Thinkpads Forum

Some of you may be aware that I am blessed with a client who refreshes their laptops on a regular basis. Over the last year I have received about 6 laptops from them, all Dell's. The other day I got a new Dell. It's a Latitude E6520 with the following specs:

i7-2760QM 2.4GHz CPU 4 Core, 8 with HT
8GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
500GB 7200 RPM HD
Intel GPU and Nvidia Quadro NVS4200M GPU 512MB DDR3
Wifi/GiGE
Dual Layer DVD Burner
Backlit KB w/ Number Pad
15.6" HD Display (Dell's description, not mine). 1366x768

According to a quick e-bay search, they are going for about $400.00

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Laptops-Netbook ... tude+E6520

It may be a 2 year old machine, but it's built really well. Oh and it's [censored] fast as well.

My WEI Scores:

CPU 7.5
RAM 7.6
Graphics 6.5
Gaming 6.5
HD 5.9 (All rotating HD's i've seen score at 5.9, to get better you need an SSD)




This machine is just about perfect. Some may complain about the "low" resolution but it's very easy on these tired eyes. This machine is a beast. It's handled everything I have managed to throw at it and kept asking if that's all I got. One of the huge features for me is that keyboard is backlit. I haven't had a keyboard like that since my old Powerbook G4, and man did I love having it then. It's been a feature I have wanted on PC laptops for years, and now I finally have it. I also have a full sized # pad on the right, so that's very convenient for some of the spreadsheet work that I do.

In the past when talking about some of my other Dell's I have tried to discuss the keyboard quality. Most of you here are huge fans of how the keyboard on the T4x machine was. The tactile feedback was excellent, the travel was nearly flawless. This keyboard on the E6520 is an excellent keyboard. It only took me about 10 minutes to be able to touch type on it at a pretty decent speed. It's very easy to work with and my fingers have enough room so that they aren't overlapping one another causing me to make spelling errors. The trackpad is centered underneath the keyboard, which is all I can really say about it. It's a trackpad, it functions. Good enough. I use the Trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard. Now while this isn't as good as the trackpoint on the T4x/T6x machines, it is still one of the better trackpoints I have used. I have used them on Dell's, Toshiba's, HP, and Thinkpads. This one functions very well, and is comfortable to my finger tip after long periods of sustained mousing around.

So there it is, pictured above. That's the machine I will be keeping out of all the Dell's I own. Oh and a D630, I'll keep that because it's awesome. So sometime in the next 2 weeks I will have some listings for a few Dell's ranging from Core2Duo's to i5's. They are all nice machines, fast, good looking and in great operational condition. But they aren't my E6520. This thing just begs me to use it. Even if it's just for typing, which is very comfortable to do on this keyboard. Did I mention the keyboard on this unit is very good?

Nice toy you got there!

Pretty nice specs you got, the 'cheap' ADATA SSD I got scores 7.2 I think for the WEI...
I've yet to try out a Dell business grade laptop, will keep my eye out for them.
Really nice unit you have, I like the overall shape and design of it.

Pretty sweet. My impressions of a similar Dell is the E6510 in my siggy. The E6510 which I own has a similar keyboard as far as the trackpoint/trackpoint buttons/touchpad arrangement go. Mine is also backlit as well. There are aspects of my E6510 which I like however the keyboard is certainly not one of them. I am typing on my T500 now whose keyboard IMO trounces the overall typing experience of my E6510 quite easily. I do have the non-backlit keyboard stashed away but have not bothered to change it back out just yet. Internship and classes are keeping me busy all hours lately On to my impressions of my first Latitude acquisition. I do feel a difference between the non-backlit and backlit keyboards. The non-backlit keyboard feels more solid than the backlit keyboard IMO. Also pertaining to the keyboard there are no discerning ridges on the trackpoint buttons of the E6510 keyboard. I feel it is more difficult to come straight from the ThinkPad keyboard which has nice pronounced ridges (identifying landmarks) on the trackpoint buttons. The lack of tactile and pronounced landmarks on the Dell E6510 keyboard makes it quite easy for me to press the wrong trackpoint button when navigating with the Dell trackpoint. The overall trackpoint navigation also seems to be less fluid and does not quite have the smooth cursor movement-to-trackpoint response/resistance as the Thinkpads IMO. Definitely takes getting used to.

What I do like about my E6510? The FHD LED backlit screen- bright and sharp! The screen is SO bright that I mostly use it on one unit of brightness during the day when indoors. I had to download a small program that adjusts the brightness and contrast further so the screen is able to be more dim. The dimming program is great for times when I am typing with the E6510 in a lights off or lowly lit room. The screen is just very bright! Cornea burning brightness! The build of my E6510 is not too terrible nor impressive IMO. I think I might be just a teensy bit annoyed by the keyboard at this point and it is clouding my judgment somewhat

At the end of the day I am still relatively new to the laptop experience. The small list of laptops I have owned/used include an old Apple Ibook, couple of ThinkPads, and now the E6510. I am curious about other brands. At the moment an Elitebook is something I would like to work towards next. The new generation of Latitudes- not interested. The latest ThinkPads- not so much interested either. Apple- might be interested and am curious about. Their build + aesthetics seems to have remained relatively consistent while everyone else seems to be aping their style. I have a sense of respect for that.

I am envious of the perks of your job Temetka! Do your clients every offer you any other brands of laptops besides Dell?

The E6510's are nice machines. I have deployed a few of them for my client. Contrary to what you say about the keyboard, I have found the typing experience to be excellent. But typing experience varies from user to user, so your impressions may (and do) differ from mine or others.

I hope the E6510 and T500 serve you well.

Thanks Temetka! Wonder what kind of laptops we will all have in 5-10 years??? Wonder who will still be around defending Thinkpads? lol

emeraldgirl08 wrote:Thanks Temetka! Wonder what kind of laptops we will all have in 5-10 years??? Wonder who will still be around defending Thinkpads? lol

Defending Thinkpad's in 10 years? No one if Lenovo keeps ruining them in the spectacular fashion that they are currently engaging in.

Temetka wrote:Defending Thinkpad's in 10 years? No one if Lenovo keeps ruining them in the spectacular fashion that they are currently engaging in.

There are several die-hard Thinkpad fans on this forum. I bet they would even defend a Thinkpad that has a 16-pixel-by-9-pixel screen.