The Dell Latitude D620 is a 14-inch widescreen business notebook equipped with the latest Intel Core Duo processor. The D620 replaces the D610 and provides quite an overhaul in both design change and internal components. The new industrial charcoal grey and black look of the D620 conveys its strong build, which Dell calls “Road Ready”, and with a slew of available built-in wireless communications this notebook is road ready in more ways than one.

Configuration
Here’s the actual configuration I purchased. I just copied the relevant things directly from the invoice.

Design and Build

The D620 is most interesting in that it adopts a widescreen format, a feature that hereto date really has been pushed more in the consumer channel of notebooks.  Dell reckons that business-types will prefer this format too though.  After all, a widescreen (available in WXGA and WXGA+ resolution) does allow you to more easily have two windows open next to each other at the same time.  Side-by-side comparison of documents, web pages or spreadsheets is an example of common business tasks more easily done on a widescreen.

The only major hardwares feature I opted out of was the fingerprint reader on the touch pad and the integrated 3G data card. The fingerprint reader looks like a neat feature to toy around with, but for $100 I really don’t have a need for it. Same goes for the 3G card. It’s a cool feature for them to offer, but I have no desire to drop down the cash for the card or the serice fees for this.

DisplayAs I mentioned in my “Laptop Hunt” article, the display resolution is what won me over on this machine. Admittedly, this is not the most impressive screen I have seen. Some of the “glossy” HP displays look a bit nicer. This seems to have more of a “matte” finish, to further the analogy. However, the screen looks completly clear and crisp running at it’s native 1440×900 resolution. The picture really doesn’t do it justice, but here it is anyway.
It has a built-in ambient light sensor that can “auto-adjust” the brightness of the display. So far, it seems to set it dimmer than I like. I usually just manually set the brightness, which does get pretty bright.
As far as the graphics card, it also supports extending the desktop across multiple displays, which is nice when I need it. From what I’ve read if you’re looking for gaming, this is not the machine to get. You would probably want something with a dedicated graphics card like the nVidia Dell offers on the D610 (but no widescreen.) This D620 has the integrated Intel 950 chipset.Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) mini CardAbsolutely no trouble setting up the wireless connection. The supplied driver supports WEP, WPA and WPA2. The icon in the task tray lets you enable or disable the radio. I suppose a hardware button would have been nice, but I wouldn’t want to give up with WiFi Finder for it.

KeyboardI read somewhere in another review that the keyboard seemed a little weak. I know what they were talking about now. The keys don’t feel super “solid.” I guess it’s all just preference. Maybe I will get used to it. I wanted to provide this picture of the keyboard so you could see the actual layout. I know some people are really picky about where certian keys are placed.
WiFi Finder

Another nice feature is the integrated WiFi finder. With the PC turned off you can find out if there are any access points in the vacinity. Basically, you just slide the switch, the little light blinks, and then stays lit for a few seconds if it finds a hot spot. The whole process is pretty quick and is very handy.
When the PC is turned on, sliding the switch brings up the device driver’s site survey list.
Smart Card ReaderThe D620 comes with an integrated Smart Card Reader. This is part of their “Trusted Platform Module” (TPM). By default, it’s turned off in the BIOS and needs to be enabled. The instructions are provied in an link in the TPM Program group. I started to go through the setup for this, but decided I really didn’t want to turn all of this security on. It looks like a good feature for those looking for a good security option. The basic premise is that a smart card would replace the login procedure.This also goes along with the optional fingerprint reader I mentioned above.
BluetoothThe Bluetooth interface worked without a problem. I did just a simple test of connecting up with my Dell Axim X30 and transferred a file to the laptop. That whole process was pretty easy if you’re already comfortable using Bluetooth devices. In general, I’ve always thought connecting Bluetooth devices has been more difficult than advertised, but that’s another issue I won’t get into.

DVD+/-RW DriveNo problems with the drive. It works just as anyone would expect. However, I wasn’t completely happy with the design/workmanship of the drive bay. There is a gap between the bottom of the drive and the casing (shown in the picture.) It seems Dell could have designed this with a tighter fit, giving better overall quality. Again, not a deal breaker, but I would have expected a better design for the money.
Port Replicator

I was a little disappointed with the port replicator. Everything on it technically works just fine. However, there’s no way to line it up when putting it on. In the instructions they even say:
“Lower the computer and move it slightly from side to side until you feel it seated on the alignment posts.”
It would be nice if it also had a side stop, but this really isn’t a deal-breaker. After docking for a few weeks, I can get it right on, but over the long term I don’t know how this problem wears on the bottom of the machine.
Taking it out is really easy. Just push the “Undock Request” button and wait for the eject button to turn green. Having Windows aware of the docking station is really nice. I’ve used a Compaq laptop with a port replicator before and Windows doesn’t know it exists. This causes all kinds of headaches with adjusting the screen resolution.

Which brings up a good point, in that the notebook automatically switches screen resolutions as needed when docked or undocked. My desktop monitor is set at a higher resloution than the native laptop display supports. The display driver takes care of remembering what resolution to use in each mode.

De-Crapifying

In a twisted way, I was hoping that the system would be loaded full of trialware so that I would have the opportunity to enhance my Dell De-Crapifier script. However, I was both pleased and disappointed to find no such trialware on my machine. My theory is that since the Latitude notebook is their business line, they don’t want a bunch of ticked off corporate customers. Also, while waiting to pull the trigger on this purchase I could not find a single coupon code that would apply to this laptop. So, they probably make a little more profit on these machines. However it was on “special” for $400 off.

There was one option during the customization of the machine to add the McAffee trial version. So, it was nice to see the option to turn it off.

Security

Being a business notebook Dell has pulled out all the stops to make the D620 secure and provide as many options as possible to the end user for ways to keep their data secure.  Laptops are highly popular targets for theft; they’re indeed the weakest link in any enterprises IT security solution, because in the end it’s up to the end user to be smart about keeping an eye on their laptop and keeping it locked properly.  Here’s a list of some of the security features the D620 comes with:

User Authentication

• BIOS passwords & Port Disablement
• Integrated Smart Card reader -Smart Cards provide strong user authentication using the “2 factor authentication”, something I have (Smart Card) with something I know (password).
• Smart Cards can be used in conjunction with a PKI environment via Windows XP & Vista.
• UPEK Finger Print reader: An optional Biometric reader can be added to the D620 palm rest, providing an additional third factor authentication (something I am) to passwords & Smart Cards.
• Pre boot Authentication: Enables user authentication prior to OS log in with Smart Card or fingerprint reader

System Authentication

• System Primary Password: User password needed to boot system
• Administrator Password:Administrators or service technicians access to computers for service or repair.
• Hard Disk Drive Password: Data cannot be accessed without the original hard disk drive password.
• TPM 1.2: Integrated on the D620 motherboard Trusted Platform Module can be used to store and generate “on board”encryption keys.

Confidential Data Encryption

• Microsoft Windows OS File & Folder Encryption
• Wave EMBASSY Trust Suite by Wave Systems
• Optional Credant Technologies Mobile Guardian

Battery

The 9-cell extended life battery sticks out a bit at the front of the D620

One thing I really like about this Dell battery is the Express Charge feature.  The Express Charge means that you can quickly charge to 80% capacity in about 40-minutes or 100% capacity in about an hour of charging (those numbers are stated assuming the notebook is off).  If you have a layover at an airport or limited time to plug-in a notebook before you have to be pulled away from a wall outlet again, this can be a life-saver.  At other times it’s just really convenient.

The D620 also has a nice 5 light LED display to show you how much battery charge is left without having to boot the notebook.  Push the battery icon on the battery and it will light up with each light representing 20% charge.

Conclusions

The Latitude D620 is a very welcome upgrade to the D610 offering many improvements, especially in terms of performance and security, and the look and build quality are also much improved.  The widescreen approach is interesting for a business notebook, I think it makes sense and probably will be well received.  It’s very apparent that Dell is excited about this new line of Latitudes (D620, D420 and D820) and have gone out of their way in regards to testing the notebook and getting feedback from customers on what they want.  So thumbs up on the D620, if you’re a business worker or just someone that wants a notebook for productivity purposes and don’t need a bunch of bells and whistles media features, the D620 is a very well built and good option for you.

Pros

• Very good overall performance, snappy with the Core Duo and availability for large amount of RAM (up to 4GB) and a very clean Windows install without a ton of unwanted software means better performance
• Nice new industrial look
• Excellent build and construction via the all over mag-alloy case
• Widescreen format offers greater viewing area, easier to view side-by-side documents especially with WXGA+ format
• Great security via Smart Card, biometrics and security software suite
• Super connectivity, especially with option for EVDO or HSPDA cellular broadband built-in

Cons

• Would have been nice to have a seperate Express Card 54 slot for future proofing
• Multimedia card reader or SD card reader would have been nice to have
• No S-Video or DVI-D ports, but not exactly expected for a business notebook
• Screen is slightly washed out and slight amount of backlight leakage at the bottom
• Battery life with 6-cell battery is under 3 hours with wi-fi on and medium screen brightness, would have been nice to see it over 3 hours

Related Batteries:

Dell Latitude D505 Battery

Dell Latitude D830 Battery

31-12-2010 om 08:03 geschreven door brandnewbattery