E6520 Owner's Thread

After my last reply I checked Super Talent SSD prices again and found this useful link listing a range of price/speed combinations for miniPCIe :
Netbook SSDs - SuperBiiz.com

Your compatibility warning link points to the 14 Feb Toms article I read then.
If money no object, the SuperTalent CoreStore MV looks best candidate, and if prepared to wait till its price comes down, maybe best choice anyway.
However, I would probably choose a i7-2520 2-core for the E6520 as the 25W TDPs not yet available, and am wondering if present price of 350MB/s may be overkill in overall notebook benchmark, compared to slightly slower Super Talent PCIe SSDs in the above list ?

 

I don't have any links, but I can tell you from my own experience with Windows 7, that I wouldn't go any less than 32GB for OS+Applications. 40GB would probably be enough for the above plus Microsoft Office 2007 (to include the MSOCache folder, which is the installation source) + Visual Studio + some other development tools. I plan on getting the 64GB drive, though, as it will probably be the most I'll ever need (I plan to put all data / downloads / etc. is on another drive). In addition to the page and hibernation files, you also need to allocate space for:

- MSI sources for whatever applications you install (C:\WINDOWS\Installer)
- Microsoft Update uninstallation folders
- Download cache for Microsoft Updates
- Log files
- web browser cache(s)
- miscellaneous temporary files
- Other stuff I haven't thought of

I have a 32GB SSD in a netbook, and 21GB is currently used for the OS + all patches (including SP1) + one development (large) application + SQL 2005 Express & databases + a few utilities. Every couple of days I use a utility called CCleaner (google for it) that helps identify and delete extraneous files.

 

Here's a quick snap I took.

 

When I purchased 6520, I got a free dock station and and 70$ off. The same kind of deal was not available with 6420 so I setteld for 6520.

I just got my 6520 delivered. It's much bigger than I my current 15" inspiron. I was wondering if there is a way to exchange it with 6420 by calling Dell.

Please advise me how to approach this when I call dell.

1. How to exchange 6520 with 6420.

2. I got 4Gig ram (1dimm). I want to upgrade to 8Gig. Can I just walk into compusa and have them install another 4Gig or should I look for a particular kind of memory that matches that of DELL installed memory.

Thanks for your advise.

 

#1 - I doubt that Dell will let you "exchange" it but rather return the 6520 for credit and let you spec out and purchase a 6420. You will have to call for a Credit Return Authorization number anyway, so you will be able to ask at that time and get all the details. Of course, since the return is not due to a fault of Dell, you will have to pay subsequent shipping (and I don't think they will credit you back the initial shipping charges either) plus they may hit you up with a restock fee of 15%. If software has been opened/registered then I think they won't credit you for that either. It could turn out to be quite a costly exchange, but read their policy below and contact them.

Dell Terms of Sale, License Agreements & Policies | Dell

#2 - It is advisable to have matched memory, but as long as it is 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333Mhz) you should be fine.

 

I got my e6520 yesterday. I had few issues starting it. The screen gets garbled and I was able to start it after few tries and worked yesterday. However this morning I took it to work to upgrade the memory. When I tried to start it and show it to my colleagues, the screen completely dies.

I see the lights for hard drive, battery etc on the left of the base on but the screen is completely blank. I have called Dell and asked if they can ship another unit that's in stock immediately but they said it would take another 10 business days so I decided to return it.

Mine is a 15+ inches and felt very big and heavy so it might be one more reason I decided to return it. The laptop itself is very ugly (though the screen is beautiful since I have upgraded the resolution). But after the return I am not inclined to take another e6520 since I feel it's very big.

I have seen 6410 used by my colleagues and it's much more appealing. I know the 6520 has more features like interchangeable drive but I don't want to work on a not so looking laptop everyday.

I see that there are bunch of 6410s available on dell refurbished outlet with 20% of with lots of memory etc so I am looking into it.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

How about trying the Thinkpad T520? The FHD screen on it is better than the Latitude's FHD screen (it's 'B+RGLED' backlit, providing 95% color gamut) which is why it costs more to upgrade. However, although the HD+ is good, it isn't as good as on the E6520 (well at least it's not as bright).

Or if you have a higher budget and can wait until May 10 to buy, or around May 11 for Dell to offer reasonable prices rather than their discount-less Fantasyland™ prices, you can check out the new Dell Precision M4600. It'll even offer an IPS RGBLED 1920x1080 screen option, though it'll probably cost a lot, so the regular FHD will probably be your best option price-wise (no HD+ res afaik).

 

Very impressed with my e6520 so far. FHD screen looks great. Nice build quality, backlit keyboard is awesome. Installed Intel 510 series 120GB SSD drive. Benchmarked the read speed at max 464MB/s Installed Ubuntu 11.04 and everything worked no problem. Using the e-port docking station with optional lcd stand is awesome. will try to post some pics of my setup later. Some people were saying this docking station did not produce enough power to bring the CPU to max frequency, this was not the case with mine but i also have the i5-2410 dual core. CPU temps are good, mid 40s at idle and 50s-60s under load.

 

Many thanks for the feedback, both the @TStraub photo clearly showing the 3 miniPCIe slots, and for thoughts on min space for OS+Apps, looks like one need to fork out for at least 64GB to avoid getting caught short, esp as in SSD's I read a significant percentage of the stated capacity is reserved by the SSD for its housekeeping. All that left now re. miniPCIeSSD is to get confirmation the E6x20 will boot and run OS+Apps from their minicard slots - any info on that ?

 

I got mine last Thursday. Coming from a c640 Dell with XP this has quite an interesting and hectic weekend.
I love the weight of it because I'm hard on these things and feel it is built solid. The touch pad doesn't work as nice as my c640 no matter how I adjust it.
Win 7 is quite different and I'm not sure about some things on it like the program menu. To hard to use?? Trying to get programs I've had since 2001 in it has been the biggest thing. I'm getting there but ever so slow.
Over all I like it very much.