Latitude E6510 Owner's Lounge

Yes same system, plain out of the box Win 7 Pro 32bit install. I ran the test on both systems when they first arrived before installing anything.

 

Just got my E6510 and am trying on it as I post this. I was surprised the 64-bit was already installed out of the box; I was expecting it to be 32-bit (as in the product description) and I'd have to install it myself. Few questions...

1) Would it still be worth it to clean install since the system is already 64-bit?

2) Any programs I should run to make sure the performance is up to par?

3) Recommend any virus/malware programs?

4) Any other general information/suggestions I might want to know?

Thanks.

 

From personal experience, try running Passmark Performance Test and Passmark BurnInTest and compare results to similar systems.

Also run various tests such as playing HD video, full screen youtube videos (my problem which is why I sent mine in), run the Diagnostic tool at bootup, and do all the extensive tests.

Try out all the heavy duty applications you will be using. Like Photoshop of Lightroom for example.

 

I recommend, if you have time, to uninstall any software that you don't use like PowerDVD (DVD codec is included in Windows already, and is actually a very good one. Also available in 64-bit flavor for when you start Windows Media Player 12 64-bit), and maybe Roxio if you have it, and if you don't plan to use it. Of course any trial software, if any.
Update the drivers (uninstall the old one first), if needed. Update Windows of course. And see how it goes.
If you are comfortable in re-installing Windows, and know your way around getting drivers and stuff. Then sure, go do a a clean install. You should have a Dell disk which contains Windows 7 and only WIndows7 pre-activated in it.

Be sure to have a free blank DVD or CD or USB memory stick, or something in the case that after you re-install Windows, your wired and wireless network card. So that your not stuck without internet to get the drivers. You should be fine, but it's better safe.

When I got my system, it was clean, Only removed Roxio and PowerDVD, and it was set. I also had the latest drivers in it (I got my system new, I probably got it when they updated the image)

Microsoft Security Essential. It's free, it's in 64-bit for faster scanning, it's really light, and doesn't slow down Windows startup, or your computer. Microsoft did an excellent optimization job there. And also, based on reviews, it is the most efficient and best free anti-virus and won several security company awards.

Oh get a protector bag to not scratch the system during transport
Hmmm, oh yea, don't drop the laptop! And computers are not thirsty.

 

1. Use it for week or so to see how it handles. If it feels solid, build on it. If not, take some Device Manager notes and then re-image it.

2. You could run the Windows Performance tool and compare to my E6410 spec linked below. That ought to be good enough.

3. I like Frisk F-Prot... $30 a year for 5 seats. Been using their stuff since the 80286. If not them, then MS Essentials would be worth a try.

4. Hurry up and break it so we can tell you how to fix it!

GK

 

After doing some research I found out that Dell's Intel HD drivers are crippled and because of that I am not able to select some of the available resolution modes on my screen.

I have uninstalled Dell's Intel HD graphics drivers and installed the latest version from Intel's site. Now I can select the resolution I wanted and it does not look that bad either. I have couple of questions though.

1. Is there any risk in using Intel's Drivers?

2. After installing Intel's latest version the ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness does not work. I think Dell's driver has some extra code/module to control it. Is there any way to install the ambient light sensor part separately without installing the display drivers from Dell?

Thanks!

 

Of course not.

Correct, and if it's like Nvidia drivers, you also won't get audio out of Display port (if you care about that).

What you can do, is instead of using a lower screen resolution and have everything blurry. Put it back at the native resolution, and set Windows to use large font and increase the DPI from 96 to 120. You can change the DPI in the advance options of where you change your screen resolution.

Not that I am aware off. Same for Nvidia.

 

There was an ambient light sensor driver to install alongside the DCP System Manager for the E6400 and Vistax64. Then it went away for the E6400 and Win7x64. Perhaps it is now part of the DCP install? Perhaps it is not a part of the Intel video driver... user's can switch to nVidia's driver without losing the ambient light sensor function, yes? Maybe re-installing DCP System Manager would re-enable the sensor? Might want to just wait a bit to see if it comes back on its own for some reason.

GK

 

Thanks GoodBytes and GKDesigns! Yes as you mentioned Native Resolution will be the best option however I use this machine for development and often connect to client sites using Critix or Remote Desktop sessions.

The DPI settings work well for local programs but not over the remote connections and hence I want to use a lower resolution.

Any ideas about making remote display bigger by keeping native resolution?

Thanks!

 

GKDesigns thanks ambient light sensor is included in the DCP!