Dell Laptop User Thread

[jasonz85]

15 hrs? so long? sorry but just that i am amazed.

 

[Diavonex]

First charge is very important.

 

[human_shieldz]

Hi, thank you for your response. Did you Office 2003 installed?

No. Mine is office 2007. Work perfect. But i think 2003 should be also working fine. However, do take note that my pre-installed Vista by Dell was kinda screwed up. I had so much problem and i kept blaming Vista until i formatted and resinstalled myself, then it has no problem. Just an example of the problem i had......i inserted the USB port of my external hdd into the laptop and then cannot detect! Need driver!! No such driver!! WTF!!!

 

[human_shieldz]

Is there a way to install MediaDirect without having to format my C drive?? Cos from what i read, No matter wat happened MediaDirect has to be installed before installing Windows. If u deleted MD, then only way to get it back is to format the C drive again and install MD 1st then windows.

 

[maleman]

I didn't have that problem le. But i'm on 2gb RAM. Running on 512mb with Vista is already suicidal. The Mediadirect uses cyberlink software.

Stupid Dell..... should not have allowed 512MB as an option for Vista notebook in the first place. Now minimum they offer is 1GB, but during CNY, 512MB was an option when i ordered it.

 

[Diavonex]

Stupid Dell..... should not have allowed 512MB as an option for Vista notebook in the first place. Now minimum they offer is 1GB, but during CNY, 512MB was an option when i ordered it.

DELL have clearly stated that 1024MB is reccommended for Vista in their specification.

 

[maleman]

DELL have clearly stated that 1024MB is reccommended for Vista in their specification.

Yes, noticed they said 1024MB for Aero features and visual effects.
I dun need any of that so i turned them off.

Since they have 512MB option, i take it that i can use 512MB on Vista Basic.
But no.... it still crawled like crazy. I have to uninstall the included anti-virus trial and cyberlink myself to have at least a decent performance, otherwise have to wait 5mins during boot up and shutdown....

 

[human_shieldz]

Stupid Dell..... should not have allowed 512MB as an option for Vista notebook in the first place. Now minimum they offer is 1GB, but during CNY, 512MB was an option when i ordered it.

Yeah i agree! A bit gundu la but what to do. Just buy one more and put it in lor, cheaper somemore to buy outside hehe

 

[silencer22]

Is there a way to install MediaDirect without having to format my C drive?? Cos from what i read, No matter wat happened MediaDirect has to be installed before installing Windows. If u deleted MD, then only way to get it back is to format the C drive again and install MD 1st then windows.

dell has release a MD repair utility, u can check it out frm their website
hav nv tried out tt software, so assuming, it does requires u to hav e md exist in ur hdd...

 

[human_shieldz]

dell has release a MD repair utility, u can check it out frm their website
hav nv tried out tt software, so assuming, it does requires u to hav e md exist in ur hdd...

I believe that repair thing is only to repair an existing windows and MD installations that does not work. Did thought about it before but doubt its gonna do anything when i dun even have MD in my computer yet. But thanks for the help anyway.

 

[jasonz85]

Diavonex, i just did a 1st charge yesterday. hope to see an improvement this time round... so surprise to see my 6400 battery only lasts me 2 hours on the 1st usage...

 

[Diavonex]

Tips for getting more from a notebook battery.

1. Turn off Wi-Fi and BlueTooth - Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking.

2. Don't play computer games, music or DVD movies - Multimedia activities drain laptop batteries.

3. Disconnect all external device like PC Card modems, Firewire, USB devices and optical drives. Use the notebook touchpad instead of an external mouse.

4. Adjust your screen brightness - Dimming your display saves battery power.

5. Tweak Windows Power Options - Choose a Laptop power scheme that turns off the notebook monitor and hard disk after 10 minutes of inactivity.

6. Decrease or mute the Laptop Speaker Volume.

7. Turn off all scheduled tasks.

8. Turn off Auto-save features in Microsoft Office and other applications.

9. If your PC has a built-in wireless card, turn it off or disable it when not in use.

10. Programs that are run from a CD or DVD can be copied to and run from the hard drive, which typically consumes less power than an optical drive.

 

[jasonz85]

thanks..

I expect it to last at least chao chao 3 hrs leh
also very the funny.... when i first time use the battery which was 100%, win vista was said to can last estimate 3 hrs... but actual fact only 2 hrs

 

[ter_03_80]

it lasted 4 hrs for me the max

 

[jasonz85]

haiz... i tried again...this time with 1st time full charge, only 2 hrs + a bit only... is mine a lemon battery? is dell support opens on sunday?

 

[Diavonex]

Did you lower the screen brightness?

Don't expect 4 hours on the Inspiron 6400 with 6 cell battery; 3 hours is more like it.

 

[Diavonex]

Did you test with this setting:

 

[human_shieldz]

Errrr.... i thought its quite normal and also depends on wat you are running. I'm using M1210 with a 9-cell batt. On high performance, i was using only powerpoint on a 12.1" can only tahan around 3hrs only.

 

[Diavonex]

That's an honest feedback.

It's ridiculous to reduce CPU performance, stop and spin up hard disk few minutes, ON and OFF LCD every few minute just to squeez the 5 hours out from the battery. You'll do more damage to the computer.

I normally run my laptop on high performance and get about 2 to 3 hours from a 6 cell battery.

 

[yukita]

question to ask;
i reinstall my 1210 from vista to windows xp. reinstalling also the mediadirect3. but now the mediadirect3 button not working in my windows. only when the laptop off, then press the button, will load mediadirect. is it normal media direct button not working in windows? now the only way open the application is by start menu.