Dell Latitude E4200 Info

Hello,

My last Dell (except for the XPS) Latitude D410. It was great. The E4200 is about Software stability as great as the D410.
(If I work than I work 10 to 16hours a day with a lot of Sotware like Excel VBA, Browser, Office, special simulationprograms, access, outlook, Winamp, sometimes CS, or DTM Racer 3, Matlab, Maple, etc)

Expensive, yes it is. But the XPS I've ordered was nearly similar expensive with more discount, only 400€ difference.

I do not overlook something. I had an xps, and thought about Mac Air, SONY Z....
XPS (1800&#8364 was , every hour a bluescreen.
Mac Air (2600€ without insurance, AND without Office): Software probs. My expensive Software (Relex) does not work on it.
Sony Vaio Z21, this is expensive!!!!! with next business day support and insurance the Sony was with SSD 3000€.
The E4200 was 2200€ with insurance and nbd (with docking).

Hardware is not my problem. If hardware is dead I will order a new one.

The old Dell Controlsoftware is a little sh**. The new version is much more better. The ambiance light sensor does function well.
I turned Dell Connection manager off in Services. I think thats a possibility for all users who has probs with the Intel Wlan 5300.


After installing the new Dell Control Software version my battery time was gone up to 4h with 4cells.

What is about LatitudeON? I never get it worked.


The only problem now is the fan!

Please ask Dell for a new BIOS with a better thermal controlling!! Please everyone twice a day!!!! I think if the responds is to loud Dell will bring out a new better BIOS.


Some news about noisy fan with dockingstation:
Now I setup my E4200 on a cold surface, my window sill. And what happens?
Before it was on my wood table and the fan was allways running with 6200/min. Now it turns off and on every two minutes.
I think the Problem off the docking is the missing underside cooling.

so thats enough for today, and PLEASE DEVIL DELL FOR A NEW BIOS!!!!!

thanks
phil

 

No LatitudeON--for all we know it was just a gimmick--or perhaps they had problems with the licensing of the InstantON OS since it most certainly wasn't done by Dell. As for the fan, we know this is an issue but think about it, you don't want to brick your e4200 the way many of us bricked our XPS units. Essentially this is a matter of chassis design. The SU9400, while being ultra-low voltage, still puts out quite a bit of heat. I just think that Dell hasn't figured out the whole small chassis/powerful machine thing yet. So even if you are able to get the fan RPM down you will will likely have a problem with heat output.

My D430 is an EXCELLENT machine but it does have a problem with heat. I can't believe Samsung designed the fanless X1 almost five years ago with 90nm chips inside. WTH, Dell? Have you learned nothing in all these years? Who the hell is doing your R&D?

 

My brother has the Dell XPS M1210.. it's a 12 inch machine, and it quiet a heater. Your hand actually sweat on the keyboard (CPU is under it and pointing up). However, the upside is that the machine fan doesn't kick in when using Word or such application or web browser, but anything will kick it in (like a flash add on a page).
So I guess the decision on the Latitude wasn't that bad for Dell.

 

Hello,

about the FAN ISSUE:


for 6 weeks I talk nearly daily with Dell Pro Technical Support.

The failure with the heating is the temperature difference between the CPU and the GPU.

The CPU and the GPU are on the same heatpipe. But the fan is controlled by the CPU temp. The fan turns on with 33°C CPU. But the normal temp for the GPU is 42°C. So the heatpipe has 42°C and the CPU is cooling the GPU. But if I start an application the CPU is about 39°C, like the heatpipe and the Fan turns on in high mode. This is sh**. The low mode has to start with 40°C the high mode with 50°C and the very high mode with 60°C.

I use FanGui for the D410 and i do not need the fan. Only if i use the dockingstation with two 24" Monitors. than the fan turns on an off.
the normal temps are about 45 to 50°C.

For the Intel Chipset in E4200 the critical temp is about 101°C. There are no heating issues. If I let the E4200 calculate with graphic benchmarking after a few hours the GPU and CPU temps are max. about 75°C.

The high fan mode must not be changend, only the low fan mode.

-> phil

 

I assure you that Dell is working on the solution but like with XPS1330 there is really no workaround except a complete redesign of the chassis (or perhaps an overhaul of the heatpipe). With the XPS, Dell released a succession of BIOS updates that tweaked the speed of the fan (A09 and above) but there was nothing more you could do. Many reported that the fan started up sooner, others reported quieter units. The fact of the matter remained that Dell was trying to stall the onslaught of nvidia failures that has so plagued the 8x00X series of chips for all OEMs. Again, for that issue, Dell wasn't at fault though they could have designed a better chassis, but I think they could have done a far better job with the heat dissipation dilemma (in a smaller chassis like the e4200). What's going on? Who knows what's in their heads? If they choose to share this with us, it would be a different story. We may want to bring attention to this thread in one of their official blogs so they can comment on the situation.

 

ok, You will do it? in which forum?

 

What I meant to say was that Dell is aware of the various issues that have plagued the e4200 AND the e4300. This is the bane of any first gen product. Although I don't recall so many issues when the D400 was first announced. In any event, we should expect to see a better product in the e4210 or whatever the heck it will be called but it does leave current owners wanting.

I think you should continue to complain to Dell but you should do it on their official blog. Many of their support staff have their own blogs where comments are enabled. Since I am not yet an owner, it's a bit unfair for me to yell and scream about a product I don't have I am still considering the e4200 but a big plus for me was LatitudeON, which is nowhere to be found. I would also like to see the new Samsung 256GB SSD in the e4200. Until this happens, I am steering clear of it.

 

Ok, I've got changed motherboard due to faulty VGA chip and new processor is overclocked to 1,6GHz by default. Is it only problem here in Czech Republic or everywhere? Current clock can be found in BIOS. Thanks for answer.

 

Maybe they gave you a SU9600 or something Can you install CPUID and confirm if it's a SU9400 that has been overclocked via a FSB hike?

 

Sure, no problem. It is really weird - during no load, CPU is running overclocked on 1,6GHz - during load it is running on 1,4GHz where it should be.