Anyone else here own a Latitude D630? ***PIC***

[Temetka]

There were 2 versions of the D630.

One with an Nvidia chip and one with Intel grpahics.

Guess which ones die?

[pianowizard]

There were 2 versions of the D630.

One with an Nvidia chip and one with Intel grpahics.

We weren't talking about Intel versus Nvidia, but about whether some of the D620/820 used G84/86-based Nvidia. This matters because only G84/86-based Nvidia GPUs were faulty. According to Dell's official specs, the Nvidia-equipped D620 used the Quadro NVS 110M, whereas the Nvidia-equipped D820 used either that or the Quadro NVS 120M. As you can see in the last table in Wikipedia's Nvidia Quadro page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro), both of these GPUs had G72 cores, not G84 or G86, so the D620 and D820 shouldn't be impacted by the Nvidia issue. The D630, D830, and the T61/61p Thinkpads were affected because they used the 135M and 140M, which had G86 cores.

[DaKKS]

We weren't talking about Intel versus Nvidia, but about whether some of the D620/820 used G84/86-based Nvidia. This matters because only G84/86-based Nvidia GPUs were faulty. According to Dell's official specs, the Nvidia-equipped D620 used the Quadro NVS 110M, whereas the Nvidia-equipped D820 used either that or the Quadro NVS 120M. As you can see in the last table in Wikipedia's Nvidia Quadro page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro), both of these GPUs had G72 cores, not G84 or G86, so the D620 and D820 shouldn't be impacted by the Nvidia issue. The D630, D830, and the T61/61p Thinkpads were affected because they used the 135M and 140M, which had G86 cores.

You're correct, its a different chip. So what? They just never admitted to it being faulty. Hell, might not even be the same issue at all. AMD never admitted that the mobile HD5470 is a POS, never recalled any machines or cards. Yet they die left and right. I've had a [censored] of 7000 series die on me, far too many to be an accident or a statistical error margin.

[Temetka]

There were 2 versions of the D630.

One with an Nvidia chip and one with Intel grpahics.

We weren't talking about Intel versus Nvidia, but about whether some of the D620/820 used G84/86-based Nvidia. This matters because only G84/86-based Nvidia GPUs were faulty. According to Dell's official specs, the Nvidia-equipped D620 used the Quadro NVS 110M, whereas the Nvidia-equipped D820 used either that or the Quadro NVS 120M. As you can see in the last table in Wikipedia's Nvidia Quadro page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro), both of these GPUs had G72 cores, not G84 or G86, so the D620 and D820 shouldn't be impacted by the Nvidia issue. The D630, D830, and the T61/61p Thinkpads were affected because they used the 135M and 140M, which had G86 cores.

Fair enough.

I could have sworn Nvidia made some sort of response to the failure of the NVS140M/135M in various OEM machines and offered some sort of fix. But I could be wrong, my memory fails me on that issue. I just know enough to avoid machines of that vintage if they contain one of those GPU's. The exception being the post 08/08 T61's.

[Temetka]

Time for an update:

I am down to 2 laptops.

The T410 as primary and the D630 as backup.

Both machines are really nice (for me, ymmv) to work on. They run cool and quiet, handle everything I throw at them and they look great. I am 99% sure I won't be buying a machine in the 15" range again. Now that the cocnsulting company I am with is growing, I am out in the field far more often. Which of course means that I have to carry my laptop with me. While the D630 does weigh more than the T410, it's still a pretty light machine. I am going to upgrade the CPU on it, mainly because I can but I am alse pretty sure that if I can find a compatible P series CPU for it - then it would run even cooler than it does.

I think my new obsession is too see how powerful a machine can be while still being cool and quiet.

My normal day to day is I use the T410 for 95% of my work purposes. Then I come home and use the D630 for everything else.

IF - and this is a big if - I were to get a 3rd laptop I am pretty sure it would either be a D430 or an E4300. Wonderful little machines they are. The only reason I would do this is because I am hoping to be using a motorcycle as my primary means of transportation between work and home. Which means a backpack. Which means carrying something even lighter than the 2 machines I have now. Not out of necessicty, because both these machines are pretty light, just wanting to ease any potential back strain issues before they start. Who knows, I might not even have any issues but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

[Tasurinchi]

I were to get a 3rd laptop I am pretty sure it would either be a D430 or an E4300

Keep in mind that the D430 allows a max of 2GB RAM, mine is running Debian very good and snappy (with a mSata SSD), but for Win7 2GB could be a little tight IMO (depending what you want to do of course...)

[pianowizard]

IF - and this is a big if - I were to get a 3rd laptop I am pretty sure it would either be a D430 or an E4300.

Why don't you want the E4200? It starts at 2.20 lbs, can take up to 5GB of RAM, has an impressive keyboard, and has the same screen res as the E4300. It's even powerful enough to make Vista feel snappy. The screen is awful, but becomes decent after carefully adjusting gamma and color balance.

[automobus]

Why not E4200? E4200 is very unpleasant.

Of all mobile PCs I used, sorted by combined factors portability (size weight) and sound emission, E4200 is an ultimate/endmost: most noisy and most portable. Its fan does not spin at quiet speed: fan is either off, or spinning and annoying. E4200 has second-place worst speaker of all mobile PCs I used: very tinny. E4200 screen is very worst LED-backlit screen I used. It flickered like hell. I hate most LED-backlit laptop screens: most of them cause discomfort, make me feel sick. But E4200 is worse than all others, with a significant gap. E4200 screen is worst I ever used, due to also undesirable image effects. It shows diagonal-travelling waves or ripples, maybe what is called "pixel walking" or maybe called something else. E4200 trackpad is not good, I guess just average; I hate almost all trackpads, even some which are called good by professional reviewers.

edit: Note I did not call its trackpad "bad"; merely "not good". I think it might have been its buttons, with uncomfortable ridge at front edge, which influenced my opinion mostly.

[pianowizard]

Its fan does not spin at quiet speed: fan is either off, or spinning and annoying....E4200 has second-place worst speaker of all mobile PCs I used: very tinny...E4200 screen is very worst LED-backlit screen I used. It flickered like hell...E4200 trackpad is not good, I guess just average; I hate almost all trackpads, even some which are called good by professional reviewers.

Aside from the tinny sound (which is very typical for laptops of this size BTW), none of these other things describe the E4200 that I had. I did hate the screen's low contrast and narrow viewing angles (which are also typical for similarly sized laptops), but noticed no flickers. I suspect you had a defective screen.

BTW, if you hate almost all touchpads, that just means you have yet to learn to use them. 99 out of 100 touchpads have worked great for me. The only exception is my current Sony Pro13's stupid clickpad.

[bentobox001]

Not the D630, but I currently have and use the first laptop I ever revived off the junk heap. Literally. It was a Dell Latitude C840. Last autumn, as I was idly typing on it at my favorite junk shop and for no reason I can discern or recall, I tried to power it. It was like a minor miracle. Although covered in dust and general crud, it ran its diagnostic perfectly except for the missing hd. Well, now Lazarus has 2GB of RAM, two hds (one is WinXP and the other Linux Mint ver. 13) jacks for just about everything, a wireless card, three USB ports etc. Dell might have lost their way after the accountants took over, but this laptop is as solid as an Abrams M1A1. Faster than the PIII running this little guy (my 600E). OK, yes, I know Laz has a P4. That's the romance of reviving and running these older machines. Even to push them beyond the limits they enjoyed when new. Why do think a '57 Chevy with do-wop on the radio brings a smile to your face?

[siLc]

I had a D630 for five years (2008-2013), at first used it for work and the last 3-4 years it mainly sat on a coffee desk and served very light office duty role. After a year, the nVidia issue arose and the motherboard got changed under warranty. After that no issues.
Sold it last year to make way for the ThinkPads I currently use. I previously favored Dells but now ThinkPads.

I've come across several used E6400s and they didn't hold up to abuse as well as T400 models have. Although E6420 and newer ones seem to have that feeling of ruggedness that was previously lost.

[x220]

I used to have a Dell D630 while on a short break from ThinkPads. They are very good machines, especially with thde 1440x900 LCD.