Latitude E-Series Anticipation Thread

wow, I was so excited to see dell giving lenovo thinkpads some competitions. but from your photos, the new E's quality still seems inferior to lenovo Ts. and the ports/hinges/battery area just seems unordered. those ridges and valleys are great to trap dirt.

 

Thanks for all the info Fattire (and everyone else on this thread), you seem to be the best resource available on-line for these systems.

My query is regarding Blu-Ray. Will the e4300 come with the option of Blu-ray as per the leaked info that appeared on Engadget in March -> http://www.engadget.com/photos/up-close-with-dells-latitude-e4300-and-e4200-ultra-portables-with-displayport/712957/

I realise that this was 6 months prior to launch, but the specs leaked on Engadget at the same time for the e6400/e6400 have proved extremely accurate (including predicting DDR2 for the mid-range systems and DDR3 for the ultraportables) -> http://www.engadget.com/photos/dells-leaked-latitude-e6000-and-e5000-series-of-laptops-pack-gps-displayport-wwan-uwb-and-much-more/714506/

Finally, any idea when the option for Blu-Ray will appear for the e6400/e6400? Will it also be the next refresh, i.e. 12 months down the line as you suggested for the RAM?

It might be argued that it's reasonable to exclude Blu-Ray on a business class notebook but it's a deal-breaker for me. If it is not an option for the E series I'll have to switch to the Sony Vaio Z series.

 

bluetooth is up in case anyone is wondering =)

 

Will the bluetooth module be some type of user-upgradeable card? Or will it be completely integrated?

 

it is user upgradeable.

 

So I contacted a dell rep, and was trying to be a bit sneaky with the DDR2/DDR3 issue. This is a transcript of the response, which makes it look pretty likely it will be available on the e6500 in mid september.

so... this unfortunately means I get to wait a month before this purchase. D@mn.

 

dell = **** teases showing us "COMING SOON" just roll the **** out.. make sure its in stock!

 

what really saddens me is that even the 6cell battery sticks out. oh well

 

veritas72 from my understanding they won't be able to offer DDR3 on the E6400, E6500, M2200, and M4400 Because it would take a hole differnt motherboard then the one they use to offer DDR2. So I really don't think they'll have DDR3 in any of them til the next refresh.
And I've seen a few post where dell reps pull stuff out there @$$e$

And the E6400 and E6500 both not have Bluetooth but still none on the M4400...
Without configing through a rep anyways...

 

it doesnt take a whole different motherboard. the board and chipset are compatible, it just depends which ram slot they install on it. ive now had two dell reps effectively confirm this. most refused to answer at all because it was not public, but it does not make any sense that they would only be moving 42/4300s out with DDR3 for the next year. and more to the point, the rep knew that if he told me to wait, then he would personally be losing a sale. so it seems to support his story.