A few questions for E6400 owners

Hi, I have asked about these before, but I wanted to put them in a separate thread so I could reach a broader range of people and to describe them in better detail.

1)On your trackpoint, when you tap it to click, is it responsive everywhere? Mine seems like it only responds (or "clicks") when i tap it towards the top. It only takes a light tap if i do it at the top, but if i do it elsewhere it either doesnt work, or takes a hard tap.

2)Is your backlight on your keyboard even? Me and another user have noticed that it is not. It seems like the backlight dims towards the top center of the keyboard. It's more noticeable in a bit brighter conditions. I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

Another user says that his other backlit keyboard (not the one on the E6400) is uneven, but only for the bigger keys. My keys that are affected are the f5-f8, and 5-8. Also, how can i make the on mode stay ON? It only goes to auto whether its on auto or on.

3)Does your webcam have flicker? Mine seems like it flickers bad at 60hz, but is better at 50hz. Its more like a horizontal line-ish flicker, rather than traditional flicker.

Other than that, i think i'm good thanks for your help...if i have any other questions i'll add them to the list.

 

I don't have my E6400 in front of me, but:

>>2)Is your backlight on your keyboard even?

In general, don't expect perfection... some uneveness is normal. If you think some backlighting is just not adequate, then maybe there is a problem.

>>3)Does your webcam have flicker?

No.

GK

 

1) I didn't know tap-to-click existed for the trackpoint... but I just tried it out and sure enough, it does. Very cumbersome, though. I wouldn't say it's "responsive" anywhere. It takes a firm, hard "thud" like right in the center to register a click. I can't see how anyone would want to use this feature?

Doesn't seem to be a control panel setting for the sensitivity of this feature either.

 

I think it's more of a "push" to click rather than tap. I never lifted my finger to use that feature on other machines.

 

taking off touchcheck or whatever helps a lot.

also, i DO have to lift my finger off.

 

heres another question:

does anyone else notice that the screen flickers ever so slightly when you scroll up and down, or something comes on the screen and goes off?

like, look at a site with an empty space on the side (like the dell drivers page), and scroll up and down really fast...the screen turns darker and lighter based on what is on the side...is this a limitation of LED technology?

 

I don't think so. Maybe you have a not right display circuit somewhere that's also causing the flicker issue.

GK

 

err, both problems go away when connected to ac power...is this indicative of anything?

 

My screen does the same flickering thing you mention when I'm on battery. There isn't anything you can do about it I guess. I've tried re-connecting the display cable but it's still the same

Perhaps it's a random LED thing... My previous E6400 with a CCFL display didn't exhibit any screen brightnes 'twitching'..

 

if you have dell prosupport, call them and report it. they may be able to help. if you dont have prosupport...might be worth calling regardless.