Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

[John Ratsey]

So I recommend that they not be done unnecessarily. If the error in calibration is suspected to be minor, then I think it's best to leave well alone for as long as possible.

By the way, I suggest not express charging the battery during this charge/recharge cycle. Slow recharge is always best for batteries.

I think it's the first time I have fully drained it and it's now 4 months old.

I've never enabled express charge and I'm normally using the 65W PSU which limits the charge rate to around 35W.

The battery still recharges to the fictional 104.3% like it did previously. does anyone else see the fully charged battery showing more than 100%?

John

BTW, I went to the Dell UK large business section where I could fully configure the E6400 to the same spec as I bought. £1199 + delivery and VAT. That's about 35% more than I paid.

[Vikram]

I think it's the first time I have fully drained it and it's now 4 months old.

I've never enabled express charge and I'm normally using the 65W PSU which limits the charge rate to around 35W.

The battery still recharges to the fictional 104.3% like it did previously. does anyone else see the fully charged battery showing more than 100%?

John

BTW, I went to the Dell UK large business section where I could fully configure the E6400 to the same spec as I bought. £1199 + delivery and VAT. That's about 35% more than I paid.

The charger module is the one controlling the charging current and even if the PSU is rated much higher than the minimum required, the charger limits the charging current based on various factors, including the battery capacity and the charging mode.

So for a given battery and a given charging mode and assuming a PSU is rated atleast for the minimum charging current for the battery for the given charge mode, the charging rate will not be vary as a function of the PSU rating. So a there should be no difference in charging duration between a 65 W and a 90 W PSU. This situation does not take into account other loads drawing power from the PSU, such as with the computer working, therefore limiting the current available for charging. In that case, the charging rate and duration will vary.

John, how can the price difference be so large? Is it that prices have increased or is it that the Latitude costs differently for different customers? I'd assume that bigger customers pay less since they buy in bulk.

[John Ratsey]

The charger module is the one controlling the charging current and even if the PSU is rated much higher than the minimum required, the charger limits the charging current based on various factors, including the battery capacity and the charging mode.

I did notice that while the computer was booting + charging then the 65W PSU was pulling just over 60W at the mains socket. It is possible that if I fully load the computer while charging using the 65W PSU then the charging current may be reduced.

John, how can the price difference be so large? Is it that prices have increased or is it that the Latitude costs differently for different customers? I'd assume that bigger customers pay less since they buy in bulk.

Large business has all the options: I can't configure features such as the backlit keyboard and 65W PSU under small / medium business. If I price up in the small business then add the cost of the extra options then I get about £1020 + delivery & VAT.

I wonder if the large business customers expect big discounts, so Dell has hiked the base prices to compensate.

John

[Vikram]

I did notice that while the computer was booting + charging then the 65W PSU was pulling just over 60W at the mains socket. It is possible that if I fully load the computer while charging using the 65W PSU then the charging current may be reduced.

Large business has all the options: I can't configure features such as the backlit keyboard and 65W PSU under small / medium business. If I price up in the small business then add the cost of the extra options then I get about £1020 + delivery & VAT.

I wonder if the large business customers expect big discounts, so Dell has hiked the base prices to compensate.

John

I remember someone having mentioned the difference in charging durations with the computer off and on. But I don't remember the exact figures.

I don't think any company would every buy from Dell's website. Being bulk and repeat customers, Dell, like any company, must offer them special services, special offers and the like. I imagine the discounts can be substantial compared to retail prices. But still, many people claim they've got good retail deals after talking to Dell's sales people, so it must be worth a try.

[Lack]

I wonder if the large business customers expect big discounts, so Dell has hiked the base prices to compensate.

Thats the exact reason for high web site prices. 30% discounts are nothing extraordinary.

[Vikram]

eSATA port and eSATA drive

I've ordered an eSATA external portable hard drive and I was wondering if anybody here could tell me the transfer rate through their own computer. I'm expecting it to be atleast 50 MB/s if not more. Is this a good estimate?

I know the E6400 has a eSATA USB port, which implies that it is not a passive port but a powered one. Does this mean that an e-sata drive doesn't need to be connected to a USB port for power?

Also, can an eSATA drive be used to enable the RAID features of the Intel storage controller?

EDIT : I found the transfer rate from a review. It's identical to an internal drive. With a Seagate Momentus 7200.2 250 GB drive, the average transfer rate was 72 MB/s.

There's no mention of power connections or of RAID, though.

[John Ratsey]

eSATA will give you the same transfer rate as if the HDD is internal. It depends on the HDD and not on the interface (up to the SATA limit). See this thread for an example of the speed. The first pair of HDtune results are with the HDD in an eSATA enclosure.

Until someone makes a eSATA / USB combo cable to fit the eSATA / USB combo port you will need to use separate eSATA (for data) and USB (for power) ports.

If you have IRRT enabled in the BIOS then your E6400 will offer to make the external HDD a mirror of the internal HDD. This wasn't what I wanted so I changed from IRRT to AHCI in the BIOS.

John

[Vikram]

eSATA will give you the same transfer rate as if the HDD is internal. It depends on the HDD and not on the interface (up to the SATA limit). See this thread for an example of the speed. The first pair of HDtune results are with the HDD in an eSATA enclosure.

Until someone makes a eSATA / USB combo cable to fit the eSATA / USB combo port you will need to use separate eSATA (for data) and USB (for power) ports.

If you have IRRT enabled in the BIOS then your E6400 will offer to make the external HDD a mirror of the internal HDD. This wasn't what I wanted so I changed from IRRT to AHCI in the BIOS.

John

Thanks, John. I haven't received the hard disk yet (an LG HXD1 250 GB model) but when I do, I'll test it and post the results.
It does come with both eSATA and USB cables so I don't anticipate any problems.

[davenport]

nVidia chip with DVI + VGA on the regular dock.

Which monitor do you have?

Dell 3007WFP-HC

NVIDIA NV 160m Max Digital Display Support: 1920 x 1200
Max Analog Display Support: 2048 x 1536
http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_...techspecs.html
The chip cannot handle 2560x1600 and the ePort Plus will not alter that.

High Quality Digital and Analog Display Support
Internal TMDS (single-link DVI) transmitters and 400MHz RAMDAC(s) deliver crystal-clear image quality for the highest resolution digital displays up to 1600x1200.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_...ebook_fbs.html

What does this means?

The tech specs that you guys have referenced above are for Single-Link DVI
http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_...ebook_fbs.html

Dual-link DVI (TMDS) Support for Highest Resolution Digital Displays
Additionally dual-link transmitters enable driving the industry's latest, large and high resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600.

There are other locations in NVIDIA documentation that state 2560x1600 is attainable with Dual-Link DVI.

Here is a screenshot of my Display Properties showing the 30" monitor and my chip but locking me out of adjusting the resolution.

[Lack]

Dell 3007WFP-HC

It supports only 1280x800 or 2560x1200. Any other resolution has to been resized by the graphic card.

Here is a screenshot of my Display Properties showing the 30" monitor and my chip but locking me out of adjusting the resolution.

The problem is, the output isn't dual link on the Laptop/Dock as far as I remember - and you'll have to wait for a Display Port to Dual-Link DVD adapter (similar to Apple) which was supposed to be released this month. At least, thats what I remember from previous discussions here.

From the screen, it looks like you can go lower then 1280x800, right? That seems to prove the point that the graphic card can do the resizing but can't output more then 1280x800 as it won't be accepted by the monitor itself.

Edit: Yep, I remembered correctly - check this link: Dell M4400, E-Port Replicator, Dual-Link DVI