Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

Well, from what I see in the lenovo forum, the thinkpad has its share of software problems and people complaining about keyboard flexes. I don't think it makes a difference whichever one you get, but at least Dell has better support. And I have no issues with my current E6400 that would make me not want to buy it.

 

First I will say that if one looks at a forum there will always be people who are not 100% satisfied and so on, for any brand. I think the Dell E6400 is a very nice machine. Only issue I have is that I don't understand why my fan runs so often when the temps recorded are low. Screen, keyboard, build quality etc. I find very nice!!


John, or other proud owners, at what temps do your slow fan turn off? I am a bit worried that there is an issue with my sensor or something, because sometimes it just keeps running even though the temps are very low. Now for example, the slow fan has run for over an hour even though my CPU temp is just above 20 (from 3 different sources, HWmonitor, RMClock and I8kfanGUI) and I am not doing any intensive work (only some excel work).

When do you guys' slow fan turn off? and how often does it run when iddling?

P.s. the different max temps are due to the fact that I8kfanGUI has run all the time and HWmonitor was reset after the slow fan had run a short while

I hope that someone can help me with this, because I am quite puzzled about it!

EDIT: After I took out the power plug the fan turned off after a short while even though the cpu temps were higher. Very odd!

 

How many here are running 32 bit OSes vs. 64 bit? I'm wondering if the lock-ups / "freezes" are related to the 64-bit drivers? I'd consider 32, but I'd have to give up over half of my 8GB of RAM to do so.

 

I run 32 bit and have no problems with lock-ups or freezes

 

My fan's idle life story is encapsulated in the attached graph produced by Mobilemeter (useful software but you need to use XP).

The logging interval is 2 seconds and the vertical lines are every two minutes. Where the temperature starts to rise then the fan has stopped and where the temperature drops the fan has started. The temperatures on that graph agree with the THM_ reported by HWmonitor. You can see about 11 minutes with the fan on (temperature low) and 15 minutes with the fan off (temperature high).

Your 21C is unreasonably low. Is the ambient temperature that cold? Yes, it is time to ask Dell why.

BTW, different subject: When I resumed my E6400 from its overnight sleep I was greeted by a black screen. It hadn't hung because keys like Caps Lock would work the corresponding light. So I had to power down and then start up. I don't know the cause and have been unable to replicate the problem. Most likely something had upset the graphics driver (which is overdue for an update).

John

 

Yeah, I think the ambient temperature is about the same. Lifting the back end did the trick else it was running at 23-24C. Maybe I should try and talk to Dell about it, because it does seem quite odd! The funny thing is that running on battery I get a fan activity that is very similar to yours. But it doesn't seem as if temps are different when on battery compared to plugged in.

 

What power profile are you using? I'm using a standard Windows Portable / Laptop profile and not one of the Dell profiles.

John

PS: I just changed to a Dell power profile and the fan went off - about 7 minutes since it had come on. Coincidence?

 

I'm using the Dell recommended one, but have changed it somewhat. The only difference in the power options is that on battery it says to turn off after 10 minutes and powered after 20 minutes, and wireless is set to medium powersavings on battery while it's at max efficiency for when it is plugged.

 

I also spent a long time researching laptops before buying my E6400. My conclusion was that right now, within the $1500 range, this is the best laptop you can buy. Like John mentioned, a lot of us find nitpicky things about it, but for the most part it will do you well.

That being said, the only improvement I see with the E6400 over my old Inspiron 9100 is in form only. I think either the 9100 is the greatest laptop ever made, or Dell's quality control has dropped significantly since then. That laptop, even after 4.5 years, had zero problems. Never had a BSOD, great screen with great angles, and always ran fast as long as you reformatted every six months or so.

With the E6400, you can see the problems mentioned. I had my share with the display on mine, but Dell quickly sent out a new one. But the new one had an LG display that was much worse. I put them side by side and can tell you that, while the Samsung display has a bluish tint to the whites, the LG has a yellowish tint that looks much worse.

My point is that if you have to buy a new laptop right now, this is the best bet in its price range. But if you can wait, Dell has put out better machines before and probably will in the future.

 

That looks to be coincidence, but the power profile could change the fan operation rules. What does the Dell presentation plan offer? It should be low noise. I don't think there's anything in the BIOS about preferences.

The relative cost of notebooks has dropped and some of that may be attributable to more economical manufacturing at the expense of quality. Less weight may be at the expense of ruggedness (not that the E6400 is exceptionally light).

The two other alternatives with similar specs are the T400 and the HP 6930. However, I wanted the eSATA + LED backlit WXGA+ and I think the E6400 is the only one to offer both.

John