E6410 Owner's Thread

Hey guys,

I am on the fence on this machine. Basically, there are three things that are stopping me from buying this: the screen, the weight and the thickness.

The battery life is OK, though I think dezoris test may not be the most scientific, I think I can safely assume that the 5:47 he got with an i7 will be the battery life I can expect with an e6400 with an i5 and 3.8 hour with a six cell. These are moderate numbers, though the t-410, envy 14, and vaio z all have better numbers. (If anyone has any better numbers out there, or even different numbers, let me know!)

I can live with the weight, the no HDMI (not very common anyway) and the slightly boxy thickness of the case, however, I have problems with the screen.

I really wish dell will bring back an XPS 13 or 14" that will compete with the incredibly expensive Sony Vaio, because the screen on this machine (the e6410) has described as passable at best. While I would rather have 1600 horizontal lines, I can live with 1440, but it would be great if you could have an option to put a better quality screen in there. I know they will always be TN, but a better quality TN is out there for sure.

What do you guys think of the quality of this screen (if compared to the sony vaio Z, it would be great)? 85% of the use of this machine will be taking notes at school, etc, but the other 15% of use, watching movies on planes and hotel rooms, doing light photoshop and video editing of vacation media, are just as important. Accordingly, I need a good screen that will at least give me RELATIVELY (to a TN) good horizontal viewing. If the Sony was a 10, and the dell was an 8, then I would buy the dell immediately. However, if the dell was a 6.5 or a 7, I think I would rather wait to see if dell wakes up and gives Sony (and HP with their Envy14 series) a run for their money with a similarly sized xps or to get a good deal on the Vaio (I missed out on the 40% off sale, where I could have gotten one for $1200 )

Let me know your thoughts.
Mario

 

I noticed that the e6510 can come with an i7-720QM, and some people are saying an i7-820QM will work in it too. Anybody know if either of those could be transplanted into an e6410, maybe in the future?

 

@esumsea

I also described the display as "passable", at least I would call it "good". The Screen has a mediocre black level and also mediocre vertical viewing angles. Horizontal viewing angles and contrast are good, brightness is great.

I have never seen the Vario, so I cannot compare them, but I could compare it to the 15" MBP Glare screen and I think they`re near to equal in quality. They`re not the same (MBP has better vertical viewing angles, but it reflects a lot and it tends to get a little bit yellowish if you get out of the perfect position in front of it).

I do photoediting and DTP 50% the time I use my Latitude, so I think it should be no problem for your 15% photo & video. But I also think (now) calibrating is a obligate to get a good workhorse for working with visual media.

 

Thanks welt.

Yeah, from what I have heard the MBP is a mirror and the Vaio is much better ant managing reflections. Vertical view is important though, for I always seem to have my laptop at the foot of the bed in hotel rooms and pillow positioning changes angles constantly when trying to watch a movie this way. This is where having RELATIVELY good vertical viewing angles are important. If things do not change very much, or at all, within 20 degrees (giving you a total viewing angle of 40 degrees (20 degrees up and 20 degrees down from straight on) I think it will be doable. I am sure the panels have gotten better since my compaq v2000, which gave me real hassels in vertical and horizontal view. It is because of my experience with that computer that I am concerned about vertical viewing angles.

I wonder how the HP 8440 screen compares, though I have heard bad things about its multimedia capabilities.

 

ok here's more!

My vaio vgn-fs980 has a 1280x800 screen (WXGA) (15.4" screen)

I can get the e6410 with a wxga screen or a wsxga (1440x900) screen. considering that my vision isn't the greatest, i got these questions:

Does the wxga screen look blocky? Would there be any advantage for me to be using a denser screen for a smaller laptop (remember im getting a smaller machine!).

I plan to be writing essays, do some programming, minor gaming, some graphics design etc.
-----
separate question:

there are 5 different options that i can choose for wireless. what should i get? i cant tell what the difference is for any of these

(im a linux user by the way)

 

I like the screen (1440) on the 6410. Then again, my 15.6 screen on my other laptop is also 1440 x 900. I'm surprised that I can't tell the difference.

I went with the below card since g works with b. Although, I'm not sure it matters much since g is about everywhere now. Can't remember the last time I've seen an a or b.

Dell Wireless™ 1520 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card [add $15.00]

Sorry to hear that.

 

You can use an adapter. I used one on my 46" tv... laptop switched over to 1080 and played the movie great.

Only difference is I had to use a sound cable to my receiver. Not a biggie though...

Thought I would have trouble with the screen... heck, I work with dual 22s with one setup and a 24" monster at a site I frequent.

I'm not sure what someone would tell you over the net about the screen since it is subjective. I'd go look at screens of the same size and res to make a decision. Or do like I did and order with the understanding that it might go back.

Although, if you want some pics or something, ask me before game 2 starts and I'll see what I can do.... lol

The machine is more than powerful enough for all your uses. The screen is okay for the occasional movie (better than "I" expected). A 17" screen would be much better. lol

The weight is simply spectacular. I've caught myself carrying it from room to room with one arm and working with it sitting in my lap (NEVER done that before).

I work with photoshop, fireworks, expression web, excel, word, and some indigorose software last night... all was great. The screen was JUST big enough for expression web....

I was having a major issue with expression web on the laptop... thought it was screen, but then it hit me: I was on one screen... did not realize how big having two screens for web development had become.

 

Thanks jtmat,

When you say "Okay" for movie watching, have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, I wish I had a better screen or I wish I would have invested in a better screen."?

 

I got the base screen on mine, and I'm perfectly satisfied with the DVD playback. If I had bought the Blu-ray drive then I would have upgraded the screen, but for normal DVD playback 1280x800 is plenty. The screen is really bright too, much more than my dad's old D820 (which incidentally had the top screen offered)

 

My E6400 (see signature for specs), has ~9 hours of battery when the battery was new. Of course that is backlit off, screen brightness to minimum (which is fine because it's pretty bright thanks to the matte screen and LED backlit), wireless ON, Aero ON, 64-bit Windows, optical, firewire, media card reader turn off (yes you can do that with the power options), using Dell extended battery life power profile, and the screen at 40Hz. Blutooth off as well, no USB devices connected. Which is very fair, and as mentioned by Dell. I expected to have SSD, Intel GPU and wireless off like other laptop manufacture battery life. You can also turn off the screen (not the laptop), with Fn+D to save even more battery life when not needed. I won't be surprised if you could stretch my laptop to 9 hours and a half with the 9-cell battery. Now, this laptop uses a more power hungry GPU and CPU.. so I don't know it plays out.. but I don't think it's THAT low. Maybe 7 hours and half at worst (I estimate).

Who cares about HDMI, it's the same display port 1.1, with uber high royalty fees to pay on anything that uses the port or is the port, and to put "HDMI" label or mentioning the feature on the box. Display port is better, it's designed for computers. Beside you can convert Display port to VGA, DVI or HDMI with audio with a simple adapter.

Meh.. TN panel are all crap to me. For real work I use my desktop monitor IPS panel, Dell U2410). The limitation of 6-bit color of TN panel is what prevents form actually doing good work on photoshop, graphic drawing at any level. View angle is, for me the least of my concern for a laptop. I am the only user, I won't have 12 people around me. However, at home, that is the different story. I have the display to do my drawings properly. I am not saying that this monitor of the laptop is bad, I am saying don't expect much out of a TN panel, AND from a laptop. That is like a double damn for a photoshop professional, no mater the laptop he picks.