Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

It sounds like you have a bad battery?

 

I have experienced a similar thing -- I almost wonder if there is something funky with the latest bios, because it only started happening to me after that -- but i never shut mine down, i just suspend it, so we may be having different issues.


on an entirely unrelated note -- anyone have advice on the best program to check smart status of a drive? I used to use one, but i cannot remember what it was for the life of me. scratch that, i finally remembered that it was speedfan.

question on that note though, does anyone that is supposed to have a free fall sensor know whether the smart status reports free fall protection properly? it seems to suggest mine doesnt have a free fall sensor, even though it should.

 

Carefully check the event log to see if the computer managed to start itself up while you thought it was shut down. If it is a battery problem then you should be able to do a simple battery drain test.

John

 

i cant seem to find anything about it starting up in the events. its only happened two times, but it makes no sense. its like its not completely shut down and it keeps running, thus the battery drain. it definitely goes until cut off...so SOMETHING must be on. the two times it has happened ive been using wifi, if that helps at all (doubtful).

 

and if the computer is starting itself up, it might be that it is getting pressed -- you could start up my d820 by squeezing gently on the hinge while it was closed -- i finally had to put up a bios password so if it did turn on, the bios would time out and shut it down after about a minute.

 

Was wondering if some E6400 users could give me some general input on their likes/dislikes about their machines. I currently have a Sony Z, however, I am less than pleased with it. First, the wifi connection has had many problems, supposedly this is due to its utilization of the Intel 5100 (so I would likely select the dell wifi). Second, within 2 days of ownership there is significant wear on many of the keys. While I know this happens with virtually all keyboards, showing this much wear after 2 days tells me that the finish is extremely poor. I have also heard horror stories when needing to deal with Sony whether the unit is in warranty or out.

Therefore, the business line of dells seems to be a good alternative. I realize the 6400 is significantly heavier than the Sony and a different size so one cant really compare them directly, but was hoping some current owners could shed some light on the subject. The E4300 is a nice light alternative, but is exceptionally expensive for what you get, even compared to the Sony. I built one with near identical specs last night on dell's site and it was about $500 more than my Z.

Cheers

 

not complaining about anything, i was simply stating that i thought that was interesting (in a good way) that there are already pre-configured advanced security measures in vista.

 

Has anyone tried this? It was offered by Windows Update (WinXP Pro 32bit).
Haven't tried this myself cause the last Creative webcam driver update from Windows Update made my E6400 BSOD.

Creative Technology Ltd. - Streaming Media and Broadcast - Integrated Webcam
Date last published: 3/24/2009
Download size: 542 KB
Creative Technology Ltd. Streaming Media and Broadcast software update released in March, 2009

 

Yes, the webcam driver version is now 1.6.3.309 on my machine with x64 Vista, Windows Update delivered it today.
However, Device Manager shows this driver as having been published on 03/09/2009.

 

Tried it on XP 32 bit. Device manager shows the same date as yours, but...
When I start "Dell webcam central" I can't record video. It starts recording and stops a moment later (at the same time it displays DCP sound volume). I can still take photos. Tried restarting twice.

Rolled back the driver, but it doesn't seem to help - no video recording with Dell webcam central, at the moment I don't have any other software to test video recording.

EDIT: After adjusting the sound source in "Dell Webcam Central" video recording settings, the video recording works again. Installing the SRS thing must have caused the need to do that. Will see about the stability...