Dell Latitude 7480 (7600U, FHD) Laptop Review

[Renaud]

Thanks wojtow for your review.

Coil whine : maybe this noise comes with M2 sata drives ? (as you have the NVMe).

Soft finish : Is it the same than the one from the lid ? It's very difficult to figure out the finish, even with high res pictures).

[Spindrift]

Looking to purchase Dell 7480.  If I purchase one with "128GB Solid State Drive M2 2280 SATA3" can I upgrade at a later date to  a "PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive"?

They are both M2 form factor but can the same M2 slot accept both SATA and PCI Express interface types?

Thanks
Gareth

[dthrp]

@Spindrift:
Dell's webpage for the 7480 claims that it does support PCIe.
However, what Dell fails to mention is that M2 PCIe is limited on some dual-core systems. And this happens to be one of those unfortunate cases, where PCIe is only wired by X2 lanes on the motherboard, instead of X4. This means that sequential operation speeds will be halved, rendering an NVMe SSD very much useless.

Additionally, in case you want to use an external NVMe SSD with TB3, or just use TB3 for data operations, you should know that the TB3's PCIe lanes aren't limited on the Latitude 7480. The reason I'm noting this fact is because on a number of laptops with TB3, their PCIe capacity is often limited to X2 lanes as well.

ODMs should be more honest regarding their products if they don't want to lose the customers.

References:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19992358/20971857
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5ufjk9/dell_thunderbolt_number_of_pcie_lanes/

[chileverde]

I have found three pages that discuss possible solutions to the coil whine. The first is specifically about Dell Latitudes, and the others are about other Dell laptops:

http://www.wadewegner.com/2007/03/how-to-stop-the-high-pitched-noise-emitted-by-dell-latitudes-updated/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/4csxfz/how_to_fix_coil_whine_on_your_xps_9550_really/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/4cq4hm/dell_customer_service_acknowledges_coil_whine/

Have the Notebookcheck reviewers or has anyone else tried these methods? Did they solve the problem?

(I am considering buying a Latitude 7480.)

[justnoticing]

You listed the IR camera not working for windows hello in the pro section

[chileverde]

I did buy a Latitude 7480 with PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive. I do not hear anything I would call coil whine. Tasks such as virus scan and whole disk encryption are incredibly fast. I am very pleased with the computer and have no complaints.

[Tung Lr]

I have a Xiaomi Power Adapter - USB type C with PD2.0 and QC3 45W.
Can I use this adapter to charging for dell 7480 by USB type C connector?
Is it possible?

[Aaron]

I've purchased several of these for business use. 
1. Dislike that power adapter, NIC, and HDMI ports where moved from rear of chassis.
2. I hate the thunderbolt docking stations.  As a space savings they are good, but the plug is prone to stress from users plugging in, etc.  Also, I've had significant display issues with TB docking stations.
3. The wifi card / drivers in these (same issue with 7470's) doesn't like reconnecting after sleep events.
4. I've now had 3 of these out of the box with bad keyboards (keys stick or flat out don't work) and they are a real pain to replace.
Much prefer the older 7450 and 7470 models.

[MH]

Hi. The laptop keyboard looks nice, but I am somewhat disappointed that it was not tested with a fast typist. When you go post 100 words a minute or just type char1-char2-char1-char2 (like koko) in fast succession, letters are dropped, misplaced or delayed.

This repeats all the way down to UEFI setup and so far Dell has not issued a fix.

[jeremy servieres]

Does the keys are really stick?
What flat out does it mean? (I'm french).
thanks

[powerslave12r]

I don't see the issue about key-presses being dropped.

I do think that the non-touch BOE 1920x1080 matte panel seems to suffer from PWM flickering on this machine.

[Bill]

I've been using one of these machines for about a week now.  While I agree with most of your review, I do have to disagree with the following:

"...the new single-hinge design forced Dell to relocate the ports to the side, which does improve ergonomics to a certain degree in our opinion."

For you to have that opinion, you either have to be at least one of the following:
--right handed
--never use a mouse
--never use the computer when either docked, or power cabled, or connected to HDMI.

For us lefties, the area to the left of the keyboard is our mouse territory--and now, I always have either a docking cable, and/or a power cable, and/or an HDMI cable, in the way.  And sometimes, a USB cable/device as well (since there's only one of those on the right side).  They're ALWAYS in the way.

I've talked to my employer's IT department, and will be switching to a 5480 soon, for just this reason.  10% of the population is left-handed, and this design is ergonomically awful for that group.

[dear dear]

I have both 7470 and 7480.
The display of 7480 is yellowish. Color temperature is some what 5000K or lower. the white areas are not exact white.
7470 is much better, white areas are exact white.
The reviewer is expected to report this.
I have both a 7480 and aI am disappointed.

[RM]

Cannot possibly agree regarding the keyboard.  This laptop has a terrible keyboard.  The keys jam against the frame.  If you type too quickly the keys don't register.  The bottom left of the keyboard requires considerable pressure for the keys to register.  The keyboard makes the laptop unbearable.  I expect it's keyboards like this which lead to RSI.  I don't know how this keyboard made it beyond the prototype phase.