Web ℵ.00mark

Dell Latitude E7440


I really like this machine, despite some quirks. Its rather slim and lightweight (by my standards, not modern ultrabook standards, though), yet surprisingly sturdy. It has a classic keyboard and a track point, two things I absolutely love. The Display is fantastic (at least the FHD IPS panel, the non-IPS low-res panels are pretty shitty from what I heard). The Audio output jack is the best sounding I ever heard on any notebook and even the speakers are surprisingly good.
And above all that, its quite fast and has a decent battery life.

With a bit patience one can pick up one for around 500 Euros (early 2017). To be honest, I had none of this patience-thing, thus I paid more for a device in not-too-good shape. I am a bit ashamed, but well, sometimes people do stupid things. At least I could acquire most of the parts needed to bring it to a good shape for a good price (basically the whole case).

Linux compatibility


Tested with Arch Linux early 2017. TLDR: it works ok with Linux, has some quirks. I had better, but mostly worse.
  • Prozessor
    • Cpufreq $file (via cstates)
    • PHC $file (not recommended for the core-i architecture)
  • Chipset / BIOS / ACPI
    • Classic Boot $file / UEFI Boot $file
    • ACPI events $file, keys $file
    • Fan control $file (should work with i8kutils)
    • S2R $file, S2D $file
      • A bit unreliably, see below
    • mSATA $file, SATA $file, mSATA + SATA $file
      • the latter has minor issues (see below)
    • RAID $file
    • power consumption 5-6W (min brightness, low load)
  • Video
    • acceleration: GUI $file, Video $file, 3D $file
    • brightness control $file
    • HDMI $file, DP $file, HDMI+DP $file
  • Wireless
    • Wi-Fi $file (Intel 7260)
    • Bluetooth $file (Intel 7260)
      • I read that the Wi-Fi speed may drop when used simultaneously with Bluetooth, never happened to me) bad(!)
    • kill switch $file
    • Broadband $file
  • Connectivity
    • Gigabit Ethernet $file
    • USB 3.1 $file
      • I have some trouble with USB 3 (see below)
  • Audio
    • Headset connector $file
    • Mic $file
    • Speakers $file
    • Switchover $file
  • Peripherals
    • SD card reader $file
    • Webcam $file
  • Docking Port (with E-Port II+)
    • USB 3.0 Ports $file
    • USB 2.0 Ports $file
    • Ethernet $file
    • DP / DVI $file
      • simultaneously $file (+ internal display $file)
    • eSata $file
    • PS/2 $file, RS232 $file, PP $file
    • Audio
      • Line Out $file
      • Line In / Mic $file
      • Switchover $file
    • Hot connect $file / disconnect $file
      • Connect / disconnect when in S2R can cause freezes

Issues


Mostly anything seems to work fine, but...
  • Only with rather new BIOS and kernel (early 2017 in my case).
    • Older kernels sometimes freezes after S2R.
    • Older BIOS releases had a bug where keypresses where sometimes doubled (even in windows)
    • Older BIOS/Kernel combinations hat problems (up to freezes) with more than one screen attached.
  • Aggressive PCI and USB power management can lead to some weird behaviour
    • sometimes after some heavy I/O load all I/O is slowed down massively
    • only happens when all (or most) PCI and USB power management is activated (via /sys)
    • by default everything is fine (but the power consumption is about a watt higher
  • Some USB 3 devices cause trouble in some Ports (Bus resets, failing detection, sometimes the whole Port stops responding until reboot)
    • Might be a more generic issue: it can happen to devices on specific Ports on a USB Hub
  • booting sometimes stuck when using a mSATA and a SATA 2.5" drive together
    • Older BIOS versions had generally trouble with mSATA

Disposition


Sold because it annoyed me.
Powered by lazydoc Last modified: 22.09.2023, 13:09 Last viewed: 22.09.2023, 13:09,  
Path: 23.979, Handler: 10.045, Options: 11.672, Content: 8.852, Template: 0.032, Render: 6.593