Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I guess I have some tweaking to do, because last night with vista at a similar power configuration to what I use in XP, I was getting only a reported 3-3.5 hours from the 6 cell. And that was after I intentionally stepped the max cpu down a bit to experiment. I'm far from done with my setup and adjustments, but that was really disappointing to see, especially with the P series cpu. I think I need some better tools for setting up the power management on vista.

It's hard going from such a simple, stable, all-around workhorse like the 600m, to a more modern machine with all of the over-complication that comes with modern chipsets (seriously, why give everything power management when it breaks functionality much of the time?) and Vista. It's going to take me a while to get into my comfort zone, but overall it should be a decent replacement. Hopefully Dell gets out a new DVD drive (mine vibrates something fierce too, I haven't tried burning anything yet), and fixes everyone who is having audio problems.

 

You need to look at the Dell Extended Battery options under the Dell ControlPoint in order to stretch the battery life.



John

 

How about the audio quality using external speakers/headphones? I'm going to listen to music on my E6400 quite often with high quality headphones and sometimes with low-end 2.1 speakers. What sound quality I can expect?
P.S. currently used integrated Intel 82801DB ICH4 AC97 satisfies my needs.

 

Ahh, it finally came. What a beautiful laptop. The finish of the lid is nicer than I expected, and I must say, I've never typed on a real keyboard before using this.

No more XPS M140!!!

Now, time to reformat and put Vista Home Premium on it. It's nice that Dell gives you disks once again.

Oh, and I suppose that I should put my RAM in now.

It's like Christmas again.

Greg

 

Hey guys and gals!!!! Brand new to the forums here and just put in my order for an E6400 from Dell.ca.

LAT E6400, P9500 (2.53GHZ) 6M,CORE 2 DUO
VISTA PREMIUM STICKER, LAT/MPWS
2.0GB DDR2-800MHZ,1 DIMM,LAT
9-CELL PRIMARY BATTERY,LAT E/MPWS
8X DVD+/-RW,LAT E, BLACK
INT 0.3MP VGA WEBCAM,W/MIC,WXGA+,LAT E64
INT VGA WEBCAM,W/MIC,LAT E/MPWS
LATITUDE E6400 BRUSHED METAL BLACK
NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 160M,EXP,LAT E6400,BLK
14.1 WIDE WXGA+ ANTIGLARE,LED,LAT E6400
BLACK WXGA+ BACKLIGHT,LAT E6400
INTERNAL BACKLIT ENGLISH KEYBOARD,LAT E
90W,3-PIN,AC ADAPTER,LAT E
US-3FT,3-PIN,FLAT POWER CORD, LAT E
NYLON DELUXE 14.0 CARRY CASE,LAT/MPWS
RESOURCE DVD W/DIAG,DRIVERS,LAT E6400
DOCUMENTATION, ENG, LAT E/MPWS
160GB HDD, 9.5MM, 7200RPM FFS, LAT D6X00
VISTA BUSINESS 64BT SP1,W/ MEDIA,ENG,LAT
INTEL WIFI 5300 802.11 A/G/N,LAT E/MPWS,
DELL WIRELESS 370 BLUETOOTH,LAT E/MPWS
ENERGY STAR 4.0,EPEAT GOLD,LAT E6400

I spent a bit of time talking to Dell on the phone and finally agreed to a price of $1,643 CDN and free shipping!!!

I think it's a bit more than what some of you got it for, though I thought I did a decent job as the web price was well over $2000...

Now, I must sit and wait...

L.

 

The waiting part is the hardest. Fortunately many have been getting their units in about 5-7 days, although your in Canada so I'm not sure if there's the same delay.

 

Help me...

Can someone tell me if there is any way in which the speakers on the laptop could have been disabled?

I have everything un-muted, in Dell Control Panel I do not have the "enable low power audio" thing turned on, and my speakers are DEAD DEAD DEAD. Also, I cannot get anything out of known good headphones either.

I swear, this laptop better NOT be defective in less than a week.

 

Mmmm, check if the 3.5mm plug correctly seated in the jack in the back of the computer?

*slap face* Oh! right it's a laptop! Sorry I couldn't resist lol. I needed this after bashing someone in the sager subforum.

In the sound control panel, maybe you have another source/ouput than the built-in card selected? In the audio control panel, audio tab, is the first drop list showing > 1 option? Might want to try others? Maybe check for digital audio enabled? Just throwing ideas here. I'm on XP browising my options.

@LYuan
No dammit it's an incredible price!! All in all maybe a tad lower than mine (though I have a 250gb and 4gb of RAM. I knew I should have tried something on the P9500... Grr....)

 

Argh...the sound driver FUBAR'ed. Fixed.

 

My biggest remaining concern with this machine is I want really good sound quality.

Anybody know what sound card it comes with?

Since Dell isn't offering audio options, would it be easy for me to upgrade the card myself?

thanks.