Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

See I told you! Cooling is very good. I also tried to change the thermal paste of the CPU on my previous latitude (that is now returned due a malfunction, not related to this cause 9I did it because it was about to be changed with a new one)), with some Arctic Silver Thermal grease... and I only got 1C less. That means that the thermal paste used is dam good.

 

Which screen did you get? WXGA CCFL, WXGA LED or WXGA+ LED?

 

The Control Point System Manager is quite useful if you have the Backlit Keyboard (can adjust brightness, duration, etc.) and you can have on-screen notifications for Brightness, Ambient Light Sensor, Keyboard Backlight and Volume (you can choose pick and choose out of those four items which to display). I find it handy when I adjust the volume or screen brightness to see what level those things are.

Connection Manager and Security Manager, the other two components of Control Point, are far more of a pain in the @ss than anything else...at least for my needs. They serve no useful purpose. The good thing is that you can choose to only install System Manager.

 

whats this i see about screen flicker? has it been fixed?

 

Screen flicker is due to low screen refresh rate. The display of the Latitude E6400 support 2 refresh rates. 40Hz to save power, and 60Hz the default settings. See the help documentation of your Windows by pressing the F1 button on your keyboard while being on the desktop to learn more on how to change that setting in the display properties.

 

so its not a problem when on 60hz?

 

I sometimes notice it when on low brightness.

Discussion in another thread suggested that the LED backlights are switched on and off according to the brightness requirement and this could be a cause of the flicker, not the display refresh rate.

John

 

WXGA+ LED

Surprisingly after use, the CD drive has stopped whirring when not in use, and the audio problem went away. So...hooray!

Also, I'm really starting to like the keyboard on this thing. It's pretty comfortable.

I think all I have to test now for my satisfaction are its mobility factors--how much it feels to weigh me down after travel around campus, and how long the battery lasts. I'll also give ControlPoint a go.

 

what was the problem related to the audio driver? my cpu usage is fairly low by default, but my memory is always around 50% at boot, I have 2GB

 

I just ordered my e6400 and realized I didn't add a DVD drive

Granted, it's my own fault for not being careful enough (there were so many options for this thing!), but why the $*#@ is "No optical drive" default?!

Anyways... What's the cheapest way I can fix this? I tried calling dell a couple of times, sounds like there's no way to add it now. Cancelling the order and re-ordering sounds like a pain.

Should I just get a compatible burner from newegg? Would any notebook burner work?