dell d600 laptop review

If legacy connections and long battery life are what you need in a business laptop, the Dell Latitude D600 battery delivers. The slim Wi-Fi-ready unit weighs 5.4 pounds and has parallel and serial connections for old office peripherals. For typists, the D600 battery provides both a low-profile pointing stick in the center of the keyboard and the more popular touchpad. The two sets of mouse buttons cater to polar-opposite tastes: The pointing stick's buttons are squishy and deep-depressing, while the touchpad's buttons are extremely stiff. In our battery tests, the D600 12" 15" 17"apple powerbook g4 battery lasted just over 4 hours, about an hour longer than the average laptop.

The keyboard feels springier than most, though the nice layout includes a set of press-and-hold volume buttons. The stereo sound emitted from the front speakers is powerful enough for small presentations or close-quarters entertainment. The 14-inch screen can be had in 1024-by-768- or 1400-by-1050-pixel resolution; we tested and priced a D600 (dell gd761 )with the higher resolution.

Nicely upgradable for a laptop, the D600 (dell inspiron 1720 battery )offers a hard drive that can be removed from the front of the case, as well as a modular media bay. The latter can hold an optical drive, a second battery ($50 extra), or a second hard drive. The variety of available docking stations makes the D600 (dell inspiron e1505 battery )a viable primary PC. Options range from simple monitor stands to the $279 D/Dock Expansion Station, which provides four USB ports and a DVI flat-panel port.

Other convenient touches include an external battery gauge and battery release latch. Also, a button on the optical drive pops out when pressed, making it easy to remove the drive, and status lights are placed prominently in the right-side screen hinge. Finally, though the cards and security software aren't included in the price, the D600 (dell xps m1530 battery )comes with an integrated Smart Card slot for protecting files and making Web logons more convenient; Dell sells the optional OtaniumSuite PKI software with two Smart Cards for $60. In keeping with its business orientation, the D600 has no FireWire port or multiformat DVD burner option.

The D600 is a bit disappointing on one front: speed. Not an aggressive performer for a 2-GHz/600-MHz Pentium M 755-equipped laptop, it earned a WorldBench 5 score of 81 in our tests, compared with a score of 89 earned by a similarly equipped Acer TravelMate 8000 (dell xps m1730 battery ). The difference, however, should not be overly apparent when using mainstream applications.

The D600's documentation is not very convenient to access. We did not receive a complete printed users' manual, and electronic information is scattered throughout the Windows Help and Support Center. However, the answers are there if you don't mind searching.

Upshot: Though not quite a go-getter in the performance department, the D600 (a1079 )offers a nicer design than many thin-and-light business machines, including dual pointing devices.

Configurations & availability

The Latitude D600 (ibm thinkpad t60 battery )configuration tested for this review was a fairly high-end version, with a 1.4 GHz processor, a 40 GB hard drive, a SXGA+ screen, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM 'combo' drive, a dual-mode 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi card, and Bluetooth. With these specifications, it comes in at approximately $1,800 educational - the kind of competitive pricing the University has come to expect from Dell.

The Latitude D600 is offered in many build-to-order configurations, which can be ordered through the Computer Connection. Major configuration variations include processor (1.3 GHz to 1.6 GHz), hard drive size (20 GB to 60 GB), screen resolution (1024x768 [XGA] or 1400x1050 [SXGA+]), optical drive (CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or CD-RW/DVD-ROM 'combo'), integrated Wi-Fi (Dell or Intel), and integrated Bluetooth (yes or no).

The Computer Connection also has a specially priced configuration available for the Latitude D600 (dell latitude d620 battery ):

1.4 GHz/512 MB/30 GB/combo/14.1-inch XGA/modem/ethernet/802.11b (PennKey authentication required)

Analysis

The Latitude D600 shows the improvements gained from both a complete redesign and the Pentium-M chip. Compared to its Latitude C640 (dell latitude d830 battery )predecessor, the D600 (a1189 )is about 0.7 pounds lighter (5.3 pounds versus 6.0 pounds with optical drive onboard) and 0.2 inches thinner (1.2 inches thick versus 1.4 inches thick). This brings Dell's professional laptops into the weight and size mainstream in this laptop segment.

The Latitude D600(apple a1012 )also shows significant refinement in other ways. In addition to being 2/3 the size of the C-series modules, the D-series removeable modules are now in the more standard side-entry configuration, instead of the front. Furthermore, the modules can now be ejected without turning the laptop over.

These workstations form the vital center of Dell's professional laptop line. Dell (a1022 )attempts to differentiate in this market by the additional of value-added features, such as:

Standard

1. The D600 includes an integrated SmartCard. This technology is one of many ways to add hardware-based security to a workstation. It is unclear as yet how much traction SmartCards have in the marketplace.


2. The D600 includes standard gigabit (10/100/1000BaseT) Ethernet, which is still fairly unusual on a mainstream laptop.

Optional

1. Dell offers one of the first integrated 'dual-band' 802.11a/b/g cards in the D600 a1039.


2. Integrated Bluetooth lets one connect without cables to enabled peripherals such as printers, cell phones, and handhelds. When (and if) Bluetooth takes off, having it integrated will be a considerable advantage.

Technical issues & recommendationsa

Information Systems & Computing (ISC) does not expect there to be significant hardware-related compatibility problems with the Latitude D600. However, the Latitude D600 will have the same software-related conflicts that any Windows 2000 a1060 Professional or Windows XP Professional workstation would have.

ISC has tested the Latitude D600 a1078 for compatibility with University-supported hardware and software. The Latitude D600(dell latitude d820 battery )is compatible with the 2002 PennConnect CD-ROM and with Penn’s supported network applications.

It should be noted that the Latitude D600 (15" 17" apple macbook pro battery ), like many newer laptops, does not ship with a standard floppy drive. Dell's suggested solution for users who need a floppy drive is to connect one via USB.

Properly configured, these workstations meet ISC’s Recommended Configurations for Mid-Weight 'Desktop-Equivalent' Laptop Workstations. As always, support providers should be aware of the potential technical issues associated with any new workstation design.