dell latitude d410 laptop review

dell latitude d410 laptop review

The Dell Latitude D410 is a 12.1" screen portable business laptop. It shares some similarities with the ultra light Latitude X1, such as having the same 12.1" screen size and no built-in optical drive to keep weight down,Satellite 1900, but it is overall quite different and more of a cross between an ultraportable and thin-and-light workstation. With its optional 2.00GHz Pentium M processor (using the latest Intel Sonoma chipset), 512MB of RAM (upgradeable to 2GB), a full size keyboard featuring dual navigation and nice overall design and build, the Latitude D410 is an enticing portable laptop.

In the litter of refreshed Dell Latitude business laptops, the D410 (hp pavilion dv6000 battery)is the runt--but by no means is it meek. On the strength of its new Intel Sonoma parts, the updated Latitude D410 raced through CNET Labs' benchmarks, earning our fastest mobile performance score to date for an ultraportable. With a reinforced frame and new features such as a Trusted Platform Module chip, the Latitude D410 is a speedy, secure, and smartly designed notebook for executives.

At 1.3 inches thick, the Latitude D410 is slightly stockier than its predecessor, Toshiba Laptop Battery,the D400 (dell latitude d410 battery). Otherwise, the two laptops are about the same size, measuring 11 inches wide and 9.4 inches deep. Weighing 3.9 pounds, the Latitude D410 still falls within the range of ultraportable laptops.

First of all let me say this is hands down the best looking Dell laptop I've used. I last used the Dell Latitude X1 and was quite impressed with the simple non-flashy design. But I really dig a bit of a darker look to a laptop, and the Dell D410 with its dark charcoal grey and silver finish is rather striking. It reminds me a bit of the Fujitsu LifeBook styling, which I like a lot. The dark finish and industrial looking fan vent also gives the D410 a bit of a muscular look, the Ford Mustang of notebooks if you will. The silver latch on the screen adds a nice finishing touch and professional look.

The build is sturdy, this notebook doesn't flex. The chassis uses a tri-metal blend of aluminum, magnesium and steel while the case shell is constructed of a very rigid plastic on the body and keyboard area. The lid is constructed of magnesium alloy that offers great protection of the screen and a great look as well. The screen hinges are sturdy, you won't get any wobble on the screen unless you're on one heck of a bumpy plane ride...Satellite A60-662,or if you're like me and push the screen back and forward to test how much it wobbles, just to be picky. So the build is overall good, but then instead of using a nice flap over the PCMCIA slot Dell put a dummy piece of plastic in there as a dust protector when you're not using a card. This shouldn't be the case with a business notebook, that's a cheap finish and solution and it kind of ruins a perfect 10.0 on the overall build.

The layout of this notebook is rather odd in a few ways. The battery is located at the front of the notebook, this is a first for me. Here's the good thing though, the battery doesn't get very warm at all, and since it is located under the palm rest areas you won't get any warmth there. That's right folks, no complaints of "my right hand is getting sweaty because the palm rest is a 110 degrees". The back of the notebook is a different story, but I'll get that to later (see heat and noise section). When you have the extended life battery in it sticks out at the front. My first reaction was to think that's really dumb, and to be honest it does look a little odd to have a lip at the front of your notebook sticking out. But now I'm used to it I think it's a great area for providing extra support for the wrists and resting them while typing.

Another odd layout move is that the headphone jack is all the way at the back of the right hand side of the notebook. What a bad location, it's hard to fumble and find and you have to stretch the headphone cord all that much farther, plus there's no color coding between the headphone and microphone jack so it's hard to see which is which until you get used to it. Also,Satellite A65 Series, the number and size of air vents on this notebook is rather impressive, there's 5 total. On the Latitude X1 there are zero. But with a Pentium M 2.00GHz processor and the cramped nature of internals in an ultraportable it does require this number of vents, so the D410 certainly looks a lot more industrial than your average ultraportable.

Like with the desktop-replacement d810 and thin-an-light D610, Dell (dell latitude d820 battery)has made some satisfying enhancements to the D410's design. For one, the lid's been reinforced to better protect the screen. The keyboard has also been made sturdier, resulting in a more solid feel as your fingers strike the keys; as with many ultraportables, the D410's keys may be too small for some users. The decently sized touch pad and pointing stick each have two matching mouse buttons; unfortunately, the touch pad's mouse buttons are somewhat cramped. Helpful status lights show when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are activated. Finally, the D410 has a double dose of security: a Trusted Platform Module chip, which sits on the motherboard and serves as a virtual storage locker for your data, and a dedicated slot for smart cards, which can carry clandestine information such as passwords.

The Dell D410 does a good job of providing a nice number of mainstream ports, but unfortunately we don't get FireWire (which is available in the X1), and we don't get any type of media card reader...which is a real shame. We do get 3 USB 2.0 ports, which is very generous for an ultraportable computer.Satellite 2100 I like the fact there's a PCMCIA card slot for accessory expansion, something the Latitude X1 lacks. Let's just take a tour around this notebook to see everything that's available in terms of ports.

The system offers an average number of connectors, with Ethernet, modem, two USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, and one PC Card slot, as well as headphone and microphone jacks. If you're looking for an ultraportable with more built-in connections, check out the Sony VAIO VGN-T150P/L. Dell also sells a $219 Media Base which adds a parallel, video, serial, Ethernet, and two more USB 2.0 ports, in addition to a headphone jack.

You won't find the Latitude D410 on retail shelves or Web sites, as Dell sells the system only through its own Web site and toll-free number. CNET's Latitude D410 series review includes a discussion of the various configurations.

The 2.0GHz Pentium M processor configured in this notebook doesn't just race past the 1.1GHz ULV processor in the Dell Latitude X1,Fujitsu Laptop Battery, it laps it. This notebook is in truth probably overpowered for the use of Office and web type applications. So your next question might be, well that's great, so I can use this thing as a gaming notebook right? Hmm, well you're still strapped with an intregrated graphics solution in the form of the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (integrated graphics). If you have 512MB or more, the graphics solution will borrow up to 128MB of system memory, if you're under 512MB then it will only borrow 64MB. So I recommend boosting memory up to 1GB so it has plenty to share with graphics. Even then you're not going to be able to play Doom 3, but there are 3D games and almost any game that's 2-years old will run on this system. As far as using everyday applications, this notebook effortlessly runs those and makes it easy to keep multiple applications open for switching between (I'm guilty as charged for having 20 things open at once, and luckily the D410 doesn't mind this).