Rugged workhorse (Dell Latitude D620 Burner)

Member Name: johnboyle007

Product:	Dell Latitude D620 Burner
Date:	27/07/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use and reliable

Disadvantages: battery life

Dell Latitude D620 not so much a technical review you can read that anywhere more a review of how it has worked for me over the last 12 months

This is the standard issue laptop for my company and I have been using this one now for over 12 months. My first one lasted six months. The laptop is designed for use outside of the office but in recent years laptops are increasingly bought for use around the home in a more gentle environment.

My laptop does a lot of travelling as you can tell from my posts in the Travel section averaging at least one flight a fortnight and regular docking and undocking as I go about my job. So I think I am in a good position to comment on its ability to cope away from a desk.

Appearance wise it is nothing special dark and light grey. It has a 14" wide screen which is ideally suited for watching DVDs. Unfortunately I find it very irritating for work purposes when reviewing documents. I end up reducing document size so I can see more of the page and to reduce the amount of scrolling. Whether this is a generation thing that I have grown up using A4 Portrait documents and I need to adjust my brain waves accordingly I am not sure. After 6 years of using laptops I think it is me and my brain will not change.

Performance wise it comes with a rewritable DVD R/RW disc drive, 55gb hard drive . As with most corporate laptops it is well secured with encryption and virus protection ( McAfee ) . In my time with this laptop never once had a virus problem. Lesson to be learnt there for Her Majesty's Government ?

Ruggedness as I said before it is a well travelled laptop and has had its fair share of knocks and bumps in hand luggage. It has managed to remain in good condition the casing is undamaged. Screen wise a common problem is the guide button on the key pad ( next to G and H keys ) often causes an indentation on the screen when the lid is closed, this does not happen with the Latitude. Key board is full size and easy to use, likewise the mouse pad is ok for the job but if doing presentations prefer to use the mouse

Battery life is not particularly brilliant couple of hours max when using MS office applications. If watching DVD you are lucky to get to the end of the film. It has reached the stage I carry a second battery as I have been caught out on flights too often.

Performance wise as you would expect running Windows XP and Office 2003 ( yes that's right ) no problems even when having multiple application open.

Weight wise once you chuck in power supply and the spare battery it is a chunky weight.

Would I buy one, Dell is typical in terms of weight and dimension for most average laptops I think it is quite robust for out of office use. For use in the home it is more than adequate. I don't think you will be disappointed in its performance. I suspect though for home use many people will choose a laptop more for its aesthetics and ability to match the furniture. If that is what you are after then this is not the laptop for you.

If it is a basic functional, reliable piece of kit that you want then yes I would recommend a Latitude D620

Summary: dependable laptop

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