Latitude - Solid Machinery Is Here (Dell Latitude LS)

Member Name: aljones

Product:	Dell Latitude LS
Date:	28/07/01 (2378 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality construction, Very fast

Disadvantages: A bit heavy, Keyboard feels too light

The Dell Latitude C600 laptop computer is, in my view, probably one of the best around. Apart from a few features which aren't quite to my liking, they couldn't have made a much better laptop. The build quality on the outside is amazing, and the overall quality of the package is superb.

So what is it? Well, it’s a laptop computer, that weight around2.6 kilograms, according to my weighing scales. It doesn't feel light, but then no laptop ever does, but it does feel solid. In a laptop this is most definitely a good thing. After all, its meant to be portable, so it is likely that it will have to take a fair amount of abuse, as it gets thrown in and out of the car.

The screen is 14.1 inches across the diagonal, and is an "SXGA" TFT screen. These are far better than the older LCD screens that were common on laptops a few years back, and still are on low-end machines. This screen can be viewed from a variety of angles, both up and down and to the side, and the quality of the image is not impaired. On older LCD screens, if you moved just slightly to an angle from the screen, you could basically see nothing, or at least nothing useful. You can push the screen back ward quite far, and it starts to get very stiff towards the end, hinting that if you push it any further, the repair bill could get expensive!

The graphics for the screen are provided through the 8 megabyte, 128-bit ATI Rage Mobility graphics card. For a laptop this is fairly high spec, as it as good as the graphics card in my desktop computer. The graphics are always crisp and clear, and there is no flicker or delay. The computer isn't used for games, just business applications, so the graphics card has never really been tested to its full, but I have every confidence that it would perform well from what I have seen so far, from using the 3D Pinball game that came with it.

Storage is taken care of with a 9.35 gigabyte hard disk, which is removabl
e by the flick of a switch and a quick tug on the cradle that it rests in. So, you can buy additional hard disks and swap them as needed. Also, the computer comes with a modular CD-ROM drive (24 speed as usual) and floppy drive. This means that you can only have on in at a time. Generally this doesn't cause any problems, but it does mean that you are always lugging around another drive with you. They swap in and out easily, though I haven't tried it while the power is on (I'm guessing it wouldn't be wise to do that). Again, to remove a drive, as with the hard disk, you just flick a switch on the bottom of the computer, and pull the drive out of the front of the base. All the removable drives fit snugly, and never rattle, which is a common complaint amongst laptop users.

As well as the static devices, there is also 128 megabyte of RAM, running at 133 MHz (I think!, it might only be 100 MHz). The processor for the machine is a 600 MHz Mobile Pentium III chip, which certainly does the job and while it isn't the fastest processor available for laptops, for the things I use it for it does just fine.

As standard it came with Windows 2000 Professional edition. I didn't have a choice, as it was bought for me, but over Windows 98 that I use on my home PC, it does seem a lot more stable. Apart from the stability issue, it doesn't seem to have to much more functionality when compared to W98. It does get an extra game (3D Pinball), which is actually a 'proper' game, as opposed to the usual mundane offerings of Solitaire and Minesweeper. Apart from that it had basically no other software to speak of, though now I've got Office 97 running on it.

As far as ports are concerned, it has plenty. On the side you've got an infra red port, so you can link up to your PDA or mobile phone if you've got one of those fancy new one. Alongside that are headphone and microphone sockets (standard 3.5mm sockets of course),
followed by the modem and Ethernet LAN sockets. The LAN isn't a standard feature from what I was told, but is part of the modem, which is a 3Com 56k V90 mini PCI modem, according to the base of the computer. Alongside these are the S-Video connector. I'm not quite sure what this is for, but I'm sure someone would be grateful of it.

Moving to the back, you get all the standard ports, including one I don't recognise (It’s the same length as the parallel port, but uses contacts rather than pins). I've got a feeling it’s the port for the docking station, though I'll have to check on that. As a down side, you only get one PS2 connector, so you can't connect a mouse and a keyboard at the same time, unless one of them is a USB or a Serial device. Talking of USB's, there's also only one of them, which could be a limit in the future as everything gets USB plugs. You also get a Type 2 and Type 3 PCMCIA slot, around the other side of the unit.

Sound comes from two very small speakers on the side. This isn't exactly the best location for them, as I've noticed that while playing Pinball, my hands rest over them, and so muting the sound somewhat. Pointing devices come in two forms. Firstly there is the track pad, along with the usual two buttons. You can also hit the track pad while over a button to press it, rather than having to click one of the buttons, but I guess that feature isn't unique to the Dell. Secondly, you get the joystick thing located in the centre of the keyboard, along with a further two mouse buttons just below the spacebar. Personally I prefer the track pad, but both are very accurate and easy to use, though the joystick does seem a bit more reluctant to go where you want it. The keyboard is solid, if a little cramped for my liking, though laptops generally are. The keys have a very light touch to them, with a very quiet click on each key press. Personally I prefer louder, more heav
y keys, but once you get used to it it's quite nice to use.

The battery will last for anything up to 4 hours according to the icon in the task tray, but in my experience it has never lasted more than 2.5 hours. There are plenty of power saving options, such as hibernation and stand-by modes, that both preserve the battery life when you're away from it for a little while.

I can't comment on service from Dell themselves, as like I said I didn't actually purchase it myself, but as far as I am aware they are as good as most. Overall the Latitude C600 is a very solid, competent machine.

Summary: