Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I can feel unevenness if I run my fingers along the plastic, but no deformation is visible. That area is just a thin plastic over over the antennae.

It's not the type of build quality problem which would worry me. My concern is whether a notebook might have structural failure which limits its usability when I'm away from home.

John

 

After using the laptop a few months my biggest complaint is the scratching of the bezel of the screen and on the hand palm rest. It has gotten quite intense, I got scratching all around my screen. Not pretty!

My screen also has some stains I can't get of with a dry microfiber cloth. Any ideas how to get rid of the stains / which liquid to use?

Furthermore, the speaker grill is starting to look pretty ugly: dust gathers in the small holes.. any ideas how to remove it? Haven't tried much yet though.

 

Palm rest scratch is not normal at all... (ok I know nothing of the hole scratch thing is normal... but you get what i mean) that means that the screen really hit the palm rest. I would be worried. I would contact Dell for a new palm rest and screen frame. To reduce significantly scratches, remove the pad, and put something hard and small under it and put it back... the idea is to make a lump, to increase height of the distance between screen and palm rest. Put a clean cloth and a some heavy book (but not too heavy to brake your laptop), and by seeing the light pass thought the screen and palm est you can see if contact occurs with light pressure. You can also add a thin cutout rubber from something else and put it in the screen lid lock in the palm rest. It would make the screen a little harder to close, but you problem is 100% solved (well the only scratch I have is the pads itself on the screen frame, and 2 minor scratch form the speaker grid, but that last one was before I did this trick.)
I did this and NO ONE, not even the technician noticed anything.

If the stains are water marks and inside the screen, that is because you busted your screen by applying to much liquid (probably you applied liquid directly on it, and it penetrated). Your screen is finished. Buy a new one if you don't have accidental damage.

If it's ON your screen.. then demineralized water of sorts on the cloth... very little of it.. like have it humid, and rub circles with a clean lint-free microfiber cloth. DO NOT APPLY PRESSURE. Laptop LCD's are very weak, they will brake.

Oh easy! Take a tooth brush and perform slow circles so that the brush goes inside the hole and removes the dust. It takes patience.. so make sure you have time to do this. Closing the laptop often and be in a clean area (i.e: don't open the Windows at home especially if you don't have an air filter) to reduce dust.

 

>>My screen also has some stains I can't get of with a dry microfiber cloth. Any ideas how to get rid of the stains / which liquid to use?

I use a soft cotton cloth damp with water. Remember to use softer on harder to avoid scratching the harder material.

>>Furthermore, the speaker grill is starting to look pretty ugly: dust gathers in the small holes.. any ideas how to remove it?

I use a moderate vacuum with soft brush attachment. Beware Electro Static Discharge... vacuums can accumulate charge from inflowing air and then will discharge through a grounded/lower potential device. So, I sort of touch/hold on to all items... desktop, notebook chassis & keyboard, and vacuum... before and while bringing the vacuum brush into contact with the keyboard and grills.

GK

 

I use a Toraysee microfiber cloth, it's meant for lenses etc. So I think it's soft enough. So I can't use normal water? Where do I get demineralized water?
Will try the toothbrush trick with the speaker grills later, need a new one anyway. I'm a bit afraid to use a vacuum with my laptop.. ^^

Is it possible to change only the screen frame or do I have to take a whole new screen?

I like the idea with a bit of rubber in the screen lid lock.. have to see where I can get some. I didn't understand which pad to remove / where to put something hard and small... :/

 

I'm assuming he meant jam a small piece of rubber into the hole where the lock goes. Also, the screen frame can be removed and replaced separately from the screen, like most laptops.

 

>>So I can't use normal water? Where do I get demineralized water?

I use tap water... just enough to wet the cloth. Demineralized is just distilled water... dangle your cloth over a boiling teapot spout for a few seconds... it will get plenty wet.

Regarding the toothbrush... getting the bristles to clear/lift debris from every grill pore seems a chore... and the bristle plastic could be harder than the grill paint.

GK

 

Did anyone manage to get Bluetooth working in Linux?

I just realised that the bluetooth module is not detected in Fedora 11. My BT mouse does work albeit in a minimal mode(no scrolling, etc.). Apparently this is an issue with the Dell's 370 BT modules and Vista. Dell provides two sets of drivers for Vista and XP, respectively. These drivers seem to install Vista or XP specific firmware into the module itself. The Vista driver seems to add some extra features to the BT module(e.g. Able to use BT mouse in bios, etc.). Unfortunately, linux only seems to support the XP firmware but not the vista. In my case, under Linux no BT module is present but my BT mouse still works because it was paired earlier in Vista. But in this mode, the mouse can't be configured(no scrolling, etc.).

From what I gather, the workaround for the issue seems to involve downgrading the BT driver from Vista to XP version. But this would mean one have to live with not having the added functions that the Vista driver gave.

So, if someone have a different approach, please share.

 

The scratching is caused by the display bezel rubbing against the palm rest when the computer is carried around.

There's more discussion and a possible fix here.

I use a household vacuum cleaner + pipe and nozzle to suck the dust off.

John

 

Well yes you can.. I said that because we all have different water depending on the region you are. Some are more mineralized than other placed. The mineral of the water is what leaves marks on surface when it drys.

Demineralized/distilled water (same thing), is mostly only H2O, and that won't give you any streaks.
Remember to **NEVER IN YOUR LIFE TIME** use Windex, or rubbing alcohol or any house hold cleaning product, because you will destroy the plastic of your screen, with no way to try and revert the effects.

If you are afraid of scratching the speaker grid paint, I suggest to use a soft head toothbrush, which is also what is highly recommended by my dentist when brushing your teeth (unless you have a special need to use harder heads brush).

Of course, you can find on Dell website the full service manual of the laptop. You have everything to completely dissemble it and put it all back
Just a not, the frame plastic sucks... as you noticed... it's the type of plastic you can remove and put back a second time and have it all placed solidly, the snaps will get weaker.

I had an old IBM keyboard, under it it had black pads. I cut a part out and stick it back on inside the lock hole. The pad glue was still sticky when removing from the keyboard, which makes it easy to change your mind if its too high and blocks the screen from closing, as you don't use real glue which could leave traces and destroy the laptop plastic as most glues you buy are acid based. I also recommend to put little tinny peace of a metal tie bended in U shape or some rubber or plastic on the left and right pads, just to keep the screen at the same level, and prevent any even more scratches. Again, going so is easy, and not visible AT ALL.