We’re Dell fans, especially latitude fans. Super stable hardware. We recently did a technology upgrade in our department and switched from the D-Series Latitudes to the e-Series. We have a handful of e6500′s, a few 6400′s and a couple e4300′s.
For the most part this 1st generation of laptops has gone well. Not perfect, but pretty good. The e64/6500′s have seen a few BIOS upgrades that have worked out most of the issues. The fingerprint reader/software combination (Dell Control Point) is still crap though. Very unreliable. Especially when compared the Wave fingerprint software that came bundled with an XPS that I own.
Outside of that they have been pretty good.
The e4300, not so much.
This little laptop is super sweet. Nice small, fast, good battery life. But we’re experiencing some hard hangs/freezes. We’ve tried multiple flavors of OS’s, multiple driver combinations, all with little success. We’ve also replaced the motherboard in one unit. The problem persists.
I realize these are relatively new, but it amazes us that a google search for this issue returns nada. Both laptops behave the same, random hard lock-ups.
It seems sleep/video/audio related, and no we can’t make it happen but it’s enough to send them back for the time being.
We’re working with our Dell rep and hopefully someone from the Brand Team to get to a resolution. We really want them to work and be stable. There isn’t another laptop out there that $ for $, feature for feature meets the need.
So if you’ve experienced similar issues I’m interested in hearing from you.
Post a comment and we’ll get in touch.
UPDATE
On Friday the 19th I had a conversation with a Latitude Brand Manager. He assured me that this problem is well known, especially with e4300′s running Vista. A BIOS updated to address this specific freezing issue is in the works and slated to be released on the 29th.
We’re going to hang tight until then. If this is known inside Dell, and being worked on. The fact that none fo the Tier 2/Tier 3 Support people had any clue is somewhat bothersome. We’ll report back if the fix does what it’s supposed to.
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We’re having the same problem with one of our laptops. We have 3 of them in all, but only one seems to have the problem. With ours, it locks up playing a sound. I’d definitely like to hear if you’re able to reach a resolution.
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Yes, that is similar, when it locks up, the audio is typically freaked out.
I’ll post back if we get any results from Dell.
-DP
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Thanks! We have Dell’s “premium” service now so I’ll let you know if I get anything accomplished as well.
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Yesterday I reinstalled Bios A04, the recently released Sound Drivers, and the Wireless driver update (we have the intel 5300AGN)…
And so far… (knocking on my desk) it hasn’t locked up and it’s been running for 24 hours now on/off battery which is amazing.
(Update 2:15pm EST), while it appeared more stable, and might have been, it just locked up again… So it’s not fixed…
Grrr….
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Now running BIOS A05 but I’m not sure this is the BIOS eluded to by the Product manager on Friday.
Nope, A05 doesn’t fix this.
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Yeah A05 is worse than A04… Avoid this BIOS
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Same laptop, same BIOS, same problem… but only when wi-fi is active (intel 5300 as well, btw)! I’ve been using it for days on an ethernet connection without a problem, but when I hook up on a wireless network, after 2-3 hours the system hangs and the capslock and numlock leds blink
I’m using ubuntu 8.10, but after reading many different comments from other E4300 users I’m afraid this issue is OS-independent… and wi-fi related!
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I’m told, that the Bios to fix this that was supposed to be released on 12/29 has slipped, the new date is 01/19/2009…
I concur, wifi is part of this as well.
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Ours is getting replaced, and Dell is sending the unit to their engineers. The case number is 629301659. Referencing it might help your cause.
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I am also having this problem. Dell replaced the hard drive and the motherboard before ringing me today to report that this is a well known issue with the e4300 and that a fix is due by the end of the month.
I will post back if I hear more…
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We have been told that by the end of the month this issue should be resolved…Hhhhmmmmm…..lets wait and see.
Our Deployment for E4300 has been postponed until they fix this issue, but we have been experieicning problems with the Red/blue E4600 DVDRW drives now. Non of our red/blue laptops can read cdr or burn cds.
problems popping up with e6400′s
- CD/DVD -RW unit problem with burning
- nvida GPU might be infected with Ge 84/86 issues (same goes for Sony with Nv graphics, but less likely, couse of different suppliers and Dell having problems in the past)
- Noisy (Bios fix for above problem with Fan RPM…so u gain less heat, but more noise)
- gambling with display quality (LG – good vs. samsung(?) – bad)
- flex
- magnezium chasis being mostly reinforced plastic
- not automaticly switching back to saved settings, when switching on/off external displays or using port replicator (DN not a big issue if you dont use external displays) -
My E4300 exhibits an odd behavior where when connected via WiFi or BroadBand (I have the built in AT&T card), the network will go away after some period of time. Sometimes it comes back but most times it does not.
When this happened with the A03 BIOS, I could still ping other computers but with the A05 BIOS I can’t do anything. This is driving me nuts. It hasn’t been too bad lately because I have been at home or in the office where I have a wired connection but soon I will be on the road quite a bit and having to reboot all the time will get really old, really quick.
I want this to work – I love the size and weight of this machine and battery life is excellent.
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FWIW, I have blown the Windows 7 Beta on my 4300 and it doesn’t seem to happen as much. Actually not at all thus far. (With BIOS A05), but obviously that’s not a solution for anyone.
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I have heard from Dell today and the new BIOS update is due on the 19th and that should resolve the freezing problem.
I would be curious if Win7 solves the problem. Please post back if it freezes even once on the beta.
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I just returned a E4300 for the sound crash issue. Am waiting for a new one. The A05 Bios didnt make any difference. Also, there were updated sound card drivers from 12/18, has anyone had better luck with them? I installed them but no change in sound crash issue. I will apply this Intel Matrix Storage Manager update that was just mentioned and see if that helps.
BTW, I can easily re-create problem simply by letting media play run for a while, it eventually just hangs system completely. I suggest that method for anyone else testing out this new driver level.
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Unfortunately Windows 7 hangs too, just not as often. In my Vista boot, I installed the audio fix listed above. That didn’t seem to fix it either. Still waiting for the BIOS that’s supposed to be released on the 19th or 29th depending on who you listen too.
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hey guys,
just to let you know our e4300 will be shipped to us very soon and they should have the latest bios.
I will let you know what happens once i test them.
Oh yea…make sure you guys dont install tyhe dell control point stuff……it will cause you lots of problems….system manager is ok though.
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and yes the the new bios should be out between 19th – 29th Jan as production of e4300 has resumed once again.
also i will carry out further tests on my e4300 to see if i can get it to crash
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Got a call from my rep this morning asking for my feedback on the new Bios….
Of course it’s not actually available yet so I pointed that out. He’s since circled back and said it’s release is imminent but that there was confusion on if the release day was the 19th or 29th.
I’m still waiting patiently. They do understand that if this doesn’t fix them they will eat these units.
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Having the same problem… A05 Bios update has made things worse if anything. I eagerly await A06!
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As a temporary fix, disabling multicore support or speedstep in the BIOS seems to prevent most if not all freezes. You’ll run with reduced performance, of course.
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jjdmol, I started to do that but I’m not willing to give up the performance hit
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My Dell Rep just said he’ll have an update tomorrow, and for his sake it needs to be good news…
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I found that disabling speedstep didn’t make any difference as it still locked up. I’ve now also disabled mutlitcore support. The laptop is actually being used by our MD (!) and I’m not aware of any problems with it yesterday…but then I was working out of the office. Fingers crossed, that’s solved the problem in the short term but it would be nice to get the update and then get the laptop running as it should.
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I just reminded my rep he promised me an update two days ago…
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Just chiming in – I’ve never experienced a lockup on my E4300 running 32-bit Windows XP, Intel wireless, using A01-A05 BIOS revisions.
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Rob… What processor does your 4300 have? This seems to be tied to the Intel P9400′s.
I’m starting to suspect they may not be able to fix these with a BIOS upgrade and may recall them.
I’ve been promised answers and BIOS’s and the dates keep slipping.
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And by the way, kicking it down to single processor does really seem to help.
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Just to add to this – having a problem with my new 4300 when it’s in the docking station. The display freezes for 10-20 sec and then starts up again. But it happens every couple minutes — very annoying. It’s fine when not in the docking station. I’ve tried all sorts of combinations to see what it is — different docking stations, monitors, etc. — common denominator – the laptop. It has an Intel 9400 as well. I’ve tried the BIOS update and it didn’t help. Waiting to hear back from Dell about what they’re going to do about it – thank goodness for warranties!
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We have two E4300′s within our company. One with Intel’s P9300 and the other has the Intel P9400. We only experiencing problems with the P9400.
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Having the same ‘freeze’ issue with P9400 with BIOS A05 and ALL the drivers installed for Vista. Incidentally, this same ‘freeze’ issue occurs with XP as well on my unit.
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Turning off multi-processor support will treat the symptoms and reduce freezing. We’ve definitely seen improvement doing this.
I was informed yesterday that they cannot fix this with a BIOS upgrade. That there will be motherboard/logic board replacements to address this.
The new motherboards won’t be ready until mid-feb. Which in Dell time means early March.
Frustrating to say the least. If you notice there is a glut of 4300′s in the dell outlet.
Once these issues are addressed, $800 for a loaded 4300 with coupon is a steal. But right now? Not so much.
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Our company purhcased 15 of these red e4300 systems. All of them have the P9400 processor and all of them freeze up. I just lost 3 hours worth of work because the thing froze up. I was not on wireless, I was not running any audio, I was simply doing a visio and typing up word documents. I have the latest BIOS and drivers released as of yesterday on all 15 e4300 laptop and they still freeze randomly.
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Dell support will not acknowledge this is an issue. Can you please share who you guys are speaking to? They’ve offered to send me a box to ship it to the ‘depot’ to fix the problem.
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Hi, We are a Dell Global Customer and we too have the problems set out above. We knew we were in trouble when 4 units from 2 different factories started developing these problems in the US and the UK respectively. It is a nightmare. Only once we raised 4 tickets in the space of 3 days, our account exec conceded this was an ‘engineering issue’ and that shipment and production of the E4300 was on ‘engineering hold’ until the 19th of January. That was advised on about 22 December. We were subsequently told that the bios thread setting was a temp workaround.
The problem for Dell is on several fronts. The vast majority, if not all of these machine will be sold with SBD/NBD Support or on-site support and all the trimmings. The absence of parts was one problem, replacing identical replacement parts would not solve the problem and machines in production face being scrapped. New product is always susceptible to latent defects or faults that are not found out (no matter how hard you test!) until they get in the hands of the customer. Sadly for us, these machines got in the hands of our CEO, FD, Presidents; and then the problems rear thy heads.
We should have done some extended usage internally before we released the product to the guys that sign the cheques! It never occurred to us that this was a necessary step nowadays and we have (or should I say ‘had’) every confidence in the Dell product.
Not being able to honour support contracts and not being able to handle a defect resolution and facing a possible product recall would be a major issue for Dell in the corporate arena. They would rather deal with each case as it arises and hope we don’t talk about it amongst ourselves!
Thank goodness for datapoobah! I could have started a thread long ago but Dell conveying me a confession in a clandestine way, I owed it to them to keep quiet about what I had discovered. Silly in retrospect.
Did anyone get the feeling they had been told this information ‘in confidence’ or otherwse encouraged to keep it to themselves?
I am just trying to confirm how ‘risk managed’ this product defect issue is. Dell went so far as to say that the problem was an Intel one. Support guys know nothing, account execs let you know there is an issues, then keep in regular contact telling you situation is quite serious but need to find out more, then drip feed you until a ochestrated response is found and eventually a permanent fix, production is re-tooled, units tested and so-on and full production resumes.
Damage limitation.
Another issues is there is no variant on the same chasis or form factor. I learned that the E6400 had similar ‘teething’ troubles that are now resolved. Any 6400 operators go through this as early adopters?
I suppose deep down I am sure the problem will be permanently resolved and we will forget about it rather swiftly. However, more recently one of my tech was speaking with an internal guy at Dell who fisrt said ‘how did you know about this?’ and then confessed that this problem was not going away quickly.
I know Dell neet to mitigate but there should certainly have been a bulletin circulated to owners, risk asessment and action/resolution itmes and a dedicated response facility. Would anyone agree?
Meanwhile I await details of the de-facto fix, a statement from dell on resolution and an apology from same.
KCP
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Yup, this sounds exactly like the problems we are experiencing. The big problem is that 2 out of 3 e4300 we own are in the hands of our CEOs
Random lockups, sales rep saying it be a big problem, but no support whatsoever from the guys that control the repairs. Way to go “helldesk”.
No matter what approach you take they hang in there with excuses as “try the CD, no result = no problem”, upgrade the bios, swap harddrives, etc etc. I cannot play memory jockey with the bosses laptops. Right now the guy is so pissed he wants another supplier
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Agreed… This is bad for Dell, because of the nature of the laptop, small and relatively powerful for it’s size. IT is upper management that is getting the majority of these. (same in our case).
I will say crippling it to single core has really helped and has kept mine working as well as one other.
I’m still waiting on the resolution. Either a motherboard replacement, or a new unit where I swap the drive to save some time. Since we do have a working fix, we’re keeping them.
We were early adopters of the eSeries, and the 6400 was very flaky at first but they seem to have resolved all of those issues with BIOS upgrades.
Same with the 6500′s we have. But mine is currently rock solid. (over 35 days w/o a hang and that’s with vista
so that’s saying something.SonyC you need to escalate through your sales rep, if they won’t help you, go to their boss, and up the food chain.
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I have found out that the factory in poland are unable to meet the current production demands due to this problem. We are still waiting for our E4300 laptop to come in….and yes we have been told it will be mid feb.
I have noticed that majority of the drivers have been updated and my image it outdated already…..yippie….
MDT is the way forward
by the way…i have noticed a few on our e6400 freezing….users have reported this….but its only the red ones…
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I’m also wainting for a E4300 since mid Dezember. The seller told me that the laptop is so good that they are unable to meet the demands. I think i will send this link to him.
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If you’d like to read more complaints about the issues with the E4300, see this forum:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19245498.aspx?PageIndex=1
While talking with Dell Tech Support (AGAIN) today, they said that this issue is so widespread that you can’t return an E4300 for another one – have to get another model.
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We still don’t have a fix, be that updated BIOS or replaced Motherboards. We’ve been promised solutions since November… It’s getting a tad old.
Our last ETA was motherboard replacements available mid Feb, which is now.
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I ordered one of these machines in early Decemeber. I have just been informed by the account manager that it has further component problems and will not be ready until MID MARCH! I think i’m going to cancel my order! HUmph!
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I am certainly open to an alternative to the 4300. Needs to be in the same class (size) and obviously doesn’t have to be a Dell.
If you have a suggestion, post up.
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Ordered and received asap a refurbished e4300 with the sp9300 processor a couple weeks ago. Crossing my fingers it remains the case, but so far not experiencing any problems.
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I’m told that the reworked motherboards are being built as fast as they can. We’re hoping to get one of the early ones since we’ve been bitching about this since November when they shipped but I’m not holding my breath.
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Same problem here, just contacted dell. I will keep you posted on the outcome.
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I just got a second E4300 this week. It has the same crashing problem, this means that Dell keeps delivering faulty E4300s, at least in France
Besides this, Dell failed to produce the mid-February BIOS fix they promised (or propose a replacement motherboard)
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Dell just answerd to my complaint and told me that they will substitute the motherboard.
A strange thing. I have installed Ubuntu and as of now I have not experience any lock up.
Is this a windows incompatibility problem?
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