Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I just purchased my second E6400 from the Dell Outlet! I've had my current one for about five weeks and I'm very pleased with it. It will be my dedicated work laptop and the one I just bought will be my personal/home system. '

I decided to buy one with the following specs:

Windows Vista Home Basic*
2.4GHz Intel C2D P8600
1GB DDR2 RAM*
14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900) LED display
80GB 5400rpm hard drive*
CD-RW
Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics
Dell 1397-G wireless card*
Dell 370 Bluetooth module
Back-lit Keyboard
9-cell Battery

*I've already ordered Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit and 4GB DDR2-800 RAM to install. I already have a new 320GB 7200rpm Seagate hard drive for it. I also plan to upgrade to the Intel 5100/5300AGN in the near future.

I rarely need to burn a DVD, but my other E6400 has a DVD-RW drive that I can swap out if/when the need arises. BONUS- my current E6400 just has the 6-cell battery, but I can swap it out with the 9-cell in the new one...beats paying Dell $189 for a new one!!!

I'm looking forward to getting my new one! I've got some work to do as soon as it shows up, but it'll be well worth it.

BTW- the new one is a "Previously Ordered New" system and only cost $669 plus tax/shipping...helluva DEAL, if you ask me! Even with the upgrades, I'll only have about $900 invested.

 

thanks john, I will take a look at your review. my question is: if I run two stick with different speed, like 667 and 800, will the 800 run slower?

I already looked at that manuals page, but is there a specific manual that explains the FN buttons functions? I also don't see any on screen overlay when I use the FN functions, there is no feedback that is actually working.


allfiredup, the dell outlet is just plain awesome! I got mine for $530, a scratch and dent, but it looks new. there are only 2 very light scratches that I have a hard time even spotting. I really like this 6400. I got the LG screen and Fujitsu HDD that is so quiet. My audio doesn't stutter.

 

Oh really? You challenge me! Ok let's go!

http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_nvs_notebook_techspecs.html
The technology that uses both dedicated and if you exceed that amount uses your RAM for Nvidia graphic card, is called Nvidia Turbo Cache. The Quadro NVS 160M doesn't have this feature. These video cards have usually an option in the BIOS which allows the user to set the value of the amount of RAM you want the video card to reserve from your RAM. See Geforce 6150/6100 as an example.
A simple example of this fact, when I run Crysis on my laptop at high settings (yes its a slide show), but it doesn't take more RAM (with the identical settings) than on my desktop which uses a Geforce GTX 260.

Wow, someone needs a computer class. Your GPU.. no wait about every component on your computer doesn't consume that amount of Watts that you see. It consume the amount of what you see when you PUSH the video card at max. Example: If you buy a 100W light bulb and you install it on a lamp with a dimmer, and set the dimmer at 50%. Does your light bulb still consume 100W? Of course not! The same applies to your CPU, GPU, motherboard chipset and alike. That is why when you play let's a say a heavy game, your system consume more power (Desktop like Laptops), as it consume more power, therefore heat more. See basic physics class on energy.

The Quadro video cards are not Geforce video cards. There is a reason for this, despite being using the same architecture as the Geforce video card. The Quadro video card uses the same architecture of a Geforce series. In our case, yes, the Quadro 160M is similar specs as the Geforce 9300M. But the Quadro is tweaked (chip and/or firmware tweak) to render faster polygons rather than effects and and the rest (that is why in Windows Experience Index, you have gaming performance is higher than Aero, which "doesn't make very much sense" (you know what I mean)) . In result that is why in games using more polygons doesn't slow AS MUCH as using better effects, textures, etc... This is the case, because the Quadro is designed for CAD, rendering and alike purposes and not for games. So in result, our Quadro is similar performance than a Geforce 9300M (which as yourself said, is true) but if you do AD for example, expect a much higher performance reaching nearly or at the 9600M GS (not GT, which is what you probably had). Do I have any values in hand to proof this... no I am afraid not. But I did have the opportunity to try it. (A friend had a HP machine and it had a Geforce 9600 (GS or GT I forgot) and he does CAD (huh... yea, the reverse), and we tested and the Latitude was a just a tiny, tiny, bit behind. But in games... yea the separation is visible.

 

Hmm... Something is wrong if your system...
This is what I did:
- Have EVEREST System stability stress test (HDD, CPU, RAM, FPU, Cache)
- I playing a 1080p Blu-ray movie rip using Windows Media Player 64-bit
- Playing Winamp Internet Radio
- Running GPU Stress tool rthdribl v 1.2 max settings
For 2 hours.

And the MAX temperatures that my system are:
CPU 1 and 2: 68C
GPU: 89C
HDD: 43C

I must say that the dell cooling solution is pretty good. It was a great idea to use the metal system base as heatsink too.

You know what is cool: Keyboard area is surprisingly not hot.. it's warm yes.. but not hot. The Bottom.. yea it's warm/hot. I am impressed! Yay for reserving the CPU, GPU, motherboard northbridge chip.

 

Yes, the 800MHz RAM will run at 667MHz. However, the performance difference is minimal. The bottleneck is the chipset, although the new Intel chipset does give better bandwidth than its predecessor.

Yes, the overlay seems to be lacking. I thought I used to have an overlay for the brightness and ALS control, but it seems to have disappeared.

I thought the Fn+ commands were documented somewhere, but can't find it, so here are the main ones:

Fn+F1 = sleep / hibernate (as set under power management)
Fn+F2 = disable battery charging (usually until the next reboot - can be set in the BIOS)
Fn+F3 = battery charge status (which would need OSD which I'm not seeing)
Fn+F4 = enable numeric keypad when Fn+key is pressed
Fn+F5 = might be scroll lock
Fn+F7 = Dell ControlPoint
Fn+F8 = toggle through display devices
Fn+← = display brightness controlled by ALS (on / off)
Fn+→ = keyboard backlight (on / ALS/ off)
Fn+↑ = increase brightness
Fn+↓ = decrease brightness

If you go into Dell ControlPoint then near the bottom of the display and devices page is "customize hot keys" where you can add your own short-cuts.

The display settings page allows you to select on-screen notifications. Mine are all enabled but I see nothing on screen. Bug in DCP?

John

 

John,
I read your review. well done. I am not sure why you consider the e6400 that heavy. compared to other 14.1" it is actually one of the lightest. Lighter than the T400 (slightly), not to talk about the much heavier sony 14.1". Wouldn't be the case to say that now the 6400 ships with the slim 90W adapter? at least in the states.

where the heck is Dell ControlPoint? It doesn't open with my FN key and can't find it anywhere in the menus. I really wanna figure out this on-screen notifications.

 

The only flaw in the cooling system is the location of the exhaust vent. In the very middle of the left side isn't the ideal spot. It must have some logistical purpose (i.e. component location makes this vent location optimal). Ideally, the vent would be in the back blowing the warm air away from me and/or my desk. Not to mention that my stupid cat loves to lay down against the vent every time I turn away for a split-second!

 

has anybody had any issue with Vista SP1? i am thinking about installing it. I know it has problem with some hardware. is it better a standalone or through windows update? I don't see it in WU.

 

The back will heat up the battery, which is not good (ages it faster, apparently (said on this forum)).

 

The Dell Latitude E6400 already comes with Vista SP1.