E6420 Owner's Thread

[zaxos]

Thanks for the pictures dezoris! Though, i have some concerns about the new latitude series.

1) Is there any issue with temperetures? How hot does the cpu and vga get? I have noticed that the ventilation holes under the fun are missing! See the next pictures to understand what i mean.

E6510 (with ventilation under the fan):


E6420 (without ventilation under the fan, the same applies for E6520):


2) What's the sound quality of the speakers? Are they loud enough? (to watch a movie for example)

Thank you very much for your time and your mini review!

[dezoris]

I am going to do my best to test temperatures over the next week.
But from looking at the design, the side vent on the E6420 is larger than the 6410.

Also the intake vent is over the actual heat sink not over the fan and the intake vent is also wider which should make it more efficient.

I am not positive but I am pretty sure the magnesium bottom plate should dissipate heat better than the previous metallic cover on the E6410.
I will test temperatures though.

Also initial tests on the speakers side by side...
The E6410 is louder and definitely brighter than the E6420. A lot of it has to do with the placement of the speakers.

I will do db tests, and more listening tests this week.

[zaxos]

Thanks for the quick reply! I have almost decided to order E6520 to replace my XPS M1330 so i'm trying to check every aspect of the new latitude! About the speakers, I thought that because of the placement it's likely that they are not as loud as the E6x10's. I hope that they are at least loud enough to watch a movie without the need of headphones.

Looking forward to your test results and any other information you can share with us!

[gspencer]

Ordered mine yesterday...now, my perfectionist ocd has me poring over the pictures you posted and buyers remorse is setting in already.

[cyber16]

OP you want to mask that COA tag

[GKDesigns]

In conclusion, the initial feeling is that the build quality and durability are much improved over the E6410, and that is the most important thing here. But I think they missed a major opportunity to really make this piece of hardware look as slick as it could have been. I am a huge fan of the M6500 design style and I think with just a little bit of tweaking making the lid a continuous gunmetal slab or even the aluminum silver of the surrounding metal the laptop would look very serious and sleek.

Does the clam-shell lid feel solid, just the wrong finish? Or does its 2-piece looking profile also detract? I could live with solid but less than optimum finish presentation, which seems to be what you are concluding.

How does the lid operation compare to the E6410 for robustness, one-handed operation?

Is that top front strip on the lid some sort of rubberized grip?

GK

[odie812]

I'm going to advocate the other side here.

I see what dezoris is saying about distinguishing the appearance of the E6420 as a business vs home use machine. The E6420 could benefit from some straighter lines (like the E6410 or new Vostros) but, honestly, the photos you posted have made me more interested in the refreshed machine. It's a little bit more exciting, no? Whether that's for everyone is another matter. The E6420 still has a pretty nice Euro-chic appearance but hey, that's me.

[Hearst]

My friend's E6420 is coming in today though it had quite a road trip courtesy of UPS as it went from a sequence of China > Germany > China > South Korea > Germany > Kazakhstan > Poland > Germany > UK. I don't know why they didn't send it initially from Germany to the UK in the first place!

Anyway I see if I can post some results in regards to temps to aid dezoris in his research to see if there some variation. My friend equipped his E6420 with the base Core i5 and Nvidia Discrete graphics.

[Bokeh]

Would not having a vent hole right below the fan make the it quieter? I can almost see it acting like a tuned port to cancel out higher frequencies.

[Bokeh]

Here is a partial tear down. Its not as easy to drop the back panel.
Hard disk is 4 screws and the back panel an additional 5 screws.

One minor correction. Two of the HDD screws are pass-through. So its 2 + 5.