Dell Latitude E6500 User Review

I agree 100%.

? USB and VGA ports are on the left next to the exhaust (E6500). D610 has exhaust at the back with VGA and USB ports as well being smaller notebook.

It is not a miracle, it shows that with thorough design it is possible to fit ports nicely.

However I think it is better to have USB ports on left/right, at least if you have only 3/4 four of them.

 

If the exhaust would be at the back of the left side (rather then the center), then the ports would have to be on the front of it.

If you'd take a minute to think it thorough then you'd be sure thats the design way that suites most people. World isn't revolving around one's needs, it's about catering to the most broad clientele.

 

Which there is no one "perfect" design most of the time.

 

This is one of the best, most honest reviews I've ever read. I hate reviews that gloss over things. I admire reviews that nitpick because I really want to know EVERY little detail about a notebook before I purchase it. Too bad it got edited though without notifying the author. That's just wrong any way you look at it. Would have loved to have seen the original review before it was edited!

I'm not sure what Lack's problem is but he needs to chill out a bit. It's a user review with a user's opinion. There are ways of indicating you have a different opinion with more tact and less hostility.

 

Watch out guys!

The E6500 does not use DDR3 memory that it stated in its spec, it uses the DDR2 with 800 Mhz instead of the 1066 Mhz. No kidding when you have 1066 Mhz system bus!

There is also no Wifi-Catcher application for the E6500 as it stated in the BIOS boot manual.

There is no manual to use any of its features. There is no mention of the Intel Cache Memory slot as you may not be able to use it.

I am glad NotebookReview is here to warn the public. The Dell web site review is subjected to Dell's review policy which "spin" the reviews!

I want my experience known!

 

Dell's webpage clearly advertises the E6500 with DDR 2 RAM.

 

You don't indicate the source of your specs, but this web page clearly shows DDR2 RAM. However, it also shows that the nVidia GPU option uses DDR3 RAM. Is this what confused you?

We discussed the relative performance of DDR2 and DDR3 RAM some months back and concluded that, at this time, the chipset is the bottleneck.

John

 

The GPU actually uses GDDR3 which is architecturally different than DDR3. Other than the acronyms, system memory and discrete video card memory are totally unrelated and cannot be compared in any way.

 

Thanks for the response. I do have the spec, and it stated it is using DDR3 memory with 800Mhz with Dual Channel, read it any way you want. DDR3? Dual Channel? Now I think Dell has changed the spec as there could be class action litigation filed. If you provide you email address, I will send a copy of the PDF SPEC of E6500 to you.

 

Can you provide a link to a Dell site where the PDF spec can be downloaded? The document you have may not be current. What is the PDF file's creation date (check the properties). There were some early mistakes but these were largely fixed long ago.

But, as I have already said, DDR3 currently brings no performance benefit relative to DDR2. Maybe this will change with the next Intel platform.

John

 

Nice price for a reliable laptop!!

 

I have had this laptop for 2 months. I was attracted to it because of the WUXGA screen, backlit keyboard and built-in bluetooth and 802.11N. I have had two minor gripes and one major one. First the minor ones - the paint on the left speaker grille has begun scratching off, and the seam along the front edge pulls the hair on my arm. both small issues (unless you really do not like the hair on your arm pulled out).

The biggest problem i have is an apparent attempt by Dell to lock out the folks that make universal replacement adapters. The Dell adapter has an ident chip in it that the laptop reads when it detects the adapter is plugged in. If the adapter does not have the chip, or it cannot be read for some reason, the laptop will pop up a message that tells you it cannot recognize the adapter and that it refuses to recharge the battery or to run at full speed. This is regardless of the fact that the voltage, current, and connector all meet requirements.

This seems like an obvious attempt to shut out the folks that make replacement adapters. what happens when the warranty runs out and your adapter, although it supplies current just fine, no longer identifies itself? you are locked in to buy a dell replacement, at whatever price they choose to charge for it.

don't buy this laptop, at any cost.

 

Unless the 'chip' used is proprietary Dell technology, there's no legal reason a universal/generic adapter couldn't be manufactured that includes the 'chip'. Dell's use of this technology is fairly recent, but as the adapters age and eventually fail, there will be a market for less-expensive replacement parts. In a year or two, I'm sure there will be multiple generic adapters compatible with new Dell laptops! The market just doesn't exist yet.

I'm glad you mentioned the front seam and arm hair issue...I was afraid it would sound silly or that I'd sound like a freaky, hairy beast! I have the smaller 14.1" E6400, but it still has the same ridge that runs around the entire outline of the system. I'm also blessed (cursed) with the hairy forearms of my Italilan ancestors...If I'm wearing long sleeves, it's a non-issue...but with even my wrists exposed, it's like having the hairs plucked out by tweasers or something.....and the ridge catches all kinds of dirt and stuff....

 

Hmmmm...I think a lot of these laptops have that feature. Not all adapters are made alike, at ALL. Quality is different, noise is different, etc, etc.

Dell tests and sells a solution that is known to be safe with the notebook and known to not damage the notebook from use. Some adapters, if designed out of the laptops specs, will damage components over time. I've seen first hand what happens to computer components when the power supplies are not designed correctly; I had to completely redesign an in-house power circuit because it was out of spec for a project we were working on.

Yeah, so quality assurance is fine by me. Same with batteries; generic batteries are a huge risk in my book.

 

It is "funny" with hair -- I also have the same problem but I was afraid to mention it ("maybe it is just me"). Now I keep my hands a little higher, but anyway it is bad design -- at first I couldn't move my hands freely because of the pain risk.

 

I recently bought a genuine Dell PSU from an ebay supplier for no more cost than an unbranded third party PSU.

Also, some of the branded third party PSUs do work with Dells: I have a Kensington PSU which works OK with my E6400.

John

 

This is my 3rd computer from DELL and they have been unable to make the DVD burner burn a DVD. They also refuse to refund as I let the 30 day window pass while working with them to let them: uninstall and reinstall soft and drivers, flash the Bios, wipe the drive and reinstall the operating system, and replace the optical drive. On the two prior laptops (not E6500s) they did all of the above repeatedly and changed out the hard drive. In exasperation I have been scouring the web trying to find someone who has solved the problem. I see lots of people that have DELLs that will not recognize a DVD the way mine won't but I can't seem to find a solution. I have lost 100s of hours in work time. I finally admitted that DELL just can not make their machine burn a DVD. Since I bought the original DELL laptop to burn DVDs and be able to do seminars I now plan to buy a machine from another comapny and have crossed DELL off my list of suppliers.

 

I have the same burner in my E6400 and it burns DVDs OK. However, I initially had some issues with the burner which were fixed by installing a newer version of the Intel matrix storage software.

I would note that Dell uses at least four different models from different suppliers. Was your replacement burner the same make / model as the first one? Also, I assume you tried two or three different types of discs.

John

 

Another issue:

Almost year later and my screen (WUXGA, 2CCFL) becomes more and more washed up. Just after turning on the computer while displaying black wallpaper the left edge, 2 cm wide is white, after warming up it gets color depth and can display black correctly but the color is not that deep as the rest of the screen (and not as it was before). The area of the washed up colors actually increases.

I am curious if anyone encountered such effect (I hesitate to use warranty because I have work to do).

Cheers

 

I suggest that you post this question in the Latitude forum.

John

 

I cannot agree with one thing - I would personally hate audio port located in front. I prefer to have it on right where there is closer to columns, dragging a cable from a front side would be uncomfortable...

So, it can be a fault to some people, but it's not a general fault at all.

 

I have an E6400, which the audio ports and optical drive in the same location at the E6500. I use an external mouse 90% of the time, otherwise I probably wouldn't think much of the layout. But it is slightly inconvenient to use an external mouse or access the optical drive/modular bay when I have head/earphones plugged into the audio port. In particular, the wires will get caught in the optical drive door (and even jam the door partially open/closed if if I forget to clear them before it ejects).

For most users, it's probably a non-issue...and it's one of the very few (and minor) 'cons' on my list.

 

One of the things i like about my D630, the audio comes out of the left side and optical is on the right

 

Wait, people use optical drives?

 

I've used mine maybe four times in over a year...usually to burn a disc or to install other hardware...99% of the time my optical drive bay has a 2nd Hard Drive in it.

 

I wouldn't leave home without one. My key uses are: Burning discs, receiving data, installing software, watching DVDs.

John

 

Got my E6500 recently as a work tool for software development, i.e. a machine that I will be using every day throughout the day for the next 3 years I guess.

Compared to what I have used as work machines previously (HP NC series, Thinkpad T61), this one does not dissapoint at all, would give at least 8/10.

Build quality is good, except for the screen lid which bends under pressure when closed (say when sliding the laptop in a bag holding in one hand by the middle).

The keyboard is just fine - within a few days I can easily type without errors and looking at the keyboard. The size and layout is just right for me, even gives some oversized feeling after using 14" T61 for a while. The missing Menu key gave a moment though , will have to learn other shortcuts to avoid reaching out for mouse every time I need a right-click. Yeah, that one is missing and could turn out to be a pain .

Speaker placement makes me worry how will the grills look after a year of heavy usage - I suspect they will be full of dust and dirt, but that's fixable cosmetics I guess.

Otherwise the thing serves just fine, and is worth every penny. For me as a heavy duty user, I feel like this was the right purchase to be made for my own bucks , i.e., yes, you can surely get a slightly better machine for significantly higher price, but when value/price comes in, I would surely reccomend a E6500.

 

I am glad you like your E6500. A few thoughts "after some time".

a) the speakers grills get dirty -- mine are full of dust and I don't want to even think of disassembling the whole unit just to clean them

b) I had a chance to work on Thinkpad for a month -- keyboard is much better but the touchpad is awful, it is really strange that the most basics things are done in such immature manner

c) the air exhaust is more problematic that I originally thought -- I get rid of the mouse completely because of it, but it causes problems with electronics -- I have to remember the left side is a dead zone and not put any cell phone, pendrive, mp3 player on the left, because it will be heated up. So my desktop looks a bit awkward, a lot of stuff on the right side (I don't use DVD) and nothing on the left -- sad, because of the wasted space

I hope I will have MBP to evaluate soon and despite it does not have too many ports and features, the keyboard (quality) and touchpad look promising. As no vents chassis as well (finally I will be able to use computer in bed).

 

I owned two ThinkPads (a T43 and R61) prior to my current E6400, which I've now had for a full year. Initially, I thought the Dell keyboard was near the quality of the ThinkPad keyboards, but a full year of heavy usage has loosened it up quite a bit. It's still a very good keyboard relative to most that I've used and I love the backlighting, but it isn't as durable as the legendary ThinkPad keyboard.

AMEN! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who finds the exhaust vent location irritating and often problematic! Why did they put it in the middle of the left side when the rear would make so much more sense???

I use my E6400 all over my home (including when I'm being a bum and crashing on/in the bed). I use a solid surface laptop desk all the time to avoid blocking the vents on the bottom cover, but I am constantly annoyed by the flow of very warm air jetting out the left side of my laptop! To make matters worse, I'm constantly fighting the cat away from curling up in front of (and blocking) the exhaust!!! Ugh!

 

:laugh:

Although I am a left handed person I was brought up to use the mouse with my right hand. That, plus my undervolted P8600 runs quite cool, means that I have no issues with the exhaust location.

John

 

Undervolting my P8600 took care of that infamous 'throttling' problem, thankfully! But even with the undervolted CPU and standard Intel graphics, I still have very warm (often HOT) exhaust the majority of the time! The keyboard, touchpad and palmrest surfaces are never more than slightly warm to the touch, thankfully! But there's still heat spewing out from somewhere in there....

 

So don't I. I have a P8700 with Intel graphics, and during the week or so of using the laptop I've barely noticed any heat or vent activity. Cool and quiet indeed.

 

Hey John-

What have you heard about the E6400 having an inferior heatsink on early-production units? Mine was made in October 2008 which was less than two months into production of the E6400...

I also wonder if the 7200rpm Seagate hard drive I installed is responsible for any of the heat issue?

 

The heatsink serves not only the CPU but also the GPU or Northbridge. The connection to the latter is via a thermal pad and I suspect this is the cause of problems. The latest BIOS (A19) seems to have fixed the apparent problems by introducing at least one additional fan speed.

Heat from the HDD would cause the left palm rest to warm up (useful in the winter time). The Seagate 7200.2 and 7200.3 series run hotter than the current 7200.4 HDDs.

We are getting a little off-topic here by discussing the E6400, although that and the E6500 have much in common.

John