Dell introduces Latitude E Series

By: Klaus Hinum

Today Dell introduced the new Latitude E Series for business users consisting out of 7 different models.

Dell Latitude Family

Dell Latitude E6400

Dell Latitude E6500

Dell Latitude E5400

Dell Latitude E4200

According to Dell the new Latitude E laptops are optimized for "Design & Durability". This contains a new chassis design made from magnesium alloy and improved hinges that should be more durable. Furthermore, Dell also took a good look at Apple and introduced a new slimmer design and a backlit keyboard (optionally). Furthermore, the new Latitude laptops are also relatively light (compared to competitors).

The biggest advantage of the new series should be the improved battery runtime. With the big 9-cell battery and an additional battery pack (mounted on the bottom of the notebook) Dell wants to achieve up to 19 hours of battery runtime (Mobile Mark 2007) for the E6400 and E6500 mainstream notebooks. The large 9 cell battery alone should last about 10 hours.

Another improvement is the smaller (half the size) AC adapter which features an express charge feature and 87% efficiency. Express charge should load to battery to 80% in one hour. Up to now, charging a battery very fast leads to much heat in the battery (which is very bad for it). Time will tell, if Dell has solved this issue, or if using this feature will harm the battery.

As Toshiba, Dell now also introduced a powered USB port, that is able to charge devices, even if the notebook is turned off.

An upcoming feature of the new Latitude laptops is the "Dell Latitude On" system. It enables the user to quickly boot up a linux based operating system to access mails (Exchange Server), read PDFs and surf on the internet. The novilty is, that wireless features should be accessible with the system. Furthermore, Dell plans to integrate an additional CPU (e.g. Atom class) with a low power consumption for the "Dell Latitude On" system. With it, the system should run up to one week.

Dell Latitude E6400 - Mainstream
14.1" WXGA or WXGA+ LED Screen
Centrino 2 (up to T9600) CPU
Intel WiFi Link 5300, Bluetooth 2.1 with UWB, Broadband & GPS
vPro
Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M1 256 MB or GMA 4500MHD
1.35 kg with 4 cell battery

Dell Latitude E6500 - Mainstream
Specs like the E6400 but with
15.4" WUXGA, WXGA+ (LED) or WXGA Display
DDR 3 Memory instead of DDR2
2.34 kg with 4 cell battery

Dell Latitude E5500 - Essential
Centrino 2 Platform with Celeron M or Core 2 Duo
GMA 4500MHD
DDR2
15.4 WXGA, WXGA+  (optional TruLife)
2.89 kg with 6-cell

Dell Latitude E5400 - Essential
as E5500 but with 14.1 WXGA or WXGA+ display
2.54 kg with 6-cell battery

Dell Latitude E4300 - Ultra portable
Centrino 2 with Core 2 Duo up to SP9400
13.3" WXGA LED display
max 8 GB DDR3
1.5 kg with 3 cell battery

Dell Latitude E4200 - Ultra portable
12.1 WXGA LED display
Centrino 2 with Core 2 Duo ULV up to SU9400 (1.4 GHz 3MB L2 Cache)
max 5 GB DDR3 (1 GB on board)
no internal optical drive
1 kg with 4 cell battery

Dell Latitude E6400 ATG - robust
E6400 protected against dust, moisture and vibration for heavy duty applications.