Latitude E6500 Questions

I was going to post in the E6500 Owner's Lounge, but the thread is closed.

I was gifted an E6500 from a client and I really like this computer. I also have an M4500 from the same client but I prefer the E6500 because it has a larger screen. I have read through the entire E6500 thread and learned a lot, but I do have some questions as I would like to make some key upgrades to this machine and sell the M4500.

Currently my machine has an Intel Core2Duo P8600 @ 2.4Ghz, 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, 500GB 7,200 RPM HD, Dual Layer DVD Burner, etc.

I would like to perform the following upgrades and was hoping you guys could help me out with some info and part #'s to look for. These upgrades are posted in order how I would like to purchase them.

1. Back lit keyboard. I assume this is a drop in replacement, I have seen them on Amazon for less than $20.
2. Motherboard - Is the Nvidia GPU faster then the integrated GPU?
3. 8GB RAM - A client might pay for this.
4. LCD. I currently have a 1280x800 LCD and I would like to upgrade to a higher resolution LCD if and only if it is brighter. This screen while nice, appears to be kind of dim.
5. Fingerprint reader. I had this on my old Thinkpad's and I really liked it. It would be nice to have again.

My machine is the black brushed style and I really like how it looks with the blue LED's. Very nice. But some dingbat cracked the display bezel (LCD is fine). My machine does not have a webcam, nor do I want one. But I need to replace the cracked bezel and outer casing as the right corner is bent a bit.

To add the fingerprint reader I assume I need to replace the entire palm rest assembly. This is fine with me as there are some scratches on the front part of the palm rest (that faces towards you, not where you rest your palms).

The last upgrade would be an SSD, but I already have one picked on Newegg that I am looking at.

Now I understand that this is an older C2D laptop and even with the fastest Nvidia GPU and 8GB of RAM and an SSD, it's still not going to match a new machine. This is fine with me. It runs rather cool temperature wise, looks awesome IMO and and is plenty fast for the IT work I do and light gaming I engage in. I would love the dedicated GPU though.

Thanks all for your taking the time to read this. I look forward to your input.

OT: If someone has a maxed out E6500 they want to trade for an M4500, let me know.

 

1) The keyboard is a drop-in replacement. No other parts needed.

2) The GPU is about twice as fast (but that's like saying a turtle is faster than a snail). You will need to change heatsinks and *maybe* the palmrest.

3) 8GB of RAM should just work.

4) You have many screen options for the E6500... CCFL WXGA, LED WXGA, WXGA+, 2CCL WUXGA, etc. If you get a display that's different from your current one, you *might* need to change the lid, bezel, and display cable.

5) You don't need to replace the palmrest, just the speaker-grill assembly.

 

So from Dell's website:

Latitude E6500 Laptop Details | Dell

This is the screen I want:

15.4" Premium WXGA+ (1440x900) LED Display (Wide View)

I currently have the lower end screen. How would I know if I have to change the cabling? I was kind of hoping to just buy a complete upper assembly with the LCD and nice outer shell (mine is bent as I mentioned before). I was already planning on replacing the screen bezel because the previous user cracked it. So I was thinking just to replace the entire upper portion of the laptop.

With regards to the GPU, being an NVS160M it's no barn burner in terms of speed, but it's going to be faster than the Intel GPU which is fine with me. Is there a specific heat sink I should be looking for?

Also I was thinking of upgrading the CPU to a P9500. From what I understand I should see some minor performance increases there. I tend to hold on to my laptops and use them for years and years until I can no longer find parts, thus this is the reasoning behind investing a few bucks in this machine. I can't say how much I really love the looks of this laptop. When my client offered it to me, I had already been eye-balling it to see if I could find one online. Being offered for free, I jumped all over it.

Anyway, so with a faster CPU, GPU, SSD and 8BG of DDR2 800, this machine should fly pretty nicely. The heaviest app I use besides games is OneNote. Even then I tend to play older titles. I mainly do video and web browsing like millions of other people. But it would be nice to know that I have a reasonably (to me) powerful and good looking machine at my disposal.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

Sorry for high-jacking the thread, but have you tried to play a 1080p Youtube video? Asking since I am thinking about picking up a E6500 with a P8600 and the Quadro NVS 160m. I know that a P8400 with a HD3470 can deal with it but only barely, is in 75-90 percent CPU utilization.

 

Sorry, but I haven't tried 1080p yet.

My machine is currently running Windows 7 Pro x64 with 4GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM and a 7,200RPM HD.

720p videos play just fine though.

 

You think you could make a quick check? I am sure I am not the only one curious what is required for fluid 1080p Youtube playback.

 

Do you have a particular video in mind?

 

Not really, check a few different ones.

 

KEYBOARD- Swapping out the keyboard is less than a 5-minute job and I highly recommend the Backlit version. All you do is remove the battery and press a few tabs from the battery compartment to release the plastic strip above the keyboard that includes the volume buttons. That exposes two screws at the top of the keyboard and once they’re out, it pops right out.

MOTHERBOARD- So not worth the trouble. The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M generates far more heat (and fan noise) than performance over the Intel GMA 4500MHD!

DISPLAY/LCD- The WXGA (1280x800) display on the E6500 was CCFL-backlit for most if not all of the E6500’s production. The only LED-backlit display available on the E6500 at introduction was the WXGA+ (1440x900) and it was substantially brighter, but you can’t replace a CCFL with an LED, unfortunately.

The third display option was a WUXGA (1920x1200) Dual-CCFL “High Brightness” (Dell’s terminology) that might be interchangeable with yours. It would require a different inverter, but I’m not sure beyond that.

FINGERPRINT READER- It would require changing out the palmrests which is quite an ordeal. You would probably be disappointed by the performance because it does not work nearly as well as the one found on Thinkpads!

I am a huge fan of the E6400 (the E6500’s 14.1” little brother). I bought one in Sept 2008 and it served me faithfully until June 2013! It survived numerous drops (even onto concrete) and very heavy daily use and sometimes abuse. It was by far the best laptop I’ve ever owned. I replaced it with a Latitude 6430u Ultrabook but still miss the E6400 sometimes. I just bought my mom a refurb/off-lease E6400 for Xmas last month and she adores it also.

I highly recommend the SSD upgrade, which I did to my E6400 about two years ago. I also had the P8600, Intel graphics and 4GB RAM and it was still a very quick system after the SSD upgrade!

Did you know that you can install a 2nd hard drive in the optical drive slot? It just requires a caddy that costs about $20 from emodeus.com and it’s an awesome feature.

 

I am going to sell the E6500. It can handle some 1080p content, but after reading about the LCD, it's outta here.

I have a D630 which I have grown very attached to. Should I decide to go to something with a little more power, the E6400 is on my list.

Thanks for the responses though.