Dell Latitude E4200 Info

So for the E4200 bluetooth installation, it turns out that one must order two separate items from Dell:

* Bluetooth 365 hardware module (Dell part no. 430-3363) [$39.99]
* Bluetooth 365 holder + connector cable (Dell part no. P772G) [$24.99]

Problem is that the holder & connector can't be ordered through sales but instead through "Dell Parts" (800-357-3355). A funny side note: you don't get to buy it new - refurbished is all that's offered.

Anywhoo, once the P772G kit is acquired the installation instructions in the service manual for the bluetooth adapter will finally make sense!

 

Interesting my E4200 artifact problem is back. Since this is my fourth E4200 I have managed to isolate the problem a bit more.

- Only occurs when laptop is docked on a E-dock
- Only occurs when you combine the onboard 1GB module with a additional 2GB module making a total of 3GB.
- I more profound when you are stressing the videocard, when watching video's, playing games or using Aero

The second point seems to be confirmed by more users (not only E4200 users) and seems to be a problem with the chipset and bios configuration. I contacted Dell about this, but it doesn't seem like they will solve this problem anytime soon.

My idea is to gather more data on this issue and pass it to dell, so they can fix it with a bios update.

So if this problem sounds familiar to you, please contact me (see profile) of just leave a mssg here, I prefer the last, since the information will be available to every one.

 

News from the Latitude ON front:

(September 28th, 2009)
Latitude ON has started shipping! (On Latitude Zs, at this point).

Said Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger at Dell: "We will offer the hardware upgrade option to existing Latitude E4200 and E4300 customers via a customer kit for purchase. I'll update this post with more details about the kit when I have them."


http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/09/28/latitude-on-arrives.aspx

 

I have the same graphics artifact problem with the intel 4500mhd video card on my e4200. I am running windows 7 with the latest intel driver. I have 3GB of RAM and I see the problem arise either when I connect my laptop to a high resolution external monitor or when I have many windows open. I think the graphics card has 32mb of memory built-in so if you run at a low resolution or if you don't open too many windows then it uses the onboard graphics memory and there is no corruption. But I think the problem arises when it has to use the main system memory because the built-in 32mb is full. I hope the problem can be solved with a bios or driver update. I don't want to downgrade to 2GB of system RAM.

 

I found a solution to the graphics corruption problem on another forum:
http://communities.intel.com/thread/5566

If you disable virtualization in the bios then it fixes the problem. It is a known fault with the chipset. It's working fine for me now on 3GB of RAM. So happy!!

 

You are the best! Although it's not a real solution but more of a workarround.

 

Upgrade kits will be quite expensive, around $125 of 100 euro's. To be honest I don't see the advantages when using your laptop on stand-by. It awakes within a few seconds and battery drain after a day in stand-by is 5%

You are very limited in what you can do from within the latitudeON evironment and connectivity options are not sufficient. They should have added the 3G support

 

Agreed about the 3G support!!

As for 5%/day battery drain... please share how you achieved such results!!
I have measured my battery to drain at about 20% per day in standby.
(Which still isn't bad, in my opinion).

I'm using the 6-cell extended battery by the way.

 

My interpretation of the following is that 3G works if you have WWAN-option installed in your Latitude.

"Latitude ON allows you to connect via Wi-Fi or embedded mobile broadband. I say embedded because in Latitude ON mode, the external ports aren't active."

 

Dunno to be honest, it's around 10 percent by the way, a 12 hour day. Did nothing special