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(Source: PC Advisor)

1.86 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 15″ LCD screen, 60GB HDD and 512MB DDR RAM. Which notebook? Well, the title of this post tells it all, but without it, I doubt anyone would be able to point me a model. The Dell Latitude D520 is just another 15″ laptop, with nothing particularly outstanding feature or design-wise.

But if that was all, PC Advisor probably wouldn’t have awarded it a 9 out of 10 rating for Value for Money in their recent review of the machine. Yep, as usual, it’s the price tag that brings the D520 to the fore. But admittedly, at £763 or US$1439 (including VAT) [before the traditional discounts BTW], it doesn’t really look it.

Anyway, their verdict? Well, “Provided you don’t want it to double up as an entertainment tool, the Latitude has everything that a good business laptop should have: a good turn of speed, long battery life and high build quality. The price tag should please, too.”

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(Source: Dell)

When Dell launched the 12.1″ Latitude D420 notebook last month, one of the key features touted was that it was ready for Draft 802.11n technology (“ready” means it doesn’t automatically come with an 802.11n card, and currently, you can’t add one to it when customizing configurations). That was probably Dell’s idea of a soft launch since only yesterday was a full press release on the subject published.

For the benefit of those who haven’t heard of the Dell Wireless 1500 or the 802.11n specification before this, let’s do a short recap. One: 802.11n is up to five times faster and has up to twice the range of 802.11g (which is one of the most widely used Wi-Fi standards currently). In hard figures, this means that the Dell Wireless 1500 Draft 802.11n Mini-Card transfers up to 270 megabits per second (Mbps) compared to the 54MBps of current 802.11g cards. Two: This is only a draft specification as it has not been industry-approved. Three: Dell’s card is backward compatible with the 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a standards. Four: It’s priced at US$59. Five: It’ll be available to all XPS notebook and some Inspiron notebook configurations (this probably means the Latitude D420’s 802.11n-readiness was for the final 802.11-spec only).

So, is this good or bad for us consumers? Well, for most of us, it means nothing, and stripping it out of customized configurations would probably be my first move. Why? Because, like its predecessors, you’ll need 802.11n routers before you’ll gain anything from the new draft standard. In addition, while the Dell Wireless 1500 is backwards compatible, no guarantee has been given that it’ll be upgraded when the final specification is accepted.

Why not just wait till the 802.11n standard is out and accepted?

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(Source: NotebookReview.com)

Praise for one of Dell’s latest business-class notebooks, the Dell Latitude D620, continues, with Personal Computer World continuing where NotebookReview.com left off.

In many aspects, the D620 gained high marks, including battery life and application performance, but as expected, it failed rather miserably in graphics performance given its integrated graphics chip.

All in all, the Latitude D620 was awarded a solid rating of 4 out of 5, with unrestrained praise as a verdict: “A powerful business notebook at an impressive price.”

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(Source: NotebookReview.com)

One of the first reviews of the Dell Latitude D620 (which was announced in March) has emerged, with NotebookReview.com being the “culprit”.

With a 2.0GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of DDR667 RAM and a 7200RPM SATA hard disk drive, the business-class notebook clearly outperformed many of its rivals (e.g. Lenovo Z61m, Gateway M255, etc.) with ease. And with a 9-cell battery, you can get around 3.5 hours on a reasonably high performance level.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the reviewer had honest praise for the D620, with him saying that, “I can honestly say without hesitation that I highly recommend this laptop to just about anyone seeking a light, powerful, business laptop. The D620 has been a great machine for me so far, and I am counting on it to continue to serve me well into the next four years.

My only regret is spending more money on docking stations and the new LCD when I could have just saved that money and got, say, one docking station. After it was all said and done, that was bad planning on my part and had nothing to do with the laptop. I am very pleased with this purchase.”

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(Source: PC Advisor)

Dell’s PR department must be going through a nightmare phase with all the bad PR floating around. Only a couple of weeks back, we heard about the exploding laptop in Japan.

However, such bizarre cases are rare, and conventional cases are likely to cause more problems, as in a Dell Inspiron 9400 case highlighted by The Inquirer in March - where a customer was shipped an ATI X1400 rather than the (much) more powerful GeForce Go 7800GTX graphics card.

But at least that case seems to have been resolved, with the customer in question getting an apology from a Dell Switzerland representative, plus his favoured 7800GTX.

Of course, whether this move will mitigate the negative PR “accumulated” so far is still unknown.

More information and reviews on the Dell Inspiron 9400 here.

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This 12.1″ widescreen ultraportable was hinted at around a month back, but only today was it officially announced by Dell. Featuring a Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Intel Core Solo U1300 (1.06GHz) processor, it will probably be slightly weaker performance-wise in comparison with Acer’s upcoming 12.1″ offering, the Ferrari 1000 (AMD Turion 64 X2). Of course, this will only be the case if Acer decides to ramp up the GHz on their model.

However, given the starting weight of 3.0 lbs for the Latitude D420 (when equipped with a 4-cell battery), it’ll compete well on weight since the F1000’s weight has been reported to start at around 3.7 lbs. Admittedly, you’re not going to be getting much style with the Dell - with its standard greyish silver finish awaiting you. But its battery life can be expanded to a whopping seven hours if you are willing to lug a 9-cell battery-equipped D420.

Early adopters will also be pleased with a couple of features Dell has thrown in with the D420. It’s 802.11n-ready, and features a Wi-Fi Catcher which can help you find wireless connections without booting up your notebook. Nothing spectacular, but it does add value to a rather simple notebook in a burgeoning ultraportable market.

It does seem though that Dell are prepared to battle its competitors on price instead of features, with a starting price of US$1,149 after an instant savings coupon. Of course, this price gets you only 512MB RAM, a 30GB 4200 RPM hard drive and a 24X external CD-ROM drive. Up your budget to US$1,642 and you’ll get the “standard” (that is, if you want to run Windows Vista) 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD (also 4,200RPM) and an external DVD-RW optical drive.

Overall, we’re not too thrilled with this new model, though it does round up Dell’s business-level Latitude notebook series. We’d say buy it only if you’re looking for a simple and effective ultraportable on the cheap.

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(Source: Dell)

Dell has upped their firepower with two business-class notebooks, both equipped with Intel Core Duo processors. At a starting price of US$1,149, we have a Dell Latitude D620 equipped with a Core Duo T2300 processor, 14.1 inch screen, 512MB RAM and 40GB SATA hard disk drive.

But if you can spare a bit more, at a starting price of US$1,289, we have the pictured Latitude D820 - which also comes with a T2300 processor, but with an exclusive option of upgrading to a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 120M graphics card. This one is a bit heavy at a minimum weight of 5.6 pounds, but that’s pretty okay considering that this is a 15.4 inch model.

Both notebooks come with Dell’s HyperConnect (wireless connection tie-ups with Cingular, Verizon and Vodafone), Smart Security (optional fingerprint reader, Wave Embassy Trust Suite security software), and RoadReady certification (durable design and rigorous testing).

[News via Dell]

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