Dell Latitude E4200 Info

They may have pulled the A02 because it had problems but what happened to A01?

 

I have played with the bios a bit today. Love PowerShare andd the fact that I can charge devices through USB with the laptop off. Best thing since sliced bread for me.

I see a setting for express charge, but it isn't enabled. Can the 6-cell battery do express charge? Will it shorten the battery life?

 

I think it is best that this particular feature remains disabled except in time of extreme need, i.e. a grab for one of ten fricking available outlets available only at the public terminals in Frankfurt Airport while people wait for you to get the hell off so they can plug in. It's amazing to me how modern airports neglect the power needs of travelers of the new age.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=85169

 

And Bios A03 has just been released, and as they pulled A02, will quickly update to A03:

Systems: Dell Latitude E4200 Series
Version: A03
Build Date: 10/10/2008

Intel GM45 Graphics Video BIOS version 1659

Fixes/Enhancements
------------------
1. Added support for Intel(R) vPro(TM) configurations.
2. Fixed issue where USB PowerShare might keep a device powered when entering Standby.
3. Improved the discharge algorithm for systems with two batteries.
4. Fixed the issue where the touchpad may lose some of its functions after hot dock and undock
5. Added SMBIOS support for reading/writing Password Changes option.

The BIOS release has been validated on the following operating systems:
1. Microsoft Windows Vista
2. Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3

 

I'm working with an engineering team on this to see if we can figure out why this happens. Mine has now decided to stop working completely and no amount of tinkering seems to bring it back to life. It could just be that mine has a bad fingerprint reader.

The fan on mine runs constantly under BIOS A00. If I really throttle it then it gets REALLY loud after a couple minutes.

Downloading now... Not a lot of hope for my TPM/Fingerprint issues though...

 

Still broken under A03. Will wait to hear from engineering.

Doesn't seem any better under A03.

BTW... Anyone else notice that the minimum clock speed for the SU9400 (according to the BIOS) is 1.2GHz, only 200MHz lower than full speed? The Intel specs (assuming I'm reading them correctly) seem to state that there are also 1.0GHz and 800MHz options. I'd think that the system would run a lot longer if Dell would unlock the lower speed bins for use.

Right now I can leave mine sit here idle with the brightness at about 30% and the wireless on and according to the battery applet I will only get about 3:30 of battery life. That should translate to around 2:30 of normal use which isn't exactly stellar...

 

you got the 4-cell or 6-cell battery?

 

I've got the 4-Cell.

 

I looked into this some more and the BIOS is wrong. The system does indeed run at speeds slower than 1.2GHz. I've seen it go as low as 800MHz as the Intel docs indicate, though it seems to prefer 1050 MHz.

 

It can likely clock down to 800MHz, but Vista can control the speed dynamically based on your workload. Light loads, if using the 'Dell Recommended' settings, should result in the 800MHz unless you are doing medium to heavy duty tasks.

The fact that the fan is still running under A03 somewhat points to Dell's lack of faith in their new chassis design. The funny thing is that the E4200 is not even as small as some killer laptops (roughly) in its class (such as the venerable LG P100 or the Sony TZ). These guys have had years of experience. Imagine, LG put a GeForce 8xxx series GPU in a laptop that is a bit larger than a paperback novel. You barely hear the fan on the P100.

Edit: The LG P100: http://mactablet.blogspot.com/2008/04/lg-p100-first-impressions.html