E6410 Owner's Thread

I'm thinking about getting an E6410 for general school work, web browsing, music recording & editing, and photo editing. The only thing holding me back is the quality of the screen, the battery life, and that hefty price tag. So I have a few questions. I know an external monitor is best for photo editing, but how good is the screen on the E6410? What is the general consensus on the battery life with the 9-cell battery and dedicated graphics while web browsing or typing a paper? What are some tricks for making it a bit cheaper? Thanks for the help!

 

Thanks all - couple more q's I have: I'm toying with the idea of the blu-ray option, expensive though it is, but I can't figure out from Dell's web site if it's a blu-ray writer as well as a reader? At that price I would expect it is, but wondered if anyone had confirmed that anywhere?

Also, if the dock is the same as that for the E6400, how does it work with the fact that the E6410 has a powered eSATA port and the docking station (which is older) presumably does not - how would an external eSATA drive be powered in that setup...?

Cheers,

Mart

 

with a power supply

powered esata is just an esata connector + usb connector in one so the esata drive can draw power from the USB connector

this only works with 1.8" and 2.5" drives supporting this feature (these enclosures are very rare) and most 2.5" drives come with a usb connector to power the drive and a seperate esata cable

 

Thanks - and you're right, as the drive I'm looking at also comes with a USB power sharing cable for just this scenario...

http://www.lacie.com/uk/products/product.htm?pid=11478

(not that I can find stock anywhere...)

Cheers,

M

 

If the hard drive cage is re-inforced, am I still able to remove the stock hard drive and replace it with an SSD, for instance?

 

I just got my E6410 today (in Taiwan). First impressions:

1. My WXGA+ LCD panel is reported by powerstrip as LGD0257, same as what dezoris reported earlier.
2. LCD is really bright, colors and contrast are good enough for business and leisure use. Leisure photo editing is definitely okay.
3. horizontal viewing angle is great! Vertical is good as long as you dont view the screen from a high angle atop.
3. it is a matte screen, feels as great as my old IBM T43.
4. this unit i have comes with a 250GB hard drive, it makes more noise than my IBM T43. Model is ST9250410AS.
5. battery i havent had long enough tine to test it out. Mine is a 6cell battery. Most people gets 9 cell though.
6. As many others in this forum points out, call dell sales directly and negotiate is a good way to get discounts.

I only have a few complaints:
1. when it is really quiet, the famous "high pitched sound" can be heard if I happen to catch attention on it. Anyone who has a E6410 can hear that sound as well?

2. when Control Point is running, the system becomes really sluggish, the mouse would hang a few seconds once in a while. The entire system would become extremely slow as well if I try to scan my fingerprint, or use contactless smartcard.

3. keyboard and track point is definitely not as good as Thinkpads, but for a long time IBM T43 owner, all I can say is the keyboard on E6410 is satisfying enough! However, it seems to catch more fingerprints than my Thinkpad!!

Edit:
4. The volume control buttons on the top are very difficult to press. It is too "hard"... i hope they are made as smooth as the mouse buttons!!

 

Yes, it was just a side note. Comparing the 6400/6410 the actual drive surrounded in plastic on the E6410.

 

Like all laptop screens, it's TN panel, so it's 6-bit colors (262 144). What it does to add the missing colors to reach 8-bit 16 777 216) like a ISP or PVA panel, is that it take 2 close color that it can produce, and flash between them in the vein hope to trick your eyes into thinking it's the right color. Obviously our eyes are much more sophisticated than that and is estimated to be able to see several billions of colors, so we notice this.

Also as you probably know, TN panel has poor view angle, and back light bleeding. No mater what laptop screen you pick you won't have a great screen compared to a desktop IPS/PVA panel (that also options to calibrate it).

Why a TN panel is used on all laptop? Simple, TN panels much consumes less power, they cost much less (already a laptop screen is pretty expensive as they have to make it very thin) and also it's VERY thin. a IPS or PVA panel, requires at lest (I am just estimating here) a nice half a inch, thick.


But, of course nothing stops you in doing light non serious photoshop work on the go and the real one with final touches and color adjustment at home with your IPS or PVA panel monitor. And to pick the best that you can get laptop TN panel.

What people do already try to aim for RGB LED backlight, meaning the screen backlight are 3 color Red, Green and Blue LED's that turn on to give you white... a true white. And also look for a matte screen, to be able to work properly without the problem of reflection. Sadly the E6410 laptop doesn't have RGB backlit LED but instead white LED's (which tend to be either on the bleu'ish side, or yellow'ish side) I believe the Precision series has those kind of displays as option. But then again, these are just to help.

Another problem is like all OEM manufactures including Apple (except Sony, as they use their own screen or made by Sharp which are contracted to make their screens), is that their is not 1 screen. They have different screen manufacture, which Dell picks to have identical or very close specification from one to another. For the E6400, you had 4 screen manufacture, LG, Samsung, and 2 others that seams to appear later on and forgot the brand. I had the Samsung and LG, compared to my Dell U2410 monitor under Adobe RGB color profile, and my old high-end CRT monitor (the ones with the tube and very thick, never the less their strong point is color accuracy with the ability to make 'perfect' white and perfect black (totally off)), and the LG was better than the Samsung one. But then again this is with the E6400 and not the E6410.

What I am trying to say, is that if you don't do real pro photoshop on the go, any matte screen will do, as you won't be able to get better, and even if you try, the best you can get is with RGB LED backlight which helps..but you still work with 6-bit colors in reality.

The best hope for you is to carry a ISP or PVA panel with you, or wait several years for OLED screens.

Hmm, you could steal one. That's always the cheapest route ;P
Ok seriously now, CALL to order, as you can negotiate a price. If it fails, no problem, end the conversation, and call again to try to order again by negotiating.

Dell already has many offers in the system like free RAM upgrade to 4GB, wireless card upgrades and so on and so forth. The more service and accessories (like a 9-cell battery) form Dell you take the more room you have to negotiate, also the more time you spend with the sales rep, the easier it will be to negotiate. If you spend with him a nice 30min.. it's probably 1 or 2 sale he/she could have made, so it will be easier to get what you want.
Remember that Dell, and like other OEMs, are not interested in money as much as market share. They prefer to have more sales than bigger profit per sale (they'll make it up with accessories, like when you'll buy a new battery replacement at ~200$ after a year to a year and half... so the trick here is to consider that when you order... make sure you have at least the amount of cash in your hand to be able to order a new battery from them when the time comes.. don't get a second battery when you order, Lithium-ion battery ages faster when not in used, than if they are used). Lithium-ion battery is like a pie, it's always better and fresher when it comes out of the oven.

Well good luck!

 

There is something I just don't get: in Dell's US site it costs another 180$ to upgrade to a 500GB hd - why is that , does Dell's hd have special features or somthing ? because a solid 500GB hd costs around 100$.

 

Dell makes money on accessories, meaning Dock station, HDD upgrade, RAM upgrade, batteries and so on... It's their main source of profit when you buy a computer, and this is why, when you call, in order to make a successful sell, they can give them for you as free upgrade or at discount if you negotiate. If you call, I am sure they'll make it a free upgrade (of course, you might fall on some new guy who is not comfortable with his system, and doesn't dare to do any specials for you, so you might need to try again with someone else).