Latitude E6510 Owner's Lounge

Finally in boxing stage!

 

My wife's E6510 was just delivered. First impressions compared to a T60 widescreen and an Elitebook 2530P:

Build quality: Very good overall. Not quite as bulletproof-feeling as the Elitebook, but close to that of the T60- there is a moderate but noticeable amount of flex when applying some pressure to the left palm rest, while the right side is flex-free. There is also some light KB flex on the right side, over the middle row of keys, while the left side is solid. I am not crazy about the plastic surrounding the battery, but the battery itself is very solidly secured. The lid is quite nice and exceptionally resistant to torsion. Hinges are excellent- tighter than those of the Elitebook, and every bit as good as the T60's. The lid closes with only light-moderate force and seems securely fastened when closed. The optical drive is a bit loose, but since it is designed to be pulled on the fly, that is excusable. The bottom feels like it might be a bit thin, but I cannot detect any flex, so I am OK with it.

Build quality overall: 8/10

Display: Every bit as good as reported by others. I have the FHD panel, and it is gorgeous. Very even lighting, bright enough for indoor use at medium settings, and burn-out-your-retinas bright at full. As expected, text and such are tiny at this high a resolution, but Windows 7 scaling is good, and the default 125% DPI setting is quite comfortable. Vertical viewing angles are actually not bad for a TN panel.

Display overall: 10/10

Heat/noise: I have not used the system enough to assess this fully, but initial impressions after 30 minutes of light use are good. The fan is essentially inaudible in a normal environment, and the bottom only gets warm; the palm rest and KB remain cool.

KB/trackpoint: Close in feel to the Elitebook, which is to say, very good. Not quite as tactile as the T60, but certainly nothing to complain about. I love the trackpoint- better than either the T60 or Elitebook, which was unexpected. I do not really use the trackpad, but it seems responsive with no lag (based on my very brief test). I have the backlit keyboard, and it is a nice feature- I like how you have to press the hotkey twice to activate it, to minimize the chances that it will accidentally be turned on (i.e. Fn + right arrow + right arrow again). I will have to do more testing in the dark to assess its actual usefulness.

Battery life is estimated at 3.5hrs with Aero, WiFi, and bluetooth on, with the display at medium brightness, under light browsing. More testing will be needed to get a better estimate, obviously.

Performance: I ordered this with only 1GB of RAM and a 5400RPM HDD. I will be reinstalling the OS on an SSD (OCZ Agility 60GB) and have a 2GB SODIMM coming in the mail. The 5400RPM HDD (and to a lesser extent the RAM) is definitely a bottleneck right now; on the plus side, the HDD is silent and seek noises are imperceptible.

Overall impressions: A well-built system that should tolerate daily wear and tear quite well. Not as impeccably put together as an Elitebook, but certainly light-years ahead of the consumer-grade garbage one might find at Best Buy. Also much nicer than the older D-generation Latitudes. The display is definitely the highlight of the system. The KB is nicely tactile, and the trackpoint unexpectedly precise and responsive. I also like how it runs cooler and quieter than the 2530P (which has a C2D LV processor).

For the price (<$1000), I would not hesitate to purchase another E6510. The display alone would sell the system. Furthermore, the flex in the left palmrest and right side of the KB, while present, is not noticeable during normal use.

Key specs:

CPU: Core i5-520M
OS: W7 Home Premium
Display: 1920x1080 (LED)
HDD: 5400RPM (soon to be SSD)
RAM: 1GB (soon to be 3GB)
KB: Backlit
Battery: 6-cell

 

Your order is delayed because Dell is out of boxes, and the box factory is on strike. LOL! j/k

 

AGREED.... 1680x1050 is NOT low resolution... It's HIGH resolution... and DIGITAL will make a HUGE difference so long as you have decent eyesight.

 

Just placed my order... Also got the 130W adapter and DisplayPort to DVI Connector.

Talk to AMY, she will hook you up. Tell her GRIFFE sent you.
Sales Professional:
[email protected]
1-800-456-3355 x 9460705

Latitude E6510 Notebook
Intel Core i7-720M Quad Core 1.60GHz 6MB for M6510
8.0GB, DDR3-1333 SDRAM, 2 DIMM for Latitude
Internal Backlit English Keyboard, Dell Latitude E
Documentation (English) Latitude E-Family/Mobile Precision
512MB NVIDIA NVS 3100M for Quad Core for Latitude E6510
320GB Hard Drive 9.5MM, 7200RPM, Dell Latitude E
Internal Swipe Fingerprint Reader and Contactless Smartcard Reader for Latitude E6510
15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED Display for Latitude E6510
Genuine Windows 7 Label, Latitude, Vostro and Mobile Precision Notebooks
Genuine Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit, no media, Latitude, English
Slate Silver, Mobile Broadband Ready, Dell Latitude E6510
Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module, Dell Latitude E
Bluetooth Cable
No Modem for Latitude E-Family
90W 3-Pin, AC Adapter for Latitude E-Family
US - 3-FT, 3-Pin Flat E-FamilyPower Cord for Latitude E-Family
8X DVD+/-RW for Latitude E-Family
Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3,no Media, Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision
421-1190 1 Roxio Creator Dell Edition 10.3, No Media, Dell RLOB
313-9309 1 Light Sensitive Webcam and Noise Cancelling Digital Array Mic for E6510
Dell Webcam Central Software Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 802.11a/b/g/n and 802.16e Half Mini Card,E6510
No Intel vPro Technology Advanced Management Features, Dell Latitude/Mobile Precision
No Resource DVD for Dell Optiplex, Latitude, Precision
Latitude On Reader for Latitude Notebooks
6-cell (60Wh) Primary Battery for Latitude
Basic Hardware Service: Next Business Day Parts and Limited Labor Onsite Response 2 Year Extended
Basic Hardware Service: Next Business Day Parts and Limited Labor Onsite Response Initial Year
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Onsite Service Extended Year(s)
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year
Standard On-Site Installation Declined
Cyberlink Power 8.3 AND Roxio Creator Dell Ed Media for DVD+/-RW,Dell OptiPlex,Workstation and Latitude
Resource DVD with Diagnostics and Drivers for Latitude E6510
Intel Core i7 Processor

Subtotal: $1,770.48
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $137.22
Total: $1,907.70

 

WAIT!

I just canceled my order and instead reordered the machine with the i7 620M instead of the 720QM.. I really wanted quad but it seems that even high end applications like Adobe CS4 don't take 'full' advantage of quad core..

Most applications will seem much faster with the i7-620M in addition to lower power usage and less heat (much longer battery).

So.. I saved $60 on the processor and another $99 as I did not need the 130W adapter with this processor.

$1861 w/ TAX

But seriously, if you plan on buying any business line Dell, talk to AMY BRYAN. She can probably get you a discount...

Tell her GRIFFE (silent e) sent ya!

[email protected]
1-800-456-3355 x 9460705

 

So, some first thoughts. And hopefully pictures to come later, been busy.

This machine is big. I'm coming from a Lenovo X61 tablet. There's a good-sized bezel around the screen, so the laptop at least feels bigger than say the Macbook Pro 15. It's also pretty heavy. I have the 6 cell.

Lowest brightness is good enough on battery. I like the high brightness on AC, but you can definitely still use this at lower brightnesses. It made me realize how much my other LCD screens have lost brightness.

Build quality is pretty good. Not sure if I like the shiny plastic versus the rougher matte plastic of my Lenovo. Speakers are improvement for me, maybe not for you. USB ports are oddly tight, maybe they'll loosen a bit with use. Hard to get the connector in and out. That's what she said.

I'm not seeing much flex at all, except when typing in the middle of the keyboard, but it's not bad. The keyboard feels different from my ThinkPad, not sure if it's better or worse, just different. Layout is different, making me hit the wrong CTRL, ALT, etc. keys, and I think the keyboard is full-sized which I'm not used to either.

I did a clean install, but installing drivers is a pain and I'm not sure I've installed all the necessary utilities. You definitely need the driver CD to get ethernet working. Surprising that neither the ethernet or the wireless works out of the box without driver installs. The driver install process has been frustrating. Dell has a Client System Update program that seems similar to the Lenovo System Update program, but it doesn't seem to find the drivers and utilities that I need. So I have no idea what I'm missing. I think there should be a hotkey utility, because I can't use the F2, F3, and F7 hotkeys (charging battery, empty battery, and "DCP", whatever those mean). I also miss the Lenovo battery manager and on-screen display when using the volume keys.

However, this machine is blazing. The FHD is amazing, I color-calibrated it with a Huey Pro. I almost don't need an external monitor now. The i7-620M or whatever is way faster than my old low-voltage Core 2 Duo.

Battery life is about 3 hours with the 6 cell, predicted. Haven't had a chance to run it down yet.

Overall, I'm pretty happy except for the software experience. I think there could be a lot of improvement in terms of installing a clean system and finding the right drivers and utilities to install afterward.

 

How do you configure the option to press the hotkey twice?, mine needs only one press and is annoying.

IMHO The keyboard doesn´t have the quality of the thinkpad T43 that i used, is totally in another category. In the left palm rest of the e6510 it feels vibrations from the HD or the fan i don´t know, but is annoying.

 

Nevermind, figured out that Dell Control Point needed to be installed, so now I have most of the things I was missing. However, my keyboard doesn't seem to be backlit. How can I tell? There's no function key indicator for the right-arrow.

Edit: Looks like they screwed up my order (well, a screw-up on top of the original screw up) so I'm guessing I don't have a backlit keyboard. Wonder if I really need it though...

 

The lettering on the backlit keyboard is moulded into the keys instead of printed on. The keyboard itself is a little more solid due to the backlighting underneath (the backlit keyboard has a white underside).

If you do want a backlit keyboard (I think it is worth having) then the E6500 keyboard most probably fits (someone confirmed this for the E6400 / E6410) and can be found for a reasonable price on ebay.

John