E6420 Owner's Thread

If possible, could you weigh the E6420?

The weights in specifications always seem incorrect, so it would be nice to know the actual weight.

 

After testing the sound using test tones from different locations. It appears the E6410 speakers are louder at farther distances by 1-2 decibels at full volume.

But at close proximity the E6420 is louder by 2-3 db.
However this maybe subjective but side by side listening of the same source material has me convinced the E6410 speakers sound much clearer due to design and placement, namely for music. The sound is much brighter.

The E6420 is definitely more muffled and warm. But in terms of overall volume they are pretty much about the same.

Test sounds distance test 3 feet away: (Images attached)

E6410: 60.5 db
E6420: 59 db


Test from 12" Away Straight on:

E6410: 65 db
E6420: 67 db

 

In terms of the top, the lid is actually a machined and polished metal, likely aluminum. It is not a simulated machined metal look like the old E6410.

So in a way it is more premium feeling however its not a solid slab, just a plate or cover. This is my complaint.

The front wireless antenna bar on the lid is hard plastic and is not rubberized.
Does not provide tactile feel or better grip.

Also the lid as pictured is an absolutely oil fingerprint magnet. Due to the darker color. In terms of lid strength its solid, slightly more rigid than the E6410 but not by much. The hinges on my unit are stiff compared to the E6410. Requires two hands to open one to hold the base and the lid.

 

Great pix.
Can you tell what fan noise levels are at idle, light usage and heavy usage?
Anyone knows how that would compare to the 5420?

 

Opening my E6410 requires two hands. I suspect that there are some manufacturing tolerances on the hinge stiffness.

John

 

Really? Now that is a surprise. Both of mine were easily opened with one hand, while maintaining decent stability. I expect two handed opening with consumer quality notebooks, but not with business quality notebooks.

 

Care to put it on a scales so we can see the actual weight? Edit: oh I see someone else asked this too

Also, http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...7949-e6420-owners-thread-img_0054-medium-.jpg this pic shows the empty WWAN socket and I swear I see two connectors on it, one on the left, one on the top, what's with that? Also it seems the WLAN card has three antenna connectors (is it a 6300?) but only two antenna wires?

 

Great review, Dezoris.

So, far, I've noticed a few major concerns:

1. The power brick looks cheap and old fashioned, as if Dell went back 3 generations. The current slim power adapter on the E6410 is very compact for 90 watts and has the advantage of the blue LED ring in the plug. It looks as if Dell cut costs with the E6420's power adapter.

2. The packaging looks cheap. I would expect a bottom end consumer notebook to be sold in this sort of packaging in a big box store. It looks as if Dell has been cutting costs.

3. There's no excuse for a sticking latch and hinges that require both hands to open. This is unacceptable. Is it a bad design, bad build quality, or both?

4. Weaker speakers? I think that the E6410 was acceptable, if not exceptional, when it came to the output of the internal speakers. A step backward in this regard is a bad sign indeed. I'm really starting to wonder about the E6420?

5. There is definitely something odd about the lack of vent holes under the main fan on the E6420. I suspect that the bottom plate was designed for a different motherboard. This is very worrying. Either the fan is going to have to work harder and more often, shortening battery life, or this notebook is going to run hot.

I think we'll all know more when we have CPU temperatures and temperatures of the bottom plate taken with an IR thermometer.

 

We have an E6420 floating around here at work now. It has the 2720QM processor and the Quadro graphics card. The hardware shop did what they always do - installed games.

World of Warcraft with all video settings maxed in Undercity was 40fps with integrated graphics and just over 100fps with the Quadro. Cataclysm content was around 15fps int and 40 fps Quadro. Lowering view distance improved frame rates a lot in the new content.

Bad Company 2 was 30fps.

Overall the integrated graphics are *roughly* twice as fast as the old integrated graphics from the original i5/i7 processors.

The Quadro is *roughly* a little more that twice as fast as the new integrated processor gpu.

This is so driver dependent and its still very early. I am also not the one that did this testing, I am only relaying the info.

 

Power brick is smaller than the slim one. Thicker, but a smaller footprint. These have been shipping out to us off and on for a few months on the E6510s we order. See pics below.

Packaging looks very "green" to me. Happy to see that everything except the screen protection foam is likely to break down in a landfill or better yet be easily recycled.

The bottom plate has space in between it and the fan. The air is pulled through a wide and thin "tunnel" under the bottom plate. There are air vents in over the processor and ram.