The Dell Latitude series of laptop is designed for business owners who value quality, durability and security on their laptop without sacrificing performance. It’s one of those types of laptops that doesn’t try to look stylish but can get the job done.
Durablity is one of the strengths of the Latitude E6230. It has a Tri-Metal casing armor made up of anodized aluminum back, magnesium alloy corners, and steel hinges along with a powder-coated base. It doesn’t look sleek at all but it sure does look tough. What’s not seen by the naked eye is its StrikeZone shock absorber and free-fall sensor that shuts down the rubber coated hard drive when dropped to protect data in it.
The Latitude E6230 is a 12.5″ laptop so it doesn’t feel too bulky despite its tough build which suits the mobile workforce. The LED display features a 1366 x 768 resolution on an anti-glare screen.
It also comes with a full range of ports and connectivity. On one side is an HDMI port, two USB 3.0 port one of which is powered for charging devices even when the laptop is asleep, a wireless switch and an ExpressCard slot.
On the left side you’ll get your VGA port, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, audio connector, card reader and a Smart Card slot. The back has the AC port and the LAN port. The protrusion at the back is from the optional extended battery that came with our unit. The powder-coated base has the E-port for your standard docking solutions. Only thing missing here is an optical disc drive.
The spacious keyboard on this machine is a breeze to get used to with a nice tactile feedback, well-spaced solid keys, and I’m glad they didn’t skimp on the size of the arrow keys at the expense of a beautiful layout. The keyboard is spill-resistant too by the way with the option of having it backlit, ours did. The ample-sized touchpad is responsive and its click keys aren’t stiff to press. Overall, the E6230 gives an excellent typing experience. There’s also the fingerprint reader which is optional in this family.
The Dell Latitude E6230 that we have uses a full-powered 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3320M 2.6GHz processor, not those low-voltage ones found on Ultrabooks. Core i3 and Core i7 is also an option. It also has a 4GB DDR3 RAM and a 256GB SSD storage (can also be configured with hybrid storage) so you can definitely feel its speed. It doesn’t only boots up fast but also launches application quickly.
Here’s the Windows Experience Index of the Dell Latitude E6230 on Windows Home Premium (32-bit):
The least base score of 5.7 goes to its integrated graphics which is already impressive for a laptop in this class. The accompanying integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 should be enough for this machine to handle basic to a bit more advanced photo or video editing. I tried playing Diablo III on this machine and was surprised that it can handle medium/high settings as its default without any performance issues.
Standard battery configuration on the E6230 is a 3-cell Lithium-Ion (32Whr) with ExpressCharge but ours was equipped with a 6-cell extended battery. I was only able to test it for continuous surfing and word processing with WiFi always on and connected and a 50% brightness setting. A full charge net me 5.5 hours which is not bad for a machine with a full-powered processor. Continuous Diablo III gaming only gave me 1.5 hours though.
These are just the basics of this Latitude E6230. It can be configured with a lot of business and security solutions that companies will find valuable. The Intel vPro that comes with its chip helps deliver out-of-band management. Dell’s remote BIOS offer efficient remote-control over firmware settings. Dell also offers flexible data encryption across your network and removable media for the Latitude E6230 with one-touch compliance policy templates for rapid deployment.
Verdict
You really can’t go wrong with the Dell Latitude E6230 for your workforce if you value durability, security, and performance. It doesn’t try to be fancy but can surely deliver all your business’ computing requirements in a simple, neat, and tough and highly configurable package.
Dell Latitude E6230 Specs
Processor Options | Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors up to i7-35x0M |
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Operating System Options | Genuine Windows 7 Home Basic Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium Genuine Windows 7 Professional Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate Linux Ubuntu 11.10 |
Memory Options | DDR3 SDRAM (1600MHz ) 2 slots supporting 2GB, 4GB, 8GB DIMMs |
Chipset | Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset |
Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
Display | 12.5″ HD (1366×768) Anti-Glare LED |
Storage Options | 7200 rpm SATA up to 320GB 5400 rpm SATA up to 320GB Encrypted (FDE/SED) FIPS Opal 7200 rpm 320GB Mobility Solid State up to 256GB Encrypted Mobile Solid State up to 256GB |
Multimedia | High quality speakers, Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack, Integrated noise reducing array microphones, optional integrated HD video webcam |
Battery Options | 3-cell (32Whr) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge 6-cell (65Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge 6-cell (58Wh) 3 Year Limited Hardware Warranty Lithium Ion battery 9-cell (97Wh) Extended battery slice |
Ports, Slots & Chassis | Network connector (RJ-45), USB 2.0 (1) ““ 1 USB/eSATA combo; USB3.0 (2), Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack, Memory card reader, 34 mm ExpressCard, Docking Connector, VGA, HDMI, 1 Full and 2 Half Mini Card Slots Optional SmartCard Reader/Contactless SmartCard Reader/Fingerprint Reader |
Connectivity | 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Wireless LAN and WiMAX Options: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205, Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250, Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300, Dell Wireless 1504 (802.11g/n 1×1), Dell Wireless 1540 (802.11n 2×2) Mobile Broadband & GPS Options: Dell Wireless 5630 Multi-mode HSPA-EVDO Mini Card (Gobi 3000) with A-GPS, Dell Wireless 5560 Single-mode HSPA Mini Card with A-GPS, Dell Wireless 5802 LTE Mobile Broadband (Verizon-US only), Dell Wireless 5804 LTE Mobile Broadband (AT&T-US only) Bluetooth Option: Dell Wireless 380Bluetooth® 4.0 |
Input Device Options | Single pointing keyboard: standard or backlit Multi-touch Touchpad |
Dimensions & Weight | Width: 12.2″ / 309mm Depth: 8.9″ / 226mm Height: (front/back) 0.88″/22.4mm to 0.97″/24.65mm Bound weight: 3.14lbs /1.383kg (with 3-cell battery and mSATA SSD) |