David Reed Online

In case you haven’t heard, NVIDIA recently disclosed there may be widespread problems with every G84 and G86 graphics processor, or in other words, every 8400M and 8600M.  Faulty processors may overheat and fail.  To combat this problem, NVIDIA has released drivers which will force the GPU fan to operate at faster RPMs.

Dell has also offered a fix.  You can get a new BIOS update for your 8400M or 8600M equipped laptop at this location. Of course if you’re already experiencing video issues this update will not help you; you will have to contact Dell support to have it replaced.

Have you experienced issues with your NVIDIA 8400M or 8600M equipped Dell laptop? Please comment.

If you’re like me, you’re not impressed enough by Vista to make the switch just yet. Unfortunately, my old Averatec notebook crapped out on me a few weeks ago and I was in need of a replacement. The best value out there that met my requirements was Dell’s new Inspiron 1420, which replaces their E1405 14.1″ model. Unlike the E1405, the 1420 is only available with Vista. After receiving my machine yesterday I set about wiping it clean and starting fresh with a copy of XP.

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