E6520 Owner's Thread

I payed 1490 EUR for the notebook, 120 EUR for the docking and 265 EUR for the SSD.

 

Hi All,

I am thinking of getting a Latitude E6520 | i7 2720QM

Can anyone that owns one tell me what the fan noise is like when idle and also when underload ? thinking of using it for surfing / office and also VMWARE workstation.

Thanks

Badchi

 

It is very good for a higher end i7 laptop. It idles quietly and is not too loud even under load. It is less than I expected and much better than my XPS L701/702x.

Scott-

 

I know I've read something about this somewhere, but now I can't find it anymore... The screen on this E6520 is great, but I've noticed the display sometimes auto-adjusts the brightness. Is the backlight supposed to adjust itself?

 

Yes... it can do this on the keyboard backlight too, but you can turn the ambient light sensor adjustment off. Check the setting in your BIOS and also under your power management in Windows. I think there is also a way to adjust it in the Dell quickset panel. I will look later if needed. I am on a different system right now.

Scott

 

Just got my e6520 freedos.
The hdd, or the fans makes some noise, maybe with drivers it would be better !

 

Thanks Scott,

I am also thinking of getting the M4600 precision - do you know how that compares to the 6520 in regards to noise and performance with the same CPU ? also what other benefits are there apart from build quality?

 

The M4600 (with the IPS screen) is the top tier 15.6" workstation in my opinion. The Latitude E6520 is just below that with its 1080p screen. I would NEVER advise getting the 720p screen in this size as you will HATE IT due to the lower end specs.

At any rate, the build quality on both is very good with the all magnesium structure and commercial grade durability. Obviously, the M4600 is slightly better overall, but it is a very small variance. It is more of how each system appeals to you. Some say the E6520 looks too "consumer" or "HP", but I find it professional with a much more solid feel than any consumer or HP notebook I have owned. The M4600 fan is only a little louder if any due to the higher end graphics.

With that said, the video options in the M4600 are better, but the Nvidia 4200 in the E6520 with the Optimus switching is VERY nice too. WEI gives me a 6.4 on the graphics and the 9-cell will last 5-6 hours of normal use. Most important, I can work in CS5 and other Cuda happy applications with suprising ease.

In the end, I chose to make the E6520 my daily and travel laptop since it is just the right size and weight and offers all the portable performance I need whether it be in Frankfurt, Shanghai or San Diego. It is also VERY reliable, has a great 1080p matte screen, and cost me $800 less than a similar spec'd M4600 (without the IPS display). If I need the big guns, I get out the M6600, which is a beast, and use that for more robust projects. Additionally, I am too paranoid still to put my M6600 through airport security and have someone physically violate it and/or play fussball with it after they find the all ALU body resists their intrusive x-rays. Even the E6520 draws extra attention with it robust shell. The all-aluminum 18" hard carrying case I carry it in doesn't help either.

Scott-

 

Thanks Scott for advice

 

Seconded. If you're getting the Latitude E6520, you need to upgrade to the 1600x900 screen at least. The image quality of the 1366x768 screen is terrible, and the low resolution makes things big so you can't fit much on the screen.

And if you're getting the M4600, there is no 1600x900 option, only 1366x768 and 1920x1080. Take 1920x1080.