Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

So far, I've had no issues with A12 except that on my initial boot up after flashing the BIOS, Windows claimed that it had recovered from a serious error. However, I don't use a dock and don't use the TPM (although might give it another try when time permits since they claim to have fixed a few more bugs).

Part of the BIOS update includes reflashing the keyboard firmware. Perhaps that is enough to upset the Logitech Setpoint. It's also possible that the keyboard firmware doesn't get downgraded again when the BIOS is reflashed to an older version (what did you see?).

John

 

The keyboard version gets reflashed, no matter whether you're up- or downgrading. I have the newest Setpoint drivers installed, but the problem occurs as soon as I press the power button it should have something to with the BIOS...

I also did a virus scan, didn't find anything. The problem now is that - even with A11 - the 0101010 typing continues as soon as I plug in the external mouse&keyboard. Crap!

Any advice?

 

I would look in the BIOS. It is possible that they have either added another option or changed a default value and this is conflicting with SetPoint.

The keyboard and USB behaviour are in the Boot section.

Do you get the problem with keyboard and / or mouse? Do you have another mouse you can try?

John

 

I reconnected my keyboard&mouse and now everything seems to be fine... so I'll probably try A12 again.

Thanks for your help!

 

With regards to the recent graphics discussion- It's apparent that the intel graphics are preferable in all respects except gaming performance. However, since I do some gaming, my decision between the two options is complicated.

My question is: What sort of performance is the intel capable of? Can it run average games at low settings? Or do I need the nvidia?

 

Performance is similar to that of the 8400M. So if your games can run on the 8400M, you can probably run them at comparable settings on the X4500. The Nvidia isn't THAT much better though; its performance is identical to that of the 9300M, since it's basically the same thing.

 

Anyone have any idea how to update this firmware?

 

The Intel X4500M HD is comparable to the Gerforce 7300M but has more memory (128MB) so in benchmarks it is comparable to 8400M, but i would not go so far. When I got this system I though , I have a gaming machine at home... no need for the quadro... but then I remember all the problem friends had with Intel and it's drivers with software that uses the video card, and I decided to cash out the few dollars more and the Quadro, especially that Nvidia made amazing leap in reducing power consumption all by having a higher performance. Anyway, it ended up I actually do play game on my machine, and I don't think I would be happy with the Intel at all (especially that laptop uses LCD's... any other resolution other than the default, you get a nice blurry image witch makes unreadable text and poor textures in a game. The Quadro can handle the 1440x900) Beside, you can use Nvidia control panel to adjust the colors of the screen.

But if battery life is absolutely important, where every minute counts, than go with the Intel one.

 

Contact Dell technical support to guide you through how to run an executable file.

 

Take a look at each of these pages, scroll down to find the FPS in some common games and the Intel 4500MHD has a 'Gaming Benchmarks' section below that, too- nVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M and Intel GMA 4500MHD.

Keep in mind that the 160M is showing the performance of an E6400 but the 4500MHD is showing scores of several various systems (with different specs). It's not a perfect comparison, but it's the best I've got...