Latitude E6510 Owner's Lounge

I just received my E6510 yesterday (ordered 12/11, shipped 12/21). I haven't encountered any big problems so far and overall I'm very happy with it! It runs very cool and quiet, although the HDD is very active, resulting in a lot of audible seeking noises (not bothersome, though). There's still a lot of features to test out (mainly the battery), but it's running great so far.

Thanks again to all the folks here who helped me decide!

 

Glad to year that you are happy, so far. If the HDD does start to bother you, read this and the following discussion.

John

 

hello, I bought a refurb e6510 from the dell outlet in september, and ever since i recieved it its been having problems with locking up. The very first time i powered the computer up it locked up on the screen that says something like " configuring your computer for first use". ive been out of the country since a day after i got it so its not that easy for me to send it in.
it locks up on start up every time i start up the computer. it will also lock up randomly when im using it. ive done a full reformat to no avail.

im getting this warning event when it locks up
The drive\Driver\WUDFRd failed to load for the device USB\VID_0A5C&PID_5800&MI_01\7&66de6c9&0&0001

any similar problems/help?

 

The first boot screen that you saw when you first turned it on, is completely normal. It confirms to you that no one else used the computer before you with the same Windows. In other words, your computer hard-drive was completely wipe out and Windows was re-installed for you, and your the first one to use it. This is good, and this is what you want, and this is what the previous owner wants (all his or hers data was permanently cleaned by restoring the hardware to it's original manufacture state (full deep format)).

As for your other problem:
Event ID 219 is logged after you install Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 (see Event Viewer. (Start > type: Event > select in the list of result Event Viewer)

An exclamation mark (!) may be displayed next to the smartcard reader in Device Manager after you start Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
(see device manager. Start > type: device/B] > select in the list of result Device Manager).

If you don't use the finger print reader or smart card reader (I recommend not to use them, unless it's an absolute must (i.e: your company forces you). It's not that the laptop is broken, it's just that these things never work properly mainly due to bad drivers. Maybe one day, when Windows will natively support these technology, AND have the hardware designed to use Windows native system). If you don't use it, you can uninstall Dell Control Point Security Manager.

If you DO use it, or really want it, go on Dell website, get the latest version from Dell support site for your laptop (download it, only), and then: uninstall it on your computer, restart your computer, and install the one your just downloaded a moment ago.

Also make sure Dell Control Point Network Manager is NOT installed (you don't need it, Windows 7 does a superb job in managing your wireless connections)

 

Just thought I'd share my saga with the e6510 core I7 Quad, FWIW.

Ordered in May, received DOA.

Replacement unit finally reached me in June, after about 9 days it locked up, gave off POST fail beeps that Dell did not recognize.

Motherboard replaced by Dell via Unisys. Windows would not boot with the new motherboard. Dell suggested reinstall of Windows. I got it working again with a bunch of windows startup repairs, and limped along for several months with it randomly refusing to boot or POST if I shut it down. Finally I bit the bullet (it's a software development machine so reinstalling windows is a major ordeal) and formatted the drive for a fresh windows reinstall. No dice, won't even get through the initial load of win7 from a DVD.

Dell sends all major system parts for Unisys to replace: motherboard, cpu, memory, hard drive, wifi, bluetooth, DVD/CDRW. After tech finishes rebuilding (not at all gently I might add), system won't boot.

Time for a new machine, takes Dell 8 days to get a new system built and out to me. Shipping box in perfect condition, but the battery status lights are damaged and do not work. Yay, it boots, I shrug about the battery, do several hours of reinstalling using ISO images, and then the machine starts detaching/reattaching the DVD/CDRW drive at random, and then constantly. I can get it to recognize and stay if gently lift one corner of the system. Another bad motherboard.

e6510 #4 (#6 counting motherboards as replacements) is due to be delivered tomorrow. Seems like an strangely high % of lemons...

 

I think you're possessed.

Is your laptop's casing radioactive or something ?

 

Don't want to Jinx it, *knock on wood*, but so far #4 is perfect. Interesting how different e6510's just a couple weeks apart are. Batteries no longer have the status lights, new one came with a seagate momentus, I swapped the hard drive in from the old one, it immediately recognized the DVD and bluetooth, and I'm off an running. Hooray!

 

Hello there!

I first posted my issue in the E6410 thread as I found people struggling with the same problem, but I also decided to post it here. Sorry for creating duplicates, but hopefully it will result in a solution
I want to connect my laptop to my TV, using HDMI. Thus, I've bough a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, a quality, branded HP one. With the A06 video driver (I guess) it just did not detect it (nothing happened, the TV works fine when connecting something else over HDMI). I installed the latest official drivers from nvidia (260.99), then the A08 from dell but no change, it just doesn't do anything. I don't have any displayport devices, so things are kind of f-ed up. I had the A6 video driver first, which was 190-ish, but the TV didn't work with that one either.
Any tips how to make it work? Is there some kind of debug option in nvidia drivers?

It's not my TV, not my HDMI cable, maybe the adapter

Specs:
Dell E6510, i7, 8GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, HDD Bay (500GB), Full HD, Quadro 3100M

Thanks for any help regarding the issue.

 

Hi. New E6510 user trying to figure out how to lock the Fn Number Pad so that I can use the numbers in the keyboard. University-provided laptop w/o owner's manual. The NUMBER LOCK icon is illuminated, but I have to hold down the FN key to use the numbers in the QWERTY keyboard. Can't find info on how to lock the FN key. Thanks in advance for the help.
[email protected]

 

I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with my hard drive. The performance is fine, and although there is zero noise/vibration related to the disks spinning, the seeking is very audible and occurs every couple seconds even when the system is idle. I googled these symptoms and thought that indexing might be the cause. I disabled indexing and rebooted, but the problem remains. I also can't identify any process in task manager that could be causing this since it occurs even when all processes are at 0% usage.

Apparently the drive is a Western Digital Scorpio. After scanning some reviews, it seems like this is supposed to be a quiet drive.

Again, there's nothing wrong with the performance, so this is a relatively minor problem. However, it is getting on my nerves just a bit, and I'm worried that it could be a precursor to something worse down the road. I'm just wondering if this is an issue I should take up with support or if there's something else I can do to fix it. I'm going to be traveling a lot in January, so I won't have time to deal with customer service for a while.