Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

[mgoldshteyn]

Bios settings [F2] checking "standard charge" instead of "express charge" would be a good place to start with slower charging rate

edit. under "power management" in BIOS settings

I'll look into that, after searching for express charge, I noticed that standard charge seems to (surprisingly) be the default in the BIOS for the M4600.

[mgoldshteyn]

What the heck is a plastic scribe? You need one of these to get the keyboard trim off to upgrade the secondary memory on the M4600 (See: Removing The Keyboard Trim). I didn't know either, so some googling around and a little creativity and I made just the tool.

We start with an old chunk of plastic that was laying around the basement among the ancient computer parts everybody seems to keep around. Some of you geezers like me may remember this as a hard plastic Floppy Disk Drive connector, from the golden years of computing:



After several minutes with a Dremel tool and 120, 220, and 800 grit sandpaper, voila, we have a prison shank! Heh, I mean a makeshift plastic tool that can wedge off the keyboard trim without breaking, scoring or marking it:



You can probably do a similar number on just about any piece of rectangular hard plastic. Here are some close-up images:

Zoomed in top and side views:



I know it looks rough and dull at these absurdly high magnification levels, but I assure you it is quite smooth and sharp after the 800 grit had its way with it. 400 grit would have been just fine, too, and you may even be able to get away with stopping at the good old 220 grit found at most hardware stores if you aren't a perfectionist (and aren't worried about invisible marks you make while removing the keyboard trim). What you see as rough spots around the "shoulders" are actually very soft plastic curls, while the edge is quite hard, because of how I beveled it (i.e., similar to semi-flush diagonal cutters - strong and sharp). Having all those cool tool magazines with nice pictures and explanations around, even though you never really wind up purchase anything from them seems to have paid off as an educational experience in making sturdy / sharp tool tips. If the angle turns out to be too steep to wedge the tool in, I can always angle it down a bit, sadly losing some twisting strength in the process. I chose to err in the steep angle direction, since angling down is much easier than trying to angle back up.

The interesting thing is that unlike a screwdriver, this head and shoulders design gives you quite a bit of leverage if you need it, both horizontally and verically, by reinforcing what would have been a screwdriver shaft along its width. Of course it can't fit into all of the tight places a screwdriver can, but that's not its purpose...

I might even consider doing something to the other side of this tool to give it a sharp plastic awl-like round tip, in case that's needed, using a similar head and shoulders design. All it would take is filing a rectangular end and then sticking it (very slowly) into a good old electric pencil sharpener. Funny how a little old fashioned creativity can go a long way, in a pinch.

I suppose you could skip this entire effort and just use a thin screwdriver whose tip is covered with a paper towel, but with my luck, I would just wind up cracking the laptop's edge with such a configuration. I am beginning to wonder if the dull back of a boxcutter blade can be used for such an operation with little risk to damaging the laptop's edge, never mind the risk of cutting oneself with the business end of said blade. I guess it's always good to have a plan B, in case the best intentions come to a screeching halt in practice.

[ANILE8]

I just used one of my laminated Video Library membership cards that have the clear plastic lamination over a standard paper business card.

This is thin and strong enough to remove the trim without any damage to the laptop.

Credit Cards are usually too thick.

I also use this same method to remove interior trim panels in luxury cars. Works great if you know what you are doing.

[mgoldshteyn]

I just used one of my laminated Video Library membership cards that have the clear plastic lamination over a standard paper business card.

This is thin and strong enough to remove the trim without any damage to the laptop.

Credit Cards are usually too thick.

I also use this same method to remove interior trip panels in luxury cars. Works great if you know what you are doing.

Excellent idea! I meant to ask you how you went about getting the other 8 GB of RAM in there If credit cards are too thick, I am going to have to go the narrow angle route, I guess...

[mgoldshteyn]

...
Credit Cards are usually too thick.
...

I just took your beveled laminated video card idea to its logical conclusion:

Take an old credit card, or, better yet an old hotel key card that hotels usually let you keep, because at least the one that I have laying around is a tad thicker than the average credit card. File it down to about a 30 degree beveled edge using 110 grit sandpaper (time invested 30 seconds). Finish up with 400 or 800 grit for a smooth edge (time invested 10 seconds) and you've got yourself the perfect (wedge) tool for the job. It took me all of 45 seconds from key card to finished product - less time in fact than it took to write the last two sentences!

The best part is you get the thinness of the edge of a video card (approx. 0.10 - 0.25 mm (i.e., 4 - 10 mils for us Americans), without resorting to measuring it with a digital caliper), combined with the strength of a hard plastic card (1 - 1.5 mm / 40 - 60 mils), so that there is less twisting and bending of the card when you are prying the thing open. By the way, that really thin plastic you can buy at the hardware store is usually 1 - 4 mils, but has very little bending resistance.

[mgoldshteyn]

Why are PC rags and web sites not (expertly) reviewing the M4600? Is it because of the Dell Small Business designation?

[Out of the Maelstrom]

Why are PC rags and web sites not (expertly) reviewing the M4600? Is it because of the Dell Small Business designation?

Damn good question. Silence is _not_ golden.

[ANILE8]

I for one am glad I took the leap of faith and ordered one regardless.

However it would be nice to see some major reviews and you would think a statement product like this from DELL would have created more marketing spin.

DELL's P.R. department should be given a slap.

[armsys]

Sent from China on 06/07 and will be delivered in the next 4 days.

Hi docsaro,
I'm surprised the Dell M4600 for Italy market is actually manufactured in China.

[docsaro]

Hi docsaro,
I'm surprised the Dell M4600 for Italy market is actually manufactured in China.

Hi,
really the Track and Trace Hystory from WWI vector started from WAALWIJK (MERGE ITEMS PICKED), and CHINA (DEPARTED MANU.FACILITY), and again WAALWIJK (FIRST BOX SCANNED OUT OF HUB), WAALWIJK (ORDER DISPATCHED FROM HUB).

Actual status is . (no location) (DELAY EX FC CENTRE)...