E6530 owners thread

Hi All,

E6530 is available for order for a month or so.
However, I could not find much user feedback or any reviews.

Could anyone please come with review ?

Information on the screen & build quality, heat issues and battery time would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Konstantin

 

FHi,

I own a E6530 since today (3720QM 2.6 GHz, HD+ screen 1600*900, SSD 256 GB).

Here are my first impressions :
- The screen (1600*900, reference SEC544B, or Samsung 156KT) is OK but has a slight "screen door effect"/"graininess", only visible in strong blue and/or middle green colours (red is alright). It is particularly noticeable on the default color of selected text in Windows(#0080FF). With black text on white background it is not visible. I have to admit that I am very picky. Please see the description of this screen door effect http://-tech.blogspot.com/2012/09/screen-door-effect-on-led-screens.html.
- The screen has one dead pixel, which is clearly visible in strong red colours
- SSD is fast (reference SAMSUNG SSD PM830)
- In Windows Nvidia Control Panel, there is no option to power off the Nvidia 5200M card. In the BIOS, it is only possible to disable the Intel card, or enable the Optimus switching. After 30 minutes, the temperature fluctuates around 61 degrees (celsius), and the fan is always on. It does about the same level of noise as the 7200 rpm HDD in my previous HDD, which cannot be qualified as "quiet".
- Fingerprint reader not recognized by Windows 7 out of the box.
- Video DVD-RW are not recognized on the HLDS GU60N drive (nor in Windows nor Ubuntu).

metatech

 

I have a similar one with the Full HD 1920 screen, and it also has that screen-door effect. It is also visible in white/light backgrounds. I find it pretty annoying.

The panel is an AUO B156HW02. Is there any way of detecting the revision?

 

Hi,

Here is a correction of my previous observation of the temperature behaviour.
There is probably a bug in the BIOS : the ACPI thermal sensor is never updated : only the first value after a reboot is meaningful.
Fortunately Speedfan can detect more sensors (with the "Enable Dell support" option).
When using power plan "Power saving" and the machine is lightly used, the temperature of the CPU follows a hysteresis cycle between about 50 and 60 degrees celsius, in which the fan triggers at 2500 RPM. A few cycles after boot, the fan stays permanently on.

Edit : actually, the fan runs frequently only when the battery is charging. After that the fan stays off nearly all the time when the machine is idle.

metatech

 

Hi,

2 more comments :

Regarding the fan speed :
There are 4 modes selectable in the "Power Options" / "Dell Enhanced Settings" / "Thermal Mode" :
- Quiet (Reduced Fan Levels) : around 2500 RPM
- Cool (Reduced Temps Levels) : around 2800 RPM
- Standard : around 3200 RPM
- Max Performance (Max Fan Levels) : around 4000 RPM

Regarding the screen (SEC544B), it looks subjectively very bright, but black color looks like dark grey, which gives a subjective quite low contrast.

metatech

 

Hi,

When disabling the Nvidia graphic card under Linux with "bbswitch", I ended up with a Nvidia card which was removed from the devices list ("lspci") and the screen was always black (also in the BIOS).
If this happens, here is the key sequence to blindly reset the BIOS :
- Power on the computer and press F12 twice per second for 10 seconds
- Press 10 times on "down" arrow and then 1 time on "up" arrow
- Press 2 times on "Tab" and 2 times on "Return"
- Press 2 times on "Tab" and 1 time on "Return"
- Press 3 times on "Tab" and 1 time on "Return".
The computer should reboot and the screen image come back.

For the record, here are the measured power consumptions measured with "powertop" under Ubuntu and "BatteryBar" under Windows. Screen was at maximum brightness, all wireless disabled, machine is idle.
- Under Ubuntu, with Optimus enabled and Nvidia enabled : 18.9 Watt
- Under Ubuntu, with Optimus enabled and Nvidia disabled with bbswitch : 11.7 Watt
- Under Windows, with Optimus enabled : 10.7 Watt

metatech.

 

Hi Guys, I have a E6530 (brand new in the box) with the NVS 5200 (1g) graphics card. What games would this be capable of playing? I currently own a Alienware M14x and an HP DV7-7008TX which i find i do not use for gaming anyway. So thinking about selling those two and sticking with the E6530 as it has a nice long warranty and pretty much the same specs as the other two bar the graphics card. Only game i would really play is L4D2, dont want to take the E6530 out of the box to try it if it wont work though. Could anyone advise? Thanks!

 

L4D2 is a pretty old game, so it's not that demanding, but it still depends on the settings. At 1280x720 and minimum detail even the Intel IGP would be more than enough. At 3600x1920 and maximum detail, I doubt even your alienware would be enough.

Really the answer is to try it. You have a 30 day no-questions-asked return policy, so there's no reason not to take advantage of it.

 

Data points:
- SWTOR plays nicely on medium detail, at 1920x1080 (and 1920x1200 on an external monitor). Haven't tried high detail at lower resolution.
- Dead Rising 2 Off The Record was unplayable, even on minimum detail at 1280x720. Didn't try lower.
- GTA4 is playable at medium detail at 1280x720, not really playable at 1920x720 with minimum detail. Surprisingly demanding for an older game.
- Fallout 3, which is pretty darn old, plays great at pretty much whatever settings you like.

 

Hi guys,

I just received my E6530 last week, which I use for work.

Here's what I got in it:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (obviously)
i7 3720QM 2.6ghz
8GB ram @ 1600mhz
1920x1080 screen
128GB SSD / DVDR
Bluetooth / Backlit KB /
9 cell battery

So far, I am very impressed with the product quality, except for the screen, which is just OK. Before the Dell, I had a 15" Sager with the 95% gamut screen. The image quality is simply incomparable, Sager being way better. Ironically, a defective super nice screen was also the main reason why I returned my Sager unit... but that's another story. So I'd rather stick with a non defective unit with a lesser quality screen. ;-)

Other than that, my Dell wasn't infested with bloatware which is always appreciated. The speed seems good so far, even if I would have prefered a bigger drive than the 128gb (they were simply too expensive). But it's the ruggedness that really made me "wow", compared to the Sager. Obviously, it is heavy. It is probably as heavy as some 17" laptops. Especially with the 9 cell battery in it. But it feels very solid. Where the Sager felt cheap, light (in a bad way, because of its plastics), still big but empty, the Dell feels well built and packed in one great package.

If I had to make the decision again, I'd still go with the E6530.

Now, two things I'll be purchasing soon for it:
-Docking station or extra AC adapter (would prefer a dock)
-e-modular bay for a 2nd SSD drive, or replacement of the 128SSD to buy a bigger one from another store
Any suggestions?