driver on the Dell is slightly newer. I can connect to an unsecured network in the area on the Dell, I believe it's wireless b. Any hints as to why it can't connect to my secured network?

Oh.. I do like the Dell keyboard better than the Lenovo, haha. Not the touchpad, though.

 

Haha, I'd say if you're worried about abuse, you can get Dell's new XFR D630, a properly ruggedized (unlike the ATG) version of D630. Starting at $3899, though, ouch, though not unreasonable considering the alternatives. Clearly, they're going after Panasonic's Toughbooks, with the graphics and signage addressing them specifically.

http://www.dell.com/xfr
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/03/04/48454.aspx

I always thought ruggedized notebooks were pretty cool, if only for the fact that you could probably stop bullets with those things.

 

Thanks to the details and warning, I managed to replace the memory on my new D630 laptop, now max at 4GB RAM. Somehow, I went through the same thing that the author did (did not seat the memory properly) and the A capital key was flashing upon a boot up. Had to remove the hinge and keyboard again to reseat the memory. Guess I can apply for a hardware technician now at Best Buy...

Thanks again

 

I have this D630 laptop and I was wondering about one thing in the review. The author compared the quality of the display before and after colour calibration and said that calibration had "made a HUGE difference". How is this calibration thing being done? When I googled it, I only found some expensive programs for colour calibration, used by some artists or sth.

Does anyone have a good idea? It can't only be about tweaking the colour settings manually, can it?

 

Could you please send me the calibrated color profile? I do not know much about that process. Many thanks. My email: [email protected]

 

Sick. A candidate for my next computer. But my Vostro 1400 is going strong.