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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?

Read more news and reviews on the Dell Latitude D420.

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