E6420 Owner's Thread

A lot of companies order one large lot of a configuration, making that kind of cancellation near impossible.

With the current economy, a lot of companies aren't willing to spend the extra on the hi-res display. I also know that in my case, if I went hi-res for our configs (assuming we could afford it, we can't) all of my non-enthusiast users would be complaining that the icons and text were too small. Those same people couldn't handle 1280x1024 on a 17" 4:3 desktop LCD when they were brand new, and had me drop all of their systems to a nice, fuzzy 1024x768.

I agree, the 1600x900 display is nice, which is why I have one (it's my personal system, not work's). However, many IT departments have reasons for their choices --and would probably be very unhappy with a user who attempted to do a display swap on a company-owned machine.

 

It's a question of productivity, the circumstances and making a business case to your boss.

Though admittedly, if the thing is going to sit docked in an E-Port all day connected to an FHD monitor, chances rapidly approach zero...

 

Re: USB 3.0 options:

1. Any positive or negative experiences of using the USB 3.0 Module? Does it feel like it will be durable when swapping it in/out?
2. Is it hot swappable with the DVD Module?
3. When using the USB 3.0 Module, am I correct in thinking you can use the E Modular Bay II to use the DVD drive externally? Dumb question, but will the DVD drive perform as well under this scenario as if it were actually directly inside the e6420?
4. Is the USB 3.0 Module better than using a USB 3.0 ExpressCard? I assume it fits more snugly but with the downside of losing the built-in DVD drive.
Thanks.

 

Hello, Can anyone tell me the advantages of Using USB 3 with latitude E6420. What other alternatives do we have

Thanks,
Kal

 

Not really advantageous, just "future-proofing". Unlike the new Precision, they decided not to include USB 3.0. Can't really fathom why. At this point, most USB 3.0 devices are just storage devices (with a handful of non-storage ones). If you're looking at mass storage, eSATA works just as well and is already on a lot of existing systems. Then there's the bit about how USB 3.0 devices will sometimes drop down to USB 2.0 speeds when you connect them (negates any benefit USB 3.0 had).

If you didn't get the USB 3.0 modular bay (I didn't), you can get an Expresscard USB 3.0 module for ~30$, though it will stick out.

 

Yes you are correct, it is the QM67. Well I've upgraded my CPU to the i7-2720, and notice that the stock thermal paste and pads are different depth. I couldn't reuse the GPU thermal pad/paste as it broke apart when removing the heatsink, I'm just alerting people the depth for correct contact of heatsink. I notice that Dell engineers swapping heatsink with the incorrect depth, reason why a few people are having heat issues. Rather do it myself.... really easy.

 

eSATA would be fine but I just looked on a number of manufacturers' UK websites and they do not seem to sell portable external hard drives with eSATA connections anymore, they all seem to be focussed on USB 3.0.

Hence my post #523 asking whether anyone had successfully used the USB 3.0 modular bay for the e6420 (the ExpressCard solution seems sub-optimal if it sticks out)?

 

Didn't want to start a new thread and clutter up the forums, so I'm asking this question here. I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask.

Hi guys. I'm going off to college as a computer science major this August and wanted to hear your opinions about whether or not the E6420 is recommended for my preferences. Here are the key things that attract me to this laptop:
1. 14" size (portability = win)
2. 2720qm processor (future-proofing)
3. 1600x900 display (1366x768 is a nightmare )

Although I do like to game , I know that I'll have to cut down on it in college, so the graphics performance isn't too much of a concern to me. I've looked at other options like the refreshed envy 14, but in all cases at least one of the above features was missing or insufficient.

Here are my concerns:
1. Build quality (internal/external)
2. Overheating
3. Components getting "old" after 1-2 years

Can you guys shed some light on my concerns and/or give your final verdict on whether or not this laptop is recommended for me? Thanksss

 

If you plan on using it often, then you will probably want to get the modular bay.

Over here in Canada there still seems to be plenty of eSATA to go around. I can still get a generic or a Vantec enclosure with eSATA no problem. The big-box stores, however, seem to like pushing USB 3.0.

If you can get Seagate GoFlex laptop external drives, you can get either the USB 3.0 or eSATAp addon for it. I can swap between USB, eSATAp and USB 3.0 since I have one of each adapter (the units I got came with the USB 2.0).

1. Build quality = very sturdy.
2. Overheating = some people in the thread have indicated if you do heavy CAD it might start heating up quite a bit, but the solution to that is to get a cooling pad.
3. Obsolescence is always a problem, but I don't think it will be so much of an issue as long as it does what you need it to do.

Would recommend getting a 6520 and getting the FHD screen in that case, since coding usually involves lots of windows open at a time and the more desktop space the better.

It is a bit bigger, however. You would probably want to get the specs, measure out a piece of paper as a template and compare it against other laptops to gauge if that size is acceptable or not.

Otherwise, either the 6420 or 6520 are a fine choice.

 

Thanks for the response, AlexF! Well, I've been able to survive with my trusty old Inspiron 6400 (1680x1050) screen-wise, so although it'll be a size-down I think the resolution won't be much of a problem.
Although if I were to go for the 15" lines, I might opt for the XPS 15 instead (nice speakers, 540m, etc.)