Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

Thank you for your answers - you have been very helpful! I've found out that the claimed LED's power efficiency is actually not true at all, in fact, currently, LED technology produces more heat and consumes more than CCFL. On the other hand, it is true that lasts more, but that's not an issue for me, since i'm not going to keep the laptop long enough to see the CCFL dying. Check this article:
http://gamers-underground.com/forum...ticle-about-ccfl-vs-led-wled-lcd-screens.html

 

Panasonic demonstrated a 9.5mm Blu-Ray drive over a year ago but I have yet to see such a unit in the retail chain. I think Lenovo list a Blu-Ray option for the T400 / T500. That would fit your E6400 if you can find one.

That article is over a year old which is seriously ancient in what is a fast moving technology. One of the technical challenges was getting adequate light diffusion from a series of point sources. Further, the Toshiba R500 has a strange transflective display which probably reduces the efficiency.

I'm 100% confident that the LEDs will draw less power. I base my opinion on hands on experience and the ability to squeeze up to 6 hours out of my E6400. While up to 10 hours on the Sony G11 is even more impressive.

John

 

That was actually an older article. Sorry for that. I've found this statement from dell, regarding Dell Latitude E-Family LED panels: "In addition to being mercury-free and highly recyclable, LED displays deliver significant energy savings compared to CCFL technology. For example, Dell's 15-inch LED displays consume an average of 43 percent less power at maximum brightness, resulting in extraordinary cost and carbon savings. The company estimates customer savings of approximately $20 million and 220 million kilowatt-hours in 2010 and 2011 combined, the equivalent of annual CO2 emissions resulting from energy use of more than 10,000 homes."

 

I have 7hours and half on normal condition.
- Power Saver
- Minimum brightness (It's pretty bright for a class room environment)
- Wireless ON
- Apps: Firefox, Word, PowerPoint, Visual C++ (all at once)
- Using Quadro NVS 160 video card
- Aero with transparency

If I let the screen turn off after 1min of idle, or turn it off every time I don't need it, i can stretch a 8 hours and half. When my battery was new I was able to get 9 hours if I disable Aero transparency as well.

 

Wow. That's a lot! I got 3h30 but I specifically disabled the Vista option to turn the screen off to save power. Same specs. 6-cell battery by the way, I assume yours is 9-cell.

 

About the latency issue: I just tried disabling the modular bay in the BIOS (there's an option for that there, look it up) and my latency went from an average of 10000 microseconds to around 200 microseconds. Maximum latency is 1000 microseconds. The occasional stuttering in responsiveness I had which I THINK coincided with SATA activity is gone (so far, but I only did this two hours ago).

To whomever this latency might matter, and that doesn't need the DVD drive a lot, I suggest you just disable it. Be aware that you won't be able to use the bay until you reboot and enable it on the BIOS.

 

Hehe, yea I do have the 9-cell battery.

 

Mine is a bit longer, 8-9 hours on a regular basis, although mine has the integrated video, not the Quadro. Mine came with XP Pro installed rather than Vista.

I will agree that you can easily get by with the LED screen set at minimum or at most 2nd from minimum. These things are hella-bright.

This is the first laptop I've found that actually accomplishes all of the following:

1. Reasonable performance (not a crippled CPU or disk system)
2. Fairly lightweight
3. True all-day usage
4. Inexpensive ( ~$700 net through Dell Outlet)

In my opinion, this particular model is an underrated bargain for what it can do.

 

Well even at full price (well after negotiating for upgrades price drop a bit), I think it's a great machine and worth the money. I mean you have everything you need on your side.

The only downside I have for this machine, is the palm rest and screen plastic frame that is too easy to scratch. A higher base plastic quality could have been used. But luckily the machine is mostly in metal and this is just aesthetics, which I can live with. However, I did mod my laptop. For instant on the side where you have the labels, I remove the pad, put something under to increase the height and put the pad back. and I put a small black pad inside the screen lock mechanism. Result: Doesn't hurt the machine, invisible, and solve the problem. Perhaps the newer build have this solved... I mean it is an easy fix solution.