Dell Latitude E4200 Info

Here are my thoughts on the E4200 thus far:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4824841&postcount=718

I am perfectly happy with my screen and I do use it about 50/50 vs docked. Like Monakh, I also have a Samsung panel so I can't speak to whether the other one is truly worse. I mention some relative assessments to other makes in my post above. To my eye, horizontal viewing angle is pretty good, vertical is of course not as good but serviceable. Colors are fine for me, but again I'm mostly running productivity apps.

I also have a 6 cell which comes in around 5 hrs per the Windows time remaining estimates (I've never tested running it dry). I would find the machine with a 4 cell to be in my sweet spot for form factor/weight, just the battery life is shorter than I'd like... so since I was trying to keep costs down and not buy 2 batteries I went with the compromise on 6 cell. If money were flowing freely I'd just get 2 batteries, one of each... this is what I had with my old Dell X1 (would use the small battery when all I was doing was going back/forth from the office/home and bigger battery for mobile work).

I am pleased with the E4200 (especially at Dell Outlet prices w/ coupon). Only real complaint are the weird glitches I keep encountering that I've posted about in this thread.

 

Wish I could help with those glitches but I don't use a dock (yet). My e4200 has been problem-free (minus that keyboard backlight that died).

 

Thanks Monakh, the machine didn't wake itself up last night! But it was undocked. I am going to try it docked tonight.

Other annoyance I updated my mini-review on is the wireless performance is suboptimal. Inconsistent connections to my N network from the same position in the house (sometimes strong, sometimes unable to connect). Bouncing between the G and N networks, though seemingly not as often as before I uninstalled Dell Connection Manager.

 

What card do you have and what router is supplying the N-based signal?

 

Only thing I hate is the fan is constantly on...

 

Yeah. You and everyone else (including moi).

 

don't mind the fan myself... barely hear it. Luuuuuuv that machine... been trouble-free so far, best purchase I could have made (esp. @ outlet price)

 

I have the Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card in my machine, and a D-Link DIR-655 Gigabit/N router. The G is an older Linksys wireless access point (WAP54G).

btw, you should pick up a dock, it works really nicely with the E4200!

 

Yup, that's about the maximum time I've had it running on battery. With normal use you can expect to get about 3h.

 

Folks,

I bought one but it had a major dent and a small plate coming out on right side. So returned it. Now looking again. I saw some people got 1.4G CPU, 3GB RAM with BT for close to $800. Even with 20% off I don't see any such deal. What am I missing?

Is it overall suggested to buy 3 yr NBD support?