got my dell 600m....

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OldSpooky

Senior member
Nov 28, 2002
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Originally posted by: dannybek
I got my 600m yesterday and I am quite pleased. Yet I have one problem. The when I press a button on the keyboard the whole keyboard moves. Is it possible there is an lose screw? Can I fix it myself?

The utter crap quality of Dell laptop keybards is the reason I won't buy a Dell laptop again. Dell has good features for the price and nicer construction quality than they used to, but gawd damn I think people would pay $10-20 or even $50 more for a better keyboard.
 

Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
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Originally posted by: OldSpooky
Originally posted by: dannybek
I got my 600m yesterday and I am quite pleased. Yet I have one problem. The when I press a button on the keyboard the whole keyboard moves. Is it possible there is an lose screw? Can I fix it myself?

The utter crap quality of Dell laptop keybards is the reason I won't buy a Dell laptop again. Dell has good features for the price and nicer construction quality than they used to, but gawd damn I think people would pay $10-20 or even $50 more for a better keyboard.


Its fine once you press it down and snap it into place ;)
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
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Well I pressed the esc key and to no avail nothing really "snapped" back into place. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I removed the top bezel which the volume and power buttons are located. Basically to remove the front bezel is a bit tedious. Remove it with caution if you do so, there are no screws holding it down, basically its a "snap on" bezel. When you do remove it you can see two screws that hold down the keyboard to the chassis. Upon removing the screws and lifting the keyboard I could see that the keyboard wasn't lying flat on the so called "plate" that covers the sensitive electronics. There were spaces, gaps, pockets(choose one) that were on the left part of the notebook, that was where the problem was located. I decided to put several thin flat pieces of styrofoam rectangles on top. After putting back everything to place I am glad to say my problems have been solved. I just hope nothing overheats. Any suggestions, comments?
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
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great! So I am not alone in experiencing the problem with the lower left side of the keyboard! I spoke with Dell, and they are sending me a replacement laptop. I'll try the ESC trick in the evening to see if that works. I'm too scared to open the keyboard up though. Other than this, it has been a near perfect experience so far. The build quality is good otherwise, and I find the screen to be quite sturdy (better than the 4150 atleast).
 

Sonarcade

Member
Nov 2, 2002
139
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I've had mine for about 4 days now and I noticed a few things about it in terms of using it for audio recording. After about 10 minutes of initializing an asio driver for the onboard soundcard, I start getting intermittent beeps which goes on in 30 second intervals and can get really annoying. I hope that the problem is in the driver and not in the laptop. The driver can be found on www.asio2ks.de but requires a l/p. Otherwise, whoever wants it can PM me and I'll be more than happy to oblige.

P-M 1.3 GHz, 384 MB RAM, 40 GB 5400 rpm hd, 64 MB ati radeon 9000, sxga+, intel pro 2100
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
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bump. so did anyone find a fix to the keyboard problem? Would getting the keyboard replaced help?
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
1,096
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Originally posted by: ankit
bump. so did anyone find a fix to the keyboard problem? Would getting the keyboard replaced help?

I fixed it myself. It works like a charm.

I have a question to all D600M owners. I found out on my notebook if I press on the bezel near the vicinity of the power button, the computer turns on. Does this also happen to you? Even if the notebook is closed and I press at the top-rear part of the lcd screen it also boots on.
Anyways I correct that problem.
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
1,096
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An added note.

Did anyone overclock their Radeon 9000M yet? I am using Powerstrip. When I want to play UT2003 I press my custom hotkeys and my graphics core goes up to 249mhz and my graphics ram goes up to 250mhz. Then when I am finished playing and either surfing or typing I lower my clock with another custom hotkey to 186mhz, 186 mhz respectively.
 

Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
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Originally posted by: dannybek
Originally posted by: ankit
bump. so did anyone find a fix to the keyboard problem? Would getting the keyboard replaced help?

I fixed it myself. It works like a charm.

I have a question to all D600M owners. I found out on my notebook if I press on the bezel near the vicinity of the power button, the computer turns on. Does this also happen to you? Even if the notebook is closed and I press at the top-rear part of the lcd screen it also boots on.
Anyways I correct that problem.

Nope, I don't have that problem.
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
0
76
Originally posted by: dannybek
I fixed it myself. It works like a charm.

I have a question to all D600M owners. I found out on my notebook if I press on the bezel near the vicinity of the power button, the computer turns on. Does this also happen to you? Even if the notebook is closed and I press at the top-rear part of the lcd screen it also boots on.
Anyways I correct that problem.
No such problem for me. The front bezel does look kind of flimsy though (the blue trim is coming off at the right edge)

How did you fix the keyboard problem? Did you simply reseat it? Can you explain in a little detail? Thanks.

nm, read your previous post. I'll try to open the keyboard sometime, though lifting the front bezel makes me scared
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
1,096
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Don't worry about taking off the bezel, just don't yank it cause all the small plastic . I took some pictures but, I don't know where to post them.
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
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76
Originally posted by: dannybek
Don't worry about taking off the bezel, just don't yank it cause all the small plastic . I will try to take some pictures and explain it.

Pics would be awesome! and while you're at it, could you get some of the "gaps or spaces" in the plate under the keyboard, and how you filled them as well?
Thanks!
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
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76
dannybek, thanks for the pics. I'll try to do the operation later today. I had another question. How do you remove the hard disk? When I open the screw, I am able to slide out a tray from underneath the hard disk, but the hard disk stays put. Do I need to pull it out somehow? I feel dumb but I dont see how it can be done without using undue force.
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
1,096
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That's very very strange. I changed my hard drive recently but the hard drive was screwed on to the tray by four small screws. so when I pulled it out the hard drive would come out too.
 

ankit

Senior member
Jan 26, 2003
297
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76
Originally posted by: dannybek
That's very very strange. I changed my hard drive recently but the hard drive was screwed on to the tray by four small screws. so when I pulled it out the hard drive would come out too.

exactly what I thought. looks like the stupid guy assembling the laptop forgot to screw the hard disk before installing it in. i hope i dont have to send it back to get it fixed.
 

dannybek

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2002
1,096
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You can pull it out; I do not believe any damage will be done unless your 600M model has a different Hard Drive tray design from mine. If you feel a bit adventurous then I suggest you should pull it out yourself and add some fitting screws. Yet I would at least expect some sort of quality check in Dell if we pay more than 1k.

Edit: Just as I had finished posting this my 600M crashed.