The consensus among most of the owners here is that the D600/600M/D800/8500 models is that palm rest heat is a definite possibility. The cause of the problem is the hard drive. Some hard drives run hotter than others which is causing the problem. Two drives that run fairly cool are two Hitachi models the 40GNX (40GB 5400RPM) and the 7K60 (60GB 7200RPM). You can order the notebook of choice with the mentioned drives (if available) or you can just order the notebook with the smallest, cheapest drive then install your own drive. You can sell the original drive on ebay or use it as a backup drive in the drive bay. I currently have the 7K60 in my D800 and the palm rest is cool to the touch and I've had it on for a few hours.
Neither Dell nor Hitachi seem to want to respond to this issue. The 40 GNX gets warm, but not necessarily intolerable and doesn't heat up like the DK23. On the other hand, the Hitachi DK23 series heats up regularly to an unacceptable 60-63 deg C when applications are running. Hitachi has not responded to my complaint and says it is Dell's problem. Dell won't do anything with the hard drive and they can't guarantee which hard drive is sent out. When my GNX failed, they sent me one of the DK23 models. What I wish I could do is to send back this DK23 Hitachi hard drive to Dell and ask them for a $200 credit so I can go buy a decent hard drive somewhere else that doesn't fry your hands.
I bought a refurbished D600 that was fully decked out with the following:
1.6 Pentium M 1 GB Ram 60 GB Hard Drive (Fujitsu) DVD Burner SXGA+ a/b/g WIFI
At first I noticed that the palm rest was getting warm, but thought I could manage. After a few days, it would begin to bother me more and more. It got to the point where by just turning the unit on the hard drive would be running at close to 60C! I then called Dell and they agreed to send me a brand new unit with the modified palm rest. I was very pleased with this, since I would be getting a new D600 for the price of a refurbed one. About a week later I got the new machine, however they sent me a smaller hard drive for some reason, a 20GB Hitachi. The new unit was better and I thought this had solved the problem, but after I tried using the machine for a full 8 hours I noticed that my wrist and palm on on my left hand would sweat and bother me throughout the day!
I finally decided to return the unit and get a full refund. I'm actually still in the process, they told me that Airborne Express would pick up the unit on a certain day, but no one every showed up. I called Airborne and they said they had never been told about the pickup! I called them and now they said that they were going to send me shipping labels so I could drop off the unit. Those didn't show up either. I was now on-hold with one of the non-english speaking customer service reps, trying to send this unit back. And guess what, after an hour on the phone....they just hung up on me!!! I will never buy from Dell again.
By the way, I instead got a Toshiba Tecra M1. This machine is excellent, a bit heavier than the D600, but the palm rest is cool, and the keyboard is solid. I highly recommend.
Although there are lots of complaints about the left palmrest on this forum, it appears that most D600 owners don't mind the heat. It is difficult for me to believe that the 5 or more Dell reps that I've spoken with about this issue are all in a conspiracy to minimize the extent of the complaints they receive. None of the "fixes" that I've read in this forum seem to make a lot of sense. The only sure fix I can think of is to use the D600 with an external keyboard and mouse if you need to use for an extended period.
I'm a long time Latitude owner -- have owned 5 previously -- and now shopping for a D600. I'm concerned about all the reviews I've read criticizing the palm (left) heat from the harddrive. What can I do to avoid this problem in shopping for / purchasing a new or refurb?
I cannot agree more with those who are having an issue with the heat.
I have had a D600 for ONE week, an it is unbearable. I did phone gold support about this and basically they said it was "normal"...
Like other posts on this matter, i am not a new dell person. i have had inspirons in the past and never suffereed so much with the heat issue at any place on the chassis. There just seems to be a distint lack of insolation between the dirve adn palm reast. To add to this i am left handed, and quite often use the touch pad with my left hand - only making it worse, as arm is in contact with palm rest (but then again, isnt that what a "plalm" "rest" is for?)
The rest of the computer seems elegantly cool - including the keyboard- under the Centrino set. I just cant understand that Dell didnt do user-tests on these systems, and discover the problem - What can they do now? not a little.
Other than that, the machine is great. I just dont feel able to use it for very long. - any one got any ideas on how an arm ice pack could be developed?
Another alternative to an ice pack is to use an external keyboard, but that is not practical if you travel or use the laptop as a portable. Dell can EASILY fix this problem by giving us a different brand of hard drive or by NOT using the Hitachi DK23 model. Apparently they are not willing to do anything about this - as proof that a Dell moderator has not responded to this post. Maybe the only way to get Dell to do something is for everyone with the heat problem to call/ email and complain once a week to Dell support so they get the message. When you spend $2,000 on a laptop, you shouldn't have to put up with these problem components. Its really too bad about this problem because the laptop itself is fairly good otherwise as far as design, weight, screen and performance.
Gold Support as noted earlier, just say it is "normal"...hmm...i think we should all start phone up in a syncronised fashion...so they get the message.
If we ALL call over the next 24 hours, the technicians will surely realise something is up -finding it hard to deny that there is a problem.
Of course, wouldnt one think that was the purpose of the forum???? BUT as there is NO RESPONSE OF A DELL MODERATOR this is just USELESS
I am going to call them again as it is just not on.
PS; seems that US customers only pay the amount in dollars that i pay in pounds as mine was £2, 100 (~$3,000)! -and thats only with a 1.4 P-M!!
I am quite disappointed to hear that this is also a problem with Latitude notebooks. I had purchased an Inspiron 8500 and noticed the ridiculously hot left palm rest there, as well. At first I thought I could get used to it, but I got fed up and called tech support. The guy I talked to was friendly enough and although he wasn't familiar with the 8500, he pulled one out of a closet somewhere and realized the problem was the location of the hard drive. His basic opinion was if that's where the hard drive is, of course it's going to be hot. So it was just a design problem. I sent it back the next day and have been searching around Dell's website to see if I could find another laptop with a different configuration. I was hoping on a Latitude, but it appears the same problems exist. What I don't understand is why the mainstream magazines/websites that review these computers haven't mentioned this very noticable problem. It certainly would have saved me some time/money. And I also don't understand why Dell hasn't done anything to remedy this problem, as it obviously is affecting a lot of people. My only problem now is where to get my new laptop- I've been a Dell user for going on 6 years and as a result have no idea what other companies make a good laptop. Maybe Sony? Any opinions/advice?
I dont know what to recommend...i feel the same way - I have been a staunch supporter of Dell for 5 years too...but this issue is not terribly satisdactory let alone amuzing.
I think magazines and reviews dont mention this as 1. they mostly get the low capacity hdd for the testing (which presumably give off less heat?) 2. they dont have them on for long periods of time..and if they do (to test battery performance) i guess they dont actally use them actively , typing etc...but use emulators..so basically dont get a real idea of what it is like.
Could be wrong, but just a thought...Unless of course, dell have changed HDD supplier?????!
I just received the D600 in the mail today and after 2 hours of use, I'm also running into this annoying heat issue. I have the IC25N040ATCS05-0 5400RPM 40Gig harddrive. If someone hears from a Dell rep on any recommendations to help resolve this problem, please let me know. Otherwise, I guess I'll pack mine up to send back to Dell.
I expect a rep from Dell to shed some light on this problem and admit that there's a design flaw or inform customers that are experiencing this problem how to exchange the HD's for a cooler one.
Thanks for your comments, please keep us posted on your progress and findings. I'm shopping for a d600, and waiting to hear which hard drive will resolve the problem.
Your description doesn't tell the actual model of drive your D600 arrived with. You can tell which model you have by viewing its entry in Device Manager.
From reading past posts on this issue and doing a bit of research (I plan to purchase a D600 soon myself as long as I'm comfortable this issue is resolvable), here's what I think the story is. Dell ships the D600 with one of two 40MB 5400 rpm drives. The HITACHI_DK23EB-40 is the hot one. The cool drive is the IBM or IBM-HITACHI Travelstar 40GNX. People who have the 40GNX don't seem to experience the heat problem.
duffyanneal
59 Posts
0
August 19th, 2003 03:00
The consensus among most of the owners here is that the D600/600M/D800/8500 models is that palm rest heat is a definite possibility. The cause of the problem is the hard drive. Some hard drives run hotter than others which is causing the problem. Two drives that run fairly cool are two Hitachi models the 40GNX (40GB 5400RPM) and the 7K60 (60GB 7200RPM). You can order the notebook of choice with the mentioned drives (if available) or you can just order the notebook with the smallest, cheapest drive then install your own drive. You can sell the original drive on ebay or use it as a backup drive in the drive bay. I currently have the 7K60 in my D800 and the palm rest is cool to the touch and I've had it on for a few hours.
Raphael290
8 Posts
0
August 19th, 2003 07:00
Do you need some kind of adapter to use a Hard Drive in the Drive Bay and is it possible to use the Drive Bay Hard Drive as primary HArd Drive ?
se92692
1 Rookie
•
63 Posts
0
August 19th, 2003 16:00
Marvin76
1 Message
0
August 22nd, 2003 12:00
I thought I'd share my D600 story....
I bought a refurbished D600 that was fully decked out with the following:
1.6 Pentium M
1 GB Ram
60 GB Hard Drive (Fujitsu)
DVD Burner
SXGA+
a/b/g WIFI
At first I noticed that the palm rest was getting warm, but thought I could manage. After a few days, it would begin to bother me more and more. It got to the point where by just turning the unit on the hard drive would be running at close to 60C! I then called Dell and they agreed to send me a brand new unit with the modified palm rest. I was very pleased with this, since I would be getting a new D600 for the price of a refurbed one. About a week later I got the new machine, however they sent me a smaller hard drive for some reason, a 20GB Hitachi. The new unit was better and I thought this had solved the problem, but after I tried using the machine for a full 8 hours I noticed that my wrist and palm on on my left hand would sweat and bother me throughout the day!
I finally decided to return the unit and get a full refund. I'm actually still in the process, they told me that Airborne Express would pick up the unit on a certain day, but no one every showed up. I called Airborne and they said they had never been told about the pickup! I called them and now they said that they were going to send me shipping labels so I could drop off the unit. Those didn't show up either. I was now on-hold with one of the non-english speaking customer service reps, trying to send this unit back. And guess what, after an hour on the phone....they just hung up on me!!! I will never buy from Dell again.
By the way, I instead got a Toshiba Tecra M1. This machine is excellent, a bit heavier than the D600, but the palm rest is cool, and the keyboard is solid. I highly recommend.
trc8083
5 Posts
0
August 23rd, 2003 00:00
Although there are lots of complaints about the left palmrest on this forum, it appears that most D600 owners don't mind the heat. It is difficult for me to believe that the 5 or more Dell reps that I've spoken with about this issue are all in a conspiracy to minimize the extent of the complaints they receive. None of the "fixes" that I've read in this forum seem to make a lot of sense. The only sure fix I can think of is to use the D600 with an external keyboard and mouse if you need to use for an extended period.
hghghg
4 Posts
0
August 23rd, 2003 00:00
I'm a long time Latitude owner -- have owned 5 previously -- and now shopping for a D600. I'm concerned about all the reviews I've read criticizing the palm (left) heat from the harddrive. What can I do to avoid this problem in shopping for / purchasing a new or refurb?
Thanks
wdowell8
9 Posts
0
August 26th, 2003 06:00
I cannot agree more with those who are having an issue with the heat.
I have had a D600 for ONE week, an it is unbearable. I did phone gold support about this and basically they said it was "normal"...
Like other posts on this matter, i am not a new dell person. i have had inspirons in the past and never suffereed so much with the heat issue at any place on the chassis. There just seems to be a distint lack of insolation between the dirve adn palm reast. To add to this i am left handed, and quite often use the touch pad with my left hand - only making it worse, as arm is in contact with palm rest (but then again, isnt that what a "plalm" "rest" is for?)
The rest of the computer seems elegantly cool - including the keyboard- under the Centrino set. I just cant understand that Dell didnt do user-tests on these systems, and discover the problem - What can they do now? not a little.
Other than that, the machine is great. I just dont feel able to use it for very long. - any one got any ideas on how an arm ice pack could be developed?
William Dowell
se92692
1 Rookie
•
63 Posts
0
August 27th, 2003 01:00
wdowell8
9 Posts
0
August 27th, 2003 05:00
Well, i am far from impressed I have to say.
Gold Support as noted earlier, just say it is "normal"...hmm...i think we should all start phone up in a syncronised fashion...so they get the message.
If we ALL call over the next 24 hours, the technicians will surely realise something is up -finding it hard to deny that there is a problem.
Of course, wouldnt one think that was the purpose of the forum???? BUT as there is NO RESPONSE OF A DELL MODERATOR this is just USELESS
I am going to call them again as it is just not on.
PS; seems that US customers only pay the amount in dollars that i pay in pounds as mine was £2, 100 (~$3,000)! -and thats only with a 1.4 P-M!!
nucat2002
1 Message
0
August 28th, 2003 14:00
wdowell8
9 Posts
0
August 28th, 2003 15:00
I dont know what to recommend...i feel the same way - I have been a staunch supporter of Dell for 5 years too...but this issue is not terribly satisdactory let alone amuzing.
I think magazines and reviews dont mention this as 1. they mostly get the low capacity hdd for the testing (which presumably give off less heat?) 2. they dont have them on for long periods of time..and if they do (to test battery performance) i guess they dont actally use them actively , typing etc...but use emulators..so basically dont get a real idea of what it is like.
Could be wrong, but just a thought...Unless of course, dell have changed HDD supplier?????!
Jorgemn
6 Posts
0
September 8th, 2003 21:00
I just received the D600 in the mail today and after 2 hours of use, I'm also running into this annoying heat issue. I have the IC25N040ATCS05-0 5400RPM 40Gig harddrive. If someone hears from a Dell rep on any recommendations to help resolve this problem, please let me know. Otherwise, I guess I'll pack mine up to send back to Dell.
I expect a rep from Dell to shed some light on this problem and admit that there's a design flaw or inform customers that are experiencing this problem how to exchange the HD's for a cooler one.
Jorge
hghghg
4 Posts
0
September 9th, 2003 03:00
Jorge -
Thanks for your comments, please keep us posted on your progress and findings. I'm shopping for a d600, and waiting to hear which hard drive will resolve the problem.
rbspies
3 Posts
0
September 9th, 2003 04:00
Jorge,
Your description doesn't tell the actual model of drive your D600 arrived with. You can tell which model you have by viewing its entry in Device Manager.
From reading past posts on this issue and doing a bit of research (I plan to purchase a D600 soon myself as long as I'm comfortable this issue is resolvable), here's what I think the story is. Dell ships the D600 with one of two 40MB 5400 rpm drives. The HITACHI_DK23EB-40 is the hot one. The cool drive is the IBM or IBM-HITACHI Travelstar 40GNX. People who have the 40GNX don't seem to experience the heat problem.
I'd be curious to know which drive you have.
thuned
13 Posts
0
September 9th, 2003 05:00
IC25N040ATCS05-0 = 40gnx
http://www.gus.com/hdibm25405400.html
I have one too. I feel it runs too hot also. 44-52C.