My Dell Latitude E6510 Review

Dell Latitude E6510 Review



Specs
Intel Core i5 540m @ 2.53 GHz Turbo boost up to 3.06GHz
4GB DDR3 1333MHz Ram
250GB Hard Drive 7200RPM
DVD Burner
15.6 Inch LED Backlit Screen 1366x768
Nvidia Quadro NVS-3100M 512MB Graphics Card



Design and Build Quality




For starters the Dell Latitude Series is well known for their reliability and durability I’ve owned many Dell notebooks throughout the years and one of the things that strikes me about these laptops is design and build quality. The design of the notebook might not wow you like a HP Envy Series notebook, however as a business class notebook the E6510 holds its own. The Slate Silver lid has this brushed metal design similar to my Dell Latitude E6500, but on this one stands out more than just plain black. The rest of the notebook is finished off with smooth black paint that feels nice to the touch. One of the major improvements made on the E6510 compared to the E6500 was the addition of rubber bumpers added on the LCD bezel and along the keyboard cover. This prevents the screen bezel from rubbing against the palm rest causing scratches. This was one of the flaws with the Latitude E6500 and I am glad Dell fixed the issue with this model. I would have to say the build quality and design of the E6510 is best in its class.



Screen



The Dell Latitude E6510 is available in 3 screen options, a WXGA 1366x768, WXGA+ 1600x900 and a WUXGA 1920x1080 Full HD screen. All of the screens used in the E6510 are LED Backlit. My notebook was equipped with the WXGA 1366x768 screen. The display manufacturer for this screen is by LG. Brightness was excellent rating around 318 nits. The screen is bright enough to view outdoors without any issues. Colors were bright and vibrant without being too over saturated. Viewing pictures and videos on this screen couldn’t be more enjoyable. I personally think the screen on this notebook was better than my Latitude E6500 screen which was a 1280x800 WXGA WLED Screen made by Samsung.



Speakers and Audio



As typical for notebook speakers it is to be expected that most are tinny and they lack bass. However these speakers on the E6510 surprised me with its loudness and clarity. Highs and midrange were clear however bass was a bit lacking. The headphone port sounded great with no hiss or audio popping of any sort. The audio experience on this notebook is quite good. No complaints here



Ports and Connectors

The Latitude E6510 features a great number of ports and connectors for plugging in most devices. Starting with the left side ( 2 USB Ports one being a ESATA combo, Display Port, Express Card 34 Slot, and SD Card Reader). The rear of the computer has (Power Connector, VGA, Ethernet, and Dial Up which is blocked off by plastic) On the Right side there is (PC Card Slot, Optical Drive, Smart Card Reader, Fire wire, Headphone and Microphone Jack, and 2 More USB Ports) The one thing that I’ve noticed with this notebook is no powered USB port for changing your mobile devices while your system is off. The Latitude E6500 has that feature, but since the E6510 doesn’t have it it’s a big letdown for me.




Keyboard and Touchpad



The keyboard is very nice on this notebook. Key travel is very light and the typing experience is excellent. The keyboard on this E6510 is Backlit, very useful; in dark environments. The touchpad on this notebook is about 15% larger than the Latitude E6500. The touchpad feels nice on the fingers and glides smoothly. The pointing stick is the same one used in the e6500 so there isn’t much to talk about there.

Performance



One word FAST !!!!! The Core I series processor is a great improvement over the Core 2 Duo P8700 I had on my E6500. I can run all my applications without any lag. Boot time was significantly faster than the E6500. This business laptop is one serious performer that’s for sure, very happy with the result.

Pros
Great Design
Excellent Build Quality
Blazing Fast Performance
Great Screen
Backlit Keyboard

Cons
Where’s the USB Sleep and Charge????????!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Is the touchpad gesture enabled? If so, how do they work?

 

thanks for the review and great pics

my unit is on the way.....

w00t !!

 

Thanks for a very helpful review.

I assume that not enough people proclaimed the benefits of this feature so Dell decided to save a few cents and leave this feature off the new models (same on E6410).

You mean these? (From my E6410, but it will be the same as the E6510).


John

 

The one thing that I’ve noticed with this notebook is no powered USB port for changing your mobile devices while your system is off. The Latitude E6500 has that feature, but since the E6510 doesn’t have it it’s a big letdown for me.​

Actually I found a trick to overcome the missing of PowerShare feature. The USB ports provide power when you enable "Wake on USB" from BIOS and suspend with power adapter connected.