E6410 Owner's Thread

Were you able to reproduce these faults while observing the system cooling response?

GK

 

GPU driver will crash, and restart (under Vista/Win7)
Under XP, the screen will show a non-motion static image or a color or a BSOD, as the OS can't restart drivers (almost all drivers are tied to the kernel at boot up)

 

I'm looking to purchase another E6410. I was just on the Dell website and I noticed the option for the 1440x900 screen option has disappeared today. Does this mean the E6410 is going to be discontinued soon? I'm hoping the Dell reps will still let me order this option by phone.

 

I just got E6410 from Dell Outlet (i7 620M, 4G, Win 7) and have some questions.

1. When I first connect AC adapter to the laptop, there's a buzzing sound for about 1-2 seconds. It is heard occasionally but can't find any regularity. Any idea?

2. First turned the computer on, the battery was not fully charged (it showd 92%), but the weird thing is that the battery light (on the top left hand corner) was blinking until it got fully charged. Called Tech support, but was told it is normal with no detail explanation. But, it turned out to be strange because it is now steady when recharging (after initially fully charged and used the battery. Then, put Ac adapter back on). I have used Dell laptop several times, it's my first time to see the battery light was blinking. What gives?

3. Fan seems to be constantly on. Though the pitch was not noisy enough to bother, I am kind of worried that the machine can easily get hot. Initially, I susspect i7 620M consumes more power/heat, but doesn't seem like it causes this, especially when considering the above odd things related to AC power and battery. Any way to check if the machine runs pretty hot, which need the fan constanly on?

4. Startup time takes unusually long. Though I understnad it is possible due to windows update. But, way longer than Vostro V130 that I got a week ago (from Outlet). Can't explain what cause this. Obviously, no program/data is installed in this new laptop.

5. Really disappointed at the touchpad. I found that ALPS is not to be blamed because the one in Vostro V130 had Synaptics, but had the same terrible features of the touchpad. Dell tweaked it and named it as "Dell Touchpad." But, the features are simply terrible. Most of the touchpad had a tap feature on each corder of the touchpad (ex: you can customize four corners, like browser back/forward, minimize/maximize, etc.). They don't have this type of thing. I had this function in previous Dell laptops 3-4 years ago. Instead, they put crappy fancy features like multi-finger gestures. Without using external mouse, it's really hard to use it.

Other than the above issues, I like the solid feel of the laptop (even better than ThinkPad T61) and loved the LG SXGA+ screen. But, the above issues are not small issues until resolved.

I need your comment/help on the issues I had with my first Latitude machine.

 

Try HWiNFO32. Select sensors and you will get a table showing both temperatures and fan speed.

John

 

This is the config of both E6410's:
*CPU = I7-640M
*GPU = Nvidia 3100M

Fan was working, no especially heavy load, only standard business software was running at the time. Inside was clean, not clogged at all.

No, unfortunately there was not enough time for extended testing. I use an E6410 with the same configuration myself, if I would encounter the same issue then I'll perform some tests and check the temperatures.

 

Thanks for this info. The dedicated GPU is an extra source of heat, if under load.

I would suggest that you run some CPU and GPU benchmarks (eg SiSoftware Sandra) on several machines with the same configuration while running HWiNFO32 with sensors enabled to see how the temperatures behave under the same loading condition. This should reveal whether any of the notebooks run hot which may either indicate poor mounting of the cooling system or very hot running components.

John

 

Any idea about blinking battery light? It's my first time to see that (blinking). it is normally either solid (charging) on or off (fully charged).

 

Perhaps the vents were blocked and the unit just overheated once.

GK

 

>>1. When I first connect AC adapter to the laptop, there's a buzzing sound for about 1-2 seconds. It is heard occasionally but can't find any regularity. Any idea?

Where is it coming from? AC adapters can buzz.

>>2. First turned the computer on, the battery was not fully charged (it showd 92%), but the weird thing is that the battery light (on the top left hand corner) was blinking until it got fully charged. Called Tech support, but was told it is normal with no detail explanation.

No idea. I would disable express charge in the BIOS, run the battery down on Windows, then further down on BIOS, then recharge to ensure a good calibration.

>>4. Startup time takes unusually long. Though I understnad it is possible due to windows update. But, way longer than Vostro V130 that I got a week ago (from Outlet). Can't explain what cause this. Obviously, no program/data is installed in this new laptop.

I would re-image it with current drivers. Then you'll see how it runs as you build it up. And you'll have a known good install. See notes in my sig.

>>5. Really disappointed at the touchpad.

Install current BIOS and drivers, tweak the settings, and then decide if it works or is defective.

GK