Laptop Thoughts: Dell Latitude E6420: A New Workhorse for the Enterprise

"Dell's Latitude line has long been a favorite of businesses large and small because of its strong performance, good pricing, and long battery life. With the new 14-inch Latitude E6420, Dell has added a strong dose of style and durability to this tried and true formula, using a new Tri-Metal design with a durable magnesium frame that's built to stand up to abuse. Inside, the E6420 packs a punch, thanks to a second-generation Core i5 processor. Still, the $1,361 price tag for our configuration is a bit steep--even when you factor in the touchscreen. Is this Latitude worth it?"

The new space age Latitude E6420 is a strange beast. The traditional Latitude market is the enterprise, but this system "as tested" included a touchscreen, still a bit taboo in today's offices because of the potential for increased support. Fortunately this is an option. The system otherwise is a bit heavy but rock-solid, rugged, and MIL-STD 810G-tested. With a choice of processors, the machine is a screamer, while not frying the user, with average display and sound, a great spill-proof keyboard, touchpad and pointing stick, and, a 9-cell battery that gets about 9:00 hours of use on LAPTOP's battery test. Configurations start at $699, with a 1600x900 video option adding $79, and a 1366x768 touchscreen option adding $99. Pretty expensive (when maxed-out) for a 14-inch laptop, but it does come with a 3-year warranty from Dell, and not a lot of bloatware pre-loaded.