Dell Latitude 5490 (laptop) upgrades so far

Me | 1/1/2023 | Paul R.

[Paul R.]

A few fellow FReepers know of my work to upgrade my recently purchased refurb Dell Latitude 5490 laptop computer. Here I'll try to tie up everything accomplished so far. Note that I'm not particularly strong in Information Technology, but, since I've been asking a lot of questions, I thought that particularly for those in the market for a new laptop at a modest price, this information may be useful.

General comments would be that these machines are available on eBay from reputable sellers fairly inexpensively, especially if one is willing to hunt for a "good deal". The 5490 is (was) a popular business class laptop, so, the basic good quality, reliability, support, flexibility of use, and capability / capacity to be upgraded are "there". I definitely recommend these machines and their close siblings.

If you want to get a machine with Win 11 / Win 11 Pro (or would upgrade in the future), be sure to get one with an 8th gen or later Intel i-series processor. Earlier processors are not supported.

My learning curve for Win 11 Pro so far has been one of the easier Microsoft "new OS" experiences for me. It is certainly NOT the disaster of Win 7 to Win 8.

More specifics below...

(Disclaimer: I am not associated with Dell in any way.)

[Paul R.]

From my posting on an earlier thread, earlier this evening (slightly edited):

==========================================================

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4116950/posts?page=36#36

Today I added a matching 8 GB RAM card. “This PC / Properties” reports it’s there, and Taskbar shows the machine at 19% RAM usage once she’s calmed down after a fresh cold boot, with no apps running. (I did pare down the startup stuff a bit.) I’ve not yet cloned the C drive over to the 512 GB M.2 SATA drive that I added in the WWAN slot — I might get to that next weekend. (The idea is to then swap in a 512 GB M.2 NVMe in the main drive slot, and clone the SATA drive back to it. That way I end up with a 512 GB NVMe boot & programs drive, and a 512 GB SATA data / downloads drive that also has a copy of the OS and critical apps on it, PLUS the original 256 GB NVMe drive is available to possibly put in my Lenovo netbook, or turn into a super-fast USB drive.) :-)

[ It is not for sure that I can boot off the SATA drive, as the BIOS may not be set up for that. However, that is not a deal breaker! ]

I also tested the video output from the Latitude’s HDMI port on a 43” 4k TV: Windows reports full 4k resolution, and word processor fine text & spreadsheets looks great, as do 4k vids off You Tube. Granted I have no good 4k MOVIES to watch, but, what the heck...

This has worked out well. For a bit over $250 (B4 tax) I have a faster laptop that I’ll ever tax, drive reliability should be high, there’s likely more drive capacity than I’ll ever use, an intro to Win 11 Pro, business class build, an OEM dock (with an extra power supply, so I ended up with the usual 65 watt supply and TWO 130 watt supplies, the nicest (IMO) laptop keyboard I’ve used yet (and nicely backlit, too), lots of flexibility, and I think(!) I can even charge the laptop from high output USB-C “power banks”*. The display is a bit dull, but plenty good for my uses, and there’s always that 4k / UHD video output. So far, everything is working smoothly and as an added plus I’ll have a spare 256 GB NVMe drive as noted above.

*I'm not 100% sure on that -- I do have a power bank with a USB-C output, but, it does not seem to charge the laptop, or at least not when the laptop still has a good partial charge itself.

[Paul R.]

Related thread discussing RAM vs. NVMe drives:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4116950/posts

[Paul R.]

Another discussion about this machine:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4116476/posts

[Still Thinking]

So you not only like W11, but you think W7 was a disaster? Are you a Democrat?

[VeniVidiVici]

I think he meant the 7-8 upgrade was a disaster

[sauropod]

bkmk

[Still Thinking]

Perhaps I judged him too harshly. Course, there is still the liking W11 thing! 😄

[The Duke]

I use a Dell Folio 9480m with 8GB memory and i5 processor running WIN10. I'm quite happy with it - especially the sturdy construction and nice, backlit keyboard (I impress easily).

For virtualization needs I run a number of Linux containers under Docker Desktop (requiring virtualization features to be enabled in the BIOS).

I have other computers with better specs, but this is my "EDC". :)

[OrangeHoof]

Back in 2019, I decided to leave the country so I sold my desktop and bought a refurbished Dell Latitude E6510 which cost around $400 after I upgraded to add as much RAM and hard drive as I could possibly fit. I insisted on Windows 7, not 8 or 10, and the sales rep dutifully warned me that Windows was phasing out Win7 support. I bought a Win 7 OS disk and an external hard drive for backups and they have both been life savers. I have many documents and family photos I store on CD-Rom as well as flash drives in hopes I’ll never lose the data.

Anyway, there is a place in Austin, TX called “Discount Electronics” (https://discountelectronics.com/) which buys and refurbishes Dells mostly and will rebuild to your specifications. If what you want is a Dell laptop for less, I highly recommend them. They’ll ship too.

[Paul R.]

Are you a Democrat?

Eh, no, but you misinterpreted what I said. To clarify, the disaster was MS going from Win 7 to Win 8.

[Paul R.]

I didn’t say I “liked” Win 11 Pro, I simply said the transition to it from Win 10 Pro was relatively easy for me. And at least it’s not the Win 7 to Win 8 disaster.

11 does seem to be a memory hog just to run the OS. How it is about memory leaks and huge accumulations of un-necessary log files and such, I shall see, I guess. Win 7, which I mostly am ok with and am working from right now, is pretty bad about such things.

“Mostly”. In SOME ways I still prefer XP... :-)

[Still Thinking]

Ah, gotcha. Sorry for misreading your meaning.

[Paul R.]

Cool.

Except for its weight, I really liked my old HP Elitebook, also with an i5, 8 GB RAM, and Win 10 Pro, for many things, but, one day it went from working great to no display, integral or external, and so far I’ve not been able to run down what went wrong.

Shoot, this old i3 HP6300 Pro SFF with Win 7 Pro and 10 GB of RAM is my workhorse desktop, even though I have more capable 6300’s with i5’s, more RAM, Win 10 Pro, and bigger / better SSD’s. (I did upgrade to a 256 GB SSD from the 128 GB SSD I put in this machine several years ago.) Sooner or later I’ll probably swap an i5 based 6300 w/ Win 10 onto my office desk, but there’s no rush — this one does most everything I need, efficiently, and I “know” it best.)

[Paul R.]

Right. Thanks.

[Paul R.]

Ah, this is pretty much my machine as I got it (but with Win 11 Pro and a 256 GB NVMe SSD, and the 2x power supply adapter.) One tiny(!) dent in the plastic, otherwise looks virtually new.

https://discountelectronics.com/dell-latitude-5490-i7-ultrabook-8th-gen-14-windows-10-pro

What’s disgusting (/s) is that mine, by me being a “careful” eBay buyer, cost $174 with tax and shipping. ;-) Granted, no warranty, unless I purchased such from eBay.

[Paul R.]

but MINE with...

[OrangeHoof]

Great buy but I practically gave up e-Bay shopping because so often it didn’t match what I ordered. For something as important to me as my personal computer, I couldn’t take such chances. Glad you are happy with it.

[daniel1212]

. Course, there is still the liking W11 thing

Well, as with W/10, there are improvements, but also safe freeware to make it more like W/7, via ExplorerPatcher) and thus 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and Open-Shell-Menu. Etc.

download Open Shell (click on Releases>Latest on middle right side) to replace the mobile device W/11 start menu, and there is Explorer Patcher that restores the Windows 11 taskbar to be exactly like Windows 10, while Windows 7+ Taskbar Tweaker (I am using the beta ver.) provides more customization.
Then there are the over 200 tweaks available in Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 and now there is Ultimate Windows Tweaker 5 for Windows 11 from the Windows club.

Add to this the many Winaero features of the Winaero Tweaker

Add to this is Right-Click Extender (add items to many right click menus),

W/11 Default Start menu>All apps

Versus OpenShell W/11:

Right Click Extender (some additions):

7+Taskbar Tweaker (stacks open pages from same source, etc.):

Device manager still the same (good!):

[mabarker1]

Is the screen BRIGHTNESS turned down ?

Just a thought.

[daniel1212]

11 does seem to be a memory hog just to run the OS.

The 22H2 update seems to have improved it even more, but if you are running Ryzen, be careful re. the KB5021255 update.