Dell Latitude 5289

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tlmiller
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Dell Latitude 5289

Post by tlmiller »

So, had time to finish getting it almost 100% setup. Still haven't moved over my GUI customizations (wallpapers, themes, icons, etc.), but other than that everything is set up. Here's my thoughts:

Design:
It's exactly like the Latitiude 3379 & 3390's we use at work. Also the same as my Inspiron 7375. Except 12.5" 1080P LCD instead of a 13.3" 1080P LCD. So while it's not the thinnest, not the lightest, it's a good design that allows it to be a convertible 2-in-1 while still being a good laptop. The keyboard is the same as well. Not amazing, but works well, and for an (obviously) non-mechanical keyboard isn't bad. It's no comparison to IBM/Lenovo laptops, but it's not bad. The LCD is bright. I can't really say how good the colors look since I'm color blind. They seem fine to me, but then, purple and blue look identical to me...
Touchpad is ok. Definitely one of the lesser touchpads Dell has ever used. Works fine, but I guess due to being 12.5", just seems really small. Libinput on Debian support 1,2,3 finger tap, 2 finger scroll. I don't test more than that, since I don't use more than that.
Ports are a strong suit for this laptop. It's only 12.5", yet has 2 USB-C (1 supporting Power Delivery), full size hdmi, 2 USB 3.0, headphone, and micro-sd card slot. And the micro-sd card is BOOTABLE (once you make it so in the BIOS). I know a lot of people like to boot from sd-card to do things.

Specs:
Intel Core i7-7600u. Not the latest, but not very old. Dual core hyperthreaded.
16 GB LPDDR3. Soldered to board. So if you get one, make sure to buy the amount of ram you want, no upgrading. This is, IMO, not as bad as it could be since LP ram uses so little power, this was a concious decision to help battery life instead of allowing removable DDR3/4 (which 4 is NEARLY as low voltage as LPDDR3, but still not quite)
512 GB NVME m.2 SSD. And it's a GOOD one!! The one in mine is a Samsung PM981...basically a 960EVO OEM edition!!
Intel 8265AC + BT4.2. Pretty standard, I replaced mine with a Realtek B822 chipset just to have something other than Intel. Plus the B822 is wave2 + mu-mimo, whereas the 8265 is only wave2 + mimo.
Intel UHD620. At this point a near-ubiquitous IGP.

Feel:
Like almost all Latitudes, the body is a MASSIVE finger print catcher. If you have ANY oils on your fingers, you'll leave fingerprints EVERYWHERE. Fairly easy to clean though. Touchscreen is glossy like most, so using it outdoors in sunlight is pretty much an impossibility. Hinges feel VERY good despite being used, and don't wobble very much at all even in laptop mode. Haven't tested, but I'd bet the accelerometer doesn't work in any linux out of the box.

Irrititaions:
Honestly, only had one. Came with BIOS 1.11.1. BIOS 1.17.1 available. Tried flashing in Windows before putting a real OS on, tried flashing from USB. Tried flashing from the built-in flashing. All failed, but didn't bother saying why. So downloaded 1.13.0 (the very next release), no issues. Downloaded 1.15.0, no issues. Tried 1.17.1, no issues now. So it doesn't support going directly from bios X to X+(2 or more), but also doesn't TELL you that anywhere on the laptop or on Dells support page. Yeah, pretty minor overall.

Overall Impressions:
I like it. It's not the best laptop I have, but unlike the Lenovo that came with a low end entry level Crucial P1 NVME, this came with a really nice high performance NVME drive. It's also nice to have multiple USB-C's (for future proof), but still have some USB 3.0's for TODAY. In the end, this laptop really feels like Dell thought it through before releasing. If only I could have gotten it in a 8th gen CPU (quad core with the same 15-watt TDP) it would be pretty much perfect.
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crosscourt
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

Post by crosscourt »

Typically you can go right to the newest bios with Dell but sometimes you need to install a somewhat newer bios first before being able the update to the newest bios. Normally the Dell website has info on that in the support section or its mentioned with the bios updates.
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tlmiller
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

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Yeah, I'm used to the BIOS telling you "you must upgrade to version x.xx before you can upgrade to this version". Nothing like that on the 5289, just "flash failed. Rebooting your system"
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

Post by crosscourt »

With my Dell 7010s I went from A14 to A26 and thats quite a jump with no issues.
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tlmiller
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

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Yeah, I remember one time I had an older laptop (E6520, maybe 10) that was on A02, updated straight to A15 no issues. But as long as it gets there, I don't mind if I have to do it in baby steps, as long as Dell makes the baby steps available. I know one laptop I had years ago I had to go googling for the intermediate BIOS it needed to upgrade to the newest. That was a PITA.
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tlmiller
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

Post by tlmiller »

Got the GUI stuff done, here's my desktop:

https://ibb.co/0ZbSh2d
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

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Looks great! So youre going all Debian 10 on your systems?
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tlmiller
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

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All the Debian systems, probably. Since it's can't be VERY long until Buster becomes stable. buster-backports already exists, buster-proposed-updates already exists. Neither of those repos existed for stretch until AFTER it was released as stable. So all signs point toward buster very soon becoming stable.
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tlmiller
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

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For the price, I am absolutely thrilled with this laptop. LCD is in perfect condition, the keyboard doesn't seem to have any issues, neither the touchpad, and it's free from major scratches or blemishes. Minor ones, but that's certainly to be expected from used hardware. As far as the performance of the system, it's absolutely great. This is absolutely a top-class system, and even better when you take the price I paid into account.
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Re: Dell Latitude 5289

Post by crosscourt »

Glad it worked out for you.
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