Dell Latitude Z series

Hi, hopefully this isn't thread necromancy but I'm seriously considering this laptop but I've heard several conflicting claims about running time on the 8-cell battery. Some places say 3 hours, others say 5, Dell claims 8 (!), can anyone who has this machine comment on how long it lasts on the 8-cell with internet browsing over wi-fi and word processing?

 

I have the 8-cell version, and it definitely runs between 6 and 8 hours, depending on what you're doing...the 4 cell probably is around 3 hours.

 

I can confirm the same with my 8-cell battery. 6 hours definitely with moderate usage. More often than not, I average ~7 hours.

In fact, I've yet to run the battery all the way down to automatic shutdown simply because it lasts so long.

 

That's fantastic, thanks for the replies. I'll let you guys know if I do end up getting this machine. Another quick question - what do you think of the general build quality, especially of the keyboard, compared to (say) a Thinkpad? And what kind of carrying case do you use? Would a standard 15" case work or would I need to opt for something bigger?

 

I can only compare the Z to the Latitude D630, XPS M1530, and pre-unibody Macbook Pro (other laptops in the house), and I'd say it rivals the MBP in build quality.

That's a high compliment as I consider the Macbook Pro to be the best constructed laptop currently on the market. The Z's keyboard is absolutely the best I've ever experienced in a laptop.

Not only does it take advantage of the large real estate to space keys apart (similar to the unibody MBPs), but there is a firm "clicky" feel that you rarely experience in a laptop keyboard. We had a chance to test the Zs when they were still in alpha mode last summer, and my consistent feedback to Dell is that they have found a winner in that keyboard.

The only minor gripe I have with build quality is the magnetic latch to hold the screen shut is too weak. The PC has a tendency to "separate" when I slide it into my bag.

It fits into my Tumi messenger bag, but it is at the absolute limit. If you have issues getting a 15" laptop into your bag, the Z will probably not really fit.

 

In my quest to get my Z600's dual 256GB SSD's in some sort of RAID mode (despite our crippled BIOS's lack of any RAID setting), I had an idea...

I thought if I removed both SSD's and put them into a Dell Optiplex 780 (new model) with the Intel RAID BIOS, and created a RAID 0 array on them, and then put them back into the Z600 and set the BIOS for IRRT so the Intel RAID BIOS would enable, it might work!

Alas, it did not. When the Z600 Intell RAID screen comes up, it shows both drives as RAID drives, but then also shows INCOMPATIBLE DRIVE listed next to each.

Could it be because the RAID set was made on a desktop chipset and not a mobile chipset?

I thought I could outsmart Dell...I guess not.

 

If the system doesn't have raid support, how will it be able to read the drives?

 

It does have the Intel RAID BIOS, as is apparent when you enable the IRRT mode in the BIOS. The problem is, Dell removed the ability to create RAID 0/1 sets in the IRRT BIOS. It only supports IRRT mode, which is some sort of RAID 1, but not really.

Thinking that I could fool the system by creating the RAID 0 elsewhere and transplanting the SSD's back into the Z600, the Intel BIOS would pick it up.

There was some talk a while back from someone very knowledgable in the workings of BIOS and the Intel RAID BIOS, who thought he could put the full Intel RAID BIOS back into the Z600 main BIOS, thereby enabling RAID. Unfortunately, the person who had the Z600 gave up on it and returned it to Dell, so the "expert" never got a chance to try.

The thing is, the Intel chipset in the Z600 has the ability to do RAID...it's just been disabled by Dell.

 

Dear Z600 owners,
1)has anybody opened cover on the bottom of the unit? What is in there?
2)If you use your CPU at a very low level (5-10% on average) @ the lowest freq, can the fan stay switched off 100% of the time?
3)What about 100% load but minimal freq?
Thanks!

 

1) Yes. I've opened a few. What's in there? Good Stuff!
2) Pretty much, I think. I've not noticed the fan running much at all, even during normal operation. I think once or twice I recall barely hearing the fan come on, but normally, it's very, very quiet.
3) Not sure you can attain that combination, since with Speedstep, the CPU automatically wants to step up at certain utilization thresholds...Using something like RMCLOCK would probably work in both undervolting the CPU to keep things even cooler and the battery running even longer, plus giving you the ability to control what freqs the CPU does run at.