Diff between E5400 &n E6400?

The two units are very similar, so I guess Dell had to try to make them seem more different than they actually were. Otherwise, why would very many people pay something like $300 more to get an E6400, particularly businesses with a bunch of bean counters breathing down their necks? I don't think too many people who would be buying this type of machine really would be willing to plunk down that much extra money for a shinier lid.

 

Realistic weight figures would certainly be useful to would-be buyers. At the very least, they should list the weight in the "base" configuration- with a hard drive not SSD, with optical drive inserted, with a 6-cell battery, etc.

It seems to be industry practice to list starting weights as the lightest possible configuration. Dell isn't the only one who does it. Lenovo, Toshiba and HP are all guilty...

 

The E5400 is significantly thicker- 1.5" vs. 1.0"-1.2" and weighs at least 0.5lbs more than the E6400 when configured simillarly. The E6400 also has the standard 3-year warranty compared (E5400/E5500 only has 1-year).

At the moment, an E5400 and E6400 configured as closely as possible are priced $122 apart. That includes a 3-year warranty on the E5400. For the E6400's $122 premium, you get an LED-backlit display, Back-lit Keyboard, eSATA & DisplayPort....as well as the thinner, slightly lighter design.