Review: Dell Latitude E6400

August 12, 2008

Dell announced the Latitude E6400 today, which is based on Intel's "Montevina"/Centrino2 notebook platform. The E6400 supplants Dell's previous-generation Latitude D630 and is a major revision to Dell's mid-weight enterprise-class laptop.

Changes

The Latitude E6400 enclosure is approximately the same size and weight as the Latitude D630 it replaces. However, it (along with all of Dell's E-series Latitudes) has a completely new brushed black and aluminum look and feel. The E6400 is far more solid feeling than the D630, with full-frame magnesium alloy construction and all-metal hinges. Its absolute minimum weight is 4.3 pounds, but this is with a Travel Lite placeholder in the modular media bay. A far more likely weight range is 4.9 to 5.6 pounds, with the weight mostly dependent on battery size and somewhat dependent on optical drive choice.

The E6400 includes new ports such as DisplayPort, eSATA, Smart Card reader, and a 5-in-1 media card reader. It also adds the option of both a backlit keyboard and webcam to Dell's Latitude line, with the long-awaited availability of a webcam making Dell again competitive with most other enterprise notebooks.

The Latitude E6400 includes many of the newly available "Montevina" capabilities as standard. However, Dell has not chosen to make available some "Montevina" capabilities (such as Turbo Memory 2.0). Some other options (such as Bluetooth and vPro) will not be available until sometime in September.

When equipped with an LED display backlight, the Latitude E6400 receives a Gold rating from EPEAT and is also Energy Star 4.0-certified.

Ordering Notes

Several notes when ordering a Latitude E6400:

1. All Latitude E6400s include Penryn versions of Intel's flagship Core 2 Duo processor. Information Systems & Computing (ISC) considers the two "sweet spots" to be the least expensive available processor (P8400) and the least expensive available processor with a 6 MB cache (T9400).
2. Having at least 2.0 GB RAM onboard is essential for the optimal functionality of any modern notebook, including the Latitude E6400.
3. Though solid state drives are available with the Latitude E6400, ISC does not yet believe that they are a good choice for the vast majority of mid-weight notebook users because the cost and size trade-offs are too great. ISC expects that this assessment will begin to change in calendar 2009.
4. The Latitude E6400 is available with two displays: a standard WXGA display and a higher-density WXGA+ display with an LED display backlight. The WXGA+ display is brighter and uses slightly less power, but does cost about $125 additional.
5. With any mid-weight notebook, ISC strongly suggests a discrete video card instead of integrated video.
6. With the Latitude E6400, Dell is giving buyers a choice between a PC Card slot or an ExpressCard slot. ISC believes that most buyers will be best served by the ExpressCard slot, though the PC Card will provide backward compatibility with older cards.
7. As with any mid-weight notebook, ISC suggests that LSPs consider purchasing both a high-capacity (9 cell) and a mid-capacity (6 cell) battery along with an extra AC power adapter for the Latitude E6400. Providers may also wish to consider Dell's range of port replicators.
8. The Latitude E6400's connectivity options include 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1. The 802.11n standard still has not been finalized as of August 2008, and so currently shipping 802.11n products may not work correctly in the future without a firmware update. ISC no longer discourages their purchase and use, but advises that the buyer beware. ISC believes that Bluetooth is a good choice for most E6400 users, but it will not be available until September.
9. Unlike many other notebook manufacturers, Dell continues to offer integrated WWAN cards from a wide range of cellular vendors; AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. This gives local support providers with existing cellular vendor relationships more flexibility.

See ISC's Notebook Purchasing Guide for more configuration hints. As of August 2008, configuring a Latitude E6400 to the mid-weight notebook specification can be done for approximately $1,350.

Windows Vista Performance

A tested prototype Latitude E6400 (2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo T9400, 800 MHz 2.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M discrete graphics card, 160 GB hard drive) has a Windows Experience Index base score of 3.4, with individual scores of:

• Processor: 5.4
• Memory (RAM): 5.9
• Graphics: 3.4
• Gaming graphics: 4.7
• Primary hard disk: 5.4

These scores suggest that Windows Vista performance will be quite good for most users on a Latitude E6400 configured in this manner. ISC expects that these scores will improve somewhat in final shipping versions of the E6400 and will update with those scores as soon as possible.

Analysis

With the E-series, Dell has moved to rationalize the naming conventions and marketing strategies of its Latitude line. No longer are the 14-inch and 15.4 mid-weight widescreens artificially separated by a model line, as the D630 and D830 were. Dell has also moved to a more rational naming convention: in the case of the E6400, E for the series, 6 for the model line, 4 for the screen size (14 inches with the 1 truncated). It seems reasonable to expect that the model following the E6400 will be the E6410.

ISC sees the Latitude E6400 as being a competitive choice among mid-weight notebooks available in late 2008 and a substantial upgrade from the D-series Latitudes. The University's Computer Connection will have at least one E6400 configuration available shortly.

When correctly configured to the mid-weight notebook specification in the Notebook Purchasing Guide, the Latitude E6400 is approved for general use at the University.

Thanks to Jason Trumpy, Lana Sveda, and Faith Ingles (all from Dell) for their help with this review.

Latitude E6400 graphic courtesy of Dell

--John Mulhern III and Brad Ruhling, ISC Technology Support Services (August 12, 2008)