Dell's Latitude E6400 reviewed: lovely, save for minor annoyances

If your Latitude D630 is growing a bit long in the tooth, it sounds like the Latitude E6400 is the perfect replacement. Critics over at NotebookReview had no qualms mentioning the unit's strengths, from the rugged chassis to the excellent port assortment to the remarkable 19-hour battery life. Of course, it did point the majority of the review at business-minded users, but it's not like you're really looking at the Latitude line to run Crysis, anyway. Overall, reviewers couldn't find any "major reason" to dislike the E6400, though it couldn't help but mention a smattering of "minor annoyances." Like, you ask? Frustrating ControlPoint software, a less-than-awesome trackpoint / touchpoint and a general build quality that made the unit "feel less durable than it really [was]." If you can overlook those gripes, however, you could be staring at a winner.

[lowdef @ Oct 20th 2008 8:24PM]

hey a dell that is kinda sexy

[Ian @ Oct 21st 2008 3:36AM]

Kind of?

It's sexy for any laptop. Dell has 2 sexy laptop designs now.

[sl33y @ Oct 20th 2008 8:29PM]

Nice laptop but I returned mine due to the crappy LED screen....

Anwyay, I bought a VAIO Z520 for $100 more and couldn't be happier!

[Abdalla @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:00AM]

Is this better or Sony Vaio Z520, I'm also comparing the Sony with the E4300.

[Josh @ Oct 20th 2008 8:30PM]

we got a demo unit of an E6400 here at work that I've been playing around with. It's a nice machine, I do like it better than the D630s. I never use the trackpoint, so I can't comment on that. The trackpad seems fine to me, didn't have any issues with it. I never really tried out the Control Point software since we really won't be using it much here at my work. I did turn of the auto-brightness though as it was kinda annoying. My room was slightly darkened and it still insisted on dimming the screen, not sure why. As soon as I turned that off, it went back to full brightness.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 20th 2008 8:32PM]

It feels less durable than it really is? How do they know how durable it really is?

And yeah, the "control center" type software ALWAYS sucks. I know the stuff they threw on my Thinkpad blows goats. Just give me good hardware and an OS. "value-added" software always does the opposite.

[MadMike @ Oct 20th 2008 8:37PM]

I never use the preload. My last Lenovo, I tried to use the pre-loaded Windows install - it lasted 4 hours. After that I was so pissed off, I formatted the drive and reloaded it from scratch. The "Value Added" is just the opposite, its value degraded.

[ethana2 @ Oct 20th 2008 8:42PM]

I'd use preloaded.

Dell partners don't know how to write bloatware for Ubuntu yet.

[Kris @ Oct 20th 2008 8:34PM]

19 hours of battery life? Holy fuck... is that with everything off?

[Jon @ Oct 20th 2008 8:42PM]

There's a "slice" battery you can attach. It has the same dimensions as the laptop itself and sorta "stacks" onto the bottom.

http://www.notebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/dell_battery_slice.jpg

Brings it up to about 7.5 pounds and adds a half inch to the thickness, but 19 hours is pretty insane.

[ishism @ Oct 20th 2008 8:48PM]

damn, loke

[Evan @ Oct 20th 2008 8:56PM]

"a less-than-awesome trackpoint / touchpoint" is something I cannot overlook. I move the mouse-cursor around the screen every time I use the computer! I can live with integrated graphics, a smaller hard disk, or limited ports - those things don't affect my day-to-day experience or have workarounds. But there's no working around a crappy trackpoint or keyboard.

[Cal @ Oct 20th 2008 9:03PM]

really! you move the mouse cursor every time you use the computer. no way!!

[Reader @ Oct 20th 2008 9:48PM]

I do everything by command prompt.

[Robert @ Oct 21st 2008 12:22AM]

Welcome to the world of USB mice.

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 20th 2008 9:16PM]

Does it have the same useless WiFi drivers as the D630 that make you restart the WiFi card every time you wake up from sleep? Does anyone know a fix for this?

[MRCUR @ Oct 20th 2008 9:57PM]

I don't have any of those issues with my D630. I just got it over the summer and am thrilled with it. I'm not sure which drivers/network card you have, but I'm running an Intel 3945 card with whatever drivers came installed from the factory.

I keep my D630 asleep most of the time and never have issues with the wireless not coming back on and being connected within a few seconds. It's quite fantastic I must say.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Oct 20th 2008 9:17PM]

E6400? Everything I see that I think of the CPU not this laptop.

[Mile @ Oct 21st 2008 7:28AM]

Indeed!

[Glenn @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:18AM]

This one time i got my grammar all badded up

[Dasgooch @ Oct 20th 2008 10:11PM]

I received my e6400 last week and have been extremely pleased with the machine. So far all of my impressions of the machine are very good. The LED backlit screen is a welcome change from the D820/830's of previous years. If you have ever used one of those machines you will know how dim the display can be, this is not the case with the e6400. I have found the brightest setting for the display is almost too bright to be comfortable and I normally run at 90% or so. Everything is very crisp and easy to use for long periods of time with no noticable eye strain. The build quality seems very solid thus far, no flexing or creeks, even when you try to torque it. I have always been a trackpoint user and that was a major factor in my choosing this machine. The trackpoint is excellent, I have not noticed any issues with it and it is far more comfortable to use than the Lenovo t61 and outgoing D830. The backlit keyboard is also excellent, I don't know how I got any work at home done before. I find myself working odd hours and when you get a call late at night and need to type in your VPN token this is definately an awesome feature. The last thing is the battery life, I get over 7 hours of normal use on just the 9 cell battery with minor power options tuning. I do use the dell control point software to manage some of the power settings and would say they are less cludgy then the Lenovo tools i have used in the past. I would highly recommend to anyone considering this as a business laptop.

[Russ @ Oct 20th 2008 10:47PM]

I've been buying about 50 Thinkpads per year for my company for about 10 years. I've only every used thinkpads myself and would sometimes by Latitude's for end users. I bought an E6500 about a month ago and I dare say that I like it a lot,

-The 1920x1080 screen is ridiculously bright; I look at T61's and the resolution/brightness look horrible in comparison
- Agreed on the backlit keyboard. How did I ever live without it?! I dare say that it looks better then the new MBP keyboards

Cons:
- I still find the Lenovo trackpoint to be better; especially with the raising of the mouse buttons. (mostly the middle one) I wish I could use an old school Thinkpad 'nubbin' instead of the indented one. The old Latitudes you could swap out.
- Bigger/thicker/heavier than the T61
- System software isn't as nice as Lenovo's. I reload a lot of laptops so I'm in love with their System Update
-Service. I have yet to call on this lappy, but from past history Lenovo is tops. I don't have to scream through three levels of tech support, I just state my issue, tell them what I need and I get a box/part overnighted to me.

[Russ @ Oct 20th 2008 10:48PM]

Oh yeah and I hate not having the Forward/Backward buttons by the arrow keys!!

[Mam00th @ Oct 20th 2008 11:04PM]

I ordered my E6400 as soon as it was available, and I love it! The led backlit screen is awesome, it's so far the brightest laptop screen I've seen, in the dark, that thing destroy your eyes at 100% brightness (but it allows you to function outside very well). I got a maximum of 5 hours on a 6 cells while disabling my optical drive, audio, network card, sd / pc-express card. Hey I didn't need those at the moment but I did enjoyed the extra battery life. All in all, the dell control point software is far from fantastic, Dell software generally sucks, but the hardware is fantastic.

[Cranius Lupus @ Oct 21st 2008 1:19PM]

@ Russ

I LOVE the forward/back. I use them all the time (cant get them to workin myUbuntu partition though).

I wish all laptops had them its a nice addition.

[thequinox @ Oct 20th 2008 10:54PM]

Why the hell did dell have to use the exact same name as Intel's CPU, I mean come on.

[Jason @ Oct 20th 2008 10:55PM]

My main complaint is the lid doesn't stay shut, very annoying. Keyboard, trackpad and trackpoint work great IMO, although the keyboard seems kind flimsy. Keyboard backlight is very nice. LED backlight for LCD is very nice as well. I think it's one of the best screens for office use ever. Looks great from all angles.

eSata and DisplayPort as well as VGA is lovely. Bulgy battery is kinda annoying but it lasts a looong time.

A-

[Evan @ Oct 20th 2008 11:14PM]

19 hours eh

[p51boy1 @ Oct 20th 2008 11:42PM]

I actually have its bigger brother, the E6500, and I like it a lot more than my old D620. It does seen "tougher" then the D series, but we'll find out in a couple months how long it'll hold up. I went for the 1920X1200 screen and so far it's been great. The track pad does suck and I really hope they can get it fixed.

[f00 @ Oct 21st 2008 1:10AM]

Yeah, i also ordered mine as soon as possible, and i love pretty much everything about it; I never carry the ac adaptor with me, and i can get away with charging it every 3-4 days despite having about 4-5 hours of lectures per day (and this is with the added battery slice and with wifi turned on, though with everything else turned off). My only complaint is at the time of ordering it, i wasn't able to get the built in bluetooth card for my mouse and synching with my phone, but i'm sure they'd let my buy it/install it seperately. Oh, and the led backlit screen looks amazing, and is perfect for outdoor viewing, though i wish they'd have a higher resolution option : / Also, this is the first laptop i've ever had where i can SAFELY KEEP IT ON MY LAP FOR HOWEVER LONG I WANT TO (i have the intel integrated graphics and a p8600)

[Scott @ Oct 21st 2008 1:45AM]

Anyone had a chance to compare this side by side to a Lenovo Thinkpad T400?

I had a Thinkpad T43 as a first thinkpad, right when they sold to Lenovo, so a true IBM thinkpad I suppose. I was REALLY impressed with the build quality, absolutely amazing. Made my previous 2 Dell Latitudes look/feel like a cheap childs toy.

So, upgrade time, just bought the T400 I'm on now...this particular one is a lemon, LOTS of issues, long story short it's getting returned and a replacement is in the build process now and I'm not blaming it on the model, I understand sometimes you just get a bad one; so the next one is in process now.

BUT...

I've noticed the build quality, now that this is 100% Lenovo with no IBM input to this revision, is not quite up to par with my T43...Just seems cheaper in quality, little flex to the body, cheaper plastic materials on it, keyboard isn't even remotely as tight as it is on my T43 etc. So this got me thinking maybe I need to revisit Dell.

Thinking of buying an E6400 and then doing my own direct comparison with the T400 and return which ever one I like least as I'm sure I'll like them both, but wondering if it's worth the hassle?

Anyone seen/used the two side by side? Build quality better with which one? Features? Performance? The price is a wash even though the Lenovo quotes out FAR less than an equivilant Dell on the websites I have a business contact that knocks off about 20% on the retail cost of the Dell making them about the same price.

Any input would be appreciated or websites that have reviewed both of them (can't sem to find any)?

Thanks!