Just got a Latitude E6410...

[Fading Phoenix]

I received a Dell Latitude e6410 that I had snatched for a good deal earlier this week. It needs a little bit of cleaning, but other than that it's in great shape.

I'm thinking of getting a copy of Win 7 with my student account and doing a fresh install.

I just wanna make sure I won't have any driver troubles.

I'm concerned most about:

Webcam
Wireless
The system has a dedicated card Nvidia 3100m (I figure this won't be a problem, but I like to be reassured)

And the trackpoint/pointing stick (I'm guessing this would be the most likely to cause issues for me.

I'm still checking out the system and I don't have much experience messing with laptops really, so any help is...helpful
Thanks.​

 

[Christopher]

It appears the drivers for that system are available for Windows 7 on the Dell website:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...bIndex=&scanSupported=False&scanConsent=False

That means you just install Windows 7 just like you would on a desktop system, and the necessary drivers, just like a desktop system. Should be pretty easy.

 

[Fading Phoenix]

Thanks! I only got to search the actual product page before, and couldn't find anything for drivers before a buddy dropped by to hang out.

It seems like who I bought this from had actually done a fresh install of their own. It doesn't have any of the utilities/software that should come preloaded on it and there doesn't seem to be a recovery partition.

 

[Pylon]

Typing on my E6410 now, this is what I'll say about your concerns:

Webcam: I didn't order mine's with it, so...
Wireless: Depends on the card you have. I have the Dell 1520. I get slow internet, but that's likely because my router is horrible. (D-link Di-624) It might be the card's fault though.
Graphics: Can't comment since I have Intel HD.
Trackpoint: It's okay. It's a lot different in feel than the Thinkpad ones (I can't really describe, but the cap is firmer and there's less play, and it's recessed). I'm used to it though. The buttons are also a lot firmer. The stick does get buggy at times (sometimes holding down left click will drag the pointer down). Trackpad isn't that great and is a bit small so be warned on that.

I do have sporadic issues. It sporadically fails to wake up from sleep, the manual brightness controls have been really wonky since the last graphics driver update for Intel HD, there's the aforementioned pointing stick issue, and occasionally the screen brightness will change slightly by itself (even with auto-brightness off). It also previously was really slow waking up from hibernate (it would take ~2 minutes since there was this long dead period between Windows load screen and the log in screen where the screen was black and there was no HDD activity) - however that has resolved itself somehow.

Congrats though on your purchase. It's a beautiful laptop. Sturdy, great angular design, great keyboard, and in general it's a very well thought out design.

My advice is to get an SSD if you have a spinning hard drive, cover up your docking connector with tape if you never use it (a lot of my issues were likely caused by me putting the laptop down on a wet surface), and be careful about the lid - it will get scratched if you don't use a case for it. Update all the drivers when you get it. When you get it make sure that all exterior screws are present and that they're tight - I've lost at least one screw on the bottom before, along with a rubber foot (I got both replaced though by various parts I had).

 

[Fading Phoenix]

Thanks.

An ssd would always be nice, but I have no plans of spending the money on one. Luckily I discovered afer I got it that mine is equipped with a WD Caviar Black, so it's actually a pretty good performer.