Did you select 'customise' when ordering your system? That way you can change some of the components and extras around to the way you want them. There is definately an option in there to change your Hard Drive. Dell offers in the i8600 a 40GB (4200rpm), 60GB (4200rpm), 60GB (7200rpm) and 80GB(4200rpm). When customising you simply change it to the one which is clearly marked as 7200rpm.
If you did not do this then the one you ordered is most likely the 4200rpm model.
Sorry I haven't made myself clear - I'm a UK customer so I ordered it through dell.co.uk, if you get the chance have a look at the customise the Inspiron 8600 bit, as it definately doesn't give me the option to select the rpm.
Obvioulsy the US site is different, I've just had a look at it and like you said you get the options to choose the rpm (how lucky you are).
Over the pond here we are not so lucky!
Dell doesn't offer a UK forum to discuss these things!
I am sorry, I did not realise you were from the UK... and I assumed you were American (like the majority of users on this board). Actually, I am from Australia not the US, and we get the option to configure it with a 7200rpm drive here as well... so I was going from my experience with dell.com.au and the US dell site.
I decided to go and have a look at the UK Dell page, and where you configure your hard drive options I can see there is indeed no 7200rpm drive available. I clicked on the "Learn More" button and it listed all the hard drives available, no 7200rpm in sight. This is in contrast to the "learn more" buttons on the Australian site (and I guess the US site) which show the 7200rpm Drive in there as well.
So it is my guess that for some reason unknown, Dell have decided to "shaft" the UK consumers by not offering the 7200rpm option....
I couldn't have put it better myself, we are getting 'shafted'.
Why can't we get the same specs as other countries? - I simply don't understand why not, I understand each country has different price ranges etc but the specs should be at least the same or offered to us.
Can I buy the 7200rpm Hard Drive from a third party supplier, ie I have seen some online sites offere the Hitachi 7k60 Travelstar for about £190, ($450 aussie dollors) but will it just 'fit' into my laptop? - would this void the warrently (I suspect it would!)
I really dont want a slow 4200rpm Hard Drive in my laptop - I would have probably thought twice if I'd know it was that slow.
Can I buy the 7200rpm Hard Drive from a third party supplier, ie I have seen some online sites offere the Hitachi 7k60 Travelstar for about £190, ($450 aussie dollors) but will it just 'fit' into my laptop? - would this void the warrently (I suspect it would!)
Yeah, you can buy it from a third party supplier and fit it into your system with no problems, that is what I did with my i8500 to get the 7k60. I would check out some of your local computer stores first to see if they stock it, as it may end up cheaper than buying online (because you save on shipping costs, plus you may get a discount for cash). I was looking at AUD$450-470 ordering online as well, but found it at a computer store here for AUD$380 (£160).
Anyway, swapping it over is no big hassle, there should be instructions on how to do it in the Users Guide that comes with your system... or failing that you can download the service manual for your system through the 'Reference' tab at the top of this forum.
(Reference ->Select "Home and Home Office" from Personal End user support -> Click "Select a System" from the left under 'Customise support' -> Select the i8600 from the 'Product model' drop down box -> Click "Product Manuals" from the left -> Select "English" (or whatever language you want ) -> Download the Service Manual).
You could then sell the Hard Drive that comes with the system on ebay or whatever to make up some of the cost of buying the 7k60, else use it as a secondary HDD in an external USB/ Firewire case (like I have done with my old one) or in the media bay.
There was a heap of difference in the upgrade. Loading times to get into windows from startup, loading MS Office, files, folders, etc are now all much quicker and snappier. I even noticed a difference in the loading times of some games off of my Hard Drive. General moving around Windows is now a much more pleasurable experience. Overall I find it leaps and bounds ahead of my old 4200rpm drive.
Hmmmm, your old one you should be able to sell for a bit. I would suggest putting it up on ebay with a reserve of about £60-70 and see what bids you get... hopefully you'll sell it quite easily.
Installing a new HDD will not void your warranty unless you damage something while installing it (which is unlikely). In fact, most people recommend removing your HDD if you do need to send your machine in for service in case a reformat is needed or you have sensitive information on the drive.
Just to let you know that I received my 8600 and was very please to find the 7k60 Hard Drive inside, so apologies to Dell.
It just would have been nice to have know this before you order.
On another point, I do have a problem with the NEC 5100A DVD +RW that I ordered, it has problems reading CD Roms (either original or copies), it just 'click' but wont spin up. After trying several CD's it eventually works but its very temperamental.
I just wondered if you have any solutions? - if I have to send it back to Dell would they be likey to replace it?
I would run a system diostics check with the cd that comes with it. Ask tehcnical suprpt to send you out a replacement. by the way does your 7200 rpm dirve run hot or is it ok ?
The only suggestion that I have for that DVD +RW other than getting a replacement from Dell is to see if there are any firmware updates for it. Flashing it may fix the problem. But the safest bet is just to get it replaced by Dell, free of charge, and hopefully within only a few days.
For sure its the drive as I managed to swap it for the LG 4040N (a friends) and that works perfectly so I have asked Dell to replace it, which they are going to do.
What are Dell like for replacing stuff, I don't want to receive another duff drive?
What is the NEC 5100A drive like generally? - I sounds better than the Phillips 2 speed one that was sold earlier on earlier Laptops?
As for the rest of the Laptop, its totally fine, no other problems (thank God), I've played Fifa2004 on full res for hours with no problems, obviously it gets hot but the fan kicks in and it seems to deal with it ok.
The Hard Drive is fine aswell, fast and quite, so I'm happy with it.
I'm yet to burn a DVD due to the duff drive so I hope the replacement will work with no problems.
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
January 12th, 2004 11:00
Did you select 'customise' when ordering your system? That way you can change some of the components and extras around to the way you want them. There is definately an option in there to change your Hard Drive. Dell offers in the i8600 a 40GB (4200rpm), 60GB (4200rpm), 60GB (7200rpm) and 80GB(4200rpm). When customising you simply change it to the one which is clearly marked as 7200rpm.
If you did not do this then the one you ordered is most likely the 4200rpm model.
stu
Smedz
11 Posts
0
January 12th, 2004 11:00
Thanks for getting back to me.
Sorry I haven't made myself clear - I'm a UK customer so I ordered it through dell.co.uk, if you get the chance have a look at the customise the Inspiron 8600 bit, as it definately doesn't give me the option to select the rpm.
Obvioulsy the US site is different, I've just had a look at it and like you said you get the options to choose the rpm (how lucky you are).
Over the pond here we are not so lucky!
Dell doesn't offer a UK forum to discuss these things!
Thanks
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
January 12th, 2004 21:00
I am sorry, I did not realise you were from the UK... and I assumed you were American (like the majority of users on this board). Actually, I am from Australia not the US, and we get the option to configure it with a 7200rpm drive here as well... so I was going from my experience with dell.com.au and the US dell site.
I decided to go and have a look at the UK Dell page, and where you configure your hard drive options I can see there is indeed no 7200rpm drive available. I clicked on the "Learn More" button and it listed all the hard drives available, no 7200rpm in sight. This is in contrast to the "learn more" buttons on the Australian site (and I guess the US site) which show the 7200rpm Drive in there as well.
So it is my guess that for some reason unknown, Dell have decided to "shaft" the UK consumers by not offering the 7200rpm option....
Good Luck
stu
Smedz
11 Posts
0
January 13th, 2004 11:00
Hi Sakor1,
I couldn't have put it better myself, we are getting 'shafted'.
Why can't we get the same specs as other countries? - I simply don't understand why not, I understand each country has different price ranges etc but the specs should be at least the same or offered to us.
Can I buy the 7200rpm Hard Drive from a third party supplier, ie I have seen some online sites offere the Hitachi 7k60 Travelstar for about £190, ($450 aussie dollors) but will it just 'fit' into my laptop? - would this void the warrently (I suspect it would!)
I really dont want a slow 4200rpm Hard Drive in my laptop - I would have probably thought twice if I'd know it was that slow.
Thanks again for your posting.
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
January 13th, 2004 21:00
Yeah, you can buy it from a third party supplier and fit it into your system with no problems, that is what I did with my i8500 to get the 7k60. I would check out some of your local computer stores first to see if they stock it, as it may end up cheaper than buying online (because you save on shipping costs, plus you may get a discount for cash). I was looking at AUD$450-470 ordering online as well, but found it at a computer store here for AUD$380 (£160).
Anyway, swapping it over is no big hassle, there should be instructions on how to do it in the Users Guide that comes with your system... or failing that you can download the service manual for your system through the 'Reference' tab at the top of this forum.
(Reference ->Select "Home and Home Office" from Personal End user support -> Click "Select a System" from the left under 'Customise support' -> Select the i8600 from the 'Product model' drop down box -> Click "Product Manuals" from the left -> Select "English" (or whatever language you want
) -> Download the Service Manual).
You could then sell the Hard Drive that comes with the system on ebay or whatever to make up some of the cost of buying the 7k60, else use it as a secondary HDD in an external USB/ Firewire case (like I have done with my old one) or in the media bay.
Good luck
Stu
Smedz
11 Posts
0
January 15th, 2004 13:00
Thanks,
I think I'll try and sell it to fund the 7k60, I've tried a few local suppliers who can get it for around £165 so that seems fair to me.
How much do you think I can sell my existing one for? - I know that they seem pretty expensive compaired to the prices of standard desktop IDE HDD's.
Last question, did you notice much difference in the two, i.e going from 4200rpm to 7200rpm?
Thanks again.
Message Edited by Smedz on 01-15-2004 04:47 PM
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
January 15th, 2004 19:00
There was a heap of difference in the upgrade. Loading times to get into windows from startup, loading MS Office, files, folders, etc are now all much quicker and snappier. I even noticed a difference in the loading times of some games off of my Hard Drive. General moving around Windows is now a much more pleasurable experience. Overall I find it leaps and bounds ahead of my old 4200rpm drive.
Hmmmm, your old one you should be able to sell for a bit. I would suggest putting it up on ebay with a reserve of about £60-70 and see what bids you get... hopefully you'll sell it quite easily.
Good luck
stu
CECarl
179 Posts
0
January 16th, 2004 02:00
bear20008
1 Rookie
•
40 Posts
0
January 17th, 2004 20:00
Did you find that your 7200 rpm put off allot more heat than the 4200 rpm drive ?
Smedz
11 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 12:00
Hi Sakor1,
Just to let you know that I received my 8600 and was very please to find the 7k60 Hard Drive inside, so apologies to Dell.
It just would have been nice to have know this before you order.
On another point, I do have a problem with the NEC 5100A DVD +RW that I ordered, it has problems reading CD Roms (either original or copies), it just 'click' but wont spin up. After trying several CD's it eventually works but its very temperamental.
I just wondered if you have any solutions? - if I have to send it back to Dell would they be likey to replace it?
Help!
Thanks
bear20008
1 Rookie
•
40 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 21:00
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 21:00
Glad to hear it turned out for the best!
The only suggestion that I have for that DVD +RW other than getting a replacement from Dell is to see if there are any firmware updates for it. Flashing it may fix the problem. But the safest bet is just to get it replaced by Dell, free of charge, and hopefully within only a few days.
stu
Smedz
11 Posts
0
January 27th, 2004 08:00
Hi There,
For sure its the drive as I managed to swap it for the LG 4040N (a friends) and that works perfectly so I have asked Dell to replace it, which they are going to do.
What are Dell like for replacing stuff, I don't want to receive another duff drive?
What is the NEC 5100A drive like generally? - I sounds better than the Phillips 2 speed one that was sold earlier on earlier Laptops?
As for the rest of the Laptop, its totally fine, no other problems (thank God), I've played Fifa2004 on full res for hours with no problems, obviously it gets hot but the fan kicks in and it seems to deal with it ok.
The Hard Drive is fine aswell, fast and quite, so I'm happy with it.
I'm yet to burn a DVD due to the duff drive so I hope the replacement will work with no problems.
Cheers