Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge, Part 2

memory controller doesn't consume 10W.
One part is that the Core i series does consume more power by itself, yes you have now more components embedded in it, but it's not the big part.

If you seek for better battery life and reduce heat, it might be best to wait for the second generation of Core i's.

 

If you don't use any software that uses 3D graphics or advance 2D graphics, and don't use any software that uses the GPU to calculate things. And, you are not driving 2x 1920x1200 displays, and you have more than enough memory in your system for your needs: than you won't notice anything, only a few minutes more of battery life.

You should be fine with your laptop for other 2 years, it won't be worth it to upgrade at all.

 

Don't forget there is the dynamic overclocking of both CPU and GPU (but not at the same time) within the overall thermal 35W design TDP ceiling.

Something I have been wondering is whether the CPU in the dedicated GPU version of the E6410 will have slightly better performance potential because the integrated GPU won't be contributing to the power consumption.

At the moment I am resisting the temptation to upgrade to the E6410 since I'm unlikely to notice the performance boost it offers and, in the absence of reported undervolting capability for the new CPUs, I might end up with something which makes more heat and runs for less time on battery.

John

 

When I am docked I am using a 17" 1280x1024 LCD. When I am not docked it's Outlook, Word, Excel 99.9% of the time. I won't see any more battery life with integrated graphics?

I'm sure my laptop would be fine for another 5 years....but where is the fun in that?

 

You should see a moderate increase in battery life if you use integrated graphics (but note that the E6400 had the possibility of 25W CPUs while the E6410 only has 35W CPUs). For the E6400, we users estimated something like an extra 10% to 20% (5 hours with Nvidia changing to 5.5 to 6 hours with Intel, with 6-cell battery, depending on various users here).

 

Webcams: At first I thought the integrated webcam on the E6400 was cool and all, but then I started regularly skyping with my family back at home (I'm in college across the country) and I've noticed that the camera quality isn't all that great. I'm not talking about compression artifacts or bandwidth limitations or anything like that -- i'm just saying that little image sensors, like cell phones, don't yield spectacular video.

Anyone have experience with HD webcams? Which ones are the best? How is the video quality... and could they be used to record class lectures and whatnot?

 

A good webcam is about 1/4 an inch thick (to support better glass lens (2 of them), and auto-focus. Something you can find in a good quality webcams for laptops and desktops. And example would be the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000.
Laptops, thickness is very limited... so their is just so much you ca do. Sure small cameras are getting better, and they are better models out there.. I am not denying that... but you should NEVER expect actually quick quality image unless you have a good external webcam that allows better optical system (thicker also)

 

GB -- i dont think that anders was complaining, just pointing out that it didn't fulfill his needs any longer.

 

Does anyone have a problem with running the latest A15 version of DCP under Windows 7 x64?

Ever since I installed it, none of the OSD displays (volume, light sensor info, etc) are rendered if the currently selected window is full screen.

 

I'm still running DCP A14 and also get erratic behaviour of the OSD. I've just checked and it's as you describe: Not showing if the top application is full screen. So it's not a new bug but an old one not yet fixed.

John