Thread: Which would be better - D410 or D600

The specs you provide don't give the needed info. I think I'm reading that one has 512 MB of RAM and the other has 128 MB. What kind/speed are the CPU's? What kind of graphics chip? How many USB ports? Do they have serial ports (not likely, and not necessary, but nice to have)?

Okay this is what I have:

D600 is a Intel Pentium M processor 1400 mhz 1.40 ghz with 640 mb of RAM. It has a ATI Mobility Radean 9000 video card, a pcmi slot, 2 usb slots, a 25 pin port, a 15 pin port and a 9 pin port. It is running Windows XP Pro SP2.

D410 is a Intel Pentium M processor 1.60 ghz with 504 mb of RAM. It has a mobile Intel 915 gm/gms 910 GML Express chipset family. It has a pcmi slot, 4 usb slots and 1 15 pin port. It is running Windows XP Pro Ver 2002 SP2.

I was originally thinking the D410 would be better because it is smaller, but I have two of the D600's (spare parts) and they have more slots and ports so I'm leaning toward the D600.

Let me know what you think and thanks for your patience!

1043

I own a D410 and a D630. The D410 is good enough IMO to run typical Car PC apps and is certainly faster than the Atom based ITX motherboards so popular right now. I think the only thing that will challenge the D410 is DVD playback but that is not something I care about in a Car PC. My needs are MP3/FLAC playback, Navigation, and possibly bluetooth phone integration. I have no wish to watch videos on a 7" screen in my dash while driving or parked. The D630 is in another class and can handle anything. Your D600 is probably very close to the D410 in performance. The ATI chip will probably enable DVD playback if you need it. The key for any of these laptops is to have at least 2 GB of RAM and Win XP SP3. Performance is improved with SP3. I am going to do a car PC install with my D410 soon.

You are going to need a Lind power supply made for Dells to get max performance out of them. Using a generic ps will cause the bios to slow down the processor speed because it will not recognize what wattage power supply is connected. Lind makes a 12 Volt DC ps that meets the Dell spec and is also sold under the Dell brand name. I just picked one up used on Ebay for $30.00.

Thanks for the info....my setup will be very basic, it is nice to know I can get away with the Lind power supply - will save me a few bucks. I will need to add some RAM and update to sp3. I'm really not into watching videos on a 7" screen either. I'm collecting equipment and hope to start a bench build soon. I'm also doing a megasquirt so it's slow going right now....Thanks for the info - I'll go with the D600 since I have two of them. I'll use the D410 for the megasquirt...

The other trick to doing this is to hard wire the power button on the laptop to a switch you can install up front. I am buying a used latitude docking station off Ebay for $15.00. I will open that up and figure out how to hard wire the power switch on that. This way, the laptop remains stock and can be removed for normal use. I will power the docking station with the Lind unit.. I will wire the Lind power supply to turn on with the ignition.

Check this out - hard wire Lind PS...

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...342-DT&cat=NBB

I'm not real familiar with docking stations, what are the main advantages?

I would go with the D410 as it has the faster processor. It also has more USB ports which is also of importance. The 600 ports are dont really add any additional benefits over the 410. The 25 pin port is printer, and the 9 pin port can be accomplished with a usb to serial adapter. The 15 pin port is external video which is needed for a touch screen, which I would also recommend, and makes the laptop screen size unimportant.

I agree with upgrading the memory to whatever the max of the laptop is. This may also help determine which model you use if one has a greater capacity. You may even be able to upgrade the processor. I upgraded 2 d800s from 1.4 and 1.6 both to 2.0 Ghz CPUs. I also agree with MDA185 in going with a dock powered by a Lind power supply from Ebay. Make sure you get a Lind with the correct wattage for powering the laptop in the dock. I think most d series need a 90W.

It is very simple to wire the dock with a remote switch. Use a multimeter to determine which connections on the docks power switch are connected when you press it, and solder your wires to those connections. I have a mono 1/8 inch jack on the dock to make it easy to then connect your external switch. A male 1/8 connector then has your wire running to th e front of the car. That way, not only can you remove the laptop easily, you can also remove the dock, without extra wires hanging out the side.

I use a piece of software called Speedswitch XP. This allows you to basically bypass the intel speedswitching on laptops. I also suggest using Black Vipers recommendations for turning off unecessary xp services. Shutcontrol found here on MP3Car will shut down the laptop when it senses that the power has switched to battery, and restart your Front End when you power back on, from Standby or Hibernate.

Hope you find this helpful.

This is good info....I found docking stations for the d600 and d410 on Ebay...so I'll definitely go that route. From what I'm hearing I should go with the d410...
How can I tell how much ram the d410 will take? It looks like I can add two one gb sticks of ram.
All the info is great....thanks for all your help....

The D410 takes a max of 2 GB RAM. It has two slots so you are looking at two 1 Gig memory modules. That is how I will set mine up.

Thanks, drewbp for link to shutcontrol. Looks like I will be using it.