E6410 Owner's Thread

So my Latitude e6410 has been giving me nothing but headaches.
Ive already sent my machine back two times, and both times they sent my machine back saying they could not find any problem with my machine.
BUT, my touchpad is very clearly not working as it should be, and it is not from a software problem. Ive tried reformatting and installing different ALPS drivers with no avail.

My touchpad is not very responsive and when I move it around, it clearly doesnt move very precisely. Small movements are very difficult. When I try to double click and drag, the second tap sometimes doesnt release and I have to like "cancel" it by tapping it again.

What should I do? Who should I contact? I just started school too..

 

That is why I like next business day on site service. You can show the tech guy in front of you. And the tech guy won't fight with you, he is there Dell just paid 100$ for the guy to be here to replace a 5.50$ part (cost.. probably).

I had a similar problem than you, but I found that it was a driver issue, in my case. Only 2 drivers worked perfectly. I have the Latitude E6400, the A04 worked fine (the one that came with my laptop), and the E6410 A00 drivers. The rest, I get crap. Maybe look for those?! I use Win7 64-bit (and Vista 64-bit before). Once done, be sure to spend some time setting the mouse properties properly. We are all different, I like sensitive mouse.. many don't.

 

I've seen many references to the Dell Control Point
software as source for erratic mouse and trackpad
behaviour.

 

My E6410 with the with Nvidia is not docking properly.

The machine does not recognize the monitor I have attached.

Everything else seems to be working through the dock though, USB, audio, network.

I tested my E6410 with Intel HD and everything works just fine.

Any ideas?

I just received another dock today with dual DVI, so maybe I will test it with that one.

 

Interesting observation.

The heatpipe on my Nvidia/i5-540m E6410 is noticably wider and looks like a new penny while the heatpipe on my Intel HD/i5-520m E6410 is narrower and looks like an old penny.

 

Anyone adventurous enough to try this?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...m1330-nvidia-geforce-8400m-gs-copper-mod.html

Since I always read about the Nvidia chipped machines running hotter; thought I'd suggest this. I would be willing to try if I can find some copper.

 

Just to further back up what has already been said.

I bought (3) Windows 7 32 bit Pro and Home CD-KEY's from eBay and Digital River when it was first released and have installed 64 bit Windows 7 using those same keys. Activation and usage till this day has been no problem.

It is widely known that you can use 32 bit keys for 64 bit and vice versa.

The (2) E6410's I have came shipped with 32 bit and I immediately installed 64 bit Windows on them using the 32 bit shipped keys. Activation had to be done by phone, but that is no problem.

 

That was one of the things I tried disabling first.
I finally got Dell to do an on-site replacement of the trackpad for me. Hopefully this would solve my problems.

However for the CPU whine, is there really no solution? Should I ask them to also replace the CPU fan?

 

The dedicated GPU means extra heat to be disposed of.

The heatsink / heatpipe on my E6410 with Intel graphics looks like this:


John

 

It could be a fan making the noise, probably is in a number of the cases discussed on these forums.

If not, first and foremost it's not the CPU! This whining you speak of is not a new issue, it has been around for a number of years dating back to the days when enthusiast level desktop motherboards used cheaper electrolytic capacitors in their construction. The whine most people hear is either the coil or the cheaper capacitor making electronic noise as it operates. It's hit or miss with each motherboard.

For the most part this problem has been remedied in desktop enthusiast level boards by the use of solid capatitors, ferite choaks and coils. Unfortunately with laptops you have no idea what motherboard is installed on your new dream machine. Chances are its some proprietary board the manufacturer got that just barely meets their mapped specifications for a bargain price.

Back in the day we tried everything imaginable to stop the capacitor whine including the use of expoxy, wood glue, and other supposed dampening products would work temporarily. The cap would then either go bad due to excess heat and stop working completely or in the worst case scenario physically pop open and cause an arc taking out other valuable components and needless to say void what warranty we had.

Sooner or later if its not the fan you will have to get a knew motherboard and hope that the appropriate steps have been taken to remedy the problem else you're right back where you came from. My suggestion is to return every one that whines and maybe just maybe the manufacturer will get the idea.

This is not aimed at Dell specifically as I read about the infamous "CPU Whine" with almost every manufacturer's product to some extent. Dell certainly seems to have less of a problem with this than most.