Summary

The Dell E6400 laptop has a new design compared to the older D series. It has a sleek black finish and the standard configuration is more than enough for the average user. I feel the E6400 is highly configurable, has an excellent battery, and the screen is excellent quality. The biggest reason I rank this laptop high is the battery life. I get almost 4 hours of nonstop battery out of the E6400. My old D630 got 2 hours if I was lucky. I believe the only downfall I could find is it’s a bit heavier than the D series, but still manageable.

Detailed Review

Dell D series laptops have long dominated the corporate world. While they have been good laptops, battery life has always been an issue for our employees. Even the larger extended battery wasn’t that great. That’s where the E series really stepped it up. The E6400 also boasts the new Centrino 2 platform, which probably has a lot to do with the battery life. Our units come standard with a 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, a 160 GB hard drive, and 2 GB of RAM. We also opted to get the upgraded Nvidia video card. The final price per laptop comes to about $1900 which is decent for a corporate laptop. Another upgrade that was needed for a long time was the backlit keyboard ($49 option).

The base model is around $1100 to start. Even this bare bones model is still a great buy.

A Few Other Optional Features

AT&T/Sprint/Verizon broadband antenna: $150
12 cell “Battery Slice” w/ 19 hrs of battery life: price varies
5 year extended support: $249

Most corporate laptops are not intended for gaming. We did choose the upgraded Nvidia card in preparation for Windows 7 later this year. We also choose the upgraded 7200 RPM hard drive as well. This setup is perfect for our mobile users and so far they have been very happy with the performance. In short, this laptop is well worth the money and would be a great addition to your companies’ laptop line

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To say this monitor is ultra-thin is an understatement. The panel from front to back where the DVI plugs in is about 1.5 inches at most. The monitor delivers a full 1080p HD experience. The bezel frame is almost transparent and seems to reduce glare by reducing the amount of light reflected.

The Samsung P2370L comes in Samsung’s signature “Touch of Color” design and technology similar to their line of LCD and LED TV’s. These monitors are very eco-friendly as well. They are said to consume 30% less power than their older counterparts. Also, there is no mercury or lead traces in the monitors which older ones were notorious for. This should make everyone happy – saving some money on electricity and no pollution after the monitor serves its purpose.

This monitor was noticeably sharper and brighter than the Dell G2410 LED monitor I reviewed. I hate to say it, but the transparent bezel really added some style to the monitor in contrast to the dull black stand by Dell. The monitor is equipped with white LED’s, and a huge contrast ratio of 2 million: 1.

The Samsung P2370L starting selling in retail stores in early 2009. The price is quite high at the moment – it starts around $350 while the comparable Dell sells for $100 less. Put these monitors side by side, I think you’ll opt to spend the extra money.

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There are many misconceptions about what exactly is needed for a video card. It really depends on what your primary use is for your computer. If you are a person who just checks email, writes papers, surfs the internet, etc – you don’t need a massive video card that costs hundreds of dollars. The onboard video card is probably plenty powerful for that use. Obviously a PC gamer or someone who uses 3D applications will need a much more powerful card. For this article I’ll stick to the requirements for a basic PC user.

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What exactly is a video card? In short, it’s what allows the information on your computer to be displayed on the screen. All computers come with an on-board video card. These are usually low to mid range cards that do the job for most users. But what if your computer is a few years old and you are considering upgrading to Windows 7? You may need to upgrade your card.

Let’s take a look at the Windows 7 minimum requirements.

• 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Doesn’t look all that different from Vista does it? In all honesty, I think these requirements are actually quite close to reality. Windows 7 is supposed to have much better video and memory utilization. Vista was called a memory hog, and that was an understatement.

What does this mean for you? I believe that if you are running a semi-modern PC (2-3 years old) you should be able to upgrade to Windows 7 with no hardware upgrades. Again, this is for the normal PC user who doesn’t run massive games or 3D programs. I for one am very excited for the release of Windows 7. I currently run the Release Candidate and love it. I’ll save my Windows 7 review for another day.

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When a student goes to college it’s well known that money is almost always tight. Most college students can’t afford to go buy a $1000 laptop at the local electronics store. Unfortunately many decide to use credit cards or borrow money, which is a subject that I could write about in detail from personal experience.

So what is the best option for a new high school graduate starting college in the fall? I believe a refurbished laptop is the best answer for the majority of people. Many of these laptops are corporate owned that are resold after the factory warranty expires. Just because the warranty expires it doesn’t mean the laptop is going to break and become worthless. A great example is a Dell Latitude D610. These laptops are 3-4 years old but still have more than enough processing power for writing papers, surfing the Internet, or even games. These Dell D610 laptops were at least $1500 new and now can be bought refurbished for under $400 in places.

Most companies that sell refurbished laptops offer some sort of limited warranty after the sale. One thing I recommend to people is to go spend an additional $75 and get a new hard drive. hard drives are usually the first thing to fail on older laptops. Also look for a laptop with over 1 gigabyte of RAM. Again, this can be upgraded if needed for a small price. Most laptops should have a built-in wireless feature, USB ports, and battery included. Another important thing to look for is a valid operating system key. Most if not all laptops are shipped with an operating system key sticker on the back of the computer. You’ll need this especially if you get a new hard drive.

Refurbished laptops are not for everyone. You should have at least limited knowledge of PC repair or know someone who can help. Other similar models that are good refurbished brands are the Dell D620 – the successor of the D610, the Toshiba Tecra M2, and the HP NC6220. If you are not PC proficient at all it might be best to get a new one with a full warranty service (if you can afford it!). if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to  leave a comment below or post a question on my Computer Help Forum.

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A lot of us fail to realize that the internal parts of desktops and laptops contain hazardous materials – especially mercury.  It’s not advisable to just throw your old computer equipment in the garbage for pickup.  The best way to dispose of your old computer is to bring it to an electronics recycler.  Many times they will even pay you a small amount of money for the parts they receive.

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The biggest and most important thing to remember is your personal information on your computer’s hard drive.  Even if you think all of your files are erased there are still ways for criminals to restore the data.  The best and easiest thing you can do is open up the case of the desktop or laptop and pull the hard drive out.  Then you should physically destroy the drive.  It’s better to be safe and not worry about thieves stealing personal information.

If you are planning on donating an older PC to a school or selling it to another person you will need to buy data deletion software.  There are many companies that sell the DoD (Department of Defense) standard for data deletion.  This is the only way you know the data on the drive is completely gone.  You can find these products fairly cheap online or at an electronics store.  It’s definitely worth the money in my opinion!  Why gamble with your identity?

There have been many cases of high profile people losing confidential and sometimes top secret data.  Just recently a hard drive being sold in a market in India had confidential corporate data still intact.  Another recent case had top secret US missile information on a drive that was resold on Ebay.  Most times a person who buys these secondhand drives isn’t out to steal your identity.  But the smart thing to do is play it safe.

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The biggest reason external hard drives are needed for anyone looking to purchase a new computer is backup capability.  More and more information is routinely placed on the owner’s PC today.  Many people believe they just last forever and hard drives don’t fail or get corrupted.  A backup external hard drive can save you a lot of misery.  Even a daily backup schedule can keep your photos, files, and emails safe.  Most external hard drive manufacturers provide backup software when you purchase the drive.  Windows also has a built-in program.

Portability is also a great reason to own an external drive.  Many business people work on both a laptop and a desktop.  With a portable drive, you can always have your data in one place.  Of course it’s still a good idea to have all of you data in more than one place in case of a drive failure.

Price kept many buyers away from external hard drives even a few years ago.  Today, you can purchase a decent external hard drive for around $100 depending on your space requirements.  That is a small price to pay for knowing all of your irreplaceable photos and files are safe in case of a computer failure.

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