Dell E6220 User Review

Most people think of the Lenovo X220 as the best 12.5 inch business ultraportable on the market, and possibly the best business notebook in general. Even though it has many strengths, I find it to be exceedingly ugly, and not as thin as the E6220. In this review, I will be discussing my experiences with and opinions of the E6220 in general.



Specs

Intel 2nd Generation Core i5-2520M 2.5GHz
Intel HD3000 IGP
4GB RAM
3-cell Battery
1366*768 12.5" Screen
7200RPM 250GB HDD

Case

The E6220 is a very handsome machine, and is made out of high quality materials. The lid is brushed magnesium alloy, and the rest of the machine is made out of thick plastic. The lid looks very classy, and adds a nice touch to the machine. It is .9" thick, much thinner than both the X220 and HP 2560p, its primary competitors.



Opened, you will find more matte plastic, and a very nice keyboard, which I will get to in depth later. The screen is surrounded by rather large bezels, also made out of matte plastic. Flipping over the machine, you find a black plastic plate, and an E-Port for docking.





The laptop is very solid, with next to no flex anywhere on the machine. The only place where there is a little flex is the screen, which can be wobbled a very slight amount when opened. However, the impression is that this laptop can take a beating.

Possibly the best idea on the machine is the choice to locate the ethernet and power jacks on the back of the machine. This makes it ideal for working with at a desk. Another great feature is the exhaust port, which is located on the left side of the machine, allowing it to be more comfortably used on your lap.

Connectivity

The port selection is above average for a device this thin, offering 2 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, an ExpressCard/34 slot, an eSATA/USB port, SD card reader, SmartCard reader and audio jack.





The E6220 I received has an Intel 6205 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi card and ethernet was provided by an Intel 82579LM, capable of gigabit speeds. The ethernet port is located on the back of the machine.

Software

The E6220 came with Windows 7 Professional. Not much bloatware was included, and some of it was actually useful, like Office 2010 Starter. However, Trend Micro was installed, which was very annoying and a hassle to remove. All of the drivers for the machine came pre-installed, so the laptop was ready to go out of the box.

Warranty

One of the main reasons to get a business class laptop over a consumer laptop is the usually superior warranty. The Dell is no exception, coming with 3 years of warranty standard, although I doubt it will be needed with such solid build quality.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The keyboard on the E6220 is very nice, with solid feedback. It is very quiet, and due to the way it is made, dust stays out of the cracks. My laptop does not have a backlit keyboard, but it is an option.

The trackpad is decent, but uses Dell drivers, and can be a little touchy. Gestures didn't like to work sometimes, and the two finger scroll takes some getting used to. However, the mouse buttons have a nice rubberized feel to them, and a satisfying click.

Display

The E6220 incorporates a 12.5" 1366*768 panel. It is not high quality, to say the least, and is possibly the biggest downfall to the notebook. It is not terrible, however it is not very bright, and vertical viewing angles are not good. However, horizontal viewing angles are great, and the fact that the screen is matte helps the situation a lot, even though it is still hard to use outside due to the low brightness.

Speakers

The speakers on almost all laptops leave a lot to be desired, and the same is true for the E6220. There is almost no bass, and though the speakers get very loud, the start to catch on most files, so using more than 80% volume is almost never a good idea.

Performance

The combination of a strong full voltage Core i5 and a thin frame helps make this a versatile notebook. While boot-up is not very fast due to the mechanical drive, it excels at browsing, moving files, and even some light photo and video editing. Some benchmarks below:

Windows 7 Experience Index

Processor - 7.1

Memory - 5.9

Graphics - 5.8

Gaming graphics - 6.2

Primary hard disk - 5.9


CineBach R11.5 CPU 64Bit - 2.87 points

3DMark06 - 3589 Points

(I decided not to include too many benches, as there are plenty of dual core Core i & HD3000 benches out there.)

Battery Life

I did not do any formal testing on the battery, however I will most likely be updating this at a later time.

The E6220 I received came with a 3-cell 30Wh battery, however a 6 and 9-cell battery are optional.

I was able to get around 3 and a half hours of battery life surfing the web on the lowest brightness, or about 2.5 hours at highest. When going for the longest run time possible, I turned off WLAN, set the display to lowest brightness, and set the power plan to power saver. I typed up several essays and used DosBox, and was able to get 4:25 hours of battery life.

eGPU

I used this system with an eGPU. See my write up of that here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8309172-post8344.html



Conclusion

I personally think that this is a better overall system that the X220, however the IPS screen and battery life of the X220 make it a compelling choice. The 6-Cell battery of the E6220 gives around 6 hours of life, while the 9 cell offers 9+ hours of work time. Also, the X220 can be upgraded to an IPS screen.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...92-latitude-e6220-ips-screen-replacement.html

The fact that the E6220 can regularly be found around $600 on Dell Outlet make this a serious threat, since the X220 cannot usually be found under $800, and IPS models are usually over $1k. If you purchase an E6220, it is possible to but an IPS panel for $150, and have an X220 beater for $750.

I personally think this is one of the best laptop I have owned so far, for its versatility (especially with the eGPU), quality, and speed.

 

Great review! Thank you. Here's a how to install the IPS LCD in a E6220: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...92-latitude-e6220-ips-screen-replacement.html .

If I was buying another ultraportable then I too would be seriously considering the E6220 over the X220. The reasons being as you highlight: better looks, backlit keyboard, cheaper price, IPS (modded) LCD upgradability, better warranty support, larger palmrest, 2.5" 9.5mm SATA SSD/HDD capable (X220 uses 7mm). The cheaper price making it possible to get a larger SSD to counter a X220's mSATA SSD + HDD capability.

One thing that isn't often mentioned in such reviews is CPU upgradability. Ultraportable users that do want upgradable CPUs should avoid the E6220 and X220 since they have soldered CPUs. Consider instead a HP 2560P or Asus U24E/B23E. Those systems have had successful i7-quad user upgrades performed, eg: i7-2630QM 2.0, i7-2720QM 2.2, i7-2820QM 2.3. A i5-25xxM 2560P with full 3yr NBD warranty in 'as new' condition can be had for anywhere b/w $600-$750 on ebay. A i7-2860QM's CPUMark result is twice faster than a i7-2620M!!

 

Meant to include the IPS link, but couldn't find it, thanks!

I sorely wish the E6220 was quad core capable, but alas, it's probobly not got the thermals for it anyways. Honestly, if the HP was a little cheaper, I would have gotten that instead, but I'm very happy I ended up with the E6220.

 

We have a user in the 2560P Owner's thread looking into trying an IPS LCD upgrade on that system as well.

The quad upgradability adds an interesting perspective on things. I got shutdown in other threads highlighting that feature, even being quizzed as to why someone would want so much performance in a small chassis.

There's already talk of the Ivy Bridge quads being 35W parts so it's likely we'll see them make their way as OEM options. Eg: a E6230? and X230? chassis could handle them. Though I doubt they will be cheap. So those users wanting such facility may end up looking at the SB 2560P as a cost effective bargain to get that performance level (~15% or so less than Ivy Bridge performance).

Yeah.. we are the alternate E6220/2560P ultraportable camp. If wanting dual-core then a E6220 at the sort of prices you got your is definitely a better buy than a X220. If you want a quad-core then look at a heavier and thicker 2560P. Either the E6220 or 2560P is a better looking machine than a X220 imho.

 

There are obvious advantages to haveing that kind of power in a small chassis.

Hopefully they are 35w parts, as that would open up a whole new market to quads. An E6320 with an IVB quad would be a dream come true, and would really make this little system perfect.

Honestly, the E6220 is a very nice looking machine, but I find the 2560P just as good. It has more metal than this, which I enjoy. I think the X220 is about 3 generations behind the styling curve.

 

Great review of a nice machine. It would be even nicer if it had a trackpoint like its bigger brothers, and a better screen (not sure the IPS mod plays well with the warranty).

By the way, you may want to correct the ports description : I'm pretty sure that the USB ports are 2.0, not 3.0.

 

also, what about noise and heat ?

 

They are USB 2.0, I believe I just made a typo. Thanks for the heads up!

Also, after posting it, I remembered I didn't do those portions, so I'll be putting that up later. To say the least, it runs cool, and is pretty quiet, but the fans spin up a bit on load.

 

kev:

The best part of your review was how you lead it off

On a sidenote: I actually liked the speakers on this little thing. It actually surprised me a little.

 

Thanks!

I did like the speakers, they get very loud. Either way, I have a headset I use.