Rate your E6400 / E6500

I need to order 5 of these Dell's within the next couple of days and need user input;

For all who've received their E6400 & E6500's, please rate your satisfaction with these notebooks.

1. Model & config


2. Scale of 1 (not satisfied) - 10 (perfectly satisfied)


3. Pros - Things that impressed you - work very well.


4. Cons - Things you don't like / don't work properly


5. Would you recommend this notebook ?

 

1. E6400, specs are in my sigature (was ordered with 1gb RAM and Vista Basic, I upgraded those myself)

2. Probably about 8.5. I would like the touchpad to be a bit better (though with some tweaking it's close to perfect now), and the screen isn't perfect. The touchpad issue will likely be fixed via a driver update.

3. Build Quality is excellent, no creaking or flex
Excellent Keyboard and the backlight is great
Runs cool and quiet
Good port selection
Excellent webcam quality
Excellent battery life
Stylish, but not flashy design.
Screen hinges and latch system
Easy to work on with the single access panel
Bottom not being clad with stickers and a half dozen panels.
Few visible screws.
Good weight balance front/rear

4. Screen contrast and viewing angles
Less than perfect touchpad (though again, tweaking the settings is a huge improvement
DVD-RW troubles, though I have not yet had anything fail to properly burn, after burning 2 data CD's and making 2 copies of a DVD movie.

5. I would definitely recommend this notebook. The pros outweigh the cons by far for me. Notice that I didn't mention the weight, while Dell did lie about the weight, in reality, I wouldn't consider it heavy. It is much lighter than my old XPS m140 and has a better balance than my father's Sony SZ4. The laptop is slightly heavier in the front than the back, making it easier to pick up than rear-heavy notebooks.

Greg

 

Speedy,

I see under your config you upgraded the RAM to 2 GB and installed Vista Home Premium on your own. What type of RAM did you install and did you check with Dell to see if they'd support Home Premium?

 

Very easy to upgrade the RAM. I used a 1gb stick of DDR2-667 I had kicking around. I ordered with 1gb, 1 DIMM of memory.

It downclocks the other stick to 667mhz from 800, and it does infact run dual channel. According to John Ratsey's review, 667 vs 800 mhz doesn't make a difference.

What do you mean by support Home Premium? Software wise if I need to call them? I didn't worry about that, since I have enough experience troubleshooting software. If I ever need to call and they ask me to put Vista Basic on, it will only take me 10 minutes to boot into that recovery partition.

Driver wise, Vista is Vista no matter what version you get.

Greg

 

Thanks Greg, really appreciate you posting your thoughts.

 

1. Latitude E6400 P8400, 2.26GHz
1GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM (upped by me to 2GB)
Backlit Keyboard
Intel Integrated Media Accelerator 4500MHD with Express Card
160GB Hard Drive 9.5MM,7200RPMFFS
Wide Screen WXGA+ LED LCD
Vista Business Service Pack 1
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth
8X DVD+/-RW
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11 a/g/n 3X3)
6-Cell/54-WHr Battery

2. So far, I'd say a 9 at least. I've noticed none of the issues raised by anyone else yet; the burner works great, all the panels are on right, speakers don't pop/crackle, etc.

3. Screen is beautiful. Bright and the colors look nice too. The backlight keyboard is cool too. So far, so good & I'm happy with the purchase.

4. I think the touchpad goes into scroll mode a bit too easy; I may just not be used to it yet though. The speakers are pretty tinny. I expected it (they are tiny after all), but I think dell could have done a bit better.

5. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. I love mine. While it is a bit heavier than dell let on, it's one of the best balanced (weight wise) laptops I've used in a LONG time. It's hard to explain, but it feels MUCH lighter than it is. I came from a D520 and while it is/was a nice (basic) laptop, my e6400 is WAY better.

 

I'd give my E6400 (see review for full specs except it now has 3G + 320GB) an 8.5. The weight costs it at least one point but i don't know of another notebook which would score higher against my requirements. The ODD isn't perfect either, but that should be fixable with a firmware update.

My E6400 has now done over a month of hard work and travel and has provided no causes for concern.

John

 

http://www.nahraj.cz/content/view/be52735e-c00f-4536-890a-8dc3a67b0ca0

Anyone noteiced this problem with display cover?
Some guys on our czech forum says that the part (marked with red line) has uneven surface... They says that you can´t see it, but you can feel it... Anyone can confirm that on E6400/E6500...

 

I can feel it if I squeeze both sides and run my fingers along. I had noticed it previously but I don't consider it to be an issue since it does not affect the appearance of the functionality. It is, I suspect, something to do with the fixing between the plastic strip covering the antennae and the main metal display back.

John

 

Anyone with E6500?
Precision M4400 is better in this way.. The cover is one piece...
But if it´s only the plastic strip, and you can´t normally see it, it´s ok for me...