Dell Latitude D620, Finally Arrived

Well, folks, my Dell D620 finally arrived. 1 week ahead of projection. Initial impressions are positive.

1 Size, weight, and finish are excellent (Gunmetal look to it).
2 Keyboard has a nice feel and its layout is standard.
3 Optical drive is quiet.
4 HD speed is FAST! (I went from a 4200 RPM on my older computer and transfer of my Virtual CDs to the HD was quick relative to the old computer)
5 Sound from the 1 speaker is actually decent (I have yet to watch a movie)
6 The screen brightness is equivalent to the Inspiron 6000 that I have
7 No screen flex
8 Very warm to uncomfortable near the center of the latop just under the pointer/mouse pad area (definitely need to use a laptop desk or something or your fertility may become jeopardized, LOL!)
9 It has just been running for about an hour and the fan has not made ANY noise.
10 Sound from the Mono speaker is actually decent. (However, I am not a true Audiophile. The sound is better on a DV1000, obviously; a difference I can discriminate)
11 Dell Quickset allows a lot of variables to change to optimize battery life and the Ambient light sensor works pretty well by allowing thresholds of brightness
12 Notebook closes tightly without any 'play'
13 Last, but not least, not much in the way of bloatware. I removed the Google Desktop and Google taskbar. No trialware (at least that I haven't discovered).

The funny thing is it came in a huge 15 lb box. More to come...

EDIT:

I can now burn my DVDs and surf the net at the same time!

I thought of running an antivirus also but I won't push my luck.

Battery life is about 4:30 with the 9 cell and wifi on.

I have also Encoded a DVD with DVD Shrink, while surfing the net and watching a DVD on VLC with no slowdown on any of the functions!

 

please comment on the heat if you can, as i heard some people say the d620 have heat issues/loud fan

also, any noticeable flexes?
thanks

 

Everything is great about this computer so far:
weight, batery life, power, price and customer service. The case is tight and the laptop is SOLID in feel. Definitely a difference in class from the Inspiron.

I called about a missing part and the part will be shipped next day air.

Multitasking is a breeze.

The only limitation is playing any graphics intensive games. I only want to play Tiger Woods 2006, The Godfather and Sims 2. I have yet to test the gaming potential.

 

hmm...seems like the heat issues aren't just isolated cases

 

Did you order your laptop with intergrated graphic cards or Quadro NVS110M?

If you don't mind, can you check what kind of DVD Burner does it come with? I would like to upgrade it when my D620 comes.

Thank

 

I was thinking of getting D620 but if you can't use it on your lap while sitting on the couch. I think I should reconsider again.

 

After, I take a look at mainboard picture, It seem that some of system power regulators are just under the touchpad area. These things are working at warm temperature and that is normal. It's similar to D410 and D820 design. Maybe, dell put these regulators a little closer to the bottom chassis than the D820 because it's a little thinner. I wouldn't worry about it

Something to think about, most notebooks have power regulators close to the CPU and batteries and the heat should be nearby function keys either left or right side. The heat will concentrate in one area and that is bad thing for laptop.

 

hey there. happy to hear you're happy with the d620. mine's in the mail!

does it come with a "dummy" drive for the media bay? that is, an empty piece of plastic just to take up room in the media bay. I'd like to lug it around without the optical drive most of the time (to save weight).

thanks! and keep us up-to-date with new discoveries, please!

 

It does not come with a dummy drive.

 

Hi: would you please copy/post your order specs so we can read your configuration and relate that to some of your comments. Thanks. Looking forward to hear more from you.

 

Latitude D620, Intel Core Duo T2500, 2.00GHz, 667Mhz, 2M L2 Cache, Dual Core
14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD for Latitude D620
1.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 1 DIMM for Dell Latitude Notebooks
Internal English Keyboard for Latitude Notebooks
Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Latitude D620
100GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 7200RPM for Dell Latitude DX20
Standard Touchpad for LatitudeD620
No Floppy Drive for Latitude D-Family Notebooks
Windows XP Home, SP2 with media, for Latitude English Factory Installed
Dell Combination Auto/Air Power Adapter for Latitude D, Factory Tied
8X DVD+/-RW with Roxio CreatorDell Edition Digital Media andCyberlink Power DVD, for Latitude 120L
Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) mini Card Latitude, Factory Install
Resource CD w/ Diagnostics andDrivers for Latitude D620 Notebook
6-Cell/56 WHr Primary Battery Latitude D620
NTFS File System,Factory Install
Quick Reference Guide for Latitude D620L, Factory Tied
Type 7 Contract - Mail-In Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
Type 7 Contract - Mail-In Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 2YR Extended
9-Cell/85-WHr Additional Primary Battery for Latitude D620

There is no dummy drive as stated before. In its place is the DVD burner which can theoretically be removed with the touch of a button.

No way will I set this on my lap unless I want my thighs done Medium Rare.

Based on the Device Manager the DVD Drive is a TSST corp DVD+-RW, model TS-L532B.

Update on the Sonic Record Now software:
I am unable to RIPS MP3s. It is a crippled version of the program which is VERY DISAPPOINTING. I can use a shareware alternative but I hate crippleware.

The PowerDVD version is also cripple ware which doesn't have all of the features of the full version that I have with my external DVD burner.

There are questions about the Dell versus the Intel Card. Regarding connectivity, I find it easier through the interface to log onto wireless networks on the run. It logs in quickly and is very reliable. I found my Broadcom on the Dell i6000 to be substandard (in retrospect) when compared to this one.

Practically speaking, I find the battery status monitor to be very useful, as is the quick charge. I especially find the WIFI detector useful as is the software and hardware driven toggle for the radio.

Battery life rocks!

I tried Ghost Recon for a trial and it runs fine except for when it is on the maximum setting of 32 bit 1440x900 with details cranked up. More tolerable is the 1440xx900 at 16 bits. Anyone have experience with games on theirs?

 

titaniummd:

Thanks for the spec'd list; so, how do you like the WXGA+????

Is it brighter (IYO) than the WXGA? and is it too small for ordinary fonts in the native lcd mode?

...and it is disappointing that it is so-o-o warm on your gizmachiis. I'm a southern west coaster for now so it isn't something I could look forward to a "cold winter's night."

That said, thank you for the spec list and thank you in advance for the "screen impressions" as I'm ready to do the D620...just want to find out what the D420 will be configured as and what the first impressions are...I originally wanted a 13-wide ASUS, but the comp Latitude line with magnesium outershell, 3 year warranty and pricing has turned my attention!

Thanks. Look forward to your further reviews!

 

WXGA is not too small. I don't have a similar screen for comparison regarding brightness. I would say it is as bright as my Dell 6000. I am not disappointed with the screen.

The Dell Quickset tool lets me tweak the system to maximize the battery life.

The magnesium shell is strong. I would get a flex in the wristpad of the i6000 and it would give me erratic mouse movement behavior. This shell does not give in to heavy wrist pressure. This bad boy is very sturdy in feel.

I am not a fan of the pointing stick. I am just used to the touch pad but it is nice to have the option for both.

I just put on Batman Begins and I didn't see pixelation on the fight scenes. I don't know why prior reviews had that comment, unless it is intrinsic to WXGA.

I did the Photoshop CS 'test' in the Hardware section and I got it in 45 seconds. I also ran the super Pi test which is posted in that section.

 

I'm with Whitney, I'd like to hear about what specs you went with as well, sounds like you did pretty good.

I was about to order the D620 at one point myself but heard that when you get the higher capacity battery it doesn't fit all the way into the front of it. With no real pictures to go by on what this must look like with the battery sticking out and not fully going into the unit I was afraid of what I might end up with and backed away from it. You said you have the 9 cell battery, how does it look with this larger battery in it?

A 15 lb box and they still forgot something?

 

Sorry, I missed your edit of the specs somehow, sounds like you have a power house packed into that small case, I'd imagine it would run a little warm and I'd expect some of that for such a small case having all that power packed into it.

You say you don't hear the fan coming on though, are you certain the fan is working and not possibly the reason it seems hot to you?

 

i see you got both a 90watt and 60watt AC adapter. anyone know the difference between these two? does a 90 watt charge faster?

 

They forget the power brick of the other adapter.

The battery pokes out the front which is unobstrusive and actually doubles as a wrist rest. At least it doesn't stick out of the back like the 710 m which I almost bought. I never heard the fan. How loud is it supposed to be.

I have run this machine 11+ hours straight off of two batteries (9 cell and 6 cell) with time to spare.

The 90W is used for the docking station. It doesn't charge any faster. The six cell charges quickly: 2 hours with notebook on and 1 hour with it off.

One negative that I have noticed is with movies that have dark scenes, the screen brightness 'washes out the picture' a bit. I don't know a better way to describe it.

I set my notebook on my lap and the lateral aspects are not hot. It is hot to me in the center though. I finally heard my fan it is a soft sound and is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than the Dell Inspiron 6000.

The picture is below with the extended battery from this website's review.

 

UPDATE:

I have had some PMs asking about the differences between the 950 and NVIDIA.

As I have written, elsewhere, the screen brightness is greater with the NVIDIA than with Intel's GMA 950.

The tradeoff that I have noticed:

Wifi off/Lowest brightness 8:40 (950) 6:40 (NVIDIA) 9 cell
Wifi on/highest brightness 6:00 (950) 5:00 (NVIDIA) 9 cell
WIFI off/highest brightness 3:40 (950) 3:00 (NVIDIA) 6 cell
WIFI on/highest brightness 3:10 (950) 2:40-2:50 (NVIDIA) 6 cell

 

Re: screen brightness -- I checked Dell's website, and the display brightness seems to depend on the type of panel used, not the graphics chip. The WXGA (1280x800) has a brightness of 185 nits, while the WSXGA+ has a brightness of 200 nits.

I purchased the WXGA/GMA950. With the 6-cell battery I typically get between 4 and 5 hours of battery life if the display is at half brightness, WiFi is on, and I'm doing light tasks like web browsing and Microsoft Office.

 

Just a clarification:

I had the WXGA+ with both the 950 and Nvidia in front of me, since I was returning the Intel configured machine, and the screen is definitely brighter with the Nvidia. So to my eye, there WAS a brighter screen using the Nvidia.

 

I'm about to order mine, i guess when you order the NVIDIA quadro option you still can switch from the onboard intel GPU to the Quadro?

Also, i haven't seen picture that shows me where is the air intake for the cpu fan, is it on the bottom or the side (back,left or right)? The hp i had before where on the bottom and when you where using the laptop on your leg it would choke the thing up.

 

I hope for everyone's sake that the NVIDIA is still a viable option. I could see my screen running without it.

I LOVE digital vibrance - it alone is worth the NVIDIA card, in my opinion.

Here is how I set up my color settings. When comparing between NVIDIA and without, the screen brightness looks like the setting of +30-35% when compared to +50% on the NVIDIA. I don't know what that translates in candela.

 

And for the air intake? bottom?

 

Bottom left and Far side left are where the vents are.

 

UPDATE on GAMING:

I am no gamer by ANY stretch of the imagination.

I tried only 3 games, 2 of which are older games: Ghost Recon, 2000 (I tried it only because some lady at a gas station gave me the Demo disk for the new version and it had the original) and Mafia (I bought Godfather but returned it after reading the bad reviews).

I also bought Tiger Woods 2006.

Ghost Recon runs smoothly on maximum settings but only at 16 bit not 32 bit. I dare not try 32 bit at any other settings since I lost control of the mouse. This is not a graphics intense game so the performance I presume is mediocre. Modern games will have a hard time, I presume.

Mafia runs well without issues.

Tiger 2006 runs very well.

I may get the rest of EA Sports series (NHL, Madden) but that's about it for gaming on my side. I don't like 1st person shooters or car racing games.

You may ask Ronin on www.notebookforums.com on off of his post on the D620 review. He has played more 'modern' games such as Doom 3, Civ IV, etc.

UPDATE:
NHL 2006 is smooth and runs well. For gaming this is all I need: Hockey, Golf and a Mobster game.

 

One thing that I realized from the other site, www.notebookforums.com , is that there may be a difference betwee the LG (which I had) and the Samsung screen (which I have now). This boost in quality between screens may contribute to the differences in battery life.