Latitude 6430u owners thread

Also, another thing, the battery status light seems to stay on when charging, even when close to 100%. Usually it starts blinking when it reaches 90-100% on latitudes? And for some reason, it doesn't seem to reach 100% ever, stuck at 98%. Anyone else see the same thing? Do I need to run the battery down at least once?

 

I like it, feels right at home for me compared to my E4300. Keys are very quiet and has good travel for an ultrabook.

 

Nevermind, it just hit 100% and the light went off. Must have been charging so slowly during that last 2%. Only difference I am seeing is that the light stays solid on up to 100%, instead of blinking which is what I was used to on the E4300.

 

New batteries trickle charge the last few percent. Makes them last longer apparently.

 

Just received mine today.

1st impressions:

Pros
Quiet, I'm not hearing much fan noise, even under load. Seems to be pretty quiet.
Screen is fine, reasonable resolution good viewing angle
Battery life seems great, I've been using it for about 2 hours and battery monitor hasn't really moved much
Keyboard fine
mSata SSD seems pretty zippy, boots to W7 login in 11s (no formal benchmarks yet)


Cons
A lot larger than I was expecting Skinny but still wide and deep and reasonably heavy (I'm coming from an E4310)
No Dell power management or connection manager, you rely on Windows (some might put that in Pros)
Power adapter connector sticks out the side, extending the width by 2+"
No separate keys for volume/mute (at least I can''t fine them if they do exist)
Mousepad oversized
Case finish is rubberized, ok so no fingerprints but still, I think this is the sort of finish that might look bad in a few years
Windows key has adopted the Windows 8 icon....
All LED's are white but at least each one has it's own icon
Why can't the assemblers put the logo stickers (Windows 7, Ultrabook, Intel Core i7) on straight?. It is annoying to see poorly applied stickers at random angles. Oh well, I guess they'll be coming off soon.

Summary - an Ultrabook should be small and light, not just skinny! I saw an XPS12 in the flesh today before I received mine, and think that might have been a better choice.
Ok, the 6430u will do the job but I still yearn for something smaller. I just weighed the 6430u and it comes in at 4lbs exactly. Not a lightweight!

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Can you share what BIOS version you are running, and whether you have configured any power options that seem to keep the fan quiet? My fan seems to jump to a high speed right away and is bothersome in a quiet environment.

 

The volume and mute buttons are touch sensitive - they're on the strip to the left of the power button.

Your impressions pretty much match what I'd read in reviews. My only gripe would be the rubbery finish. The keyboard deck on the XPS is the same. It shows finger grease and has to be wiped clean every few days. A real pain!

 

Thank you for the volume/mute tip. I totally missed it! Agreed on the rubbery finish, not too fond of it but i guess it makes it easier to grip. Perhaps it will grow on me!

 

BIOS is A04. Config is performance with some different timeouts for screen dim and sleep.

- Tim

 

By any chance, do you know what screen manufacturer you have? The device manager will usually have this information under the monitor/hardware id. I have the HD+ resolution as well, but the colors seem really washed out.