E6420 Owner's Thread

[mvalpreda]

I have been dealing with Dell on my E6420 and wobbling. I got an interesting reply:

I received a message from our product quality advisor. I just wanted to let you know that our investigation has uncovered a few lapses in the manufacturing process. Specially, we have located what we feel is the source of the wobbly base. The factory is now correcting those mistakes.

[benamar]

Recall! .. Recall?

[jabbok]

I have been dealing with Dell on my E6420 and wobbling. I got an interesting reply:

I received a message from our product quality advisor. I just wanted to let you know that our investigation has uncovered a few lapses in the manufacturing process. Specially, we have located what we feel is the source of the wobbly base. The factory is now correcting those mistakes.

Is this problem going to be fixed soon? I wanted to order one but not sure now with the uneven base and the corner popping out.

[mr_handy]

Any chance of USB3 action via the docking or are we really limited to the bay module??

I don't know whether Dell have anything planned. They would need to create a new version of the E-port but the connector would need to be backwards compatible. Perhaps they could do this by putting a USB 3.0 controller chip inside the E-port. However, don't hold your breath.

Pretty sure the USB in the dock is actually a passive/pass-through from the laptop, and not on a separate controller. Did Dell ever offer a full dock (eg with card slots) for the E-series, or just the two port replicators?

[vishnuyarra]

When I purchased 6520, I got a free dock station and and 70$ off. The same kind of deal was not available with 6420 so I setteled for 6520.

I just got my 6520 delivered. It's much bigger than I my current 15" inspiron. I was wondering if there is a way to exchange it with 6420 by calling Dell.

Please advise me how to approach this when I call dell.

1. How to exchange 6520 with 6420.

2. I got 4Gig ram (1dimm). I want to upgrade to 8Gig. Can I just walk into compusa and have them install another 4Gig or should I look for a particular kind of memory that matches that of DELL installed memory.

Thanks for your advise.

[mvalpreda]

Is this problem going to be fixed soon? I wanted to order one but not sure now with the uneven base and the corner popping out.

No telling. I will have my 2nd replacement unit in a couple of weeks. Curious to see what happens with this one. I'll let everyone know as this was supposed to be inspected by QC a little more closely.

[mvalpreda]

When I purchased 6520, I got a free dock station and and 70$ off. The same kind of deal was not available with 6420 so I setteled for 6520.

I just got my 6520 delivered. It's much bigger than I my current 15" inspiron. I was wondering if there is a way to exchange it with 6420 by calling Dell.

Please advise me how to approach this when I call dell.

1. How to exchange 6520 with 6420.

2. I got 4Gig ram (1dimm). I want to upgrade to 8Gig. Can I just walk into compusa and have them install another 4Gig or should I look for a particular kind of memory that matches that of DELL installed memory.

Thanks for your advise.

Doubt you will be able to exchange. You will probably have to return your current 6520 and then buy a 6420. They will probably try and entice you to keep your current unit. If you'll looking in the forums for some magic words to say, you could try saying "yellow hippopotamus." I think those are the secret words for April.

You should never be walking into CompUSA.

[LoneWolf15]

You should never be walking into CompUSA.

Heh...quoted for truth.

RAM is so easy to install on the new E6x20 series a child could do it. It's far cheaper to order online, and the entire bottom panel of the system removes in about sixty seconds, allowing access to most of the guts, including memory upgrades.

If you let someone else charge you retail price to do it plus labor, you're bending yourself over.

[MatzeXXX]

Is this problem going to be fixed soon? I wanted to order one but not sure now with the uneven base and the corner popping out.

I got two units, assembled in China. They're both fine, no base problem whatsoever.

Cheers

[Justin77]

Considering going up to a 6420 from a 6400 with a T9600/8GB RAM/128GB SSD. The techs at Displaylink tell me the Core 2 Duo may be part of the reason I have issues with the USB to DVI adapters I use on my E Port Plus. I drive 3 external screens plus the laptop screen (2 running on Display Port adapters.) I have to fight the 100 percent cpu usage issue where the laptop just becomes unusable and I'm trying to find alternate solutions but it's a good reason to upgrade the hardware. I can certainly pass the 6400 down. I'd be happy to hear any thoughts on going up (I've read every post in here so far so I have a lot of the pros and cons down already.)

Thanks!