Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I'm going to have to because I need to ask Dell about it. If they don't fix it, it will definitely be going into the review as a negative thing about Dell Support.

UPDATE:
After using the SEC for a little while, it isn't all that bad. Doesn't seem as bright, but I'm thinking that is just because the screen isn't color saturated.

 

Lurked forever on this site, first time I've posted. Ive had an E6500 for about a week now. You guys are way over my head technically...I'm trying to get up to speed, but I'm the last guy you'd pick for kickball.

here is what I get when I follow john's instructions.....what display is this? Mind you, I've been going 'wow this screen is really neat' which believe me is a layman's response to a screen that is bright and rich in its colors.

But what is it?
DISPLAY\DEFAULT_MONITOR\5&1D6CB6FC&0&00000111&01&00

 

Ummm. Something not right there, as I think you have figured out. Is your monitor listed as a plug and play monitor in Device Manager? Have a look at the Hardware Ids on the monitor details page.

What resolution / type of display did you order?

John

 

OK, I'm almost ready to submit my order to Dell. Here's what I've configured thus far:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1, With media
WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year Limited Warranty and 3 Year Mail-in Service
LCD PANEL 14.1" UltraSharp™ WXGA+ (1440x900) LED Display - Brush Metal Black
GRAPHICS AND EXPANSION SLOT NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M With Express Card
MEMORY 2.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 1 DIMM
INTERNAL KEYBOARD Internal English Backlit Keyboard
CAMERA/MICROPHONE Integrated Webcam with digital microphone
PRIMARY STORAGE 160GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM with Free Fall Sensor
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™
WI-FI WIRELESS CARD Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
BLUETOOTH WIRELESS Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module
FINGERPRINT READER OPTION No Fingerprint Reader
BACKUP OS DRIVERS AND SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION Resource DVD - Contains Diagnostics and Drivers
My Accessories
BATTERY 6 Cell Battery edit
PRIMARY POWER OPTIONS 90W A/C Adapter (3-pin)
DOCKING SOLUTION E-Port, Port Replicator
NETWORKING OPTIONS Netgear WNDR3300 RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router
CARRYING CASE 14.1" Neoprene Sleeve

A few questions:

1. I really don't want or need the backlit keyboard option, but I couldn't get rid of it when I chose this config on Dell's website. Maybe a sales rep can take it off for me?

2. What's the difference between the Express Card and PC Card for graphics? (I want to be current on my selection.)

3. Did I choose the right router? (I was hesitating between this one and the Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router--I want the fastest connection possible).

4. I plan on upgrading the memory to 4 GB by adding another 2 GB, 1 DIMM memory stick. I would have gone with 1 GB pre-installed by Dell but this option didn't show up in my config. BTW, should I be considering 64-bit OS to take advantage of more memory? Dell doesn't specify if it is available. (I was planning to upgrade to Home Premium on my own).

 

It's definitely worth ordering by phone. First check the upgrade cost for the basic keyboard and RAM and then try to get those amounts taken off your total when you downgrade your standard configuration.

I can't comment on the router, but check the prices if you buy from somewhere else.

John

 

Actually, I have under monitor I have six 'Default Monitor' Entries, and one 'Plug and Play' monitor

All have this string under the id section. Thanks for your hehlp

DISPLAY\DEFAULT_MONITOR\5&1D6CB6FC&0&00000112&01&00

 

Sorry...here is what I ordered:
Latitude E6500, Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, 2.80GHz, 1066MHz 6M L2 Cache, Dual Core
4.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 1 DIMM for Latitude $0.00
Internal Backlit English Keyboard for Latitude E $0.00
Documentation (English) Latitude E-Family/Mobile Precision $0.00
256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M for Black Latitude E6500 $0.00
250GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 7200RPM FFS for Latitude EX600 $0.00
No Fingerprint Reader for Latitude E6X00 $0.00
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCDfor Latitude E6500 $0.00
Black 15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD for Latitude E6500 $0.00
Integrated web camera w/ microphone for WXGA LCD Latitude E6500 $0.00
Dell Webcam Central Software for Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision $0.00
Windows XP PRO SP3 with Windows Vista Ultimate LicenseEnglish,Dell Latitude
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth 2.1 Minicard for Latitude E/Mobile Precision $0.00
90W 3-Pin, AC Adapter for Latitude E-Family $0.00
US - 3-FT, 3-Pin Flat E-FamilyPower Cord for Latitude E-Family $0.00
8X DVD+/-RW for Latitude E-Family $0.00
Cyberlink Power DVD 8.0 Playback Software NO Media Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision $0.00
Roxio Creator Dell Edition,9.0no Media,Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision $0.00
Integrated VGA webcam with microphone for Latitude E6500 $0.00
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11 a/g/n 3X3) 1/2 MiniCard for Latitude E/Mobile Precision $0.00
Resource DVD with Diagnostics and Drivers for Latitude E6500Notebook $0.00
Quick Reference Guide for Latitude E6500 $0.00
9-Cell/85-WHr Battery for Latitude E/Mobile Precision $0.00
Dell Wireless 5720 Mobile Broadband (EV-DO Rev A) Mini-Card for Verizon Wireless(w/ GPS), Latitude $0.00
12-Cell 84-Whr Extended Battery Slice for Latitude E/Mobile Precision $0.00
Dell Additional Slim Auto/Air/AC Adapter for Latitude D Series $0.00
90W Additional 3-Pin, AC Adapter for Latitude E-Family $0.00
E/Port, Simple Port Replicatorfor Latitude E-Family/Mobile Precision $0.00
Latitude E6500 Color - Black $0.00
Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year $0.00
ProSupport for IT: 7x24 Technical Support for certified IT Staff, Initial $0.00
Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Extended Year(s) $0.00
ProSupport for IT: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response Initial Year $0.00
1 989-3182 ProSupport for IT: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response 2 Year Extended $0.00
1 989-3449 Thank you choosing Dell ProSupport. For tech support, visit http://support.dell.com/ProSupport or call 1-866-516-3115 $0.00
1 983-7592 ProSupport for IT: 7x24 Technical Support for certified IT Staff, 2 Year Extended $0.00

 

1. Yes they can, you can call with your shopping cart and get them to alter it.

2. It has nothing to do with graphics (I don't know why they show it there... it is confusing if you are not in the know). This basically refers to the card expansion slot on the side of the notebook, which you can use to insert cards of just about any function these days (for extra USB ports, firewire, wireless cards, WWAN cards, sound cards, etc). The difference is, that the PC Card option is the legacy option, and the one you want if you have a few PC cards sitting around you may still want to use. If not, choose the Express card, it is the newer interface and what all the new peripherals are coming out in.

3. I like the netgears personally also, not sure about speed comparison though (to be honest, they are both N routers and you are not going to see a massive difference)

4. Yep, if you are looking at >3GB of RAM, you'll want to go the 64-bit operating system. I run it on my E6400 flawlessly. Dell may not have it as a configurable option, but you can call and have them send the 64-bit media to you free of charge (it works with your existing shipped Vista key).

Stu

 

7 monitors is too many. I have 3, all plug and play. Anyway, check the hardware ID again for the plug and play monitor. It's name suggests it has been properly detected. I would be tempted to delete the default monitor entries.

So that's the standard WXGA display. All the discussion here focuses on the WXGA+ displays with LED backlights.

John

 

In case anyone is researching this model and has gotten this far in the thread:

I'm getting more and more disappointed with this laptop and am pretty sure I will send it back. I have the Samsung LED. I've noticed that the display starts getting brighter and darker on its own now. I remember reading about this in another Dell thread, but not specifically for the E6400. This happens with the laptop plugged in and when it's solely on battery power. Couple this with the terrible, and I do mean TERRIBLE vertical viewing angles, and this machine is turning into one big failure. In gmail, for instance, to be able to differentiate the white bars for unread e-mails, with the blue bars for read e-mails, the display has to be pushed back around 120 degrees. But at that angle, the darker colors get REALLY dark and over-saturated.

It has other internal and external defects too, which remained even after I formatted/clean installed XP. I really want to like and keep this computer, especially because I can write off most of it as a business expense. But I don't see the point of keeping a machine with such a major problem.

I disabled the power-saving features that affect the display, but this doesn't help. If anyone has any comments I'd be very happy to read them...