Dell Latitude E4200 Info

When you are talking about a laptop that is as light as the E4200, every ounce or gram matters. That's my take on it anyway.

With regards to the 1.8" drive, I talked about this in the first few pages of this thread (added some pics to elaborate). My understanding is that the drive may look non-standard, but that's only because perhaps it's missing the top cover. I think it's a standard SATA-II drive so in this it is VERY much different from the PCI-E-based netbook SSDs. It's just a naked 1.8" drive because that's what fits. However, I have no way to corroborate this theory since I don't have an E4200 (yet). Any one of the owners in this thread can verify this by looking through the Device Manager or at the interface itself (they would have to unscrew the slot covering the SSD on the bottom).

You may be right that, any old 1.8" may not fit readily but perhaps with some modification, future upgrades can be possible.

 

Thanks for the informative post.

I think your theory is sound. It would definitely make more sense that it is just a standard (probably Samsung) SSD without the casing rather than Dell having an OEM design some oddball SATA-II "card". The very unfortunate fact remains that a 1.8" drive cannot simply be inserted no muss no fuss. Now here is the real problem - why would you swap out one of the standard SSDs anyway? The only good reason to swap out the SSD IMO is to put a higher-capacity 1.8" HDD in (max 240GB?). But if fitting a drive into the E4200's drive bay requires taking the drive's casing off, you can kiss the idea of using a HDD goodbye since that's obviously not possible. Even if a HDD did fit, the lack of heat dissipation in that cramped area with (AFAIK) no air flow would likely kill the drive in short order.

Other than that, I don't know why one would really want to swap out the SSD. Dell does give 3 good SSD options that will accommodate most users, but when higher capacity and/or faster SSDs come along some may get the itch to upgrade. This might be impossible if it requires taking the casing off of the SSD - at least if you want any warranty. If you don't care about your SSD's warranty, at this point it is unknown if just any drive will be able to mount there anyway.

The way I see it, the 0.3lb increased weight difference of the X200s is well worth getting 2 very basic upgrade options: 2x2GB (or even 2x4GB) of memory and a standard 2.5" HDD/SSD. The wonky disk solution on the E4200 combined with the inability to go beyond 3GB of memory is very frustrating on what would otherwise be a great machine. The fact that the X200s is loads faster (way better processor with 6MB of cache) has a way higher res display, and is not hampered with seemingly poor support (LatitudeOn? A working BIOS?) from Dell just seals the deal for me.

The only reason I'm still flirting with that bucktoothed redhead (read: obvious flaws but still strangely compelling) called the E4200 is because the X200s *does* cost significantly more than a refurb E4200...however, add another 0.5lb and the X200 can easily be had for the same price as a refurb E4200.

 

You are absolutely right. Folks who buy this machine aren't buying it so that the SSD can be upgraded later. Me? I would love to see the 256GB Samsung SSD (that has debuted in the XPS series) make it to the E4200.

At this stage, you and I are on the same page with regards to the viability of the x200s as a better purchase. It does have a better CPU, easy upgrade options and man, you CAN'T beat that WXGA+ LED screen that the rest of the x200 (non-s) crowd is drooling over. I think it's a much better buy. If it weren't for my age-old loyalty to Dell, I would have purchased it already. Still considering it though. And that Sony Z isn't out of the running either (gasp). You have a P-class 9x00 series CPU mated to a hi-res display with a decent GPU. Can't beat that combination. I am a sucker for high-resolution displays. Sigh.

 

Yea Sony Z looks very interesting for a small laptop... but then again...
No backlit keyboard, no ambient light sensor, no mouse pointer stick thingy, no eSATA, comes with extra trial software, no 3 year warranty with a technician that comes to your place when you want to fix the problem, 13inch instead of 12inch, no firewire, only 2USB.

In extange of: internet optical drive, larger machine (13inch), better video card (but not by much.. kinda close). Blu-ray option. Bigger SSD option. HDMI port. Aluminum inside (which could mean that your machine will be warmer), higher screen resolution option (but not 1080p)

 

Have you seen the discussion in the Fan-thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=339452

It seems the different tools for showing the CPU frequency show the wrong thing. For me at least RMClock show that my CPU is running at 800MHz where as CPU-Z and Windows System Properties show 1.4 GHz and even 1.6 GHz which seems wrong.

 

Judging from all the inventory and priced for the E4200 over at the outlet, I think for many of us on the fence, that may be the way to go. It is downright inexpensive for a refurb or even a brand new unit (if you can find it). Nothing is over $1200 for a unit that would cost well over $2700 ordinarily.

This is a concern. Inventory prices are very reasonable but for a laptop like the E4200, I would have expected them to be quite a bit higher. I have been looking at the inventory for a few days but it doesn't seem to be moving at all. On top of the heap is a 'pink perfection' E4200 that is fully loaded.

 

There are tons of nicely-priced E4200s on Dell Outlet, indicating to me that the model is perhaps not selling so well.

I am extremely disappointed by the inability to upgrade the hard drive to a larger third-party SSD or 1.8" HDD. It's pretty much a deal breaker for me since 128GB simply is not enough for my purposes, I would have preferred a 256GB SSD or a 250GB 5400 RPM 1.8" HDD.

 

Well, since the Outlet is so cheap, I am pretty sure, I am gonna order an E4200 this week. Once, I get it, I will see what the deal is with the 'SSD Card' and if it is indeed a stripped 1.8" drive as I suspect. If this is the case, then it is just matter of removing the 5-8mm drive's case so that it can fit.

Does anyone have pics of the Regatta Blue? Thanks.

 

Alrighty then, so I received my lovely black E4200. My first impressions were incredibly positive until I turned it ON. That incessant fan wouldn't turn off! Goodness, it would drive people crazy. Good thing the noise doesn't bother me. There is, however, this weird hum or 'whirr' when you illuminate the backlit keyboard. It goes away when the light goes off. Funnily enough, my unit came with a 3G AT&T SIM card but the WWAN card was missing (I didn't order it either). I will play with it after I install Win7 on it. My laptop is practically loaded with the exception of WWAN and fingerprint reader. I like it quite a bit.

Jackboot: Ahhhmm, about that 1.8" drive. It looks like a standard 2.5" connector won't work. The amount of pins on both connectors are different. Below you will see the ThinSATA drive from the E4200 on top of my 2.5" Samsung SSD:

http://members.arstechnica.com/x/monakh/E4200_ThinSATA.jpg

It isn't a MicroSATA connector either (the type used in ipod drives) since that looks like this:

http://apcmag.com/system/files/images/sata-io_micro_sata.article-width.png

However, it cannot be proprietary since it's the same connector as the one showed in this story on the lame Sandisk 5000:

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/07/sandisk.ssd.72gb.and.more/

Anyone recognize this connector? Don't 1.8" and 2.5" drives use the same connector?

Just for kicks, here's a pic of my E4200 ridin' my M1330

http://members.arstechnica.com/x/monakh/E4200_Comparo.jpg

Sorry for the sucky pics. They are from my Curve camera.

 

Geez, how fast did it come?! When you last posted on the 16th you hadn't even ordered it yet...impressive!

That is a major bummer about the 1.8" drive being a non-standard connector. Upgrades will be nearly impossible...

That does it for me then - E4200 is officially out of the running. Lenovo X-series has the top spot still. Now if the US dollar would quit appreciating...