Dell means business with these new Latitude laptops
Get the details on Dell's new version of the Latitude laptop line.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Today in San Francisco, Dell unveiled a new lineupof business laptops, as well as some desktops and workstations. Coming just a month after CES, these new additions don't offer any radical new ideas, but are a solid set of upgrades to Dell's popular corporate laptops, which are a familiar sight in office settings, although not as common as Lenovo's iconic ThinkPads.
To design a new batch of work laptops, Dell says it, "hosted focus groups including Gen-Y customers, IT managers and other business segment customers (over 2,000 in total) over 18 months to get feedback about what they wanted in a business laptop."
The new Latitude E5000 series starts at $859, and has what Dell calls a tri-metal casing and meets some Mil-spec requirements (a standard used for testing rugged equipment for military use). Dells says it added, "more than 100 durability-focused design improvements." As expected from a business laptop, they have hard drive accelerometers, and remote IT features, including remote data deletion.
Backlit keyboards on many of these models is a nice option, and the docking stations and batteries are compatible between different sizes and models. The built-in speakers and mics have also been improved, to aid with work collaboration in online environments.
These new Latitude laptops will have Intel's second-gen Core i-series processors, also known as Sandy Bridge (except for the 2120 Netbook, of course), but the technical problems and delays we've seen in the platform could lead to delays in shipping actual systems. Dell says none of these systems will ship within the next 30-45 days, so the Sandy Bridge delay shouldn't affect anything.
Here is a list of the new Dell business laptops. Stay tuned for further details and updates.
- Latitude E5420
- Latitude E5520
- Latitude E6220
- Latitude E6320
- Latitude E6420
- Latitude E6520
- Latitude E6420 ATG
- Latitude 2120 Netbook
- Latitude XT3 Convertible laptop
- Precision M6600 (workstation)
- Precision M4600 (workstation)
Also interesting was a brief mention of a new Windows 7 tablet, pictured below, although that looks to be a non-working mockup, rather than a functional prototype.
