guys

just ordered a dell inspiron 6400 RM2990 package at pc fair yesterday...opted for the +rm449 upgrade for 2GB + trulife - so shud get all the great things with package. And i've studied all the other competitor's flyers at the pc fair- none of them could give the value price dell is offering me yesterday. Yeah! very happy...cant wait for the notebook to arrive.

anyways - a stupid query here - the specs for the dell stated that i'll get an 'integrated stereo soundcard', no mention about SPDIF.

So wanna check - does this built-in soundcard has SPDIF ?? i'm a dvd freak and want dolby digital, dts or pcm (i.e. only digital sound) from my dvd movies if i play it through the dell to my digital receiver - so will i get SPDIF passthrough or will i only be stuck with stereo??

coz if it's only stereo, i need to get another external usb SPDIF soundcard like the Aurilium etc...but that would be wasting money ler.

So hope u guys can help my query. I think there should be SPDIF coz most new notebook comes with 'em...but just wanna re-cornfirm here coz the ppl at the DEll booth yesterday seemed a bit blur on this digital sound area...hehe...

thx!

This post has been edited by silbii: Apr 15 2007, 03:01 PM

really? aiyo......even my old desktop pc mobo has built in spdif....

now i'm sad

maybe i'll call their technical centre to re-confirm...

but yeah - there's always those external soudncard with SPDIF...anyone got extra wanna sell for cheap...hehe

yeah...but it's a rare item now. heard it out of production or something. used to have it but sold it to another forummer here ...now i'm regretting that...hehe

still, its kinda bulky...defeats the purpose of 'mobility' for a notebook...

i dell really had no spdif...very sad ler....got another notebook...hyundai brand...not very high end bought nearly a year agi. Even this one has spdif........

c'mon dell!

btw - this ismy 2nd purchase from dell...first one was a projector...got it 2 years ago for rm4K+ ...for it's cheap price those days i liked it. Still using it for my HT weekend nites...

yesterday they sold dell xga projecotr for only rm2200....i guess video quality is quite good if u are not fussy...so get it if u can.

---

Added on April 15, 2007, 4:11 pmanyways...still on this spdif topic...

it is a bit strange if this notebook has no spdif passthrough since the order sheet that i filled had these spdif cable options which i could buy as addition to the package...something like this...

TV out cable w / SPDIF' = RM11

composite SPDIF cable = RM14

and guess what? i bought these cables too...hehe.

so that would mean something write?? maybe i can only find out when it arrives...maybe there hope?

u guys with this notebook - do u see any SPDIF icon, tick box or something in your 'audio' property?? if there is - then it's there...if not...hmmm....

and another query - does the video i opted - 256 ATI MObility Radeojn X1400 comes with DVI? i forgot to check yesterday...silly me...

This post has been edited by silbii: Apr 15 2007, 04:11 PM

i hope it has SPDIF out...coz cheaper notebooks from other brands that came out a year plus has it...my bro's Hyundai notebook has this...

to use the connection - needs a mono jack to put into notebook slot, other end must be rca....then turn on SPDIF in audio properties...voila!! (this cable i modified myself...so it's good if Dell has a proper one)

read here for more info on getting spdif out using notebook's mini jack port...

http://forums.hardwaresecrets.com/archive/...php/t-1017.html

monday i might just call Dell to clarify on this...

haha....yeah..aurilum...i use to have it...but sadly sold it...regret regret

steven, u wanna sell yours to me? hehe...

========

btw = no dvi for the GC? that Dell guy at the booth told me got DVI...sheesh...i got conned...should i sue??

anyways...dont bother that much abt this yet...my projector has no DVI port anyways...

u give me hope steven...

hope it's SPDIF and we can enjoy full blast true DTS 5.1 with our notebooks!!! ...if only stereo, watching dvds where got syiok wan...

and hopefully i'll get the cable too...

cool cables man...dunno if i ordered something like that...

but i remembered when i purchase my dell projector 2 years ago - i had lotsa free av cables thrown with the purchase = they're really quite generous on this area.

so hopefully we'll get SPDIF via the digital coaxial!

but kinda strange why the notebook needs a component out coz the vga out could already do the samle duty for this....oh well, the more the merrier perhaps.

still...i wiah the notebook could have some other colours than the plain old grey...but hey, dont judge a book by its cover right.....

mine about the same spec but i got 2gb ram...and prifce around rm3400+...but only one year cc warrabty...i think i'll try to do the warranty extension (for normal warranty only lah) for another 2 years ASAP....if the amount to pay is not that high.

normally how much for a 3 year warranty (inc. of only one year complete cover) ? ...expensive or not? coz they didnt really promo this that day...

heywhat's this story about tax refund?

btw - i havent got any news on my order....ordered it last saturday...

anywas, juist downloaded the manual for this - there's option for SPDIF on page 62 of the manual...so i guess this feature is available.

but still...have to wait for my baby to arrive and test to confirm...

waiting sucks...hehe

mine should come with Vista...how do u guys find this OS relative to XP?

got my baby yesterday...using it now. and yes, it has spdif but havent tried it...

but sheesh...i'm now installing stuff but forgot to partition it...oh well...

mine now only has 1 year cc warranty, got my notebook last week...

now really feel like wanna add 2 more years of limited warranty, on top of the existing 1 year cc ...u think can get this for a mere budget of rm200 or would it be more?

could u rekemend me any SA to call there that could give me good price for warranty extension?? pm me the details lar...

thx mate!

btw - our dell has SPDIF...has tested it using the given s-video to spdif / composite cable...works alright!

but i kinda hate vista....loading and shutting down not very fast...

google on what SPDIF is and you'd understand...and if you're a dvd buff who uses coaxial / optical yto get digital sound for your dvd movies, yu'd understand the functions of the cable easier.

it's something that a pc / notebook's soundcard must have in order to get digital out sound from the pc...with SPDIF...you connect to a digital receiver...you'll get true PCM / 5.1 / 6/1 /7/1 dolby digital, dts-dts-es, etc with only using a single coaxial cable from your notebook (for this case, the coaxial out from that s-video to w/spdif cable)

and do note that s-video out and composite out is onlt meant for video...but dell's notebook a bit canngih...they've included SPIF function in the S-video out and voila...you can get PCM / digital audio from your notebook... a lot different than other brands out there that use the same analog 1/8 jack output to deliver digital audio...

have fun!

yupp...i bought it...both spdif to s video and composte---turned out i got component...haha...better!

well, all of that only cost around rm30+ in total...worth it i guess...u shud get it if u want true 5.1...

anyone tested the 6400 to play some HD DVD movies? Is it jerky? Coz i downloaded a 1080p Fantastic 4 trailer and it jerks a bit during playback...

for info, the specs for my Dell are

Intel Core 2 duo t5300
2gb ddr2 sdram
120gb hdd

so u think it's enough for true HD playback? wuts the minimum requirement anyway?

coz thinking of collecting HD dvds now...

mine's t5300 and 2gb ram...still a bit jerky to do 1080p trailers...and i use vlc player...never tried palying a full hd dvd actually but looking forward for that if i cud get my hands on one.

hmm....to reduce the jerkiness, maybe i shud quit all b/ground running programs and try it again...

btw death nte -> the aurilium rocks...use to have it. Now i'm using direct SPDIF connection from my notebook to my marantz dts receiver. The dell notebook's onborad sound card is quite hi-end already...not so bad...

more info here

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/support/b...requirement.jsp

people

for my 6400, my battery at 98% shows that i could only use it for only 1.5 hours...is this normal??

I feel that this is a bit too short a life...

any comments?

peeps

my 6400 runs on XP. problem is the wifi wants me to put in password when i'm in any free wifi hotspots.

a fren wih another brand laptop with XP can just connect straight away to the network automatically there...strange huh?

any thoughts?

for info...i never touched anything on the wifi and network config...it's just as per what is given the first i got it.

another thing - if i use only battery, on full charge it can only last for 1.5 hours..is this ok or bad?

Ooops...i typed wrongly...my 6400 runs on Vista, not XP. Any thought on this wifi issue for Vista?

about the battery - if battery is full..when i check it, it says that i only have 1.5 hours for usage only...kinda suck isnt?

any thoughts?

This post has been edited by silbii: Jul 4 2007, 09:40 PM