New Dell M60 - Page 4

Keyboard, nvidia drivers, routers, internet jaggies, etc.. I've got some answers to share with everyone. Not to mention I want to pass on an audio recommendation that has me completely blown away!! Leaving out of the house though, will check back in tonight and see what I can share

Also a forum member PM'd me wanted to know how hi-def 1080p format material ran on my machine. Will post my impressions tonight.

Are you seeing this in Internet explorer? If so, this is a scaling feature that makes text easier to read in IE, the problem is that pictures are scaled to fit the size of the font.

More info on how to ENABLE this (reverse it to disable):

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...ew/highdpi.asp

This is how to fix it (short cut):

Copy the following into a text file (the stuff between the dashes but not including the dashes) into notepad:
-----

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"UseHR"=dword:00000000

-----

Call it antifuzzy.reg or whatever you like, save it and double click it.

This will import it into the registry. Now just reboot and your images should be fixed. I still have some blockyness of the system tray icons, but I'm fixing that as we speak.

Please post away, I am trying to compile a FAQ will this information from all the threads on here. Of course, I'll credit everyone from all their hard work... I owe you guys.

Okay, I got the solution to the system tray icon problem with it being blocky. Again, if you are having certain images look blocky in Internet explorer, then follow my post above. Once you have done that, look closey at your system tray and you'll see the icons are not perfect. The problem is easily solved by going into display properties -> advanced ... then change the DPI setting from 120 DPI to 96 DPI. Everything is fixed.

Only downside is that fonts are now TINY!!! (or should I say tiny). The system is great.

As for the wireless problems. Dell is sending me a new wireless card which will be here tomorrow. Although, I now suspect the problem is the access point and not the wireless card. Secondly, Dell is sending out a new keyboard tomorrow to fix the lump that I talked about before. So far so good. Dell is working for me.

Well, I got a total of $300+150+100+200 off on this machine ($750).

So all in all I paid $2,800 (including tax/shipping) for 1.6GHZ, 7200RPM 60GB, and DVD+RW.

Pretty hot deal..

I admit, the new Sager benchmarks are impressive, but I think I'm going to stick my my m60 since it's still fast and has a better screen/battery life/weight/temperature/look.

The new sager benchmarks are great, I knew my m60 would never beat a sager in terms of "raw power". My decision to keep my m60 came down to a few factors:

1) timeframe
2) battery life
3) weight & slim design
4) screen
5) warranty not voided if I upgrade any component

Of course it won't compete in terms of raw processing power with a 3.2GHz HT processor on an 800MHz FSB, dual raid array HDDs, and 400MHz dual channel DDR RAM. But it crunches all my apps AMAZINGLY fast! It's video performance is also unrivaled by any other notebook, and almost equals the new powerhouse aw/sager's coming out. So with that in mind it really came down to the above 5.

Hey jyoung,

Post info on the audio recommendation when you can. The only feature I wish my M60 had was a digital pass thru for audio. Also, info on any other outstanding issues would be great.

Today Dell sent me a new wireless card, but that has not fixed the problem. Interestingly, the problem lies with channels that get closer to # 11. As we get closer to ch. 11, the performance messes up. What this tells me is that something on my machine is interfereing at that frequency. Weird huh?

Wow. How can you even pay $4,000 for a laptop with Sager right in front of you? I could not even dream of doing that, especially with the new Centrinos coming out soon.

I'm not bashing you, you obviously need something different (slightly better screen, better battery life, you need it now) than I do (much better gaming performance, better upgradability, though I do believe that the Sagers have a much more attractive design). But I just could not even imagine spending $4,000 (or even close to $3,000) on any computer.

I have to agree with you there. This laptop will play every game title that is out today. it's gaming performance is right with the 8890 benchmarks posted (for video) so I can't see how anyone could fault this laptop in that area. Although it does not have the raw muscle of an 8890, it does everything else very well (if not better than) Sager. Again, different stroke for different folks. =)

I prefer an overhanded, loose-grip stroke.

Hrana, I apologize for disappearing and seeming so flaky the last two days. It's been crazy the last few days. This is probably my last post for the next week or two. My house is all boxed up and I'm getting ready to lay my computers away. Tomorrow I move out and to go across country to CT for my graduate program.

Can't wait to show off my M60 when I get there (to a couple of friends)!!

OK, even though I'm packing up as we speak I feel somewhat guilty for not providing any info. Basically don't have time to go in to any details, but Hrana already hit on how to fix the jaggies problem. It's a problem inherent to ALL widescreen laptops, not just Dells. When Longhorn and future versions of IE come out they will supposedly have better scaling abilities (especially for large 120 dpi formats). This post does a good job at explaining how to implement what hrana was talking about http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...ssage.id=79881

As for audio I bought an echo indigo PC Card (which has a built in amp for two headphones) http://www.echoindigo.com/ and mated it with a set of Beyerdynamic DT 250-80 professional studio headphones http://www.headphone.com (go to product recommendations and they are recommend for working professionals, gamers, and portable listening). These rank up there as some of the best circumaural closed cans you can buy (and not spend over $500). I swear this combo sounds as good as a $8-10k B&K system. It's absolutely incredible. Everyone that has listened to it for DVDs, music, or games says it's the absolute best sound they have EVER heard on a computer, and every single person has walked away saying it sounds better than their home entertainment center. The drawback of course is that is that they are headphones. Perfect for me though as I'm going to school and wanted headphones to listen to music while doing homework at school, or taking a break during a study group. Also a really good option for LAN parties! There are good open designs by Senneheiser and Grado but I can't have my music blasting out others in my study group. Not to mention when I game or watch DVDs at home I don't want to wake up my two little girls. I still can't stop smiling everytime I put these on!! For those needing more output options echo is coming out with the EchoIO and EchoDJ (check their web site for specs).

BTW, if you want to know what nvidia drivers you are running just go to display properties>settings>advanced>fx go700 and you'll see it listed by Dell as 6.14.10.4424. Basically this means detonator 44.24 for those trying to figure out what "street" version they are using. One dell forum member is reporting using the 44.90 on the M60, but his performance has only increased just slightly. Here is the link for the drivershttp://homepages.paradise.net.nz/oha...legpuindex.htm

As far as the keyboard it is really easy to get underneath it (we're talking 3 snaps and 2 screws...see dell website for the manual). I was unhappy that I could hit keys on the left side of the keyboard and here a slight twang - like metal hitting metal. Well I discovered underneath the keyboard on the right hand side there are small strips of foams on top of the metal chasis preventing the right hand side of the keyboard from making contact with the metal chasis everytime you tap a key. Nothing like that on the left hand side. So I cut a few strips of foam (from the foam that covered my M60 monitor when it arrived -- it needs to be that thin), and taped them down in key spots on the left hand chasis. Put the keyboard back on and walaaahh! The keyboard is now 100% firm EVERYWHERE, and it feels great to type on (firmness, sound, etc..).

Hrana, hope you have had luck with setting up your wireless network. I know that can be frustrating. Not a technical guru myself, did you have any luck with Dell?

Atremis, from what i understand the New Chips will work with our MOBO, allowing us to upgrade to a 2 gig 2meg cache Pentium M around december

Atremis,

Where did you get that info. All that I see on the net is contradictory. Some say the new chips will be compatible with existing MOBO but others say they will need a new chipset to run.

Any link you can post to confirm your info?

Thanks

I would but im going out of town, so im gonna claim stuff and leave... yes i have heard the contradictory stuff too, but i find it hard to believe intel would launch all this new stuff and change it so soon down the road. Hopefully someone has some evidence, i am leaving so TA TA

Ordered my M60 last night.

My decision came down to the warranty and docking. The M60 should be fast for the database work I do (7200rpm drive) and I don't play games. I work for myself at home and with Dell I have next business day replacement of any piece that breaks on my laptop. I can't afford to be out of service for a week since I am the company. I also have completecare from Dell which will replace parts broken by accident. I broke the lcd in my Inspiron 8200 last year while on a business trip and a new laptop was waiting on me when I got home. That's service! Also, since I'm in dock a lot the Dport docking station is really nice compared to anything offered with the Sagers.

A friend of mine bought a 8870 in May and when he received it it had a problem with rebooting a couple times before it would start up. He upgraded BIOS and several other things but could not get it working correctly. Even though the problem existed on the new machine he was responsible for paying to ship the laptop in for repair. That's bull****, so he ended up returning it for a refund which took over 2 months to process. I have no doubt the Sagers are fast and are nice laptops but if you're doing mission critical work then it may not be the way to go.

So how does this thing handle in Photoshop? You say it has impressive video performance but in Photoshop and other tasks such as word and other business apps, how does it compare with a 4760 (2.4Ghz , 1GB Ram , 7200RPM)? I also want to know which screen is better at looking at pictures in photoshop.? The Dell M60 is expensive but would you still reccomment a centrino based laptop with a 7200RPM drive like the one here or just get the 4760. It seemed both of them at priced around the same but the 4760 offers a lil more but just a little scared about noise, and battery life and weight..ughhh. I want to be able to sit it in my lap in bed to write poems and websurfing or DVD viewing but at the same time fast enough to work in photoshop when I connect my trackball w/o trying to stretch a cord to plug it in my laptop to a wall plug for power.

Please, I would appreciate if you answer some of my questions as I am still searching around in the forums looking but most i see is everyone talking about pc game performance which I won't be doing. THanks alot

jyoung:

thanks for the info. I replaced the on-board truemobile 1400 with a Intel 2100b (so its a real centrino now). Everything works fine. The keyboard still is weird but that is cause of the strips underneath.

I love the laptop, and just did a full reinstall.