Never buying another Dell laptop again. Recommend my next one please! UPDATE: Fixed!

[John Connor]

Try a BIOS update like I said.

 

[compuwiz1]

Try a BIOS update like I said.

I'll look and see if there is a more recent one. I believe I did this about 6 months ago. Thanks for the advice John.

 

[Rakehellion]

It turns out that you need iTunes if you want to back up your iPhone settings (which I had to do when her iPhone had to be replaced) and to share photos through the iCloud with her photo albums on our home network. I suppose there may be various hacks out there for working around iTunes, but that's also more of a hassle than I need.

You don't need iTunes to use iCloud. They're completely different things. iPhones have been computer-free for years.

 

[Maximilian]

You wont like this OP but dell latitudes are great laptops. I personally would avoid any consumer laptops like the plague, except maybe apple stuff. Latitudes are for business, they're pretty solid. Lenovo thinkpads and HP elitebooks are the other companies latitude counterparts, they're worth a look.

 

[olds]

...
if Lola didn't leave, this might never have happened.

 

[RossMAN]

WTF is JEDI talking about?

Edit: Received clarification which makes sense but is still pretty stupid and ignorant.

 

[olds]

WTF is JEDI talking about?

As he is on 100% of all subjects, he is confused.

 

[ultimatebob]

FLAC and MP3 are different. iTunes does not recognize regular MP3's without converting them and that is too much of a pain in the ass and too time consuming.

Huh? I've always been able to add MP3's to iTunes without having to convert them first for years. All of my iToys were the same way. Hell... they're still .MP3 files when you look at the raw file system on the device.

WMA files are another story, though. Those needed conversion back in the day, but I'm not sure if they still do.

Anyway, back on subject. I'd recommend a Lenovo Thinkpad. You still get them with the Windows 7 "downgrade" option, and I can't think of a Windows laptop that is built better.

But, seriously, Windows 8.1 isn't half bad. The right click "power user" menu on the Start menu made it a hell of a lot easier to find things.

 

[compuwiz1]

Welp.....here is an update. I have this old Dell running like a fine oiled machine. Thanks J.C. for suggesting the bios update. I went ahead and formatted the HD then performed a clean install, did all the windows updates, as well as latest drivers. Looks like I'll run with this unit for awhile longer. I ordered a new battery again, since this one has not been charging and I've run on the power charger alone. I'm gonna upgrade from 4Gb of ram to 8 as well. Maybe I was too hard on the brand. When it works right it works quite well and I like the 17" screen.

 

[JEDI]

Welp.....here is an update. I have this old Dell running like a fine oiled machine. Thanks J.C. for suggesting the bios update. I went ahead and formatted the HD then performed a clean install, did all the windows updates, as well as latest drivers. Looks like I'll run with this unit for awhile longer. I ordered a new battery again, since this one has not been charging and I've run on the power charger alone. I'm gonna upgrade from 4Gb of ram to 8 as well. Maybe I was too hard on the brand. When it works right it works quite well and I like the 17" screen.

8gigs of ram is 1/2 the price of a new laptop.
black Friday had a pentium i3 w/8gigs ram for $299.

heck, I think there was also an i5 w/4gigs ram for $299 also.

 

[compuwiz1]

8gigs of ram is 1/2 the price of a new laptop.
black Friday had a pentium i3 w/8gigs ram for $299.

heck, I think there was also an i5 w/4gigs ram for $299 also.

Actually, you're right. Not only that, but I have the max ram the machine will take, which is 4gigs. I just went online to check.

 

[John Connor]

So it was BIOS after all?

Good to hear it's fixed. I have had nothing but Dells and have been preety happy. I even have a Dell Mini 910 on 24/7 I call the kitchen kiosk.

I just have 3 GB of RAM in this Precision M6300, although I'm useing Win7 Ultimate 32. I don't have a need for more RAM than that in this laptop although it would be nice to run VMware on here so I would need at least 4GB.

 

[disappoint]

Hummm, I am typing this post on my Dell Studio 15. I am using this on my daily usage at home for the last 4+ years (July 2010) and no problem at all. I think I will do a factory reset/reformat soon and take it apart to clean out the dust and replace the thermal compound as one of the posters suggested. I do have a cooling fan with this laptop.

I did upgrade the RAM to 8MB but nothing else. I think I "might" upgrade the HD to SSD (maybe).

8MB? I think you mean 8GB.

Welp.....here is an update. I have this old Dell running like a fine oiled machine. Thanks J.C. for suggesting the bios update. I went ahead and formatted the HD then performed a clean install, did all the windows updates, as well as latest drivers. Looks like I'll run with this unit for awhile longer. I ordered a new battery again, since this one has not been charging and I've run on the power charger alone. I'm gonna upgrade from 4Gb of ram to 8 as well. Maybe I was too hard on the brand. When it works right it works quite well and I like the 17" screen.

Glad to see you fixed it and thanks for posting how, it might help others in the same situation. One thing puzzling me is why you posted this in off topic?

 

[RossMAN]

Welp.....here is an update. I have this old Dell running like a fine oiled machine. Thanks J.C. for suggesting the bios update. I went ahead and formatted the HD then performed a clean install, did all the windows updates, as well as latest drivers. Looks like I'll run with this unit for awhile longer. I ordered a new battery again, since this one has not been charging and I've run on the power charger alone. I'm gonna upgrade from 4Gb of ram to 8 as well. Maybe I was too hard on the brand. When it works right it works quite well and I like the 17" screen.

Congrats and if you haven't already, upgrade to SSD as well. Crucial M500 256GB has been on sale for around $80 a few times including earlier today.

 

[compuwiz1]

Congrats and if you haven't already, upgrade to SSD as well. Crucial M500 256GB has been on sale for around $80 a few times including earlier today.

Oooooo, good idea! I actually have a bay for a second HD in it. Hmmmmm

 

[RossMAN]

Oooooo, good idea! I actually have a bay for a second HD in it. Hmmmmm

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ8RM1A/

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148694

 

[compuwiz1]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ8RM1A/

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148694

Sweet! Looks like a nice stocking stuffer. My factory drive could be demoted to tier 2.

 

[John Connor]

An SSD is the single best upgrade you can make. When I put this laptop together I bought an SSD. Wasn't going with a crappy platter.

Have a look at these stats. ROFL! It's only a 60 GB, but I don't have much of a use for this laptop other then Internet and basic stuff. My desktop is my VMware test station/gaming station. BTW, you should install the OS on the SSD.

 

[ZYFER]

BIOS updates can be important! They tend to resolve plenty of things, including issues with improper battery charging, overheating, etc. No reason to update out the whim, but normally they specify what it does. I like the, "If its not broken, don't fix it" approach, but sometimes you have to be preemptive

As for a SSD, definitely! In case of my current laptop, I have 2 mSATA SSDs and a 2TB physical drive for storage. The best of both worlds in that regard, and in a nice little package. For future reference, this is what I currently have:

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GS70-STEALTH.html#hero-overview

There are newer models out now ofcourse, but the design is pretty nice if you want a large and somewhat portable laptop. Hefty price tag ofcourse, but it is a gaming laptop. Something to look at in the future anyways. I would avoid even looking at Toshiba though. If you think you ever had frustrations with your Dell... I have a Toshiba story that would make you mad as hell.