Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I would guess the install order is only significant when subsequent stuff is not already installed.

GK

 

Reinstall just the drivers. That usually works for me. Just make sure you have all the latest versions of the drivers, usually found on the manufacturers' websites.

Edit : The Dell system software is nothing but a set of Windows patches. So if you've already installed it, then there's no need to reinstall it.

 

sitting next to a lat d820 (which I always thought was a little loud, but not too bad), this machine (the e6500) purrs quietly. Get the 7200 rpm, the noise difference won't be much (if at all), and you will benefit from the additional speed. it would have to be deadly silent in a room to make the fan noise that distracting. the harddrive MAY make an irritatingly loud clicking noise on spin up/down, but dell finally realized it was going on and worked with seagate for a firmware fix, so install that if you have the issue.

 

ok - i've got another weird issue.

sometimes my e6400 recognizes a new "drive" an pops up a message.
then there is a new "drive" it the hardware manager.
but: I didn`t plug in anything.
and now the weird thing: my dvd-burner isn't there anymore if this "drive" is present. If i remove the drive the dvd-burner is there again.

Screenshot attached

i think it has something to do with the intel matrix.......
anybody the same problem?

 

Unfortunately, my ac adapter still hasn't arrived. I got a service mail though, but I don't really get what the status is. But it seems as if it hasn't been send yet. Quite annoying!
Tomorrow the technician is going to look at my issues mentioned above. He's also going to look at my screen as I (sometimes) have a dark 'cloud' at the bottom of the screen. But as I know my luck, it won't be there tomorrow.

I hope the technician brings an ac adapter though as my battery only has a few minutes left..

 

Looking for some kind soul willing to make a Ghost image of their XP recovery partition so I can get rid of this $^*! Vista.

doctauri (at) gmail.com

Thanks,
Doc

 

Sounds like the identity of the optical drive is coming and going. Perhaps remove it and reboot a few times and then run without it for awhile... if the problem is gone, then the optical drive is suspect. Try reseating it or see if there is a dvd firmware update on dell.com. Just guessing.

GK

 

This is against the law And is against the forum rules (it is even in bold).
1 product key per system unless you have a group product key purchased, which normally you don't have. This may also play with the activation of both parties which could lead to complications.

If you have any issue, switch to Vista 64-bit as it seams to be the magical OS where everything works perfectly (I am excluding the webcam as it's from Creative and they can't make drivers for any platform and I won't even trust it to protect my ketchup bottle, hense explain why I don't have the webcam on my machine which I refused to have for free) or contact Dell, for help.

 

Hi,

I just placed an order for the E6400.

Any reasons why I should use Vista compared to XP.

And where can I pick up a cheap DVDRW slim internal for the E6400?

Best Regards

 

I hope the bellow novel is enough to convince you into a choice

1- The laptop has only new technologies. Windows XP was not designed for such environment. The laptop drivers were designed for Vista 64-bit in mind and adapter for the 32-bit counter part and then XP, making XP with the worst drivers and Vista 64-bit the best.

2- Vista 64-bit is the best Vista (better than the 32-bit I mean). It is the original Vista. I can't say by much, but it's less buggy. Let's just say that most issues reported on Vista only affected the 32-bit version.

3- You have a 64-bit CPU... you PAID for one, it would be unwise to not use it. You get to unlock your CPU full potential, where it was reported to run 32-bit applications/games slightly faster for the same amount of power. Moreover, you get to run 64-bit applications, such as Windows Media Player 64-bit (I am sure they are other 64-bit media players out there) which allows you to use 64-bit codecs, meaning increase battery life as it require less power to decode. I can't say any numbers as it depends on the video, codec, codec version, compression, and media player. But anything helps. Just a note, Vista Business and XP edition don't come with DVD codecs (nor 64-bit codec for Vista Business 64-bit). That why Dell gives you PowerDVD 32-bit (sadly no 64-bit). But no mater you can use Windows Media Player 32-bit which is provided (in fact set as default) in Vista 64-bit. Or use PowerDVD to play your movies and the rest under WMP 64-bit. Also having the WHOLE OS and all it's application in 64-bit helps on system performance and battery life (which allow more things)

4- Better memory management. Something that is just being ignored... Vista memory management although not perfect is a welcome improvement form it's (as it was said) "abysmal" memory management of XP. Now making Vista's having a good memory system. That is why Vista takes more RAM. Because, you see in XP, it puts everything it can on your HDD rather then your RAM. That causes serious reduction in system response, making your high quantity of RAM useless, and reduce battery which could be used for other things. Great for <512MB of RAM... but anything above it actually bad. Vista works differently it adapts depending how much RAM you have. That is why between 512 MB of RAM and 1GB of RAM in Vista you don't see any speed increase but once you jump to 1.5 or 2Gb you do see. Windows 7 improves even greatly on this aspect.

5- Kernel on memory. Vista kernel is all on your RAM. Which is one reason why the system is more responsive, however at the cost of using more RAM. But that you use more or less RAM the battery life is the same as Watts used by the RAM don't change (or if it does nothing visible). This also reduce HDD usage. Meaning increase battery life and allows more room to run more useful things.

6- If you plan to get your system with 4GB of RAM, which I highly recommend, as programs gets less and less optimized and add more fancy stuff which uses more RAM. All 32-bit OS out there for desktops/laptops usage, only uses 3.5 to 3.8GB of RAM (if you are lucky. I just read a story of someone with a dedicated video card got 3.3GB of RAM on his desktop PC). Also add a system slow down as a 32-bit OS in reality doesn't support 4GB of RAM, 3.8GB of real max, but as 3.8GB of hard to make, hacks where made to support 4GB of RAM, hense the reason of the slow down and even less RAM at your disposal. So actually using XP, thinking it is lighter, with your 4GB of RAM you lose more RAM than if you used Vista 64-bit.

7- Vista features.
a) Just instant search which uses significantly to non of your HDD while searching for files (not indexing of course), this means results instantly and no reduction in battery life. Thats worth it.

b) Another feature is, Superfetch and working Prefetch. Prefetch preloads all your startup programs and boot files onto your RAM while the OS boots up, meaning your system is near ready when your account loads up, ready to execute your applications and not wait until everything loads. More you restart your computer the more effective and faster your account loading is. (Improves every 3days if not on battery). Now when I said a working prefetch... this is kinda of a lie... in XP it did work but had issues if you had over 1GB of RAM. Remember XP is dated 2001, which was really Windows 2000. So it's OLD. 128-256MB of RAM is what was standard back then, Microsoft was planning in a new OS before we get at what we have now.

c) Superfetch, learn what application you use the most, and at what time, than preloads your applications before you do. Meaning, you open your application 2 to 6 time faster. Remember that there is no application log or anything like that. Vista only looks at your RAM... so it means nothing to anyone even for hackers. So you are safe.

d) More and better security. Most virus/malware/trojans/etc. under Vista don't do anything other than standing there because they need admin rights to do anything. Also you have advance firewall that makes ZoneAlarm and alike a joke, with complete network profile (Home, Office, public network), and control on inbound and outbound. Also, unlike XP the firewall works. I don't know about you, but in XP I have applications that access the internet and after you get windows firewall pop-up that ask if I want to block the application... yikes.. kinda too late.

e) The whole OS (or almost all) is programed in asynchronous rather than synchronous method. Meaning that when your system does something it can do something else. For example, in XP if you have startup programs when you load your account, try to load your account and the second you see the Start menu click on it, and try to run an application in 'All programs'. good luck. But in Vista you can.

f) Vista shortcuts. You want to run the third quicklaunch item, Win key + 3., how about the fourth one? Win key + 4. That simple. No need to point and click. You save time! Another feature is the instant search on the startmenu. I want to start lets' say Zune software. I press on the win key and then without using my mouse type Z (yup that is all) > ENTER and it opens Zune. For firefox, I do: Winkey = fire > ENTER. This is not configurable... it just knows, and you don't need to wait and see the results (because what you type s enough to make the item the first item in the list)

g) Aero, transparency helps in managing windows around on a low resolution screen. Also free the CPU for REAL task. in XP everything is rendered in the CPU and then given to the video card to just output the result. In Vista the windows (not window content, expect for games, of course) is done by the GPU so helps. Windows 7 pushes that idea further and that is why more effects and less power is required for the UI.

h) Vista Image Backup (Complete PC backup). Available feature in Business and Ultimate editions, it allows you to make a complete image of your system. So if you need to re-install, you can do it in less than installing Vista form a disk (if you use the eSATA port). Just get an extrenal HDD (pre-build or build it yourself to save even more money) with eSATA port (usually comes with a USB port as well) and you are set! eSATA gives you the same speed as an internal SATA HDD on a desktop. You can't go faster as eSATA /SATA is already faster than 10 000 RPM HDD and SSD of today.

Is that enough reason to get Vista 64-bit rather than it's 32-bit version or XP? I think that is a yes at 100%.
The only issue that might block you from such choice is that you have a older than 2006 hardware that you can't replace no mater what, which don't have XP 64-bit (yea it exists... but rare) nor Vista 64-bit drivers. Or you use a special (and I do mean SPECIAL) software where no newer compatible version exists. If you don't fall on to this category, you are set.

Just some additional notes:
Do not get a webcam (even for free) if you don't really need it, as it's from Creative an everyone has issues with the drivers (like all Creative products). Trust me on this one.

If you want 64-bit codec packs just ask on the forum and I'll give you everything you want to know.

Get 4GB of RAM... you'll probably will need in a year or two, so why not get it now and forget about it. Also, if you don't use it all, you can take it as an advantage of being able to disable pagefile and simply make the OS not use your HDD. Meaning increase in battery life (depends on what you do, but there is no reduction in battery life). And enjoy an even more responsive system.

Get 3 year warranty with Next buisness day onsite... definitely worth the money. look back a few posts (pr pages) and I explain all the benefits! Worth every penny. (Let's say I am on my fourth system because I am picky guy, and never had not my system in hand! It's great!)

As for your second question, get a normal DVD player, and call Dell to place the order. This should be the only outsource guy you talk to, and you can negotiate a price and free upgrades on your system. And I mean get crazy stuff. Negotiating is an art and skill... the better you are the more you can twist the company arm and get what you want (or well the maximum that a company can give).

Get also the backlit keyboard it's better. It's a useful feature, and the keyboard is apparently quieter.

If you have any question just ask! Glad i could help, and hopefully all this information was useful and saw my views. If it was helpful, please rep me up