Dell Latitude E6410 Review Discussion

The Latitude E6410 is the latest in a long line of business notebooks from Dell. Sporting a wide range of Intel Core processor options, Intel integrated and NVIDIA NVS 3100M dedicated graphics, and two display options. In this review we see how this Dell business notebook compares to others already on the market.

Read the full content of this Article: Dell Latitude E6410 Review

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good review.

after a few months with my e6410, i've only got some tiny criticisms:
- the blue status LEDs are too bright, they bother me in darker environments
- POST takes fairly long, certainly above average
- parts and upgrades from Dell are too expensive iyam

on the bright side, i can confirm virtually all the things you mention as positive. particularly, i'm pretty happy with battery life (I use Intel graphics). also, i was pleased with how dell's customer service handled a minor issue i've encountered.

 

The screen is horrible on that Dell. Horribly washed out. This is bad for people who need to change the vertical viewing angles depending on sitting positions. Typical of Dell cutting corners at it's best.

 

A good read.

Pretty much all the positives you mentioned are present on my E6400, with the exception of the mouse gestures. I prefer the keyboard & screen on it (mine is the WXGA+) to those on my MBP by a wide margin (for as impressive as it is, can't get a thing done outside with the glossy screen... )

Glad Dell really stuck to the K.I.S.S. philosophy with this iteration. Hopefully it will be a solid entry for them.

 

I really like latitudes. I am actually thinking of buying the e6410 ATG. It's a shame I don't like Alps touchpads. (Synaptics FTW). How's the ALP's trackpoint? Does anyone here knows if the Toughbook 52 has a synaptics touchpad? Only thing that's better in the ATG is the trackpoint!

 

Thanks for the balanced review. I would note that the keyboard and battery are interchangeable with the E6400 (the keyboard seems to be the same part although the new batteries have a slightly higher capacity).

A couple of questions:

1. Any idea how you can get a functioning (ie including a battery) E6410 weighing only 4.26lbs? Dell seem to have carried that myth over from the E6400.

2. Who made the display on the review machine? Dell use several sources each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

John

 

I'm inclined to say that if you keep the specs in check, the E6410 is an outstanding value. I'd avoid the power hungry and subprime NVIDIA GPU at all costs and the same goes for Latitude ON - which actually boots slower than Windows 7, if you factor in the mandatory password prompt. From experience, I can state that I would advise against the 1440x900 screen upgrade, as it seemed to cause graphics driver errors with external displays.

Basically, the cheaper they are, the better they get. With an i5-520M, which used to standard, Intel HD graphics and the standard 6-cell battery, you can easily exceed 6 hours of battery life. The standard 220-nit 1280x800 is viewable outdoors, even in the brightest sunlight. Factor in the 3-year warranty, and it's a stunning value, even in comparison to consumer quality notebooks.

 

When this refresh was announced, I was so glad to see the "slate silver" metal lid make a comeback, as it (along with the metal flake black plastics that even the E6400 had) was a latitude brand trait that makes it stand out among the others in this segment.

Also, the pricing is very good. It's way more down to earth than a comparable HP EliteBook when you choose to CTO one and also there's plenty of systems in the Dell outlet.

Glad to see that it still has great battery life. Excellent review as always

 

Kevin -- very nice review.

The E6400/E6410 are perhaps some of the best values out there; excellent build quality and a good keyboard. And, the reason I say it's a good value -- just venture into the Dell Outlet. Hell, there were coupons the other day for 25% off any Outlet Latitude, meaning you could get one of these for $500-600. How can you go wrong?

 

I've not knowingly encountered that problem (with the Intel HD graphics and both 1680 x 1050 and 1600 x 900 external displays). Also, Dell have issued updated drivers for both the Intel and Nvidia GPUs during the past month.

John

 

I've had to have my screen replaced (WXGA) for flickering and I agree that the picture quality is lacking a bit but other than that, no issues. I'm perfectly fine with it since it's given out by my school for free. It's enough to tide me over till I get my own personal laptop (probably more gaming-based).

 

We have an e6400 in the office and it is a fine machine. Good to see that the next version has continued it's excellent quality! I also agree that this machine is one of the best options out there for a simple, sturdy business level machine. For my own personal taste the e6400's keyboard and touchpad are not quite up to par (I prefer the ones on HPs Elitebooks), but the one who uses it has no problems whatsoever.

 

Confusingly, the lid appears to be made out of the same cast magnesium as the rest of the case, except for the WiFi antenna cover, which has to be plastic. Overall, the lid looks like brushed stainless steel, although it doesn't up fingerprints.

Pricing is very reasonable through Dell Small Business and the customer service is great. In contrast, HP really doesn't want to sell directly, except to enterprises, and keeps prices high to protect resellers.

For large enterprises, the Elitebook line might be cost competitive though.

Depends on the processor and graphics. Compared to most retail consumer quality notebooks, battery life is impressive, mostly because even the standard 6-cell battery has superior capacity.

 

The only thing I disagree is the comparison with the Elitebook. I think Dell positioned the Latitude to compete with the Probook instead of the Elitebook.

 

Actually, Dell's Vostro series is supposed to compete with the ProBook; the Latitude competes with the EliteBook. The EliteBooks cost a noticeable amount more than the Latitudes though.

 

I think it might be more of HP having broader categories than Dell. Dell has 3 business lines, Vostro, Latitude, and the high end Precisions, while HP has two; Probooks and Elitebooks.

 

HP also has the EliteBook Mobile Workstations, which it categorizes apart from the standard EliteBooks. To be fair, Dell does the same thing; its Precisions are just beefed-up Latitudes. Nothing wrong with that though.

 

I don't think that it's quite that simple.

Vostro competes against HP's ProBook line, but so does the Latitude E5410/E5510. The Latitude E6410/E6510/E4310 compete directly with the Elitebook models with monikers ending in P. Similarly, Dell's Precision workstations compete with the Elitebook workstations. Dell offers more choice, but there are segments where Dell and HP actually don't have overlapping models.

As far as pricing, HP relies mostly on resellers for small business sales, not direct sales, so pricing is deliberately high to protect the resellers. An HP rep actually admitted this to me, so kudos for the honesty, although it was a pity that an Elitebook 8440P would be twice as much as a comparable E6410.

HP might be competitive for large enterprise sales, so I wouldn't write them off, and there are always preconfigured models available from resellers. I personally have never been very impressed by HP's direct sales channel, although I can only hope that it's different for corporate IT departments.

 

Yeah, the E5XXX line's most direct competition besides the ProBooks' were HP's "HP/Compaq" line of business computers. HP got rid of that line after moving it down market with EliteBook.

The "we prefer fixed configs and resellers" mentality of HP business sales has infuriated me. It's always been like this, even when I was looking for a system in 2007.

 

Well, HP has been getting better at direct sales for the consumer lines, although it's very discouraging for an individual or small business owner to contact HP about an Elitebook purchase. HP's call center is staffed by Americans, and while they're helpful, honest and friendly, they know absolutely about the product and can't deal on the outrageous prices. In other words, they're pleasant but useless. Sure, you can get a good deal from a reseller on an 18-24 month old discontinued Elitebook, but the only reason those deals are out there is because resellers are having such a hard time moving Elitebook inventory.

 

I disagree. I just received my EliteBook; when I ordered four weeks ago, my rep was very helpful and I was able to get a significant discount (several hundred dollars).
Also please present facts/numbers/links if you are going to say things like "but the only reason those deals are out there is because resellers are having such a hard time moving Elitebook inventory", otherwise it's just spreading false information.

 

Are you outside of the US? If so, you should probably note that, as many of the people here in the US have a rather different experience. Service and pricing in different countries will often change, of course.

 

I contacted HP in regard to the 8440P. The rep initially feigned ignorance of any preconfigured models, and then when I gave him the model numbers, claimed that HP didn't discount Elitebooks to protect the resellers. I explored the idea of configuring an Elitebook 8440P, but the result was a $1,500 pricetag compared to $800-900 to an E6410 with comparable hardware. To his credit, the guy admitted that HP couldn't compete on cost with Dell. Overall, I got the impression that I was dealing with and honest but inept organization. I can only assume that HP is far more competitive with large enterprises. There were deals through resellers on 2008 vintage 2530P and 6930P Elitebooks, but again, they were on 2008 vintage hardware - obviously unsold, obsolete preconfigured units.

Perhaps the 8740W comes closer to the Precision M6500 on price and relative value. However, in comparing the 8440P to the E6410, there was absolutely no comparison when it came to price. I suspect there were even configurations where the E6410 had a 40-50% price advantage. For a small or medium sized business, it isn't hard to see that Dell has a tremendous advantage in direct sales.

Putting price aside, the E6410 does offer a slightly brighter standard screen and a slightly higher capacity standard battery. The real problem with the 8440P is that it shares a number of features with mainstream HP products of yesteryear, such as the horrible battery latch and awful power adapter. Considering the huge price differential, I don't want to see the same bad features of a 6 year old Pavilion repeated on a uber-expensive new Elitebook.

 

Nope. USA.

Personally, I could care less if I'm talking to an American at the point of sale if the product is so far from being price competitive.