E6420 Owner's Thread

Yeah, one of the particulars of heatsink pads vs. paste: pads *should* be replaced if the assembly is being removed/replaced. They conform to the shape of the two parts and settle, which means removal and replacement might cause a change in distance and create gaps. Paste is better in that you can get away with not changing it more, but tends to be more runny (hence preference to pads in things that move around ).

1680x1050 is a 16:10 resolution. 1920x1080 is a 16:9 resolution. You would probably want to present the height measurement of your panel if you want an accurate estimate, but it's probably going to be a bit smaller.

ASIDE: Going from 15.4" 1680x1050 to 14" 1600x900 is a fair bit of a downgrade. I didn't go for the E6520 based on the principle that I hate numpads on laptop keyboards, though that FHD panel would've really been nice... also might want to point out that the trackpad is shifted more to the left on the E6520 because of the numpad.

 

Your 15.4" 16:10 LCD:
15.4^2 = (16x)^2 + (10x)^2; x=0.8162
1680/16x=1050/10x=128.6452 dpi

E6520 15.6" 16:9 LCD:
15.6^2 = (16x)^2 + (9x)^2; x=0.8498
1920/16x=1080/9x=141.2120 dpi

141.2120-128.6452=12.5668
(12.5668/141.2110)x100=~8.9% smaller

GK

 

Do you know what the dpi is for the E6420?

 

E6420 14" 16:9 LCD:
14^2 = (16x)^2 + (9x)^2; x=0.7626
1600/16x=900/9x=131.13 dpi

GK

 

Thank You Gk for all your help.
I was set on getting the E6420 but I have been reading that the screen on the 14" notebooks is not great. Now I am considering the E6520.

How does the 1600 x 900 screen on the E6420 compare to my old D800 series Latitude with the 15.4" 1680 x 1050?

(I wish Dell would have an outlet where you could go and see their laptops before you bought one.)

 

I only have the E6410 16:10 1440x900. From reading here, the E6420 1600x900 screen is fine but like the E6410, the image size will be on the tiny side... although you can bump it up using Windows dpi scaling.

I suggest that young eyes can adjust to it, but older eyes may not like it as much as the same res on the E6520 15.6" screen. The 15.6" screen may also help offset the 16:9 aspect ratio by offering a scrunch more vertical screen height.

Some users here are quick to recommend the highest res available for the E6520. It may look great, especially for photos/video, but I would be wary of the tiny image issue.

For me, 1600x900 on the E6520 would be the safest res choice IF you accept that size/weight of notebook.

GK

 

But keep in mind the 1366x768 display used in the E6520 is a particularly bad quality screen.

 

I recently noticed when I have headphones plugged into a e6420 and nothing is playing that there is a bleep sound that can be heard periodically. Has anyone else noticed this noise/sound and been successful with resolving it? I can't associate the sound with any particular process. I currently am running under AHCI with the latest IRRT driver from Intel. I'm running the audio driver from the Dell site.

Thanks

 

anyone know where I might find a replacement caddy for the original 1st hard drive bay? The purpose is so I can quick switch between hard drives. I've seen caddies around for the modular bay... The original caddy is just a small plastic stub that sticks onto the front of the hard drive. This is what I'm looking for. I've searched this thread but surprisingly there are no results for 'caddy', perhaps something is up with the search function..

I was also wondering what size drives, as far as millimeters, the original drive bay will accept.. I have a 7.0mm hard drive in there atm 0_0, though it looks like the caddy was meant to include for thicker drives.

 

The suggested 1600x900 LCD is not the 1366x768 LCD.

GK