Trying to decide between E6400 and T400...

Probably good reason for this,personally,I don't think the current series would survive those same demo's quite as unscathed.....not with snapped on screen bezel,single 2.5mm attached bottom cover,thin flexible lid etc

 

i used both......
office for t400
home for e6400

everything said.... bottomline is your comfort in typing and your eyes on the screen

i find the e6400 keyboards and palm rest very very suitable for typing in long hours compared to the t400

i also find the resolution of the e6400 (1440 x 900) better that the t400

 

maybe!! lol. im waiting to see one.

 

Reasons why I picked the E6400:
- Battery life
- 1440x900 LED backlit MATTE/anti-reflective screen
- 3 year warranty + 3 year next business day on site service included (in Canada on newly built system). Dell tech support and warranty service is very good.
- Nvidia GPU solution
- Overall system performance + latest technology at the time of release.
- eSATA + Display Port + backlit keyboard
- quiet operation + quiet keyboard and mouse

The rest of the features like the ambient light sensor, thin profile (not Mac Book air style thin.. but thinner then the average laptop), number of USB ports, where just bonuses for me.

I LOVE this system. It's strong competition is the Mac Book Pro 13inch.

Different between the 2:
- MBP has integrated battery.
- LatE6400 has changeable battery.

- MBP has T series Intel Core 2 Duo (more L2 cache but uses more power).
- LatE6400 you choose the CPU that you want.

- MBP 13inch.
- LatE6400 14inch.

- MBP 1 year warranty minimum that you can have.
- LatE6400 3 year warranty minimum that you can have (and 3 year next business day on site service in addition for Canada)

- MBP More powerful GPU (Geforce 9400M), but uses shared memory
- LatE6400 Less powerful GPU (Quadro NVS 160M which is a factory overclocked Geforce 9300M), but has 256MB DDR2 dedicated memory.

- MBP 1 mouse button, require special driver for Windows form my understanding.
- LatE6400 2 mouse option, using standrd mouse layout of the PC world.

 

Er why would you compare it to the MBP? Why not the T400/T400s?

 

have to say though, that if you look at the structure, the bezel is not a component that is protecting the screen or a critical "load bearing" if you will, structure.

same goes with the single screw base plate. it attaches onto the rollcage/chassis structure. not just via a single screw, but it is slide on.

 

Yep,and that's the whole point,they take no part in the total strength of the machine,the bezel on the older model's was quite a sturdy piece of plastic [comparatively] that had 8 screw's fixing it to the cover,it's called combined strength,where one part by itself is not very rigid or even weak,but combine them together by using good quality fastner's [screw's not snaps] and they become rigid and strong as one....unfortunately for us,adding threaded hole's is an added expense,as is supplying eight extra screw's and the additional labour for assembly,dell has saved a lot of money on this new screen bezel and attachment method alone,and it's done nothing but bad thing's for the screen stiffness compared to the older model's.

The base is rigid enough without the bottom plate I agree,but they have still saved money by attaching it the way they have and it's not securely fastened enough to stop all movement and rattle's,which is annoying.
For a panel that size I would expect at least another 4 screw's,forget tab's,they're for $500 notebook's,not ones this expensive.

I won't even mention the "oop's we forgot about the screen bumper's"

 

Because I don't know the T400

 

Well, the screwless screen frame does make the laptop look nicer. And the 1 screw bottom plate does make it REALLY easy to have full access to the system when upgrading/replacing parts/cleaning.

Although, I would agree with teh pads, all it needs is much sturdier pads, that is all. Though it's easy to replace yourself, or do like me and put a small peace of plastic under teh pads to make it sturdy and not visible.

 

I know, the dell tech replaced my screen bezel only last week, and it's already showing scratches... Go figure Dell. Where did you get your extra pieces of pads?