Latitude 7450 Owners' Thread

Hello everyone,

Just joined the club aswell (even though briefly as my E7450 is meant to be a present for my missus) with the 1080p matte nvidia model (grabbed it from the outlet for a great price aswell). I have to say, you can't really tell how small the machine is from pictures or videos. Now that it's sitting beside my 15" Asus ROG, my laptop seems like a mammoth compared to this tiny thing. No issues with it so far, but I've only just got it...don't really expect any though - screen was my only fear and it seems solid enough.

Now, onto my question - I have grabbed a 16gb kit of ram and a new SSD which I'm planning of upgrading and I'm not sure what's the best way to go about it regarding windows - go with a new clean ISO or make a recovery USB with the current copy of Windows. Personally, I'd like to go with the clean one since I'd rather skip some of the DELL stuff that comes with the default Win, but I'm not so sure how does the Win key work (I seem to recall reading that it should be stored in the BIOS so I'm guessing it's going to be read from there during the installation?).

In case I go for a clean install, besides the drivers themselves, is there any DELL software from their support page worth getting/usefull/required?

Many thanks!

Edit: My only regret is the whimpy 2core CPU, even though I noticed that's the current trend with these newer generations of laptops (even in the workstations lines of products which I find a bit absurd), but sadly we can't have it all I guess.

 

The Windows 8 key is stored in the BIOS but you can find the key using Magic Jellybean key finder. If you want to install Windows 10 then you will need to do an upgrade. I have read that once the Windows 10 upgrade is installed then a hardware fingerprint is reported back to Microsoft HQ and a subsequent clean install won't ask for a key (but take a note of the key anyway).

I hope you took note of the SSD in this notebook being mSATA (but a 2.5" SSD will fit in the non-dGPU version of the E7450).

A 4 core CPU will only give significant performance benefits if you are running threaded programs that will use all the cores. If you are running such programs regularly then a bigger, fatter, heavier notebook that can handle the extra power would be better for you.Otherwise sit back and enjoy the relative quietness of your E7450.

As for which Dell software? First make sure you have got the newest BIOS (A08). The Intel Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework Driver and Intel Collaborative Processor Performance Control Utility might do something useful and there should be a Dell Power Manager but I can't see it as a separate download. You can update the Nvidia GPU driver direct from Nvidia - I get prompted about any updates by the Nvidia control panel.

John

 

Thanks for getting back to me John!

Currently I've upgraded the OS to 10 since I'm quite happy with it on my Asus machine so I'm going to test out if the windows 10 installer detects the key soon as I get an USB thumb drive (apparently the one I had is nowhere to be found >,>). Just in case I will use the Jellybean you mentioned to save the key.

Regarding the SSD, aye, I was aware of that since I browsed this thread and your own review before deciding what brand/model to go for (Dell should thank you for that ) - got an M2 850 EVO.

As for the CPU, yea, most applications are single threaded and those cores won't mean much, but both me and the missus work with CAD stuff (another reason I'm happy my E7450 is with the dedicated card since that does help with CAD/MAX). The irony is most of them are single threaded aswell, except for 3ds MAX (and that happens only when it's rendering not while working in the program itself), but that alone forces me to lug around a 3kg machine QQ.

Just checked and it seems the laptop I got came with the A08 BIOS, so that's sorted. I'll make a note of the dell software you mentioned.

Thank you again for getting back to me, much appreciate it!

 

I hope you meant you had got an mSATA SSD, not M.2.

I'm glad you found my review to be of use. I'm still happy that I got the dGPU version and its reduced fan noise. Something not in the review is that this notebook will run on the Dell PA20 Latitude XT2 45W PSU (which is a very nice slim PSU) with a warning that it will use the battery if the PSU output is insufficient.

John

 

Hi there.

Another question from me. Does your stock power adapter makes annoying sound over nights, when it's totally silent around? The sound occurs only when the power adapter is plugged to the notebook (and the power outlet, of course). Very annoying. I know it happens when not quite good components are used in unit production.
Do you have such a noise and is it worth to raise a complaint with vendor?

 

I've never noticed any of my Dell PSUs making a noise.

Something inside yours must not be fixed as well as it should be resulting in it vibrating (and may then result in premature failure). Ask Dell for a replacement. Dell business support (which you get as a Latitude owner) is usually very good.

John

 

Appreciate your enormous help to everyone John, thank you a lot.

 

I'm really happy with my E7450 now that I have a tiny power adapter!
Very happy with this purchase

 

Is that the one that was announced nearly 2 years ago? I expect that they will eventually percolate through to the UK, probably with a price tag of £99.

Until then (and probably until the Zolt's price comes down to something sensible) I will make do with the 45W PA20 PSU. 3.5" x 2.5" x 0.5" thick is a convenient size and it works fine. The compromise is a lower battery charging rate if the computer is on. It has me wondering why Dell ship the E7450 with a 90W brick.

John

 

I had that one as well, but wanted something smaller. I got my Zolt and also backed Dart, which has yet to ship.