E6400 or E4300?

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of trying to decide between getting an E6400 or E4300 to replace my aging Toshiba A105-4074. I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of discussion here about the E4300 compared with the huge number of threads about the E6400.

I have an E4300 here at work that I have been impressed with, so I have hands-on experience with it. I haven't had any hands-on experience with the E6400, and have only seen one briefly. While I've read lots of good things about it, I wish I could use one for a couple of days in order to get a feel for it.

Either laptop will suit my needs just fine - mostly web browsing, office apps, and writing & compiling code. They're both priced within my budget (I'm going to buy on the Dell outlet), so it really comes down to ergonomic things like size and weight, as well as keyboard comfort.

What are people's thoughts on how the two laptops compare in those departments? How much heavier is an E6400 (with 6-cell battery and 7200 rpm HD) than an E4300 (also with 6-cell and HD)? Also, why does there seem to be so little discussion about the E4300? Should that worry me?

Thanks for the input... once I make a decision, I'll have to see if I have the patience to wait for another outlet coupon to appear!

P

 

Im looking at exactly the same thing, even to the degree of outlet as well. Ive had a 14" and a 13.3 (e1405 and M1330) and the 14 IS a bit big for me. On the other hand, its cheaper and this laptop isn't going to stick around for the long haul.

 

Some more threads on this subject here and here.

For me, the main advantage of the E6400 is the extra real estate offered by WXGA+ (1440 x 900). I find that useful for my everyday work.

Also, for those who want it, the E6400 can have a dedicated GPU.

John

 

I imagine the lack of threads has to do with:
1)fewer people having the E4300 vs the E6400 given that it is more expensive and also
2)fewer problems with the E4300

I have an E4300 and it's great. I do have an issue with DVI out to an external monitor via the docking station that seems to be driver related (I did a clean install of the OS when I got it but I can't replicate the issue on the factory drive image).

Otherwise it's a great notebook. Not noisy, powerful, not hot, light weight (3.9 lbs with 6 cell, backlit keyboard, HDD)

 

Can you explain the problem? Im looking at dual monitors via the docking station and that would be a game ender for the e4300.

 

I got both computers for now. I'm not crazy about the non-backlit E4300 keyboard and may return it. It's kind of mushy, especially near the "P" key. Is the backlit E4300mkeyboard any stiffer and quieter?

 

When I use my external monitor (24" dell 2407wfp) via the DVI out of the Dell E-Port docking station I sometimes see a green line or sometimes a few lines that are one pixel wide going across the screen near the top. The problem does not occur via VGA out on the dock or VGA out on the laptop itself. Also, I am running a clean install of Vista so I think it has something to do with the order I installed the drivers in (I followed the instructions for correct order of driver installation but who knows). When I put in the hard drive that the notebook came with, which has the factory Vista install, the problem does not occur. Dock has been replaced and motherboard has been replaced but it hasn't been fixed. If you get the E-port plus you could do dual display port config. Or if you use the factory vista install you prob won't have problems.

I decided that it doesn't bother me that much (it only shows up 20% of the time or so) and I can live with it until I upgrade to the next revision in a year or so when nehalem comes out. I haven't seen others complain about this so it's probably a pretty rare problem, shouldn't hold you back. You can always return it during the return timeframe if you do end up seeing it. It's definitely much much less intrusive than the audio crackle problems that many have with their E6400 and E6500 (I used to have this problem with my D630). Has a solution been found for that problem yet?

 

Backlit keyboard is much better, there was a thread that had pics of both and they are different in appearance as well as feeling/sounding different.

 

I also had an eye on the 4200 before buying my 6400. For me the deal breaker was the 1280x800 resolution of the 4200. If the 1440x900 was available on the 4200 I would have go with it without hesitation.

 

I'm in the process of upgrading from a D620. I ordered an E6400 from the outlet and was not impressed with the build quality compared to my D620. This very well could have been specific to this unit. The case had some issues with gaps, in particular in the front between the bottom cover and the front of the case. Also the 6 cell battery had a fairly loose fit. I guess I was expecting something superior to my D620. I eventually returned it and ordered an E4300 from the outlet. My initial impression of the E4300 was really good, I thought the build quality was much better than the E6400. Although after further inspection I noticed an issue with the keyboard, details here. I also found the palmrest to be a little cramped for me when typing. The portability of the E4300 was great, smaller footprint and very lightweight with a 3 cell battery. I'll return the E4300 due to the keyboard issue but I haven't decided if I'll order another E4300 or try my luck with another E6400.