Latitude E4300 first impressions

Reach is the about the same and the placement of the page up/down keys is a plus but the keys do have a slighty different feel to the D630. I'd need a D630 in front of me to confirm but I think the actual surface of the D630 keys were smoother. Not sure if this is meant to give a more tactile feel for you're fingers but it does feels different. I wonder if the reviewers of the E6400 who used a D630 before noticed much difference ?

 

Tzz,

Just noticed you're post. Are dell really suggesting that anyone who opted for the latitude on reader (70 euros it cost me!) has to buy another part later on to get latitude on fully working ? Grrrrrgh !

 

Mcfils: did you go for Vista or the XP SP3 downgrade ?

 

My sales representative told me that it was just a software add-on... what the hell...

 

Service manual for the e4300 shows the latitude on as a small card (mini pci-e?) that sits beneath the memory dimm sockets.

 

Considering I ordered the E4300 over the E6400 in large part due to Latitude ON, I'm really anxious to hear an initial review on this functionality. Anything yet?

 

Just tried to have a chat with dell's technical support but I keep geeting a error web page telling me that my notebook was bought outside the uk and ireland!

From Dell Chat

And now the warranty information page is telling me the service tag is invalid !

 

My config:

Here a few impressions. I don't have that much time for testing.

My first impression is positive. Built quality is Ok. Pretty solid.

The notebook as a whole with the config above has 1,79 kg (3,95 pounds).
The top as you see is pretty nice, but not breath taking. It still likes finger prints, but it's not that bad as with a glossy top (like Lenovo SL 300 and 400) and it's not that bad as it looks on the third image. The relative big 6 cell battery in grey in combination with the top is a matter of taste. But it's ok for me.

I had to install Latitude On Reader, but didn't yet get it to synchronize it with outlook (don't have much time for testing). There you can manage your mails, calendar and contacs. There isn't a Web Browser yet? Will there be one in later software versions?

Below a few more pics.


greets from Austria

 

After reading your first impressions I have some questions. You wrote you expected more form a LED display, though it is brighter as the older ones and has better viewing angles. What did you expect from a LED display? Can you work with the dipslay as it is or not?
Then you wrote about noise, but I don't know exactly what you mean. Can you describe the noise and the suroundings where you notice this? When you got rid of the preinstalled software, like you wrote in another post, did you get rid of heat and noise alike? Might it be that some of the problems are connected to a badly configured XP and the preinstalled software, like the touchpad lag?

Thanks.

 

Mcfils,

Is the latitude on a software install ?

Any electronic noise, keyboard flex ?